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VIDEO: PS4 dashboard demo from Hong Kong event

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 10:16

VIDEO: PS4 dashboard demo from Hong Kong event The PlayStation 4 (PS4) UI/Dashboard was shown off at an event in Hong Kong several days ago.

Microsoft has already shown off the Dashboard of the Xbox One ahead of its November 22 launch, but even though the PS4 is only days away from its North American released, Sony has not done the same yet.

If you want to take a look at the Dashboard, a video has shown up that shows a demonstration of the PS4 dashboard. It is from a recent Hong Kong event, and is in both Japanese and Cantonese, but the Dashboard itself is very easy to understand.

The video is embedded below, but you should skip to around 4:40 to start the demonstration. Sony will likely provide something more informative in English before Friday.

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AfterDawn: News

FBI hunts elusive malware author, offers $50k for information

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 9:59

FBI hunts elusive malware author, offers $50k for information The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified a malware author as one of its most wanted, and is offering a reward up to $50,000 for information.

The FBI identifies the individual (pictured) as Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara. His alleged crime is authoring malicious software that he sold to customers to use to spy on people. At first, his spyware was called "Email PI" but changed its name to "Lover Spy" in summer 2003, sold to customers as a way to catch a cheating partner.

The Feds allege that the program would periodically send e-mail messages back to the purchasers of the service containing the acquired communications, including the victims' passwords, lists of visited websites, intercepted e-mail messages, and keystroke logs.

The malware was delivered to a victim by e-mail, posing as an electronic greeting card.

So what's the big deal? Of course, the use of such software and its marketing is illegal but isn't there more serious cybercrime to worry about than a piece of software that's over a decade old?

Well it would appear that Perez-Melara is coming under increased scrutiny because he is simply elusive. An arrest warrant was issued for the El Salvadoran on July 21, 2005, but in the eight years that have passed since, he has dropped completely off law enforcement radar.

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AfterDawn: News

Microsoft: We could have focused more on PC gaming

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 9:49

Microsoft: We could have focused more on PC gaming Microsoft has admitted that it could have done more in the PC gaming space, and that it was probably too focused purely on console.

The comments came from Microsoft's Phil Spencer, who had some praise for Valve's Steam platform and some apparent regrets from Microsoft's point of view.

"Valve is right down the street from us. They've done a great job of keeping the PC ecosystem strong at a time where I don't mind saying that we could have been more focused on what was going on in PC gaming," Spencer told GamesBeat.

"We were probably too focused purely on console. With Steam, Valve has done an amazing job of building this thing that, in a lot of ways, we should have been building as well at Microsoft."

Spencer did have some warnings for Valve though, regarding the release of Steam machines and SteamOS.

"That's an evolutionary jump. They made the jump from building Half-Life to having a set of franchises to running Steam. They did a good job of learning through that. Now they're taking the next job to become a platform company--in some sense a hardware company, but in the truest sense more of an OS company. That's not an easy transition," he said.

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AfterDawn: News

U-Turn! Skype to retain call recording, compatibility with hardware devices

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 9:42

U-Turn! Skype to retain call recording, compatibility with hardware devices Skype has performed a bit of a u-turn by announcing it will retain support for call recording and compatibility with hardware devices that use the service.

Skype had initially warned that Skype plug-ins and hardware would stop working with the service as soon as the old Desktop API was due to be retired. The change would also effect the use of Skype through third party applications.

However, Skype has now announced that it will retain support for hardware devices and for call recording until it determines alternative options or retires the current solution.

Unfortunately, third party applications will cease to work as previously communicated by the Microsoft service.

"The current Desktop API extensibility model wasn't built for the cloud connected world – as extensibility is only available on the Windows Desktop and Mac clients, leaving the Windows 8 store app, mobile apps, web experiences, and Xbox out of the [always] connected experience. The extensibility model of running only on one type of end point needs to evolve to benefit from this new design pattern," Skype's Noah Edelstein, wrote earlier this week.




AfterDawn: News

BlackBerry rejected any breakup proposals

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Nov 2013 9:12

BlackBerry rejected any breakup proposals BlackBerry's board of directors rejected any proposals that required the company to be broken up, as it does not believe a breakup is in best interest of the company or investors.

Microsoft, Apple, Lenovo and many others expressed interest in parts (but not the whole) of BlackBerry over the past three months.

Cisco, Google and Lenovo had interest in unknown parts of the company, while Apple and Microsoft wanted the company's IP and patents.

Last week, BlackBerry announced it had scrapped its tentative $4.7 billion plan to go private and would instead remain public with a new $1 billion investment from multiple shareholders. CEO Thorsten Heins has been replaced, and is stepping down immediately with John Chen taking over on an interim basis. Chen was the former CEO of Sybase Inc.

