To explain some of the thinking behind Microsoft’s decisions on the Xbox One, Major Nelson went on camera and answered questions taken straight from the Reddit thread. That being said, he did sidestep some of them.

For example, the first question was asking about what happens when the Xbox One generation ends and Microsoft shuts down its Xbox One servers. Will the system still be playable, given that it has to “log in” to the server once every 24 hours. Major Nelson’s response? He said it’s too early to say, seeing how this gen hasn’t even launched yet, but he says the system is designed to “be flexible.”

Similarly, when someone asked why they can’t just use the game disc when they can’t get online, he said that the Xbox One is meant to be more flexible than that. By utilizing the online experience, family members can “check out” a game from their shared library, anywhere they are and this is more flexible. But they still have to be online.

Watch the video below for the full interview where he goes on to talk about Xbox Live bans, switching to TV programs, and more.

Major Nelson says this is the future of gaming and they hope gamers will join them on this journey. Do you agree, or do you feel that Microsoft is setting it up for a major failure this time around?

[Source]

The post Video: Microsoft’s Major Nelson Responds to Xbox One Questions appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Interestingly enough, a new listing showing devices supported by Blackberry OS 10.1 has an unexpected entry: The Blackberry PlayBook.

You can go to the list by going to create or update an app in the Blackberry Vendor Portal and then you simply choose the supported version of Blackberry 10. A list will then show up, including the PlayBook.

So here’s the big question? DOES the PlayBook support BB10.1 or is this simply some kind of mistake? If it does support BB10.1, it could be in the form of a PlayBook 2, or simply an update for the older PlayBook. Or maybe even both?

We aren’t really sure what to make of this. While Blackberry didn’t exactly have a lot of luck in the tablet market, many of its problems had to do with the PlayBook OS not exactly having all the crucial apps needed right out the gate. Blackberry hasn’t clearly stated its plans for the tablet space going forward, but this could maybe be a sign that they aren’t done just yet.

Do you think it makes sense for Blackberry to roll out BB10.1 to the Playbook or even revive the line with a BB10.1-capable successor, or should the company solely focus on phones? Share your thoughts below.

[ source ]

The post Could Blackberry Playbook Be Getting BB10.1 Support? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Does privacy really exist on the net? Recent drama related to the NSA and project Prism certainly is making us think twice about how private our Internet experience really is, whether it comes to the government or even just a hacker watching you.

Want a fighting chance at actually staying private when on the web? A new device from Adafruit uses a Raspberry Pi as its basis, and is called the OnionPi Tor Proxy. This interesting project requires a USB Wi-Fi adapter, ethernet cable and a Raspberry Pi. The end result is a low-power proxy for privacy.

The Onion Pi Tor Proxy is capable or re-routing your internet traffic via a number of locations, which makes tracking you all the more difficult. While a determined agency or hacker could likely still find a way around these tricks, it certainly ads an extra layer of security and privacy.

Curious on how to make your own or simply want more details on how this would work? You can grab instructions over at the Adafruit website.

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The post Afraid of Being “Watched” Online? Raspberry Pi Can Help appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Indeed, this image was unearthed from the November 1924 issue of Science and Technology magazine and it depicts how they foresaw the coming of the “Artificial Man.” You might call him a cyborg, but many of the things depicted have almost become commonplace today. They represent advances in medical technology that extend our lifespans and allow people with disabilities to be better abled.

You have to remember that, in the 1920s, people didn’t get “augmented” with much more than a pair of glasses and maybe some false teeth. In this infographic, though, we see artificial arms and legs. They may not have foreseen the “blade runner” tech for people like Oscar Pistorius, but they figured we’d be replacing limbs. Today, we also have artificial hearts and lungs and all sorts of other things. As they foresaw, we are working toward “removing the fangs of death by substituting organs of the body which have succumbed to the effects of time and the ravages of disease.”

Yes, we still have a long way to go — the artificial eye hasn’t yet lived up to our sci-fi fantasies — but it is reassuring that the medical science community has made such progress. It’ll be amazing how we’ll look in the year 2120.

