Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

BlackBerry shares jump after Bernstein upgrades stock






TORONTO (Reuters) – Shares of BlackBerry rose more than 8 percent in on Monday after Bernstein Research said it was upgrading the stock to “outperform” after last week’s launch of the company’s new line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones.


The brokerage firm, which has not had an “outperform” rating on the stock for more than three years, also lifted its price target to $ 22 from $ 12, saying it has grown much more confident about the success of the smartphones, powered by the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.






Shares of BlackBerry, which is in the process of changing its legal name from Research In Motion, rose 8.9 percent to $ 14.18 in early Nasdaq trading. BlackBerry’s Toronto-listed shares were up 9.1 percent at C$ 14.21 at 10:30 EST.


The stock began trading under the “BBRY” symbol on Nasdaq on Monday and under the “BB” symbol on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock used to trade as “RIMM” on the Nasdaq and “RIM” on the TSX.


“We upgrade BlackBerry to outperform today as we believe BB 10 is set for a strong launch,” Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said in a note to clients. “Even if the long-term prospects for the platform are very uncertain, we believe all is in place for BlackBerry 10 to enjoy a great debut.”


BlackBerry, a one-time pioneer in the smartphone industry, has ceded market share in recent years to the likes of Apple’s iPhone, Samsung’s Galaxy line and a slew of devices powered by Google Inc’s market-leading Android operating system.


In a make-or-break move to regain market share and return to profit, BlackBerry introduced its new line of smartphones to much fanfare on Wednesday. However, its stock fell more than 10 percent following the launch as investors were disappointed that the new smartphones will only go on sale in mid-March in the crucial U.S. market.


“The strength of this launch is overlooked by investors, creating strong opportunity to buy BlackBerry,” said Ferragu, adding that he expects strong initial corporate demand for the new devices.


“We believe BlackBerry should trade in the $ 20-$ 25 range once a decent launch for Blackberry 10 and a stabilized trajectory for fiscal year 2014 are priced in,” he said.


BlackBerry unveiled both a touch-screen device and a physical-keyboard device last week. While the traditional keyboard model only goes on sale in April, the touch-screen device is already on sale in the United Kingdom and hits store shelves in Canada this week.


Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry said the U.S. launch was delayed until mid-March because U.S. wireless carriers have a longer testing phase than carriers in other countries. The devices, which are set to retail for C$ 599 ($ 600) in Canada, are currently attracting bids of more than $ 1,000 each on auction site ebay.com.


(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn; and Peter Galloway)


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Apple TV Is Running Late






So, Apple‘s big plan to talk cable companies into making the iPod of the television industry thus far involves getting Time Warner to let it put HBO Go on its box (if you buy a cable subscription!), something other similar boxes already do. How very unexciting. It’s surprising that Apple TV doesn’t already offer HBO Go, since its biggest competitors Roku and Xbox 360 have had it for over a year. And it’s not like Apple has spent that time coming up with some innovative arrangement that would that would excite the cord-cutter (and cord-never) set. No, per Bloomberg’s   Edmund Lee and Adam Satariano, by mid-2013, Apple TV owners who also subscribe to cable or satellite TV can watch the premium channel through their TVs via Apple’s box. Yes, if you have an Apple TV, you can watch HBO either on it or through your cable box. The choice is yours!


RELATED: Apple Won’t Be Revolutionizing TV Anytime Soon if Cable Has Their Say






HBO Go is a modest improvement over the HBO On Demand offerings because it offers HBO’s entire library of shows, not just a select few. HBO also puts brand new episodes up right after they air, which is nice for people who forget to set or have a too-full DVR. But, cable subscribers already have access to HBO Go—on their computers. The improvement here is that existing subscribers now have another way to get those shows onto their TV screens.


RELATED: HBO Is Finally OK with Cord Cutting (In Scandinavia)


This too-late move to get Time Warner on its box surfaces a larger problem: Apple TV has very few apps so far, as AllThingsD’s Peter Kafka points out. HBO Go will bring its total outside app count up to 10, a ton fewer than Xbox and Roku. And yet, many have talked about Apple TV as the gadget that will change everything. Perhaps techies overlooked the deficit because the company has been in secret talks with cable companies to supposedly revolutionize TV for years. It’s coming, the Apple rumors promised, fending off any doubts that Apple would deliver something great. But, nothing exceptional has arrived yet, certainly nothing that sounds like the Apple TV code Steve Jobs claimed to have cracked shortly before his death. Rather, this sounds like something Apple should have done years ago. Apple, if anything, is playing catch-up. 


RELATED: Apple Might Be Making Apple TV Content Deals


But maybe Apple isn’t the place to look for the future of television. Elsewhere in TV land, something new, different, and possibly revolutionary is happening. Netflix, an entity that does not require a cable subscription, will release its first big-budget TV drama today. Unlike Apple, Netflix is trying to operate outside of the traditional cable-bundle structure in order to create an alternative for people who don’t want to pay into the old system. Instead of playing by HBO’s rules and selling its shows on its strict terms, Netflix wants to be the HBO of streaming TV, by creating premium shows that will draw people to Netflix for a premium price. Also in an attempt to do things differently, Netflix has released all the episodes at once, to appeal to our binge watching sensibilities. The experiment might not work. But at least, unlike Apple, Netflix is trying. 


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Google moves closer to resolving EU investigation






BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Google has offered to take specific steps to allay competition regulators’ concerns about its business practices, in a major move towards ending a two-year investigation and avoiding billions of dollars in fines.


The European Commission said on Friday it had received detailed proposals from the world’s most popular search engine, which has been under investigation following complaints from more than a dozen companies, including Microsoft, that Google has used its market power to block rivals.






If the commission accepts the proposals under its settlement procedure, it would mean no fine and no finding of wrongdoing against Google.


Companies found to be in breach of EU rules can be fined as much as 10 percent of global turnover, which could mean up to $ 4 billion if there is no satisfactory resolution in Google’s case.


EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told Reuters he had received Google’s submission, but declined to give details of the proposal.


“We are analyzing it,” he said.


Google spokesman Al Verney said the group continues to work cooperatively with the commission.


The company ranks first in Internet searching in Europe, with an 82 percent market share, versus 67 percent in the United States, according to research firm comScore.


Lobbying group ICOMP, whose members include complainants Microsoft, Foundem, Hot-map, Streetmap and Nextag, said any solution should include measures ensuring that rivals could compete on a level playing field with Google.


