The iPad and its feisty little brother the iPhone are known the world over for being fantastic gaming machines. One genre that particularly shines on their glossy, fingerprint-laden screens? Endless runners. The best of the genre, like “Temple Run” and “Jetpack Joyride,” offer an addictive experience that is perfect for bite-sized gaming sessions. Here are a few new titles vying for “best of” status.

‘Robot Unicorn Attack 2’
Company: Adult Swim Games
System: iPad/iPhone
Cost: Free
Rating: 5 (out of 5) Globes

The first “Robot Unicorn Attack” was a joyous, cacophonous experience that could only come from the warped minds at Adult Swim. This sequel amps up just about everything you loved in the original. There are more power-ups for your unicorn, an even better synth-based soundtrack and a fantastic mission-based structure.

There’s also a unique online mode. You are assigned a team, good or evil, and everything you do works toward your team’s total score. The course you run changes daily, so you can’t cheat and memorize every nook and cranny. This is a “freemium” game, but RUA2 manages to avoid most of the associated pitfalls. It’ll ask for money every now and again, but the prompts are easy to ignore.

‘Worm Run’
Company: Golden Ruby Games
System: iPad/iPhone
Cost: $1
Rating: 5 (out of 5) Globes

“Worm Run” is a surreal mix of endless running and survival horror. The end result of this odd mash-up? A total adrenaline-fueled and frantic rush. The game tasks you as a spaceman who is being chased by a giant worm, “Tremors”-style. You have to run, climb and jump your way to freedom. Unfortunately, that danged worm never lets up, and freedom is short-lived at best. Maybe it’s an analogy for life, or my last marriage. Ba-dum-dum.

The controls are entirely swipe-based, which works marvelously. The precision required to avoid that giant, bloodthirsty worm makes the game a better fit for the iPad’s large screen, however. Even on the iPhone, though, it is totally worth a buck.

The post Sidescroller: Apps that make your thumbs do the running appeared first on Metro.us.

Smartphone makers should help stem the tide of iPhones being swiped in the state, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said today.

Schneiderman sent letters to the heads of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung asking them to help prevent theft and questioning why phones aren’t better protected from being resold on the black market.

He cited a rise in violent street crimes including phone thefts, often called “Apple picking.”

“I would like to know what Apple is doing to combat this growing public safety problem,” Schneiderman wrote in a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

He asked why “companies that can develop sophisticated handheld electronics, such as the products manufactured by Apple, cannot also create technology to render stolen devices inoperable and thereby eliminate the expanding black market.”

The NYPD has reported that smartphone thefts are increasingly on the rise in the city, even as other crime declines.

Thieves often swipe them from their owners’ hands – the subway is a frequent setting, just before doors close or on a platform – then wipe the devices and resell them for hundreds in cash.

According to Schneiderman’s office, between January and September of last year, 11,447 smartphones were reported swiped, an increase of 3,280 from the year before.

And too many of these robberies are violent, Schneiderman said.

This month, a woman was mugged at gunpoint in Crown Heights for her Android phone. In February, three people were stabbed on a Queens subway platform in a fight over the phone, and last April, a 26-year-old Museum of Modern Art chef was killed for his phone in the Bronx.

Schneiderman asked the companies to give information about what they tell consumers regarding safety. He also requested whether they financially benefit when customers have to shell out cash to replace stolen phones.

“Cracking down on violent and dangerous cell phone thefts is important for New Yorkers,” Schneiderman said. “The companies that dominate this industry have a responsibility to their customers to fulfill their promises to ensure safety and security.”

The post A.G. asks smartphone companies to help stop ‘Apple picking’ appeared first on Metro.us.

From the governor to New Yorkers visiting an ATM, this week’s cybercrime arrests are amping up cybersecurity efforts.

After several were charged in a $45 million ATM heist, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released a report today about cybercrime, cautioning New Yorkers to be more careful, even during routine ATM withdrawals.

The report offers consumer tips on avoiding identity theft as well as suggestions on how to toughen laws.

“The stunning scope of this crime is a sobering wake-up call for New Yorkers, from the highest levels of the financial community to millions of citizens who need to feel secure when they use ATM machines,” Stringer said.

Today, Gov. Andrew Cuomo also announced a new Cyber Security Advisory Board, which will advise state officials on how to protect state infrastructure and information systems.

Cuomo also noted this week’s arrests.

“The need to increase cyber security to guard against these threats is urgent,” he said. “In the 21st century, almost all of our daily activities are linked to the internet – from banking to shopping to using our telecommunications networks and physical infrastructure systems.”

How to protect yourself against cybercrime:

• Always use your other hand to shield your hand typing in your PIN at an ATM.
• When you can’t see your credit card, for example at a hotel or restaurant, always use a credit card instead of a debit card. Credit card companies have stronger protections against fraud, Stringer said.
• Keep a firewall on your home computer to protect from hackers.
• Never open an email attachment from someone you don’t know or even forwarded attachments from people you do know.

The post After ATM heist, officials amp up cybersecurity efforts appeared first on Metro.us.

The first time Mario set his hefty foot atop a hapless Goomba, the 2-D sidescroller was born. With each passing generation, game designers find new and innovative ways to keep this ancient genre alive. Here are reviews of two brand new sidescrollers that merge the best parts of the last 30 years.

‘Guacamelee!’
Drinkbox Studios
PS3/Vita
4 (out of 5) Globes

This game technically falls into a category called “Metroidvania,” meaning that it owes great allegiance to both “Metroid” and “Castlevania.” This means an open world to explore, with plenty of side-scrolling action. Exploration is rewarded with new moves and abilities, which in turn let you explore new areas to find even more stuff. The perfect addictive cycle!

The hook with “Guacamelee!” is the world, which is set in Mexico and loosely based on the customs surrounding the country’s Day of the Dead celebration. It’s colorful, laugh-out-loud funny and features great controls.

