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Madden 15 & Sunset Overdrive Xbox One Bundles Confirmed By Microsoft

Posted: 07 Aug 2014 07:00 AM PDT

Madden 15 Xbox One bundle image

Microsoft announces two new Xbox One bundles heading to North American retailers this fall.

It started on Monday with French retailer Micromania.fr mistakingly posting a price listing for a Sunset Overdrive bundle that included a white Xbox One unit. And within 24 hours later, through Microsoft's own official admission today, one Xbox One bundle heading to retailers this fall turned into two.

Both bundles will be centered around two major upcoming titles, Electronic Arts' Madden 15 and Insomniac Games' Sunset Overdrive. The former arriving August 26, alongside the full wide release of the gridiron title, with a standard Xbox One unit, no Kinect, and a digital copy of Madden 15, this includes the three Pro Packs for Madden Ultimate Team, for $399 USD.

The bundle for Sunset Overdrive meanwhile, will feature the appearance of the white Xbox One console, which were only specially made for Microsoft employees. Now the ivory-looking console will be paired with the "radical-infused" third-person shooter come this fall, and interestingly enough goes head-to-head with Sony’s white PS4 bundle for Bungie’s Destiny.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has yet to date or price this specific bundle, but considering that Sunset Overdrive itself is set to exclusively release on the Xbox One come October 28… Well, it would be within the realm of possibility that the bundle should release around the same time. We'll check back with you for further updates.

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Study Says It’s Good for Kids to Play Video Games

Posted: 07 Aug 2014 06:00 AM PDT

Playing video games

If your kid is playing video games, don’t stop him. A recent study conducted by Oxford University suggests that young people’s development improves if they play video games each day, as long as it’s not too much.

How much? An hour a day or less, unless you want them to actually be harmed by playing. A study that engulfed 5000 British children from the ages of 10 to 15 revealed that 75% of them play video games regularly, and from the questions about certain social factors the conclusion of the benefits (and harms) of video games were reached.

The study claims that those playing video games on a regular basis are more satisfied with their lives, are less prone to being hyperactive and have less emotional issues than those who don’t play video games at all.

According to Dr. Andrew Przybylski, being engaged in video games may give children a common language. And for someone who is not part of this conversation, this might end up cutting the young person off.

But what about those who play video games for more than an hour a day? Three hours a day? That may not be so productive.

Children who play video games for more than three hours each day were prone to be less adjusted and less satisfied with their lives.

For the entire study / Image via Kidsarelovely.com

For a bit more on gaming, check out the 10 best games to play with your SO, or some rant on the Wife/Girlfriend vs Video Game problem. It works the same if you switch genders as well.

Could Oracle Dominate the Cloud? Larry Ellison & Mark Hurd Say “Yes”

Posted: 07 Aug 2014 05:00 AM PDT

Tweet storm

Oracle may be a relatively long-lived firm by tech company standards, but the company has its feet planted firmly in the future. The company’s head honchos are placing a bet on the cloud as the future of computing. President Mark Hurd and founder/CEO Larry Ellison increasingly are dropping all the tech giant’s chips on decentralized cloud computing strategies. Here’s the how and why.

Tweeting Up a Storm

Ellison and Hurd have not been shy about letting the world in on their new love, either. Mark Hurd’s Twitter account, in particular, frequently testifies to the new strategy. Here’s an excerpt:

Image via Imgur

Note the “reason one” tag: Hurd has published more than one cloud-loving Tweet, linking to a video presentation, with more presumably on the way. Also note the evangelical language. Hurd isn’t saying that we should use cloud solutions as an intelligent strategic component; he’s saying we should treat it like a welcome member of the family.

Larry Ellison, meanwhile, after some initial reservations, has dived into the deep end of the cloud pool. In a recent statement made during an earnings conference, he promised Oracle will be competitive on every level of the cloud. Clearly, Ellison’s commitment to this new strategy is unwavering.

Appetite for Decentralization

Oracle’s cloud-focused approach doesn’t end at idle tweets and conference calls. In the past several years, the tech giant has been gobbling up smaller firms doing innovative work in the field, from Nimbula to RightNow. This has enabled Oracle to offer customers dozens of cloud productivity solutions, from word processing to databases to spreadsheets. At the same time, Oracle has begun scaling back on its Sun server hardware line, moving its primary assets and expenditures into the software business. After years of change, Oracle appears to be moving back to its roots, de-emphasizing hardware and instead concentrating on making great programs.

Binary History

The focus on software is not new to the company. Oracle began with Larry Ellison’s software; the company name stems from a CIA database project Ellison worked on. Over the years, Oracle has carved a niche for itself as a provider of business-focused programs. The acquisition that led to the Sun server line was itself an outgrowth of this logical progression; if Oracle was selling software to an increasingly networked business environment, why not sell them their servers as well?

Evolving Markets

One important fact about the move away from servers needs noting: rather than roll back the entire line, Oracle has moved away from the lower-powered end of the spectrum, focusing on higher-end customers. Thus, the move can be seen as more of a refocus on core competencies in reaction to marketplace changes than a full-on retreat. The core of the Oracle business model has always been great software, whether that software is installed locally, housed on a nearby server, or floating in the greater internet.

