Gregarius » éléments par Mark Raby

éléments par Mark Raby

New York Comic Con 2017 ditches high-tech in favor of extravagant experiences

Publié: octobre 7, 2017, 5:36pm CEST par Mark Raby

Taking a trip to a sparsely populated desert before it becomes inundated with zombies. Being immersed inside the new HBO series Westworld. Doing odd jobs alongside everyone's favorite time-traveling duo of Rick and Morty. Those were just some of the experiences for which fans at New York Comic Con waited up to several hours in line...last year. And they all required virtually no booth space. It all happened in the "Experiential Zone," an area of the Jacob Javits center in Manhattan where leaders in virtual reality experiences lined the floors of one of the basement halls. So many VR companies and… [Continue Reading]

D-Link Covr AC3900: a solid choice for the most demanding Wi-Fi users [Review]

Publié: juillet 31, 2017, 12:43pm CEST par Mark Raby

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You finally broke down and shelled out a bunch of money on the latest 4K HDR TV, or laptop, or computer monitor -- or all three. You eagerly sign into your favorite streaming service, navigate to the 4K Ultra HD section, and break out the popcorn. And then...buffering...dropped connections...and that streaming provider so very conveniently bumping you down to a lower resolution so you can have a "better" and interruption-less experience. Shoot. Time to call your ISP and request an upgrade to the highest-tier Internet speeds they can provide. Sure it's an extra $40… [Continue Reading]

Nintendo, expectedly, trademarks Nintendo 64 Classic Edition

Publié: juillet 21, 2017, 9:00pm CEST par Mark Raby

What do 1985 and 2016 have in common? The same video game system as one of the hot-ticket Christmas presents. Nintendo has masterfully fulfilled the need for nostalgia among millions of gamers, in addition to creating that need for countless others who, thanks to the hype of the NES Classic Edition, didn't even realize how cool it was to play games from their childhood days in the 2010s. It came as no surprise, then, when Nintendo announced the follow-up Super NES Classic Edition last month, which is due to be released in September. And eagle-eyed fans have discovered that there… [Continue Reading]

Intel reportedly shutting down its once-thriving wearables division

Publié: juillet 20, 2017, 7:43pm CEST par Mark Raby

Despite previously being one of the most vocal champions of the wearable technology market space, semiconductor giant Intel has virtually (and quietly) shut down the business unit that was responsible for its once emerging line of smartwatch and fitness tracker components. The dedicated unit was created after Intel acquired a little-known smartwatch company called Basis in 2014. The writing may have been on the wall after the company had to recall all Basis products late last year after multiple incidents of them overheating, causing users' wrists to become burned. Intel's wearables division was much more than just that one product… [Continue Reading]

Nintendo Switch Online app goes live, will be useful in two days

Publié: juillet 19, 2017, 6:12pm CEST par Mark Raby

As a sign of its continued adoption of third-party platforms, Nintendo has just launched the Nintendo Switch Online app on Google Play and the Apple App Store. Players will be able to link their accounts between the Nintendo Switch console and the new app so that they can view certain historical data/statistics, as well as directly integrate with online features of compatible games. That said, it doesn't actually do any of that now. The app launch is in preparation of the first title that will support it -- Splatoon 2, which comes out on July 21. Splatoon was one of… [Continue Reading]

Oculus plans to go mass market with $200 VR headset: report

Publié: juillet 13, 2017, 8:44pm CEST par Mark Raby

The company that singlehandedly revived the virtual reality market from gimmicky nonsense to a paradigm shift in all types of content, is planning to launch a device that could put all the pale imitators into a corner. According to a report from Bloomberg, the Gear VR and Oculus Rift manufacturer has plans to launch a $200 standalone headset some time in 2018. It would be the company's first product that would truly be a mass-market, impulse-buy product. Its computer-connected Oculus Rift headset costs $400 and requires a complex setup and very powerful CPU to run smoothly. Its much more modest… [Continue Reading]

Nintendo Switch finally gets a video streaming app -- in Japan

Publié: juillet 12, 2017, 7:11pm CEST par Mark Raby

Nintendo is finally bringing a third-party video streaming service to its Switch console for the first time since the system launched in March. However, it's not Netflix or Hulu. It's Niconico, Japan's main YouTube rival which launched in 2006 but has become an increasingly popular platform in the country in recent years (it's currently among the top 10 websites in Japan). This means, obviously, that the app will only be available to users who have a Japanese Nintendo Switch account. Anyone in any region can create such an account, however, the content and navigation will of course only be in… [Continue Reading]

Citi Pay joins the mobile/online fray

Publié: juillet 11, 2017, 7:53pm CEST par Mark Raby

If you thought there weren't enough digital "Pay" platforms in the United States... you would be in a class by yourself. Nevertheless, there is a new option in the ever-expanding "digital wallet" marketplace. The latest entrant is Citibank, the US's fourth-largest banking institution. Its unique take in this crowded space is its integration with Masterpass -- Citi customers can check out online and in-app anywhere Masterpass is accepted by using their existing online banking credentials. The launch in the US comes after Citi Pay has already rolled out in a few international markets as of last November, including Australia, Mexico,… [Continue Reading]

First limited-edition PS4 Pro console to debut September 6

Publié: juillet 10, 2017, 8:15pm CEST par Mark Raby

Sony announced today that it will be launching the first special edition version of the PlayStation 4 Pro in September, to coincide with the release of the anticipated action game sequel Destiny 2. Announced on the official PlayStation Blog, the new version of the PS4 Pro comes in a "Glacier White" color instead of Sony's traditional black motif. The bundle also comes with a Glacier White PS4 controller, a physical copy of the game, and a "digital content pack." That pack includes an additional multiplayer map, a new ship, and a three-person co-op Strike. Sony says this content will be… [Continue Reading]