One caveat though: The platforming in this title can be brutal. You may have to time travel and get your 9-year-old self to beat some of the more difficult segments.

“Terraria” plays like internet sensation “Minecraft” in 2-D.
Credit: 505 Games

‘Terraria’
PS3/Xbox/PC
505 Games
5 (out of 5) Globes

Unless you’ve been hiding under an Internet-disabled rock, you have no doubt heard of indie darling “Minecraft.” That game’s mix of action and literal world-building has made its creator one of the most influential, and wealthiest, men in the video game world. “Terraria” takes the randomized, build-anything tomfoolery of “Minecraft” and makes it 2-D. Yeah. It’s as good as it sounds.

“Terraria” is more a brutal, life-changing addiction than a video game (in a good way). Once you enter your randomized world, you’ll be able to explore every nook and cranny at your leisure. And we do mean every nook and cranny. You can dig all the way to Hell and build bridges all the way into space. There’s also plenty of treasure to find and enemies to fight, including some really cool bosses.

The post Sidescroller: 2-D games can still charm the 3-D world appeared first on Metro.us.

Mobile job search apps, which enable you to apply for a position from your phone, are popping up all over. Major search sites like Monster and Career Builder offer an app that lets you to browse postings, update your status and apply right from your phone. But is all this technology making the search for a new job easier, or is it just one more thing to keep track of?

According to Luis Salazar, more mobile application programs would mean a greater chance at job placement for many hourly workers. Salazar is co-founder and CEO of Jobaline, a mobile platform that connects job-seekers with companies. “The hourly workers, which are 59 percent of our economy, are especially left behind,” says Salazar.

“These important workers often either lack Internet access or only access the Web using mobile phones. When we bridge the gap by providing mobile recruitment tools that address job search needs, workers and employers alike will have the ability to find a better fit.”

Companies that create an app need to focus on keeping it concise and user-friendly. “A well-designed mobile recruitment system can reduce the amount of time and effort necessary for a candidate to apply, leading to higher application rates and fewer orphaned applications,” explains Mahe Bayireddy, CEO of iMomentous, a mobile talent recruiter.

“By integrating with DropBox, Google Drive, and social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn, applying for a job through mobile can be simple. Forms that once took upward of 20 minutes to complete can be automatically pulled from existing profiles,” Bayireddy says. Like so many other technological advances, if you’re not keeping up with the times, you’re falling behind.

“Five years from now, it’s impossible for us to imagine a world where most job searches and applications will not happen through a mobile device,” says Proven’s CEO, Pablo Fuentes. Proven is a job search app that lets users send résumés to job sites. “Today, people are doing banking, travel, and taxes on their phone. Tomorrow, mobile will be the standard for job searches.” Julia west

The post Put the ‘app’ in job application appeared first on Metro.us.

Take it seriously
Treat your online profile as a professional asset and determine if it positions you the way you want it to. Google yourself often and see what the world sees when they look for you.

Commit to a professional online persona
You will be judged by what you post and what others do, too. Select a professional voice and spell-check your postings. Don’t post or say anything online that you wouldn’t want your grandmother or boss to see.

Monitor
Sign up for free, no-obligation alerts on a site that manages online reputations. Enter your name or other keywords and be alerted when potentially damaging materials are posted about you. At Reputation Changer, the technology crawls the “deep Web” going beyond what search engines look at to see what dangers may exist.

Take proactive control
Commit to ensuring that the entire first page of Google’s search results for your name or your company bring up websites or pages that you control.

1. Even a site like Yelp or Wikipedia portrays you in a particular way, so make sure you control the message.
2. Set your Facebook privacy settings so that nobody can tag you in a picture without your approval. Review the privacy settings of all the social media sites you use.
3.  Create online assets using your exact personal and/or company name as the title (such as .com or .net). Use social media profiles and free blogs. Update and post to these pages consistently. The volume of activity required depends on how prominent you are. The more prominent you are, the more active you must be.

Prepare for the worst and react fast
Proactively build up some messages that you can release if a negative news story breaks. If you believe that people may post negative or embarrassing things about you, try to head it off, but expect that you cannot. Once it is out there you can only react to it. If you need to apologize, do that, but don’t debate online because it drags out the conversation. Shift the conversation to the things that you want people to focus on.

By the numbers
70 percent of U.S. companies say that they have disqualified candidates based on what they find online about them. By 2014, 53 percent of all retail sales (online and offline) will be influenced by the more than 1.6 trillion searches conducted per year.

— These tips were compiled by Michael Zammuto, president of Reputation Changer, a company that helps people manage their online personas.

The post 5 important tips for managing your online reputation appeared first on Metro.us.

With its rare apology, Apple went from pariah to praiseworthy in the eyes of China’s state-controlled media, a lesson for other foreign firms not to underestimate the speed and power of the government press.

After coming under near-daily media assault for the past two weeks and facing the threat of penalties from two Chinese government bureaus, Apple apologized to Chinese consumers on Monday for poor communication over its warranty policy and said it will change the terms for some of its iPhones sold in China.

Greater China is Apple’s second-biggest and fastest-growing market, with sales up almost 40 percent to $6.8 billion in the final quarter of 2012.

The Chinese newspapers that threw brickbats at Apple a few days ago have since changed their tune.

“The company’s apology letter has eased the situation, softening the tense relationship between Apple and the Chinese market … Its reaction is worth respect compared with other American companies,” wrote popular tabloid the Global Times, published by Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily.

The Foreign Ministry praised Apple for “conscientiously” responding to consumers’ demands.

“We approve of what Apple said,” spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing this morning.

Only last week, the People’s Daily issued a scathing editorial on Apple’s return policy saying the popular smartphone maker was filled with “unparalleled arrogance”.

Apple was first targeted in mid-March by state broadcaster CCTV during its annual consumer day segment. Volkswagen AG, which was also criticized on the same show, plans to recall vehicles to fix a gearbox problem.