The FairSearch coalition, whose members include online travel agencies and complainants Expedia and TripAdvisor, said a third-party monitor should be appointed to ensure that Google lives up to any promises.


The commission, which acts as competition regulator in the 27-member European Union, is now expected to seek feedback from Google’s rivals and other interested parties, before launching an official market test.


Last month, Google won a major victory when U.S. antitrust regulators ended their investigation, saying the company had not manipulated its web search results to block rivals.


The commission has said Google may have favored its own search services over those of rivals, and copied travel and restaurant reviews from competing sites without permission.


The EU executive is also concerned the company may have put restrictions on advertisers and advertising to prevent them from moving their online campaigns to competing search engines.


(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Rex Merrifield and Hans-Juergen Peters)


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The 7 most dedicated employees






You probably don’t want to forward this roster of tireless go-getters to your boss


Some people probably feel they deserve a medal for merely getting up and going to work every day, but only a few actually merit one. Take Deborah Ford, for example. This 64-year-old Detroit postal worker, who recently retired, didn’t use a single sick day in all of her 44 years on the job. Not a single one! For doctor’s appointments, she would take vacation days, and when she was feeling lousy she says she would just “shake it off.” At the end of her dedicated career, Ford had amassed a sick-leave balance of 4,508 hours. But before you give her the award for most dedicated employee, check out this lot:






1. Going the distance
Unless you work from home, chances are you endure a less-than-pleasant commute. But none is likely as arduous as that of Dave Givens. In 2006 the Mariposa, Calif., resident earned the unenviable award for “America’s Longest Commute” when tire company Midas set out to find the employee who trekked the most miles to work. From his ranch home in Mariposa, Givens drives 186 miles to his job at Cisco Systems, Inc., in San Jose. The electrical engineer has been making this 372-mile round trip, which equals a total of seven hours of driving, for 17 years. “I have a great job and my family loves the ranch where we live,” Givens said. “So this is the only solution.” His dedication to the horrendous commute earned Givens the grand prize of $ 10,000 and some much-needed gas money as well as an array of Midas maintenance services and products.


SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know


2. A life’s work
Rose Syracuse Richardone “just loves to work,” says Macy’s senior vice president Robin Hall of the 92-year-old employee. Richardone retired from Macy’s in September 2012 after working in a range of positions from her first job at the age of 17 in the accounts department — back when there weren’t credit cards and customers would set aside money in the in-store bank to pay for items — to her final position within the parade and entertainment group. To honor her 70th year with the company a few years ago, Macy’s management arranged for Richardone to cut the red ribbon that launched the iconic Thanksgiving parade. Had it not been for a broken hip, the diminutive employee might still be working today. “Life is good,” she said of her longevity. “You go on each day, you’re happy where you’re at. And people — bosses, supervisors, they appreciate you. And you stay.”


3. Hardest working unemployed man
You may not know Justin Knapp, but you’re likely familiar with his work. Knapp is a voluntary editor of the Wikipedia, and last April the 30-year-old became the first person to complete 1 million edits on the massive online, open-source encyclopedia. After coming across Wikipedia in 2003, Knapp registered as an editor in 2005 and now spends several hours per day combing, editing, and adding to Wikipedia articles. His edits can be as small as ensuring em dashes and en dashes are used properly or as substantial as building the most comprehensive George Orwell entry, which reportedly took about 100 hours. But Knapp relishes the work. “Editing these projects is relaxing and rewarding,” Knapp told Gizmodo. Knapp doesn’t get paid for his work, however plentiful, but he manages to get by financially with odd jobs while he pursues his nursing degree at Indiana University. Ultimately he feels his diligence is for the greater good. “Far be it for me to say that it’s an act of love to edit Wikipedia,” he said. “But I really do feel like that it helps other human beings. That makes me feel good — knowing that somehow I can be a small part of helping someone who I’ll never know.”


SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know


4. Dedicated volunteer
Don Moss is the “Energizer Bunny of volunteers.” As of 2010, the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center volunteer has clocked in more than 47,000 hours, setting a Guinness World Record for his time. For the last 28 years, Moss has worked at Wake Forest Monday through Thursday, 48 hours per week. The 63-year-old’s dedication is a personal one. In 1980, Moss was in a freak accident that landed him at Wake Forest Baptist where he spent three months in a coma with a major head injury. Doctors didn’t think he would make it and, after he woke up, specialists said he would never walk again. But Moss defied all expectations and now, after being encouraged to volunteer during his rehabilitation stint, he’s rarely idle. While working, Moss delivers letters to patients, helps out at the gift shop, and guides lost visitors to their destinations. And those free Fridays? Those are for his wife, he says: “That’s my honey-do list day.”


5. Hardest working mom
Dr. Helen Wright felt like she had it all — she loved her job as a headmistress at an exclusive British all-girls school, and she had time to enjoy her beautiful growing family. On February morning in 2010, when Wright was pregnant with her third child, she went into labor. Within an hour she had given birth to the baby, a girl named Jessica, and by lunchtime, Wright was back at work, her newborn in tow. This was nothing new for her. She had never taken maternity leave with any of her children. Her second child was born on a Friday; Wright was back at work by Monday. Given the ongoing can-women-have-it-all debate, Wright says she wants to be a role model for her students to show them that they too can have a career and a family, quite literally, in the same space. The rarely trodden path of bringing your baby to work is, Wright says, the option more women should consider. “Most women have a choice of taking maternity leave or going back to work and having their babies looked after. Why can’t there be a third way?”


SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know


6. Hardest working country
Do you feel like you work long hours? Well, here’s some food for thought: Employees in Asian countries have the highest proportion of employees who work more than 48 hours per week, which is considered “excessive.” Of those Asian countries, South Korea is the most overworked: According to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Koreans work a whopping 2,193 hours per year. Chile comes in second with 2,068 hours, which far exceeds the average for most developing countries, which is 1,718 hours annually. The United States is just below the average with 1,695 hours. Germany and the Netherlands remain on the low end of the scale with 1,408 hours and 1,377 hours per year, respectively. Tighter labor laws in developed countries, particularly Europe, have contributed to reduced working hours, so, you know, don’t feel too bad about it, you’re just playing by the rules.


7. Hardest working American town
Columbia, Mo., managed to keep its unemployment rate of 6.0 percent throughout the worst economic downturn since the Depression with the help of its robust health-care and education sectors. The town has six hospitals and the second highest number of hospital beds per capita in the country. It’s also home to the University of Missouri-Columbia, which employs some 8,000 people, as well as six other institutions of higher education. More than 80 percent of households are dual-income, and the city ranked second on likelihood to work on the weekends, according to data compiled by Parade magazine in 2012. 


SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know


Sources: BBC, Daily Mail, Gizmodo, Parade, The Stir, Yahoo


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California police probe stunts that shut down freeways






LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The California Highway Patrol is investigating two apparently unrelated stunts that jammed freeways over the weekend, including one involving hundreds of motorcyclists celebrating a marriage proposal that inconvenienced motorists east of Los Angeles.


Both events created a flurry of viral Internet videos, fueling concerns about a repeat performance by copycats.






On Interstate 10 east of Los Angeles on Sunday, up to 300 bikers stopped traffic so that one of them could propose to his girlfriend, said Officer Vince Ramirez, a Los Angeles-area spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.


Video that surfaced online of the stunt showed some bikers creating a wall of smoke by spinning their tires against the concrete. In the middle of the gathering, pink smoke could be seen wafting into the air.


As they exited the freeway, several bikers were later ticketed for reckless riding unrelated to their possible role in the freeway shutdown, Ramirez said.


He said officers were working with the Los Angeles County District Attorney‘s office to prepare additional charges against some of the bikers.


The stunt did not cause any injuries or collisions, he said.


In Oakland on Saturday, traffic ground to a halt on Interstate 880 near the city’s sports coliseum, as several sports cars did doughnuts, spinning around and filling the air with tire smoke, officials said. Stunned motorists exited their cars and watched.


Several motorists caught in the sudden traffic jam were frightened or angry, according to recordings of calls to authorities released on Tuesday.


“I can’t believe this – I have three kids in the car,” one caller told an Oakland-area dispatcher. “It scares the hell out of me.”


Authorities have not found or identified any of the drivers, said California Highway Patrol Sergeant Diana McDermott.


California Highway Patrol officers said they feared the weekend events’ popularity on social media websites could start a dangerous trend. So far, such stunts have been rare, they said.


“That’s why the investigation is expanding,” Ramirez said.


“If there are any criminal charges that can be filed as a result of this incident, they will be filed,” he said.


(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Tom Brown and Eric Walsh)


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China may consider ending its decade-long ban on video game consoles






Shares of Sony (SNE) and Nintendo (NTDOY) surged on Monday following a report from China’s official newspaper that claimed the country is considering the lift of a decade-long ban on video game consoles. An unnamed source told the China Daily newspaper that the Ministry of Culture is “reviewing the policy,” and has conducted surveys and held discussions with other ministries on the possibility of lifting the ban. An official at the ministry’s cultural market department denied the report in a statement to Reuters, however, claiming it “is not considering lifting the ban.”


[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 debuts on Wednesday – strap in for a wild ride]






China banned the sale of video game consoles in 2000 to safeguard children’s mental and physical development. In order for the ban to be lifted, the seven different ministries who issued the ruling must all agree to reverse it.


[More from BGR: Apple releases iOS 6.1 to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users]


Shares of Sony’s stock were up more than 8% in Tokyo on Monday, while Nintendo gained 3.5% on a weaker Nikkei index.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


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Siemens picks banks for two disposals: sources






FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Siemens AG has picked banks to organize the sale of two units as part of its efforts to streamline operations and stay competitive in a weak global economy, people familiar with the matter said.


Goldman Sachs Group Inc will advise the German conglomerate on the sale of its Water Technologies units, while Rothschild will oversee the divestment of its smaller security products arm, which makes access card readers and technology for intruder detection and surveillance, the sources said on Monday.






Siemens, Goldman and Rothschild all declined comment.


Siemens, which ranks as Germany’s second-most valuable company and which makes products ranging from trains to hearing aids, late last year announced the plan to divest several units in a bid to focus on its most profitable businesses.


It also aims to put itself in a better position to compete in core product areas with the likes of Switzerland’s ABB Ltd and U.S.-based General Electric Co.


Since then, several possible bidders for the water unit – which has annual sales of about 1 billion euros ($ 1.4 million) and employs 600 – have approached the Munich-based group and investment bankers have started to work on the possible sale, the sources said.


HATS IN THE RING


Siemens built up its water technology operations through a flurry of acquisitions over the last decade, buying the water systems and services division of U.S. Filter from Veolia Environnement for instance for $ 1 billion in 2004.


Since much of Siemens’s water business is focused on North America, industry sources expect U.S.-based peers Xylem Inc and Pentair Ltd to take a look at the asset.


“Asian companies are also likely to throw their hats into the ring,” one of the people said.


The region is experiencing rapid economic growth, climate change effects, rising populations and stricter energy and water regulations and is therefore expected to see heavy investment in water treatment equipment in coming years, he said.


Kurita Water Industries Ltd, Hyflux Ltd, Hitachi Ltd and Marubeni Corp are seen as possible suitors, he added.


Big private equity groups like KKR & Co LP, Bain and Permira are also expected to show interest.


Permira in 2011 bought Israel-based Netafim, a maker of irrigation technology, for 800 million euros.


Siemens Water Technologies offers products ranging from conventional water treatment to emergency water supply and water disinfection systems.


A report published in 2010 by Global Water Intelligence, an industry journal, put the size of the global water market at more than $ 500 billion.


Siemens shares were down 0.3 percent by 8.25 a.m, backtracking from a five-month high set last week, compared with a 0.1 percent drop in the main German index.


(Additional reporting by Jens Hack; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)


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Apple’s slowed growth has blown the future of the mobile industry wide open… and that’s very exciting






What a difference just a few months makes. If you don’t recall, it was only last September when Apple’s (AAPL) share prices were blasting past $ 700 and bullish analysts were proclaiming that the company was well be on its way to having a $ 1 trillion valuation and dominating the tech industry for years to come. All that’s changed now as Apple has lost its spot as the world’s most valuable company and investors are panicking that the company’s growth rate may have peaked. This isn’t to say that Apple is doomed (and sorry, Apple haters, but it isn’t) or that it can’t return to the lofty heights it achieved last summer, but for the time being it no longer seems destined to mop the floor with its competitors for years to come.


[More from BGR: Unlocking your smartphone will be illegal starting next week]






This development is exciting in a sense because it’s been part of a fairly chaotic period for the mobile tech industry that has seen companies such as Samsung (005930) rise to become market leaders while longtime stalwarts such as RIM (RIMM) and Nokia (NOK) have seen their market shares plummet. Throughout the past several years, it seemed that the only constant in the mobile world was that Apple would continue to out-innovate its competitors by being the first to market with revolutionary smartphones and tablets that would turn the industry on its ear. Now that Apple’s incredible innovation machine shown signs of slowing, the question becomes, “What comes next?”


