Tag: function

BioWare cancels ‘Shadow Realms,’ its first original game in six years

Well, that was quick. Six months after its debut, BioWare’s announced it’s canceled its online action-RPG, Shadow Realms . The Austin-based studio isn’t moving forward with the four-versus-one PC game because, as the studio’s general manager Jeff Hickman tells it, it’s working on other things at the moment –including the next Mass Effect , add-on content for last year’s Dragon Age: Inquisition and the team’s Star Wars online RPG, The Old Republic . As GamesIndustry notes , that last title might attract new players given this December’s release of The Force Awakens . Don’t fret if you signed up for Shadow Realms ‘ closed alpha, though, as BioWare says it’s working on a reward for your trouble. In addition to all the above sequels and additional content it’s working on, the Texas team apparently has its hands in something new, as well. Could it be what the outfit teased last E3? Perhaps. We might not have long to wait until we see it, though — the Game Developer’s Conference is in early March immediately followed by PAX East and then E3 in June. Filed under: Gaming , Home Entertainment , HD Comments Via: GamesIndustry Source: BioWare

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BioWare cancels ‘Shadow Realms,’ its first original game in six years

‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

One of the indie world’s first superstar developers made millions from one game. He’s spent it all to make his next. Jonathan Blow’s beautiful, distinct 2008 platformer Braid is largely regarded as the original indie game — The Notorious OIG, if you will. Blow spent roughly $200, 000 to create Braid and it made him a millionaire . Blow said in 2012 that he was funneling all of the money from Braid into his next project, a Myst -inspired puzzle game called The Witness that he’s been working on since 2009 . He wasn’t kidding when he said all. ” Braid still sells well on platforms that are thriving, but two of Braid ‘s big platforms were the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, both of which are sunsetting at this point, ” Blow tells me in an email interview. Braid was pivotal on Xbox 360. It launched as an exclusive on the digital storefront Xbox Live Arcade and ushered in a wave of successful independent games for the console. “Not so many people are buying digital games there, ” Blow says. “So the Braid income is not nearly enough anymore to fund the team. I have borrowed a bunch of money to finish The Witness . So I hope when it’s done, some people buy the game.” The current console generation kicked off in late 2013 with the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and these consoles now dominate the market. Previous-generation games do sometimes make their way to new consoles; Braid isn’t one of them. It’s still available for PC, Mac and Linux on digital distribution service Steam , where it’s now six years old. GROWING PAINS Since starting development on The Witness in 2009, the game has at least tripled in size , from eight hours to 25-40 hours. The Witness dev team, nine people credited in full and eight additional contributors, hit a development milestone last month: All of the game’s puzzles are complete. There’s still plenty to work on, but the creative heavy lifting is done. There are 677 puzzles in The Witness currently. Blow generally keeps gameplay details vague for fear of spoiling The Witness ‘ main focus, but he says there are 11 different puzzle areas, and to “beat” the game, players will need to solve seven or eight of these. Each section has a different number of puzzles, and some areas can be completed without solving every puzzle therein. “It’s a pretty flexible game that way, ” Blow says. “But if you solve all the areas, of course, you might get a little something extra. Or a lot.” The Witness The Witness ‘ premise may sound familiar to some of you. Late last year, The Talos Principle launched on PC: a 3D, first-person puzzle game composed of separate puzzle areas and a mysterious, overarching story. The Witness is also a 3D, first-person puzzle game bathed in mystery, but Blow says it’s a completely different experience. The Talos Principle , for instance, involves communication with a booming, god-like voice and others via computer terminals. The Witness is about the experience of being alone on an island, finding beauty in that solitude and solving puzzles along the way. “There are some similarities between The Witness and Talos Principle , but most of those similarities are on the surface, ” he says. “I think these two games are ultimately about very different subjects, and were made for very different reasons, and you feel the differences when you play. That said, it is likely that someone interested in one game may be interested in the other game.” Clearly, there’s not a case of any developer “stealing” ideas from another, as Blow has been building The Witness for six years. That’s a long time to tease fans, and Blow knows it. “If there is such a thing as taking ‘too long, ‘ we have probably already done that, ” he says. “20 years from now, I am not going to care about whether we took an extra six months or a year in development; I am going to care about the quality of the game people got to play. It’d be a shame to sacrifice some of that quality just to squeak the game out a little sooner. Though I do sympathize with people who have been waiting a long time to play.” Filed under: Gaming , Software , HD , Sony Comments

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‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

