General Gaming Article

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• Amazon Acquires Twitch, Rumors Say Acquisition Was up to $1.1 Billion
• WhatsApp Continues to Grow After Facebook Acquisition, Hits 600 Million Users
• Razer Announces Razer Cortex to Help You Find the Best Gaming Deals
• Best Free Video Editor Roundup
• Newegg Daily Deals: Crucial M550 512GB SSD, Dell 23.8-inch LCD Monitor, and More!
• Burger King Now Serving a Selection of Free Smartphones
• Android L May End Up Called Lemon Meringue Pie...Mmm, Pie
• China Plans to Build an Operating System to Replace Windows and Android
• Dutch Online Merchant Purportedly Leaks Haswell-E Process Pricing
• Tablets Can't Shake Gravity, Shipments to Decline for First Time in 2014

Amazon Acquires Twitch, Rumors Say Acquisition Was up to $1.1 Billion Posted: 25 Aug 2014 06:21 PM PDT Who saw that coming? Up until now, everyone was expecting Google to purchase Twitch. Rumors had been passed around that Google was going to purchase the video game streaming service for $1 billion. Instead of Google being the one to buy it, Twitch ceo Emmett Shear announced today that Amazon has acquired Twitch. However, Shear didn't disclose how much Amazon had spent, though speculation is that the price was $1.1 billion. "Today, I'm pleased to announce we've been acquired by Amazon," said Shear. "We chose Amazon because they believe in our community, they share our values and long-term vision, and they want to help us get there faster. We're keeping most everything the same: our office, our employees, our brand, and most importantly our independence. But with Amazon's support we'll have the resources to bring you an even better Twitch." The acquisition of Twitch appears to be a great deal for Amazon. Back in 2013, the streaming service had reported that there were 45 million users who had viewed around 12 billion minutes of video. Aside from primarily being used to stream games on PC, Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One also feature Twitch, increasing the services reach and consumer base.  Despite Twitch's popularity, it has been receiving quite a bit of criticism for some recent policy changes. Earlier this month, it announced that it would no longer save VODs for an indefinite amount of time. In addition, it has started to scan VODs for copyrighted music in 30-minute increments. If copyright music is detected, then that 30-minute block of video is muted.  But how do you feel about Amazon's acquisition of Twitch? Is it a better alternative to Google? Sound off in the comments below! Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

WhatsApp Continues to Grow After Facebook Acquisition, Hits 600 Million Users Posted: 25 Aug 2014 05:00 PM PDT Facebook acquisition doesn't seem to have slowed the app down Back in February Facebook spent $19 billion to acquire messaging service WhatsApp. Since then, its user base has continued to increase at an impressive rate. WhatsApp Inc founder and ceo Jan Koum announced on his Twitter account that WhatsApp has reached 600 million monthly active users. Koum's tweet reads, "Now serving 600,000,000 monthly active users. Yes, active and registered are very different types of number." This means that the user base has grown by 100 million since April when it was revealed that there were 500 million users. Other data for that time period included a daily record of 64 billion messages that had been handed within 24 hours. Of that, 20 billion were sent and 44 billion were received by users.  What will be interesting to see is if, and when, Facebook's $19 billion investment will pay off. WhatsApp lets consumers use its service freely for one year. But when that year of service has ended, they are charged $1 per year to keep using it. Unfortunately, we don't know how many people are actually paying for the service at this point or how many continue to use the service when their free period is up. Despite such a large user base, is it enough to charge $1 a year and will Facebook make back its money? Sound off in the comments below! Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Razer Announces Razer Cortex to Help You Find the Best Gaming Deals Posted: 25 Aug 2014 02:58 PM PDT You will no longer have to browse for the best deals One of the best things about being a PC gamer are the great video game sales we have access to. While Steam sales are the most well-known, sites such as GOG.com have their own great sales and even EA's Origin has been getting the general idea. So to make browsing around easier, Razer has announced the Razer Cortex which will compare prices for video games among other functions.  Razer Cortex: Deals will compare prices from digital platforms in an interface that will highlight the best prices and allow users to create wish lists. Once a wish list has been created, the application will notify the user anytime the game drops in price or appears in the store's deals. The application will also suggest other games users might enjoy based on what they are playing. "Our goal is to make games as accessible as possible to the Razer gaming community," says Razer co-Founder Min-Liang Tan. "By pointing gamers to the best options for their wallets without wasting valuable time digging through different stores, they can squeeze more gaming juice out of their budgets. With a solution like Deals, we're doing our part in providing a much needed dose of transparency to the gaming industry, while enabling our players to focus on gaming." For now, the application will only compare deals across Amazon, Gamersgate, GameStop, GOG.com, Green Man Gaming, Steam, and Origin though Razer says that more will come.  