Hasta La Gadget!

Friday has come and gone, which means that the weekend is here once again. The latest iPhone 5 rumors have propelled Apple’s stock to its highest point ever, and it turns out the company’s funds will go toward helping tap a recently-discovered underground river in Crook County, Oregon. Earlier today we saw a picture of what was reported to be the Samsung Galaxy Note II, but later on in the day Daniel YU informed everyone that it was just his mock-up used without his permission. That’s disappointing, but his mock-up looks great, so be sure to check that out.

According to Lenovo, Windows RT tablets could cost $300 less than Windows 8 tablets, and it appears that Yahoo is on the lookout for a new COO. After discovering a glitch with digital signatures earlier in the week, Microsoft is once again publishing Windows Phone apps, and Twitter’s new API update restricts some third-party apps, so watch out for that. UK retailer Clove is reporting that the black Samsung Galaxy S III will be out in October, and a new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 bundle comes packed with bonuses that students are going to find hard to resist.

There’s a particularly nasty Trojan dubbed “Shamoon” that’s making the rounds, and in some rather surprising news from the day, it seems that OnLive is shutting down today. OnLive executives said throughout the day that everything with the company is fine, but later, more evidence that supports such a shutdown surfaced. Not good. Both models of the Nexus 7 are now in stock again on the Google Play store, and third parties were right there to begin pushing all sorts of accessories for it, while we’re hearing rumors that claim Apple’s set-top box will come with cloud DVR and a simple UI.

The beta for Steam’s upcoming Big Picture Mode will be kicking off at the beginning of next month, and HP is getting serious about tackling the consumer tablet division (or at least trying to again). The iPad Mini – and future iPad iterations for that matter – will apparently be getting a special ITO film, and Warren Spector is really pushing for Epic Mickey on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but he needs your help in convincing Disney.

Finally tonight, we have a number of original articles for you to peruse. Don Reisinger asks if there will one day be a universal gaming console, Ben Kersey has SlashGear’s review of The Expendables 2, and Chris Burns has a hands-on with the Motorola PHOTON Q. Enjoy your weekend, folks!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: August 17, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Another Monday is in the bag folks, so give yourselves a pat on the back. We’re starting things off tonight by having a look at the latest iPhone rumors. Current whispers are telling us that pre-orders for the next iPhone will become available on September 12 – the same day that Apple is expected to reveal it – and that it’ll become available at AT&T later on in the month. We also caught a glimpse of the reported logic board in the next iPhone, and it seems that this new logic board is leaving room for a larger battery and LTE capabilities.

In other news, one of Apple’s studies claims that people buy Android phones largely out of a feeling of loyalty to their carrier, and it seems that the iPhone maker licensed out patents to Microsoft while Samsung declined to bite. Fisker has made a new statement about the Karma that spontaneously caught fire in California this past weekend, and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 was given a release date in the UK. RIM is looking to get rid of NewBay as it seeks fast cash while BlackBerry 10 development continues, and Samsung has announced that a new black Galaxy S III is coming soon.

Sad news for Nintendo fans living in Europe today, as Nintendo pushed the Wii U’s release date back to December. We had a couple pieces of news about Motorola today, some of it good, some of it not so much. The Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE is releasing on August 19, but Motorola Mobility announced today that it will be laying off 20% of its workforce. Electronic Arts is eyeing Windows Phone 8, and Amazon is looking to capitalize on the back to school frenzy by putting its tablets on clearance.

Researchers at the University of Warwick have come up with a way of making fat-free chocolate that apparently tastes like the real deal (yes, really), and President Barack Obama shared some words of encouragement with the NASA Curiosity team earlier this morning. He even promised continued support for what NASA is doing, and that is definitely a good thing. Speaking of space, it seems that the Google Earth satellites have discovered something very interesting: additional Egyptian pyramids. The ARM-based IdeaPad Yoga has been revealed as Lenovo’s Windows RT tablet, and it would seem that the LG Optimus Vu is arriving in the United States before the end of September.

