General Gaming Article

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• Did Apple Provide F.B.I. with Millions of iOS Device User IDs?
• Daily Deals 9/5/12: GeForce GTX 660 Ti, 480GB SSD, and More
• Nokia Unwraps Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8; How Does It Compare to Lumia 900?
• Rovio: Angry Birds 'Bad Piggies' Spinoff Launches September 27
• Valve Opens Feature Enhanced Steam Community to Everyone

Did Apple Provide F.B.I. with Millions of iOS Device User IDs? Posted: 05 Sep 2012 02:13 PM PDT Normally when someone claims big brother is tracking their every move, we'd recommend rolling an aluminum foil deflector beanie to stay one step ahead of 'the man,' but what happens if they were right all along? Like something out of a suspense thriller, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) got caught in possession of millions of Apple device user IDs, and suddenly everyone is playing dumb. Here's what happened. The hacking organization known as AntiSec posted a million Apple Unique Device Identifies (UDIDs) on Pastebin, claiming that it's a portion of the 12 million IDs it lifted from an F.B.I. laptop. UDIDs, if you're not familiar, are strings of 40 characters specific to Apple devices, like an iPhone or iPad. Why the F.B.I. would be in possession of 12 million of these is anyone's guess, but according to AntiSec, the file containing all those IDs also included personal information, such as full names, addresses, telephone numbers, etc. Scary stuff. So, is Apple handing over confidential user information to the F.B.I. so that it can track users on a whim? Not according to Apple. "The F.B.I. has not requested this information from Apple, nor have we provided it to the F.B.I. or any organization," said Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, according to The New York Times. "Additionally, with iOS 6, we introduced a new set of A.P.I.'s meant to replace the use of the U.D.I.D. and will soon be banning the use of U.D.I.D." Image Credit: Sag-a.com That's fine and dandy for future iOS devices, but in the here and now, it's scary as hell that the F.B.I. is walking around with 12 million user IDs, information of which it failed to keep safe from hackers. Or did it? In a statement of its own, the F.B.I. said it never had the leaked info to begin with. "The F.B.I. is aware of published reports alleging that an F.B.I. laptop was compromised and private data regarding Apple UDIDs was exposed. At this time there is no evidence indicating that an F.B.I. laptop was compromised or that the F.B.I. either sought or obtained this data," the F.B.I. said in a statement. Reiterating its stance, the F.B.I. called the reports "TOTALLY FALSE" on its Twitter account. Is AntiSec simply stirring up trouble, or is something sinister going on? Quite frankly, we don't know what to think, but we're stocking up on tinfoil anyway. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Daily Deals 9/5/12: GeForce GTX 660 Ti, 480GB SSD, and More Posted: 05 Sep 2012 10:54 AM PDT Our sponsors over at LogicBuy have compiled a list of daily deals for the Maximum PC reader looking for great gadgets on a budget. This promotion will help you find that diamond-in-the-rough special you were looking for. Today's deals are as follows: Top Deal PNY GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB GDDR5 Video Card + Borderlands 2 PC game & HDMI Cable for $299.99 with free shipping (normally $320). Synopsis: Considering the GeForice GTX 660 Ti/Borderlands 2 bundle pack is already a great deal at $320, lobbing off another $20 certainly doesn't make the deal any less sweet.  While we haven't had the chance to review PNY's particular 660 Ti, we did like Nvidia's other 660 Ti offerings. If you've been living under a rock and have no idea what Borderlands 2 is, it's Gearbox software's highly anticipated follow-up to its original 2009 shooter/RPG hit Borderlands. Considering the game alone will run you $59.99, this isn't a bad deal for those looking for the game and a solid new graphics card. Laptops: 17.3" Dell Inspiron 17R (5720) 3rd Gen Core i7-3612QM 2.1GHz Quad-core Ivy Bridge Laptop w/8GB RAM, 1TB HDD for $749.99 with free shipping (normally $1,039 - use $100 coupon code 822MXX7Q$PQX36). 14" Toshiba Satellite U845-S402 Core i3 ULV Ultrabook w/4GB RAM, 500GB HDD + 16GB SSD for $649.99 with free shipping (normally $749.99). Desktops: Dell Vostro 260s Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-core Slim Tower w/4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, two 20" LED-backlit LCD Monitors & $100 Gift Card for $599 with free shipping (normally $749 - use $50 stackable coupon code W9D06J14FX10WM). Computing Hardware & Peripherals: 27" Planar PX2710MW 1080p 2ms LCD Monitor w/ HDMI & 3-year warranty for $219.99 with free shipping (normally $469.99 - use $250 coupon code X88QZ?XGMWKZMQ). 23" Dell ST2320L 1080p HDMI LED-backlit LCD Monitor for $159.99 with free shipping (normally $209.99 - use $50 coupon code W15JJ3TRG8C02Q). 480GB Kingston V+200 2.5" SATA III Internal SSD (KW-S2180-4B) for $369.99(normally $480). 360GB Corsair Force Series GS 2.5" SATA 6GB/s Internal SSD (CSSD-F360GBGS-BK) for $289.99 (normally $360). Western Digital My Net N600 HD Dual-Band Wireless-N Router for $59.99 with free shipping (Normally $70). Note: Due to the nature of deals & coupons, these deals could end suddenly because of coupon redemption caps or from being sold out.

