Latest news

Apple and Samsung are back in a U.S. court where a $1 billion damages award given to Apple is to be reassessed.

In August 2012, a U.S. jury found that Samsung had infringed patents held by Apple in the design of several of its Galaxy-branded smartphones and tablets. It awarded $1 billion to Apple. In March of this year, a judge found that the jury had incorrectly estimated $450 million of the damages and that it would need to be assessed at a new trial.

The $450 million chunk of the award could be increased or decreased. Apple originally had sought $2.5 billion in damages from the South Korean firm.

To this day, Samsung still denies that it stole anything from Apple, saying it was designing similar devices with a screen and single button before the iPhone was first revealed.

Apple did fail to get an import ban imposed on the products covered in the trial, but has appealed the Judge's finding that the company could be adequately compensated instead.

Both companies can still appeal the outcome of the new trial, and unless a settlement is reached, that is likely to happen.

Sony remains confident that it can keep up with supple and the expectations of analysts in selling 3 million PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles by the end of the year.

Sony had previously set an optimistic estimate of selling 5 million PS4 consoles by the end of March 2014. Analysts expect that the Japanese consumer electronics giant can shift over 3 million before the end of 2013, thanks of course to the busy holiday season.

Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said that Sony will have adequate supplies of the $400 console to handle demand during the holidays.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint, but getting out to a nice start is a good thing," Tretton said, reports Bloomberg.

"That hurdle has been cleared. We're very, very confident we're in great shape."

Sony's 2006 launch of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console was hit by supply constraints not long after it landed on the market. It's European release had to be pushed back from the 2006 holiday season to March 2007.

This time around, Sony's PS4 launches in just two days in North America, on Friday, November 15. It then launches in Europe on November 29.

Google has now made it easier to figure out what tab in your browser is responsible for sounds or music coming from your speakers.

Have you ever had a pile of tabs open and suddenly hear sounds from an ad or video that is playing? All you can do about it is look through all of your open tabs to figure out which site is responsible for the sound, or of course mute your system altogether.

Google has finally made it a lot easier to identify the source. In the latest Chrome beta release, there will be a speaker icon visible on any tab that is currently playing sounds.



There are also icons for which tabs are being cast to your TV via Chromecast, and which tab is using your webcam.

The latest beta also adds an app launcher for Chrome in Metro mode on Windows 8, and will automatically block malware files.

Microsoft has announced that SkyDrive is coming to Xbox One on launch day and its Channel 9 offers a video demo.

The SkyDrive app on Xbox One lets you view all your photos and videos you have uploaded to SkyDrive and also view videos or photos that have been shared with you by other users of the cloud service.

You can open photo albums from channels in the OneGuide, play music alongside your slide show with Xbox Music, and control the whole app with gestures and voice, courtesy of Kinect. And, of course, you launch the app by saying "Xbox: Go to SkyDrive".

Here is a demo from Channel 9 featuring Jeff Henshaw, head of the Xbox Incubation team...

A Call of Duty app for iOS, Android, WP8 and Windows 8 has been released following the launch of Call of Duty: Ghosts.

The free app lets users create or join a clan, and communication with clan members through clan chat. After November 25, you can battle for territory against multiple Clans with locations on the Call of Duty Clan Wars map tied directly to Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer game modes.

Also coming later will be the ability to use a smartphone or tablet for various second-screen features. It will allow players to do things like make last-second changes to loadouts before a match begins or get extended information about players after a match ends.

Check this dmeo video about the app:

Netflix has launched on Virgin Media's service in the UK, coming to over 1.8 million Virgin Media TiVo homes.

To celebrate the launch, Virgin Media is offering a six-month gift subscription to Netflix to new or existing customers who sign-up to Virgin Media's Premiere or VIP Collections. Virgin Media TiVo customers on other packages will be able to make the most of the one-month free trial offered to all new Netflix members.

The brand new Netflix app complements Virgin Media's huge collection of On Demand entertainment, with over 6,000 hours all ready to watch instantly. This includes a choice of films from Virgin Movies, Sky Movies, PictureBox and now Netflix.

"With the addition of our Netflix app, Virgin Media customers have an unbeatable line-up of movies and TV series to choose from. Whether it's part of a subscription or pay-per-view, Virgin Media TiVo will help you find everything from the classic gem you've always wanted to watch to this summer's biggest hits, all seamlessly integrated for simple, easy viewing," said Dana Strong, Virgin Media's chief operating officer.

"People love watching with Virgin Media TiVo and we continue to lead the way as the fastest growing pay TV service in the country. In two years, 1.8 million homes have signed up to Virgin Media TiVo and what we believe is the best way to watch television."

Seiki has unveiled the cheapest large 4K display to date, available exclusively at Sears.

The 55-inch display with 4K resolution will cost just $1499, and be available at over 500 US Sears retail stores.

In addition, the company is offering a 39-inch model for $699. Each TV has 'UltraHD' resolution of 3840 x 2160, use a 120 Hz refresh rate for 1080p and a 30Hz rate for 4K content.

The TVs have a USB port for built-in audio and photo viewing, and HDMI v1.4 for connectivity.

Check more about the devices here.

Amazon has launched its own store to sell digital games and DLC for PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 consoles.