[source]

The post How the 1920s Viewed the Cyborg of the Future appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Windows 8.1 Start Button is certainly coming, whether you like what it does or not. As for what all other things we can expect, we have for you folks leaked screenshots of redesigned Windows 8.1 applications.

The image above shows the new look for Xbox Music. You will be able to check out your collection on the side, and there are “explore” and “radio” buttons. The radio service is expected to be powered by Microsoft’s Smart DJ. Meanwhile, “explore” will reportedly show artists you might like and recently released albums.

In the video below, you can take a peek at updates which will be arriving for the news, weather, travel, finance and sports apps.

The new design for Windows Store features an application “shelf”, and there will be more text in the interface.

The Store will also finally start showing apps recommendations based on what you are searching for.

And new applications are coming including a voice recording application, a new metro styled calculator, and a good looking alarm app you see below.

So, what do you think about these updates that are coming? Will these be appealing to those who weren’t fond of Windows 8?

[Source]

The post Windows 8.1 Screenshots Leaked (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Apparently several analysts have forecasted that the sales of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 will be lower than the company’s expectations, and things may get worse once new Apple and Nokia devices arrive. Luckily Samsung has been pretty aggressive with its S4 line, expanding the family out to several new devices like the S4 Active. Now they are planning to launch an S4 with LTE-advanced 4G technology as well.

J.K. Shin, Samsung co-chief executive, told Reuters, “We’ll be the first with the commercial launch of the advanced 4G version of the smartphone“. The device will have a slightly higher price tag than the S4 and will be launched in South Korea as early as this month. They have been in talks with several foreign carriers, though there haven’t been any hints about which ones.

The S4 device which will be using the high speed network will be coming equipped with Qualcomm chips. LTE-Advanced, an upgrade from LTE, is already available in some parts of Russia. The network provides up to twice the speed available via normal 4G. Russian carrier Yota, which was the first to launch LTE-Advanced, is promising speeds of 300Mbps.

Shin said, “As operators seek to provide more data-centric mobile services, I think this will become mainstream 4G technology globally in the coming years”.

But the co-exec’s words are certainly no confirmation that the device will be launched in the U.S. Of course, the network has to launch first. AT&T’s LTE-Advanced is coming in the second half of this year, while Verizon will launch soon by utilizing AWS frequencies. T-Mobile is also expected to launch the network sometime in the future, but no hints about any LTE-A plans from Sprint.\

Can we expect anything else out of the Galaxy S4 with LTE Advanced? While nothing else is confirmed, previous rumors suggest this model might ditch the Snapdragon 600 in favor of a much more impressive Snapdragon 800 processor. What do you think of all these variants of the S4, is this a good thing or are there too many at this point? Share your thoughts below!

The post Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE Advanced Smartphone Coming Soon appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The assumption is that AT&T has built up a strong enough infrastructure with its LTE network to now support the increased load necessary to handle its GoPhone prepaid service too. This support will open up next week on June 21st. If you’re a GoPhone user and you have an LTE-compatible device, you should be able to connect starting then.

If you’re on the GoPhone service (or want to sign up) and don’t have an LTE device, AT&T is helping with that too. The budget-oriented Samsung Galaxy Express has the looks to stay in line with the Galaxy line but at a more affordable price. Selling for $249.99 sans contract, the Galaxy Express has a 4.5-inch WVGA AMOLED display, 1.5GHz dual core processor, 5MP camera and 8GB of storage.

As far as the LTE-compatible GoPhone plans go, they all include international texts from the US to Canada, Mexico and about 100 other countries. The cheapest plan is $25/month for 250 minutes, but you need to tack on $5 for 50MB of data. Going through 50MB on LTE is really fast, so you might consider the higher plans. For $40/month, you get 200MB, 500 anytime minutes and additional data at $5/100MB. The highest plan is $60/month and it has 2GB of data with unlimited calling. Add more data at a rate of $10 per gig.

