Valve Reveals Haptic Game Controller For Release In 2014

Games developer and publisher Valve has shown off its Steam Controller, the final part of its strategy to bring its PC-based platform to the living room. 

The controller offers two trackpads which provide "haptic" feedback capable of delivering various physical sensations to the player. 

Valve said it offers a better way to play games that have traditionally been controlled with a keyboard and mouse. 

Gamers have been invited test the device before it goes on sale in 2014.

Read More : BBC

The Top Most Video Game 'Grand Theft Auto Released'

Grand Theft Auto V has been released on 17 September 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles which is developed by Rockstar North and Published by Rockstar Games as an open world and action adventure video game. It is the fifteenth title in the Grand Theft Auto series.

Grand Theft Auto V is played in third person and mixing with driving and action game play in an open game world environment. The game is set within the imaginary state of San Andreas, which is based on Southern California, affording the player free wander over the world's countryside and the imaginary city of Los Santos, which is based on Los Angeles. The single player story is controlled through three controlled characters who the player switches between - Michael, Trevor and Franklin and the story follows their efforts to plan and perform six large heists to accrue wealth for themselves. An online multiplayer mode is included and allowing up to sixteen players to involve in both co-operative and competitive game play in a recreation of the single-player setting.

Read More : Wikipedia, IGN

London Museum Acquires World's First 3D Printed Gun

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has developed two models of the world's first 3D-printed gun. The 'Liberator' pistol is the invention of Cody Wilson, a Texan law student whose company Defense Distributed caused a furore in May when it made blueprints for its firearm easily available on the Internet. The distribution of the designs led to Wired magazine naming Wilson as one of the '15 Most dangerous People in the World'. In theory, once downloaded, the designs would allow anyone with access to a 3D printer to make their own gun.

Read More : CNN, BBC News, Forbes, Wired

Sprint preps 'One Up,' its own early upgrade program

Better late than never, Sprint is finally getting into the early upgrade game. The company is preparing to launch Sprint One Up, a program that allows its customers to pay for their smartphones or tablets in monthly installments and upgrade after every year by trading in their devices, CNET has learned. One Up is slated to launch on September 20. Sprint is the last of the national carriers to offer such a program, after T-Mobile kick-started the trend in July with its own Jump program. Shortly after AT&T launched NEXT, and Verizon introduced Edge. The moves underscore the increasingly competitive nature of the business, with each player looking to mimic its rivals.

A Sprint representative declined to comment. All of the carrier programs principally work the same, with a few nuanced differences. Sprint's One Up lets customers pick up a phone with no money down and pay for the device in 24 monthly installments. A phone that costs $649.99, for instance, will cost $27 a month (with the difference tacked on to the 24th payment). If a customer leaves the service early, that person is on the hook for the balance of the device cost, due the following month.

After a year, a customer can upgrade to a new phone by trading in the device. A customer signs up for One Up with an Unlimited, My Way or All-In plan. One Up provides a $15 discount, which allows for an unlimited talk, text, and data plan that costs as little as $65 a month. T-Mobile's comparable unlimited plan costs $70 a month.

One Up is more like Jump in that it offers customers a break on the plan in exchange for the monthly-installment model. T-Mobile's Jump was seen as a better deal than AT&T and Verizon because the carrier previously knocked the price down on all of its plans when it moved to a no-contract model. AT&T and Verizon's early upgrade plans were criticized because they didn't offer any discount on the service plans despite requiring customers to pay the full price of their devices.

Existing customers who have been on contract for at least a year are also eligible, although the offer may be limited. Existing customers still on contract must trade in their existing phones, unless they are already up for a discounted upgrade. As with other plans, the existing phone has to be in good working order. Sprint prepaid customers aren't eligible for the program. Sprint previously offered a little-known early upgrade program called "Upgrade Now," which required an upgrade fee. The program still exists for customers not eligible for One Up. After all the noise T-Mobile has been making, Sprint is hoping to build a little buzz of its own. With the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C launching soon, it couldn't have picked a better time. 

Soarce : Cnet

BMW Reinvents The Car With i8 Model

In the upper reaches of automotive performance, the hybrid sports car is becoming a real thing. Witness the Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 Spyder, and McLaren P1. Those examples seem like efforts to maintain the relevance of high-end performance in an oil-starved world. But BMW may just be cracking the code with its i8.

Unlike the competition, which tend toward evolutionary changes built from existing models, BMW designed the i8 as a wholly new car, constructed from the ground on up to exemplify performance and minimal fossil fuel consumption. And deviating from the i3 model, its sibling in BMW's new i brand, the i8 actually looks good.

Drivetrain Specifications

Gasoline Engine                                          BMW TwinPower Turbo 1.5-Liter Three-Cylinder
Electric Motor                                            Hybrid Synchronous Motor With Power
Total Output                                               362 Horsepower
Total Torque                                              420 Pound-Feet Transmission Six-Speed Automatic
Acceleration                                               (0-60 Mph) 4.2 Sec., Est
Top Speed                                                 155 MPH
Fuel Economy                                            (MPGe) 95
Total Range                                               310 Miles (372 Miles W/ ECO PRO)
Electric Range                                            22 Miles

BMW i8's starting price is $135.925, including destination and handling fees. It will hit showroom in the spring of 2014 as a 2015 model year.