Nokia Unwraps Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8; How Does It Compare to Lumia 900? Posted: 05 Sep 2012 09:21 AM PDT After months of speculation and hype, Nokia today undressed its newest flagship smartphone -- Lumia 920 -- and bared its naked soul for all to see. The Lumia 920 is Nokia's much anticipated Windows Phone 8 device, the one that's supposed to turn the company's fortunes around and legitimize it as a true contender in the high-end smartphone sweepstakes that's currently led by Apple's iPhone family (iOS) and a handful of Android devices, most notably Samsung's Galaxy S III. So, how does the Lumia 920 compare to the Lumia 900 it replaces? First and foremost, the Lumia 900 is a Windows Phone 7 device, and as was revealed earlier this year, no such piece of hardware is ever going to be christened with Windows Phone 8. Platform aside, let's take a look at the hardware. Unlike the Lumia 900, the 920 is a power packed smartphone with a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (along with 7GB of free SkyDrive cloud storage from Microsoft), and 4.5-inch HD (1280x768) IPS display. It has an 8.7MP rear-facing camera, 1080p video recording, 1280x960 front-facing camera, HSPA+ or 4G LTE connectivity, NFC support, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.1, and 2,000 mAh battery. This is the Windows Phone you've been waiting for, and it's improved from the Lumia 900 in just about every way. For the sake of comparison, the 900 featured a 1.4GHz single-core Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 4.3-inch AMOLED display with an 800x480 resolution, 8MP rear-facing camera, 720p video recording, 1MP front-facing camera, no NFC support, and an 1,830 mAh battery. Once again, Nokia is paying extra attention to the camera. "The Lumia 920 is the first Windows Phone to benefit from PureView imaging technology and the first phone in the world to have physical Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) for blur-free images even when your hand is not rock steady. It is the best camera we have ever put in a smartphone to date," Nokia said in a blog post. All that's left is for Nokia to announce carrier pricing. In the meantime, check out the video below for more information. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Rovio: Angry Birds 'Bad Piggies' Spinoff Launches September 27 Posted: 05 Sep 2012 07:20 AM PDT If you always thought the egg-stealing pigs in Rovio's incredibly popular Angry Birds series got a bad wrap, don't worry, you're not bacon up the wrong tree. Come September 27, Rovio invites you to go hog wild in "Bad Piggies," an Angry Birds spinoff that "turns the franchise on its head" and lets you play as one of the pigs. The title will feature brand new gameplay, and Rovio promises there isn't a slingshot in sight. "There's a lot of empathy towards the lovable enemies from the Angry Birds games, and we've been constantly asked: what about the pigs' side of the story?," said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. "Bad Piggies gives you the chance to play as the second-most-loved characters in the Angry Birds universe, and explore this rich world through their green eyes." Apple iOS, Mac, and Google Android users will be the first to unlock their inner swine, though Rovio says it plans to launch versions for Windows Phone, Windows 8, and PC shortly after the September 27 launch. Exactly when, however, is not yet known. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Valve Opens Feature Enhanced Steam Community to Everyone Posted: 05 Sep 2012 07:01 AM PDT Valve's Steam Community shed its beta baggage and is now open to anyone in the general public interested in finding and sharing game related content. The cleaned up release introduces a handful of new features, like automatically formatting YouTube links, a slick new interface (including a collage of your finest gaming moments on the screenshots page), the ability to search within discussions areas, and other goodies. When first announced a month ago, Valve said the massive overhaul to the Steam Community was all about "showing off the best content gamers have created." Towards that end, there are now more than 94 million gamer generated screenshots, videos, and Workshop items (maps, levels, mods, etc) being shared throughout Steam's ecosystem. The new Steam Community wrangles it all together in an attempt to create a more socially connected experience, one that's easy to navigate. Every game has its own hub, there are group updates, group moderation, and more. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments section below. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

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