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Just hours after the founders of the controversial movie streaming application Popcorn Time announced they were shutting it down, it appears the popular app will be making a quick comeback.

The group behind YTS (YIFY) will purportedly take over Popcorn Time, immediately, according to Torrentfreak.

After a week of mainstream articles brought the app to the forefront of attention, it became clear that Popcorn Time was quickly becoming the "Netflix of piracy" (as dubbed my multiple sites). Not all of the attention was good, however, and the Popcorn Time team stepped away with a long blog post last night: "Our experiment has put us at the doors of endless debates about piracy and copyright, legal threats and the shady machinery that makes us feel in danger for doing what we love. And that's not a battle we want a place in."

Not all is lost, however. YTS (formerly known as the scene group YIFY-Torrents) has picked up the software: "The YTS team will now be picking up the Popcorn Time project and continuing on like previously. We are in a better position copyright wise as for us, because it's build on our API, it's as if we have built another interface to our website. We are no worse off managing the project than we would be just supplying the movies.

Google has begun rolling out an update for its Play Store that will give users more control over password requirements when making app purchases.

The new update is likely related to a new class action suit the company is facing over in-app purchases. Currently, if making a purchase, users are asked to input a password when first making a password, but any subsequent purchase in the next thirty minutes does not require a password.

While this would normally not be too big of an issue, when a child gets their hands on a device, not requiring a password could be a monetary disaster.

Google has now made it that the 30-minute option is still available, or the setting can be changed to require a password every time a purchase is made. Additionally, the Google Play Store has now added the "In-app purchase (IAP) indicator directly into the permissions window."

All the updates come via Google Play Store version 4.6.16.

According to a new filing with an overseas regulatory agency (like the U.S.' FCC), it appears that Amazon's oft-rumored set-top box will include a Bluetooth gaming controller.

The media streaming device was set for a fall launch last year, but was met with delays. The new device could launch as soon as next month, if rumors prove to be accurate.

Netflix and Hulu Plus have already been confirmed for the device, as has a Kindle-ized version of Android. There has always been an expectation that gaming would be supported right out of the gate, given the hundreds of thousands of games available for Android.

The wireless Bluetooth controller will include shoulder buttons, triggers, dual analog controls and media playback controls including play/pause and rewind/fast forward.

An LED array will indicate battery levels and also whether you are connected to Bluetooth.

Popcorn Time, the desktop app that had become the 'Netflix of piracy,' has shut down for good.

The app made it easy to stream pirated films (with varying quality depending on what is available currently), and had recently received significant attention.

In a blog post, the company decided to shut down the service, and the full post is worth reposting:

We started Popcorn Time as a challenge to ourselves. That's our motto. That's what we stand for.

We are enormously proud of this project. It is the biggest thing we've ever achieved. And we've assembled an amazing team in the process, with people we love to work with. And to be honest, right now every single one of us has a knot in our stomachs. We love Pochoclín and everything it stands for, and we feel that we are letting our amazing contributors down. The ones who translated the app into 32 languages, some of which we weren't even aware existed. We stand in awe at what open source community can do.

We are startup geeks, first and foremost. We read Techcrunch, Reddit and Hacker News. We got frontpaged in Hacker News twice. At the same time. We got articles on Time Magazine, Fast Company, TechCrunch, TUAW, Ars Technica, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Yahoo Finance, Gizmodo, PC Magazine and Torrent Freak, just to name a few. And we got some action on TV and Radio shows, and this doesn't even include the many interviews we had to reject due to the barrage of media attention.
And they were not chastising us. They were cheering for us. We became the underdog that would fight for the consumer. Some people we respect, some of our heroes spoke wonders of Popcorn Time, which is a lot more than what we wanted to get out of an experiment we threw together in a couple of weeks.

According to a new report, Motorola had envisioned an Android superphone for Google, but Google CEO Larry Page refused to have it made.

The company wanted to create a Google-powered, fully integrated superphone, but Google would not sign off. What ended up happening was the Moto X, which is still an incredible device, but was more a Motorola device than a Google one.

