We already knew Samsung’s 8-inch Galaxy Note would be coming to the United States, but only as a WiFi variant. Fortunately for US hopefuls craving a version that’s capable of getting an actual data connection outside the safety of the nearest wireless hotspot, AT&T will be bringing an LTE-enabled version to its network in the coming weeks — though this appears to be an exclusive to the operator. We’re still waiting to hear about pricing, but anyone interested in grabbing this particular tablet should be taking a close look at their bank accounts right about now. Full press release and video after the break.
LEGO enthusiast Ben Caulkins made this sweet LEGO model of the Normandy SR-2, Commander Shepard’s flying base in Mass Effect 2. The ship is almost 4 ft. long and has a 19″ wingspan. It needs a Garrus minifig to calibrate its weapons.
I don’t know why I didn’t notice it until now, but the Normandy kind of looks like it has a Volus mask on. It’s not so apparent in Caulkin’s model though.
Head to Caulkin’s Flickr page to see more pictures of his Normandy model. He will also show it off at the Brickworld exhibit in Chicago this week.
The folks at Nyko have made a surprise one-two hit today with a variety of accessories that are aimed in the public eye directly at such next-generation devices as NVIDIA SHIELD. What we’re seeing right here is the functionality described in our first presentation of their new SHIELD dock, but without the dock. Here we’ve
That moment we’d been expecting (and to some extent, dreading) has come: Nokia is near shipping its last Symbian smartphones. The company should deliver the final round of 808 PureViews sometime this summer, marking the effective end to an 11-year-old platform. Those still attached to the software will have to take comfort in support that will last until at least 2016. We’re not overly attached to Symbian — it never completely adjusted to the modern era — but it’s hard not to shed a tear for the OS that brought us the N95, E71 and other smartphone classics. Let’s just hope that the next round of Lumias can fill the hole in our hearts.
Pakistan’s new minister of state for IT and telecommunications Anusha Rahman Khan has threatened to ban Google from the country if the tech giant doesn’t block “blasphemous and objectionable” content from YouTube.
Khan addressed Google’s content during her first day in office on Sunday amid a discussion about ending Pakistan’s nine-month ban on YouTube. The country instituted the ban in September of last year after the release of a trailer for the controversial film “Innocence Of Muslims,” which criticized the Prophet Muhammad and prompted widespread violent protests across Pakistan.
Khan said that it’s her ministry’s “job to ensure reopening of YouTube as soon as possible with thorough screening of objectionable material,” according to Dawn, Pakistan’s English-language newspaper.
Watch out, cancer, here comes your worst enemy. She’s a new masked, pink-caped crusader with a bionic arm and an unwavering resolve not to let cancer slow her down.
And she’s only 4 years old.
Meet Claire Koreck, better known to her family as the Warrior Princess. Claire’s world, along with her family’s, has been turned upside down since her diagnosis just two days into 2013 with a rare form of cancer, Ewing’s sarcoma.
“We have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity,” explained Xbox chief Don Mattrick. “It’s called Xbox 360.”
With those snarky words, Microsoft lost E3. That much was clear as soon as Sony’s press conference started. And it’s not because the Xbox One is a bad system. If we ignore Microsoft’s terrible marketing and judge the Xbox One objectively, it’s a fine system – a home entertainment system built for the future that should provide an unparalleled user experience.
But damn it, Microsoft: stop being a jerk.
Don Mattrick, the head of Xbox at Microsoft, explained to GameTrailers that Microsoft built a system that’s future-proof and if you don’t like it, there’s another option: the eight-year-old Xbox 360.
This is Microsoft’s stance and the company doesn’t care if you complain. That message came through loud and clear during the company’s E3 press conference. Take it or leave it. Microsoft doesn’t care. They know they’ll sell millions of boxes and a group of vociferous web trolls won’t change that – or will they?
Microsoft has a reason to be cocky. The Xbox 360 rules the living room, and has set the standard for media streaming devices in the home. There have been hiccups and mistakes along the way, but overall the Xbox 360 is a fantastic system. Microsoft baked in the best of the Xbox 360 into the Xbox One, that much is apparent. However, after years of piracy and the embarrassment of briefly backing the wrong physical media platform, the company is now working on the assumption that you don’t deserve an Xbox One if you’re not connected to the Internet. It’s a fair assumption – the target market already has broadband – but there are still plenty of reasons someone doesn’t want the One to phone home every 24 hours.
The Xbox One has the potential to outsell the PS4. It has the potential of being a better investment for the casual and hardcore gamer alike. It has the potential to seamlessly bring the best of the Internet and TV to the living room.
Look at it this way: The Xbox One is an always-connected device that interfaces with subscription TV. It’s also a portal to a person’s Windows’ ecosystem, bringing the most popular computing platform on Earth to the main screen in the house. It’s a gaming system, a cable guide, a Skype machine, and a media streaming box that you can talk to. And as David Pierce explains on The Verge, the Kinect could usher in a new dimension of gaming. It’s the most pure all-in-one home entertainment system ever built.
But Microsoft went too far.
The Xbox One treats every owner as a potential thief. By nearly requiring a broadband Internet connection to check a game’s DRM, the Xbox One is locked to a living room. Forget about rigging up a system for a long road trip. Forget about taking the system to the family cabin or grandma’s house. Without broadband Internet, the Xbox One is useless.
This always-connected scheme is even scarier when updates are considered. Microsoft will essentially be able to remotely control all these systems and push updates unbeknownst to the owner. But it gets worse: The Xbox One doesn’t work without Kinect, which is always on as well. Xbox One owners cannot trade or easily sell back games. The console is worthy of a mention in a George Orwell novel.
These downsides put Microsoft in a powerful position with game publishers. It’s all about making money and selling systems. It guarantees that games will not be pirated, theoretically putting them at ease and more likely to publish exclusives on the Xbox One. But once you put making money above the user, you start down a slippery slope.
Then there’s the PS4.
As Sony stated loudly and clearly at the PlayStation 4 press conference, the system doesn’t require games check-in online. Games can be traded like baseball cards. The system doesn’t require an Internet connection.
Best yet, indies can self-publish on the PS4.
Sony won E3 by being the anti-Microsoft. The Xbox One has ridiculous DRM and all Sony had to do is state that the PS4 takes a familiar, old-school approach to gaming. It’s just a new PlayStation. Nothing more.
The Xbox One launch is a marketing disaster even though the product itself is solid. Forgive the hyperbole, but every time Microsoft makes a statement, the hole gets deeper. But at the very least Microsoft isn’t hiding anything. There shouldn’t be anymore surprises. Hopefully.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