No walls here: virtual reality exhibit showcases US-Mexico border

Publié: juillet 7, 2017, 7:03pm CEST par Mark Raby

In what can be described as part political statement, part historical documentation, and part 21st century technology, a new exhibit has opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California, in which visitors can experience a virtual reality experience of what it is like to cross the border from Mexico to the United States. The exhibit opened earlier this week, and public tickets are already sold out through the scheduled end of the exhibit, September 10. The experience involves putting on a VR headset and then watching a roughly seven-minute 360-degree video that places you in the middle… [Continue Reading]

PlayStation Now finally adds PS4 titles

Publié: juillet 6, 2017, 5:37pm CEST par Mark Raby

Sony's subscription-based game streaming service received a massive update today -- not entirely because of the number of new titles available, but because of the fact that the new titles are from the PS4 library. Until now, the service only offered streaming PS3 games. The addition of PS4 games to the platform has been discussed since it was introduced back in 2014. However, no firm plans to do so were ever confirmed until now. Surely not coincidentally, it just so happens to have arrived just one month after Microsoft launched its competing Xbox Game Pass platform, which offers streaming Xbox… [Continue Reading]

Newest Motorola Moto Mod is a 360-degree camera

Publié: juillet 3, 2017, 10:31pm CEST par Mark Raby

Motorola, which has been aggressively marketing its snap-on phone accessories as its uniquely identifying attribute in the crowded smartphone market, is working on a 360-degree camera that will work with any device that supports other so-called "Moto Mods." The new accessory was unveiled at a press event in Ghana (because where else?), though it came with scant few other details. The apparent official product photo above, as brought to light internationally by reporter Evan Blass, shows that the device snaps on just like any other mod, which means it should be compatible with any recent Motorola Android phone, all of… [Continue Reading]

The iPhone is 10 years old -- and so are my horrible predictions about it

Publié: juin 29, 2017, 9:19pm CEST par Mark Raby

On this day in history, all the way back in 2007, a device that not only revolutionized an industry but changed the way everyone thought about all industries, was unleashed on the world. Okay, okay, before I go any further, I know what you're thinking. "Oh, great, another one of those flowery, rose-colored articles about the nostalgia of all things Apple and how the iPhone changed cell phones forever. Kill me now." No, that's not what this is. It's a much broader reflection of how the landscape has changed around media, consumer culture, and communications of all forms, and the… [Continue Reading]

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Milwaukee sued over stupid Pokémon Go permit requirement

Publié: juin 28, 2017, 8:51pm CEST par Mark Raby

If you were like any other human being who grew up with Pokémon video games, cartoons, and trading cards, you've played Pokémon Go within the past year or so. It's essentially a scientific fact. The game was lauded with exorbitant praise as something that encouraged people to go outside, explore, and be active. That is, except for the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which declared in an ordinance earlier this year that such behavior wasn't welcome around its breweries and cheese factories. In February, the city started complaining about the congestion it was facing at its public parks. At one park… [Continue Reading]

Sony launches program for original TV shows on PlayStation

Publié: juin 26, 2017, 10:01pm CEST par Mark Raby

Sony is seeking submissions from filmmakers across the country to help develop a new TV series that will be distributed primarily through its various PlayStation-branded channels. In a partnership announced today with a group called Ideas United, Sony is opening up submissions for anyone to submit their best ideas for a new TV show with the eventual winners seeing their idea come to life in a professionally produced pilot. Called the PlayStation Emerging Filmmakers Program, the entertainment and technology giant will choose 50 submissions to consider, and each of those filmmakers will be able to pitch their idea to a… [Continue Reading]

Tesla working on music streaming service: report

Publié: juin 23, 2017, 7:31pm CEST par Mark Raby

Tesla, Inc. is reportedly in talks with music labels to come out with its own music streaming service that would supposedly compete with an already saturated market, and presumably focused only on the experience of listening to music in your car. This comes from a report from Recode, which has quoted a Tesla spokesperson on record as saying, "We believe it’s important to have an exceptional in-car experience so our customers can listen to the music they want from whatever source they choose." Obviously, embedding music apps into the modern connected car is already a very common practice. However, traditional… [Continue Reading]

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will reportedly be revealed in August

Publié: juin 21, 2017, 8:14pm CEST par Mark Raby

The Galaxy Note brand is alive and well, as Samsung will be officially unveiling the new, hopefully non-exploding addition to the premium large-size smartphone line near the end of August. That report comes from Reuters, which cited "a person familiar with the matter," as saying the official reveal will happen at a typical New York City Samsung event later this summer. Of course, for the rest of time, no one will be able to utter the words "Galaxy Note" without invoking memories of every trip to a U.S. airport ever made in late 2016 and late 2017, where every boarding… [Continue Reading]

Uber is rolling out the ability to tip drivers, other features

Publié: juin 20, 2017, 8:24pm CEST par Mark Raby

In what is one of the most fundamental changes ever made to Uber's business model, the ride sharing app has begun to roll out an update that will allow users to tip drivers, reversing a policy it had in place from day one as potentially the biggest differentiating factor between it and standard taxicab services. Indeed, Uber's dominance in the on-demand transportation space was built almost entirely because of its cost effectiveness, with fares often less than half of what you might pay for a traditional taxi. Intentionally precluding the ability to tip your driver was an essential part of… [Continue Reading]