The company has sold $1 billion of convertible debt to large shareholder Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and a number of other institutional investors. Fairfax owns 10 percent of BlackBerry already.




AfterDawn: News

Kickstarter scammer backed over 100 projects

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Nov 2013 8:41

Kickstarter scammer backed over 100 projects Kickstarter has confirmed it has permanently banned one backer who made malicious donations to over 100 different campaigns.

The user would pay, wait until the reward or product was shipped and then dispute the credit card charge, scamming the product maker and the credit card companies.

Chargeback scams like this have been around forever online, and in smaller iterations on Kickstarter, as well. The pledger in question went by the name Encik Farhan, and his donations were also all cancelled. Says Kickstarter: "Kickstarter and Amazon Payments, our US payments processor, were recently alerted to a series of malicious pledges by a single individual to more than 100 Kickstarter projects. Upon learning this information, we shut down this person's account, canceled their live pledges, and permanently banned them from Kickstarter."

"Kickstarter and Amazon are working together to investigate this situation. We won't let a single bad apple harm the integrity or goodwill of our incredible community," adds the crowdfunding giant.




AfterDawn: News

Xbox One owner banned from LIVE is invited to launch event

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 7:26

Xbox One owner banned from LIVE is invited to launch event The man who spilled loads of details and images to Twitter after receiving an Xbox One from Target by mistake has been invited to the Xbox One launch.

André Weingarten - aka @Moonlightswami - got a pleasant surprise when his standard edition Xbox One console arrived on Friday ahead of the its November 22 launch. He immediately went to GameStop and got Call of Duty: Ghosts which is already on sale.

When he returned home, he had to download a 500MB day one update and setup Kinect. He took to Twitter to spill details about the Xbox One and also posted an unboxing video to YouTube. Within hours however, the video was removed from YouTube on copyright grounds and Weingarten's console was banned from Xbox Live.

Seeing what had happened, Xbox's Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb reached out to Weingarten.


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AfterDawn: News

Google's mysterious barge off San Francisco will be a "technology exhibition space"

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Nov 2013 7:01

Google's mysterious barge off San Francisco will be a "technology exhibition space" For months now, a mysterious four-story barge has been being built at the port of San Francisco, and more recently it was revealed Google was the owner, although it was unclear what the barge would hold.

It has now been revealed that the barge will be a "technology exhibition space" that will migrate to a few ports in the San Francisco Bay area and other West coast locations for the next two years.

"We believe this curious and visually stunning structure will be a welcome addition to the waterfront; an experience unlike any other that celebrates community, local organizations and the history of San Francisco," reads a 36-page document submitted to the port.

Google, as a response, says they are "exploring using the barge as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology," but that the plans could ultimately change.

The barge will have over 13,000 square feet of studio space, and will include catwalks and a rooftop deck, reads the document. The space will stay open from 10am to 10pm, and the entire second and third floors will house technology demonstrations.

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AfterDawn: News

PIC: Amazon teases army of PS4s waiting to be shipped

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 6:28

PIC: Amazon teases army of PS4s waiting to be shipped Amazon has used its Amazon Video Games Twitter account to show off its growing stock of the PlayStation 4 (PS4) console.

The PlayStation 4 launches this coming Friday, November 15, in North America. It will launch in Europe on November 29.

Amazon just wanted to show all of you who have made pre-orders and are eagerly anticipating the console's launch that it is filling its warehouses with them, getting ready to ship them out.

"Greatness has arrived. Will it be coming to you?" Amazon's Twitter account teases, with this picture.




(Image Source: @amazongames




AfterDawn: News

Amount of mobile malware strains for Android increasing quickly

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Nov 2013 5:12

Amount of mobile malware strains for Android increasing quickly According to the latest F-Secure report, mobile malware threat families rose 26 percent quarter-over-quarter, to 259.

The security firm says it uses data from the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store, third-party app markets and other anonymized data from F-Secure's own mobile security customers.

As expected, most of the threats are aimed at Google's open Android, with the company saying 97 percent of the malware is for the operating system. The other three percent is aimed at Symbian, the now defunct OS previously run by Nokia. The figure is none too surprising either, given that Android owns 80 percent of the global market share for smartphones.

There was no malware found for iOS, BlackBerry 7 or 10, or Windows Phone.

Most notably, a toolkit for Android malware was created called 'Androrat APK binder,' which helps those who want to insert malicious code in legitimate Android apps. This development is scary for Android device owners and developers alike. Additionally, there was an increase in threats that used infected devices to send premium-rate SMS messages without the owners consent. Some of the SMS-sending trojan families are called FakeInst, OpFake, PremiumSms and SmsSend.