The Amazon store offers another venue to buy digital items for the Sony consoles, and probably will mean there will be more offers and promotions to look forward to.

FOr the launch of the store, Amazon is offering $5 PSN credit to anyone who buys select digital purchases and for those who participate in today's buy 2 get 1 free offer for PS4 games.

A list of games that qualify for the $5 credit includes Assassins's Creed IV Black Flag, Batman Arkham Origins, Battlefield 4, The Last of Us, FIFA 14 and more than you can see here.

"We will send you confirmation of your credit via email within two days after your qualifying order is completed," Amazon's store reads.

"This credit must be used by 12/31/2014 (and cannot be used on Amazon.com Gift Cards or PlayStation Network Gift Cards)."

More Info: Amazon PlayStation Network Store

Seiki is once again offering a relatively low cost 4K UltraHD TV - this time through Sears for $1,500.

The Seiki SE55UY04 is a 55-inch 4K UltraHD LED television for just $1,500, quite a lot cheaper than the competition on the market. It's not the first time Seiki turned heads with the cost of its 4K line-up, previously unveiling a 39-inch 4K TV for just $700.

The TV stats show a refresh rate of 120Hz for 1080p (30Hz for 4K), with image brightness of 320 - 400 cd/m2. It featues 2 USB inputs.

There's not much 4K content around but some manufacturers, like Sony, do have 4K products on the market. It is speculated that both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will be updated in time to support 4K video playback too.

More Info: Sears

Pioneer quietly bowed out of the TV market in 2010, saddening fans of the high-quality Kuro plasma displays.

It appears now that the company is getting back into the business, building exclusively for Dixons/Currys, the large retailer in the UK and other parts of Europe.

The new TVs will all be 1080p LED models in 40-, 46- and 55-inch sizes along with 3D and Smart TV capabilities. Each has built-in Wi-Fi, USB and HDMI ports.

Yoshihide Beppu, Business Planning Director of Pioneer Home Electronics Corporation said:

"We're delighted to collaborate with Dixons Retail. With our unparalleled reputation for cutting edge technology and sophisticated designs, we know these technologically advanced high-end TVs have a unique place within the market. Our decision to work with Dixons Retail was a natural one, as we highly value their clear customer focus, market leading positions and innovative approach to retailing. With their highly respectful approach to the premium positioning of the Pioneer brand, alongside our loyal customer base, we believe this is a winning combination and we're excited to watch these new products transport customers in to a world of fun, entertainment and interactivity."

Apple has quietly put up the new iPad Mini with Retina for sale today through it online store, a surprisingly low-key launch for the hotly anticipated device.

The company had unveiled the tablet at its major product event three weeks ago, but so far all of the hype and press has been for the full-sized iPad Air.

Most of the Wi-Fi tablet variations have a 1-3 business day shipping estimate, while the bigger capacity LTE models have 5-10 business day shipping times.

Prices for the base models are $399, and get as expensive as $829 for the 128GB LTE + Wi-Fi model.

CEO Tim Cook said last month that "it's unclear whether we will have enough for the quarter or not," when asked about supply, and the quiet launch seems to imply that there really may not be enough devices to go around.

The tablet will reach consumers on November 20th.

The BBC has confirmed this week that it is currently developing an Xbox One version of its popular iPlayer app.

Unfortunately, the app will not be completely ready for the Xbox One's November 22nd launch, but it is far into development.

"BBC iPlayer is already available to audiences on over 1,000 devices and platforms in the UK," reads a general statement from the BBC. "While we are working to bring BBC iPlayer to Xbox One in the future, we have no further details to share at this time."

The PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 currently have iPlayer apps, and it is unclear if the PS4 will get the app.

Famitsu has released an interesting list this week, the top 100 best-selling games in Japan for the 21st century.

Sales are for the period beginning January 1, 2001 and ending September 29, 2013.

Posted below are the top 40, which are lead by 2006's New Super Mario Bros. for the DS with 6.5 million copies sold.

Here is the top 40, which is unsurprisingly filled with Nintendo hits:

A Warez group has been exposed for collecting information on pirates who downloaded cracked software they released.

The group, "MeGaHeRTZ", has allegedly been including malicious elements in its cracks for popular software, including SmartFTP, DVDFab, FlashFXP, Incredimail, Traktor and BurnAware Professional.

Somebody noticed unusual firewall activity with a cracked version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro and investigated further, finding that the software had been e-mailing information back to a number of addresses, all of which have account names containing some variation of the MeGaHeRTZ group name.

The information it sent back included the username, computer/drive serial from the Windows API, and the host machines's IP address.

All software they released has since been "nuked", but its all out there now.

Cracked software containing malware is nothing new, but its very rare that the malware is added by the originating group. Typically the malware is added later and spread on P2P networks, file sharing forums or BitTorrent trackers.

A new Xbox One video from Microsoft touts that the console delivers ultimate realism that rivals Hollywood.

With the launch of the next generation console systems this month, new information and videos are coming thick and fast. Microsoft has posted another promotional video for its Xbox One console, due to be released November 22.

This video shows some of the Xbox One's features and some gameplay clips from Forza Motorsport 5, FIFA 14, Titanfall and Son of Rome.

The video clearly sells the Xbox One as the ultimate device for your living room's entertainment needs., reminding you of its movie and live TV abilities.

Check it out.