“That Timothy Cook had to step up and respond from the CEO’s chair shows the importance of China and how critical it is as a market not just for Apple but for every multinational company here,” said Kent Kedl, Shanghai-based head of Greater China and North Asia for risk consultancy firm Control Risks.

Foreign companies who are adept at managing media crises at home find it much tougher to navigate China where state media outlets, pandering to different audiences, often have opaque agendas and intentions. Analysts also said that foreign companies need to remember that the bigger the brand, the bigger a target it will be, especially in China.

“What foreign companies need to pay attention to, is that nobody operates in a vacuum, nobody operates only on the good graces of a brand name … Five to ten years ago a report on CCTV would have rippled a little bit, now it goes viral and has a life of its own,” Kedl said.

Apple’s acquiescence in this setting, where the world’s largest technology company by market value was ironically the David going up against China’s Goliath state media machinations, shows its wisdom in not challenging a more powerful enemy.

Although popular opinion on the Internet swayed in Apple’s favor, against state media and the reported threats of penalties from China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce as well as its quality and inspection bureau, it was not Apple’s fight to win, experts said.

Other foreign companies targeted by CCTV, such as fast food chain operator Yum Brands Inc, have also apologized and faced scrutiny from government agencies. Last December CCTV reported that two of Yum’s suppliers purchased chickens from farmers who used excessive levels of antibiotics in their animals. The report and subsequent investigations hurt sales at Yum’s KFC chain.

But Apple’s situation is somewhat different because CCTV’s claim was not completely new. Last July, a Chinese consumer rights group also slammed Apple for its after-sales policies. That time, however, Apple held its ground.

With the apology and warranty change, Apple’s mea culpa is significant not just because it comes from a tech firm that rarely apologizes, but also because Apple may be realizing that in China, it needs to be proactive.

“They’re out of the woods and into the weeds. Things will rarely be smooth for Apple in China – even if consumers love it there will always be factions in and out of government that are trying to take it down,” said Michael Clendenin, managing director of technology consultancy RedTech Advisors.

“Apple made it easy this time, but they have learned to be more proactive. The next time they stumble, it will be easier to recover,” he said.

The post Apple’s rare show of humility pleases China appeared first on Metro.us.

Nintendo’s 3DS has gone from a lackluster launch to being another popular entry in the company’s continued dominance of portable console gaming. Big titles hit store shelves on the regular and their digital marketplace is inching ever-so-close to Apple territory. Let’s review some games you can play on the toilet.

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
3DS
Nintendo
5 (out of 5) globes

Ah, good ole Luigi. Mario’s brother has gotten the short shrift for 30 years now. He’s the cowardly one, the klutzy one, the one who is constantly told, “Just be more like your brother!” In other words, he’s the everyman. Well, this regular Joe finally has a 3DS game to call his own and it is one of the system’s best titles.

It’s a spooky and hilarious ghost-hunting sim set inside a series of haunted mansions. It’s even more fun than it sounds. Every inch of this game oozes polish and charm, from the way Luigi hums along with the theme music to the mansions themselves, which are beautifully rendered and chock full of secrets. This is one game where it pays to have the 3D turned on.

HarmoKnight
3DS
Game Freak/Nintendo
4 (out of 5) globes

Game Freak is known to most people as the company that created Pikachu and the endless array of cute and bloodthirsty Pokemon. But occasionally, when the mood strikes, they develop games where you don’t have to catch ‘em all.

HarmoKnight is a unique take on music games, pairing the rhythm-based gameplay of something like PaRappa the Rapper with sidescrolling action. Essentially, it’s like a Mario title you control by pushing buttons along to the beat. The graphics are simple but the game boasts a striking amount of content. There are tons of hidden areas, boss battles and even, yes, guest appearances by Pokemon to keep you busy for hours.

The post Sidescrollers: On Luigi’s Mansion and HarmoKnight appeared first on Metro.us.

It’s April Fools’ Day soon – no, really, it’s Monday.

Fear not! Metro has some last-minute ideas. Whether you want to best your coworkers or dial up a friend or significant other, read on for some suggestions. No comment on whether we tested these on Metro colleagues first…

The whoopee cushion is old news, say the creators of the Fart O Gram. The prank-calling service allows you to enter digits to be pranked, then calls the person and lets the flatulence rip as they pick up. Take your time choosing from the Sexy Stall or the Costume Party, where a female recording pretends to have met the prankee before and then, well, you know.

For a prank you can set up on your phone, try the Fake Text app. It crafts a message that pops up on your screen, from, perhaps, Barack Obama. All you do is download and type in the celebrity you want to drop you a line. So show your friends a text of Barack Obama inviting you to the White House. Or perhaps you met Lady Gaga at a party the night before, and she texted you to come to her next concert. See who believes it.

Another app, Prank Me, logs recorded voices — from the stomach-dropping, like Timothy Warrenton calling from the IRS to say you owe $10,000 that will soon be drafted from your paycheck, to the celeb, like Regis Philbin calling about “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” The catch? The app calls your phone, so to prank someone with the recording, you have to hold your phone up to another receiver as you dial someone else.

To brainstorm, the Pranks app revolves through different plots, like hiding alarm clocks and setting them for different times or gluing a quarter to the floor and snickering as people try to pick it up.

Old-school style

If you’d rather get your hands dirty and do the prankwork yourself, get inspired by these small-screen scenarios:

We all know arriving at the office is a gift, but make it official by wrapping up an office computer and chair with that wrapping paper you bought at CVS two holiday seasons ago. This only requires beating a coworker to the office – or maybe some sneakiness when they run out for lunch. This is gem inspired by “The Office”: During their ongoing prank-off, Jim gift-wraps Dwight’s desk and everything on it.

In “New Girl,” Nick wants to prove that he’s the prank master. Although many of his shenanigans are too much work (reworking a wall so roommate Schmidt would think he was getting smaller), this one is office-effective: claim the TV (or some Pandora music) is blaring, and get your officemates in on the joke, nodding along, to make another think they are going deaf.

