U.S. Game Console Sales: Xbox One Tops PS4 for Third Month in a Row

The Xbox One is on a roll, with the console outselling the PS4 for the third month in a row. This latest win comes via the NPD sales report, which charts U.S. video game sales for the month of September.The rise of the Xbox One, for which sales have la…



The Xbox One is on a roll, with the console outselling the PS4 for the third month in a row. This latest win comes via the NPD sales report, which charts U.S. video game sales for the month of September.

The rise of the Xbox One, for which sales have lagged behind the PS4 by almost a 2-to-1 margin, can be solely attributed to the release of the updated Xbox One S. The smartly priced console comes that with built-in Ultra HD Blu-ray playback (something no other video game console is capable of) has been a huge success for Microsoft, with sales dramatically up after the console's debut in July.

This latest win for Microsoft is also extra significant due to the fact that Sony also released their own updated console halfway through September, the PS4 Slim. The updated PS4 comes in a smaller package, but does not include Ultra HD Blu-ray playback.

Sony will also launch another updated console, the PS4 Pro, in November. The PS4 Pro will feature updated hardware to allow the console to handle more complex graphics, but also skips adding the ability to play the latest 4K discs.

Microsoft also has another console update planned for late 2017, the Xbox One Scorpio. When launched, it is expected to be the most powerful console on the market, and may give gamers the ability to play some games at full 4K resolution.

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This is a test of the test post service. If this had in fact been a real post, there would have been more interesting text here.
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This is a test of the test post service. If this had in fact been a real post, there would have been more interesting text here.

Continue reading Test post at Liliputing.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has a problem with its engine

Science not affected yet, but if problem isn’t fixed Juno will fly fewer orbits.

Enlarge / Juno captured this image of Jupiter’s north pole on August 27th. (credit: NASA)

For NASA's Juno spacecraft, all had been going well since its July 4th insertion into orbit around Jupiter—as well as things can go when radiation is slowly eating away at a spacecraft, that is. That ended when mission managers tried to send a command to the robotic probe on Thursday.

According to a NASA news release, two helium check valves that play an important role in the firing of the spacecraft's main engine did not operate properly during the command sequence. "The valves should have opened in a few seconds, but it took several minutes," Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said. "We need to better understand this issue before moving forward with a burn of the main engine."

NASA had intended to fire the spacecraft's Leros 1b engine, its primary source of thrust, next Wednesday. The goal was to bring Juno into a shorter orbital period around the gas giant, from 53.4 to 14 days. The optimal time for such a "period reduction maneuver" is when the spacecraft is closest to the planet, so Juno's next opportunity for this engine burn will not come until Dec. 11. This was to be the final burn of the Leros 1b engine, which fired perfectly on July 4 to put Juno into a precise orbit around Jupiter. Future maneuvers can be conducted by smaller onboard thrusters.

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Boxing Promoter Offers Cash Reward to Identify Pirate Streamer

A leading boxing promotion company is taking unusual steps to track down a man who has been streaming their events for free. Duco Events took to Facebook to post a ‘wanted’ poster featuring an alleged pirate, offering a cash reward and anonymity for any of the streamer’s friends who provide his home address.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

streamingkeyEvery day, content production companies and their anti-piracy partners take a keen interest in people posting their material online without permission.

They’re often able to use technical means to identify infringers, often relying on IP address, financial, and similar information. However, some also resort to chasing pirates in the physical realm.

This is the approach currently being taken by Duco Events, who are said to be recognized by the World Boxing Organization as the leading promoter in the Asia Pacific region. Duco partners with companies including ESPN, Fox Sports, MAIN EVENT, SKY Sports and SKY Arena, and it is tired of having its content pirated.

One of the biggest thorns in its side is New Zealander James Bryant. Earlier this year he informed NZ Herald that he intended to stream a Duco boxing event taking place in July. That led to a private investigator being sent to his parents’ Auckland house to serve court papers. He wasn’t there.

Bryant, who claims to be a web developer and SEO specialist, says that on a separate occasion another person emailed him looking for a computer repair. Suspicious, he gave a friend’s address, which led to an investigator sitting outside there all day. He eventually asked for Bryant by name.

“They’ve called me twice, and they told me that it’s getting serious now, that it was too big to go away,” Bryant said.

That was back in the summer and it appears that as promised, Duco haven’t forgotten about Bryant. However, they still haven’t managed to locate him.

“I have been on holiday for the last few months and they are not doing a very good job at finding me,” Bryant said last week.

“It doesn’t bother me one bit … as soon as they find me, I will make it my personal mission to stream every event.”

Bryant’s defiance was not well received, with Duco chief executive Martin Snedden rejected claims that chasing streamers is counter-productive.

“In our view it is out-and-out theft, and people are starting to get the message that the risk isn’t worth getting involved. We know we can’t eradicate this, but we’re getting better at running interference,” Snedden said.

Now it appears that Duco are turning up the heat. In a posting this week to the company’s Facebook page, the boxing promotions outfit sought assistance in finding the elusive Bryant.

duco-boxing-1

But if Duco thought that this would prompt Bryant to give himself up, they were very wrong. Instead, the self-confessed streamer has started a fund-raiser with two aims. First, to raise money to fight Duco, and second, to set up a new streaming service.

