March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks!

VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks. ZTE and Huawei are prime examples of how Android has helped them to become a dominant force in the smartphone market. Both Huawei and ZTE have set their sights on closing between the gap between Apple, Samsung, and themselves. In fact, as of the Q3 2012, Android accounts for 90 percent of all mobile operating systems in China. Its highly unlikely that China-based handset makers will ditch Android and concoct their own brew to compete with a proven and successful mobile OS. However, it will be interesting to see how Google responds to what Chinese officials said.

Chinese officials say Google controls too much of China's smartphone market
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/chinese-officials-say-googlecontrols-too-much-of-china-s-smartphone-market/19171.html March 5th, 2013

Playing video games makes old people happy, says study

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/playing-video-games-makes-oldpeople-happy-says-study/19167.html March 5th, 2013

Google has too much control of Chinas smartphone market according to Chinas Ministry of Information and Technology, and that the limitations placed upon Chinese firms by Google is causing the countrys mobile innovation to become stagnant. Clearly, there seems to be Chinese officials that believe it is time for China-based firms to do away with Android and work on their own mobile platformsomething that isnt controlled or limited by a foreign firm. What type of regulations the Chinese government will place upon Google in regards to the Android OS remains to be seen, but, regardless of whatever China has in mind as an Android replacement, theres no denying that Android has helped more than one Chinese telecommunication equipment companies to rise through the ranks and become contenders in the smartphone/tablet business.

A new medical study has discovered that among a group of older people, those who played video games were generally happier than those who didn't. First reported by Medical Xpress, a study conducted by the North Carolina State University has been observe a group of 140 men and women aged 63 and up, and have found that those who played video games, were generally happier and more socially and emotionally well adjusted than the ones who did not. Even those who only played occasionally displayed these traits, while the non-gamers had a greater tendency for negative emotion and depression

(One of ZTE's latest flagship, the Grand S, runs on Google's Android OS)

March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

"The research published here suggests that there a link between gaming and better well-being and emotional functioning," says Jason Alleire, lead author of the research paper on the study. At this point, though there seems to be a correlation, one cannot be certain if there is a causation. Further research is planned to determine whether video games actually induce well-being among older people. Of course, most gamers could have told you this without needing to do a study. What might surprise gamers to hear though, is that a sizable 61% of the study group played games at least occasionally, with 35% stating that they played at least once a week.

Hindenburg disaster solved after 76 years!

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hindenburg-disaster-solved-after-76years-/19166.html March 5th, 2013

The 450 meter long Hindenburg, sailing through the air above the southern tip of Manhattan Stansfield and his team also believe a leak or faulty valve in the hydrogen balloons which contained the airship's gas, lead to hydrogen being dispersed throughout the rear of the ship via the ventilation system. This is evidenced by the entire rear portion of the ship being engulfed in flames almost immediately. Obviously, the fact that the Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen didn't set it up for a nice, safe flight to begin with: Hydrogen is highly explosive (and used today as rocket fuel). The reason it was filled with such a dangerous gas however, instead of the completely non-reactive Helium, wasn't purely out of negligence. At the time the Hindenburg was in service, the United States had control of the world's helium supply and had placed a helium embargo on Germany. Thus, only the American built airships could be filled with Helium, and the German Zeppelin company had to resort to the only other lighter than air gas readily available, despite the risks. And thus, sadly, these incredible giants which combined the leisure of a cruise with the adventure of air travel, disappeared from our skies.

76 years after the Hindenburg disaster, scientists have finally figured out exactly what made the dirigible explode into a ball of flames on May 6, 1937 Back in the 20's and 30's, dirigibles were all the craze. People were quite certain that the massive, rigid airships were the future of air travel, something evidenced by the Empire State Building, whose spire was originally intended as a docking station. However, all that changed after a fateful disaster in 1937, when the German airship Hindenburg caught fire while landing in New Jersey, killing 35 of its 100 passengers. Up until now, experts have debated what actually caused the fire, but scientists from the Southwest Research Institute, led by aeronautical engineer Jem Stansfield, have recreated the Hindenburg's final moments using models, and they believe they've found the true reason for the disastrous fire: Static electricity. It has been generally accepted that a sudden spark ignited the hydrogen filled airship, but the source of the spark is contested. What Stansfield believes, is that the Hindenburg traveled through an electrical storm on it's way across the Atlantic, charging the airship. When landing, the Hindenburg released it's anchoring cables, and when ground crew attached the cables, they effectively grounded the ship, discharging whatever static it had built up during the trip.