Adobe Advertising Cloud TV to deliver highly targeted TV ads

Publié: juin 20, 2017, 6:13pm CEST par Mark Raby

Since the dawn of time, watching TV has always been an exercise in patience and frustration. Just as you're beginning to enjoy the unfolding storyline in your favorite shows or movies, they are interrupted by a series of commercials that you most likely are not going to find useful or interesting. That has been starting to change over the past few years as the entire advertising landscape has undergone massive paradigm shifts, but there's still a lot of work to be done in the prehistoric landscape that is traditional TV ad buying. Enter Adobe. The digital software behemoth has just… [Continue Reading]

Amazon to buy Whole Foods as its grocery story revolution continues

Publié: juin 16, 2017, 7:19pm CEST par Mark Raby

Amazon's increasingly overt and aggressive push into the grocery retail market has officially gone into full-blown, alarm-blaring fever-pitch mode today as its plans to acquire the brick-and-mortar chain Whole Foods was publicly announced. Under the terms of the tentative deal, Amazon will pay $42 per share of Whole Foods stock for a total purchase price of $13.7 billion. At the end of trading yesterday, Whole Foods was going for around $33 per share, making Amazon's offer represent a reasonable 27 percent premium. SEE ALSO: Amazon's physical retail presence grows in Seattle, New York The news has sent shockwaves throughout all… [Continue Reading]

Amazon to buy Whole Foods as its grocery store revolution continues

Publié: juin 16, 2017, 7:19pm CEST par Mark Raby

Microsoft boasts artificial intelligence that can 'beat' Ms. Pac-Man

Publié: juin 15, 2017, 11:42pm CEST par Mark Raby

Move over, Billy Mitchell. There's a new 1980s arcade video game master, and his name is...well, he doesn't have a name. And it's also not a "he" -- it's Microsoft's latest demonstration of artificial intelligence. The team at Maluuba, a Canadian artificial intelligence firm acquired by Microsoft earlier this year, has managed to program a system that can play the Atari 2600 version of Ms. Pac-Man indefinitely without ever being hit by a ghost, allowing it to rack up a score of 999,990 before being reset to zero. The highest score ever recorded by a human player was 266,330. Detailed in… [Continue Reading]

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Nintendo very briefly confirms new Pokémon game on Switch

Publié: juin 13, 2017, 6:34pm CEST par Mark Raby

Likely to emerge as the biggest story out of today's latest round of news at the 2017 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Nintendo has announced that it is working on a new Pokémon title for its Switch console. In the very brief announcement, the title was described as a new entry to the "core RPG" series of Pokémon games. Presumably that means it will be the launching pad for a new generation of Pokémon creatures, and if so, it would be the first time that has happened on a home console. The original Pokémon games were released in 1996 on the… [Continue Reading]

Minecraft is going cross-platform! For real! Kind of...

Publié: juin 12, 2017, 6:40pm CEST par Mark Raby

At its annual laser-laden, pyrotechnics-padded, 110-minute trailer fest, also known as the Xbox E3 2017 briefing, Microsoft showcased dozens of titles that will be coming to the Xbox One (and Xbox One S/Xbox One X) over the next several months. But developer Mojang also made some news during the event. It announced that its incredibly popular game Minecraft will be playable online across multiple devices and multiple platforms. You may have heard terms like "cross-platform" in various descriptions and releases of Mincecraft titles, but until now that term has confusingly and incompletely been used for very specific platform integrations. For… [Continue Reading]

Verizon is taking an ax to the Yahoo and AOL workforce

Publié: juin 9, 2017, 4:37pm CEST par Mark Raby

In case you haven't been following the news about 23-year-old Internet company acquisitions, Verizon announced 11 months ago that it had entered into an agreement to buy Yahoo for $4.83 billion. That deal, with some modifications, was officially approved and finalized yesterday, and it is expected to be completely closed on June 13. When that happens, the telecommunications giant plans to combine those newly acquired assets with AOL, which it also owns, into a new media conglomerate. And of course, when you hear the word "combine," the next word you'll hear is "layoffs." According to a report from CNBC, Verizon… [Continue Reading]

Samsung patent sparks smart speaker rumors

Publié: juin 7, 2017, 2:36pm CEST par Mark Raby

Continuing what has already been a newsworthy week for the world of smart speakers, rumors are beginning to circulate that Samsung plans to get in the game with its own news-reading, weather-watching, talking tabletop device. It seems a logical progression for the smart device giant, after it launched its own voice assistant platform, Bixby, with the Galaxy S8 line of smartphones. That would presumably be the same platform that Samsung would use in a proprietary smart speaker. The South Korean company has not officially confirmed it is working on a smart speaker, but it has filed a patent for such… [Continue Reading]

MLB strikes deal with Intel for live VR broadcasts

Publié: juin 2, 2017, 6:12pm CEST par Mark Raby

Take me out to the ballgame, but keep me away from traffic and overcrowded stadium annoyances. With a new partnership between Major League Baseball and Intel, you'll be able to experience what it's like to be sitting up close to the action (or if you prefer, back in the bleachers), no matter where you are. The partnership involves Intel's True VR app, which is available for the Samsung Gear VR platform, which will broadcast one live MLB game every week for the entirety of the regular 2017 season: beginning next Tuesday, June 6. Dubbed the Intel True VR Game of… [Continue Reading]

Xbox Game Pass opens up to everyone

Publié: juin 1, 2017, 9:36pm CEST par Mark Raby

Microsoft has officially launched its Xbox Game Pass service, allowing gamers to play Xbox 360 and Xbox One games in a streaming capacity, for all Xbox One users. The service, which debuted to monthly-fee-paying Xbox Live Gold members last week, has more than 100 available titles (consisting of both Xbox One and Xbox 360 games). As soon as you subscribe, you're instantly able to play any and every title in that list. As long as you keep your subscription, you can keep playing. Microsoft says it will continue to update and add new titles to the burgeoning collection on a… [Continue Reading]