[More from BGR: Sony’s PS Vita: Dead again]


Those who look at the success of Samsung, Google (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) will naturally say that it’s Android’s time to pick up the slack. But even if you believe this, you have to ask yourself, “Whose version of Android?” While the open-source nature of Google’s mobile operating system has helped it spread quickly throughout the world, it’s also left Google with relatively little control over how manufacturers use its creation. Samsung, for instance, may have become enough of a powerhouse where it doesn’t need to rely on Android to sell smartphones and tablets anymore. If the company either ditches Android or creates its own heavily modified version of Android that doesn’t rely on Google apps such as Gmail, Maps and YouTube, where would that leave Google?


Google seems to know the danger that Samsung poses, which is why it’s reportedly working with its own Motorola division to create a so-called “X Phone” that it hopes will lessen Samsung’s dominance of the Android market, just as its own Nexus 7 tablet loosened the Amazon Kindle Fire’s grip of the low-cost Android tablet market. Google knows that Android is a massive money loser if people aren’t using it to get access to its web apps, and the company will do everything in its power to assure that Android remains Google-centric.


In the non-Android realm, we’ve seen some initial signs of life from Nokia after the company recently swung its first quarterly profit in a year and a half. While the company’s flagship Lumia 920 hasn’t exactly lit up the charts in the United States, it has produced some strong results in Europe and has at least bought the company some more time to improve on its recent gains. Similarly, there’s been a lot of positive buzz over the past couple of weeks for RIM (RIMM) and its upcoming BlackBerry 10 handsets. While RIM still faces a long, long road back from its 2012 near-death experience, the company is at least generating some hope among its diehard fans for the first time in many months.


Now, all of this exciting competition could be just a mirage if Apple blows the world away with the iPhone 5S, if Windows Phone 8 devices all bomb as Microsoft’s (MSFT) ill-fated Surface has, and if Samsung’s dominance forces rival Android vendors to quit the market. But for the first time in a while, I feel as though I don’t really know where the mobile industry is headed. And that is very exciting.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


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New purported Galaxy Note 8.0 images confirm S-Pen support







Earlier this week, images that were purportedly of Samsung’s (005930) upcoming Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet leaked onto the Web. The slate looked like an oversized Galaxy S III smartphone and included the company’s physical home button, which had perviously been omitted from earlier Galaxy tablets. French blog Frandroid posted additional images of the tablet on Friday that confirmed it will include an S-Pen stylus, similar to the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy Note 10.1.


[More from BGR: Sony’s PS Vita: Dead again]






[More from BGR: The Boy Genius Report: Apple’s iMac takes desktop crown]


The Galaxy Note 8.0 is rumored to be equipped with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display, 1.6GHz quad-core processor and a 5-megapixel rear camera. The slate is also believed to include 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD slot and Android 4.2.


Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet next month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


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DUST 514, Online Shooter Set in EVE Online Universe, Enters Open Beta






First announced in 2009, CCP Games’ online first-person shooter tie-in to its popular sci-fi MMO, EVE Online, was finally released as an open beta on Tuesday. Called DUST 514, it allows PlayStation 3 owners to play in the same world as EVE Online, fighting ground battles while EVE Online pilots contest star systems. The results of DUST 514 matches affect worlds and in-game corporations in EVE Online, and EVE Online players can even use starship weaponry to bombard the planets DUST 514 matches take place on.


Introducing New Eden






EVE Online and DUST 514 take place in a distant star cluster called New Eden. In a scenario sort of like ” Stargate” meets ” Star Trek: Voyager,” human space explorers found themselves trapped in New Eden, impossibly far from Earth, after using a one-way portal. Many thousands of years later, their descendants have formed completely new nations and ethnicities, and fight each other in space and on the ground over resources or ideology.


The most difficult MMO ever?


Widely regarded as very difficult — a popular infographic depicts EVE’s learning curve as a sheer cliff littered with stick figure bodies — EVE Online is also known for its byzantine politics, which take place completely between players. Player-run alliances sink years into building enormous spacecraft, which can vanish in a single battle or thanks to one person’s treachery.


A study in contrasts


DUST 514 is only available on the PlayStation 3 console, whereas EVE Online is for Windows PCs and Macs. DUST 514 is free to play and has no monthly fee, while EVE costs money to start and up to $ 14.95 per month (although there’s an expensive in-game item which can be used to offset this fee). But perhaps the biggest contrast is the level of commitment required. Instead of managing a whole spacecraft and needing to keep track of where it’s docked, DUST 514 players can just jump into instant battles, and are rewarded with experience and in-game currency each time.


Since the two games were linked together just a few weeks ago, however, EVE Online politics are beginning to affect DUST 514, and groups of players are getting drawn into its conflicts — or being sent by EVE in-game alliances to fight for them.


A work in progress


DUST 514 still bears the “beta” tag, and the end-user license agreement reminds players of this, even pointing out that CCP Games may choose to reset players’ gear and experience points at some time in the future. It has a very limited number of planet environments and only two styles of play, which basically amount to capture the flag and team deathmatch. CCP continues to develop DUST, however, promising that even more content will be available in the future.


Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.


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Three reasons to root for RIM






I have expressed skepticism that RIM (RIMM) will really be able to pull off an epic comeback and reestablish BlackBerry as a legitimate contender with the iPhone and the barrage of Android smartphones that get released every year. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want it to happen. Quite the contrary, I’m hoping that RIM proves all us nasty skeptics wrong, defies the odds and produces a big hit with the BlackBerry Z10 that’s set to be released over the next couple of months.


[More from BGR: As data gets cheaper for Verizon to transmit, customers are paying more]






So why am I rooting for RIM even if I’m dubious of its prospects for success? Three specific reasons come to mind.


[More from BGR: Success with BlackBerry ‘diehards’ isn’t the key to BlackBerry 10′s future]


First, I think the mobile market will benefit from having a third option besides iOS and Android, and it doesn’t look as though Microsoft (MSFT) is up to the task just yet. Sure, Windows Phone devices have started to make some progress in Europe, but in North America the platform’s market share has remained largely flat despite the large piles of money Microsoft is spending to promote it. This gives RIM an opportunity to elbow itself into the discussion in the United States and Canada as a legitimate contender for consumers who have moved on to iOS or Android but who still miss their BlackBerry phones of old.


