Latest news

The Sony PlayStation Network remains down thanks to a DDoS attack earlier this morning.

Hacking group 'Lizard Squad' claimed credit for the attack, which has flooded the massive network with data and taken down legitimate services.

Sony says its engineers are working on bringing the services back online but did not confirm the attack.

SoundCloud, the extremely popular streaming site that allows anyone to upload audio, will soon have a business model.

Tracks from major artists have become hits thanks to SoundCloud, as have podcasts and many an up-and-coming DJ. Until now, however, artists nor labels were compensated, which is part of the agreement when uploading audio.

The company recently announced that it now has 175 million monthly listeners, more than double that of Pandora, and over four times the number of Spotify active listeners.

As part of a new licensing deals with entertainment companies, SoundCloud will also start offering advertising. Artists and labels will also be able to collect royalties as part of the deal, making the company "legit" in the eyes of the industry. In the near future, SoundCloud will also offer a paid subscription to skip ads, just like Spotify and Pandora do.

In addition to the new deal, some of the labels and indies are negotiating for equity stakes in the company. In exchange for the stakes, the labels have agreed not to sue SoundCloud for any past copyright infringements, a very big deal for a startup. That being said, the labels have not secured the deals just yet, as it is hard to figure out royalty compensation for many of the tracks, which can include mashups.

According to a pair of leaked documents, Apple may offer a 128GB model iPhone 6 when it launches next month.

So far, Apple has only sold iPhones in 16, 32 and 64 GB iterations. There are 128GB iPads available, but never for the flagship smartphone.

In the documents, it appears Apple will offer 16GB and 64GB iPhone 6 with the flash storage built by Hynix, Nynix, and SanDisk. The 128GB model will be built by Toshiba.

Apple charges $199 on-contract for 16GB models, and adds $100 every time you double up the internal storage. If that model continues, the 128GB capacity should cost $499 off-contract, a hefty investment.

Previous reports had also claimed a 128GB variant, but that it would be reserved for the rumored 5.5-inch iPhone phablet.

Apple has confirmed that a "very small percentage" of iPhone 5s that were sold in the U.S. or China have battery issues and will be replaced.

The batteries "may suddenly experience shorter battery life or need to be charged more frequently."

Reads the company's page on the matter: "Apple has determined that a very small percentage of iPhone 5 devices may suddenly experience shorter battery life or need to be charged more frequently. The affected iPhone 5 devices were sold between September 2012 and January 2013 and fall within a limited serial number range.

If your iPhone 5 is experiencing these symptoms and meets the eligibility requirements noted below, Apple will replace your iPhone 5 battery, free of charge."

Worried your phone may be affected? Check Apple's support page here.

Today marks as a milestone for both AfterDawn, and our Irish senior staff member, James "Dela" Delahunty. He was the first hired employee of AfterDawn back in August 2004 when our site was slowly evolving from a hobby to a business.

Dela has been, and still is, an integral part of our team of tech journalists and has published several thousand news articles on our site through the past 10 years. His articles and guides have been read by millions and millions of people over the years.

I personally consider him, not just a colleague, but also my friend. A friend that I have never met in person, but who has been a part of the daily life of the entire AfterDawn team for more than a decade – at first, as an active forum member and later, for the past 10 years, as a valuable member of our team.

If the next ten years turn out to be anything like the last, we will all be very happy indeed!

Thank you, mate!

On behalf of Team AfterDawn,

Petteri Pyyny, CEO
AfterDawn Oy


P.S. Here's a link to James' first-ever news article published on our site:

Music downloads in UK rise up 200% since June (23rd August, 2004)

According to Reuters, Apple's suppliers have hit a "snag" in iPhone 6 display production, meaning there could be supply issues at launch next month.

Every year there is some sort of rumor about Apple not having enough phones to feed demand and indeed every year there are some delays especially for more popular colors.

It had been rumored previously that Apple's suppliers were already hit with delays thanks to making the screen thinner on the larger 4.7-inch display, which already pushed production back.

The latest problem relates to the backlighting of the display, which Apple believed was not bright enough.

Apple will launch the new iPhone 6 at a press event on September 9th.

Disney Interactive has announced this week the launch of a new mobile game, "Star Wars: Commander," a freemium game for iOS.

The game is the first from Disney after the giant acquired Lucasfilm for over $4 billion in late 2012.

Reads the description:

In the game, fans will join either the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire to recruit and lead an unstoppable force across the Star Wars galaxy in epic battles to claim ultimate victory for their side.

Star Wars: Commander features the full array of vehicles, weapons and technology from the Star Wars universe. Players who rally to the Rebellion will call upon iconic heroes such as Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia to support missions for justice and freedom, while leaders of the Imperial forces will command AT-ATs, TIE fighters and Stormtroopers to gain control of the galaxy.

Star Wars: Commander also offers an original Star Wars storyline set within the Galactic Civil War of Episodes IV – VI, where "commanders" determine if it's the Empire's strength and relentlessness or the Rebellion's heroism and resourcefulness that will win the war.

Microsoft has begun testing a "Free Play Day" feature that would allow Xbox One gamers to download games for free and play it for a 24-hour period as a sort of free trial.

