| Cliff Bleszinski Planning to Develop Digital-Only PC Titles Posted: 19 Feb 2014 03:42 PM PST 
"PC is where I'm going to wind up. That's where the community is." Former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski has expressed the possibility of developing games again. In an interview with Gamasutra, Bleszinski revealed that he was thinking of starting a new studio with its focus being on the PC platform. If Bleszinski were to start his own studio, not only would he develop for the PC platform, but focus on communicating with players as well. He explained, "PC is where I'm going to wind up. That's where the community is. The trend will always be the core. If I start a studio, I want a community manager there day one. I want weekly video or podcasts; I want task lists available on the subreddit." Bleszinksi plans to focus on developing digital-only titles for the PC platform and seemed adamant when he said, "I'll never make another disc-based game for the rest of my career…" As to what kind of game he will develop next, Bleszinski, who worked on the Unreal Tournament and Gears of War franchises, added, "I will probably always make shooters. It's in my DNA." But Bleszinksi doesn't want to just create a good game. He concluded, "I want to get back to the point where I go to PAX, and a couple comes up to us and tells us that they met in a game that my team made. Cosplayers, Kids with tattoos. That sense of camaraderie with developers. That's where I want to get back to." Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Google Looking at 34 Cities to Receive Google Fiber Posted: 19 Feb 2014 01:50 PM PST  Studies to be conducted
Google has announced plans to investigate the possibilities of expanding its Google Fiber service to nine metro areas in the United States. Having set up its network system in Kansas City (KS), Austin (TX), and Provo (UT), Google is looking to branch out and discover how feasible it will be to bring its service to other areas. According to the official blog post, the company is looking at adding 34 cities to participate in this initiative. Some of the cities being approached are Portland (OR), Atlanta (GA), Phoenix (AZ), Nashville (TN), San Jose (CA), San Antonio (TX), Charlotte (NC), and Raleigh-Durham (NC). 
Google's goal is to work with city leaders on a joint planning process in order to map out a network and assess any local challenges. A detailed study of local topography, housing density, and condition of local infrastructure will be conducted to help the company determine whether or not these locations will be able to receive the service. In the meantime, according to the post, "Cities will complete a checklist of items that will help them get ready for a project of this scale and speed. For example, they'll provide us with maps of existing conduit, water, gas and electricity lines so that we can plan where to place fiber. They'll also help us find ways to access existing infrastructure—like utility poles—so we don't unnecessarily dig up streets or have to put up a new pole next to an existing one." Google plans to provide updates, towards the end of the year, concerning which cities will be provided with Google Fiber. How eager are you to have Google Fiber come to your area? Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Toshiba's HG6 Series Solid State Drives Arrive with 19nm NAND Flash Memory Posted: 19 Feb 2014 11:42 AM PST  New SSD line comes in capacities up 512GB
If you thought Toshiba might simply hand over all solid state drive chores to its recently acquired OCZ Storage Solutions subsidiary, think again. Toshiba will continue to build its own brand SSDs alongside OCZ and today announced its new HG6 series. It's the newest edition to the HG family and is intended for a wide range of applications, everything from ultrabooks and ultrathins to data center servers. The HG6 series comes in different form factor options including 2.5-inch (7mm and 9.5mm heights) SATA 6Gbps, mSATA, and M.2 (both single-sided and double-sided) in capacities ranging from 60GB to 512GB, depending on form factor. What they all share in common are 19nm Toggle 2.0 multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips. Performance is the same across the board -- up to 534MB/s sequential reads and up to 482MB/s sequential writes. They also boast enterprise class technology such as Toshiba's proprietary QSBC (Quadruple Swing-By Code) error correction code (ECC) to prevent data corruption caused by NAND wear. 