Second, I think CEO Thorsten Heins has some interesting and ambitious ideas for where he’d like to take the company in the future. Sure, there are times when I can’t tell whether he really has a plan to boldly remake BlackBerry or is just insane, but when I hear him talk about integrating BlackBerry 10 into cars, I am intrigued. Heins is also easy to root for when you consider how well he’s played the thoroughly lousy hand he was dealt when he took over as RIM CEO last year — the fact that he’s generated significant support from both carriers and app developers at a time when it looked like the company could collapse at any moment has been impressive.


And finally, I’ve come to really love RIM’s crazy fans over the past year, even if they don’t like me all that much. Every time I’ve written a post critical of RIM or BlackBerry, they were there to immediately pounce on me, declare me a hopeless “iSheep” and tell me how stupid I’ll feel when RIM emerges triumphant and stomps all over the iPhone and Android. I’m not sure such dedication to a product is emotionally healthy, but it is something I have to respect and I hope that BlackBerry 10 will, at the very least, make RIM’s loyal and long-suffering fans happy.


So now’s the time, RIM. Next week will be your chance to make me look like a fool for ever doubting the power of BlackBerry 10. And for all the reasons I listed above, I hope you take it.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


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Is Facebook envy making you miserable?






LONDON (Reuters) – Witnessing friends’ vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness, according to German researchers.


A study conducted jointly by two German universities found rampant envy on Facebook, the world’s largest social network that now has over one billion users and has produced an unprecedented platform for social comparison.






The researchers found that one in three people felt worse after visiting the site and more dissatisfied with their lives, while people who browsed without contributing were affected the most.


“We were surprised by how many people have a negative experience from Facebook with envy leaving them feeling lonely, frustrated or angry,” researcher Hanna Krasnova from the Institute of Information Systems at Berlin’s Humboldt University told Reuters.


“From our observations some of these people will then leave Facebook or at least reduce their use of the site,” said Krasnova, adding to speculation that Facebook could be reaching saturation point in some markets.


Researchers from Humboldt University and from Darmstadt’s Technical University found vacation photos were the biggest cause of resentment with more than half of envy incidents triggered by holiday snaps on Facebook.


Social interaction was the second most common cause of envy as users could compare how many birthday greetings they received to those of their Facebook friends and how many “likes” or comments were made on photos and postings.


“Passive following triggers invidious emotions, with users mainly envying happiness of others, the way others spend their vacations and socialize,” the researchers said in the report “Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users’ Life Satisfaction?” released on Tuesday.


“The spread and ubiquitous presence of envy on Social Networking Sites is shown to undermine users’ life satisfaction.”


They found people aged in their mid-30s were most likely to envy family happiness while women were more likely to envy physical attractiveness.


These feelings of envy were found to prompt some users to boast more about their achievements on the site run by Facebook Inc. to portray themselves in a better light.


Men were shown to post more self-promotional content on Facebook to let people know about their accomplishments while women stressed their good looks and social lives.


The researchers based their findings on two studies involving 600 people with the results to be presented at a conference on information systems in Germany in February.


The first study looked at the scale, scope and nature of envy incidents triggered by Facebook and the second at how envy was linked to passive use of Facebook and life satisfaction.


The researchers said the respondents in both studies were German but they expected the findings to hold internationally as envy is a universal feeling and possibly impact Facebook usage.


“From a provider’s perspective, our findings signal that users frequently perceive Facebook as a stressful environment, which may, in the long-run, endanger platform sustainability,” the researchers concluded.


(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Atari US files for Ch. 11 to separate from parent






NEW YORK (AP) — Video game maker Atari’s U.S. operations have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to separate from their French parent company.


In a statement, Atari says the move is necessary to secure investments it needs to grow in mobile and digital gaming.






Atari’s U.S. operations have shifted to focus on digital games and licensing, including developing mobile games, and have become a growth engine for its owner. France’s Infogrames Entertainment first took a stake in Atari in 2000. It acquired the remaining stake in 2008 and changed its name to Atari S.A.


But the U.S. operations have been better performing than the rest of the company. In fiscal 2012 digital and licensing revenue both grew significantly and contributed 70 percent of revenue, while sales in bricks-and-mortar stores declined.


In December, Atari S.A. said a credit agreement it entered into with investor BlueBay would lapse at the end of the year and the company was seeking other ways to raise capital. It added that it expects to report a “significant loss” for fiscal 2012.


Atari, which turned 40 last year, was a videogame pioneer with games like “Pong” and “Centipede,” but has changed owners several times amid financial problems. In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, Atari said it had $ 1 million to $ 10 million in assets and $ 10 million to $ 50 million in debt. It is seeking approval for $ 5.25 million in debtor-in-possession financing from private investment firm Tenor Capital Management.


Atari said it expects to sell its assets or confirm a restructuring plan within the next three to six months.


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Galaxy S IV benchmarks may confirm 1.8GHz CPU and Android 4.2






Apple needs a new product targeting its next generation of customers which will be fueled by this newly announced product


“iPotty: Brilliant, or worst idea ever? Experts weigh in on new potty training device – Unveiled last week at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the base of the iPotty looks like a regular ol’ plastic toilet with removable bowl— but there’s an adjustable stand attached, specifically for an iPad.”






Something easy to clean which will survive toddlers dropping them into their training potty.


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Dotcom says new site legal, no revenge for Megaupload saga






AUCKLAND (Reuters) – Kim Dotcom, founder of outlawed file-sharing website Megaupload, said his new “cyberlocker” was not revenge on U.S. authorities who planned a raid on his home, closed Megaupload and charged him with online piracy for which he faces jail if found guilty.


Dotcom said his new offering, Mega.co.nz, which will launch on Sunday even as he and three colleagues await extradition from New Zealand to the United States, complied with the law and warned that attempts to take it down would be futile.






“This is not some kind of finger to the U.S. government or to Hollywood,” Dotcom told Reuters at his sprawling estate in the bucolic hills of Coatesville, just outside Auckland, New Zealand, a country known more for sheep, rugby and the Hobbit than flamboyant tech tycoons.


“Legally, there’s just nothing there that could be used to shut us down. This site is just as legitimate and has the right to exist as Dropbox, Boxnet and other competitors,” he said, referring to other popular cloud storage services.


His lawyer, Ira Rothken, added that launching the site was compliant with the terms of Dotcom’s bail conditions. U.S. prosecutors argue that Dotcom in a statement said he had no intention of starting a new internet business until his extradition was resolved.