Razer Cortex also comes with a few additional features that includes a save file backup function, screen capture gallery, and a game booster function that enhances the PC's gaming performance.  Starting August 25, Razer will hold an early access event, for two weeks, where users will be able to sign up with their Razer ID. However, the deals feature will only be comparing prices in the US with addition regions to be added after launch. From there, users will be given access, in waves, to test the server's performance prior to its launch. Razer Cortex will be available September 10.  Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Best Free Video Editor Roundup Posted: 25 Aug 2014 01:10 PM PDT Video editing without the ridiculous price tag  In the world of free audio editing, there's Audacity. In the world of free photo editing, there's GIMP. What's a video editor on a budget to do? We didn't know, so we set out to find out. There's plenty of expensive video editing software—Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, and Avid—but there's no juggernaut in the freeware space. The software we tested ranged from the widely available Movie Maker to the free version of Lightworks. As a small disclaimer, watch out while installing some of these programs. A few of them include bundled adware software that you have to uncheck or deselect before installing, unless you want stuff like Search Protect by Conduit—you don't. Here's an article we did that shows you how to avoid downloading some of that adware.  Movie Maker Microsoft's Movie Maker should be familiar to most people. It's provided by Microsoft as part of the Windows Essentials software suite along with a bunch of other "essential" software, but it's actually surprisingly capable. If all you're doing is editing a family video or two, this is more than enough to add a title and some transition effects. In fact, Movie Maker's biggest weakness is its greatest strength: it's super simple. The UI makes sense to Windows users and doesn't hide anything behind menus. Microsoft doesn't even use words like 'import' and 'gain' opting instead for 'Add videos and photos' and dead obvious buttons labeled things like: "Emphasize narration' and 'Emphasis video.' Getting your finished video out of Movie Maker is also super easy. The program supports direct publishing to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and even Flickr. There's also a list of preset options for exporting the video onto your computer that includes options for Android and iOS phones as well the standard HD and SD options. If you're a bit more knowledgeable about rendering videos, you can edit the resolution, bit rate, frame rate, and even the audio format of the finished product. As amazing as Movie Maker is, we found it hard to stomach the fact that it can only export .wmv videos.  Final Word: Movie Maker is a great choice if you don't need anything particularly fancy. It's quick and easy to use if .WMV videos aren't a problem. Lightworks Free There aren't very many options for serious video editors, but Lightworks is right up there with software like Adobe Premiere. Although there's a paid version available for $280—there's also monthly and yearly subscriptions—the free version works well enough for amateur videographers. You don't get professional features like timeline rendering and Blackmagic support, but you do get access to an editor that's as close as you'll come to Premiere or Final Cut Pro without having to pay for it. It's not nearly as intuitive as something like Movie Maker, but if you want to add custom effects, color correct, or even key out a green screen, this is the best option. Taking a cue from older versions of Microsoft Office, Lightworks even has a friendly shark in the corner that throws out tips and pointers while you navigate around the freeform interface. If you like having your timeline in the top left, all you have to do is drag it there.  The biggest limitation of Lightworks Free is that you can't export 1080p video. 720p and below is fair game with exports allowed with H.264 encoding only. On the bright side, Lightworks supports pretty much every video format you'd ever need to import.  Final Word: Lightworks Free is your only option if you need an editor that lets you really dig into your videos. If you need more than basic effects and some simple cuts, Lightworks is a great option.  Avidemux If you only need to work with a couple of files, Avidemux is a great solution. It doesn't use the timeline workflow that most video editors do. This means that you won't be rearranging clips of different videos along a thumbnail-covered timeline. Instead, you'll be editing out parts of individual clips or joining videos together. What's nice is that Avidemux can work with encoded files without having to re-encode them.  