Minecraft 'Discovery' update hits Windows 10/Pocket editions, has llamas

Publié: juin 1, 2017, 7:05pm CEST par Mark Raby

Minecraft developer Mojang has just announced the release of the latest update to its block-stacking, world-building smash hit video game. The "Discovery" update brings the Pocket Edition and Windows 10 editions of the game from version 1.0.9 to 1.1.0. First announced in March, the update includes a new world, called Woodland Mansions, to explore. It also adds a smattering of new achievements, and ultra exciting glazed terracotta blocks (to say nothing of the concrete and concrete powder). And that's just the beginning. To quote the official announcement from the Minecraft blog, "There's loads more. Llamas." That should tell you pretty… [Continue Reading]

'Alexa, how do people interact with Alexa?'

Publié: juin 1, 2017, 1:37pm CEST par Mark Raby

A new study analyzing the way users interact with their "smart speakers" shows that the most used feature of devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home isn't to stream music or even to get the latest weather. The most commonly used feature of smart speakers is asking "general questions," proving that getting answers to life's daily queries and curiosities from a cloud-based computer voice is becoming an increasingly standard practice in today's society. To be specific, among people in the US who owned a smart speaker in the first quarter of 2017, 60 percent of them said they use… [Continue Reading]

YouTube keeps Android users guessing, updates app

Publié: mai 31, 2017, 5:04pm CEST par Mark Raby

If you have automatic updates enabled on your Android phone, your index fingers and your brain may have hit a moment of panic and confusion as you realized everything was rejiggered from top to bottom, literally. Par for the course with Google, you will now have to get used to a new interface, different placement of on-screen buttons, and more confusing navigation streams to get to the menu you want. That is, until you get used to it all, at which point you'll appreciate that they were all actual improvements after all. Previously, the home screen of the YouTube app… [Continue Reading]

Sony officially marks the end of the PS3

Publié: mai 30, 2017, 2:22pm CEST par Mark Raby

After nearly 11 years of continuous production, Sony has taken the final step in curtailing the number of PlayStation 3 consoles in the market; manufacturing of all iterations of the system has ended, and as of today, its final shipment has been funneled through its distribution network in Japan. Production of all PS3 units has already halted in other countries, making this the official sign that Sony no longer has an active hand in PS3 console inventory. The legacy of the PS3 is as eventful and infamous as it is storied and successful. The version of the PS3 you'll find… [Continue Reading]

It's about 'time': Parking meters are becoming smarter

Publié: mai 30, 2017, 12:25pm CEST par Mark Raby

Bluetooth Low Energy. The Internet of Things. Third-party cloud service integrations. Parking. Which one of these things doesn't belong? If you actually chose one of those four things, you're mistaken, as smart parking is increasingly becoming one of the hotbeds of mobile technology. "Smart parking meters" is not a foreign term. There have been enhancements in this space for quite some time, but it is finally reaching a fever pitch, as competition to become the new standard in pay-for-parking is maturing in a big way. Perhaps not that surprisingly, the ability to pay for your parking violations online was something… [Continue Reading]

Nintendo stock soars from Switch sales, GameStop gets profit boost

Publié: mai 26, 2017, 9:44pm CEST par Mark Raby

After years of disappointing sales, uninspired product launches, and even some doomsday predictions, Nintendo has reversed course -- evidenced no more forcefully than the 8-year high that its stock price reached by the end of this week. The company closed at 33,510 yen ($300.72) per share on Japan's Nikkei exchange. The last time Nintendo was looking at numbers like that, it was busy celebrating the way it reinvented the gaming marketplace with its motion-sensing Wii console. Over the past eight years, though, the novelty of the Wii began to wear off; its successor, the Wii U, was miserably behind its… [Continue Reading]

WorldPay wants to make it easier to take your money in VR

Publié: mai 26, 2017, 5:57pm CEST par Mark Raby

We've all been there. You're testing out your new virtual reality headset, exploring fantastical worlds and immersing yourself in all kinds of 360-degree awesomeness, when you suddenly stop and think to yourself, "If only there was some way I could simulate the process of taking out my credit card and tapping it to complete a purchase." Well, that will soon become possible if payment processing company WorldPay is successful in getting its new platform accepted by app and game developers. The solution, revealed in a proof-of-concept video, involves a complete recreation of one of the company's real-world retail credit card… [Continue Reading]

Amazon's physical retail presence grows in Seattle, New York

Publié: mai 25, 2017, 11:07pm CEST par Mark Raby

As Amazon runs out of ways to expand its mountain-sized market share in the online retail space, its attempts to grow its presence in the real world are continuing to materialize, with new plans being firmed up on both coasts of the United States. Today, it officially launched AmazonFresh Pickup, a physical location where customers can pick up groceries ordered online, in its corporate home town of Seattle. It also cut the ribbon on its new retail book store in New York City. The company's AmazonFresh delivery service launched in 2007 and has since rolled out to a handful of… [Continue Reading]

T-Mobile disrupts the mobile space again with 'Digits' service

Publié: mai 25, 2017, 8:53pm CEST par Mark Raby

Continuing its brand-defining efforts to push boundaries, T-Mobile today announced that its "Digits" service, which lets customers use their mobile number to send and receive calls and texts from virtually any device, will officially launch to its entire subscriber base on May 31. The third-place U.S. carrier emphasizes that this move is more than just being able to manage your texts wherever you are, or making a call in a pinch when your phone dies. It is instead a brand new method of how T-Mobile views the implementation of phone numbers forever moving forward. Digits also lets customers have multiple… [Continue Reading]

