As reported on Wired. BY DAVID AXE F-22s and a B-2 fly over Guam in 2009. Photo: Air Force The U.S. military has begun a staged, five-year process that will see each of its three main stealth warplane types deployed to bases near China. When the deployments are complete in 2017, Air Force F-22s and B-2s and Marine Corps F-35s could all be within striking range of America’s biggest economic rival at the same time. With Beijing now…
As reported on Polygon. By ALEXA RAY CORRIEA A “virtual showroom” linking Medal of Honor Warfighter to real-life products from its gunmaker marketing partners illustrates how the firearms and video game industries have “quietly forged a mutually beneficial marketing relationship,” according to The New York Times. The subpage on the official website for Medal of Honor Warfighter displayed information for the McMillan Group and Magpul, two weapon manufacturers, and allowed viewers to peruse guns, knives and other combat gear depicted in Warfighter. Magpul and…
As reported on The Verge. By BRIAN CRECENTE The impact of violent video games on society is being reexamined in the wake of the Newtown shooting. One group of gamers called for a one-day online cease-fire in virtual warfare, a sort of gamer moment of silence. Another young gamer, in Newtown, Conn., is asking children to join him in throwing away violent video games. The National Rifle Association partially blamed violent video games and other violent entertainment for the Sandy Hook…
As reported on The Verge. By Kimber Streams It’s no secret that smart TVs aren’t the internet-connected living room computers that they’ve been made out to be — earlier this year, an NPD study revealed that less than half of smart TV owners even have them hooked up to the internet. A new study from the NPD shows that little has changed, and connected TV owners still aren’t using the devices to their full potential. Of those who have connected their sets…
As reported on The Verge. By T.C. Sottek Last week, the Museum of London announced that it discovered “the earliest known home recording to have been made on Christmas Day.” The phonograph recordings, from a “middle-class” family in North London, date back to 1902 and were found in wax cylinders belonging to their descendants. As museum Curator of Social and Working History Julia Hoffbrand notes, “it is extremely unusual for wax phonograph cylinders, containing retrievable recordings…
As reported on TechCrunch. by JORDAN CROOK It started with an assumption, really. Snapchat, a photo-sharing application that auto-destroys images seconds after being opened, launched in September 2011 with zero media coverage. A homegrown product, built by two Stanford guys, grew to now see over 50 million snaps per day today. In fact, Facebook launched a clone of the app just Friday. It wasn’t until the company made its first milestone announcement, nine months after launch, that the media picked up…
As reported on TechCrunch. by FREDERIC LARDINOIS In what is becoming somewhat of a holiday tradition for Google, the company justannounced that it is extending free domestic calls from Gmail in the U.S. and Canada for yet another year. Just like at the end of 2011 and2010, Google today said that Gmail users will once again get one more year of free voice calls from the Gmail chat widget. It’s interesting that Google continues to extend this service year after…
As reported on TechCrunch. by GREGORY FERENSTEIN A week after the Newtown massacre, The Journal News published an interactive Google Map with the names and addresses of gun permit owners in select New York cities. The bold move has escalatedinto a transparency arms race, after a Connecticut lawyer posted the phone number and addresses of the Journal‘s staff, including a Google Maps satellite Image of the Publisher’s home. “I don’t know whether the Journal’s publisher Janet Hasson is a permit holder…
As reported on TechCrunch. by DARRELL ETHERINGTON Apple is said to be considering a move that will bring Mac mini production to the U.S., through manufacturing partner Foxconn, according to supply chain sources speaking to Digitimes. Foxconn already has an estimated 15 “operating bases” in the U.S. according to Digitimes. Indeed two of those at least include factories in California and Texas that finish assembly of partially assembled products, and while Foxconn officially denied plans earlier in the year…
As reported on Engadget. By Zach Honig At $11,999, this latest Canon 1D is hardly set to become a DSLR bestseller, but there are certainly a few pro shooters willing to line up for an incredibly versatile 18-megapixel 4K cam, with EOS lens compatibility and a full-frame sensor. We were expecting Canon’s top-of-the-line beast to sell for just shy of $15,000, so this new sub-$12k sticker is a pleasant surprise. You’ll also need to invest in a battery of high-speed…