This prank may end in a cubemate punching a hole through the wall, if “The Office” is any indication. In one of the episodes, Jim tosses Andy’s phone through a ceiling panel, constantly calling it so it rings as Andy’s blood pressure rises while struggling to find it. For a less violent reaction, you may want to hide your coworker’s phone in an easier-to-find spot, like under a file pile in a drawer or wedged behind the water cooler. Just make sure you know the number to dial.

The post Last-minute pranks for April Fools’ Day appeared first on Metro.us.

A Dutch web hosting company has been accused of orchestrating the biggest-ever attack on the Internet that dramatically slowed web access around the world Tuesday.

The web hosting company Cyberbunker is said to be receiving support from criminal gangs in Russia and Eastern Europe to bombard servers with gigantic amounts of traffic in a bid to make the web inaccessible.

The allegations have been made by London-based Spamhaus, a company that attempts to block junk emails across the Internet.

Steve Linford, chief executive of Spamhaus, told the BBC that its servers had been hit by a denial of service attack at 300 gigabytes per second for the last week. He said attacks on the past that have blocked, for example, banking services, were only at 50Gb per second.

He said the attacks were being investigated by five national police services around the world.

The post Cyberbunker: Dutch web hosting company accused of biggest-ever attack on Internet appeared first on Metro.us.

T-Mobile is getting the iPhone 5 – finally.

The company announced Tuesday that it will offer the iPhone 5 for a $99.99 down payment and $20 each month for 24 months. T-Mobile is the last major carrier to sell the iPhone.

“This is an important day for people who love their iPhones but can’t stand the pain other carriers put them through to own one,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA. “We feel their pain. I’ve felt the pain. So we’re rewriting the rules of wireless to provide a radically simple, affordable iPhone 5 experience – on an extremely powerful network.”

Customers can preorder the iPhone 5 through the pre-registration page here.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

The post Finally, T-Mobile is getting the iPhone 5 appeared first on Metro.us.

Our baby is growing up so fast. And by baby, we mean Twitter.

Twitter turned seven today. To celebrate, it released a video recapping the history of Twitter from its humble beginnings to present day.

• 
  View Video

  Happy 7th birthday, Twitter

The site was launched on March 21, 2006 and today boasts 200 million monthly active users..

“As we’ve grown, Twitter has become a true global town square – a public place to hear the latest news, exchange ideas and connect with people in real time. This iw shwere you come to connect with the world at large,” wrote Twitter’s Editorial Director Karen Wickre in a blog post.

The video shows ways in which Twitter has helped change the way we get our news. From the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, to Tahrir Square and President Barack Obama’s re-election, users have become citizen journalists.

Twitter isn’t only used as a news service, though. Where would we be if our favorite celebrities weren’t tweeting? Here’s the list of the top seven (get it, in honor of Twitter’s seventh birthday) Twitter accounts with the most followers.

1. @JustinBieber: 36,011,871
2. @LadyGaga: 35,064,313
3. @KatyPerry: 33,617,790
4. @Rihanna: 28,806,073
5. @BarackObama: 28,377,249
6. @TaylorSwift: 24,961,927
7. @BritneySpears: 24,717,490

While the list consists of mainly pop stars – with the exception of President Obama – the tweets that have been re-tweeted the most vary from NFL players, to Wendy’s fast food choice.

Happy birthday, Twitter. We can’t wait to see what the next seven years will look like.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

The post Happy 7th birthday, Twitter: The company through the years appeared first on Metro.us.

Twitter turned seven today. To celebrate, it released a video recapping the history of Twitter from its humble beginnings to present day.

The site was launched on March 21, 2006 and today boasts 200 million monthly active users..

“As we’ve grown, Twitter has become a true global town square – a public place to hear the latest news, exchange ideas and connect with people in real time. This iw shwere you come to connect with the world at large,” wrote Twitter’s Editorial Director Karen Wickre in a blog post.

The post Happy 7th birthday, Twitter appeared first on Metro.us.

Google Reader, one of the best-known RSS feeds, is shutting down come July 1.

The feature, which users used to pull together content from their favorite websites, will only be up for a few more months.

“While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined,” said Google Vice President Urs Holzle in a post on the official Google blog about the closing of Reader.

For the next four months, users can port their current content to another RSS feed by using Google Takeout.

According to CNN the move is a part of a massive “spring cleaning” that Google began n 2011. Google has shut down 70 of its products in part of the “spring cleaning.”

“It’s been a long time since we have had this rate of change – it probably hasn’t happened since the birth of personal computing 40 years ago. To make the most of these opportunities, we need to focus – otherwise we spread ourselves too thin and lack impact,” Holzle wrote in his blog post.

Within hours of the announcement, there were multiple online petitions to save Google Reader.

As of Thursday afternoon more than 66,000 people have signed the “Google: Keep Google Reader Running” petition on Change.org.

“Our confidence in Google’s other products — Gmail, YouTube, and yes, even Plus — requires that we trust you in respecting how and why we use your other products,” wrote Dan Lewis, of New York City, who created the petition. “This isn’t just about our data in Reader. This is about us using your product because we love it, because it makes our lives better, and because we trust you not to nuke it.”

Other options:

There are other RSS feed options, some of which are recently launched. Feedly and Pulse offer web-based feeds but also have mobile apps for Apple’s iOS and Android.

Flipboard released a statement Thursday which said they will allow users to directly import their Google Reader content to their platform.

If you read your RSS Reader on multiple devices, you should probably opt for a could-based reader such as NetVibes.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

The post Google Reader to shut down, other options available appeared first on Metro.us.

