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Google Play Store debuts Final Fantasy VI today

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One of the most beloved iterations of the Final Fantasy series is coming to the Google Play Store today: Final Fantasy VI.

Originally debuting for the Super Nintendo on April 2nd, 1994 (in Japan), Final Fantasy VI was an instant hit with fans and was one of the most critically acclaimed games of its time. Even today, it stands as one of the most memorable role-playing games to have ever been released. Read more »

AMD boasts its next gen chip is better than Intel’s

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If you’re a PC gamer, then you’re familiar with AMD’s line of processors. The company introduced the first dual-core chipset back in 2008 and has always been at the forefront of the CPU advancement game with quad-core and octa-core processors. Now AMD has upped the ante with Kaveri, a processor which offers ’12 compute cores.’

The chipset actually offers four CPU and 8 GPU cores which, according to AMD, provide for unrivaled gaming experiences on PCs. Read more »

BES will be available for Windows Phone

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It’s no secret that Blackberry’s hardware isn’t exactly flying off the shelves. In the corporate world, iPhones and Droids are becoming more and more prevalent in the hands of business movers and shakers. The transition has been slowed down due to the excellent security features of Blackberry Enterprise Server, but it’s only a matter of time before Blackberry is no longer synonymous with business. Well now, it looks like Windows Phone devices will soon have the ability to sport BES, potentially keeping Blackberry in the corporate game.

CEO John Chen had this to say:

I could put a sales team on Wall Street. I know how to do this up and down Wall Street … we will go in and tell them why BES is the best thing for them, and go through the road map, the offerings, and all that good stuff. We’re going to protect their investment in iPhone, and Android, and everywhere else, even with Windows Phones.

Read more »

Facebook acquires Branch in a $15 million deal

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CEO of Branch, Josh Miller, has announced that the service has been bought out by Facebook. As part of the deal, Facebook will also acquire Potluck, a similar service. If you’re not familiar with Branch or Potluck, they’re link-sharing services that allow friends to share news stories and internet articles, and have conversations about said stories. This news-centric app’s intention was to move discussions away from Facebook and email and allow users an easier, more “feed-like” way to talk about the links they’re sharing.

The news doesn’t really come as much of a surprise, considering that Facebook has been moving more towards putting real news stories in your feeds along with photo albums of your best friend’s weird night in Bangkok photo album. Facebook is bringing on CEO Josh Miller to do just this, so he’ll be working for Zuckerberg in addition to being bought out. Read more »

European Apple fans rejoice, Mac Pro now available in EU

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The newest Mac Pro complies with all EU laws and is available for sale in Europe.

In March of 2013, the older Mac Pro had been banned for sale in Europe due to regulation changes.

EU law stipulated that in order for an electronic device to be deemed safe, fan guards were required to cover the exposed fans of the previous Mac Pro model. The electrical ports on the popular desktop computer also required slight changes. Read more »

Windows 9 may come out April next year

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It’s no secret that Windows 8 hasn’t exactly been a resounding success. So what’s the best way to fix a failed OS? Start over. That’s what Paul Thurott, a Windows news maven, believes will happen in April of 2015 with the release of Windows 9.

Thurott believes that Microsoft’s Build 2014 developer conference will see the announcement of Windows 9 this April, with the release of the OS set for the following year.

Windows 8 came under a lot of fire for its wild redesign. The Start menu’s absence being the most notorious omission from Microsoft’s new OS. Well the beloved Start menu should be making a comeback in Windows 9, and it’s rumored that it may return even as early as the Windows 8.1 update. Read more »

WhatsApp for Windows Phone 8 gets a fix

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The WhatsApp client for Windows Phone 8 devices suffered from a minor problem with broadcast message reception.

The latest update, v2.11.356, for the popular messaging application, however, fixes this issue.

The newest update doesn’t offer any additional features, such as allowing users to send music files, but many believe that this will be available soon. Read more »

Nokia Lumia Black software update features overview

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There’s a hands-on video showing off the features of the Nokia Lumia Black software update on the inter-webs. In it, a Nokia rep goes over all of the new things your Nokia Lumia smartphone can do.