It's on: Xbox Game Pass sets a new stage in console wars

Publié: mai 24, 2017, 9:16pm CEST par Mark Raby

The big news out of Microsoft's video game division today is the launch of a new service called Xbox Game Pass. For a $9.99 monthly fee, players will be able to access a wide library of Xbox One titles on demand, making it less and less necessary to dole out dozens of dollars every time you want to play a new game. This represents not only a milestone moment in the evolution of the Xbox One platform and the way people play games on it, but also for the console wars as a whole. Sony has a competing service --… [Continue Reading]

Iowa to have mobile driver's licenses in 2018

Publié: mai 23, 2017, 4:42pm CEST par Mark Raby

Ever since the first US smartphone to contain a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip for contactless mobile payments was released more than seven years ago, there has been no shortage of hype, commentary, news stories, and hopeful discourse about the concept of ditching the physical wallet for good. Of course, such high-concept rhetoric always reliably meandered down the path of exceptions and caveats, making it nothing more than futuristic hyperbole. One of the biggest exceptions has always been needing to carry around a form of photo ID, like a driver's license, especially in places like Iowa where getting behind the… [Continue Reading]

Android vs. BlackBerry Round 2: The battle of car operating systems

Publié: mai 22, 2017, 9:59pm CEST par Mark Raby

BlackBerry has a pretty decent market share. When was the last time you heard that sentence? If you're talking about smartphone competition, it's been a while. In the world of in-vehicle operating systems, however, a new story is beginning to unfold. As with its phone business, BlackBerry has a storied history with in-car telematics, with a footprint dating back more than 20 years. Its most relevant current presence, though, goes back to 2010. That's when BlackBerry (then known by the now-defunct parent company name Research in Motion) acquired the Unix-based embedded operating system QNX. You may recall 2010 as a… [Continue Reading]

RIP Nintendo's Satoru Iwata, the video game president who was actually a gamer

Publié: juillet 13, 2015, 6:56pm CEST par Mark Raby

satoru iwata

The world of video games is mourning a huge loss this morning with 55-year-old Nintendo president Satoru Iwata having passed away as the result of a bile duct tumor. While the lasting impact and legacy of Iwata's influence on Nintendo will be thoroughly debated and analyzed, one thing that has no dispute is that Iwata was the rare senior executive in a powerful video game company who was actually a true gamer through and through.

The CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, the entity in charge of all things PlayStation, is Andrew House. While House has a storied history within Sony's video game division, his entire career has been spent in advertising and communications.

Phil Spencer is Microsoft's "head of Xbox," and brought with him a lot of technical expertise, but mostly focused on project management and other 'corporate' positions that relied more on toting the company line than requiring real, unabashed imagination.

Iwata's history was refreshingly different. He entered the ranks as a freelance video game developer. He was directly hands-on with games in the Kirby and Pokemon franchises, and helped create the defining title Super Smash Bros. He understood the Nintendo business not because of what suit-and-tie people told him in everyday corporate meetings but because he was on the ground floor actually creating the content that defined Nintendo.

He became president of the company in 2002, a mere two years after becoming an official part of the Nintendo team. It was at a time when the company was in one of its worst slumps, following the disappointing reception to its Gamecube system. Under Iwata's leadership, the very unique Wii home console and DS handheld were released to extreme fanfare and excitement. These new systems gave a historic injection of new blood into Nintendo, causing the company's stock price to nearly double in 2006.

Even as he completed his transition from faceless game developer to high-ranking corporate leader, Iwata continued to show his roots as a developer and his unmistakable classification as a gamer. He introduced video segments and other content, available on Nintendo.com as well as through video streaming on Nintendo devices, where he discussed and had conversations with other game creators and developers -- the kind of stuff that the other big players relegate to their inexperienced social media teams and the like.

Unfortunately for Iwata and Nintendo, however, the remarkable success of the Wii and DS turned out to be a one-time thing, as the company has struggled to strike gold again. In recent years, Nintendo's presence has declined even though it continues to capture the attention of its very passionate and loyal fan base.

The unfortunate reality for Nintendo is that the video game environment is wildly different today than it was in 2002, when Iwata took the reigns. It is no longer good enough to be a passionate gamer. The "if you build it, they will come" mantra no longer applies to console gaming giants, as competition from mobile devices and other venues (social networks, etc) has ramped up.

Iwata majored in computer science. He was never a master of the corporate spin and never wasted his time figuring out what company talking points and buzzwords would sound the best. That was a major differentiating factor and something that allowed Nintendo to shine back in the early 2000s.

The industry has a different face today, though -- one that is hyper sensitive to several other industries and much more quickly-changing trends. As a result, it is a very real possibility that Nintendo will replace Iwata not with another passionate game developer, but with someone more ensconced in the business side of things -- someone who will more readily accept the changing tide of the market today and who will be able to manipulate that in Nintendo's favor.

But the discussion as to who will replace Iwata is something that can wait for another day. Today, the story is about Iwata's legacy and about how his vision and perspective truly molded Nintendo into what it has become over the past several years -- the good and the bad. And even though there have been some failures, they were never out of corporate greed or a lack of imagination, and that's not something many high-powered company presidents can say.

What would Steve Carell say? This office will be made with a 3D printer

Publié: juillet 1, 2015, 6:14pm CEST par Mark Raby

office3006

Step aside, multi-billion-dollar construction companies. The always-pioneering city of Dubai is about to prove that a completely functional office building can be set up with little more than a 3D printer.