Anthem health insurance hack exposes details of over 80 million people

Hackers have accessed millions of customer and employee details from US-based health insurance firm Anthem, including name addresses and social security numbers. The database that was accessed included details for roughly 80 million people, but Anthem, the second biggest insurer in the country, believes that the hack likely affected a fraction in the “tens of millions”. Its Chief Information Officer said that they didn’t yet know how hackers were able to pull off the attack. In a statement on Anthem’s site, CEO Joseph Swedish said that the company was the target of “a very sophisticated external cyberattack ” — although medical and financial details were apparently not breached. Notably, the company decided to reveal it had been attacked just days after it had, even as their internal investigation continues. It also managed to detect the breach itself – something that also doesn’t happen so often. The health insurer is the latest in a list of big companies targeted by a cyberattack, including the likes of Target , Sony , eBay and Home Depot. Anthem plans to reach out to everyone whose information was stored in the hacked database through letters and email. Image Credit: A.J. Mast/Getty Images Filed under: Internet Comments Source: WSJ , Anthem

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Anthem health insurance hack exposes details of over 80 million people

BT confirms it’s bought EE for £12.5 billion

It’s been nearly a decade, but BT is officially returning to mobile . After months of talks, the landline and broadband giant has confirmed it will pay £12.5 billion to acquire EE, the UK’s biggest operator. In an announcement, the telecoms giant says that with EE under its wing, the company will provide customers with “innovative, seamless services that combine the power of fibre broadband with wi-fi and advanced mobile capabilities, ” targeting EE customers that don’t already use its broadband services and delivering 4G connectivity to BT customers for the first time. This is a developing story, please fresh for updates . As part of the deal, EE’s original owners, Deutsche Telekom and Orange, will gain shares of BT. Deutsche Telekom will own a 12 percent stake of the company, while Orange will grab 4 percent. That is, of course, after the deal closes, which BT thinks will complete by the end of the year — if it can navigate the choppy regulatory waters that is the UK Competition and Markets Authority and communications Ofcom. Filed under: Wireless , Mobile Comments Source: BT

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BT confirms it’s bought EE for £12.5 billion

Uber and Google to duke it out over self-driving taxis

It’s no secret that Mountain View and Uber are friends , what with Google Ventures investing $258 million into the ride-sharing service in 2013. But if both companies really are developing their own ride-sharing services that use driverless cars, as some publications are saying, then these friends will turn into rivals in the future. Now, Uber might be years behind Google when it comes to autonomous cars , but TechCrunch says the company’s teaming up with Carnegie Mellon scientists to develop its own technology. While the ride-sharing service didn’t go into detail when it announced the partnership earlier, TC reports Uber is building a robotics research lab in Pittsburgh, PA for the newly hired lead engineers, scientists and commercialization experts. Carnegie Mellon’s scientists are known for creating advanced , autonomous robots and even Mars rovers , so they definitely have the skills to get it done, especially if they were truly hired en masse. TC even says Uber has begun putting together engineering workstations worth several hundred thousand dollars for its new employees, so they can begin developing the core technology necessary to build a fleet of driverless taxis. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick mentioned in the past that he’d replace human drivers with autonomous cars if possible and that fares would be cheaper if that happens. Add that to the fact that the company’s now valued at around $40 billion, and this report’s not that hard to believe. Google, on the other hand, has been working on a ride-hailing app “most likely in conjunction with its long-in-development driverless car project” for a quite a while now, according to Bloomberg . Its employees have reportedly been test driving it for the company, so David Drummond (Google’s chief legal office who also joined Uber’s board of directors after Mountain View’s investment) was able to show Uber some screenshots of the app, perhaps in the essence of transparency. While Mountain View hasn’t confirmed this piece of info yet, it has talked about using its driverless cars as a taxi service before. At this year’s Detroit Auto Show, for instance, Chris Urmson (who leads Google’s self-driving car project) said there’s a possibility for its autonomous cars to be used as a shared vehicle. Just like current ride-sharing services, you’d be able to call one through an app and ask it to take you to your destination. Bloomberg says the Uber board is now debating whether to ask Drummond to resign, and its executives are “deeply concerned” that Google is about to become its staunchest rival. Aside from Google having a lot more money, Uber relies heavily on the former’s map data (its app was even integrated into Google Maps, if you recall), and losing access to it would be devastating. The publication also notes that a recent Google Now update adds data from Lyft, but not from Uber. Whether that means the companies’ relationship has already soured remains to be seen, but thus far, Google still seems to consider both Lyft and Uber as friends. @business We think you’ll find Uber and Lyft work quite well. We use them all the time. – Google (@google) February 2, 2015 Filed under: Transportation , Google Comments Source: TechCrunch , Bloomberg , Uber

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Uber and Google to duke it out over self-driving taxis

Which fitness bands are worth buying?

We spend a lot of time in front of our computers, which could be why we’re so keen to track all the times we actually step away from our screens and get a little walking or running done. To that end, every manufacturer seems to be coming out with a fitness band to brandish on your wrist. But when one wearable looks like the others, and they each operate in different ecosystems, it’s hard to know which will best suit your needs. We’ve taken a look at a few recent releases and their reviews, narrowing the field to six of the better models out there — plus one you should avoid. Frank Spinillo contributed to this report. Filed under: Wearables , Sony , LG Comments

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Which fitness bands are worth buying?