Gamers in the U.S. that are part of the Xbox One console beta reported yesterday that 'Max: The Curse of Brotherhood' was made available as a free, unlocked title. It came with the label "Free Play Day with Gold" suggesting that you must be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber to take advantage.

Microsoft said nothing except that an official announcement would be made "shortly," suggesting it was a brand new feature that was not supposed to go live, yet.

Gold subscribers already get two Xbox One titles for free every month from a limited list so it appears that Microsoft is looking to add significant value to its $60-per-year subscription service.

Earlier this month, Sony proudly boasted that the hit PlayStation 4 console had reached 10 million units sold in just 9 months, a record for the company.

While setting records for sales would normally be seen as a huge positive, the sales have left a confused strategy for Sony's head execs, who are now scrambling to figure out the future of the console.

Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida confirmed during a recent interview that the company does not know why the console is selling so hotly, and that not knowing could bring their team issues moving forward. For example, if the 10 million sales were all to hardcore gamers, once those run out, the company will have a very hard time predicting future sales as "casual gamers" may not find the PS4 a necessary expense.

Says Yoshida: "As soon as we see a great sales number, our instinct tells us we should be concerned about future sales, right? Are we exhausting all the core gamers? If we sell this number of units, there are no more consumers we can sell to. That's a really terrifying prospect."

Of course, there could be a nice mix of consumers purchasing the PS4, including those that simply want a Blu-ray player/set-top box combo. Sony will have a better grasp as the year continues on.

According to sources, Microsoft will officially unveil Windows 9 'Threshold' on September 30th.

The "tech preview" will be aimed at developers and give an early look at the software.

For Windows 9, Microsoft is rumored to have removed the Charms bar feature, added a new "mini" Start Menu and made other key UI changes that will make the operating system more functional for keyboard and mouse users compared to just touchscreen users. Additionally, Microsoft is said to be building in Cortana, the voice-activated personal assistant.

In conjunction with the tech preview, Microsoft has planned an event where they will overview the new features.

Earlier in the week, Sprint and Sharp announced a new line of smartphones, the Aquos Crystal, which they promised would have designs not seen before.

The first of the line, the 5-inch Aquos Crystal, will sell for just $239 off-contract (a huge discount compared to the $600 iPhone or Galaxy S, for example) and features an edge-to-edge design that has no bezel, a fantastic look for a phone.

To accommodate the display, the phone itself is thicker than current premium devices, and it has a dimpled back similar to the Nexus 7 tablet. The phone has a basically stock Android 4.4.2, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB internal storage (microSD expendable), HD Voice, Wi-Fi Calling, Harmon Kardon speakers (and audio tech) and LTE support including support for Sprint's "faster" Spark network.

Interestingly, Sprint is offering the new "App Pass," a $4.99 monthly subscription service that offers unlimited access to a handful of premium apps including productivity tools and even games.

There is no word on availability of the device.

Smartwatch startup Pebble has made some impressive hires this week, announcing that Itai Vonshak will be their new head of product and UX and Liron Damir will be head of design.

Both executives just worked at LG on the webOS TV operating system and user interface, and previously they designed updates for webOS after HP acquired original creator Palm.

Vonshak says that Pebble wants to "focus heavily on a product-focused philosophy alongside a spirit of openness that's appealing to his webOS roots."

Pebble remains a popular option in the smartwatch market, although Android Wear devices are slowing creeping onto the scene, and Apple's iTime is expected early next year.

Asus has posted a teaser picture for their IFA event on September 3rd in which the company will reveal their rumored smartwatch.

The Android Wear-powered device is rumored to be priced at under $150, making it easily the cheapest of its kind in the market.

Although unconfirmed, the new Asus watch is expected to have specs on par to the LG G Watch and Gear Live, but that sadly includes the poor battery life of those devices, as well, which range from 1-2 days depending on use.

There is not much else known but the teaser seems to show a watch with a curved rectangular face, different than the boxy G Watch and the round Moto 360 watch.

Developer Dong Nguyen is back, following the success and ultimate shut down of 'Flappy Bird,' with a new game for iOS.

Named "Swing Copters," the game is set for release on Thursday and will be completely free (with ads) or purchased for $1 with no ads.

Basically, you take your character and his helicopter hat and fly vertically avoiding hammers. It is said to be as hard as Angry Bird was.

Touch Arcade has had a hands-on with the new game, and here is the video for those that are possibly interested in the game.

According to new reports, LG will be unveiling a new IPS 21:9 Curved UltraWide Monitor at the upcoming IFA 2014 event in Berlin.

The 34-inch monitor has 3440 x 1440 resolution, supports Thunderbolt 2 for high-speed data transfers and as expected allows daisy chaining for multiple devices. In addition, the display has a built-in 7W stereo speaker system.

"Many people spend more time in front of computer monitors than they do in front of TV sets and yet the industry's biggest monitor manufacturers don't seem to innovate at the same pace as TV manufacturers," said Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT Business Division at LG Electronics' Home Entertainment Company. "At LG, innovation in display technologies isn't just limited to our market-leading TV products but are actively being implemented in our advanced PC monitors. And that's why we're particularly proud to be introducing at IFA the world's first 21:9 Curved UltraWide monitor with a curved IPS display which delivers a wide 178-degree viewing angle for an immersive viewing experience."

IFA 2014 starts on September 5th.