Month: January 2013

News

Connecticut town cancels plan to collect and destroy violent video games

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As reported on The Verge. By BRIAN CRECENTE The small Connecticut community that made international news last week when it announced plans to voluntarily collect and destroy violent video games, said today it won’t be proceeding with that portion of its plan. Community members of Southington, Conn., a small community about 30 miles from the site of the Newtown massacre, held a town hall press conference this morning to say that while they have canceled the…

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Portal short film creator tapped for feature-length Y: The Last Man adaptation

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As reported on Polygon. By GRIFFIN MCELROY Dan Trachtenberg, creator of the acclaimed 2011 Portal-themed short film No Escape has been chosen to direct the feature-length film adaptation of Brian K. Vaughn’s Y: The Last Man series of graphic novels, Vulturereports.An adaptation for Vaughn’s novels, which tell the story of a mysterious plague which kills every living male on Earth — save for escape artist Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand — has been in the works for years. Vulture learnedfour months ago…

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Application

Nuance’s new voice-control software tracks your personality across devices

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As reported on The Verge. By Sam Byford We just met with Nuance at CES to get a first-hand look at the company’s new Wintermute project, which aims to provide a consistent voice assistant experience across platforms. The software works similarly to something like Siri, but it was demoed working on iOS, Android, Windows, and a smart TV — remembering your requests and preserving history across them all. For example, you could ask your phone to play…

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Oculus Rift: deep inside the immersive, disorienting virtual reality gaming experience

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As seen on The Verge. By Nathan Ingraham VIEW FULL GALLERY Previous Next While the hardware may be straightforward, the experience of using the Rift is anything but. Strapping on the Rift and stepping into that virtual, 3D world was a lot like seeing a 3D movie for the first time — it’s initially a shock to your system. The Oculus team says that lag and latency in the final dev kit will be improved over…

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LG Ultra HD Touch Display hands-on (video) HD

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As reported on Engadget. By Sarah Silbert We bet you’re yawning at the mention of 4K TVs by now, but here’s a slight twist on that high-res concept. LG is showing off the so-called Ultra HD Touch display at its CES booth. It’s pretty much what it sounds like: a 4K TV with five-point multitouch. LG isn’t demoing this product as a TV — though technically it could work as your standard set; instead it has the Ultra HD Touch…

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Mobile

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile to offer BlackBerry 10 devices at launch Mobile

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As reported on Engadget. By Deepak Dhingra Can’t wait for RIM’s big mobile refresh? Neither can major US carriers, apparently. Just like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have confirmed that they’ll be carrying BlackBerry 10 devices at launch, too. Hardly a surprise, considering all threecarriers have stocked RIM hardware in the past — but still an important win for customers betting on BlackBerry. UK carriers announced something similar recently as well. As VP Alec Saunders tells us, BB10’s designed to be different and to move you forward — and going by what…

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Mobile

Samsung Galaxy S II Plus revealed with dual-core 1.2GHz CPU and Jelly Bean Mobile

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As reported on Engadget. By Zachary Lutz Samsung just unleashed a new phone into the world, but you’ve probably heard of it before: it’s the Galaxy S II Plus. The handset serves as a modest update to the original Galaxy S II, which contains a 4.3-inch WVGA (800 x 480) Super AMOLED Plus display, a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB RAM and Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean). Naturally, you’ll find an 8-megapixel camera on the rear, which is complimented by…

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Yep, there’s now a ‘seal of approval’ for the scientific accuracy of novels Alt

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As reported on Engadget. By Zachary Lutz Ever think that the mystery and sci-fi genres could use an extra shot of reality? Well, if the Washington Academy of Sciences has anything to say about the matter, you’ll never again need to wonder if a novel is littered with misinterpretations and inaccuracies. The group — which dates back to 1898, when it was co-founded byAlexander Graham Bell — has introduced a seal of approval to inform readers whether a novel…

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Jon Stewart Fought Through A Cold To Deliver A 20-Minute Riff On Gun Control

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As reported on Businessinsider.com by Brett LoGiurato Comedy Central Jon Stewart caught up last night following a lengthy hiatus and delivered a substantial riff on curbing gun violence in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.  Stewart, who has spoken out on the topic of gun control multiple times in the last year, battled a cold that left his voice raspy throughout the nearly 20-minute long segment. He opened the show…

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Economy

How A Chinese Economic Crisis Would Unfold

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As reported on Businessinsider.com by Mamta Badkar Improving Chinese economic data have many experts saying that the economy has bottomed out, and that the possibility of a hard economic landing is off the table. Societe Generale analysts expect Chinese GDP to increase 7.4 percent this year but think there still is a “non-negligible risk” of a hard landing in which GDP growth falls to less than six percent. Remember a hard landing refers to four consecutive…

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