Friday, 4 April 2014

Microsoft Announces Update for Xbox One, Releases System Update for Xbox 360

Microsoft has announced that it will be releasing updates for Xbox One for Xbox Video and Xbox Smart Glass that will enable it to have TV elements for the global audience and for usage of OneGuide on other devices.
Apart from this, the company also said that it will also release system update for Xbox 360.
In a video on Xbox Wire Xbox head, Larry Hryb revealed that the users will now be able to rent a movie on Xbox Video and will be able to watch it on any platform they want.
The new update will be pushing ability to use the Xbox One controller, Kinect voice or gesture commands, Xbox One media remote, and Xbox SmartGlass with a tablet or cell phone.

India top nation in reporting Facebook bugs in 2013

NEW DELHI: India, which accounts for over 93 million Facebook users, reported the largest number of bugs under the social networking giant's bug bounty programme last year. 

Amazon Fire TV: World domination through video games

Last to arrive to the streaming party, Fire TV has powerful insides, a controller, and the backing of an in-house game studio. But is that enough to set it apart?


When Amazon unveiled its Fire TV streaming-media box Wednesday, it saved the best for last.
After a roll call of the same video-streaming features that Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast all deliver in varying measures -- and the unveiling of a few unique features like voice search and instantaneous play -- Amazon presented what really sets Fire TV apart from the rest of its class: gaming.

2015 Ford Mustang Is Powerful, But Aero-Efficient Too: Video


It's no longer enough for a car to be merely fast, or to look great, or to use as little fuel as possible. Modern cars have to do all of those things and more, which is why Ford's 2015 Mustang isn't just its most technologically-advanced ever, but its most efficient too. Much attention has been paid to its new four-cylinder engine, lining up alongside the V-6 and V-8 units for the first time in decades. But Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] has worked hard on the car's aerodynamics too--not a traditional strong point of pony cars.

Bound by Flame gameplay video offers first PS4 footage

A new gameplay video for Bound by Flame offers a first look at the game in action on PS4.

 Bound by Flame is an action fantasy RPG headed for PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC. The new video serves up battle-focused gameplay, showing off various tactics and weapons including "stealth, crossbow, fireballs, and a two-handed axe and hammer", explains producer Walid Miled.

"In Bound by Flame, the combat system lets you instantly switch between three stances (Fighter, Ranger, and Pyromancer), allowing you to adapt to the enemy you're facing on the fly," says Miled.

Missing Pieces: Wrapping up the week's must-know gaming news

master chief
Ah, slow news weeks. Don't you just love them? There's not a ton for us to cover this week—a new Halo project, some promotions, and maybe some cannibals. But don't get too comfortable—this is just the calm before next week's PAX East storm.
Here's all the gaming news fit to print from the week of March 31.

Minecraft Xbox 360 sales pass 12 million

"One of the most successful Xbox 360 games ever," says MS

 This compares with the around 14.3 million million PC copies sold as per an announcement on February 24.

"It is pretty amazing! I remember when we started talking about sales numbers that we would be super happy to sell 1 million copies," said Mojang's Daniel Kaplan of the Xbox sales.

"That would have put us on par with BF1943 and Castle Crashers, which both are awesome games, so that was something to aim for. We never even dreamed of selling 12 million," he added.
Mojang announced the game had sold 13 million copies at the end of December 2013, and 14 million copies by February 3, suggesting a still significant rate of sales for the game released in November 2011.

Cloud computing: Microsoft's potential ace up its sleeve

You're no doubt well aware that cloud computing is one of the Xbox One's big selling points. MS reps often tout the advantages of offloading physics and AI calculations to some server farm located, er, somewhere. The hope is that, in time, the physical computation disparity between the Xbox One and PS4 will mean very little, once more developers tap into the potential of cloud gaming. Up until now, those claims have been extremely difficult to visualize. Unless you're a developer--or someone with a deep understanding of how compute works--you have little choice but to believe what the aforementioned MS reps have publicly stated: that cloud gaming is a very good thing. Now, thanks to a presentation at Microsoft's Build 2014 Conference (video below), you can see exactly the sort of benefits that MS's cloud service, dubbed Azure, provides.

Android Stomps Into Wearables Field

It appears Google wants to do for smartwatches what it did for smartphones -- that is, make a mobile operating system available to devs to tinker with as they see fit. Apple may have its iWatch, but Android Wear is likely to power a plethora of devices dreamed up by other hardware vendors. Motorola, LG and Samsung are among those that reportedly have Android Wear devices in the works.


Google on Wednesday released a developer preview for Android Wear, a day after announcing the project, which Android head honcho Sunder Pichai teased at SXSW earlier this month.
The preview, which includes a software development kit, an Android emulator and a preview support library, is for development and testing only -- not for production apps.

Apple Will Light the Wearable Tech Fire

Personally, I'm impressed with the early teaser of the Moto 360 -- and pleased to see a company take on a major design challenge and create a sweet product, which incidentally plays well with the roundness of the Web these days, not to mention Google+. But it's not enough. It's going to take Apple to fire the shot heard round the wearable tech world.



I'm usually not a prediction sort of guy because it's cosmically silly -- we're tiny little humans on a tiny little rock spinning in a very large universe. Yet here I am, looking at 2014 and the latest batch of smartwatch efforts from Samsung, Google, Motorola and LG.

Sony Dreams Up Project Morpheus Virtual Reality Experience

Sony has jumped into the nascent virtual reality gaming arena with Project Morpheus, bringing some early competition to Oculus Rift. Neither system will be available for mass consumption for some time, but the promise of an immersive virtual experience has many gamers salivating. There may be a whole separate form of entertainment on the horizon too -- YouTube videos of virtual gamers going at it.


Sony debuted Project Morpheus, its virtual reality headset for the PlayStation 4 console, at this week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The project is in active development with a view to a future commercial launch. A software development kit also is under development.

LG Sheds Light on Internet of Things

Smart lamps are still in the novelty phase, but there are serious potential uses for the technology -- and once devs get to work, as yet unimagined applications surely will come to light. "I think we're just at the precipice of seeing what smart light bulbs can do in terms of features, functions and different wattages," said tech analyst Laura DiDio.

LG Electronics on Monday unveiled a light bulb designed to illuminate consumers lives in a more intelligent way.

HTC Flips Switch on One M8 Buzz Machine

HTC Flips Switch on One M8 Buzz Machine
HTC's One M8 smartphone has garnered early praise from reviewers. "It is up against some formidable competitors; however, from a device standpoint, the new HTC One is hard to beat," said Chris Jones, vice president and principal analyst with Canalys. Still, what the company is really counting on is a word-of-mouth strategy. "HTC must create the demand for the device through excellent marketing."

That's the pitch in HTC's TV ads for its new flagship smartphone, the HTC One M8. It's a pitch that hopes to acquire by word of mouth what HTC was unable to get for its predecessor: consumer mindshare.