Latest news

Sony has confirmed today that the PlayStation TV set-top box will no longer ship in Japan, as of today.

Earlier this year, the company confirmed end-of-life for the set-top in the U.S. and Europe, as well.

Originally intended as a way to play digital console games, Sony notes that the PS4 and the Vita are doing quite well across the globe, leaving the microconsole as an incredibly niche product.

"PS Store for PlayStation TV will continue to be accessible, and PlayStation TV-related information will continue to be updated. In terms of applications/service for PlayStation TV, we will make further communications to users as necessary," added Sony.

The device launched in Japan in late 2013 and everywhere else in early 2014.

Source:
Gamespot

William Moriarty has pled guilty to illegally copying and uploading DVD screeners of 'The Revenant' and 'The Peanuts Movie,' unreleased films that he acquired while working on a studio lot.

"As the Academy Awards ceremony this weekend highlights, the entertainment industry is the economic cornerstone of the Central District of California," said US Attorney Eileen Decker said in the statement. "The defendant's conduct harmed the very industry that was providing his livelihood as well as the livelihood of others in Southern California."

The FBI began an immediate investigation after a dozen DVD screeners appeared over the holidays including high-profile films like The Big Short, Revenant, Spotlight and more.

"The FBI will continue to pursue those who steal intellectual property, a crime that negatively impacts the U.S. economy, and in the case of a movie leak, victimizes everyday workers in the entertainment industry," David Bowdich, assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said in the statement.

Moriarty could face up to three years but will likely see less for his plea deal.

The Raspberry Pi 3 is now available for sale, and the upgraded micro PC is still just $35.

Model B of the Raspberry Pi 3 now has a quad-core 1.2GHz 64-bit ARM Cortex A53 and embedded Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a massive upgrade from previous models that required USB adapters for the connectivity. The new PC supports 802.11n Wi-Fi (2.4GHz only) and Bluetooth 4.0.

The device is available now via Element14, Think Allied, and RS Components, the usual retailers for the PCs.

Raspberry Pi creator Eben Upton says the new model should run 50 percent faster and more efficiently than previous models. "The main reason we're excited about Cortex A53 is it's a better 32-bit processor [than A7]. You can run in 32-bit mode," Upton said.

Additionally, the Pi has 1GB RAM and a new Broadcom 400MHz VideoCore IV that will support 1080p video at 60fps.

A few months ago, it was rumored that HiFi music streaming service Tidal and its majority owner Jay-Z were in talks with Samsung over a possible acquisition.

It appears that those talks have restarted.

"Samsung is re-engaging; they are working on something really big, and they're keeping it very quiet in case it leaks," said a source.

Tidal, despite its star power, has struggled mightily to compete against Apple Music and Spotify and is reportedly burning through money. The company got a boost recently when Kanye West released his latest album exclusively through the service, but it is unclear if the publicity will lead to any more sales.

Swiss Army Knife and watchmaker Victorinox has shown off a new accessory that will turn your traditional watch into a smartwatch.

The new Cybertool attachment will clip on to your existing Victorinox INOX watch and will give you the ability to take calls, texts and view notifications.

Additionally, the accessory has GPS support and will have some basic fitness capabilities like step counting and calorie counting.

The attachment is set to retail for over $200 and, of course, you need the INOX watch as well, which will set you back another $500. There is also the question of how it will look (doesn't look too promising).

Nintendo has unveiled Pokemon Sun and Moon this week, the next games in the blockbuster franchise.

The games will hit the Nintendo 3DS handheld console in time for the holidays this year, and will be the first new games since 2013's Pokemon X and Y.

"We hope that, through Pokemon, players can overcome language barriers and interact with other players from around the world," Tsunekazu Ishihara, CEO of The Pokemon Company, said while adding that the game will launch worldwide and in nine different languages.

In celebrating the 20th anniversary of the franchise, gamers can also play the original titles on their 3DS's this weekend.

The hype for the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice may be close to peaking as Regal Cinemas has begun offering an "unlimited ticket" that allows unlimited access to the film throughout its entire theater run.

The ticket, which is actually a stainless steel card with laser cut symbols and your name engraved, will cost $100 and will include entry to all iterations of the film, including Imax.

Only 1000 of the cards are being made, and they have an expiration of September 24th.

It is hard to see anyone seeing this movie 5 or more times (in Imax) to make the card worth it, but it is a cool gift and idea if you have the disposable income.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice will open on March 25, 2016.

Microsoft has announced this week that it has ended its quest to port Android apps to Windows.

"Project Astoria," as it was codenamed, would have given developers an easier way to bring their Android apps to Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile.

Microsoft director Kevin Gallo says, bluntly, that "bridge technologies to bring code from mobile operating systems to Windows was unnecessary."