Online dating is a reality of the love game, whether you’re just looking around or on a serious quest for a lifelong partner. Sites like OkCupid, Match.com and eHarmony try to make finding someone simple, but they can be disappointing and frustrating. Now, one solution to the e-dating conundrum is gaining traction: consultants. These pros help clients strategize and punch up their profiles to stand out in the competitive world of digitalized courtship.

“Most people are not very good at online dating,” says Evan Marc Katz, dating coach and founder of  the e-dating consulting service eCyrano. “It’s like the gym. You don’t lose weight by signing up for the gym. That’s why people hire personal trainers — to show them how to use the equipment.”

eCyrano rewrites clients’ profiles based on a lengthy questionnaire and detailed phone call. Katz, who dated online for 10 years before meeting his wife offline at a party,  says his team of freelance writers promise profiles that are more authentic than what most users write for themselves.   He contends that the majority of online-dating fumbles involve unrealistic expectations: “Online dating gives people the illusion of choice, not actual choice.”

Then, of course, there are the photos. Companies like New York Image Consultant offer services like a Re-Imaging package, which  includes hairstyling and makeup for photos in a range of outfits and poses, plus Photoshopping, for $1,500. Consultant Amanda Sanders puts it bluntly: “The reality is, they choose your picture over someone else’s because it captures their eye. The text isn’t as important as the visual aspect.” Sanders works with clients who travel to New York for her firm’s services. Like Katz, Sanders asserts that her business vastly improves a client’s chances. As always, though, the face to face date is up to you.

The post Will an online dating consultant help you find love? appeared first on Metro.us.

It seems as if rumors start swirling about new Apple products as soon as previous models hit the market.

It might seem like you just got your new iPhone 5, but according to the latest rumors, a new iPhone 5S could be available in August. According to tech site iMore, the next-generation iPad could launch as soon as April.

iMore, is reporting that sources close to Apple say the company is giving “serious consideration” to launching its fifth edition iPad next month. We could possibly see the iPad Mini 2 next month as well.

As for the new version of the iPhone 5, it’s expected to have a faster processor and a better camera.

Keep in mind these are all rumors and speculations. Apple is known for trying to keep information about all new products a secret until the big unveil.

Other rumors circulating the web claim that the new iPhone will be available more colors and will have a bigger screen.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

The post Apple rumors: iPhone 5s to launch in August, new iPad in April appeared first on Metro.us.

So you’ve spent the lion’s share of winter cooped up indoors, curled up in the fetal position and cursing your maker. Good news! Spring is almost here. Get out of that fetal position and, um, onto that couch. That’s right. There are a bunch of cool video games coming out in the next few months.

‘Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon’
3DS
Nintendo
March 24th

Mario might be an expert world saver and princess rescuer, but Luigi has his skills too. In short, he busts ghosts. He’s pretty much Bill Murray with a mustache. This new “Luigi’s Mansion” title sends our green hero into multiple haunted mansions, complete with an array of poltergeist pinching paraphernalia. It can also be played cooperatively online.

‘Bioshock Infinite’
PS3/360
2K Games
March 26th

The first Bioshock wowed gamers with its unique take on the FPS genre. Also, it had the dubious honor of being the first video game to make reference to Ayn Rand. “Bioshock Infinite,” the third game in the series, is a prequel of sorts. The action shifts to 1912 atop a utopian floating city. There is no way that is gonna end well.

‘The Last of Us’
PS3
Naughty Dog
June 14th

The PS3 is preparing to float off into that pixelated sunset. Help it go out with a bang with what could be its final exclusive blockbuster. “The Last of Us” is a haunting, beautiful and action-packed look into life after the apocalypse. Details on the plot are scarce, but the gameplay looks even tighter than the company’s massively successful “Uncharted” series.

The post Video games for spring appeared first on Metro.us.

The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI caught everyone by surprise, except his employer.

We caught up with God, aka David Javerbaum, the 11-time Emmy winning comedian who runs the popular @TheTweetOfGod account and author of ‘The Last Testament: A Memoir by God’.

Q: @TheTweetOfGod Popes don’t resign – has ex-Benedict incurred your wrath by doing this or did you fire him?

A: @Metro I’m not angry. In the end it came down to “creative differences”, in that I am infinitely creative and he is different.

@TheTweetOfGod In his final speech he said at tough times “it seemed the Lord was sleeping”. Were you ducking his calls?

@Metro No, he was right. I was sleeping. It was the seventh day of the week. How does he not know what I do on the seventh day? #genesis1bennyboy

@TheTweetOfGod What score would you give his reign?

@Metro I’d give it an IV out of X.

@TheTweetOfGod Are you concerned about the vacuum now he’s gone? Who will you speak through on earth now?

@Metro I will continue to speak through the mentally ill and/or con men, and by “and” I mean conservative Republicans.

@TheTweetOfGod How is recruitment for a replacement going – and who would be your ultimate fantasy pope?

@Metro No comment on who the new Pope might be. Obviously My fantasy would be ‘Poprah’. But she won’t return My calls.

@TheTweetOfGod The pope had a strong social media game – how will you bring the Vatican more in line with the digital era?

@Metro It’s pretty hard to bring the “digital era” to a place where, as the names of the Pope indicate, they don’t even have digits.

@TheTweetOfGod Will you be reclaiming the Popemobile?

@Metro Not reclaiming, but fixing up. I’m giving it racing stripes, lowriders, and an engine that runs on holy water and Jesus-body.

@TheTweetOfGod Off topic but who are you most keen to send to hell?

@Metro My bill collector. Satan owes me 500 years’ back rent.

The post Exclusive interview with ‘God’: ‘Pope was a IV out of X’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Mozilla, makers of the popular Firefox Internet browser, is preparing to challenge Google and Apple’s grip on smartphone software.

A new Firefox operating system for mobile devices is set for a July release after winning the backing of 13 wireless service providers around the globe, including Spain’s Telefonica, China Unicom and America Movil.

Mozilla is betting there’s room for a software developer-friendly mobile platform alongside Apple’s and Google’s Android, which together power the majority of mobile devices on the planet.