CODES AND KEYS


Dotcom said Mega was a different beast to Megaupload, as the new site enables users to control exactly which users can access uploaded files, in contrast to its predecessor, which allowed users to search files, some of which contained copyrighted content allegedly without permission.


A sophisticated encryption system will allow users to encode their files before they upload them on to the site’s servers, which Dotcom said were located in New Zealand and overseas.


Each file will then be issued a unique, sophisticated decryption key which only the file holder will control, allowing them to share the file as they choose.


As a result, the site’s operators would have no access to the files, which they say would strip them from any possible liability for knowingly enabling users to distribute copyright-infringing content, which Washington says is illegal.


“Even if we wanted to, we can’t go into your file and snoop and see what you have in there,” the burly Dotcom said.


Dotcom said Mega would comply with orders from copyright holders to remove infringing material, which will afford it the “safe harbor” legal provision, which minimizes liability on the condition that a party acted in good faith to comply.


But some legal experts say it may be difficult to claim the protection if they do not know what users have stored.


The Motion Pictures Association of America said encrypting files alone would not protect Dotcom from liability.


“We’ll reserve final judgment until we have a chance to analyze the new project,” a spokesman told Reuters. “But given Kim Dotcom’s history, count us as skeptical.”


The German national, who also goes by Kim Schmitz, expects huge interest in its first month of operation, which would be a far cry from when Megaupload went live in 2005.


“I would be surprised if we had less than one million users,” Dotcom said.


A YEAR ON


Mega’s launch starts the next chapter of the Dotcom narrative, dotted with previous cyber crime-related arrests and whose twists and turns have been scrutinized by all facets of the entertainment industry, from film studios and record labels to internet service companies and teenage gamers.


The copyright infringement case, billed as the largest to date given that Megaupload in its heyday commanded around four percent of global online traffic, could set a precedent for internet liability laws and depending on its outcome, may force entertainment companies to rethink their distribution methods.


A year on, the extradition hearing has been delayed until August, complicated by illegal arrest warrants and the New Zealand government’s admission that it had illegally spied on Dotcom, who has residency status in the country.


Last January, New Zealand’s elite special tactics forces landed by helicopter at dawn in the grounds of Dotcom’s mansion, worth roughly NZ$ 30 million ($ 25.05 million) and featuring a servants’ wing, hedge maze and life-size statues of giraffes and a rhinoceros, to arrest him and his colleagues at the request of the FBI.


Police armed with semi-automatic weapons found Dotcom cowering alone in a panic room in the attic, while outside, a convoy of police cars and vans pulled up in the driveway. Around 70 officers took part in the raid.


They left with computers, files and some of Dotcom’s fleet of Rolls-Royces, Mercedes and a vintage pink Cadillac tricked with personalized license plates screaming “HACKER”, “EVIL”, and “MAFIA”.


“Every time you hear a helicopter, you automatically think, ‘Oh, another raid’, so it’s something that stays with you for a long time,” said Dotcom, who says he and his wife still panic when they hear sudden, loud noises in the house.


Dotcom was coy about the details of the launch party as builders put the finishing touches to a festival-sized concert stage in the mansion’s grounds, while two helicopters circled overhead.


But if the impromptu, Willy Wonka-styled ice cream social he threw in Auckland earlier in the week is any indication, the party could be a more wholesome affair compared with the well-documented soirees of Dotcom’s past, where nightclubs, hot tubs and scantily clad women were a common fixture.


“I had to grow up, you know, I was a big baby,” he said. “Big baby with too much money usually leads to baby craziness.


“I am going to be more of a person that wants to help to make things better and help internet innovation to take off without all these restrictions by governments. That is going to be my primary goal if this business is successful.”


($ 1 = NZ$ 1.2)


(Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Nick Macfie)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Morrisons to launch online kitchenware business






LONDON (Reuters) – Britain‘s fourth largest supermarket group Wm Morrison said on Friday it would extend its online presence in the spring with the launch of a kitchenware website in partnership with specialist Lakeland.


The joint venture will be Morrisons‘ third fully transactional website following the launch of wine website MorrisonsCellar.com in November and the purchase of baby care retailer Kiddicare.com in 2011.






“We believe the future for retailing many non-food products is online rather than in supermarkets,” said Chief Executive Dalton Philips.


Unlike the other grocers that make up Britain’s so called “big four” – market leader Tesco, Wal-Mart’s Asda and J Sainsbury – Morrisons does not have a website for the home delivery of food.


Earlier this month Morrisons posted a weak Christmas trading update that it partly attributed to its lack of an online food offer.


The firm is researching the possibility and plans to say more when it publishes full year results in March. Most analysts expect it to launch a trial this year.


(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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“GameStick” and NVIDIA “Project SHIELD” Consoles-in-a-Controller on Their Way






Both GameStick and NVIDIA’s Project Shield are upcoming game consoles the size of a game controller, which can hook up to a larger display. Both are powered by Android, Google‘s open-source operating system that’s normally used on smartphones and tablets. And both have working hardware prototypes already. But one is a $ 99 Kickstarter project by an indie group, while the other has the backing of two major companies in the PC gaming world — and will probably be a lot more expensive when it comes out.


Here’s a look at two upcoming TV game consoles that you’ll be able to fit in your pocket or handbag.






GameStick: Exactly what it sounds like


Imagine a tiny, rectangular game controller, sort of like a Wii Remote with more buttons and twin analog sticks. On one side is a plastic bump, that when you pull it off it becomes this gadget the size of a USB memory stick that plugs into a TV’s HDMI port. That’s GameStick, and with 19 days left to go in its Kickstarter fund-raiser it’s managed to raise more than three times the $ 100,000 its creators asked for.


GameStick will have 8 GB of flash memory, and a processor capable of handling modern AAA Android games like Shadowgun, plus 1080p video. If you don’t like the controller it comes with, you’ll be able to connect up to four of your own via Bluetooth, or even use your Android or iOS smartphone or tablet as a controller.


Project SHIELD: A controller that can stop bullets


Maybe it can’t literally serve as a shield. But at about the size of the original Xbox’s controller, the “portable” console NVIDIA showed off at this year’s CES sure looks like it can. It’s powered by a next-generation Tegra 4 processor, and features its own built-in 5-inch multitouch screen for gaming on the go. But it can also connect to a TV, and can even stream PC games via Steam’s Big Picture mode, which was designed for controller games.


A not-so-silver lining?


GameStick’s biggest weakness may be its developer support. Its Kickstarter page mentions the hundreds of thousands of Android games out there, but most of those are only on Google Play, which (unlike most of the rest of Android) is proprietary to Google. Time will tell whether its creators can get enough developers to write games for the platform by the time of its planned April launch, or enough gamers to buy games they might already have on their tablets.


