Assassin's Creed Revelations stalking in November

It's been seven days since Ubisoft began ramping up its teaser campaign for the fourth installment in its 28 million-unit-selling Assassin's Creed franchise, and today came the payoff. This morning, the publisher officially announced Assassin's Creed Revelations, saying the game will arrive for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC this November

Calling it "the final chapter of the Ezio trilogy," Ubisoft said that Revelations will follow its Renaissance-era wetworks maestro, who was first introduced in Assassin's Creed II. This time out, Ezio will visit the haunts of original Assassin's Creed protagonist Altair, visiting such Middle East strongholds as the Ottoman Empire's Constantinople. There, Ezio will once again take up arms against the Templar order.
In addition to its single-player storyline (which will also see the return of present-day protagonist Desmond), Revelations will retain the franchise's multiplayer component, which was introduced with last year's well-regarded Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The publisher promises to update the online component with new modes, maps, and characters.
Ubisoft has pulled in a host of studios to bring Revelations to market. In addition to its flagship Montreal studio, Ubisoft's France, Quebec, Singapore, and Romania outfits, as well as Massive Entertainment have been tapped to lend a hand on the project. The publisher expects to have the game on-hand for this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, where its press conference is scheduled for Monday, June 6 at 2:30 p.m. PT. Read More ...

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Posted in: Games

Sith Series laser is double-handed, 'insanely dangerous' and not like Darth Maul's at all

LAST year, he was one of the few entrepreneurs who tangled with George Lucas and came out on top.
That was because Steve Liu's Wicked Lasers weren't actually "lightsabers". That was just a name given to them by the media.
Now on this May the Fourth — a date cherished by Star Wars geeks the world over — Mr Liu has upped the ante, releasing a double-handed laser for the menacing Sith social climber in us all.
He's even called it the "Sith Series".
"We consulted a number of attorneys — as we wanted to avoid what happened last year," Mr Liu told news.com.au.
"We came to the conclusion that Lucasfilm's trademark 'Sith' does not cover our category of laser products.

"We are planning to file a trademark shortly for this term for our own use."
Wicked Lasers' Arctic Pro Spyder III laser raised the ire of George Lucas last year — but it attracted attention even before that due to the strength of the beam, which is 1000 times the legal Australian limit.
That means it's 1000 times stronger than sunlight on the skin and can blind in a millisecond if shone into the eyes. You are only allowed to own one if you're a member of an astronomy club or society.
The "Sith Series" wields the same power, except at both ends — similar to the lightsaber used by a certain apprentice now spinning through space in two pieces after falling into a reactor chasm.
So why make a double-handed laser?
"Everyone we showed it to said it was insanely cool," Mr Liu said.
"At Wicked Lasers, we strive to be first in all things lasers (and) there wasn't a double-handed laser on the market yet.
"For us, that's usually enough to go ahead and take the time and effort to make it."
Mr Liu admits the double beams of the Sith Series "almost crosses the line" when it comes to looking out for the wellbeing of his customers, but says anyone who wants to buy one has to pass certain tests and watch a safety video before getting the goods.
"We are not limiting its power and I have to restate that these are insanely dangerous," he said.
Last year there was all sorts of hysteria after kids started posting videos on YouTube showing the Spyder III lighting cigarettes and popping street lights.

Currently, the Sith Series' only option is dual Arctic Pro Spyder III lasers as its "blades", but Mr Liu said additional colour and power combos would be available in the future.

He said while Wicked's lasers had found a serious market in "numerous scientific, industrial, and military applications", most of their customers were "early adopters who have a natural affinity to the latest cutting-edge technology, whatever it is".
"I think that watching sci-fi movies and playing video games when we were younger has a lot to do with it," he told news.com.au.
And far from holding any grudges against Lucas for last year's stoush, Mr Liu said the company had learned  several valuable lessons from the experience.
"Lucas is one of the most influential visionaries of the century and everyone at WL has been big fans," he said.
"His work reminds us that anything we imagine or dream can be made into reality... as long as we choose the right path."