[Source]

The post AT&T GoPhone Prepaid Getting Access to 4G LTE Network Next Week appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Apparently what we’ve seen so far with T-Mobile’s UNcarrier approach is just the beginning, at least if the latest rumor proves correct. Supposedly two other phases will eventually roll out bring more changes, with phase 2 likely coming sometime around mid-July.

So what changes will phase 2 bring? Apparently there will be some new no-credit check options for those that either have poor credit, no credit or simply wish to avoid having their credit checked for whatever reason.
This doesn’t mean that you’ll qualify for any purchase plans, it just means that you can get in on a Simple Choice plan by buying your device outright. Basically it will be like prepaid – but not.

Supposedly there is also plans to combine their UNcarrier approach with MetroPCS, and is expected to tie in with 15 additional markets that MetroPCS will be launching in.

As for phase 3? We have no clue at the moment.Either way, these supposed phases are merely rumors at the moment, so take them with a grain of salt. What do you think of T-Mobile’s no-contract approach so far, is a real game-changer or more of a gimmick than anything? Let us know what you think!

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The post T-Mobile Moving to “Phase 2″ to its UNcarrier Effort in July appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The week is ending, Friday has arrived! For those that regularly stay tuned to my Friday “Best Apps of the Week” feature – I’m doing things a bit different this week.

I’ve had a few comments and suggestions in the past asking me to include other platforms besides Android and iOS. Unfortunately gathering details for 5 apps for each platform would make this piece much longer (and harder to navigate) than we’d like.

So I’m switching things up at least for this week, and introducing the “Mobile Mag App ShowCase”. The idea here is much the same as the “Best Apps” format, the biggest difference is that we instead focus on just two of the “best rated/most highly anticipated” apps for the week and extend to covering Android, iOS, Blackberry 10 and Windows Phone 8.

Typically that will mean 1 game, 1 productivity/entertainment app.

So without further ado, let’s get started:

App ShowCase – Android

App ShowCase – iOS

App ShowCase – Windows Phone 8

App ShowCase – Blackberry 10

Summing it all up….

So that’s it, our first “Mobile Mag App ShowCase”. What did you think? Did I cover good enough apps, or was there something that you felt was more deserving for the list? Also – since this was more of an experiment than anything, what did you think?

Do you like the idea of showcasing the two BEST apps of the week for each of the primary four mobile platforms, or do you feel the model of 5 iOS and 5 Android apps is better approach? Let us know what you think, your comments could affect whether or not MM App ShowCase replaces the older “Best Apps of the Week” format!

The post MM App ShowCase (6/14): A look at Android, iOS, BB10 and Windows Phone Apps! appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Games might become frighteningly real sometime in the future. But it seems that sports games have already become more realistic and fun. Electronic Arts showed off the future of sports games inside Ignite Lab, where fans got their first look at FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, NBA Live 14, and UFC 14.

The games, which will be coming to the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4, are said to be as real as how gamers have wanted sports games to be, all thanks to the capabilities of the newly unveiled consoles. They are talking about more than 1,000 animations for a player’s movements in the basketball court with balls that finally move in the right way, tackles that feel very real, more impressive and immersive crowds, stunning graphics, and players capable of making decisions and reacting as human beings would do.

According to FIFA executive producer David Rutter, “What we’re now doing is looking into the future. What makes a human move is anticipation. So now, if I run toward you, you’re going to know I’m coming. You can anticipate that, and you can react. Players in our game now have the horsepower to do this. When we started to introduce runtime [on the PS2], you ended up with these very believable outcomes, but while the collision would look beautiful, the behavior was dumb, because they’re not actually thinking about how to do that. Now, what we can do is actually have them not falling. So you’ll see lots of skips, lots of nuance in their behavior that for a human, is what you learned growing up, but we never had that before in our game“.

NBA Live Creative Director Gary Patterson says, “The ball was hard-coded into the dribbling animation, so when the animation changes, the ball does funny things. It goes around the floor, or you get a double-bounce, or it gets stuck to their hand for an inordinate amount of time. Now, we’ve released the ball to physics… it works the same way dribbling works in real life“.

Are you excited about these sports games that are arriving on the new consoles?

[Source]

The post Xbox One And PS4 Sports Games (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.