A special 20-foot-tall printer will be able to spit out virtually all the varying components and layers for the single-story building, which will then be placed on site and manually assembled in the United Arab Emirates city. Once all is said and done, it will be a sprawling 2000-square-foot structure.

According to city officials, the efficiency of 3D printing will cut overall building time by upwards of 70 percent and reduce labor by as much as 80 percent, compared to traditional construction.

As reported by Khaleej Times, the project will be spearheaded by the Chinese firm Winsun, which is striving to prove itself as a 3D printing trailblazer. The city of Dubai itself is also an active partner in the ambitious and first-of-its-kind endeavor.

UAE National Innovation Committee Chairman Mohammed Al Gergawi was quoted as saying, "We are keen to use the latest technologies to simplify people’s lives and to serve them better. This project is part of our overall innovation strategy to create new designs and new solutions in education, healthcare and cities. Our goal is to increase the happiness and well-being of our residents and to pioneer new solutions for the world".

One of the most high-concept revolutions in the seemingly infinite world of 3D printing is the idea of mass-produced affordable housing. Winsun has already turned that idea into reality, having printed several houses and even apartment buildings in China. Similar ambitions and proofs of concept have popped up in several countries, including the United States. So far, though, 3D-printed construction projects have remained largely conceptual. Incorporating the technology into a major cosmopolitan city like Dubai will be a big step in the right direction.

In addition to molding the exterior of the building, Winsun will also use 3D printing technology to create inner components as well, including all of the office furniture, with the aid of some non-printed materials like glass, concrete, and plastic. Runaround tech support and unending office politics will presumably still be provided by humans.

Bill Cosby and Wikipedia: Legal intimidation or fear?

Publié: juin 27, 2015, 9:28am CEST par Mark Raby

Bill cosby

There have now been nearly 50 women who have publicly accused venerable comedian Bill Cosby of inappropriate sexual conduct throughout his entire career, but what will you find on his public Wikipedia page?

In his introductory Wikipedia paragraph, visitors will see nothing but the glowing commendations Cosby has earned over the years. Only in the deeply buried sections of his online encyclopedia entry will anyone eventually find a brief description of the ongoing sexual allegations and lawsuits. Visitors to the page are also greeted with a warning that "the neutrality of this article's introduction is disputed".

Bill Cosby has been the subject of at least three independent police investigations spanning 15 years, as well as civil lawsuits that include six named victims and a total of more than a dozen women including Jane Doe witnesses. In addition to that, a total of more than 40 women have come forward accusing Cosby of inappropriate conduct, ranging from dubious former felons to high-profile Hollywood executives.

Yet his Wikipedia page spends only four paragraphs talking about the myriad allegations, compared to more than 40 other paragraphs discussing his achievements in TV, film, and academia. Anyone attempting to create a specific Wikipedia article about the Bill Cosby sexual assault allegations will be rebuffed by the website for creating an article that only exists to defame or damage the reputation of someone -- no matter how many New York Times or Associated Press references accompany the article.

And yet, many other former celebrities have their own allegations detailed in specific Wikipedia pages, like Jimmy Savile, Kobe Bryant, and Jerry Sandusky.

Any time someone attempts to further expose the sexual assault allegations to Bill Cosby's Wikipedia page -- which may arguably define the comedian's overall legacy -- they are questioned. Even earlier this month, an attempt to add additional sexual assault allegations to Cosby's Wikipedia page were removed, with the following comment: "We don't know for certain, and we can't express that in Wikipedia's voice as if it was a fact".

The Bill Cosby Wikipedia page has been placed into "semi-protected mode", meaning that only verified Wikipedia users may attempt to edit the page. And even then, anyone attempting to add negative information about the comedian is thrown against the wall.

Even though there are more allegations of inappropriate conduct for Cosby than nearly any other American performer in history, the revision history of Cosby's Wikipedia page history includes the assertion that it "was agreed to not be up to the level of importance for the intro," meaning the allegations will not be incorporated into the introductory section of Cosby's Wikipedia page.

Given that Wikipedia is supposed to be the most open and transparent source of information on the Internet, it makes one wonder why Cosby continues to be so insulated. Is it fear of ramification from Cosby's legal team? Is it because of the power of Cosby loyalists who do not want to see his name tarnished?

Whatever the cause, it seems like an injustice for a source as powerful as Wikipedia to appear to be willfully ignorant of the continued allegations against such a powerful and venerated pop culture icon.

Meanwhile, Cosby currently faces three ongoing lawsuits: a class-action suit from three women who claim Cosby unfairly branded them as "liars" for speaking out, a separate lawsuit from former model Janice Dickinson over similar claims, and a sexual battery lawsuit from yet another victim who alleges Cosby sexually assaulted her at the age of 15.

Isn't that enough to deserve at least one sentence in a celebrity Wikipedia introductory paragraph? Apparently not.

P.S. Bill Cosby has denied any wrongdoing and has never been criminally charged.

Google car cuts off rival self-driving vehicle

Publié: juin 26, 2015, 6:49pm CEST par Mark Raby

lexus

A case of autonomous road rage nearly broke out on Thursday, after two competing self-driving cars barely avoided colliding with one another on a California roadway. It's being called the first incident of its kind.

As Reuters reports, one of Google's driverless car prototypes -- a modified Lexus RX400h crossover -- was cruising along San Antonia Rd in Palo Alto, CA. By happenstance, another driverless car powered by automotive company Delphi, was driving on the same road. Google's corporate headquarters and Delphi's self-driving research facility are both located nearby in Mountain View, CA.