Read More : Cnet, Top Speed

Microsoft Offers $200 Token For Used iPads

Microsoft has launched a US marketing offer for people to exchange "gently used" iPads for Microsoft products such as Surface tablets.

The company is offering at least a $200 token to go towards products such as the Surface RT and the Surface Pro. 

Microsoft is far behind Apple in terms of global tablet sales and market share. 

One US-based analyst expressed doubts that many people would swap their iPad for a Microsoft product.

READ MORE : BBC NEWS

Twitter’s Plans To Be Listed On The Stock Market

Twitter has announced it plans to join the stock market. We answer five questions on the social networking site’s plans for stock market flotation.

On Twitter. The company sent out a tweet saying "We've confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned [initial public offering]." Twitter said little else about its refraining from giving a timing or price for the offering and its flotation plans.

Twitter worth from Investors have valued from the micro blogging site at more than $10bn (£6.3bn). Mostly through advertising and companies paying for promoted tweets. These tweets post on people’s timeline, typically reaching 200 million active users, who alone send more than 500 million tweets a day.

According to advertising and recommendation of eMarketer, Twitter is on track to post $583m in income in 2013, up from $288m in 2012.

Andrew Frank, social media expert at technology research company Garner, speaking to the BBC offered some possible reasons: “The IPO” gives its investors a way to get some of the money back that they put into the company at the establishment. It gives the employees a similar kind of event to reward them for the success they've had so far. And it gives Twitter itself extra funds to invest in new projects and modernization.

Opel Monza Concept Rises into Frankfurt Motor Show 2013

Opel has a great introduction for hitting the stage at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, but the most significant is the smooth Monza Concept. Refreshing the Monza name, Opel says this concept will motivate future models for the brand but between the styling technology and powertrain. This isn't clear which of these will make it to production. We're hoping for all of the above. 

At its core, the i8 combines Twin Power Turbo and eDrive technology that results in a car that produces 362 horsepower, goes from 0 to 62 mph in 4.4 seconds, and gets 94 mpg. The striking body is made up of lightweight elements such as carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic, aluminum, and magnesium panels. 

The Monza Concept instead uses the dashboard surface and combines it with 18 LED projectors, creating an adaptable and customizable multi-function display that stretches from door to door. This will provide typical important driving information and will also be the source for internet and communication functions. The whole setup can be individually configured and will work via voice commands and steering wheel control inputs.

iPhone 6 release date, news and rumours

Apple will unveil its new iPhone handset called the iPhone 5S, besides the GM version of iOS 7 and potentially a more affordable iPhone handset known as the iPhone 5C. But we can’t be seeing the iPhone 6 which on will launch on 2014.

iPhone 6 specs : The iPhone 6 will launch on iOS 7 except Apple announces a surprise iOS 8 update before then. It’s more likely the company will launch the iPhone 6 with an incremental update (say, iOS 7.2) – after all, iOS 7 is a substantial enough overhaul to prevent Apple launching a brand new OS. The current processor on iphone 5 is a dual-core A6 and the next one will be a quad-core A7. The big sell here is more power with better efficiency, which should help battery life. (In terms of multimedia, we can expect a camera of at least 8-mega pixels (probably 13-mega pixels) with a dual LED flash.
The iPhone 6 will launch in a different storage capacities, although rumour has it the company will scrap the 16GB version and offer the device with 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities. iPhone 6 price : We expect the Phone 6 to be the top-level iPhone and as such, it will probably have a flagship price. The iPhone 5 is available from £529 for the 16GB version, £599 for 32GB and £699 for 64GB. If Apple were to up the screen size and storage, we would expect these prices to be upped to.

iPhone 6 release date : The iPhone 6 release date will be in 2014.

For more info : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/iphone-6-release-date-news-and-rumours-1099865

What to expect from Apple on Sept 2013

Should you start picking which color iPhone you're going to order and counting down to an iWatch? If the suspense around the upcoming Apple event is too much to bear, here's a preview of what will likely be unveiled.

 http://cnettv.cnet.com/

PS4 Console Impressions and Analyses Revealed

PlayStation 4 will be release on November 2013 with a new attracting look and accessories. 

The PS4 will launch with the ability to stream games directly to your PS Vita. It is exactly in the same way as the Wii U allows you to switch off your TV and continue playing on the tablet controller, the PS4 will wirelessly send your games to the Vita.

The PS4 will launch with the ship packing 8GB of GDDR5 memory. That's some super-fast stuff right there and should enable lightning fast performance.

The most interesting thing is the development of the PlayStation Camera, a newly developed camera system that utilizes two high-sensitivity cameras equipped with wide-angle lenses and 85-degree diagonal angle views.

PS4'sDualShock 4 controller has no Start or Select buttons. It has an Option button instead, as well as the much bandied and about Share button on the rear.The controller has a two-point Vita, like touchpad on the front with a 1920x900 resolution, and a tactile clicking sound. The light bar on the front will glow different colours depending on you are player 1, 2, 3 or 4 and will be followed by the new PS Eye camera. The controller also has an Xbox-style headset jack and a mono speaker inside it.  The PS4's DualShock 4 controller will be available in Black, Red and Blue.

PS4 streaming lets you stream out live gameplay with your friends. This is all built into the hardware and does not need any supported by developers. Users can react on the video by typing comments in real time.

It'll be cheaper than the Xbox One - $399 in the U.S., £349 in the U.K. and €399 - compared to $499 and £429.