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Are iOS 5 Improvements Borrowed From Other OS?

kamakao

Apple has just revealed the new features of iOS 5 and one thing has become obvious to everybody: the company’s novelties are not that new, other operating systems have already been offering them individually, Apple has just put them together in a single OS.
Notifications:
Android has always had the upper hand over iOS in terms of notifications. Apple drew some inspiration from Android and has brought notifications that no longer stop active apps.
Camera opens from lock-screen:
Users will now be happier since they can launch the camera app straight from the lockscreen and start taking photos almost immediately. Yes, Windows Phone 7 included this feature before iOS.
Over-the-air updates:
iOS users will finally be able to use the over-the-air update feature and download the latest updates directly on their iOS gadgets. You've guessed it: Android and Nokia offered this feature long before Apple.
iMessage:
iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users will be able to use their devices to send messages and see when somebody is typing in real time. Since the whole iOS family is now compatible with iMessage, many BlackBerry Messenger fans might switch to iOS.
Wireless media sync with Zune:
iOS users will be able to use Zune to sync all the media content wirelessly. It appears that Apple has realized the potential of this underdog and decided to use it.

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Bikini Created With 3D Printer

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3D printing is on the rise, with complex objects made from multiple materials being formed, but it is still a niche industry. Continuum Fashion aims to change that by using the niche technology to produce clothes with mass appeal, starting with a 3D printed bikini.

This new product from the fashion house, dubbed N12, is built from hundreds of tiny disks joined together through a 3D printing process. The name N12 has been derived from that of the Nylon 12, which is used throughout the fabrication of this tiny, glamorous garment.

Amazingly, the hundreds of 0.7 mm thick disks which comprise the bikini are not held together with sewing.

“Designing the bikini was an endeavor of pushing the capabilities of the machine as well as working with constraints," said Continuum co-founder Jenna Fizel, TG Daily reports.

"A bikini was the natural choice to start with for 3D printed fashion, due to the low amount of material needed. The printer also has a set bounding box, and our original bikini design exactly fit within the print area in a single piece.”

3D printing promises to make it easy to mass produce any design from a wide array of materials when the technology finishes maturing, a time that could be closer than many realise.

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Microsoft Must Pay I4i $300 Million For Patent Infringement

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Microsoft suffered a major setback on Thursday when the US Supreme Court ruled against the company in a patent-infringement hearing.

This loss in the legal battle against I4i, a small, Toronto-based company will reportedly cost the software behemoth almost $300 million. Even more significant than the $300 million loss is the potential impact of the verdict on its Word software, which will need to remove the offending software unless Microsoft can come to a licensing agreement with I4i.

The court decided to turn down the calls from Microsoft to lower the standards of the long standing “clear and convincing evidence” that defendants of patent-infringement cases need to present to the court.

"We're very pleased that the court did the right thing," and that the decision was unanimous,” Michel Vulpe, I4i's founder and chief technology officer told Reuters.

Kevin Kutz, a Microsoft spokesman expressed the company’s disappointment saying: “While the outcome is not what we had hoped for, we will continue to advocate for changes to the law that will prevent abuse of the patent system and protect inventors who hold patents representing true innovation,’’ The Boston Globe reports.

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Anonymous Launches Multiple DDoS Attacks Against Turkey

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Hactivist group Anonymous announced on Thursday that it has launched multiple Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on a number of Turkish government websites as a part of their protest against the government's plans to impose internet filtering.

The timing of the attack was also notable, as the country heads for parliamentary elections to be held on June 12.

Towards the latter half of Thursday, the website of the internet regulatory board of Turkey, Telekomünikasyon İletişim Başkanlığ, who came up with the internet filtering plan, went offline.

“Over the last few years, we have seen how the Turkish government has tightened the grip on the Internet. It has blocked thousands of websites and blogs while abusive legal proceedings against online journalists persists,” Anonymous said in a statement.

“We call on all internet users worldwide to support freedom of speech by pushing the Turkish government to stop these foolish policies,” it added

However, the attack failed to amuse hacker groups within Turkey who are now threatening to hack Anonymous websites. Shortly after the attacks Anonymous’ own news site reportedly went offline, which, many people suspect, was caused by counter attacks from hacker groups in Turkey.

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Anonymous Tells NATO: This Is No Longer Your World

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The hacker collective Anonymous has warned NATO not to challenge it after the organisation released a report on the hacktivist group.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization had released a report in which it painted Anonymous as a threat to government organisations all over the world. NATO said that the group was gaining sophistication and could eventually hack into sensitive government networks.

