UPDATE | "Ask President Obama Anything" Just Crashed Reddit

An AMA ("Ask Me Anything" thread, where you can get an answer from a celebrity or public figure on any kind of question) just unceremoniously popped up on Reddit. That's not a huge deal unless it's President Barack Obama.

WATCH | A New Trailer for Indie Hopeful Lifeless Planet

When indie dev David Board's PC and mobile game Lifeless Planet came to Kickstarter in late September, its goal was a modest $8,500. The project pitch site found him backers that would more than double that number.

GO GO GO | Get Your Free One-Month Hulu Plus Subscription

With Hulu's abhorrent film selection and nigh unnavigable interface, it's not something I'd recommend someone actually shell out hard-earned dollars for. Luckily, this month, you don't have to.

OMG | Black Isle Studios Returns! ... With No One From Black Isle Studios Onboard

The KING of PC RPG's, Black Isle Studios, is BACK — is what we would be saying if Black Isle Studios didn't scatter to the winds aeons ago, its top talent now working in far flung pockets of the gaming industry.

But, Interplay seems excited about it.

LOOK | Here's Your New GTA V Screenshots

Rockstar is starting to give a little peek into Grand Theft Auto V's modernized San Andreas. Screens started cropping up earlier this week, with the promise of more to come in the near future.

On the Wire | Epic Apple vs. Samsung Deathmatch Wraps Up

People wait in line to get inside for the Apple and Samsung trial during a lunch break at a federal courthouse in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012.

By Paul Elias

Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A lawyer for Apple said Tuesday that Samsung was having a "crisis of design" after the launch of the iPhone, and executives with the South Korean company were determined to illegally cash in on the success of the revolutionary device.

Samsung's lawyer countered that the technology giant was simply and legally giving consumers what they want: Smart phones with big screens.

On the Wire | What the New iPhone Will Look Like

DISCLAIMER: This is not the new iPhone. You really think we're cool enough to have the first screenshot? Pssh. This is just a dumb stock photo. Look at it up there... geez... that hand model has nice fingernails. 

By Farhad Manjoo 

Slate.com

The new iPhone looks pretty much like the old iPhone. Sure, it's a bit taller, allowing for a display that has one extra row of icons on the Home screen. And instead of the glass that you find on the back of today's iPhone, the new model's posterior is composed mainly of some kind of metal — either stainless steel or aluminum that has been polished and, in the case of the black version, treated by a chemical process to turn it a dark, matte gray. (On the white model, the metal on the back looks untreated.)

The other difference is the dock connector — instead of the inch-wide plug that Apple has placed on almost every iPod, iPhone and iPad since 2003, the new iPhone will inaugurate a new, tiny plug that we'll presumably find on all of Apple's other devices, too. Finally, and strangely, the headphone jack is now on the bottom of the phone, rather than the top.

But that's it.

Court Rules Cops Can Track You by Phone Without a Warrant

A 2 - 1 ruling handed down by the Sixth District Court of Appeals yesterday makes anyone who has a smartphone smelly.

Don't get so injured, unwashed people. We're talking about the smell of the GPS signal coming from your phone. The court decided that the odor it gives off is fair game for authorities to use when "sniffing out" perps — no warrant necessary.

The perp in question here, Melvin Skinner, tried to invoke the Fourth Amendment to get his phone data thrown out, but to no avail.

(Judge John) Rogers likened it to the use of dogs tracking a scent, and criminals complaining they didn't know they were giving one off, or that the dog had picked it up.

The whole court document is below in all its stuffiness.

VIA: Engadget via Ars Technica

SOURCE: U.S. Court of Appeals

WATCH | A New Far Cry 3 Trailer from gamescom

Taking a leap from their tried-and-true singleplayer FPS routine, Ubisoft revealed four-player co-op mode for their latest jungle island bullet romp, Far Cry 3.

Let the Left 4 Dead comparisons commence. Here's mine: One department in which Ubisoft has Valve beat is ethnic diversity.

WATCH | A New Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Trailer from gamescom

Plenty of new trailers are coming out of gamescom today — take a look at this Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance trailer with all the fixins'.

Ever since Sons of Liberty in 2001, I figured a Raiden spinoff was inevitable. What I didn't expect was for it to feel like the hard-boiled ninja ballet from a Devil May Cry trailer. There's even a song (unfortunately in English.)

The only hint of Kojima's handiwork was that the trailer looked like it was wrapping up about two-thirds of the way through, to leave space for Kojima-esque last-second sensational and speculative reveals. This one was a robot dog companion. Good on ya'.

The Kojima Productions and Platinum Games collabo drops February of next year.

VIA: Kotaku

SOURCE: gamescom

What It's Like for Girl Gamers

Horrendous stock photo courtesy of Metro Creative Connection - I'm so, so sorry

By Elisa Meléndez
Slate.com 

I am a gamer and a geek. I'm at the computer writing this in a Star Trek T-shirt, in celebration of the recent Mars Curiosity rover landing. I've been a gamer for as long as I can remember, having had a Nintendo Power magazine thrust into my hands as soon as I could sound out the words on the page in order to be my older brother's co-pilot.

Since then, I have developed a fierce love of games. I have a tattoo of a Trivial Pursuit pie on my right hip. My haircut resembles one of my favorite characters, Lilith, from Borderlands. You can't tell me Revolution X wasn't amazing. You just can't.

This may sound like I'm trying to validate my geek cred. I shouldn't have to prove anything, you're right, but there are those determined to limit my rise in the gaming world. Though 47 percent of all gamers are women and though many of us are equal in our skills and drive to the men, we are often not welcome. The gamers who still aren't ready for us resort to online harassment to belittle, silence and drive us away from their precious boys' club.

WHOA | The First 360-Degree Landscape Pic from Mars 'Curiosity' Rover

Here's a new update in the saga of NASA's thrill-laden Curiosity rover! Yesterday, NASA released the darling little spacelab's first color panoramic shot from the dusty, red surface of Mars.

Hit the jump and glimpse this lonely, desolate horizon of an alien world for yourself.

LOOK | First Screen of Abe's Oddysee Remake Surfaces

Welcome to the future, Abe

Here we have the first shot of the Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee remake coming from Oddworld Inhabitants and Just Add Water.

So far, the project is pre-pre-pre-alpha, but this HD redressing is a thing, make no mistake. 

Hit the jump for a comparison shot...

WATCH | A 3-D Tour of the Universe

Inside, you'll find the largest 3-D map of the universe ever assembled, courtesy of the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico.

Glide with us through the cosmos! And those of you who own a pair of 3-D anaglyph glasses (the red and blue ones) — hold onto your butts.

WOW | Cliffy, Carmack, Newell Coo Over Impressive New VR Tech

Source: Kickstarter   

And now for something completely different.

Remember VR? Virtual Reality. If you were born in the early 90s, probably not. It was a big thing back in the day. Then again, so were Pogs.

Traditionally resigned to the lonely back corner of your local Dave & Buster's and several mainstream yet pathetic, failed hardware attempts (Virtual Boy, anyone?), Palmer Luckey a "pluckey" young dev from Oculus VR, is now receiving emphatic support from some of the biggest names in the biz.

It's Official: Windows 8 is RTM

Source: AP Photo

Windows OEM has received the final release of Windows 8 — now manufacturing begins.

According to the official Windows blog, the much anticipated OS will be available to devs and the IT crowd starting August 15; Microsoft business partners and customers with Microsoft Software Assurance for Windows can get it the next day.

Windows 8 is set for general release on Oct. 26 for a $39.99 upgrade and will be standard on all new Windows PCs.


VIA: Engadget
SOURCE: Official Windows Blog