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AfterDawn: News

Xbox One will support used games, won't require Internet connection for Offline gaming

Written by James Delahunty @ 20 Jun 2013 9:38

Xbox One will support used games, won't require Internet connection for Offline gaming Microsoft has caved to criticism from gamers and others in the industry, killing plans to require Internet connection for Offline play and limiting the ability to play used games.

The announcement has come from Microsoft just one week after E3, where the new Xbox One system was unveiled by the company, before the PS4 was shown off to the world. Microsoft's policies toward playing used games and a requirement of regularly connecting to the Internet were heavily criticized, handing a huge advantage to Sony's console.

Don Mattrick, President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, said that company listened to gamers' reactions to the new console, and has decided to make some changes.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

HP, Samsung team up to fight Windows piracy in China

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Jun 2013 11:25

HP, Samsung team up to fight Windows piracy in China HP and Samsung have teamed up to fight Windows OS piracy in China.

The companies will now ensure that all PCs sold in the nation are pre-installed with licensed versions of Windows and Microsoft Office.

Microsoft announced the new agreements as part of an anti-piracy campaign event in the Chinese city of Nanjing. The campaign, dubbed "Keep it Real," is meant to educate the Chinese public "on security risks of using unlicensed Windows software."

Additionally, Microsoft has been warning dozens of Chinese resellers to stop selling pirated versions of Windows in the nation.

The move is similar to the deal Microsoft struck with Lenovo, one of the world's biggest PC makers, two months ago.

China is widely regarded as a country with high rates of Windows piracy, where users are more open to exploits due to outdated versions of the operating system.




AfterDawn: News

John McAfee releases parody video about virus software, bath salts

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Jun 2013 10:23

John McAfee releases parody video about virus software, bath salts Resident crazy person John McAfee has released a video to his YouTube channel, showing off how to uninstall McAfee anti-virus software, the software he founded.

The four-minute video, dubbed "How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus," includes a lot of green screen action, nudity, drugs and supposedly, humor.

Please be reminded McAfee has been questioned for murder and has admitted to consuming the drug known as bath salts

This clip is NSFW:




AfterDawn: News

Dish drops Sprint bid to focus on Clearwire

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jun 2013 10:40

Dish drops Sprint bid to focus on Clearwire Dish Network has announced today that they will not be making new bids for Sprint, instead choosing to focus on 4G spectrum company Clearwire.

The news should be a relief for Japanese carrier SoftBank, who had to up their original bid as Dish tried to counter. SoftBank bid $21.6 billion for a 78 percent share of the company.

Although the company says it "continues to see strategic value in a merger with Sprint" but will not offer a new bid before the June 18th deadline set by Sprint's board.

Sprint also bid for Clearwire earlier this year, at $3.40 per share. Dish countered with $4.40 per share, and Clearwire's board recommended that shareholder vote for Dish's superior offer.




AfterDawn: News

Sony Xperia Z gets American carrier

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jun 2013 10:15

Sony Xperia Z gets American carrier The Xperia Z, Sony's high-end flagship will finally be headed to the U.S., as the company has signed on with a carrier.

T-Mobile USA will exclusively make the phone available in the "coming weeks" in both black and "limited-edition" purple.

The device runs on Android 4.2.x, has a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, 1080p display, and a 13-megapixel Exmor RS camera with HDR video.

Pricing is unclear, but the device is expected to cost $500 unlocked.




AfterDawn: News

Huawei not interested in purchasing Nokia

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jun 2013 10:00

Huawei not interested in purchasing Nokia Large Chinese network equipment and smartphone maker Huawei has denied it has interest in purchasing struggling phone maker Nokia.

The company responded to multiple reports by stating it has "no plans to acquire Nokia," although a partnership could make sense.

Huawei vice president for external affairs Bill Plummer, added that the company's Windows Phone offerings do not have enough penetration yet around the globe.

The company is one of the top smartphone makers in the world, but has literally no presence in the U.S.




AfterDawn: News

Moto X smartphone to feature mediocre specs?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jun 2013 12:00

Moto X smartphone to feature mediocre specs? Evleaks, well respected for leaks in the mobile phone industry, has posted the specs for the upcoming Moto X device.

The phone is expected to be the centerpiece of Motorola's new fall 2013 lineup, and it will have significant input from new parent company Google.

