Leisure
Predicting the level of success enjoyed by PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, aka PUBG, would have been very tough ahead of its launch. Who could really predict that an indie title would have three million concurrent players mere months after its launch? Since that time, the game has added two new maps, alternating modes, and more aesthetic enhancements than you can shake a frying pan at. Unfortunately for developer PUBG Corporation, the game has been on the decline ever since the start of the year, despite the team rolling out of the new maps and mechanics. The website Steam Charts shows that...
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The mega-popular PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, aka PUBG, is finally here in full release form. With its time in the Steam Early Access easy-bake oven complete, the inspiring battle royal FPS game is now ready for mass retail consumption with an impressive new map, new weapons, vehicles and lots more. Back in September we had a blast running, gunning and dying quite a bit, to show you how the game had integrated NVIDIA’s Shadowplay Highlight’s custom replay features. Now we're giving this masterpiece of mayhem the formal treatment with its own gameplay and performance review. ...
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The AMD Radeon RX 580 has been in the wild for over a month at this point. AMD pitched the Radeon RX 580 as an ideal choice for gamers looking to upgrade from graphics hardware acquired a couple years back. Specifically, in the lead up to the launch, AMD compared the performance of the RX 580 to cards like the Radeon R9 380. So, with that in mind, we're in the lab today to test that claim using the recently launched Prey reboot from Bethesda Softworks and developer Arkane Studios, as our primary benchmark and game engine to explore. The game also just so happens to look fabulous. This is...
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Whether you have a $10,000 beast of a gaming rig or a hand me down that isn't any more powerful than a toaster, having the right input devices can make a significant improvement in your work and play. Mice in particular come in all shapes and sizes to meet anyone's comfort and performance needs. That bargain bin mouse may be fine for browsing cat pictures, but its cheap sensor and total lack of ergonomics may be holding you back from pwning n00bs like you deserve.To help step your game up we're checking out three new mice that recently slid across our desk: Tesoro's Sagitta Spectrum H6L Gaming...
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Whoever the Einstein was that declared this a "post PC era" needs talk to the gamers and enthusiasts that flocked to Boston Convention And Exhibition Center this weekend for the sold-out PAX East show. And in good ol' Bean Town, the Murphys might dropkick that genius for being overly impaired and "ship him off" promptly. In a record attendance of around 90,000 or so, there was plenty of console gaming going on, as well as mobile gaming on tablets and smartphones, and even board games but nothing compared to the crowds flocking around booths from major PC manufacturers and ecosystem partners like...
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It's not often that we get to talk about Sony's microconsole, the PlayStation TV. In fact, you shouldn't feel bad if you forgot it even existed; since its release outside of Japan last summer, it really hasn't garnered much follow-up coverage. It's too bad, too, because technically, it's a very cool device, especially with its unique ability to play PS Vita titles. Well, if you do happen to own a PlayStation TV and want to have a bit of hacking fun, we have a project for you. Because some PS Vita titles require touch support in certain areas (or entirely), Sony has a blacklist to prevent such games...
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If some recent rumors are to be believed, high-end gaming notebooks are poised to get a serious dose of graphics horsepower later this year when Nvidia's powerful GTX 990M hits the streets by September. The origin of the rumor is Chinese manufacturer Hasee -- specifically their CEO Wu Haijun -- who revealed the mobile graphics card during a company livestream. Not only did he out the GPU, he also hinted that the GTX 990M would be capable of delivering graphics eye candy equivalent to GTX 980 SLI. Yep, as much as a pair of Nvidia's current flagship mobile cards. How does a 980M SLI configuration...
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Many of us have gazed in awe at some of the gorgeous, high-definition videos captured with ultra-expensive drones, and wished we could produce the same kind of imagery on our own. But for most of us, budgets would not allow it. With that in mind, Parrot sought to integrate a quality, full HD video camera into a lightweight drone, built with safety and accessibility as top priorities. The company also wanted to produce a drone that offered an engaging piloting experience with substantial range and an expertly designed, custom controller kit. The end result is the Bebop Drone and Skycontroller...
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Facebook’s blockbuster $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp has raised a lot of questions--such as “Why?”--but among those unanswered queries is a concern that Facebook will collect user data for advertising purposes, which some privacy groups argue cuts against expectations that WhatsApp users previously had about what their data would be used (or not used) for. According to Bloomberg, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy are both calling for the FTC to examine how WhatsApp users’ privacy will be affected by the Facebook acquisition....
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T-Mobile’s prepaid phone service, GoSmart, is doing a little shimmy to get an edge in the prepaid market by offering Facebook access for free, irrespective of whether or not users have a data plan. It’s certainly an interesting idea, and Facebook is in on it. So many people spend so much time on Facebook, but for many, mobile access is limited because of data caps (or the complete lack of a data plan altogether). This deal allows users to spend as much time as they want on the social networking site and also use Facebook Messenger. T-Mobile noted in a press release that almost half...
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Some people are just gluttons for punishment. A pair of self-professed online distraction addicts, Robert R. Morris and Dan McDuff, have created a tool called “Pavlov Poke” that will zap them if they spend too much time on Facebook and not enough time working on their dissertations. The Pavlov Poke works by using a UI Inspector (the duo used their Mac’s UI Inspector), a bit of code to produce an onscreen alert when a site is visited too frequently, a USB-connected Arduino to send the shock circuit, and electrodes connected to metal strips on a keyboard rest. Admittedly, the Pavlov...
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These days, anyone unconcerned about privacy violations is probably just being blissfully ignorant. There's plenty to be aware of, and apps like this certainly fit into the category. SecureIM Free Beta just launched onto the Google Play Store, supporting extra-support communications via the Google Talk protocol. Plus, support for secure Facebook Chat is coming "soon." If you're wondering what exactly it'll add to your phone, have a look: SecureIM is the first Secure-Chat application which is built to protect you from any possible or potential leak of privacy. These days organizations spy on our...
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The Web isn’t difficult to navigate if you bring along some common sense and a healthy dose of skepticism, but those traits are sometimes in short supply among stock traders. Lately, would-be moguls are falling victim to scammers who are trying to influence the market with social media accounts that are designed to look like they belong to top industry players. News flows fast on Twitter, and it's easy to get sucked into the excitement generated by a tweet that seems to be from a legitimate source - which is exactly why you need to be on guard when using Twitter (or any source, for that matter)....
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As it often goes, smaller startups tend to forget all about awesome parts of their business as soon as they're snapped up by larger companies. Even if the "larger company" used to be a "small startup" itself. When Sparrow got swallowed by Google, almost all of the innovation within Sparrow's own app came to a screeching halt. And now, Posterous looks to be saying goodbye to some of its core as it moves on to a world dictated by Twitter. You see, Posterous was purchased by Twitter around a year ago, after launching to much fanfare in 2008. The goal for the company was to make sharing photos and...
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