The new software is based on open Web standards and is capable of operating on devices with much lower hardware requirements than today’s existing crop of smarpthones, according to Mozilla.

Because the Firefox OS is open-source and Web-based, third-party developers will be free to sell mobile applications without needing to share revenue with Apple or Google.

“There’s a strategic imperative for the industry to have another OS that really is open and supports choice and competition,” said Mozilla’s Senior Vice President of Products, Jay Sullivan.

Mozilla will showcase some of the first hardware devices based on that software at the Mobile World Congress, taking place in Barcelona this week. Among the brands that have signed on to make devices based on Firefox OS are South Korea’s LG, China’s ZTE and Huawei.

Unlike Google and Apple’s operating systems, which are built from proprietary technology, Firefox OS uses the HTML5 standard that Web services are built with. That means anyone familiar with Web programming can create Firefox OS apps.

Whether a smartphone built on Web standards can deliver the kind of performance that consumers expect remains to be seen. Facebook famously stopped using HTML5 to develop its iPhone app last year, with Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg saying the technology couldn’t deliver acceptable quality and calling a decision to use HTML5 for its app one of Facebook’s “biggest mistakes.”

The post Firefox takes on smartphone powers Apple, Google appeared first on Metro.us.

Almost seven years after Playstation 3, Sony announced their next generation home video game console, the Playstation 4 but remained mum on a lot of the details — including what it looked like and how much it cost.
Is this a game changer, so to speak?
There will be some major changes in the digital and social gaming sphere, but only time will tell if the PS4 is exactly what the market needs to re-spark interest.
One thing is for sure: It will be fast. Sony is hoping to create the fastest-gaming network. This all aided by an 8-core CPU, enhanced PS GPU and 8GB of RAM, which will be on a newly designed console that we haven’t seen yet.
Can I stream games?
Sony is focusing on digital content. Users can “live stream” games, meaning they can play them while the rest is being downloaded. In addition, your PS4 can learn your likes and dislikes and suggest games that would be appealing to you.
You’ll also have all the traditional apps that are available on the PS Network including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Epix and Amazon.
What games do I have to look forward to?
Some titles that were previewed include “Killzone: Shadow Fall,” an MMO racing game called “Drive Club,” “inFamous Second Son,” a puzzle game by the makers of “Braid” called “The Witness,” and a new Capcom game called “Deep Down,” which will feature a new game engine codenamed Panta Rhei.
Blizzard also announced “Diablo III” for PS3 and PS4, and Bungee (the “Halo” creator) is returning back to Sony. They’ve partnered with Activision for a shooter game named “Destiny,” which will be available for PS3 and PS4.

Oh, and Square Enix will be debuting a “Final Fantasy” title at E3 this year. No big deal.
Will it still have the classic Playstation controller?
Nope! The PS4’s new controller has two notable additions: a touchpad like the PS Vita and a share button, which is explained in the social media features below.
So should I switch from Xbox?
That depends. There’s no doubt that the PS4 has made strides in the digital world both in speed and realistic gameplay. It’s quite advanced compared to the Xbox 360.
However, with Microsoft rumored to launch the next generation Xbox in time for Christmas 2013 as well, it might be worth waiting to make up your mind.
Can it play all my old PS3 games?
Sorry, PS3 games will not be supported on PS4. But, one upside is you should be able to play your PS4 games both on your TV and Vita screens. Eventually, all PS4 titles will have this capability.

Don’t mourn your PS3 games just yet: Sony hopes that cloud technology will make it possible to play Playstation, PS2 and PS3 hits on your PS4 in the future. They’re starting a cloud service that will be introduced in stages.

What are the social media features?
Sony is making a play to combine the multi-user gaming experience with social networking. You’ll be allowed to share screenshots, video clips and watch your friends play live. Friends can comment on your game play and join in on your game from a remote location.
When can I get my hands on one?
It will launch Holiday 2013.
How much will it cost?
No price yet!

The post Sony unveils new PlayStation4 console appeared first on Metro.us.

Your smartphone pictures will be automatically sharpened, adjusted for light and perfectly toned in a fraction of a second, thanks to a new lightweight chip designed by US researchers.

The device, set to be unveiled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), works by compressing professional software applications into a user-friendly and instant technology for smartphones and tablets. The chip consumes little battery life and can provide the same enhancement for video.

“It’s simple and automatic, the user doesn’t need any photographic expertise,” lead researcher Rahul Rithe told Metro. “If you can point the camera in the right direction the chip will give you a good outcome.”

The ‘picture perfect’ chip is the latest device to offer post-shoot enhancement for amateurs. In 2012, the Lytro camera enabled users to change the focus of images after taking them, making it less important to get the first shot right.

But professional photographers are not panicking yet. “The chip will be great for photographers who don’t understand how to use light,” war photographer Ted Nieters told Metro. “And it won’t change the composition – having better exposure won’t automatically make your shots interesting.”

But that never stopped the legion of Instagram users and Rithe is already in talks with a number of smartphone producers to integrate the device, which should be available for purchase within two years.

The post Miracle chip for smartphones, tablets ‘makes any photo perfect’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Apple Inc computers were attacked by the same hackers who targeted Facebook Inc, but no data appeared to have been stolen, the company said on Tuesday in an unprecedented admission of a widespread cyber-security breach.

Facebook revealed on Friday that unidentified hackers traced to China had staged a sophisticated attack by infiltrating its employees’ laptops, but no user information was compromised.

Apple, which is working with law enforcement to track down the hackers, told Reuters that only a small number of its employees’ Macintosh computers were breached, but “there was no evidence that any data left Apple.”

The iPhone and iPad maker said it would release a software tool later on Tuesday to protect customers against the malicious software used in the attacks.

Cyber-security attacks have been on the rise. In last week’s State of the Union address, U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order seeking better protection of the country’s critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.