If the leaked specs are accurate, the phone will be disappointing a 1.7GHz Snapdragon MSM8960 Pro SoC, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 720p display, a 10MP camera and stock Android 4.2.2.

The Moto X has been rumored to be a customizable phone, allowing users to pick and choose certain specs, so these could well be base components.




AfterDawn: News

Netflix signs exclusive deal with DreamWorks Animation

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2013 10:48

Netflix signs exclusive deal with DreamWorks Animation Netflix and DreamWorks Animation have announced today a new exclusive deal that will make the streaming service "the home of new original series from the award-winning creators of global box-office hits including the Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon franchises."

The streaming service says the deal is the largest in its history for first-run content.

DreamWorks has been looking to expand its television production and distribution worldwide and the new deal is for 300 hours of programming. The new shows will include characters well known from their time on the big screen.

The first shows are expected to air in 2014, and the series will be available in all Netflix territories.

"DreamWorks Animation is a valued partner in our global efforts to provide families the most engaging stories delivered however, whenever and wherever they want," said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. "This deal represents a major expansion of what's already a phenomenal relationship, allowing us to bring beloved DreamWorks characters to the 40 countries where Netflix operates and setting the stage for us to innovate together as we expand into new markets."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Rumor: Instagram getting video this week?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2013 10:00

Rumor: Instagram getting video this week? Facebook is holding a press event later this week, in which it is expected to announce something big for its platform.

The most cited rumor is that Facebook will update its popular photo-sharing app Instagram to include short video sharing, just like rival application Vine.

Facebook's event is on June 20th, but the social networking giant has kept details under wraps.

Instagram has been said to be internally testing video and it is unclear whether the update will allow filters for video, as well.

The move would be a direct reaction to the Twitter-owned Vine, which allows users to share six seconds of video footage via iOS and Android and is deeply integrated with Twitter. Despite being much newer, Vine shares have already surpassed Instagram shares on Twitter.




AfterDawn: News

Nintendo not planning Wii U price drop

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2013 9:13

Nintendo not planning Wii U price drop Speaking earlier this week with GamesBeat, Nintendo marketing exec Scott Moffitt says the company has no plans to drop the price of the struggling Wii U console.

Many had expected a price drop at E3, but it never came.

Says the exec: "We have no plans to change the price of Wii U. The Wii U is a great value. With great content coming, that will drive the hardware installed base. We've gone from being the highest-priced console on the market to now being a great value with the announcements from our competitors. The perception of our price has changed, but what's also changed is that people now see what great content is coming. They'll see the value in those games. They'll be able to enjoy a Wii U in their household for a lot less than a competing console."

The games Moffitt is talking about are the upcoming first-party guaranteed hits, Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda and Mario Kart 8.




AfterDawn: News

Samsung device owners to get Jay-Z's latest album 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' early, and for free

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2013 9:00

Samsung device owners to get Jay-Z's latest album 'Magna Carta Holy Grail' early, and for free Last night, during Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Samsung and Jay-Z played a three minute commercial showing off a new partnership between the two brands.

Jay-Z's newly announced album, "Magna Carta Holy Grail," which goes on sale on July 7th, will be available to 1 million lucky Galaxy S3, S4 and Note II owners who download a special app.

The app will be available on June 24th and gives an "unprecedented inside look into the album personal stories and inspiration," besides the actual album itself. App downloaders get the album three days early, on Independence Day, for free.

Reports claim that Samsung paid $5 for each album, meaning Jay-Z and his label have pocketed $5 million weeks before the CD even launches.

Here is the commercial from last night:




AfterDawn: News

Amazon takes down Facebook poll after PS4 destroys Xbox One

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2013 10:54

Amazon takes down Facebook poll after PS4 destroys Xbox One On June 13th, Amazon put a poll up on their Video Games division's Facebook page asking consumers one simple question; Do you prefer the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One.

Three days and over 40,000 votes later, the etailing giant has taken down the poll prematurely, as it was set to run until June 20th.

The PS4 absolutely demolished the Xbox One, with 38,984 votes for the Sony console and just 2162 votes for the Microsoft rival.

At this point in the next-gen console wars, it appears Sony has the upper hand, thanks to a more pro-consumer approach.