The report also highlighted Anon’s involvement in attacking websites of companies that had cooperated in a campaign to isolate WikiLeaks. The group was responsible for bringing down services offered by PayPal, Amazon, Visa and MasterCard.

Meanwhile, Anonymous in both a video and an online post warned NATO not to challenge it, claiming that it is impossible to defeat it.

“Do not make the mistake of challenging Anonymous. Do not make the mistake of believing you can behead a headless snake. If you slice off one head of Hydra, ten more heads will grow in its place. If you cut down one Anon, ten more will join us purely out of anger at your trampling of dissent,” Anonymous said.

“Your only chance of defeating the movement which binds all of us is to accept it. This is no longer your world. It is our world - the people's world.”

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Sony Playstation Vita Memory Sticks Appear Online

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Sony is still keen to launch proprietary storage standards despite the issues encountered with UMD and will be introducing a new memory card for the Playstation Vita, the successor to the PSP.

Neogaf managed to get hold of a picture - from E3 - showing four memory cards with sizes ranging from 4GB to 32GB and carrying the PSVITA logo; although they do look a lot like microSD cards, they're unlikely to be compatible.

Strangely enough, the cards will fit into Playstation card cases that look a lot like SD cards; furthermore back in March only 2GB or 4GB storage capacities were mentioned with up to 10 per cent of the space reserved for patches and game data.

Vita gaming consoles will not be region-locked which means that gamers will be able to download gaming content from the PSP store and use them anywhere in theory.

The console will be out later this year and will come with a massive 5-inch OLED multi touch capacitive screen, a quad core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore SoC, two cameras, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth and a few more features that make it look a lot like a smartphone.

It's arguably not the first time that Sony has delved into the murky world of proprietary storage formats; although it first publicly demonstrated the compact disc back in 1976, which is the forefather of the DVD and the likes, it also tried to get the Minidisc, the Universal Media Disc, the DAT and the memory stick, all of which have ultimately failed.

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Sony PlayStation Vita vs Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

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Sony has just fully unveiled the PlayStation Vita, its new handheld that will arrive, complete with 3G mobile abilities, at the end of the year. So how does it stack up against the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, the self-proclaimed PlayStation Phone? Let’s find out!
We’re trying hard not to resort to metaphors about buses here. After all, we’ve been crying out for years for Sony Ericsson to lean on the portable gaming smarts present in the Sony part of the partnership and bring us a phone with PlayStation gaming abilities.
It finally goes and does just that, bringing us the Xperia Play, and then Sony itself follows up by revealing that its next-gen handheld, the newly christened PlayStation Vita, will be available in both Wi-Fi and 3G versions, basically putting it head to head with the Xperia Play.
So let’s stack up these handheld gaming superstars against each other, and look at where the key differences lie…
Screen size
From a pure gaming point of view, the PlayStation Vita’s 5-inch screen is obviously way superior to the Xperia Play’s 4-inch display. Yet the difference is about more than just an edge-to-edge measurement. A 5-inch screen is simply too big for any device claiming to be a phone, and serves as a neat reminder that the Vita is a games console, while the Xperia Play is a smartphone, and the difference is significant.
Power play
Under the surface of the PS Vita beats a formidable quad-core ARM processor, which manages to make the 1GHz processor powering the Xperia Play look just a little lightweight. For pure gaming grunt, there’s little argument that the Vita is the more powerful of the two devices.
Android or… not
In the world of smartphones and tablets, the operating system has become one of the most important features to look out for. Yet it feels strange looking at the PlayStation Vita in that light, as the operating system is no more a factor than it is, say, on the PlayStation 3. As a result, Sony might suffer from the fact that you’ll unlikely to trade in a smartphone or a tablet for a PS Vita, despite all the other similarities.
A big deal
It’s just not possible to make a grown-up handheld with a big screen and controls that sit either side and not have it be significantly bigger than even the chunkiest of phones. The PlayStation Vita is a massive 63mm longer, 21mm wider and 2.6mm thicker than the Xperia Play – that’s a lot for a device you’re carrying around everywhere.
More than games
Much of the PS Vita’s success will be down to just how successfully Sony uses the handheld’s hardware and 3G abilities to deliver features and services beyond the traditional remit of games console. That’s not to say a direct comparison with the Xperia Play will then be easier – Android’s hundreds of thousands of available apps and near-endless array of talents takes care of that – but there is a lot to be said for quality, not quantity, especially with such potent hardware waiting to take advantage.
Indeed, it’s this area the probably holds the ultimate answer to how successful the PlayStation Vita will be. We know what the Xperia Play offers, and we know the Vita will be a far superior games machine. But for a true comparison, we need to look at a far wider set of criteria, and at this stage there are still too many question marks against the PS Vita’s name to reach a clear conclusion.