The post Apple hit by hackers who targeted Facebook last week appeared first on Metro.us.

Will Sony announce the new Playstation 4 on February 20, six years and counting since the Playstation 3 (an eternity in tech years)?
The official word from the company has yet to come down, but several things are “known.” If announced, a new system could feature a new control with touch pad capabilities, like the PS Vita. It could allow more than one user to log in at the same time. You should be able to stream games and content, It’s probable it will have a more advanced motion support system.
One thing is a fact: This is Sony’s attempt to bring interest back into the home gaming market and quash their competitors Nintendo and Microsoft once and for all, especially in the U.S.
“Playstation 4 could potentially help reignite some interest in the retail console gaming market and top systems, much of the thunder of which has been stolen by smartphones, tablets, and alternative gaming devices,” Scott Steinberg, a consultant for the gaming industry, tells us.
In order to reenergize the video game market, Sony needs to innovate more than the power and performance they have relied on in the past. Manufactures need to consider the online multiplayer experience, expand to include more free-to-play games, provide more digital downloads and think about what sort of signature franchise — games that won’t be available on any other console — they want to provide.
“It’s not like every system doesn’t deliver top notch experiences, but if you look at where Microsoft really scored it was by delivering premium multiplayer experiences, a variety of digital media — not just games — and top notch, premium what we call in the industry “triple A” franchises,” Steinberg explains.
“They are really angling for (the Playstation 4 to be) a piece of your living room, not only as a gaming device but a digital lifestyle hub,” he adds.

Going down
Video game retail sales numbers have been going down for quite some time. In the United States — the top video game market — the NPD Group reported that sales in December 2012 dropped 22 percent compared to sales at the same time in 2011. The downward trend continued in January 2013, which was 9 percent lower than the same time in 2012.

Still, there’s plenty of potential: DFC Intelligence predicted that the worldwide gaming industry — which includes video, PC and mobile games and devices — will grow from $67 billion in 2012 to $82 billion in 2017.

The post Will a new Playstation 4 be announced? appeared first on Metro.us.

The 5 miles per second rock shooting through the Eastern sky Friday could unlock vast wealth, or spell destruction. The 150-foot wide asteroid 2012 DA14 is the largest to ever be detected passing this close and will provide lessons for space exploration.

“This is a unique opportunity,” Dwayne Brown, a spokesman for Nasa’s science department, told Metro. “This can tell us about asteroid trajectories, how the Sun affects them, and their origin in nature.”

2012 DA14 will pass just 17,000 miles away – within communication satellite orbit – and although it is not considered a threat, it will influence disaster preparation. “If we can better understand the approach, that helps us with an asteroid on collision course,” says Brown, adding that a strategy already exists based on deflection. “You can nudge it onto another course with even a light touch.”

Nasa have made asteroid study a top priority, and an army of robotic telescopes and sky surveyors helped to spot 2012 DA14 in February 2012. It is significant progress given that many asteroids are only seen as, or after, they pass.

Citizen astronomers have key to the advance, and thousands of enthusiasts will be watching the skies Friday. “Some amateur astronomers have observatories that would make a university jealous,” said David Dickinson, editor of the Astroguyz website. “Websites allow you to calculate co-ordinates for accurate location, how to watch and monitor events – and we’re constantly exchanging information live on Twitter.”

Civil society groups are increasingly partners in asteroid exploration and have been heavily involved in the 2016 launch of the OSIRIS-REx satellite, the first mission to mine samples from moving asteroids. 2012 DA14 has an estimated value of $200 billion in precious metals, hinting at a lucrative future in asteroid mining.

Yet over half of all Near-Earth Objects (NEO) remain undetected and a threat. “We need to find objects down to at least 100m, the vast majority of which we haven’t found yet,” Richard Crowther, chief engineer at the UK Space Agency, told Metro. A sudden, catastrophic event remains a possibility.

How to watch

2012 DA14 will be closest at 1924 GMT Friday and will be visible from parts of Europe and Africa. David Dickinson recommends being somewhere as dark as possible with telescope or binoculars and a wide field of vision. Calculate its route beforehand and focus on one position, the asteroid will resemble a shooting star and will be clearest when passing in front of the Moon. Check out Astroguyz.com or b612foundation.org to find out more, or http://www.nasa.gov/ntv to watch live.

The post 150-foot asteroid passing by Earth is warning and goldmine appeared first on Metro.us.

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and love is in the air, folks, it’s everywhere.

One happy couple opened up to Mashable on how they found love on Instagram.

Mashable introduced the world to Santiago Perez Grovas and Taylor Dee, both of which are Instagram sensations with more than 70,000 and 18,000 followers respectively.

Grovas owns his own architecture firm in Mexico City, and Dee is a waitress in Colorado. With so many followers, both Grovas, 26, and Dee, 22, frequently had photos featured on the ‘most popular’ page of Instagram. That’s how Dee found Grovas. Mashable calls them the “Jay-Z and Beyonce of the social photo-sharing site.”

The funny thing is, though, when Dee first saw Grovas’ photos, she thought he was a girl. Many of his photos features other females, so she assumed the user was a girl.

“Wow, this girl’s amazing! I love her pictures,” Dee told Mashable. “And then he posted a picture of himself and I realized he was a guy.”

The two finally met in person after Dee won a photo competition Grovas posted on Instagram. Many instant messages and FaceTime sessions later, Grovas visited Dee in Denver.

They spent a week together, but then reality kicked in and Grovas flew back to Mexico.

The couple told Mashable they have been dating for about eight months now and Dee plans to take flight attendant lessons so they can save money on airfare.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

The post Instalove: Here’s the couple that fell in love on Instagram appeared first on Metro.us.

It’s the quiet type but lives only for you. The new ‘Kissenger’ (kiss messenger) robot from the Lovotics company in Singapore will be the most romantic machine yet invented. “We are making progress with hugging functionality, so the robot can transmit kisses and hugs together,” CEO Hooman Samani told Metro.

