2015’s Call of Duty is being developed by the team behind ‘World at War’ and ‘Black Ops’

You might not know this if you aren't a fan of the series, but Activision actually cycles through a group of developers for every new game in the Call of Duty franchise. Last year was the first year that Sledgehammer Games entered the fray, but Treyarch, developer of Call of Duty 3, World at War, Black Ops and Black Ops 2 will return in 2015.

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Posted in 2015 at 12:00AM, February 07

Bungie’s ‘Destiny’ seen as the next ‘Call of Duty’-level cash cow

Despite the yearly release schedule, the gaming populace has still yet to tire of the Call of Duty franchise, a series of first-person shooters that has kept Activision at the top of its game for nearly a decade. Call of Duty: Ghosts was another huge success late last year, but during Activision's earnings call earlier this week, President and CEO Bobby Kotick told investors that Destiny, the upcoming title from the creators of Halo, could be Activision's "next billion dollar franchise."



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Posted in 2014 at 11:15PM, February 07

HTC to fork over undisclosed sum to settle Nokia patent suit

It's hard to believe, but one of the major patent disputes in the mobile industry has come to a close. Nokia published a press release on Friday informing the public that it had reached a settlement with HTC, and the two companies have signed a patent and technology agreement. Under the terms of this agreement, "HTC will make payments to Nokia and the collaboration will involve HTC's LTE patent portfolio, further strengthening Nokia's licensing offering." The companies say that they will look into future collaboration opportunities as well.



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Posted in 2014 at 10:03PM, February 07

Yet another way coffee will improve your life

We all know coffee is good for us and that it’s just a matter of time before scientific studies everywhere confirm this. Now, it looks like we’re one step closer to this glorious day because researchers have found coffee apparently improves one’s long-term memory. According to a study from the journal Nature Neuroscience , study participants who received caffeine were better at remembering images shown to them a day before.



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Posted in 2014 at 08:00PM, February 07

Video: Meet the high-end iWatch concept that Apple will never make

Two designers have imagined what Apple’s iWatch may look like while also providing details about the kind of specs the device would pack and how it would be built. Mark Bell and Ran Avni from Belm Designs have created their vision of the iWatch for a design contest in which they were asked to conceive future products from some of today’s tech-giants.



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Posted in 2014 at 07:40PM, February 07

EA’s ability to enrage its own customers is a rare talent

For the past two years, Electronic Arts has been named the "Worst Company in America" by Consumerist readers... and it stands a damn good chance of winning the award again this year. Every time this happens, it sparks a round of self-righteous, finger-wagging lectures about how EA doesn't deserve to be named America's worst company since it hasn't, say, caused a calamitous environmental disaster or aided and abetted massive financial fraud. But while it's literally true that EA's alleged crimes against consumers aren't on par with those of BP or JPMorgan, it also undersells EA's remarkable achievement: That is, it's managed to make people incredibly angry by selling them video games.



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Posted in 2014 at 06:20PM, February 07

Here’s everything we know about the team building Apple’s iWatch

The rumored iWatch smartwatch is not yet confirmed, but many top Apple execs as well as new hires are reportedly working on the product. An in-depth 9to5Mac profile of various existing and new Apple employees reveals that not only is the iWatch expected to look good and appeal to a variety of buyers, but also to offer plenty of smart features thanks to the many talents currently at work for it.



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Posted in 2014 at 05:48PM, February 07

How to make a killing as an international iPhone dealer

The next time you travel overseas, you might want to bring a hefty stock of unlocked iPhones with you — they might just make you a healthy profit. Bloomberg Businessweek has written a great piece on how iPhones are becoming almost like an international currency in many markets where they're prohibitively expensive for most people to buy. In Brazil, for example, an unlocked iPhone 5s costs just under $1,200 when taxes are included while an unlocked iPhone 5s in Italy costs just shy of $1,000. This means that if you buy the latest version of the iPhone and bring it with you to certain countries, you'll be able to sell it for more than what you paid for it while still giving prospective iPhone buyers a comparative discount.



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Posted in 2014 at 04:44PM, February 07

Researchers: Playing too much GTA actually can make you a sociopath

While violent video games are often unfairly used as scapegoats for mass shootings, scientists have found that playing violent video games for several hours a day every day actually can do bad things to your sense of morality. BBC News reports that researchers at Brock University in Canada have found that "over-exposure" to violent games can weaken teenagers' sense of right and wrong and can lower their ability to develop empathy for others. Lacking a sense of right and wrong and lacking empathy are, of course, two primary traits of sociopaths.



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Posted in 2014 at 04:12PM, February 07

Galaxy S5′s monster specs seemingly confirmed in new benchmark

One analyst expects Samsung to unveil at least two Galaxy S5 versions in the near future when it comes to overall specs, including a higher-end and a lower-end model, although both devices will be flagship handsets compared to the rest of Samsung’s lineup. And now a new benchmark leak seems to provide specs details regarding the less thrilling Galaxy S5 handset, the model that’s expected to pack “just” a Full HD display instead of a 2K one.



