Sony (SNE) is scheduled to announce its next-generation PlayStation 4 console at a press conference in New York City on February 20th. Recent rumors have pegged the system as a gaming powerhouse with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and 1080p HD resolution in 3D at 60 fps, however this may not be what the company is aiming for. According to a report from the Nikkei, Sony hopes the Playstation 4 will act more as a home entertainment “nerve center” than a dedicated gaming system. An unnamed company executive reportedly said that the console’s main selling point won’t be its high-end specs, but rather the new styles of play it will introduce and its ability to connect and share to mobile devices. The PlayStation 4 is rumored to launch in October and could cost more than $400.
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Dell Buyout, Once Deemed Unlikely, May Happen If Microsoft Gets Its Way
Connie Guglielmo
A buyout of Dell Inc., deemed by some financial analysts as unlikely because it would be the largest such buyout since the beginning of the financial crisis and hinder CEO Michael Dell’s ability to do acquisitions, may be closer to completion – assuming Microsoft gets a say in the company.
The deal, which would value the world’s third-largest personal computer maker at $22 billion or more, would “include the nearly 16% Dell stake owned by founder and Chief Executive Michael Dell, contributions from private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners and Microsoft, in addition to about $15 billion in debt financing arranged by banks,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Google Offers $3.14159 Million in Hacking Prizes
Ben Weitzenkorn
Whoever successfully cracks Google’s Chrome operating system at this year’s Pwnium hacking contest will walk away with a piece of the pi.
Google, which had previously offered totals of $1 million, then $2 million, in prizes for successful hacks, is upping the ante at the contest, to be held in March at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, B.C. The company is offering a total of $3.14159 million in cash rewards.
That’s a nod to pi, math’s most intriguing irrational number, and to the added challenges that come with cracking Google’s ever-improving security measures.
It’s unlikely that any single hacker will get the whole pi. Instead, many contestants could win $110,000 for each temporary compromise of Chrome OS, or $150,000 for each compromise that survives a system reboot.
Man of Steel MPAA Rating Revealed
Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly-anticipated Superman movie, Man of Steel, has been rated by the MPAA. The film has received a PG-13 rating “for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language.” Sounds good, right?
Flying into 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters on June 14, the Zack Snyder-directed action adventure stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe, Michael Kelly, Harry Lennix and Richard Schiff.
In the film, a young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
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Kingston Digital Ships Its Fastest, World’s Largest-Capacity USB 3.0 Flash Drive
2013 International CES Las Vegas, NV and Fountain Valley, CA — January 7, 2013 — Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the DataTraveler® HyperX® Predator 3.0 USB Flash drive. DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 is the world’s largest-capacity USB 3.0 Flash drive as it will be available in a 1TB capacity later in Q1. It is shipping now in 512GB capacity. DT HyperX Predator 3.0 is the fastest USB 3.0 Flash drive in the Kingston® family, with speeds of up to 240MB/s read and 160MB/s write. It has also achieved SuperSpeed USB 3.0 certification.
For more information visit www.kingston.com.
And the DGA nominees are …
Ben Affleck, Argo
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Tom Hooper, Les Miserables
Directors Guild of America
Todd McCarthy Picks 15 Films to Look Forward to in 2013
by Todd McCarthy
The arrival of quite a few strong films over the past four months allows us to bid farewell to 2012 reasonably well satisfied with the year overall. The all-but-guaranteed grimness of any year’s January-March releases promises to dash whatever residual good cheer carries over into the new year, but, looking a bit further down the line, a number of upcoming films involve intriguing talents applying themselves to potential interesting material to mark them as must-sees.
Surveying various lists of films due to be released in 2013, the following 15 jumped out, for various reasons, as ones I’m most eagerly anticipating. They are listed, more or less, in order of their scheduled release dates.
‘Lincoln,’ ‘Django Unchained’ Come on Strong in Golden Globes Movie Nominations
“Lincoln,” “Django Unchained,” “Life of Pi,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo” are the nominees for Best Motion Picture, Drama at the Golden Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced on Thursday.
In the Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical category, nominees are “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Les Miserables,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”
Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” led all films with seven nominations, followed by “Argo” and “Django Unchained” with five and “Les Miserables,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Zero Dark Thirty” with four.
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The War Z pulled from Steam, Valve calls release ‘a mistake’
by Erik Johnson
After a launch marred by a string of controversy, The War Z has been completely blocked from purchase on Steam.
While the game remains listed on the PC digital distribution hub, you can no longer buy it. Valve has decided to offer a refund for any customers who felt they were mislead by the current state of the game.
“From time to time a mistake can be made and one was made by prematurely issuing a copy of War Z for sale via Steam,” a Valve rep told Kotaku. “We apologize for this and have temporary removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build.”