SimCity experiencing launch troubles

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/simcity-experiencing-launchtroubles/19165.html March 5th, 2013

Sim City just launched in North America, and the first few hours have been bleak for many, with delays, locked games and waiting. Poor SimCity is barely out of the gate and is now being plagued by problems related to the game's launch. Today marked the game's release in North America (with Europe
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March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

March 5th, 2013

following next, on Thursday), and immediately after the game was unlocked in EA's Origin client, the problems started pouring in. Users reported download failures, connection issues, and in the worst cases, the game refused to unlock. Initially, users may also have been lulled into a false sense of hope due to the small and fast origin download, but after the initial download completed, new players had to sit through hours of downloading of the actual game files from the SimCity launcher. Then, they were treated with delays; the game's servers sometimes taking up to half an hour of waiting time before you could get into the game (and yes, that includes those who wanted to play on a private server).

The young Pakistani girl, Malala Yousufzai, that was brutally shot in the head by the extremist Taliban group for publicly advocating women education via the internet has been nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the youngest such nominee for the prize in history. Of all the recipient nominees for the prize, one particular individual has stood out among the rest, which is the 15year-old Malala Yousufzai of Pakistan. She hails from the town of Mingora in Pakistans Khyber Paktunkhwa province, and she is also the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in history. Her story became global after members of the Taliban tried to assassinate her for promoting education for women. The area she lives in has many Taliban rebel soldiers who would often prevent or ban girls from attending school. Malala was not intimidated by the Taliban and was the first girl to begin blogging on the Internet for the BBC. She wrote about her fight against the Taliban online with her blog post. Her blog actually began back in 2009 when she was only 11 years of age, which is another act that the Taliban would forbid a woman from doing. Nevertheless, she carried on with her education and her blogging and expressing her views to promote education, all with the power of the Internet.

Time for an English lesson: This is called a metaphor. Unfortunately, this isn't very surprising. The download failures, delays and connection issues probably have a lot to do with EA's perplexing decision not to let pre-order customers download the game ahead of launch; this is something I'm experiencing here in Europe as well, with just over a day left before it becomes available to me. The issues with copies staying locked after launch doesn't surprise either, as the exact same thing happened to a lot of people surrounding the recent Origin release of Crysis 3. And no, the server waiting times just to get into the game don't surprise either. That's what happens when you require a game to be connected to the internet at all times. Stay tuned for our review of SimCity, showing up in a few days

When the New York Times got wind of her story, they visited the area and filmed a documentary about her life and the region she lived in. From that time onward she was seen on television multiple times doing interviews and standing strong with her position and support for womens education. She was shot on October 9, 2012 in the neck and head as she was getting off of her school bus to return home. She nearly died but was rushed to the United Kingdom where she received better care and state-of-the-art rehabilitation. The attempt on her life only gave her added strength, and her cause has spread globally and made her into a shining symbol of womens rights and equality. The fact of the matter is that Malala Yousufzai represents progress for womens equality worldwide. By promoting education, Malala is helping to bring knowledge to areas that were once without. Her ideals by using the Internet and blogging about education for women helps to promote a better understanding of the world, which in turn helps with promoting peace and ending prejudice. The Nobel Peace Prize is one of five awards that were initially set by Alfred Nobel at the time of his passing. The peace prize specifically is awarded to those who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". Along with the notoriety the person gains from being awarded the prize, the winner would also receive approximately 1.2 million dollars (U.S.) and would be awarded the prize on December 10th, which is the date of Alfred Nobels death.