In contrast, between full support for the Google Play store and PC game streaming from Steam, Project SHIELD will have thousands and thousands of games, and there will be no need to repurchase titles you’ve already bought from either store. There’s no word from NVIDIA yet, though, on how much its game console will cost or even when it will launch.


Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.


Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News




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Cuban hospital carefully guards Hugo Chavez’s privacy






HAVANA (Reuters) – You would never guess that one of the world’s most famous heads of state, Venezuelan president and self-proclaimed revolutionary Hugo Chavez, is battling cancer at Havana’s Center for Medical-Surgical Research (CIMEQ).


At the weekend there was no visible increase in security at the hospital’s main entrance, where guards in olive green uniforms checked the comings and goings of visitors and waved on dallying reporters.






The sprawling, three story complex that is run by the Cuban Interior Ministry is located in leafy Siboney, one of the country’s most exclusive neighborhoods on the western edge of the Cuban capital, and just minutes from the home of Fidel Castro.


It has been a month since the once feisty and now cancer-stricken Chavez, leader of one of the world’s biggest oil producing nations, was operated on for a fourth time at the hospital. This time around, there have been no glowing reports of recovery.


CIMEQ’s best known patient, Fidel Castro, 86, has been treated there since 2006 when he was operated on for intestinal bleeding, forcing him to cede power to his brother Raul Castro.


Ironically Chavez, who often visited the man he refers to as his mentor during Castro’s ordeal, has now become CIMEQ’s second best known patient. In a dramatic reversal of fate, it is Fidel Castro who has been repeatedly at the 58-year-old Venezuelan president’s bedside, beginning with his first operation in 2011.


Hazy Venezuelan government communiques speak of unexpected bleeding during Chavez’s most recent surgery and a lung infection that has kept the 58-year-old Chavez in a “stable” but “delicate” state since mid-December.


There has not been a word, nor even a tweet from the usually vociferous Chavez. His Twitter account, with almost 4 million followers, went silent after November 1.


Meanwhile, Chavez’s family has been holding vigil in Havana, as other Venezuelan leaders and various Latin American heads of state come and go in a show of support. The presidents of Argentina and Peru visited over the weekend.


What the operation involved, and even the type of cancer attacking Chavez and its exact location, are considered state secrets.


VIP FACILITIES OFF LIMITS


CIMEQ, according to various Cuban doctors and nurses, is the Caribbean island’s finest medical facility, boasting up to date equipment and pharmaceuticals and with the authority to call in the country’s top specialists and support staff from other hospitals, as has been done in Chavez’s case.


“CIMEQ exists in the 21st century and is the equal to some of the best facilities in the world, while the rest of the country’s hospitals remain at 20th century levels,” said one local doctor who requested her name be withheld.


“There are no shortages of supplies and medicines and the food is great,” she added.


The hospital treats mainly interior ministry personnel, their families and area residents free of charge.


In a land where complaints are common, it is hard to find anyone with a bad word to say about the place, except that it is reserved exclusively for the elite.


“Unfortunately, I lost my father to cancer at CIMEQ less than a year ago,” said 47- year-old Agustín Daniel.


“He was treated for years at CIMEQ and the care was exquisite. He died because cancer kills and sometimes there is no solution,” the self-employed interior decorator said.


CIMEQ also boasts a wing for foreigners willing to pay for their care, as well as special VIP facilities for Cuba’s top leaders and important figures from other lands.


“Distinguished personalities from the arts, sciences and politics from all over the world have received attention in its modern and efficient installations,” the hospital‘s Web Page (www.cimeq.org)states.


Little is known about the hospital’s VIP accommodations, where Chavez is being treated, except that they are equipped with the latest technology and that those who work there are often sequestered for periods of time. Like all CIMEQ staff, they are sworn to secrecy at the risk of losing their licenses and criminal prosecution.


“The VIPs are treated on the third floor which is off limits to most staff even if they work for the Interior Ministry and wear uniforms under their white coats,” a doctor who has worked at CIMEQ said.


“The elevators to the third floor have guards and if the patient goes outside part of the grounds are closed off,” he said, adding, “no one knows what goes on up there.”


(Editing by David Adams and Andrew Hay)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Come for a Tour of China’s Unlicensed ‘World of Warcraft’ Theme Park






World of Warcraft Theme Park


Image credit Francesca Timbers


Click here to view this gallery.






[More from Mashable: 20 Tweets That Prove Skittles’ Social-Media Team Inhaled the Rainbow]


Changzhou, China is home to a bizzarre world of rides, food and fun: A World of Warcraft-style theme park that’s completely unlicensed by Blizzard, maker of the Warcraft series.


The park opened in the summer of last year. It reportedly cost $ 48 million to build and is “pretty huge,” according to Reddit user Francesca Timbers who originally posted these pictures republished here with permission.


[More from Mashable: 10 Amusing Cubicle Makeovers [VIDEOS]]


“I thought it was great,” posted Timbers. “A lot of the rides used 4-D and special effects, which I hand’t experienced much of before. There was a good roller coaster with loops, where you are lying horizontally, face forward, like you are flying. That was my favourite ride. The water log ride (‘splash of monster blood’) was pretty good too.”


Another weird tidbit: Some rides have a “happiness index,” showing, we believe, the intensity of the ride.


While most of the park is Warcraft-flavored, one section is dedicated to another Blizzard favorite: Starcraft.


For the rest of Timbers’ pictures and more details about her trip to the utterly weird theme park, visit her Reddit thread. Would you book a trip to China to get out to this theme park?


Images courtesy Francesca Timbers


This story originally published on Mashable here.


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News




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Women pry open door to video game industry’s boys’ club






SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – When video game developer Brenda Brathwaite Romero started her career in the 1980s, she could count the number of female developers in the industry on one hand.


Today, many “Women in Games” roundtables she attends are filled to capacity with new faces. The 46-year-old, sometimes referred to as the longest-serving woman in the video game arena, jokes that these days one can even encounter long lines for the ladies’ room at the Game Developers Conference, one of the industry’s largest gatherings.






“Over the years, greatly helped by the social and mobile boom, there have been many, many women coming into game development,” Brathwaite Romero said.


With women comprising just over 1 in 10 in the video game workforce, the industry has a reputation for being among the most testosterone-fueled of the traditionally male-dominated technology sector. But thanks to the mobile revolution, industry executives say that’s changing.