The decision was likely an easy one after Microsoft agreed to acquire startup Xamarin, a company that lets developers write their apps in a single programming language and then customize it for the major smartphone platforms. Microsoft also has an open-source iOS migration tool that has proven popular.

Three years after YouTube added the ability for video creators to blur faces within their videos, the company has expanded the blurring ability to anything you want in your videos.

The new "Custom Blurring" tool, which is available now for the desktop version of the video sharing site, will let you "blur any object in your video, even as it moves. Whether you want to blur sensitive information such as a license plate or cover up a wardrobe malfunction without reshooting an entire scene, the new Custom Blurring tool will let you blur objects throughout your video, right within YouTube."

Easy enough, the feature lets you draw a box around whatever you want to be blurred and YouTube will automatically blur that object whenever it appears throughout the video.

You can also choose to move the blurred areas, resize them, and choose when the blur starts and ends.

An appeals court has overturned a $120 million judgement against Samsung in their ongoing patent feud with Apple.

The court said Samsung did not infringe on Apple's "quick links" patent and also discarded two other patents related to the iPhone's slide-to-unlock and auto-correct features.

Making it a completely lopsided victory for Samsung, the court also ruled that Apple infringed on one of Samsung's patents, as well.

Added Samsung: "Today's decision is a win for consumer choice and puts competition back where it belongs - in the marketplace, not in the courtroom."

In news that will likely not affect you - popular messaging application WhatsApp has announced it will drop support for some older, dead operating systems.

WhatsApp will end support for BlackBerry, Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1, 2.2 and Windows Phone 7.1.

"When we started WhatsApp in 2009, people's use of mobile devices looked very different from today," the announcement read. "The Apple App Store was only a few months old. About 70 percent of smartphones sold at the time had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia. Mobile operating systems offered by Google, Apple and Microsoft – which account for 99.5 percent of sales today – were on less than 25 percent of mobile devices sold at the time. As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use."

Why is WhatsApp (and parent Facebook) getting rid of support for the older operating systems even though they still have some (tiny) market share?

"While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future," WhatsApp explained. "This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp."

Amazon has announced that its new season of "The Fashion Fund" will be available for free for non-Prime users, albeit with ads.

The reality show is in its third season and is not expected to be one of the company's most popular original shows, but the idea is interesting nonetheless.

If you subscribe to Prime, the show will still be free, without ads, but non-users can now log in to their Amazon account and watch for free with commercials. It may be the start of something larger, or it could be that Amazon just wants more viewers since they are also selling clothes and other accessories that are seen on the show.

"We're always experimenting on behalf of our customers, including experimenting with ads," said Amazon of the move. "For this Fashion Fund project, we found it to be a very effective way to fund its production. The show has strong interest from advertisers."

As has been reported for a couple of months, Apple is preparing a new 4-inch iPhone, one that will look similar to the company's previous iPhone 5s design, except with 2016 specs.

There had been rumors that the company would call the device the "iPhone 5se," but it is becoming apparent that Apple will drop the number scheme completely, sticking with just iPhone SE.

Of course, dropping the numbers make sense from a sales and marketing standpoint, as consumers may be upset to buy something with 5 in the title when the iPhone 7 is set for release. Additionally, by dropping the numbers, the product cycle does not have to coincide with the company's current release dates in the fall.

By most leaks, the iPhone SE will be identical to the iPhone 5s in design except that it will have curved edges. Under the hood, the phone will be powered by an A9 processor, an M9 chip, always-on Siri support, an NFC chip, Live Photo support and upgraded Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cameras.

Apple has a press event scheduled for March 15th where they are expected to launch the SE as well as a new iPad.

Just a month after they retired the option, Sprint has brought back two-year contracts.

The carrier says "We listened to our customers and are giving them more choices to get their new device," making them the only of the big four U.S. carriers to offer a 24-month payment plan.

A two-year contract is again available next to monthly finance plans, full-price purchases and Sprint leases.

T-Mobile began the downfall of the two-year contract in 2013 when it completely got rid of the option, and "upgrades," instead moving to monthly installment plans.

The RIAA has secured a $22 million judgement against MP3Skull, a site that did not host but linked to pirated song files.

MP3Skull lost because nobody ever came to court to defend the site, including the site's owner Monica Vasilenko, who currently resides in Russia.

Sued in April 2015, the "very popular rogue website devoted to the massive, brazen, and egregious theft of millions of copyrighted sound recordings" will now move into the control of the labels although it is highly unlikely they will ever receive a penny of the judgement.

MP3Skull was a very basic site that was created to "provide fast and relevant search" and then link to unauthorized music files.

The RIAA was "pleased" with the decision.

Source:
Arstechnica