Malala Yousufzai, advocate of education for women via Internet, nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/malala-yousufzai-advocateof-education-for-women-via-internet-nominated-for-nobel-peaceprize/19161.html

March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

March 5th, 2013

The Pirate Bay, now served from North Korea?

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/the-pirate-bay-now-served-fromnorth-korea-/19158.html March 5th, 2013

In an unexpected turn of events, The Pirate Bay have just recently announced that they will be operating their website out of North Korea, one of the most dysfunctional states in the world. Is it just an elaborate hoax or trolling attempt? Many are questioning the reason for the highly irregular move into North Korea when the Pirate Bay broke off from their Sweden home and moved to Spain/Norway just last week. The controversial torrent site made the announcement on March 3rd saying they would be hosted out of the Hermit Kingdom, North Korea. They claim the move comes after fighting off numerous governments actions and being hunted by many countries around the world, particularly in Europe. Time and again, The Pirate Bay has defended the right to allow free trade of information on the Internet, which of course does contain copyrighted material. They claim that they have made the recent move to avoid being persecuted for beliefs in freedom of information. Today, a new chapter is written in the history of the movement, as well as the history of the internets(sic), reads the Pirate Bay blog announcement. A week ago we could reveal that The Pirate Bay was accessed via Norway and Catalonya. The move was to ensure that these countries and regions will get attention to the issues at hand. Today we can reveal that we have been invited by the leader of the republic of Korea, to fight our battles from their network. Initially the announcement came from The Pirate Bays official Facebook page. Instantly many thought that it was either a joke or someone had hacked the site. Those suspicions were quickly clarified when P2P watchdog TorrentFreak confirmed via traceroutes that The Pirate Bay had indeed been routed through North Korea. Again this is the only 'proof' thus far. "This is truly an ironic situation, The PB writes. We have been fighting for a free world, and our opponents are mostly huge corporations from the United States of America, a place where freedom and freedom of speech is said to be held high. And to our help comes a government famous in our part of the world for locking people up for their thoughts and forbidding access to information.

Some recent news out of Europe is suggesting that BlackBerry isnt attracting as many consumers as it would like to with its latest Z10 smartphone. Various retailers have begun slashing prices on the comeback BB10 smartphone, which only adds to the growing woes of the once proud Canadian handset maker. Carphone Warehouse and Vodaphone have both reduced the prices of the BB10 Z10 device. Although the price cut is not significant enough to say that the Z10 is completely dead, its a signal that consumer interests in the BB10 OS are not as high as Android or iOS. We believe that meaningful price cuts so soon after launch, while probably at the initial discretion of the carriers, is likely to relegate the Z10 to being a mid-tier device with very low gross margins, says James Faucette, an analyst for Pacific Crest. On a less grim note, according to BlackBerry, 1/3 of the Z10 owners in Britain did not own BlackBerry devices prior to hopping onto the BlackBerry train. Still, the fact that carriers seem to think less of BB10 compared to competing platforms means that BlackBerry will have a much harder time competing in markets like the U.S. Speaking of the U.S., since the Z10 has begun its price descent in Europe, it may mean that consumers stateside wont have to fork out as much initially.

Hackintosh lover's dream and Apple's nightmare: the Z77MX:QUO-AOS motherboard

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hackintosh-lover-s-dream-andapple-s-nightmare-the-z77mx-quo-aos-motherboard/19160.html March 5th, 2013

Hackintosh builders will be happy to know that soon there will be a motherboard that will support Apples popular desktop OS out-of-the-box. Quo Computers is seeking to make the process of building your own Mac OS X rig much simpler than before with the introduction of its Project Q: Z77MX:QUO-AOS. The Project Q motherboard, according to Quo Computers, will be the first ever custom made motherboard that will run any operating system you choose. For many people, any operating system means trying out Mac OS X without having to purchase an expensive setup directly from Apple.

BlackBerry Z10 sees price cut in Europe prior to U.S. launch

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/blackberry-z10-sees-price-cut-ineurope-prior-to-u.s.-launch/19162.html

March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

family by retro-fitting a discarded bus and turning it into a habitable home. Suns wife has breast cancer, so he uprooted his family and moved to Shanghai to secure better treatments for his wife. Living expenses in Shanghai is so expensive that Sun has to dig deep into his bags of tricks to support his family. Using skills he acquired in the military, Sun purchased a bus and turned it into a home complete with solar power.

