Last week Microsoft unveiled to the world its Windows 8 at the Build developer conference in Anaheim, California. And now, Nvidia has just opened its Windows 8 developer program, and says it’ll embrace not just x86-based PCs, but Tegra-powered tablets as well. Specifically, that means support for its forthcoming quad-core Tegra platform, codenamed Kal-El, along with PCs packing GeForce, Quadro and Tesla cards. Any developers who happen to be hanging around the Anaheim Convention Center can sign up at Nvidia’s booth, though there’s also an online registration page for everyone else, which is at the source link.

SOURCE via Nvidia

Windows Division president Steven Sinofsky treated Build 2011 attendees to a walkthrough of the various tweaks last week, subtle or otherwise, Microsoft’s made to Windows 8. Staying true to its roots, the new OS implements the familiar keyboard commands users have become accustomed to over the years — you know, like CMD and Ctrl+F. And as for its update to Internet Explorer, MS has imbued its tenth iteration with the ability to switch between the much-hyped Metro-style UI and plain old desktop view — all according to your mood swing. Of course, Redmond’s instituted other sweeping changes across the platform, and you can check some of the highlights after the break.

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With September in full swing, it’s getting to the point where we’re all looking at our watches and wondering when Apple is going to announce the iPhone 5. The rumor mill has had the launch of the device pegged for October, with an announcement supposedly scheduled for mid- to late-September, for months. Apple routinely has an iPod event in September, so many expect an iPhone 5 to be shown off too, but the company hasn’t announced any such event yet. However, despite the month of September passing rapidly with no mention of a new iPhone from Apple, evidence to suggest there will be a new Apple smartphone continues to mount.

Boy Genius Report reports that accessory and case maker Case-Mate yesterday posted a page to its website with six different iPhone 5 case designs. The page was pulled pretty quickly (not before someone nabbed the photos), but it’s led to speculation that the iPhone 5 will feature significant design changes when compared to the iPhone 4. The cases show a curved silver back to the phone, suggesting that Apple has decided to ditch the glass backing and it had adopted for the iPhone 4.Case-Mates’s iPhone 5/iPhone 4S page now carries a message that says the new iPhone(s) will arrive soon and when that happens, the company will be ready.

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The PlayStation Suite SDK will allow developers to create one game across numerous Android-powered and Sony devices. Thursday Sony Computer Entertainment said that a software development kit (SDK) for the PlayStation Suite (PS Suite) platform will be released this November. The kit will allow developers to create content for PlayStation Certified (PS Certified) devices, hardware certified through the PS Suite license program, and for the PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) handheld console set for a Q1 2012 release.

“Supporting C# as the programming language, PS Suite SDK can run programs developed in C# on virtual machine equipped on both PS Certified devices and PS Vita. By supporting development for multiple devices and by adopting libraries to create a variety of content not only limited to games, PS Suite SDK will not only help developers save their cost in creating new content but also allow them to efficiently create their content on one SDK and without having to create on several different SDKs.”

So far the only devices that support Sony’s PlayStation Suite platform are the Xperia PLAY smartphone, and Sony’s two Android-powered “S” and “P” tablets. However, Nvidia has stated that it’s working with Sony to bring the PlayStation platform to Tegra-equipped Android phones and tablets. So far an actual release date is unknown, but Tegra device owners may actually see a release next month.

“SCE will provide a variety of content towards these PS Certified devices from end October through PlayStation Store on PlaySation Network, starting with original PlayStation games (PS one classics),” the company said. “‘ The service will start in nine countries including Japan, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia and with more countries to follow. In next spring, SCE will enhance the PS Store for PS Certified devices and provide content created by PS Suite SDK, further prevailing the world of PS Suite.”

The detailed information of Sony’s PS Suite SDK, including how to download, will be announced via a dedicated PS Suite section on SCE’s official website. The site currently isn’t live, so stay tuned.