Sony has no restrictions on used discs being played on any console, does not require online authentication to play single player modes, and costs $399 compared to the Xbox at $499, although that does include the Kinect system, as well.




AfterDawn: News

Microsoft used a PC with Nvidia to demo Xbox One games at E3, not dev kit

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2013 9:07

Microsoft used a PC with Nvidia to demo Xbox One games at E3, not dev kit CinemaBlend has reported that Microsoft did not use a dev kit to demo its Xbox One games at E3, instead using high-end PCs.

The console maker was using an HP built Windows 7 system with a Nvidia 700 series GTX GPU.

Making that more notable, is the fact that the upcoming console will use a mid-range AMD GPU, a far cry away from the Nvidia used. It is also odd that the company did not use a dev kit, like Sony did for their presentation.

Also of note, the company did not use their latest Windows 8 operating system, leading many to believe that the company did not trust its own struggling OS.




AfterDawn: News

Sony: We pledge 10 years of PS4 support

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2013 8:37

Sony: We pledge 10 years of PS4 support Shuhei Yoshida, Sony Computer Entertainment's first-party game boss, said during an interview this week that the company has pledged 10 years of support for the PS4.

The company expects the console will have as long of a lifespan as its predecessors, namely the PS2 and PS3.

"I would say the same or similar," says Yoshida, "because the PS4 has an incredible amount of RAM and I don't think any launch titles need that 8GB of RAM. So there's room for growth in both game content and system features".

One of those features, the oft-requested cross-game voice chat for the PS3, was never made available because system-level limitations made it impossible to launch. The PS4, however, can adapt and evolve. "In the middle of PS3 we really hit the limit with what we could do on the system side. We wanted to add the cross-game voice chat that many people asked us about, but we had no room in the system memory at all to add it. So the PS4's enlarged, very fast memory allows us in the future to improve and add more new features. And at the same time we are continuing to invest and add onto the online services so that, three years from now, the PS4 will be much, much better than PS4 this holiday - and that was the case on PS3 and PS Vita."




AfterDawn: News

Full list of currently announced PS4 games

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2013 8:21

Full list of currently announced PS4 games Multiple sources have been diligently putting together all of the announced games for the PS4, and we have a full list for the console now.

Starting with the exclusives:

Knack (Sony)
DC Universe Online (Sony Online Entertainment)
Planetside 2 (Sony Online Entertainment)
Hohokum (Sony Santa Monica)
The Order: 1866 (Ready At Dawn)
Killzone: Shadow Fall (Guerrilla Games)
Infamous: Second Son (Sucker Punch)
Drive Club (Evolution Studios)
Unnamed Move Game (Media Molecule)


Moving on to the third-party games:
Abe's Oddysee: New 'n' Tasty (Just Add Water)
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (Ubisoft)
Watch Dogs (Ubisoft)
Tom Clancy's The Division (Ubisoft Massive)
Final Fantasy XV (Square Enix)
Kingdom Hearts 3 (Square Enix)
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Square Enix)
Battlefield 4 (DICE)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED)
EA Sports UFC (EA Sports)
NBA Live (EA Sports)
Madden 25 (EA Sports)
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (Konami)
Deep Down (Capcom)
Daylight (Zombie Studios)
Mad Max (Avalance Studios)
Diablo 3 (Blizzard)
Destiny (Bungie)
Warframe (Digital Extremes)
Wolfenstein: The New Order (Machine Games)
The Evil Within (Tango Gameworks)
Sniper Elite 3 (505 Games)
Yager's Unreal Engine 4 game (Yager)
Batman: Arkham Origins (WB Montreal)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt)
APB: Vendetta (Reloaded Entertainment)
War Thunder (Gaijin Entertainment)
Carmageddon (Stainless Games)
Primal Carnage: Genesis (Lukewarm Media)
Mirror's Edge 2 (DICE)
The Crew (Reflections)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE)
Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare)
PES 2014 (Konami)
Thief (Eidos Montreal)
Blacklight: Retribution (Zombie Studios)
Call of Duty: Ghosts (Infinity Ward)
Skylanders: Swap Force (Activision)
Need for Speed Rivals (Ghost Games)
Elder Scrolls Online (Bethesda)
Dying Light (Techland)

Read more...



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