The Delphi car was a modified Audi Q5 crossover with John Absmeier, director of Delphi's Mountain View facility, seated in the driver's side as a passenger. Absmeier says while the Audi was attempting to change lanes, the Google-operated Lexus cut in front of him, forcing the Audi to quickly take evasive action. Although Absmeier was in the car in order to take over control if necessary, the car "took appropriate action" on its own, he told Reuters. Google had no comment.

There was no impact and no one was injured, but it brings up the very relevant question of what kind of situations could arise when the streets are filled with autonomous cars made by competing companies with varying software and algorithms. In this case, Delphi's Audi had the right technology to take the appropriate defensive maneuvers, but it was Google's car that forced those maneuvers to be triggered.

Self-driving cars, which are street legal in at least three other states in addition to California, are being researched and tested by several other companies including most of the major car manufacturers as well as research groups like VisLab, and even rideshare company Uber.

While there have been previous well-publicized incidents of autonomous vehicles getting into accidents, they have all involved collisions with a human-driven car. And the only time the driverless car was deemed at fault was when it was not even in 'driverless' mode and was instead being manually operated.

Google car cuts off rival self-driving vehicle [Updated]

Publié: juin 26, 2015, 6:49pm CEST par Mark Raby

lexus

Update: Delphi released a statement saying "It was not a close call, “The vehicles did not come within a lane width of each other". Meanwhile, Google's statement claims "The headline here is that two self-driving cars did what they were supposed to do in an ordinary everyday driving scenario".

E3 2015: Project Morpheus shapes up as de facto console VR

Publié: juin 18, 2015, 8:57pm CEST par Mark Raby

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In a convention where virtual reality has crept into every corner of the show floor, Sony's Project Morpheus makes the distinction of being the only way to experience virtual reality on a traditional gaming console.

The big title being shown at Sony's booth this year is a demo by the name of Rigs, which puts players in control of a giant mechanized robot and the rest should be self explanatory -- players can live out their fantasies of soaring into the air, moving at breakneck speeds, and shooting missiles throughout a vastly expansive environment.

On the opposite side of the convention center, at Maximum Games's booth, is a game called Loading Human. Originally pitched on Kickstarter, it is an expansive adventure game that really allows players to get immersed in a beautiful, fictitious open world and explore while completing missions and solving puzzles.

Both feel definitively like "console game" experiences. There is incredibly high production value. It's not cheap to fund the tremendous resources needed to develop for Morpheus, along with the traditional bureaucracy of getting approved and licensed by Sony. It's a far less open platform than Oculus.

Morpheus is unique from the other virtual reality platforms as well in that it pretty much requires players to have PlayStation Move controllers. Oculus recently unveiled its own controllers as well, though few projects are using them at this point and it's unclear whether or not third-party variations will somehow muddle the market of controller-optimized Oculus Rift games.

The industry is quickly approaching a point of VR saturation. It's becoming easier and easier to look at any video of any virtual reality title -- whether it's being played on an Oculus PC headset, smartphone-enabled headset, or the PS4's Morpheus -- and not be able to tell which is which.

That's why virtual reality, more than any other video game paradigm before, is really all about the experience. Morpheus is inevitably poised to become the VR standard for the traditional console gamer because there is no competition. The upcoming Oculus Rift will have no trouble impressing those who love PC gaming and have a computer strong enough to handle its amazing technology.

The only problem with that is the fact that PC gaming is not a big enough market for something as cataclysmic as virtual reality to really become mainstream. The Morpheus, when combined with other ambitions from Samsung and other mobile companies as well, will help fill in all the gaps to make sure VR is available to anyone who wants to try it. And anyone who gets a taste of what Morpheus has to offer, will want to try it.

Dish Network is the pay-TV company that gets it

Publié: juin 10, 2015, 2:56pm CEST par Mark Raby

dish big

While its competitors were fighting about Weather Channel royalty fees and customer service fiascos, Dish Network was blazing ahead to become an exceedingly relevant TV provider in a 21st century landscape. Its new effort to merge with T-Mobile is just the latest example.

As has been widely reported, Dish and T-Mobile are in discussions to become one entity that would give a huge amount of wireless spectrum to T-Mobile and give Dish a completely unique position in the mobile marketplace.

The mobile market is filled with complicated spectrum laws and antitrust watchdogs preventing any major shakeups, and the pay-TV space has been dominated by egos and bullying for the better part of 30 years. This is the kind of merger that could actually mark a conceptual change in these two behemoth industries.

The merger with T-Mobile cannot be looked at in a vacuum. In a market where most pay TV companies are becoming increasingly irrelevant and only succeeding in becoming more of a subject of vitriol and ridicule, Dish has long been the outsider. This is not a case of a satellite TV company wanting to become relevant. It in instead the latest chapter of the only long-standing TV provider that has pushed for relevance for years.

Dish has been allowing its traditional customers to remotely stream virtually any live TV channel or DVR'ed content from their smartphone since 2013. The year before that was when it introduced the commercial-skipping Hopper DVR, a technology that was so disruptive that networks, most vocally CBS, expressed unparalleled rage.

Then, at CES earlier this year, Dish announced Sling TV, which is now the preeminent solution for streaming live satellite TV across a variety of devices. And unlike so many announcements that are all about hype without any specific roadmap to launch, Sling TV launched the very next month.

Dish's approach toward Sling TV is refreshing. The company explicitly and unapologetically says it is only targeting people who have already cut the cord, or were never bound to a cord to begin with; it's not trying to steal traditional pay TV customers. If a customer is even thinking about signing up for cable or satellite, Sling TV does not want that customer.