Avidemux isn't meant to be used for full-fledged projects, but it's great for cutting and filtering videos. It also supports task automation which means that batch processing video files is a cinch. A wiki filled with tutorials, general information, and guides, means that the possibilities with Avidemux are pretty much endless.  Final Word: This won't replace a fully-featured editor, but it's a great program for quick edits and video alterations. VirtualDub AVI files are the name of the game with VirtualDub. It may have started as a side project in college, but it's a fine choice for anyone looking to edit AVI. The tiny program that doesn't even require an install has all of the standard features—minus a standard timeline. Video filters like rotation, sharpening, and smoothing, are all included. VirtualDub even gives you the option to export a video as a series of images or an animated GIF.  Final Word: It may not look like much, but if you're churning out a few small videos or just making some tweaks, VirtualDub will work just fine. Click through to the next page to read about VSDC Free Video Editor, VideoPad Video Editor, and MPEG Streamclip. VSDC Free Video Editor It looks confusing, dated, and cluttered, but it's a capable video editor that shouldn't be overlooked. Like Lightworks, VSDC Free Video Editor is a fully-featured editor that can do pretty much everything you need. Cutting and splitting clips is a cinch, and the timeline makes rearranging clips and adding effects easy.  Our main gripe with VSDC is that previewing the video pops up an external player. You can view the video frame by frame, but you can't play it within the editor itself. We also didn't enjoy learning how to use the editor. Most of the buttons and controls are unlabeled and aren't particularly clear about what they do. VSDC doesn't work like most professional video editors. Many options are hidden behind pop-up menus (splitting a clip is a lot harder than it should be) and clunky sidebars. Compared to the freeform layout of Lightworks, VSDC is a pain to work with.  Final Word: VSDC Video Editor has all the features, but none of the design. If you're willing to spend the time to learn it, it'll do what you need it to do.  VideoPad Video Editor We found ourselves pleasantly surprised by NCH Software's VideoPad Video Editor. Available for non-commercial use—unless you pay for a license—the editor is as close to Audacity-for-video as you're going to get. The interface strikes a nice balance between feature-packed and user-friendly with labels under most of the buttons and a spacious window layout.  It gets even better. VideoPad manages to go almost toe-to-toe with much more expensive software. It's the video editing experience you expect, at an unexpected price. Although the free version is limited to two simultaneous audio streams, VideoPad provides extensive audio and video editing options. To top it all off, it supports a ton of formats for importing and exporting. Uploading to YouTube, Facebook, or Flickr is a cinch and the program even offers standard settings for portable media players and smartphones.  NCH Software isn't trying to break new ground and has instead opted to create a video editor that just works. It borrows elements from other editors and doesn't try to set itself apart with fancy layout options or an interesting color scheme. Final Word: VideoPad Video Editor is a stellar editor that manages to pack an almost obscene number of features into a surprisingly digestable package.   MPEG Streamclip MPEG Streamclip lacks many of the features you'd expect from an editor, but it makes up for it with some stellar exporting options. Once you've trimmed a clip, you can export it to any number of formats including DV, MPEG-4, and AVI with control over the frame size, frame rate, how it's cropped, the compression, and even the zoom.  It's hard to call MPEG Streamclip an editor since it's more of a video processor. You aren't really creating montages or full features, but you are editing existing clips to better fit your needs. If your source video is too large, you can re-export it with more compression or a smaller resolution. Small jobs are perfect and MPEG Streamclip can fit into any video editors workflow. Final Word: If all you need to do is trim a clip to size and convert or compress it, MPEG Streamclip is perfect. Look elsewhere if you actually need to do more editing. And the Winner is… VideoPad is easily the best free video editor available. It stands up against Premiere and Final Cut while still being fairly approachable for amatuers. It's not the prettiest or the most feature-packed, but it'll do almost everything a hobbyist videopgraher would need it to.  If you're not as concerend with advanced featuers like color correction and audio effects, Move Maker is the next best thing. It's both capable and easy to use, while being readily available from Microsoft. It doesn't do everything, but even beginners can edit videos into passable productions with a few clicks and some time spent exporting.  Follow Ben on Twitter and Google+.