Using a MicroATX form factor, the Project Q motherboard will come with both Firewire 400 and 800, and Intelcertified Thunderbolt. Adding to the fact that the motherboard will support any OS, Quo Computers also claims that the boards custom firmware will allow booting of any OS in under 10 seconds.

(Sun's humble abode.) However, since pictures of his humble abode began emerging, local authorities have been trying to expel him from the area. Some nearby residents are claiming that Sun and his family are illegally occupying land that they dont own and building structures that are not certified. We dont need help or your sympathy. We cannot afford to buy or rent an apartment in the city so we built one. Its not breaking the law or disturbing the others. So if you cannot give us another shelter, just leave us alone. Leave the bus and our life alone, here, isolated but peaceful, says Suns wife. Adding on to Suns increasing responsibilities is the fact that his heart disease-stricken mother is also a part of the household. Sun earns $2000 yuan (~321.00 USD) a month, and since he is the sole breadwinner of his family, most of the money goes towards medical treatments of both his wife and mother. The makeshift Sun RV is currently occupying a narrow lane in the suburban Songjiang District, and its probably only a matter of time before authorities and unaccommodating locals find ways to remove the familys home.

Currently, the company is seeking funding for its Project Q motherboard via Kickstarter, and early backers will be able to buy the motherboard for $219retail price will start at $249. Quo Computers also has pre-packaged setups, one of which is a $1,200 Intel Core i7 setup complete with Thunderbolt, HDMI, DVI, Firewire, a 1TB HD, 8GB of RAM, SATA III, USB 3.0, and a black aluminum special edition tower engraved with a unique serial number.

Shanghai security guard turns discarded bus into solar-powered home for his family
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/shanghai-security-guard-turnsdiscarded-bus-into-solar-powered-home-for-his-family/19159.html March 5th, 2013

A 39-year-old retired Chinese soldier by the name of Sun Jie is showing everyone what self-reliance is all about. Despite all sorts of adversities, the diligent husband and proud Shanghai security guard is doing his best to provide for his

(This is what happens when an old Chinese couple refuses to move from their home. Sun's home, however, might not be so lucky.)

March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

Samsung Galaxy S IV renders leaked, reveal no front button on phone

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-galaxy-s-iv-renders-leakedreveal-no-front-button-on-phone/19157.html March 5th, 2013

Also within one of the leaked images is confirmation that the S IV will sport a 13MP rear camera. Something else thats even more intriguing is that the S IV wont have a front button, a trademark feature on all previous Galaxy Ss. The elimination of the front button means that the S IV will rely solely on Androids built in virtual interface for many functionalities. Leaks will continue to roll in as the March 14 date approaches, and well be sure to keep you posted on all of them.

Italian student busted for trying to sell a downed drone

Samsung wont officially show off its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S IV, until next week, but some purported legitimate renders of the S IV have already surfaced.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/italian-student-busted-for-trying-tosell-a-downed-drone/19142.html March 5th, 2013

The auction posting said: "[it]... is almost new", the only thing missing was the remote control, and that should have been the first clue that this drone being sold wasn't exactly what you would call legit. The 24-year old student in Bologna, Italy, must have thought it was his lucky day when he came across a drone that had made an emergency landing near his apartment last October.

As you can see, the S IV has taken a step back in time in terms of its shape, as the corners are much less round compared to the S III. Previous rumors suggested that Samsung was going to ditch AMOLED in favor of something else, but as one of the leaked image revealed AMOLED wont be going anywherein fact, this time around people will get a 1080p AMOLED display despite yield rate concerns. Moreover, the screen real estate to bezel ratio continues to prove that Samsung is committed to providing people with as much display space as possible to play with.