One of the examples of the software/hardware Motorola was looking to build with Google is highlighted in the report: "Motorola wanted to work more closely with the Google team that develops natural language processing technologies, which help computers understand naturally-spoken phrases rather than a limited set of commands. Deeply integrating such technology with Motorola hardware could enable people to use a much wider array of voice commands and speed up the time it took for the smartphone to respond to commands."

Larry Page prohibited Motorola's engineers from working with Google's Android team after the acquisition. Page did not want to upset Android's powerful partners, including Samsung, LG and Sony, which makes perfect sense and was a viable fear. Additionally, Page refused to back the Moto X with a major marketing campaign, like Apple and Samsung do with their flagships.

The Oppo Find 7 has leaked in pictures finally, including packaging.

IT168 has posted pictures of the device, a few days before its official unveiling on March 19th.

The device features some high-end specs (at least rumored), including a 5.9-inch display with Quad HD (1440x2560) resolution, a Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, and a camera with an over 20MP camera (rumored to be a ridiculous 50MP).

Design for the phone is otherwise unspectacular, using the now standard black front face and white back and thin bezels.

Check the pics here:

Samsung has aimed high for the rich and/or gullible, launching their "Black Edition" Galaxy S4 in the UK for a whopping £499.

The company first confirmed the device last month, but did not disclose which markets would see it.

Available now exclusively in the UK through Phones4U, the unlocked unit will sell at a massive premium (about $825 USD) compared to the standard S4, despite having the same exact specs. The S4 sells, on average, for £325.80 ($540 USD) in the region.

Having the same internal specs, the Black Edition is different in that it has a black faux leather back cover, black accessories, and exclusive wallpapers and music tracks pre-installed.

The device goes on sale on April 11th.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved large carrier AT&T's acquisition of Leap Wireless, a company best known for the pre-paid Cricket wireless brand.

The deal, without any concessions, would have harmed the public interest, notes the FCC, but AT&T agreed to commitments and concessions to balance out any ongoing concerns.

"We find that the public interest benefits of the proposed transaction outweigh the likelihood of significant public interest harms, such that overall, the proposed transaction is in the public interest," the commission reported.

For its part, AT&T will integrate 5 million new customers and use Leap's spectrum and other assets to boost its existing networks. Cricket customers will get a much more robust LTE network.

In order to allow the deal to go through, AT&T agreed to divest spectrum in a few markets and must begin using "unused Leap spectrum within 12 months of closing." Additionally, AT&T must "offer certain rate plans targeted to help value-conscious and Lifeline customers." Finally, the U.S.'second-largest carrier must build out LTE service to six new markets in south Texas within 18 months.

Analogue Interactive has announced their aircraft-grade all-aluminum NES console dubbed the Analogue Nt.

The hardware will be heavy at 3 pounds, and has been "designed around the heart and brain of the original NES." Gamers will be sad to know that emulation is not featured (but could possibly be supported).

Founder Chris Taber added: "The NES has an incredibly rich history to explore. I think it's the most iconic video game system of all time -- a pivotal part of video game history. There are over 2,000 games for the NES, Famicom and Famicom Disk System. I want everyone to be able to explore them all, with no emulation. With videophile and audiophile quality ... We created the Analogue Nt to experience this pivotal part of gaming history with the quality and justice it deserves."

In addition, the console has four-player support and will "output the highest quality analog video signals possible" due to being RGB.

According to the NPD Group, the Sony PS4 outsold the Microsoft Xbox One again in February, but the gap closed from January.

287,000 PlayStation 4 units were sold for the month, with Microsoft moving 258,000 Xboxes.

"PS4 led hardware sales in February 2014, but by a narrow margin with Xbox One selling over 90 percent of what the PS4 sold in terms of unit sales," NPD's Liam Callahan noted. "However, with Xbox One's higher price point it led hardware sales on a dollar basis."