The new Kissenger represents an advance on Lovotics designs that would allow users to transmit a kiss to a partner or a digital character online, using ultra-sensitive material for the lips. Samani will make an official announcement on the new bot on february 27, but cannot disclose a release date until “ethical tests” are passed to safeguard the user.

Lovotics have also pioneered imitation hormones in robots, so that it can share feelings of anger, passion and even jealousy with its human friend. The device is trained by observing love behavior in humans through a powerful network of cameras and sensors.

“You can deconstruct love into an abstract concept, and once you have that you can programme it,” said Professor Maarten Lamers of the LIACS computer science institute in Holland. “The momentum toward robot-human relationships is extremely high.”

Researchers believe there is a vast market for the love-bot should it pass tests. “The biggest application will be for people who find relationships difficult and will realize they can fill that void,” David Levy, artificial intelligence expert and author of ‘Love and Sex with Robots’, told Metro. “It’s only a matter of time before entrepreneurs produce a machine sophisticated enough to fall in love with – I predict this will happen in the next 30 years.” If Samani is right, it could be much quicker.

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  View Video

  Lovotics robot can be your Valentine

The post Be my Valentine? Ultimate ‘Kissenger’ love robot wants you appeared first on Metro.us.

Disclaimer: This Metro reporter doesn’t know too much (read: anything) about video games. Even so, it’s pretty cool that World of Warcraft players have raised more than $2.3 million for Hurricane Sandy victims.

In December, the video game plays were able to virtually adopt the “Cinder Kitten” for $10. The fundraising went through December 31, 2012 and 100 percent of the funds went to help victims of the disaster, which hit the Northeast at the end of October.

Blizzard, the company behind multi-player online role-playing game, said the money will go toward supporting the American Red Cross’ Sandy relief efforts in providing shelter, food, emotional support, and other assistance to the victims.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

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(Image courtesy of DKNY)

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Signaling his hopes for a fresh start for the company that pioneered on-your-hip email, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins also said RIM was abandoning the name it has used since its inception in 1985 to take on the name of its signature product.

“From this point forward, RIM becomes BlackBerry.” Heins said at the New York launch. “It is one brand; it is one promise.”

RIM launched its first BlackBerry back in 1999 as a way for busy executives to stay in touch with their clients and their offices, and the Canadian company quickly cornered the market for secure corporate and government email.

But its star faded as competition rose. The BlackBerry is now a far-behind also-ran in the race for market share, with a 3.4 percent global showing in the fourth quarter, down from 20 percent three years before. Its North American market share is even worse: a mere 2 percent in the fourth quarter.

RIM said the first of the new BlackBerrys will be available on Thursday in Britain, with other countries following as carriers complete their testing.

In the U.S. market, which sets trends that other countries follow, the BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen device will go on sale in March. U.S. carrier Verizon Wireless said the phone would cost $199 for a two-year contract, while Canada’s Rogers Communications is quoting C$149 ($150) for certain three-year plans.

SHARES SLUMP

RIM shares initially rallied on Wednesday, but soon fell as much as 8 percent below Tuesday’s close. The stock is down 90 percent from its 2008 peak as the BlackBerry has lost ground to rival devices. But in the last four months its volatile shares have more than doubled as buzz grew about the new devices.

“It was such a well-advertised launch date that people moved the stock up and then they took profits ahead of when it was going to be revealed,” said Ian Nakamoto, director of research at Macdougall, Macdougall and Mactier in Toronto.

“For RIM, it’s a normal stock market day. It would have been an abnormal stock market day if it had got cut in half or something.”

The legal name change to BlackBerry from Research In Motion takes affect after shareholders approve the decision, but the company already plans to do business under the BlackBerry name.

“We want our employees to say, ‘I work for BlackBerry.’ Our customers to say, ‘I own a BlackBerry.’ Our shareholders to say, ‘I own BlackBerry stock,’” said chief marketing officer Frank Boulben. “We want to become what I’d call a branded house versus a house of brands.”

The new BlackBerry 10 phones will compete with Apple’s iPhone and devices using Google’s Android technology, both of which have soared above the BlackBerry in a competitive market.

The BlackBerry 10 devices boast fast browsers, new features, smart cameras and, unlike previous BlackBerry models, enter the market primed with a large application library, including services such as Skype and the popular game Angry Birds.

The new devices are sleek black numbers, one with the small “qwerty” keyboard that RIM made into its trademark, and one a pure touchscreen device that looks much like those its competitors already produce.

“QWERTY” DEVICE IN APRIL

The Q10 “qwerty” device will launch later than the Z10 touchscreen. Heins said it would hit global markets in April.

RIM picked a range of venues for its global launch parties, including Dubai’s $650-a-night Armani Hotel, which occupies six floors of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower.

The New York event took place in a sprawling basketball facility on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, just north of the Manhattan Bridge. The Blackberry has been “Re-designed. Re-engineered. Re-invented,” RIM said.

RIM, which is splurging on a Superbowl ad to promote its new phones, also introduced Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Alicia Keys as its global creative director.

“I was in a long-term relationship with BlackBerry, and then I started to notice some new, kind of hotter, attractive, sexier phones at the gym, and I kind of broke up with you for something that had a little more bling,” Keys said at the New York launch.

“But I always missed the way you organized my life, and the way you were there for me at my job, and so I started to have two phones – I was kind of playing the field. But then … you added a lot more features … and now, we’re exclusively dating again, and I’m very happy.”

The post RIM changes name, unveils BlackBerry 10 in comeback bid appeared first on Metro.us.

But not,
necessarily the glittery kind.

We’re instead talking about an edgier,
techno, holographic kind of sheen, much like this Proenza Schouler shoulder bag, which makes an easy way to wear a spring trend in winter.

The post Fashion pick of the day: Proenza Schouler Shimmer appeared first on Metro.us.