“My mission is to raise money for the upcoming battle and also to raise funds which will be put into developing a dedicated website which will be hosted on an overseas server which will broadcast live events as they happen,” Bryant explains.

“I am currently setting up a site which will provide live streams of legal events such as music, sport and festivals. It will be hosted off shore in any event that the courts do not allow me access to a computer, I plan on hosting a wide range of different events.

“I believe that as New Zealanders we shouldn’t have to feed the pockets of the corporations to watch sports we care about. It’s time to stand up New Zealand!” he concludes.

Seconds away….round two.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Presidential candidates promise to change America’s roads, but how?

Four candidates, four different ways of thinking about how we’ll get around by 2020.

Gridlock in Houston, Texas. (credit: aJ Gazmen)

Here at Ars, we like thinking about the future. And some of the biggest problems we’ll have to solve in the future are related to transportation. The population of the US is increasing, fossil fuel consumption must be cut or climate will change more dramatically than it already is, and autonomy is coming to vehicles. So it’s worth asking our presidential candidates their views on transportation policy. After all, the policies of the next four years could impact how automakers implement autonomous systems, whether large train systems will be built (hello, Hyperloop?), and how quickly electric vehicles will be adopted.

Unfortunately, although Ars reached out to Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein’s campaigns, not one of the candidates’ teams got back to us. That left us with statements on the candidates’ websites and comments they made during debates and interviews earlier this year.

Clinton

Clinton’s policies are by far the most thorough, although there are still gaps in her plan that leave room for questions.

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Voyage of Time is a glorious, odd trip through the Universe

Terrence Malick mixes amazing IMAX visuals with inscrutable narration.

Enlarge / A computer rendering of one of the Universe's first stars. (credit: SLAC)

Filmmaker Terrence Malick is a polarizing figure. Some find his emphasis on philosophical themes compelling, but even his Wikipedia entry notes that others "consider it pretentious and gratuitous." Still, it's hard not to get excited when you hear that a director of his stature has made a science-focused film about the history of the Universe. In IMAX. With Brad Pitt as narrator.

Or two films. Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience is the shorter piece, focusing on the timeline of the Universe and life on Earth. The longer version (Voyage of Time: Life's Journey) has Cate Blanchett doing the narration and focuses more on humanity's place within the cosmos. We recently got a chance to see the IMAX version, and we came away with mixed feelings. While the science is solid and the visuals are absolutely stunning, the narration leaves us a little underwhelmed.

Life, the Universe, and everything

The movie starts with images of a small child exploring her town, and the narration parallels this, with the first words being "dear child." But from there, it dives into computer simulations of the Big Bang, followed by one of the dark matter filaments that drew in matter and helped the first galaxies to form. You can have a look at one of these animations, but even a good-sized monitor doesn't do the IMAX experience justice.

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Vision Next 100: Meet BMW’s vision of the future in the coming years

Where does BMW see its four brands in a future where the cars drive themselves?

SANTA MONICA, Calif.—On Tuesday, BMW showed off its four new concept cars under one roof together for the first time. These cars included not only the new BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100, but also a new futuristic Rolls-Royce, Mini Cooper, and BMW. Each shows us that marque's view of its place in a world where our vehicles are intelligent and drive themselves, which some see as an existential threat to companies, like BMW, that have made their reputations by focusing on driver engagement.

The star of the show, which took place in the Santa Monica Airport's Barker Hanger, was BMW's new motorcycle, which combines previous models revealed in Munich, London, and Beijing. The concepts also build on ideas that BMW showed us at CES in January, notably the triangle-based UI for the BMW VISION NEXT 100, as well as the way its seats move and cant together when in self-driving mode.

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USB Tulip Stick Ultrasonic Humidifier

Cure dry weather with humidifier, that’s the common sense. How about curing dry eyes when working on projects in front of your laptop all the night? Here come as mini humidifier that you can place on your desktop to keep your dry face and eyes humid. Well, I’m kidding that it could cure dry eyes, […]

Cure dry weather with humidifier, that’s the common sense. How about curing dry eyes when working on projects in front of your laptop all the night? Here come as mini humidifier that you can place on your desktop to keep your dry face and eyes humid. Well, I’m kidding that it could cure dry eyes, […]

Teclast plans to launch tablets with Apollo Lake chips

Teclast plans to launch tablets with Apollo Lake chips

Chinese device maker Teclast has announced it’s replacing a number of its tablets with new models, including several with Intel Celeron N3450 Apollo Lake processors. There’s also at least one model on the way which has a Core i5 processor, although it’s not clear which i5 chip it will have.

Teclast’s press releases about the new tablets are still pretty vague, but they do suggest that the goal is to refresh its tablet lineup with new, more powerful models.

Continue reading Teclast plans to launch tablets with Apollo Lake chips at Liliputing.

Teclast plans to launch tablets with Apollo Lake chips

Chinese device maker Teclast has announced it’s replacing a number of its tablets with new models, including several with Intel Celeron N3450 Apollo Lake processors. There’s also at least one model on the way which has a Core i5 processor, although it’s not clear which i5 chip it will have.

Teclast’s press releases about the new tablets are still pretty vague, but they do suggest that the goal is to refresh its tablet lineup with new, more powerful models.

Continue reading Teclast plans to launch tablets with Apollo Lake chips at Liliputing.