Hasta La Gadget!

Still not living up to its name, Evil Controllers is back with another invention that should be very beneficial to Xbox 360 gamers. The company has come up with an Xbox 360 controller with a built-in rechargeable battery, just like the PS3′s controllers.

I’m actually surprised that Microsoft hasn’t released a controller like this, although to its credit it has released external rechargeable battery packs that can last for an entire day of gaming. But as Evil Controllers mentions in its Kickstarter video below, a controller with an internal battery is more environment-friendly and much lighter. Plus, Evil’s version is a long-lasting Lithium-ion battery, so you can play for up to 10 hours straight without recharging. You can skip to about 1:10 in the video for the meat of the pitch:

Here’s a quick look at the controller:

If you watched the Kickstarter video then you know that Evil Controllers is very considerate with their reward tiers. Pledge at least $80 (USD) and you get an Xbox 360 controller with their custom backplate built-in, or just pledge $50 to get a DIY kit so you can install the backplate on your own controller. You know where to go.

[via Joystiq]

DETROIT — The family of a Detroit mosque leader has filed a lawsuit against FBI agents, saying his rights were violated when he was gunned down during a raid.

Luqman Abdullah was killed when agents tried to arrest him at a Dearborn warehouse in 2009. He and his allies were accused of dealing stolen goods in an FBI sting operation.

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Hope you weren’t waiting for an Acer Windows RT tablet. The company is not releasing its offering until later next year. Originally, Acer was going to launch Windows RT tablets in the first quarter of 2013, but the company is wisely going to sit on the sidelines a bit and watch the market’s reaction to other WinRT tabs — most notably the Microsoft Surface.

Acer President Jim Wong told Reuters today that his company is going to be more cautious because of the Surface. Acer was one of the first companies to speak out against Microsoft’s sudden move in the hardware business. Per Jim Wong, Acer, as the No. 4 PC maker worldwide, was going to follow “a very aggressive plan” with Windows RT tablets.

Samsung, Dell, and Lenovo have Windows RT tablets in the pipeline, but they will not ship until later this year. Digitimes reports that shipments of Windows RT tablets are expected to be fewer than 50,000 units each. HP, Sony, and Toshiba scrapped plans for Windows RT tablets — HP and Toshiba did so specifically in response to the MS Surface.

Microsoft beat most hardware makers to market with the Surface RT. The Asus Vivo Tab is the only other major WinRT tab on the market right now. The Vivo Tab is a virtual clone of the Surface with similar specs (not to mention the optional keyboard accessory) but with a slightly smaller screen. Combined with Windows RT’s limited capabilities and slim hardware selection, the future of Windows RT is questionable.

Windows RT is not Windows 8. They operate similarly, but Windows RT requires special applications that can only be installed through Microsoft’s application store. This greatly limits the capability of the tablet and will likely be confusing to the general consumer. I found the Surface RT to be incomplete and rather disappointing because of its limited capability.

“I don’t know what’s next, what Microsoft will do,” Wong told Reuters. “We are watching how Surface is doing … How is RT accepted by customers, how Microsoft is aggressive on RT and on Surface, we don’t know… We want to see.”

Smart.

The nation of Georgia discovered a botnet trying to steal sensitive government documents, and what did they do? They gave the cyber-spy a taste of his own medicine, infecting his computer with the very same software he was targeting governments with. His infected computer eventually captured a photo of the alleged cyberterrorist, as well as his IP address. Georgia’s Computer Emergency Response Team says the hacker is behind the “Georbot Botnet” which targeted major governments around the world, including Georgia, the US, and France. The botnet was pretty sophisticated, using 0-day vulnerabilities, embedding itself in links on major Georgian news sites, and turning on microphones and webcams to glean important government data from infected computers. According to CERT, they’ve hack is linked to “Russian Security,” but all we know about him is the photo they gave us.

If you’re interested, read the entire report from CERT here.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google disputes claims of Android botnet , German Police monitor Gmail, Skype, and Facebook via snooping malware,

Apple may have only ditched Google Maps in the most recent version of iOS, but the interface has been Apple-driven for a long time. Apple just recieved a patent for a “touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for providing maps, directions, and location-based information.” Sounds broad. Apple applied for the patent back in June 2008, but it was awarded today.  (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Key Apple Patent Used Against Samsung Has Been Declared Invalid, Jury foreman in $1.05 billion Samsung v. Apple case has a serious conflict of interest,