The Neo Geo is getting another shot at life with the Neo Geo X Gold, the Steam Community is about to undergo a makeover, and App.net hit its crowd-funding goal with just two days left to go. That does it for the day’s news, but be sure to check out this freshly-posted review of the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 by Chris Burns. Enjoy the rest of the evening, everyone!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: August 13, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Valve, the popular video game development and digital distribution company, is thinking out of the box as it plans to launch a new line of software titles ranging from creativity to productivity this coming September 5. Via press release, the famed creators of Counter-Strike, Left 4 Dead, and Half-Life, said that the announcement marks a major expansion to its platform.

Many of the launch titles will take advantage of popular Steamworks features, however, Valve did not reveal the upcoming titles it is planning to introduce next month. But the gaming company assured that more titles will be gradually added following the launch.

“The 40 million gamers frequenting Steam are interested in more than playing games,” said Mark Richardson at Valve. “They have told us they would like to have more of their software on Steam, so this expansion is in response to those customer requests.”

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Gabe Newell thinks Windows 8 is a “catastrophe”, which might explain Steam for Linux, Valve documents Steam for Linux via new blog,

Well, this is quite interesting: soon you’ll be able to use Steam for more than just playing games. Valve announced today that it will begin offering non-game software titles through Steam starting in September, so before long you’ll be able to access your other software from within Steam as well. Valve’s announcement was pretty vague, meaning we don’t know what kind of software will be available at launch, but the prospect is exciting nonetheless.

Even more exciting is the fact that you’ll be able to get all the benefits of Steam while using this software. Valve promises features such as easy installations, automatic updating, and access to Steam Cloud. Handy features to have, no doubt, but we have a feeling that the big winner here is going to be Steam Cloud integration, as it will allow users to access their files from Steam anywhere.

The initial roll out of these “software titles” will begin on September 5. After that, Valve says that it will continue to offer new software on a consistent basis. We don’t have any idea which particular programs will be there at the start, but Valve claims that it will include everything from “creativity to productivity” software. Additionally, a leak from last month shows the Steam mobile app with categories for audio production, photo editing, and educational software (among others), so that kind of gives us an idea of what we’ll be working with.

So, there you go. Just like that, Steam has become a program that offers a wide variety of software and is no longer limited to just games. If you have a program you’d like to see on Steam, you’ll be able to submit it through Steam Greenlight for community approval. Stay tuned folks, because this is a pretty major announcement that means big things for everyone’s favorite digital distribution platform.

Steam expanding to offer non-game software later this year is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Another day, another video game Kickstarter campaign goes live – though this is one you might want to pay attention to. Its name is Epic Skater, and it’s made by some of the developers who worked on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Guitar Hero. If you’re a fan of skateboarding games and that doesn’t get your ears to perk up, then we’re not really sure what will.

Here’s the idea: Epic Skater is a side-scrolling skateboarding game for iOS and Android. Developer UpUpStart promises that there won’t be any touchscreen buttons that gamers seem to hate so much, with your skater instead being controlled through screen swipes. You’ll be skating through real-world locations, earning XP, leveling up, and unlocking new tricks along the way.

The team behind Epic Skater has set a goal of $50,000, which is the minimum they need in order to ship the game. If they manage to raise $100,000, create-a-skater mode will be added to the game, and Epic Skater will get releases on Steam and OUYA (it’ll be an OUYA launch title). At $150,000, players will get a multiplayer mode that allows them to compete against their friends’ ghosts along with a turn-based “Skate with Homies” mode.

Most of the lower reward tiers give standard Kickstarter bonuses, such as in-game characters, beta access, in-game credits, and Epic Skater shirts. Once you start climbing up the tiers, however, you get the opportunity to have an in-game statue build in your honor, or even have a playable character modeled in your likeness, which are pretty cool rewards. Pledge $10,000 or more, and not only do you get all of the lower reward tiers, but you also get an entire level designed around you or your brand.

Epic Skater is just starting out on Kickstarter, with 29 days left to go and $1,521 raised at the time of this writing. It sounds like a great idea, especially since it uses swipe controls instead of onscreen buttons. Follow the link above if you’re interested in pledging, and keep it tuned to SlashGear, where we’ll have more information on Epic Skater throughout the course of the Kickstarter!

Tony Hawk veterans bring Epic Skater to Kickstarter is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.