With smartphones going mainstream and delivering gaming to a new, broader population, publishers and developers are keen to tap an audience beyond young males. And, not surprisingly, as women have explored a growing range of mobile games on Facebook or other platforms, they have discovered the allure of working in the industry.


The number of women hired by game companies has tripled since 2009, according to recruiting firm VonChurch, based on over 350 placements it has made in digital gaming firms like CrowdStar and GREE.


In 1989, when veteran games designer Sheri Graner Ray started out, women made up less than 3 percent of the workforce. That’s now up to 11 percent.


“In 20 years, it’s not a lot of growth,” said Graner Ray, who has worked at leading companies like Electronic Arts and Sony Online Entertainment. But she agrees that number will rise as more women assert themselves in the industry, educational programs take hold, and mobile games continue to flourish.


Some of the first engineers at mobile games maker Pocket Gems were women, and though that wasn’t intentional when the company was founded in 2009, it proved instrumental to success, said Chief Executive Ben Liu.


Pocket Gems, best known as a maker of family-friendly mobile games like its popular “Tap” series, recently launched “Campus Life”, where players can build and run a college sorority, to target a female audience.


“I’ve worked at other, different game companies and I’ve been on floors where it’s only guys,” Liu said. “Our aspiration is to create games that are mass market and accessible to all people, and having that representative base of employees helps us keep true to that.”


DEBAUCHERY ‘WAY, WAY DOWN’


Gaming still conjures up images of young men glued to flickering screens for hours on end, fueled by energy drinks and waging online battles unto death in such “shooters” as “Call of Duty” or tactical war games like “Starcraft.”


But the advent of affordable smartphones and tablets and the burgeoning world of social media has drawn in a whole new world of gamers. Individuals who had never been tempted to plunk down hundreds of dollars to buy a gaming console found themselves enticed by a whole new genre of games.


These days, gaming might just as easily mean launching attacks on pigs in “Angry Birds” or slicing produce with swiping motions in “Fruit Ninja” — games that have mass appeal.


“Mobile is still the Wild West and it’s founded on this idea of inclusion, because everyone has these mobile devices and everyone wants to play,” said game content designer Elizabeth Sampat, who works at social game company Storm8.


That’s partly why more than half of America’s social and mobile gamers are women, according to research firm EEDAR, while they comprise just 30 percent of those who play hard-core violent games like Microsoft’s “Halo 4″ on game consoles.


Erin McCarty, 24, grew up playing such fare. She went to engineering school at Carnegie Mellon University, with a goal toward working in the video game industry.


Today she’s the only female engineer in a seven-member team crafting multiplayer-shooter game “Realm of the Mad God” at social and mobile game company Kabam that targets male gamers.


But far from feeling different, McCarty considers herself just another coder at Kabam, where women make up just a fifth of the payroll.


“I’m around guys a lot and they are always people that I’m happy to work with,” McCarty said.


Brathwaite Romero recalls how her male coworkers on the team that created the mature-rated “Playboy: The Mansion” game with nude characters that was published in 2005, were wholly professional.


“I’ve fortunately not experienced the level of misogyny that I’ve heard other people experience,” Brathwaite Romero said.


“Some of the debauchery that was evident in the early days of the industry, like meetings at strip clubs, having strippers at your party, that sort of stuff has gone down way, way down from where it used to be.”


DANCING GIRLS AND SEXISM


That’s not to say the industry doesn’t have a ways to go.


First, there’s a 27 percent gap in average incomes, with women making $ 68,062 versus men at $ 86,418, according to Game Developer Magazine’s 2011 annual salary survey.


Women in the game industry are underrepresented in software engineering and top-level management, reflecting a similar trend in the broader technology sector, industry executives say.


VonChurch found engineering positions were skewed more toward men in their placements since 2009. Female engineers made up 21 percent from the pool of women it placed, while over half of the men it placed were hired in engineering positions.


Then there are the occasional throwbacks to the male-dominated 1980s and 1990s. Gameloft created a stir a few weeks ago after a holiday party at its Montreal studio ran amok.


The studio, which makes games for devices like Apple Inc’s iPhone, hired a burlesque dance troupe that featured scantily clad women in body paint. By the end of the evening, several dancers began to discard their bathing suits, according to a person with knowledge of the event, who asked not be named.


The dancers were expelled from the event “as soon as their misconduct was brought to light,” Gameloft said in a statement.


Over a month ago, a tweet from a male gaming professional — “Why are there so few women in gaming?” — ignited a top-trending Twitter conversation under the #1reasonwhy hashtag, that quickly morphed into a now infamous discussion of discrimination and sexism in the workplace.


“I was told I’d be remembered not on my own merits, but by who I was or was assumed to be sleeping with,” Seattle-based pen and paper game designer Lillian Cohen-Moore, who goes by @lilyorit, tweeted.


Gaming conventions can bring out the worst in attendees, said several women gaming professionals. While not a pure work environment, they are a forum for professionals from across the industry to convene to talk shop and do business.


Cohen-Moore, 28, said she was appalled to see men at the annual Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle groping women working as costumed characters when she worked there last year.


“I’ve been leery about transitioning into video games because the culture over there is a lot more blatant and active in how many sex trolls they have,” she said.


Brathwaite Romero, who is married to industry legend and “Doom” creator John Romero, also recounts a jarring instance at last summer’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, the industry’s biggest gathering.


“I was discussing a potential contract with somebody and the guy right next to me is talking about — to quote him — ‘the tits and ass’ on this particular model. And he’s going on and on and on about this,” she said. “This is wrong.”


Sampat said in some workplaces, though not at her current employer Storm8, women are often expected to tolerate off-color jokes – of which they’re often the target.


Before stepping into an interview at an online game company a couple of years ago, Sampat said a female human resources employee told her: “It’s my job to make sure that all potential candidates can, you know, take a joke.”


“I couldn’t help but wonder if she asked the white male programmer who came in before me whether he could take a joke too,” Sampat said.


Women outside the United States find similar challenges. Alisa Chumachenko, CEO and founder of Game Insight, a fast-growing mobile and social company in Russia, thinks having more women in senior and more diverse roles will help. Her company of 450 employees has three other women in high-level positions, but she wishes she knew more women in gaming.


“We need to really look at the women who have become movers and shakers in this industry,” the veteran games designer Graner Ray said, “and claim them and hold them up and say: ‘Here’s where we are, here’s what we can do. Pay attention to us.’”


(Editing by Edwin Chan and Leslie Adler)


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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