Newegg Daily Deals: Crucial M550 512GB SSD, Dell 23.8-inch LCD Monitor, and More! Posted: 25 Aug 2014 12:55 PM PDT Top Deal: One of the worst sounds in the world is that of a grinding hard drive. Once you hear that noise, failure is imminent, it's just a matter of time. Of course, you can turn lemons into lemonade by using a dying hard drive as a valid excuse to upgrade to a speedy solid state drive. If that's your plan, check out today's top deal for a Crucial M550 2.5-inch 512GB SSD for $240 with free shipping. Other Deals: Dell 23.8-inch 8ms (GTG) Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor for $200 with free shipping (normally $210 - use coupon code: [EMCPBHH38]) WD Re 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5-inch Enterprise Internal Hard Drive for $90 with free shipping (normally $105 - use coupon code: [EMCPBHH97]) Intel Core i5-4690S Haswell Quad-Core 3.2GHz LGA 1150 65W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600 for $210 with free shipping AMD FX-8320 Vishera 8-Core 3.5GHz (4.0GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Desktop Processor for $160 with free shipping

Burger King Now Serving a Selection of Free Smartphones Posted: 25 Aug 2014 11:56 AM PDT One Big King and a large soda - would you like a smartphone with that? Interested in the LG G2? What about the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini or Galaxy S4 Active? Believe it or not, these represent a small selection of smartphones you can get for free through Burger King's website. Yes, Burger King, the fast food chain that just brought back Chicken Fries to go with your Whopper. Apparently Burger King really, really wants you to download and use its new mobile app for Android. Of course, the standard two-year service agreement applies, with phone options for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon (no love for T-Mobile). And you have to order the phone online at a special portal on Burger King's website using the coupon code FREEPHONE rather than have an employee add a Motorola Moto X to your bag with extra ketchup. What's surprising (other than the odd pairing of Burger King and smartphones) is the selection of devices. You won't find the latest flagship models, but the selection is far from miserable. In addition to the ones already mentioned, other notable entries include the LG Optimus G Pro, Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One (M7, not the M8), and LG G2, to name a few. If you'd rather have the just the app without getting a new smartphone, you can download it from Google Play. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Android L May End Up Called Lemon Meringue Pie...Mmm, Pie Posted: 25 Aug 2014 11:36 AM PDT Would you like a slice of Lemon Meringue Pie with your KitKat? Fact: Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Gallactica. Another fact -- every version of Android since v1.5 has been named after a sweet dessert, in alphabetical order (Cupcake, Doughnut, Eclair, and so forth). As it stands, the next version of Android is currently codenamed L, and we can think of a bunch of desserts that start with that letter. However, there's evidence to suggest that Google with run with Lemon Meringue Pie for Android L. Android Police found multiple official sources in code and documentation that list the next release as "LMP," which strongly suggest Google is baking Lemon Meringue Pie. It makes sense considering Google dropped Key Lime Lime at the last minute in favor of KitKat. Pie lovers are still owed a slice of pie, and it appears they'll get it with the next Android release. You can find references to LMP is in the Android SDK, which mentions the current preview builds of Android L available for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 labeled as "lpm-preview-release." An LMP reference is also found in the Wi-Fi certification for HTC's "flounder" (Volantis) tablet, which points to LMP firmware. Fun fact (not about bears): Before Key Lime Pie was tossed aside for KitKat in Android 4.4, the release was known as KLP in internal documents. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

