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Microsoft's Age of Empires will reportedly soon be available for IOS and Android devices, through a partnership with Japan's KLab Inc.

The move comes as Microsoft seeks to generate more revenue from mobile gaming, which has been emerging as a bigger rival to traditional games consoles and PC gaming in recent years. It has made some of its games available for mobile platforms before, but Age of Empires will be its most popular.

KLab will be tasked with developing the mobile version of Age of Empires, which will be released "before the end of March," according to a KLab spokesperson.

Nintendo is being urged by industry analysts to do the same thing with its own popular franchises, which it typically reserves for its own hardware.

A Chinese group is claiming to have already cracked the Lightening authentication feature ahead of the iOS 7 launch.

Defeating the authentication system would allow manufacturers to make Lightning-compatible accessories without getting approval from Apple.

iPhone5mod's Lightning crack is hardware based, and it claims Apple could not defeat the crack without changing its own Lightning hardware. It now lists Lightning products on its website that are listed as "for iOS 7.0".

iO7 devices will prompt a warning message to users when an uncertified Lightning cable is connected to it.

Here is a video from iPhone5mod about the hack.

Sony has scheduled routing maintenance for its PlayStation Network service for the morning of Tuesday, June 25.

This maintenance will start at approximately 9:30AM PT (10:30AM MT / 11:30AM CT / 12:30 PM ET) and will last until around 4:00PM PT (5:00PM MT / 6:00PM CT / 7:00PM ET).

During the maintenance period, you may receive a maintenance notification when attempting to access PSN.

PlayStation Home, the PlayStation Store and Account Management will not the available during the maintenance period but you will be able to access online play and apps provided that you have signed in to the Network at some before the maintenance begins.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your support," the PlayStation Blog reads.

Google feels that it has done enough to ease concerns of European regulators over its Search and other services.

The European Commission first began its Google probe three years ago, after complaints from Microsoft, British price comparison site Foundem, and more. They claimed that Google was using its dominance of the market to squeeze them out.

Subsequently, the Commission outlined areas of concern to Google, and Google responded with proposals to settle the case, which could potentially lead to a fine of up to $5 billion.

Among Google's proposed concessions was a pledge to make switching to alternative advertising platforms easier, as well as clearly labelling its own products and services when they appear in its search results.

EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia has indicated since that Google would need to improve its proposals, but the search giant feels it has done enough.

"As we've always said, we build Google for users, not websites. And we don't want to hamper the very innovations that people like best about Google's services," Kent Walker, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Google, wrote.

Google's Street View has just covered its first skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, letting you take a look at the world's tallest building.

The Street View Trekker and Trolley were used to cover areas of the iconic building, the first collection made by the service in the Arab world. Described as a "vertical city," the Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest manmade structure, towering over the Dubai skyline at 828 meters (2,717 ft).

In addition to the breathtaking views from the world's tallest observation deck on the 124th floor, you can also see what it feels like to hang off one of the building's maintenance units on the 80th floor, normally used for cleaning windows.

Visit the highest occupied floor in the world on the 163rd floor, experience being in the fastest-moving elevators in the world (at 22 mph) and check out the highest swimming pool in the world on the 76th floor.

Photo-sharing service Snapjoy has announced it is shutting down only six months after the service was bought by cloud storage service Dropbox.

In a blog post on Saturday, the Snapjoy team informed users that no more photos can now be uploaded to the service, and that the Snapjoy iPhone app is no longer available. Photos previously uploaded to the site will be available to download until July 24.

After July 24, all remaining data will be permanently deleted.

"After two years of building Snapjoy, the time has come for us to shut down the service," the post reads. "It's been a journey unlike anything we'd imagined, and we can't thank you enough for your support and input along the way."

Users can easily download all of their content by logging in and downloading it as a ZIP archive.

Sony and Disney are running a test in South Korea, offering on-demand streams of movies that are still in theaters.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the pair started trialing the on-demand service quietly in South Korea some time back, with Django Unchained, Wreck-it Ralph, and Brave all part of the experiment.

Running the test in the South Korean market is a safer bet for the studios, as movie theater groups in the United States or European countries would likely kick up a major fuss if the exclusive theatrical window was effectively reduced to nothing.

In 2010, a plan to reduce the exclusive theatrical release window of Alice in Wonderland almost resulted in Odean cinemas in Ireland, the UK and Italy dropping the movie altogether.

HP has announced a new AIO (All-In-One) today, based on the Android operating system and an ARM architecture.

The 21.5-inch tablet has a 1080p touchscreen, runs Android 4.2.2 and is powered by a Nvidia Tegra 4 quad-core processor.

"Customers are looking for technology that simplifies their lives while keeping them connected to the entertainment they enjoy and the content they need," said Jun Kim, vice president and general manager, PC Displays and Accessories, HP. "The HP Slate21 allows families to easily access content through the cloud and enjoy it together on a large, interactive screen."

The company says the HP Slate21 All-in-One is expected to be available in the U.S. in September, with a starting price of $399.

Samsung has denied reports that it is planning to shut down its current PC business.

The report, originally from the Korea Times, said Samsung had decided to shutter its PC division, consolidating their businesses by moving to the OEM side and sticking to mobile devices for the consumer side.