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sith-series-laser-is-double-handed-insanely-dangerous-and-not-like-darth-mauls-at-all/story-e6frfro0-1226050300192#ixzz1La9TUpCR

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Posted in: Invention and Innovation,Technology

RIM embraces BlackBerry rivals to remain relevant

Visitors pass an advertising banner showing a Blackberry mobile at the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover March 2, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz

                                          By alastair sharp

                                          ORLANDO, Florida | Thu May 5, 2011 2:12pm EDT

 

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Research In Motion's decision to open its highly secure Enterprise servers to Apple and Android smartphones is a once-unthinkable concession that could save the BlackBerry maker's skin.
RIM, once the dominant force in out-of-office communications for business professionals, had little choice but to offer to manage communications sent over rival devices. The key question is how much it can charge for the privilege.
"On the one hand, this sounds like very bad news as RIM acknowledges implicitly that their Enterprise business is under attack," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu.
"On the other hand, it might be the wiser thing to do in order to defend the service revenues of RIM that are about half their profits."
The change comes as companies increasingly allow their employees to access corporate data from Apple's iPhone and iPad, as well as devices using Google's Android software, even though the rivals don't boast the same security features as RIM's trademark BlackBerry.
It means workers accustomed to the features of competing phones no longer have to use their company-issued BlackBerry, viewed by many as clunky and outdated.
To bridge the divide, smaller companies are now offering their own software and management services as an alternative or addition to a BlackBerry service. The upstarts can ease IT department concerns about leakage of confidential information.
PLAY THE GAME
RIM's decision, announced this week during the BlackBerry World 2011 conference in Orlando, Florida, aims to stop its big business customers from looking elsewhere to manage the growing mobile arsenal.
The trade-off would likely protect RIM's sky-high margins for managing mobile devices, which previously came only from BlackBerrys that access corporate email, databases and other internal applications.
Even so, Ferragu questioned how much RIM could charge businesses to manage an iPhone, for example, which would offer limited integration with RIM's infrastructure.
The nascent device management sector was worth some $150 million last year and could grow up to 20 percent over the next three years, tech industry research company Gartner said in a report.
RIM's move to play the game rather than stand aloof will raise the pressure on security software companies such as privately held Good Technology and Symantec, which help to beef up security credentials for non-BlackBerry devices.
RIM has said the service, to be available later this year, would not offer its push capabilities or data-squeezing technology, nor its just-released Balance software that separates business and personal applications on a BlackBerry.
The smaller middlemen say RIM's move will push them to be more nimble and focus on what sets them apart as the industry grows.
"We like to think of ourselves as Switzerland and being able to play fair between all the different operating systems out there" said Robert Tinker, chief executive of Mobile Iron, a mobile device management company.
Mobile Iron, with 130 employees, added 160 enterprise customers last quarter and expects that to grow sharply.
"Mobile allows people to do work at home but also allows people to do home at work. Your personal and your work life intersect somewhere in the middle of your mobile device."
Rival Boxtone said it manages 70,000 devices at its largest customer, a financial services firm. It expects to increase that to 300,000, a business-enabled smartphone for every employee, within two years.
RIM's U.S.-listed shares rose 1.03 percent on Thursday to $47.86, well off their 52-week high of $70.54.
(Editing by Janet Guttsman and Frank McGurty)

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Posted in: Invention and Innovation,Technology

Skype 'in Facebook and Google talks' Internet phone service in negotiations over link-ups that could delay Wall Street flotation, according to reports

Skype is in talks over a link-up with Facebook or Google, according to reports. Photograph: Paul Sakuma/AP