New Razer Blade has a 4K touchscreen that won’t kill battery life

Beating last year’s Blade is a tall order, but Razer hopes throwing a fancy new 14-inch, 4K touch display into its 2015 gaming laptop will help it do just that. The outfit’s using an Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO, for short) panel, and all those pixels are powered by NVIDIA’s GeForce 970M GPU that runs on Maxwell architecture . In terms of memory, there’s 16GB of RAM (double that of last year) in addition to a maximum 512GB of solid-state storage. All that to say, much like our laptop buyer’s guide choice from last year, games will almost assuredly look gorgeous and perform incredibly well here. While we decried the 2014 unit’s battery life, it looks like Razer might’ve found a way to address that: the new Blade swaps between the aforementioned graphics factory to Intel integrated graphics automatically — a similar trick to what MSI’s GT72 Dominator does. The difference here is that you apparently won’t have to power-cycle the machine to do so. Until we get one for review, how all that’ll affect the 70 Wh Li-ion polymer battery’s life is anyone’s guess. You can order one right now either factory direct or from the Microsoft Store. Or, should you want to give yourself a little something post Valentine’s Day, you can pick one up at select Microsoft Stores on February 16th. How much will one set you back? Well, starting price is $2, 199. Of course, if dinner, chocolates, roses and a pair of tickets for 50 Shades of Grey left you a little cash-strapped, you can always opt for the 1080p model. A bit of screen resolution isn’t all it sheds: It loses some weight and $200 off its sharper sibling’s base price, too. Filed under: Gaming , Home Entertainment , Laptops , HD , NVIDIA Comments Source: Razer

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New Razer Blade has a 4K touchscreen that won’t kill battery life

The end is reportedly near for RadioShack

Reports of RadioShack’s demise are nothing new, but now it seems like the electronics retailer may be done for good. Bloomberg reports that company is in talks with Sprint to hand over around half of its remaining stores to the wireless company. The rest of RadioShack’s locations will close, and those that are included in the deal will be painted yellow and black. This means the shops where most of us purchased parts for a project will cease to exist. Nothing’s final, and until the ink is dry, another suitor could swipe up the company and allow it to keep on chuggin’ along. RadioShack is facing bankruptcy after years of declining sales, so even if Sprint doesn’t agree to buy those stores, a move of some kind is imminent for the company that’s been selling tech since 1921. [Photo credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images] Filed under: Misc , Sprint Comments Source: Bloomberg

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The end is reportedly near for RadioShack

Freedom Clip rids you of Keurig’s coffee pod tyranny

Keurig’s K-Cup 2.0 DRM protection didn’t keep rogue pods out of its coffee machines for long , and another company created an add-on to bypass the system. The Rogers Family Company, a purveyor of some of those unapproved coffee products, made the appropriately-named Freedom Clip: a small insert that’ll allow you to use those “non-approved” coffee and tea servings. Keurig’s newer machines recognize special ink on the tops of its officially licensed pods, and those lacking the identifier won’t work. The clip tricks machines into thinking the security measure is present, and the folks at Rogers are giving it away for free. Of course, it’s probably hoping you’ll nab a box of pods as a display of gratitude. [Lead photo credit: Richard Levine/Alamy] Filed under: Household Comments Via: TechCrunch Source: Rogers Family Company

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Freedom Clip rids you of Keurig’s coffee pod tyranny

Entangled photons on a chip could lead to super-fast computers

Photon entanglement is one of the odder properties of quantum physics, but it promises a lot for computing — if one photon can instantly affect another no matter how far away it is, you could make super-speedy computers and communications that aren’t easily limited by physical distances. It hasn’t been easy to get entanglement tech down to a manageable size, however, and that’s where Italy’s Università degli Studi di Pavia might just come to the rescue. Its researchers have developed a tiny emitter that could pump out entangled photons as part of an otherwise ordinary silicon chip. The device, which uses a ring shape to both rope in and emit light, measures just 20 microns across. That’s hundreds of times smaller than existing devices, which are comparatively gigantic at a few millimeters wide. You probably won’t see whole processors built around this technique, at least not for a while. Chip makers usually work on the nanometer scale — Intel’s new 14nm processors are far more intricate than this ring. Moreover, there’s some refinement left to make sure this part produces a reliable stream of tangled photons. If everything falls into place, however, you could see entanglement rings boosting performance in certain tasks. You might also see an entanglement-based component that handles jobs which aren’t otherwise possible, like spy-proof quantum cryptography . This breakthrough isn’t going to change semiconductors overnight, but it could make quantum computing more of a practical reality. Filed under: Science Comments Via: EurekAlert , SpaceDaily Source: OpticsInfoBase

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Entangled photons on a chip could lead to super-fast computers