Toshiba didn't share pricing information, though did say (PDF) the HG6 series will begin shipping in March 2014. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Research Report Shows Desktop Graphics Shipments Continue to Rise Posted: 19 Feb 2014 10:51 AM PST  GPU market showing signs of a recovery
The analytical folks at Jon Peddie Research (JPR) say there's evidence to show the graphics market may have bottomed out and is now slowly recovering, though cautioned it's still a bit premature to make any concrete determination. That said, graphics shipments increased 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, which is the second quarter in a row that shipments have been up sequentially. That also outpaces the -2 percent 10-year average change for graphics shipments for quarter-to-quarter, JPR says. Included in those figures are discrete and integrated graphics (CPU and chipset) for desktops, notebooks, and netbooks, PC-based commercial (such as POS), industrial/scientific, and embedded applications. Not included are handhelds (mobile phones), x86 servers, or ARM-based tablets, though JPR does factor in x86-based tablets and x86-based Chromebooks. AMD saw mixed results for the quarter. It's desktop APU shipments jumped an impressive 15 percent sequentially, but declined 26.7 percent in notebooks, JPR says. Its discrete desktop shipments increased 1.8 percent while notebook discrete shipments fell 6.7 percent. Overall, AMD's PC graphics shipments declined 10.4 percent partly as a result of being "late with its new parts," JPR says. Rival Nvidia saw its desktop discrete shipments rise 3.6 percent sequentially, its notebooks discrete shipments go up 3.2 percent, and its overall PC graphics shipments rise 3.4 percent. Intel, which leads the graphics market with a 65.1 percent stake (versus 18.3 percent for AMD and 16.6 percent for Nvidia), benefited from from a 5.1 percent increase in overall PC graphics shipments. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft OneDrive Goes Global, Adds Automatic Camera Backup for Android Posted: 19 Feb 2014 08:57 AM PST  Say goodbye to SkyDrive and hello to OneDrive
Microsoft's rebranded SkyDrive service, now known as OneDrive, is now available globally, the Redmond outfit announced in a blog post today. If you're already a registered SkyDrive user, don't fret, your data is still there. Furthermore, there are a few incentives to sign back in (or sign up to OneDrive), such as a new automatic camera backup feature for Android, along with different ways to increase your storage ceiling. OneDrive users receive 7GB of storage space for free, You can increase that amount in 500MB increments by referring friends for a total of up to 5GB of additional space. And if you use the above-mentioned camera backup feature, you'll receive 3GB of additional storage. "We've built OneDrive into the latest versions of Windows, Windows Phone, Office, and Xbox. You can even make OneDrive your default storage option, so you never have to worry about whether you are saving files to the cloud: They are just there," Microsoft explains in a blog post. "If you happen to carry an iPhone or Android phone, or use an iPad, Android tablet, Windows device, or a Mac—OneDrive is available there, too." Microsoft announced the name change a month ago, which came as part of a trademark settlement with British Sky Broadcasting, known as BSkyB. Turning lemons into lemonade, Microsoft used the name change as an opportunity to flesh out the service and offer more space. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| King's Assembly Peripheral Consolidates Mouse, Keyboard, and Joystick Posted: 19 Feb 2014 08:06 AM PST  A device that combines multiple input peripherals into one
You never know what you'll find when browsing Kickstarter, the crowdfunding site that's helped bring Oculus Rift, Ouya, and Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded to fruition. We've also seen a handful of peripherals skate through Kickstarter -- items like the Stinky Footboard Controller and Paradise Desk. More recently, we stumbled upon a unique peripheral called King's Assembly, and with 51 days still to go, it's already blown past its funding goal. King's Assembly is a computer mouse that's "full of awesome," according to the project's Kickstarter title. More precisely, it's an input peripheral that attempts to consolidate a high-precision laser mouse, full mechanical keyboard, and analog joystick. Part of the reason for its existence is to help gamers save time from having to go from the mouse to the keyboard. "We challenged ourselves to find a way to move a mouse quickly and accurately without using fingers or thumbs. We designed a contoured palm rest that comfortably anchors your palm and enables you to drive the mouse without moving a single digit," developer Solid Art Labs explains. "The palm rest is designed to allow unobstructed movement of your fingers and thumb while still providing enough leverage in all directions to maintain precise mouse control." There are 30 keys for each hand, each outfitted with Cherry ML keyswitches (the team is investigating the use of Cherry MX) for tactile feedback and silent operation. It has a QWERTY layout by default, though you can switch to DVORAK and other setups with the click of a button. You have the option of owning King's Assembly for just one hand, either left ("Strategist") or right ("Elementist"), or you can use two and interconnect them with a 4-wire cable. Each side houses a 9800 optical laser sensor, and if you use both, the motion from each laser will be added together and show up as a single pointer input on the screen. The project has already surpassed its $20,000 funding goal. At $50,000, the team will refine the design, and at $100,000, it will incorporate "souped-up programming." At $150,000 there will be a styling package with backlighting, and should the project reach $250,000 or more, it will go wireless. Give it a glance and let us know in the comments section what you think! Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Intel 335 Series 240GB SSD, AMD A10-7700K Kaveri, and More! Posted: 19 Feb 2014 06:00 AM PST |
| 'AMD Rewards' Turns Earned Points into Prizes Posted: 18 Feb 2014 09:36 PM PST  Earn points for playing games and cash them in for swag
When it comes right down to it, the primary reason why most of us buy a discrete graphics cards is to play games. That's part of what made AMD's "Never Settle" bundles so awesome, and now the Sunnyvale chip designer has another promotion for gamers. It's called AMD Rewards and it's a program that gives Radeon and AMD APU owners a chance to claim prizes with points earned through the company's Gaming Evolved app. The Gaming Evolved app keeps your games optimized by auto-configuring the best settings for your setup. It also allows you to broadcast your game play via Twitch while you chat with others (or watch other games play), take screenshots, and more. With the AMD Rewards program, you can earn points by using the app to play games, as well as other activities, and then redeem them for physical goods. "We are thankful for the millions of gamers that support the AMD Radeon brand by using the AMD Gaming Evolved Powered by Raptr," said Darren McPhee, director, Graphics Marketing, AMD. "The AMD Rewards program is our way of thanking our loyal customers and giving back to the community that has given so much to us." 
At launch, AMD will have available $5 million worth of rewards. They'll include Radeon R9 Series graphics cards, over 100,000 copies of games, Astro gaming headsets, GameFly subscriptions, Gunnar gaming eyewear, discounts, and more. 
Interested? Go download the app and start earning points. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