U.S.S. Enterprises

The main focus of Oracle’s cloud shift has been toward enterprise-level businesses and the IT solutions needed by these businesses. Enterprises, as multi-tiered business endeavors, can suffer if their components are unable to properly integrate; networked software solutions are thus critical to their operation. Cloud software, therefore, is less an entirely new phenomenon and more of a progression from existing models, allowing greater flexibility for companies in the current business environment.

Cloud paradigms like Software as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Infrastructure as a Service allow enterprise businesses, already taxed by the burdens of multifaceted coordination, to gain flexibility in IT. SaaS makes interoffice work a breeze and compatibility concerns a thing of the past, PaaS allows in-house development without in-house development costs, and IaaS grants fluidity to the raw processing power of a company. The three combined paradigms make cloud computing a no-brainer for this growing business model. Oracle’s newfound affection is therefore entirely practical, putting the company where it needs to be to continue to service its clients.

As indicated above, Oracle (and Mark Hurd) may be in love with the cloud, but it is a healthy and well-advised affair. Careful positioning on this new frontier puts Oracle in a position to maintain its dominance going forward. And that’s something to Tweet about.

Navdy Is an Aftemarket Dashboard HUD from the Future

Posted: 06 Aug 2014 01:58 PM PDT

Navdy Dashboard HUD

Depending on where exactly on the dashboard they’re placed, heads-up displays can either be extremely helpful, or a real distraction. Navdy seems to fit in the first category, with its sci-fi features and all.

First adopted by the military for jet fighters in the ’50s, heads-up displays made their way to automobiles in 1988, when one was featured in that year’s Oldsmobile Cutlass. Modern HUDs accomplish far more functions than their 26-year old counterparts, and manage to display more than just the current speed and the engine’s revs. Sure, smartphones or even tablets could be mounted near the steering wheel, or on the dashboard, and while they display very relevant information, they could still determine drivers to take their eyes off the road. Here’s where dash-mounted HUDs such as Navdy come into play.

Navdy is a dash-mounted HUD that puts a 5.1″ display between the driver and the road, without bothering the former from seeing the latter. The HUD is basically as big as a modern smartphone, but given its transparency, it won’t block the view while driving. On top of that, Navdy connects to smartphones (presumably via Bluetooth) and lets drivers place or answer calls, send text messages, and see navigation right in front of their eyes.

One of the best things about Navdy is that it doesn’t draw its power from the cigarette lighter, nor does it use batteries. Instead, it connects to the OBD II port (which is available in any post-1996 car). This type of connection, typically used for diagnosing vehicles, enables Navdy do display such details as fuel efficiency and speed.

A noise-canceling microphone is able to pick up the driver’s commands and execute them right away. On top of that, Navdy features a rear-facing infrared camera that enables the driver to command the device using gestures. This particular feature is exemplified in the video found at the end of this post.

The dashboard HUD is currently available for pre-order on the manufacturer’s website for $499, which definitely sounds like a steep price. However, the ones that can be purchased as an extra option when buying a car are more expensive than that. Navdy will start shipping in 2015, but not much else is known about the launch date.

Assuming that a Google Glass version made specifically for driving would show up, would you consider buying such a dashboard HUD?

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Pip-Boy 3000 HUD that displays environmental data for astronauts, and the Aeon 3D HUD project.

Touch+ Makes a Multitouch PC Controller Out of Any Surface

Posted: 06 Aug 2014 01:18 PM PDT

Touch+ Ractiv

Haptix announced a while ago that it would develop an inexpensive sensor capable of turning any surface into a multi-touch PC controller. In the meantime, the company changed its name to Ractiv, and launched Touch+, a gadget with that functionality.

Most people are just fine with a keyboard and a mouse in front of them, but judging by the input methods people use in sci-fi flicks, that’s not how the future works like. For text input, we might not find a viable alternative to keyboards anytime soon, but as far as mice are concerned, there’s plenty of room for improvement. They usually accomplish simple functions (that’s often the case if we don’t consider MMORPG mice) that could be easily replaced by gestures.

Touch+ was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign last year, and now, after the backers got the gadget they pledged for, Ractiv launched it globally, so that the entire world can enjoy controlling their PC using gestures. More expensive than regular mice, but at the same time more affordable than some next-gen gaming mice, Touch+ is definitely better for graphics software such as Photoshop or GIMP, rather than for the latest FPS game. In other words, a Touch+ sensor should be employed whenever using a typical mouse feels unnatural.

Ractiv features the Touch+ sensor on its website, where it sells it for $75. The manufacturer claims that the sensor is available in limited quantities, but that might as well be a marketing strategy, as anything that’s scarce sells better.

The ones who do a lot of sketching should compare Touch+ to a drawing tablet, to find out which one’s better. The price of the former definitely makes it an appealing alternative, but the performance shouldn’t be neglected, in this case.

In the promotional photos, Touch+ is mostly used in tandem with Apple computers and notebooks, but it should work with Windows PCs, as well. Operating system compatibility is not addressed in the FAQ section of their website, though. Anyway, Touch+ connects via USB 2.0 cables to the computer, and using USB 3.0 (which has a bandwidth 10 times greater than of 2.0) instead should provide access to beta features such as the depth mapping. All in all, the concept is pretty cool, but I’m not sure how many will entirely give up on their mice and replace them with such sensors.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Google Gesture concept that turns sign-language into voice, and the gesture controlled hologram that opens the way for new user interfaces.

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