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Posted in 2014 at 02:18PM, February 07

iOS 7.1 reportedly won’t release until March

Although Apple is very close to being done with iOS 7.1, iPhone users may have to wait a little longer to finally get their hands on an update. One of 9to5Mac's sources says that the final version of iOS 7.1 won't be available until March and that it won't include any secret surprises that we weren't expecting. Instead it will include "some user-interface tweaks in the Phone app, an improved Calendar app, speed improvements, and numerous bug-fixes," 9to5Mac writes. It's taken Apple a little longer than expected to get iOS 7.1 ready to launch and the company is expected to launch iOS 8 just three months later during WWDC in June.

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Posted in 2014 at 01:55PM, February 07

Here are the next Samsung Android phones to get the KitKat update

Samsung is reportedly getting ready to update several of its Android devices to Android 4.4 KitKat, Phandroid has learned from a source close to the matter, although actual roll out dates aren’t available for any of them. So far, the Polish Galaxy Note 3 version has received its respective KitKat build, with Samsung said to prepare other models to also receive it, while the LTE-A variant of the Galaxy S4 is getting its KitKat update in South Korea.



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Posted in 2014 at 12:50PM, February 07

Next Nexus device is bigger, reportedly launching soon

Google’s second-generation Nexus 7 tablet will apparently be the last Nexus device at that size, if a new Digitimes report is to be believed, with the company said again to launch an 8-inch Nexus 8 tablet in the near future. Apparently, the Nexus 7 (2013) has not performed as well as expected, having sold only three million units last year. With a bigger tablet, the company is said to be interested in avoiding price competition with 7-inch tablets and having to face 5- to 6-inch smartphones.



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Posted in 2014 at 12:15PM, February 07

Cook says ‘really great stuff’ is coming, but iWatch still not confirmed

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal , Apple CEO Tim Cook again reinforced the idea that Apple is working on new categories of products, and will not limit itself to the current device lineup. “There will be new categories. We’re not ready to talk about it, but we’re working on some really great stuff,” Cook said without revealing what kind of product Apple is working on.



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Posted in 2014 at 11:30AM, February 07

Will Microsoft’s new boss be the same as its old boss?

Although Satya Nadella is being widely praised as a terrific choice as Microsoft's new CEO, he won't be completely free of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, his two predecessors who will stay on at the company as a technology advisor and a board member, respectively. The very well-connected Bob Cringely writes that that Nadella would be wise to keep Gates at his side early in his tenure because he'll need Gates to help him to get Ballmer to back off if he decides to diverge from the outgoing CEO's plan to remake Microsoft into a devices and services company.



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Posted in 2014 at 04:59AM, February 07

Amazon comes up with an ingenious way to get you to buy more stuff

Remember how we asked ourselves a little bit earlier how Apple, Google and Microsoft all make money? Well, we're about to ask the same thing about Amazon and the answer is incredibly obvious: Amazon makes money by getting you to buy as much stuff through Amazon at all hours of the day for any conceivable reason.



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Posted in 2014 at 03:45AM, February 07

World’s best Windows Phones now free if you trade in your iPhone

Windows Phone is a platform on the rise and now curious iPhone owners can get their chance to own one of the world's best Windows Phones for free. Microsoft has announced that it will give anyone who trades in their iPhone 4s either a Nokia Lumia 1020 or a Lumia 1520 for free with a two-year service contract with AT&T. This seems like a terrific deal for AT&T subscribers who are curious about trying a different smartphone since the Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520 are terrific devices that have some of the world's best smartphone cameras. And when you consider that Nokia first launched the Lumia 1020 last year with a $300 on-contract price tag then you can see that you're getting major value here. The major downside is that Windows Phone still faces a significant app gap with iOS but Microsoft is working overtime to get that fixed.

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Posted in 2014 at 02:30AM, February 07

Motorola may host an event about nothing at MWC 2014

Motorola has sent out media invitations to a special MWC 2014 event that will take place on February 25th, CNET reports, but there’s speculation the company will have no new product to unveil during the show. Instead, Motorola may talk about being acquired by Lenovo and what that means for the company.



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Posted in 2014 at 01:15AM, February 07

Here’s one Mac knockoff Apple might not be able to sue

North Korea has upgraded the Red Star OS computer operating system it uses in computers found in schools and libraries to mimic Apple’s Mac OS X, BBC News reports, a departure from the previous Windows-like Red Star OS version. Screenshots showing the revamped Red Star OS interface have been obtained from an American computer scientist, who purchased the Linux-based software in the region and posted on NorthKoreaTech .



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Posted in 2014 at 12:00AM, February 07