The video game industry has had a revival since the launch of the two consoles in November, with overall sales up 42 percent year-over-year and 44 percent month-over-month. Game sales were up 41 percent month-over-month but down 11 percent year-over-year due to sales falling for older consoles like the PS3 and Xbox 360.

T-Mobile has made some big news today, announcing that its entire existing 2G/EDGE network will be upgraded to 4G LTE by mid-2015.

Currently, its LTE coverage blankets 210 million Americans and has been aggressively expanding and upgrading since launching in 2013.

The carrier has always been criticized for having great, fast service in metro areas, but awful service in suburban and especially rural areas. The new upgrade would improve these faults.

Additionally, T-Mobile has called out Verizon for what it claims are "misleading competitive claims" in its LTE coverage map ads. The ads leave out T-Mobile's massive HSPA+ network (which offers 4G speeds), making T-Mobile's LTE map look tiny.

"Verizon's ink blots massively understate our coverage and don't begin to represent the actual customer experience on T-Mobile's network," added CEO John Legere.

Potent leaker @EVleaks has revealed some specs and details about Google's upcoming smartwatch, rumored to be launching in June.

LG is expected to be building the wearable device, following their strong relationship with previous Nexus devices.

If accurate, Evleaks says the device will have a 1.65-inch IPS LCD screen (280x280 resolution), 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage and an unknown processor.

Those specs make the watch similar to the Galaxy Gear 2, recently unveiled by Samsung.

More Google (LG) smartwatch specs: 1.65" IPS LCD @ 280x280, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, processor TBD.

-- @evleaks (@evleaks) March 13, 2014

Google has slashed the monthly price of extra Google Drive storage today, for every tier.

Reads the blog post:

We've lowered the price of our monthly storage plans to $1.99 for 100GB (previously $4.99), $9.99 for 1TB (previously $49.99), and $99.99 for 10TB, with even more storage available if you need it. How big is a terabyte anyway? Well, that's enough storage for you to take a selfie twice a day for the next 200 years and still have room left over for... shall we say... less important things. Like before, storage continues to work across Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photos. And, of course, the 15GB plan remains free.

Without a doubt, the most tantalizing option is 1TB, which dropped 80 percent from its previous price and offers most users enough space for their needs.

Rivals will need to take a look into their own services now, especially with Dropbox offering 100GB of storage for $9.99 per month, and 500GB for $50 per month.

As implied earlier in the year, Amazon has raised the price of their Prime membership.

Reads the email I received as a Prime user early this morning:

We are writing to provide you advance notice that the price of your Prime membership will be increasing. The annual rate will be $99 when your membership renews on xxx, 2014.

Even as fuel and transportation costs have increased, the price of Prime has remained the same for nine years. Since 2005, the number of items eligible for unlimited free Two-Day Shipping has grown from one million to over 20 million. We also added unlimited access to over 40,000 movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video and a selection of over 500,000 books to borrow from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

For more information about your Prime membership, visit our Prime membership page.

During a recent earnings report, the company had suggested the price of Prime would be going up and there have been rumors that a price hike would also include a new unlimited streaming service for subscribers (think Google Play All Access and Spotify) although this has yet to be confirmed.

Pono, the high-fidelity portable music player, has already surpassed its Kickstarter goal.

The player had a goal of $800,000 which was reached in under 24 hours, and 6,476 backers have contributed $2,112,066.

Pono Players will cost $399 when they launch at retail in October, but 100 lucky backers got it for $199 and all other Kickstarter backers can get it for $299.

What is Pono?

Pono's mission is to provide the best possible listening experience of your favorite music. We want to be very clear that PonoMusic is not a new audio file format or standard. PonoMusic is an end-to-end ecosystem for music lovers to get access to and enjoy their favorite music exactly as the artist created it, at the recording resolution they chose in the studio. We offer PonoMusic customers the highest resolution digital music available. PonoMusic is more than just a high-resolution music store and player; it is a grassroots movement to keep the heart of music beating. PonoMusic aims to preserve the feeling, spirit, and emotion that the artists put in their original studio recordings.