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NVIDIA announced this week that it was cutting the price of its SHIELD handheld games device to $299, ahead of its launch on June 27.

That's a drop of $50 off the original $349 price tag. If you've already pre-ordered SHIELD, you'll be charged the new, lower price, NVIDIA assured those who jumped on it early.

The handheld will be available from Newegg, GameStop, Micro Center and Canada Computers on Thursday, June 27.

"We want to get SHIELD into the hands of as many gamers as possible," an NVIDIA press release said.

The unveiling of the SHIELD (then Project SHIELD) at CES, and prior rumours, came as something of a surprise since the SHIELD enters a space already occupied by Nintendo, Sony and now every modern smartphone and tablet PC too.

NVIDIA SHIELD's specifications:

• Tegra 4 – The world's fastest mobile processor delivers rich graphics and unbeatable performance thanks to 72 GPU cores, four CPU cores and 2GB of RAM
• Console-grade controller – Precise control thanks to dual analog joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analog triggers, full-sized bumpers and A/B/X/Y buttons
• Multi-touch display – 5-inch, 720p retinal multi-touch display for high-fidelity visuals
• Integrated speakers – Custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system – we think this is SHIELD's sleeper feature
• Wi-Fi – 802.11n 2X2 MIMO game-speed Wi-Fi for game streaming
• Pure Android – Latest Android Jelly Bean operating system from Google, for access to Android games and apps
• There's more – NVIDIA put into SHIELD everything we would want in a premium mobile gaming device: 16 GB memory, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI output, micro-USB 2.0, a microSD storage slot, a 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack

Samsung is preparing to roll out its new 55-inch OLED television in its home South Korean market, according to a report by the Yonhap news agency.

This means Samsung is bringing forward its plans slightly, most likely to respond to moves made by LG Electronics, which began taking orders for its own 55-inch organic light-emitting diode TV in January this year.

Samsung is the global leader of flat-panel televisions, and certainly won't want to concede too much group early in the battle over next-generation TVs. OLED TVs promise slimmer designs, much better images and better power consumption than other technologies, such as LCD TVs that require a backlight.

Samsung is also expected to launch an OLED TV with a curved in South Korea, along with its 55-inch TV.

Early adopters however will really have to break the bank, with the estimated cost of a beautiful 55-inch OLED display from Samsung being around 10 million won, or about $8657 at the current exchange rate.

Intel has joined the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Wireless Power - A4WP - a group developing standard for interoperable wireless charging solutions.

Intel joins existing A4WP board member companies including Broadcom, Gill Industries, Integrated Device Technology (IDT), Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

A4WP technology, which uses near-field magnetic resonance technology, is uniquely capable of enabling the simultaneous charging of multiple devices and the flexible positioning of devices to be charged in multiple dimensions and at power levels and charging times that meet consumer expectations.

The A4WP organization is composed of more than 40 global, technology industry leaders. For industrial designers, the A4WP specification utilizes a near-field magnetic resonance technology that provides increased flexibility for charging solutions to be installed into all types of products and surfaces (cars, furniture, etc.).

"Intel believes the A4WP specification, particularly the use of near-field magnetic resonance technology, can provide a compelling consumer experience and enable new usage models that make device charging almost automatic," said Navin Shenoy, vice president, PC client group and general manager, mobile client platform division at Intel.

BitTorrent has announced that it has reached a new mobile milestone of 25 million users using its apps.

"We're stoked that 25 million of you are now getting your torrents to go. Guess this smartphone revolution thing that people are talking about is for real," a post on the company blog said.

It also announced updates to the BitTorrent and µTorrent mobile apps for stability, performance and speed. A new central location for uTorrent mobile apps will also be launched soon at utorrent.com/mobile.

"To all our mobile users: thank you times 25 million," the blog post reads.

Of course, 25 million is nothing compared to the numbers of BitTorrent users on PCs. Obviously, limitations with data, storage and the usefulness of downloaded files may hold mobile apps back, but Android versions of BitTorrent clients are likely to get more popular as more low-cost Android devices are sold as alternatives to PCs.

Amazon.com has set the launch date of the Xbox One console for November 27th, despite Microsoft not revealing an official date yet.

On the Product Page of the "Xbox One Console - Day One Edition", Amazon declares that the $500 console will be released on November 27, 2013. Whether that indicates it is privy to official information is unclear though, as it wouldn't be the first time that it was wrong.

The website also has listed the launch date of Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3 Day One Edition, and Kinect Sports: Rivals Day One Edition at November 27.

Elsewhere, numerous sources claimed that Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) console is set to launch on November 13.

If the dates are correct, then it should help somewhat with possible supply shortages before Christmas. Microsoft has already warned that its pre-order sales quotes are selling out around the world. Whatever happens, the launch supply simply could not be as limited as the Xbox 360 was.

Google announced earlier this week that the number of stores selling Chromebooks has tripled worldwide to 6,600, greatly expanding access to the low budget devices.

It announced earlier this week that Walmart has made the newest Acer Chromebook, which has a 16GB Solid State Drive (SSD), available in approximately 2,800 stores across the U.S., selling for $199. Over the weekend, Staples also began selling Chromebooks from Acer, HP and Samsung to every store in the U.S.--more than 1,500 in total.

In the 10 other markets worldwide where Chromebooks are sold, availability in national retailers continues to expand. In addition to Dixons in the UK, now 116 Tesco stores are selling Chromebooks, as well as all Media Markt and Saturn stores in the Netherlands, FNAC stores in France and Elgiganten stores in Sweden.