The internet phone service Skype is entertaining partnership talks with both Facebook and Google – delaying its $100m (£60m) Wall Street flotation – according to reports.
A deal to buy Skype outright is not thought to be in the pipeline, although one source "with direct knowledge of the discussion" told Reuters that billionaire Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg had "been involved in internal discussions" about snapping up the video chat service. Such a deal could be worth between $3bn and $4bn, according to the Reuters source – which, if plausible, is illuminating about how much cash the social network has in the bank.
More likely is a joint venture between Skype and Facebook/Google. The Luxembourg-based company has longstanding partnerships with TV manufacturers including LG, Panasonic and Samsung to embed Skype into their products.
It is not hard to imagine Skype calling integrated into Facebook, for when the likes, wall posts and private messages just won't do. Both firms, too, have sizeable communities of engaged users: Facebook has more than 600 million registered accounts; Skype has 560 million, of whom about 124 million make calls in the average month.
Most troubling for Skype is its low conversion rate – only about 6% of its users actually pay for the service, something the company explicitly vowed to boost in its initial public offering prospectus last year. However, we shouldn't expect tie-ups with Facebook and Google to involve paid-for premium services – that's not how those companies operate.
A tie-up with Google is slightly less obvious. The Mountain View company already has GChat video-and-voice calling embedded into Gmail, though the feature is a little hidden behind regular instant messaging. Then again, Skype would slot nicely into the so-far-underwhelming Google TV and already has a place on Android smartphones.
Skype declared its intention to go public way back in August last year, since when a slew of new generation internet firms – including Facebook, Zynga, and Twitter – have worked up investor appetite for social media firms.
China's answer to Facebook, Renren, yesterday raised $743m with its flotation on the New York Stock Exchange, with shares immediately rocketing in the loss-making social network.
Unlike Renren, which has the added allure of a booming Chinese internet market, Skype is hoping to raise $100m with its initial public offering in the second half of this year. The IPO will value the eight-year-old firm at $1bn, according to reports.
The Canadian pension fund, Silver Lake and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz own a 56% stake in Skype, with 14% belonging to its original inventors, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis.
Still in Skype's rear-view mirror is its fruitless $3.1bn acquisition by eBay in 2005 – and sale in 2009 – which will make the internet telephony firm wary of a wholesale buyout. eBay maintains a 30% stake in Skype.

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Posted in: Internet

Shelby Cruiser Bike Debuts

Just the Facts:

• The Shelby Cruiser bicycle, which gets Carroll Shelby's imprimatur and gives a nod to such vehicles as the 2011 Shelby GT500, will go on sale in late May.
• The Shelby Cruiser, developed in collaboration with Felt Bicycles, is priced at $999.
• Details include "blue dot" tires that are said to resemble automotive racing tires, according to manufacturer Felt Bicycles.

IRVINE, California — The Shelby Cruiser bicycle, which gets Carroll Shelby's imprimatur and gives a nod to such vehicles as the 2011 Shelby GT500, will go on sale in late May.
The Shelby Cruiser is the latest in a new crop of auto-themed two-wheelers with zero emissions. Earlier, Mini debuted a bicycle with a Union Jack motif.
But the Shelby Cruiser, which was developed in collaboration with California-based Felt Bicycles, has a beefier look than Mini's offering, with 36-spoke wheels wrapped in "blue dot" tires to resemble automotive racing tires, according to the manufacturer. The bike features the Wimbledon White and Guardsman Blue paint treatment found on such Shelby vehicles as the GT350.
The Shelby Cruiser is priced at $999 — considerably more affordable than the 2012 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, which starts at $49,495.
"Now enthusiasts can take their love of Shelbys to the bike trails, streets and beach boardwalks," said Tracey Smith, vice president of Carroll Shelby Licensing, in a statement on Wednesday.
Carroll Shelby has lent his storied name to everything from toys and electronic games to clothing.
Inside Line says: The Shelby Cruiser looks like it would leave the Mini bike in the dust. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent

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Posted in: Quick News

Mini Teases the 2011 Life Ball "Red Mudder"

Just the Facts:

• Canadian twins Dean and Dan Caten, of the design house DSQUARED², show off sketches of their Mini "Red Mudder."
• The car, to be auctioned later this month at the 2011 Life Ball, features headlight guards, steel mesh trim, roof rack and off-road tires and wheels.
• The annual celebrity-studded Life Ball is Europe's biggest AIDS charity event.

VIENNA, Austria — Canadian twins Dean and Dan Caten, of the design house DSQUARED ², have been selected to design this year's one-off Mini Cooper, to be auctioned later this month at the 2011 Life Ball, Europe's biggest AIDS charity event.
Judging from sketches released Monday, the Catens' "Red Mudder" will adopt a more rugged appearance, with headlight guards, steel mesh trim, roof rack and off-road tires and wheels. The car also features the Canadian maple leaf on both doors, plus DSQUARED ² logos front and rear.
The real vehicle will be unveiled at the event on May 21.
Previous designers of the Life Ball Mini include Agent Provocateur, Donatella Versace, Diesel and Missoni. Last year's trio of Life Ball Minis were created by Diane von Furstenberg, Kenneth Cole and Francisco Costa of Calvin Klein Collection.
Inside Line says: The Catens, through their DSQUARED² brand, have designed everything from soccer wear for the Barcelona team to uniforms for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent

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Posted in: Automotive