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Playstation Vita, Home Console Gaming Gets a Tad More Portable

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Another hardware reveal for this year is Sony’s successor to the Playstation Portable (PSP).  Formerly code-named the NGP for Next Generation Portable, Sony announced during its press conference of June 6 that the hardware is officially called Playstation Vita.  The “Vita” stands for “Life” as in “Vitality.”  Sony plans on making the Vita a tool for interaction in life, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality.
   
In previous previews, the Vita looked extremely attractive.  It boasted specs and visuals that were to rival the home console standards of this generation (PS3 and Xbox 360), also sporting a complete set of classic gaming controls and newer inputs like touch-screens and motion sensing.  Many expected that the Vita would not be able to compete in price with Nintendo’s new recent handheld, the 3DS, with such impressive tech.  Even after rumors that the system had some specs dialed down to better price compete, few expected the system to be lower than $300.  Lo and behold, at the press conference, Sony had a price (two prices actually) to give on the final Vita hardware.  A 3G and WiFi enabled version would retail for $299.99 while the WiFi only version would cost only $249.99.  Much applause ensued.

The biggest concern was the price.  The 3G model will only be compatible with AT&T services (which people have mixed feelings on) and how data plans may work for it were not discussed, so what hidden costs may come with owning the 3G model are yet unaccounted for.  Now, the only point left to make was games worth buying the system for.

Sony had on hand plenty of first party support with Killzone, Uncharted, Wipe Out, Mod Nation Racer, and Little Big Planet to have full installments on the handheld eventually.  Some new IP’s especially for Vita were announced like Little Deviants, showing off the possible applications between the front touch-screen and back touch-panel, Reality Fighter, demonstrating the AR abilities of the system, and Ruin, an action RPG set to showcase connectivity between the PS Vita and PS3.  Third party support isn’t lacking either, with Street Fighter X Tekken announced for the system, Blazblue, Ridge Racer, Virtua Tennis 4, Hot Shots Golf, Dynasty Warriors, and a new Bioshock all headed for the platform in the future.

On-stage demonstrations depicted graphics comparable to the PS3.  While not perfectly matching or exceeding the consoles, the visuals by far out-match the PSP’s and even Nintendo 3DS.  The most convincing of the on stage demonstrations was the Uncharted installment, subtitled Golden Abyss.  The graphic fidelity was up to par with the home console editions (at least not disgraceful by comparison), and presented smart ways in which the classic controls and touch commands could overlap to provide accessible experiences.  Players could choose to use touch commands to navigate and interact with the environment, or stick to classic controls.  Best of all, you could use them in combination without adjusting any settings.

The Playstation Vita is the first major portable gaming system to feature two analog sticks, actual sticks, along with the traditional four face buttons, D-pad, and two shoulder buttons.  This now- standard setup should guarantee that many console level designs should be easily transitioned to the portable platform.  The systems’ main screen is a 5” capacitive touch screen while the back of the unit has a capacitive touch-panel the same size as the screen.  These two touch interfaces usually have alternating functions such as in Little Deviants.  If you press on the back panel, the environment of Little Deviants pushes upwards, while pressing on the screen will make the environment concave. 

The system also features a front facing camera, a back facing camera, and a microphone.  These will enable the system to play Augmented Reality games.  One such game on display was Reality Fighters, where you can pick from pre-selected fighting styles and impose your face or your friends’ on to characters, then have them duke it out over the environment around you. 

Sony also plans to provide new social interaction software through a service called “Near.”  Players will be able to see when other players are around them, how far away they are, what they are playing, add them to their friend list, and chat with them via video and voice. 

Then there is Ruin.  The best example of what could be the future of portable and home console gaming.  Slated to come to PS3 and Vita, Ruin will allow a player to keep their save data going between both systems, picking up progress on either platform without sacrifice.  On stage, it was demonstrated how a player can start a game on the portable, save the game to a Cloud storage system, boot up the PS3 version and pick up the game right from where it was saved on the portable.

In later interviews, Sony admitted that the connectivity between the PS3 and Vita is being driven by developer request.  Sony originally wasn’t planning on such in-depth connectivity, but developers have been tossing around ideas bridging the gap between the platforms and Sony has decided to oblige with their requests.