The first feature they show off is the new and improved “glance mode”. There are now new notifications that you can see on the ‘always on’ screen of Lumia smartphones, without having to wake your phone.

There’s also an updated Nokia Camera app, that allows for three shooting modes: Video Recording, Nokia Camera, and Nokia Pro Camera. With the Pro Camera mode, you can fidget with light sensitivity and other camera settings more in-depth, as well as get a preview of the photo before you actually take it. Read more »

The Babolat Play Pure Drive: a smart tennis racquet

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Want to stop sucking at Tennis, but can’t afford a good instructor? Well Babolat may have something that’ll help you out: the Play Pure Drive.

Essentially a tennis racquet that is packed with sensors, Babolat’s racquet measures vibrational and gyroscopic data and displays how many forehand and backhand hits you’ve made and where exactly you hit the ball on the strings. You can then use this data to delineate your tendencies and try to correct them and improve your game.

The data is synced via Bluetooth, where all of the tennis-centric metrics are pushed to your smartphone or device of choice. You don’t need to interpret all of the data yourself though, because Babolat’s software will give you suggestions on how to improve your swing. Read more »

Get $50 off a Nexus 7 (2013) on Woot today

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In terms of tablets, it’s hard to get more bang for your buck than the Nexus 7. Well Woot made buying one an even sweeter deal today but knocking off $50 from the price of Google’s tablet.

Keep in mind that these are for factory reconditioned Nexus 7 (2013) WiFi only units, so they won’t be brand new out of the box.

With the discount, you can pick up the 16GB version for $189, and the 32GB Nexus 7 for only $219, making it one of the better bargains out there right now. Especially when you consider the specs: a quad-core 1.5GHz Krait CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 1200 x 1920 IPS display with a 5MP primary camera and a 1.2MP front-facing unit. Read more »

Get thermal imaging on your iPhone with the FLIR One

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Do you love your iPhone 5s or 5, but want it to be more like the Predator? Then FLIR has just the product for you.

The FLIR One is a case for the iPhone that comes with both thermal imaging and visible light cameras. The thermal imaging unit allows for some pretty cool night vision viewing and snapshot opportunities that are currently unavailable on smartphones. FLIR calls their thermal imaging camera technology Lepton. Read more »

HP working on a phablet of its own: the HP Slate 6 Voice Tab

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A Bluetooth SIG listing that popped up today suggests that HP is planning on releasing its own phablet: the HP Slate 6 Voice Tab. Deemed a “voice tablet”, and with a screen measuring 6 inches, it’s safe to assume that HP is trying to get into the gigantic smartphone game.

The speculation becomes more interesting coupled with stories of HP purportedly working to distribute two tablets, 7 and 6 inches respectively, in developing markets for under $250 each. If HP does indeed sell a 6-inch Android phablet for under $250 SIM-free, it could certainly perk up some ears in the smartphone world. Read more »

Samsung debuts new line of SMART cameras

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Samsung announced five new cameras at CES: the WB200F, the WB1100F, the WB350F, WB35F, and WB50F.

Although detailed pricing and availability information isn’t available, we do know that each camera comes packed with NFC and WiFi out the box. We also have some information on model specific features. Read more »

Meet Edison, Intel’s SD card-sized computer

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Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel debuted the Edison, “a full Pentium-class PC” at CES and here’s the kicker: it’s the size of an SD card.

What’s even more impressive is the list of specs for the computer’s tiny size: it has a dual-core Quark SOC, Bluetooth, and WiFi all jammed into the tiny package. Read more »

Sony releases Core Smartband, the wearable that will track your life

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Are you looking to have metrics for every aspect of your life? Measurement of the amount of time you spend sleeping, the amount of time you spend walking around, exercising, text messaging, browsing the web, or talking on the phone? Then you’ll be happy to know that Sony plans to make all of this data available to you via their new wearable: the Sony Core Smartband.

Named a “life-tracking” device, the Sony Core connects with your smartphone via bluetooth (no word yet on whether or not this will exclusively work with Sony devices) and tracks every aspect of your life: from workout routines to social interactions, the Core presents the data in a grid to show you how much time you spend on each activity you partake in. Read more »