Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve already seen a handful of Grand Theft Auto V screenshots in the past, and Rockstar Games is no stranger to teasing their fans with a constant downpour of such imagery. Today, we’re being treated with more of that, and these specifically focus on what Rockstar is calling “the fast life” in GTAV.

In the blog post by Rockstar, the game studio doesn’t reveal a lot of details and what the screenshots mean exactly — it seems like they’re simply letting the screenshots speak for themselves. So what do they say exactly? Many of the screenshots reveal what we’ve already known about the game, including the ability to base jump and even own a sidekick dog.

The game will obviously include new vehicles to around in (and on), including that colorful classic muscle car, as well as four-wheelers, motorcycles, and private yachts. Players will also be able to fly planes, including that Leerjet private plane that appears to have one of its engines on fire in the screenshot.

The screenshots also reveal a military helicopter flying about. We’re not sure if this will be something that players will get to fly, or if it’ll just be part of the police force that shows up once a player hits a 3- or 4-star criminal level like we’ve seen in past GTA titles.

Rockstar says they’ll have a lot more details about the game later next month, which will include the “first proper unveiling of Grand Theft Auto Online,” which we were teased with a little in the GTAV walkthrough that was released several weeks ago.

SOURCE: Rockstar Games

Grand Theft Auto V screenshots show off the “fast life” in Los Santos is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It looks nearly the same as it did in 2007, but Spot’s outdoor beacon has evolved quite nicely on the inside. Now in its third incarnation, the Spot Gen3 is designed to help wandering argonauts keep their loved ones informed of their location for an even longer period of time. Engineered to be worn by those intentionally heading off of the conventional grid, the Spot Gen3 adds unlimited tracking (enabling wearers to pre-set the device to send tracks every 5, 10, 30 or 60 minutes), motion activated tracking and longer battery life. According to the company, this guy will last nearly twice as long as prior versions, and you can also power it via battery or USB. The downside, of course, is that you’ll need to pay $149.95 for the unit itself, along with a required annual subscription plan that starts at $149.99 per year. No one ever said adventuring was a poor man’s sport, eh?

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Source: Spot

Earlier today we reported that one of Apple’s suppliers based in China, Pegatron, has been accused of worker abuse. The allegations were leveled by China Labor Watch, a New York based non-profit. Its report indicates that the initial production of iPhone Lite, also known as the low cost iPhone, has already begun at Pegatron. The report has a section titled “A day in Pegatron,” in which a worker describers their activities at the Pegatron factory.

The worker’s account is of July 9th, when they had to “paste protective film on the iPhone’s plastic back cover to prevent it from being scratched on assembly lines.” If you’ve been following the barrage of rumors about the iPhone Lite, you’ll know that it is expected to have a plastic back cover. The worker has also been cited as saying that mass production of this device hasn’t begun yet, but they believe that it will be released in the market soon. The report says that apart from building iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, Pegatron is also tasked with building “low-priced plastic iPhones” for Apple. Everything that’s mentioned in this particular section of this report lines up with all of the rumors we have been hearing about iPhone Lite. Apple is expected to announce it this September.

Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It | iPhone Lite Initial Production Underway At Pegatron, Labor Report Indicates original content from Ubergizmo.

A new game for Google Glass claiming to be “the first Google Glass game” (it’s not, Battleship clone got demoed earlier this month) offers a look at what kind of things might be possible for developers building these kinds of experiences on Google’s unique wearable platform. In a word, it looks simple, and is reminiscent of the old, very basic games that would come pre-installed on your black and white Nokia feature phone like Snake.

The game looks diverting enough, but it also looks painfully dated and questions abound about its real-world playability. Others have suggested a voice-operated mechanism for controlling in-game action on Glass, but any kind of consistent and repeated use of voice is not going to work in any situation where there are other human beings around. Not to mention that people play casual games on commutes precisely because they help them look away from fellow travellers. These games seem primed to result in at least a few uncomfortably long, unconscious locked gazes.

Google Glass gaming might be appealing if it were an AR-layered experience like a mix between Oculus Rift and Google’s own Egress game. But as a way to basically play checkers in the corner of your field of view while you’re doing your best to also be a real functioning human? I have my doubts. Everyone I’ve talked to about mobile gaming on the development side seems to have found that people still like to plunk down at home or at work for dedicated gaming sessions; I doubt very much they’re going to want to do that while staring off into space at less-than-impressive visuals.

Now, gaming as a use case for Google Glass is hardly fully explored at this stage, but what I’ve seen isn’t something that offers a lot of promise. There are a lot of question marks around Glass, but its viability as a gaming platform (a key factor in determining mobile success) might be the biggest of them all right now.

It should be clear at this point that Samsung’s profits in the mobile sector have not, as a report by Strategy Analytics last week suggested, taken over Apples’. According to Strategy Analytics, “Samsung’s operating profit for its handset division stood at US $5.2 billion in the second quarter of 2013″ while Apple “recorded an estimated iPhone operating profit of US $4.6 billion”. And that’s essentially the extent of their basic report – this is not just far too limited to have covered the claim they’ve made, it’s simply inaccurate.

Strategy Analytics claims “Global Handset Operating Profits” in converted US dollars for Samsung was $5.2 billion in the second quarter of 2013, while Apple’s was $4.6 billion. This is the quarter ending in June of 2013, which for Apple is fiscal Q3 and for Samsung is fiscal Q2.

According to Apple’s Form 10-Q for this quarter as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple’s total operating income was $9.2 billion USD – this minus Apple’s $2.5 billion in taxes makes a total of $6.9 billion in net income.

As Apple Insider notes, it’s from that $9.2 billion in operating profits that Strategy Analytics appears to get their total “global handset operating profits” for Apple. This comes from the idea that the iPhone accounts for a total of 51% of Apple’s total business.

Meanwhile you’ll find that Samsung’s total reported operating income was (converted from Korean Republic Won) in at $8.56 billion, minus $1.84 billion for taxes, ringing in at $6.98 billion in net income.

Samsung’s breakdown of device sales and profits is done – for mobile – with one called “IT & Mobile Communications.” This includes everything from handsets to tablets, network equipment to PCs. Samsung reported that operating profits of (converted) $5.64 billion for this quarter came from this IT & Mobile Communications segment. Strategy Analytics “estimates” that $5.2 billion of this number accounts for non-network devices.

This number still includes Samsung’s tablets, PCs, and Chromebooks, while the competing number here is just Apple’s iPhone, and the iPhone alone. That comparison doesn’t make sense to report. It’s as simple as that.

Samsung vs Apple Mobile Profits: the big Strategy Analytics mix up is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.