In Australia, all JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman stores will be carrying Chromebooks for their customers as well.

"We're working hard to bring Chromebooks to even more countries later this year," David Shapiro, Director of Chromebook Marketing, wrote.

Malwarebytes has released a beta of its new Anti-Exploit tool, a result of its acquisition of ZeroVulnerabilityLabs' ExploitShield application.

Anti-Exploit is not an anti-virus or anti-malware tool. Instead, Anti-Exploit runs in the background and monitors some popular applications, preventing vulnerabilities in the software from being exploited. This could be, for example, an attempt to exploit a bug in a web browser that used a maliciously crafted website.

It does not need to download large amounts of definitions every day to work either, it can even be effective at blocking the exploits of vulnerabilities that are not known about by the vendor of the software.

The tool is made with simplicity in mind; simply run the installer and it will then run in the background automatically. If you check the System Tray, you will see an icon that you can double-click to bring up the user interface of Anti-Exploit, allowing you to enable/disable protection, view a list of applications it protects against exploitation, view a log of blocked exploit attempts and set any exceptions that you would like.

On Friday, Facebook upgraded its Instagram photo-sharing service to support video.

The service now allows 15 second clips to be uploaded, including 13 filters. Twitter-owned rival Vine allows for 6 second videos.

Instagram announced this weekend that within 24 hours of the upgrade, 5 million videos were uploaded to the service.

During peak hours, users uploaded around 40 hours of video per minute.

Instagram has over 130 million users on iOS and Android.

While Sony has kept mum on the exact release date, multiple sources reported today that the upcoming PlayStation 4 will be released on November 13th.

So far, Sony has only said the console will launch during the "holiday 2013" but has not revealed an exact date.

One source is retailer Media Markt in Germany, who has already put up posters with the 11/13 date. Additionally, Dutch retailer Bol.com also put up advertisements with the date.

A Sony spokesperson was quick to call the retailer listings "speculative" but there was no official denial.

The console will sell for $399 later this year.

Legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy has just released their latest single as a special, free BitTorrent bundle.

The single, "Get Up Stand Up" is completely free and more of their music can be "unlocked" if you share an email address.

Additionally, the group also added 37 multitracks, inviting downloaders to share remixes they create through BitTorrent's SoShare service.

Public Enemy will release the best remix and runners-up will receive various prizes.

More info here, including the download link.

TorrentFreak has put together their most recent list, the top 10 most pirated TV shows of the last season.

Game of Thrones was the clear champion but there were a few surprises on the list, as well.

Perhaps most notably, the number of downloads for the HBO blockbuster jumped 25 percent from last season.

The below list is an estimate per single episode, for the season that started in March and just ended in June. The data is collected from public torrent trackers, and does not include cyberlockers, online streaming or private torrent trackers, meaning these numbers are likely very low compared to the real figures.

AppleInsider has posted two high quality 3D renders of the alleged upcoming low-cost 'iPhone Lite.'

Shown below, the device is based on blueprint images and schematics that leaked earlier this month.

Accessory companies have led credence to the leak and are currently building cases for the new form factor.

From what we know so far, the device will have a 4-inch screen, have circular speaker and microphone holes just like the 6th generation iPod Touch, include a Lightning port, the volume controls are pill shaped and the back corners are curved. The phone will have a plastic back cover and will be thicker than the iPhone 5.

Although it is considered a "Lite" model it is not expected to be really cheap. The device is expected to take the spot of the iPhone 4S when the 5S is released, since it will be more powerful.

Pictures:

Over the weekend, Wal-Mart announced it has slashed prices on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, ahead of this fall's launch of the iPhone 5S.

The iPhone 4S will drop from $89 to $39, while the newer 5 will drop to $129 from $189.

Of course, those prices come with a new two-year contract, which you can choose from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint.

Wal-Mart's prices are the cheapest currently for an iPhone, unless you take advantage of Apple's or Best Buy's new iPhone trade-in programs.

Sony's PlayStation Europe twitter feed is promising another update to the console to address an issue with a recent pulled update that disabled a number of PS3 consoles.

Some unlucky PS3 owners who applied the recent 4.45 update found that their console now just hangs on start-up. When the issue started to get attention, Sony pulled the 4.45 update and began to investigate the issue.

Now, according to the PlayStation Europe twitter feed, Sony has identified the issue related to the 4.45 update, and is planning to release a new software update that resolves the issue on June 27.

Hi guys, we have identified the issue related to PS3 software update (4.45) that impacted a small number of PS3 systems earlier this week.

-- PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) June 21, 2013

A new system software update is planned to be released on June 27 that resolves the issue.

-- PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) June 21, 2013

Thanks again for your patience and understanding and we apologise for the inconvenience.

-- PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) June 21, 2013

Google has once against come under fire in Europe, with France and Spain probing its change to its privacy policies, made in 2012.

The search giant had been warned by the European Union about its move to "simplify privacy," in which it combined its users' data across all of its services such as GMail, YouTube and Google+. At the time, the European Union gave Google four months to rethink its actions, but the deadline came and passed.

Now, individual states within the EU are starting their own actions against Google.

Spain's Data Protection Agency claims to have identified evidence of five serious privacy laws breaches, including a disproportionate use of private data, diverting private data for other uses, storing private data for excessive or undetermined periods, failure to handle private data in a legitimate way and obstructing users in the exercise of their rights.

The French National Commission on Computing and Freedom (CNIL) also wants Google to explain what it is using personal data for, and how long it is held by the company.

These latest actions join similar probes into alleged privacy violations by Google, being carried out in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.