Vita has dropped the UMD format from the previous PSP in favor of physical flash cart storage.  Sony says that games will release in a retail package on the flash carts while games will be available to download in a pure digital form from the Playstation Network on the same day as their retail releases.  The system will support Memory sticks, possibly SD cards.  The amount of on-board storage wasn’t discussed.  The system will be backwards compatible with any PSP games available on the Playstation Network, as long as you downloaded them.  There will be no redemption of physical game copies.

The Playstation Vita is set to release this holiday season in the US.  Final launch title line-up and whether the 3G version will be in the states haven’t been confirmed.  With a price point that many can accept, it’s only a matter of developer support that will determine the success of the system.  The capabilities are certainly impressive and developers are taking notice.  Keep your eyes peeled for more information as the holiday season draws closer.

***
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Sony at E3 2011: Top ten PS3 games

kamakao

Sony unveiled the PlayStation Vita at E3 2011, the company's latest handheld gaming console, set for release later this year. Just in time for Christmas, as is the tradition. Yet Sony also released a veritable welter of quality new PS3 game demos.
That's right! Sony's E3 2011 was not all about the thrill of showing off the capabilities of its latest hardware, plenty of PS3 games were also on show to prove that delivering decent-quality exclusive gaming content is still right at the heart of the PlayStation strategy.
A strong, humble showing from Sony
Overall, it was, as PSM3 magazine editor, Dan Dawkins tells TechRadar, "a strong, humble showing from Sony after a gruelling year – the absence of Kevin Butler demonstrating the focus on delivery, not levity. Uncharted 3 was one of the most obvious gaming highlights from the E3 conference, proving incredibly popular on the showfloor throughout the week, but, as Dawkins points out, "most kudos must go for recognising key weaknesses in their ancillary line up; offering an affordable 3D TV solution, plus a decent line up of PS Move games, including BioShock Infinite.
"There were perhaps too many uninspiring live demos (Ruin, Medieval Moves), and the lack of a big, final surprise left a slightly flat note (no MSG5, GTAV or Agent), but the abiding impression was strong. At £280 for the wi-fi/3G PS Vita, with an already impressive line-up of games, Sony's new handheld is hard to fault."
Many more PS3 highlights
There were many other highlights for the PSM3 editor, including, in no particular order: "Tomb Raider for defying cynics with its fresh, high-gloss-yet-scuzzy, survivalist reboot and ESV: Skyrim for offering a potentially 300 hour escape to a finely crafted alternate universe."
Dawkins adds: "SSX will delight old-school fans, while Battlefield 3's tech made Modern Warfare look oddly outmoded. The biggest failure of all E3 presentations was the over reliance on over-produced CGI teaser videos juxtaposed with hip soundtracks – blame Dead Island's success for taking us all back to 2005."
Ben Wilson, editor of Official PlayStation Magazine concurs with Dawkins, agreeing that
"our pick of E3 has to be Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, a game which looks so good every time we see it that it's become supremely difficult to write about without simply resorting to lists of superlatives."
There were indeed a lot of quality PS3 titles to choose from at E3 2011, and here is TechRadar's definitive list of the top ten best PlayStation 3 titles from this year's show.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception



BioShock Infinite



Starhawk



Journey



God of War: Origins Collection



Xcom



PES 2012



ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Classics HD



Dust 415



Resistance 3

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PlayStation Vita: Sony Could Learn From Wii U Controller

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Last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 2011) was critical for both Sony and Nintendo, as both companies gave the world a much deeper look at new hardware.

For Sony, the publisher showcased PlayStation Vita, the successor to PSP that boasts a touch screen, rear touch pad, two cameras and two analog sticks.

Nintendo, meanwhile, unveiled Wii U, the new home console that comes with a controller featuring a six-inch touch screen, allowing players to stream content and play games without staring at the television.

Both devices, Vita and the Wii U controller, are vastly different. We'll refrain from calling said controller a portable system, despite the fact that it is wireless and displays content.