Says Samsung: "The rumor that Samsung is withdrawing from the PC desktop business is groundless. Samsung will continue to offer diverse PC products according to consumer and market needs."

The reports did not make much sense to begin with, especially since Samsung just unveiled new Ativ touch-screen PCs during a full press event and reiterated support for notebooks and ultrabooks.

That being said, the traditional PC market is expected to see another annual decline in shipments, likely in double digits.

A few weeks after announcing the tablets, Samsung has officially priced their Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, 8.0 and 7.0 models.

The tablets will cost $399, $299 and $199, respectively, making them extremely competitively priced.

Each of the devices will be available at retailers such as Best Buy, Fry's and Amazon starting on July 7th, with pre-orders beginning in the next couple of hours.

The 8-inch version runs on a 1.5 GHz Exynos dual-core processor, has a WXGA TFT 1280 x 800 (189 PPI) display, 1.5GB of RAM, 1.3/5MP cameras, a 4,450 mAh battery, and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage depending on your needs.

Notably, the 10.1-inch model will run on a 1.6GHz Intel Haswell dual-core processor, a major score for the company as it tries to finally make a dent in the mobile markets. The device has a 1280 x 800 (149 PPI) WXGA TFT display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, and a large 6,800 mAh battery. Strangely, the cameras are 1.3/3MP, a letdown for those that were hoping were decent photo taking.

Major chipmaker Qualcomm has completed its investment in the struggling display maker Sharp.

The company announced it would be investing up to $120 million last December, but the second part of its investment was delayed when Sharp failed to meet certain conditions.

Now with all $120 million invested, Qualcomm is a 3.53% shareholder, one of the largest in the company.

Into the future, Qualcomm will be teaming up with Sharp for high-res IGZO displays mixed with Qualcomm MEM display products for smartphones and tablets.

Research firm Gartner has said today it expects combined PC, tablet and mobile phone shipments to reach 2.35 billion in 2013, a solid 5.9 percent increase from 2012 despite falling PC sales.

Tablet shipments are expected to jump 67.9 percent year-over-year, making up for a steep 10.6 percent decline in traditional PC shipments.

Traditional PCs (desktops and notebooks) will total 305 million units in 2013, with ultrabooks buoying that figure somewhat.

Tablet shipments will reach 202 million units, and mobile phones will grow to 1.8 billion units, a small 4.3 percent jump year-over-year.

"Consumers want anytime-anywhere computing that allows them to consume and create content with ease, but also share and access that content from a different portfolio of products. Mobility is paramount in both mature and emerging markets," added Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has contacted Google over its $1.1 billion acquisition of Israeli maps firm Waze.

Google confirmed it has been contacted by FTC lawyers, but did not provide details of the antitrust review. Previously, Consumer Watchdog had written to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission urging that it block the deal on antitrust grounds.

The FTC will probe whether the deal will have a significant impact on competition in the space, and whether there was ulterior motives in paying such a large fee for the company, such as buying it just to keep it out of hands of competitors.

Microsoft admitted that it was an investor in Waze but has not revealed whether it made a bid for the firm. Facebook had also been considered in the running to buy the firm, since it now relies on Bing Maps, and Apple.

Google said that it would keep Waze as a separate service, but that Waze' traffic data will be incorporated into its Google Maps service, and likewise some of Google Maps' features will be added to Waze.

The Waze navigation app has been downloaded by 45 million people in 190 countries.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is considering dropping 3D broadcasts of World Cup 2014, to be hosted by Brazil next summer.

Its unease about 3D broadcasts comes just days after ESPN revealed it will abandon 3D broadcasts altogether. ESPN found that there simply wasn't enough viewers in the United States to make continued investment in 3D broadcasts worthwhile.

"We know that the technology has had a few setbacks in recent days, if you refer to some of the statements by (ESPN)," Niclas Ericson, FIFA's director of television, said on Wednesday.

"It's clear when a big sports broadcaster like ESPN makes an announcement like that it creates a lot of extra tension (for the technology)."

Only an estimated 6 percent of household TVs in the United States can show 3D programming. Consumer demand for 3D has cooled largely due to costs associated with 3D, and the inconvenience of using active shutter glasses.

Nevertheless, FIFA has questioned rights holders about their interest in 3D coverage of the World Cup next year. Ericson said there is still some interest from broadcasters, but that FIFA was still reviewing the cost of it.

Microsoft revealed this week that its actions taken against Citadel botnets freed around 2 million PCs that made up the botnets.

On June 5, Microsoft was aided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in attempting to take down 1,400 malicious computer networks known as the Citadel Botnets by severing the access to infected machines. The operation, according to Microsoft, was a big success.

"We definitely have liberated at least 2 million PCs globally. That is a conservative estimate," Richard Domingues Boscovich, assistant general counsel with Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit, said in an interview.

"We feel confident that we really got most of the ones that we were after. It was a very, very successful disruptive action."

The ringleaders are still at large, while their identities are being probed. Boscovich said they believe the ringleader, known as "Aquabox," is in Eastern Europe.

As much as $500 million is alleged to have been stolen from bank accounts worldwide due to these malicious networks.