SOURCE via Android Community

Sony Computer Entertainment today issued changes to the PlayStation Network’s Terms of Service that seek to limit member participation in legal action against the company. These new terms are likely a direct result of the class action lawsuits brought against the company in the wake of the PlayStation Network hack that occurred in April, 2011; they require that members agree to settle legal disputes with the company via single party lawsuit only, and not as part of any class action:

Class Action Waiver.  ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDINGS, WHETHER IN ARBITRATION OR COURT, WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR AS A NAMED OR UNNAMED MEMBER IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL LEGAL ACTION, UNLESS BOTH YOU AND THE SONY ENTITY WITH WHICH YOU HAVE A DISPUTE SPECIFICALLY AGREE TO DO SO IN WRITING FOLLOWING INITIATION OF THE ARBITRATION.  THIS PROVISION DOES NOT PRECLUDE YOUR PARTICIPATION AS A MEMBER IN A CLASS ACTION FILED ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 20, 2011.

The updated terms of service also contain acknowledgment by Sony that the requirement to foreswear participation in any class action suit filed after August 20, 2011 may not have a legal basis:

If any clause within this Section 15 (other than the Class Action Waiver clause above) is found to be illegal or unenforceable, that clause will be severed from this Section 15, and the remainder of this Section 15 will be given full force and effect.  If the Class Action

Waiver clause is found to be illegal or unenforceable, this entire Section 15 will be unenforceable, and the Dispute will be decided by a court and you and the Sony Entity you have a dispute with each agree to waive in that instance, to the fullest extent allowed by law, any trial by jury.

The new agreement is presented to all users when they login to the PlayStation Store. Members who decline to accept these changes will be removed from PSN membership and any relevant fees refunded. Members who do agree to the new terms will have 30 days to rescind their agreement to them. For a full understanding of these changes, the new terms of service have been posted in full onSony’s official site.

For anyone hoping that Nintendo will bring its games to the smartphone sector, President Satoru Iwata will quickly deflate your balloon with a big “NO!”

As previously reported, Nintendo investors seemingly want the company to delve into the smartphone sector — even Nintendo share prices spiked when news of a possible entry began to surface just after E3 2011. Investors expressed their concerns about launching another dedicated console, and they’ve expressed their concerns about not addressing Apple’s threat.

But Nintendo is adamant about its dedication to Nintendo hardware and first-party software running on that specific hardware set. Smartphone games — even classic titles that could be played through an official PlayStation Suite-like emulator — will probably never be on the table. That’s a shame.

“This is absolutely not under consideration,” company president Satoru Iwata replied when asked about Nintendo possibly making smartphone games during an interview with Japanese news organization Nikkei.

“If we did this, Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo. Having a hardware development team in-house is a major strength. It’s the duty of management to make use of those strengths. It’s probably the correct decision in the sense that the moment we started to release games on smartphones we’d make profits. However, I believe my responsibility is not to short term profits, but to Nintendo’s mid and long term competitive strength.”

Will Nintendo’s old-school stance eventually be its downfall? Sony has seen the value of smartphone development and not only helped launch the PlayStation-certified Xperia PLAY, but is working to launch its PlayStation emulator on Tegra 2-based devices in the coming months. And while its efforts may actually be all about revenue, Sony moving into the smartphone sector is also about consumer demand. Heck, even Microsoft has recognized this, adding Xbox Live support to Windows Phone 7.

As stated before, Nintendo investors want the company to enter the smartphone arena. Consumers want Nintendo to enter the smartphone arena. A reluctant Nintendo seems to be stuck in the past rather than embracing the present and preparing for the future… a mobile future.

SOURCE via Industrygamers

The Concept One: it’s good looking and technically promising, but three feet thick with hyperbole. Its builders say the electric supercar will have 1,088 hp, 2,802 lb-ft of torque and a theoretical top speed of eleventy trizillion (give or take). Count Von Koenigsegg, call the front desk.

The Concept One is the brainchild of 23-year-old Croatian designer Mate Rimac, who developed the electric Koenigsegg competitor from an egg crate and six cans of Krylon Red Pepper. (Actually it’s an aluminum frame and carbon-fiber body). Four electric motors, controlled in separate front and rear sectors can, in theory, get the Concept One from 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. If that seems slow, consider the degree to which the controller must fiddle with the motors’ prodigious torque to get the tires to hook up. Theoretically speaking, of course.

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