That such a product is coming from a traditional provider is the perfect example of just how much Dish Network "gets it". Time Warner Cable, Cox, Comcast, and the rest have now finally begun to offer what today are seemingly basic necessities -- things like streaming live TV from a mobile device or being able to watch on-demand content from anywhere. Most of the providers only began that kind of innovation after fighting for years, to their own detriment, to prevent it. And even still, you will need old-school cable or satellite subscriptions and hardware leases that belong in the 1990s.

Oh, and one more thing: Sling TV lets customers subscribe and unsubscribe with a few button clicks. No need to wait for 5-hour installation windows or fight with anti-cancellation "retention specialists".

Dish's daring vision never to cling to the status quo seems a perfect marriage with T-Mobile, which has been desperate over the past few years to appear as the edgier mobile carrier.

It would be a very compelling case for T-Mobile if it were able to offer some kind of exclusive deal with Sling TV. The idea that customers could potentially find themselves paying for HBO, ESPN, and the rest of their favorite live TV channels as part of their smartphone bill, does not seem like some crazy far-off concept. It sounds like the perfect forward-thinking reality of today's content consumption landscape.

And Dish Network is the only one that could pull it off. This kind of merger would be a poster child for questioning the status quo and understanding that no matter how gigantic or unmovable an industry may seem, paradigm shifts will always be inevitable. It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out.

Oculus, Morpheus, and more: anticipating VR at E3 2015

Publié: juin 8, 2015, 2:46pm CEST par Mark Raby

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Virtual reality. The term has been a curse for more than 50 years. A curse, because the name is almost inherently an over-promise. It's such a grandiose concept that since its inception, companies and ideas ranging from experiential theaters to video games who dared use the term would inevitably end up being mocked and ridiculed out of existence. Yet the dream and the hype have never fully faded away, and at next week's E3 2015 trade show, all the big names in the current VR landscape will once again make the pitch that virtual reality is now here to stay.

Of course, VR enthusiasts will be most interested in the presence of Oculus VR, whose Oculus Rift headset, in development since 2012, finally got an official release window last month. The impending headset, which has preemptively become the standard-bearer of virtual reality today, will be available to consumers in Q1 2016.

At E3, Oculus will be formidably situated at the entrance of the West Hall where, aside from the titans of Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, it will be the largest booth on display, according to the official show floor map.

It will be the first time that the latest version of Oculus Rift's developer kit, known as Crescent Bay, will be at E3. And with such a large booth, it's very likely that new games or projects will be introduced. Perhaps the biggest expectation from Oculus is that it may finally introduce some kind of controller or input device, a subject about which the company has been notoriously dodgy whenever it's been discussed in the past.

Oculus also teamed up with Samsung to deliver the Gear VR headset late last year, which uses the power of Samsung's Galaxy Note 4 phone to deliver an untethered virtual reality experience. It's unclear how much of a presence the Gear VR will have at Oculus's booth, but it is sure to be on display in some form.

Also on display will be Project Morpheus from Sony, a VR headset peripheral for the PS4. Although announced at the 2014 Game Developers Conference, there was virtually no mention of it at Sony's official E3 press briefing a few months later, nor was it highly emphasized at the company's E3 2014 booth.

Sony has been ramping up the hype machine in the past few months, though, and Morpheus is expected to have a bigger presence, not only at Sony's booth but with third-party publishers as well. A total of 21 Morpheus-enabled games have been announced so far. Expect that number to go up by the end of next week. Like the Oculus Rift, Morpheus is slated for release in 2016.

Of course, having the Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus at E3 2015 is expected. They were around last year; they're the big virtual reality stories right now. What's more interesting and more telling about the creep of VR into the video game industry are the other players that are popping up.

For example, Samsung has not had an official presence at E3 in the past and the fact that is is beginning to plant its roots this year means that the mobile giant is getting increasingly serious about becoming a defining name in the market of mobile VR. The company has a block of meeting rooms set up right next to the official mobile gaming space on the show floor, and its presence is almost surely focused on the Gear VR.

And speaking of mobile VR, a newcomer called MergeVR will also be exhibiting at the show, which claims to be a mobile VR headset that works with any smartphone and also has the first mobile VR-exclusive controller. Unlike Morpheus and the Oculus Rift, MergeVR is boldly predicting a launch this holiday season.

Moreover, third-party publishers touting their E3 lineups are eager to point to virtual reality titles as their headliners. For the first time, Morpheus games will be playable outside of the Sony booth, and there are more publishers than ever offering Oculus-ready demos.

Wild outlier rumors, such as Microsoft potentially unveiling its own VR headset, are also out there, but even if there is nothing completely unexpected or off-the-wall announced next week, it will be a good time for VR fans. Last year's E3 pretty much had the typical console fare with Oculus off in the corner and some behind-closed-doors Morpheus demos at Sony's booth. This year, the reach will be far, far greater.

Is 2015 going to be the year of virtual reality? Googling that question brings up plenty of people saying yes. Similar stories crept up everywhere about 2014, and plenty more are already giving the title to 2016. Heck, the Internet is full of predictions that every year up to 2020 and beyond will be "the year of virtual reality".

So without throwing around those meaningless and tired cliches, in all seriousness, E3 2015 is without a doubt going to the most VR-centric Electronic Entertainment Expo that there has ever been. As to how this bodes for the future of VR, it certainly looks promising.

What's truly interesting is to see virtual reality as the new concept that appears to be universal across all gaming markets. There has always been a kind of awkward division at E3 between console games, PC games, and within the last several years, mobile games. Virtual reality may be the only theme that truly spreads across all platforms, and very few high-concept trends in the world of video games have been able to say that.

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