China Plans to Build an Operating System to Replace Windows and Android Posted: 25 Aug 2014 10:10 AM PDT China's own operating system could be ready by October After banning Microsoft's Windows 8 software for use on government PCs, China is now reportedly planning to cook up its own operating system. The home brewed OS could see a launch as early as October, and it would have the full backing of the Chinese government. China's motivation in building an OS of its own is to alleviate concerns that imported software from the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Apple could have spying mechanisms built into the code base. According to Reuters, China's OS would debut on desktop devices before expanding into smartphone and other mobile categories. "We hope to launch a Chinese-made desktop operating system by October supporting app stores," Ni Guangnan, head of an of an official OS development alliance, told the People's Post and Telecommunications News, Reuters reports. China banned the government use of Windows 8 back in May. Shortly after, China began investigating Microsoft for anti-trust violations. Tensions are also high between China and Google, with the former saying the latter has too much control over China's smartphone industry through Android. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Dutch Online Merchant Purportedly Leaks Haswell-E Process Pricing Posted: 25 Aug 2014 08:37 AM PDT Start saving your skrilla We keep saying it, but Intel is very close to releasing its initial batch of Haswell-E processors. There's been talk of a launch taking place on August 29, while other rumors have the debut pegged for early September. Whatever the case may be, it's worth waiting to see how Haswell-E shakes out before building a new system, and you won't have to wait long. As for pricing, there have been several rumors already, along with another online leak, this time by a Dutch e-tailer. We spotted news of the leaked pricing at TomsHardware, which noticed that MaxICT, a Dutch webshop, was listing all three rumored Haswell-E processors for pre-order. First up is the Intel Core i7 5820K. This is a six-core processor with a dozen threads, 3.3GHz clockspeed, 15MB of L3 cache, 28 PCI-E lanes, and 140W TDP. According to the listing, it will sell for €358.56 (around $473). Second to bat is the Core i7-5930K. It also has six cores, 12 threads, and 15MB of L3 cache, but 40 PCI-E lanes and a 3.5GHz clockspeed, along with the same 140TDP. This one is listed at €533.15 (around $704). Finally, there's the Core i7 5960X with eight cores, 16 threads, 3GHz clockspeed, 20MB of L3 cache, 40 PCI-E lanes, and a 140W TDP. It's listed at €945.20 (around $1,248). According to TomsHardware, prices come down considerably if applying the exchange rate after removing taxes. In that case, the Core i7 5820K would hover around $400 ($392.43), the Core i7 5930K around $600 ($583.51), and the Core i7 5960X around $1,000 ($1,034.50). Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Tablets Can't Shake Gravity, Shipments to Decline for First Time in 2014 Posted: 25 Aug 2014 08:02 AM PDT What goes up must come down Following the launch of the original iPad, consumers began flocking to tablets as if their favorite drug had just been legalized. Demand reached a fever pitch once name-brand Android slates came onto the scene with lower price tags, and the growth was so explosive that it had some analysts talking about the post PC era. What those short sighted analysts failed to take into account is market saturation, and for the first time since the iPad debuted, tablet shipments are on pace to see an on-year decline, market research firm TrendForce says. According to TrendForce, the novelty of tablets has worn off. Prices have bottomed out, and this time around, low-cost notebooks are stealing away tablet market share instead of it being the other way around. As a result, branded tablet shipments are expected to decline 1.8 percent year-over-year to 153 million units in 2014, while notebook shipments will increase 1 percent year-over-year to 171 million units. "Time has shown that notebooks are irreplaceable," said Caroline Chen, a notebook PC analyst with TrendForce. "They offer larger screens than tablets as well as a keyboard and mouse, which are all important for those who use their computers primarily for work reasons. Tablets remain limited to Internet browsing and entertainment functions." None of this means tablets are on their way out, and if you're in the market for a slate, the good news here is that there's likely to be a long term price war, at least among non-Apple manufacturers, TrendForce says. It's also encouraging if you're in the market for a laptop, as Microsoft is working with hardware partners to release models in the $200 to $250 range. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

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