At the same time, having experienced both, it's clear that Sony could have learned a thing or two from Nintendo's design that would have ultimately (more like arguably) benefited Vita.
With this in mind, we created a short list of things we love about the Wii U controller that would make the Vita a much better handheld.
Two analog sticks above the d-pad and face buttons


It's clear that Sony didn't think much when it came to placing the Vita's second analog stick. The PSP's singular analog nub worked OK underneath the d-pad, and the publisher just tossed the other directly to the right of it.
While functional, we kept accidentally brushing up against that stick while trying to press both Square and X together.
Contrast the Vita's analog placement to the Wii U controller's. Not only do they feel great, but putting the sticks directly above the d-pad and face buttons automatically kills the possibility of interference. Good call, Nintendo.
Easily reached Start and Select buttons

Sony, for whatever reason, made the Vita's Start and Select buttons extremely small (odd, considering how large the system is) and put them on the bottom right corner of the handheld. Nintendo, meanwhile, placed them (as well as the Home button) bottom center, making them easily accessible.
Triggers underneath



Before getting our hands on Vita, we speculated whether Sony would reuse the wobbly triggers from PSP. Then we played the system and yup, same old triggers.
That issue aside, we prefer Nintendo's decision to put the triggers underneath the Wii U controller, which ultimately makes the device more comfortable than having to rest our fingers directly on top of the Vita.
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Sony Playstation Vita vs Sony Ericsson Xperia Play: A Flawed Comparison?

kamakao

Sony, it seems, has saved the best for the Playstation Vita rather than the Xperia Play which it launched, together with Sony Ericsson, earlier this year at MWC in Barcelona.

On paper, the Vita absolutely trounces the Xperia Play and one can only imagine how an Xperia Play handset with the guts of the Playstation Vita might have performed.

When it comes down to hardware, the Vita could easily qualify as the "baddest" smartphone on the block. It has a quad core ARM Cortex A9 SoC compared to a single core A8-based one for the Xperia Play.

There's also that huge 5-inch OLED screen with a 960x544 pixel resolution, bigger and better than the Play's 4-inch screen with 854x480 pixels. Graphicswise, the Vita is miles ahead of the Xperia play with the Quad core PowerVR SGX543MP4+ pitched against the ageing Adreno 205 GPU.

The rest of the Vita's spec list almost matches that of the Play with the notable exception of the microSD card; Wi-Fi, front and rear cameras, Bluetooth are all there and the icing on the cake has to be the "super oval" shape that is the signature of the original Playstation Portable and many may prefer to the design of the Xperia Play.

The comparison is made even more imbalanced by the fact that the preorder price of the Vita 3G has been set at £280, a figure that is bound to fall after launch while the price of the Xperia Play is still hovering around £430, a 50 per cent premium.

The main difference between the two lies in the software platform; the Play uses Google's Android Gingerbread 2.3 with the Playstation Suite allowing it to play Playstation games, while the Vita comes with a proprietary OS.

Still, one has to wonder how the Playstation Vita 3G can cost a third less than the Xperia Play and yet carry so much more firepower. Let's hope that the successor of the Xperia Play will feature the same specs as the Vita.

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Sony PlayStation Vita to use proprietary memory cards

kamakao

The Sony PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) (PCH-1000 series) will use proprietary memory cards. A user by the name of onQ123 on the Neogaf forums posted a picture showing four sizes of the planned chips: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB.

While they look very much like a standard SD card, they have an extra notch that clearly distinguishes them. This is very unfortunate because it means you will not be able to use any of the SD cards you already have: you will have to go out and buy a Sony memory card if you want additional storage on your Vita.

This sad news follows the great news from last week, when we learned the PS Vita will be region-free. Region-free simply means that you can purchase a game and system from any two different regions and they will be compatible.



Sony is promising that the PS Vita will have give a PS3-level experience with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and a multi-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 graphics chip four times faster than the PSP's. The device will come with a 5-inch OLED screen (950 x 544 resolution), two micro-analog sticks to simulate the Dual Shock experience, front and rear facing cameras, and two-finger multitouch pad on the back of the machine. Sony is hoping the front and rear touch screens will offer new three dimension-like motion gameplay experiences never before seen on any device through "touch, grab, trace, push and pull" finger motions. A Sixaxis equivalent with a gyroscope and accelerometer is also available to let players control games by moving and tilting the system itself.
In terms of connectivity you can expect built-in 3G in addition to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, as well as GPS support. The PS Vita will come with a pre-installed app called Party, which lets you use voice chat or text chat when gaming, using other apps, or browsing the Internet. Another app, called Near, will let you share your game information with other users and add them as friends.
The Wi-Fi model will be available for 25,000 yen (including tax) in Japan, $250.00 in the US, and €250.00 in Europe, while the 3G/Wi-Fi model will be available for 30,000 yen (including tax) in Japan, $300.00 in the US and €300.00 in Europe. Exact release dates are still unknown, all Sony has said is that the PS Vita will launch globally at the end of this year.

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