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AfterDawn: News

Report: iPhones with 4.7-inch curved display coming next year

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Nov 2013 3:02

Report: iPhones with 4.7-inch curved display coming next year According to Bloomberg, Apple is designing new iPhones with bigger screens and curved glass that will include enhanced sensors to detect levels of pressure.

The devices, one with a 4.7-inch display and the other with 5.5-inches, will be easily Apple's largest phones, ever. The displays will curve downward at the edges.

Rivals Samsung and LG recently revealed their curved glass smartphones, the Round and G Flex, respectively although the practical uses of a flexible display remain low, at least in 2013.

In addition, the company continues to test the pressure-sensitive technology, although it may not be ready for 2014 edition iPhones.




AfterDawn: News

Seagate reveals 'world's thinnest' 2TB HDD

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Nov 2013 1:55

Seagate reveals 'world's thinnest' 2TB HDD Seagate has announced their new Samsung-branded Spinpoint M9T, an HDD the company calls the world's thinnest at the 2TB storage point.

The 2.5-inch drive is just 9.5mm thin, and Seagate also offers it in a 1.5TB capacity.

"The M9T combines the highest areal density shipping in a single storage device with an innovative design that fits into mainstream notebook applications. While other 2TB are solutions on the market are 15 mm thick, the vast majority of mobile devices are designed to use a 9.5 mm drive; with the M9T, those devices can now have 2TB of storage, enabling a richer computing experience," noted Dave Frankovich, senior product line manager, Samsung HDD.

"Samsung HDD with the new Spinpoint M9T continues to lead the effort in aerial density in a small form factor to supply our channel partners and customers with the highest-capacity and thinnest storage solution in the market," added Doug DeHaan, general manager, Samsung HDD division. "With consumer demand for storage capacity continuing to grow in mobile applications, the M9T answers this demand and is positioned to fulfill capacity needs in virtually any application."

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AfterDawn: News

Oops! Target admits shipping Xbox One consoles accidentally

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 3:55

Oops! Target admits shipping Xbox One consoles accidentally Target has admitted that one of its distribution centers shipped Xbox One consoles to a small number of customers ahead of the its November 22 launch.

Over the past couple of days it became clear that Xbox One consoles had made their way into the hands of some people who pre-ordered them. A couple of them have been removed from eBay, after sellers listed them for a considerable write-up of their $500 value.

Target has admitted that the mistake was made by one of its distribution centers. Basically, Target had restricted the shipping of Day One edition Xbox One consoles until November 22, but didn't have such a restriction on the standard edition consoles which arrived later.

Most distribution centers realized the mistake in time and kept their stock in place, but apparently one jumped the gun and shipped to a small number of people.

"Due to a systems error, Target shipped a small number of video game consoles prior to the street date," a Target spokesperson said in a statement to Kotaku.

"The vast majority of video game preorders are slated to arrive on the street date."

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AfterDawn: News

PSN friends list limit increased to 2,000

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 3:49

PSN friends list limit increased to 2,000 You can now have 2,000 friends on Sony's PlayStation Network (PSN) service, but you're still stuck on 100 on PlayStation 3.

Sony has increased the amount of friends you have have on PlayStation Network (PSN) from 100 to 2,000. The limit change had been previously announced and was expected to coincide with the launch of the PlayStation 4 this coming Friday, November 15.

However, Sony has made the change already and if you have a PS Vita you can already take advantage of the increase.

On the PlayStation 3, the limit remains 100 but even if you add extra friends through PS Vita, or through PS4 from next week, network servers will automatically filter your friend's list when you play on the PS3, showing your active friends.




AfterDawn: News

Xbox Video to be cut from WP7, Zune client and Zune devices

Written by James Delahunty @ 10 Nov 2013 3:42

Xbox Video to be cut from WP7, Zune client and Zune devices If you own a Windows Phone 7 device, or a Zune device and have bought content from Xbox Video, then you'd better read this.

Microsoft has revealed that from February, Windows Phone 7 devices, Zune devices and the Zune PC client will no longer be able to play Xbox Video content. So if you have previously purchased content from Xbox Video, you won't be able to play it on that hardware/software.

"This update will allow us to more quickly and efficiently add the highest quality video content to the Xbox Video service," The Xbox Video Team said.

For content that you have purchased, you can still view it on your PC or Mac at XboxVideo.com, or on an Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows 8 / 8.1 PC or on a Windows Phone 8 device.

Support for Windows Phone 7 devices, Zune devices and the Zune PC client will be cut from "late February 2014."

You've been warned!





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