The drone, which was a privately operated Microdrones quad-rotor, was owned by an Italian startup called Eye Sky and was used by the company in the past for aerial photographic survey to assist local government. It was also used to perform damage assessment after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in Bologna last May. The drone in question was on a demonstration flight last October when it suddenly lost its GPS navigation signals, which resulted in it performing an emergency landing, which is where this student comes in. Then in a less than brilliant move the student decided to put the $40,000 drone up for auction on Subito.it, an online auction site, for the measly amount of 1,000. At this point the police, who had spent four months trying to track the drone down, poses as buyers on Subito.it and asked for some additional information about the drone. Using the email address from the seller they were able to connect it to the student, who also used the same email address on an online dating site. Additionally, authorities were able to tighten down the students location by examining the EXIF data in the images that he had posted of the view of the city from his apartment.
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March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

Needless to say, Eye Sky now have their drone back and the student now faces the possibility of up to a year in jail.

Sprint will not be offering the BlackBerry Z10

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sprint-will-not-be-offering-theblackberry-z10/19144.html March 5th, 2013

BlackBerry has been trying to regain a bigger share of the market since they began to lose favor to the trendier iPhone and other smartphone manufacturers such as South Koreas Samsung. In fact, BlackBerry saw their sales continuing to decline nearly 34% in 2012 as compared to 2011. In the 4th quarter of 2012, they were down some 44%. Apple and Samsung have dominated Smartphone sales for some time now and now the Chinese company Huawei is really beginning to take notice as well. In the fourth quarter of 2012, Samsung and apple accounted for 52% of smartphone sales, which was up 46% from the third quarter.

Blackberry fans, if you are on the Sprint network take note that Sprint will not be offering the Z10 in their lineup of Blackberry smartphones but only the Q10 model. The Sprint network just recently confirmed that they will only be carrying the Q10 Blackberry smartphone, in regards to Blackberrys two new model releases. The BlackBerry Z10 was the first smartphone to run on the all-new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

Europe team up to build the "European Extremely Large Telescope" in Chile

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/europe-team-up-to-build-theeuropean-extremely-large-telescope-in-chile/19155.html March 5th, 2013

The European Extremely Large Telescope, or E-ELT for short, will be as its name obviously suggests the worlds biggest space telescope. It will cost more than one billion dollars and the plans for its construction are moving forward. The project is part of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) agenda and 15 countries are collaborating for its construction, making E-ELT project one of the biggest global science collaborations in history. UK, in particular, as the government recently confirmed, is investing up to 88 million just to make sure their Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) will be deeply involved in the construction and operation of the advanced telescope. The BlackBerry Q10 is different from the Z10 in the fact that that offers a standard QWERTY external keyboard, which many BlackBerry fans are fond of and something BlackBerrys were always known for. The Z10, which is very similar to the Q10, only offers the standard touch screen but also runs on the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. If you are not on the Sprint network but are in the market for the new Z10 model, you'll be happy to know that it will be offered by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, and of these three networks, only T-Mobile will also be selling the Q10. The Z10 will be going on sale any day now in the United States, however, youll have to wait until May of this year if you want the Q10. Many fans of BlackBerry (formerly Research in Motion) were exited to hear about the new models of smartphones unveiled in January of this year. The newly designed smartphones with their 11-centimeter high resolution touch screens were a real hit with critics. An added bonus was the new operating system and brand new look for the smartphone that gave added hope to many investors who were beginning to lose faith in in the company.

Although European, the E-ELT will be built in Chile, since the clear skies of the Atacama Desert are ideal for such an observatory. With a mirror of 39 meters in diameter, E-ELT will be able to collect 15 times more light than any other telescope and it will produce images 16 times sharper than the Hubble. Its dome will be nearly 74 meters high and 86 meters in diameter with two huge sliding doors of 45 meters total width. The construction of E-ELT is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

The White House responds to cellphone unlocking petition

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/the-white-house-responds-tocellphone-unlocking-petition/19154.html March 5th, 2013

Thank you for sharing your views on cell phone unlocking with us through your petition on our We the People platform. Last week the White House brought together experts from across government who work on telecommunications, technology, and copyright policy, and were pleased to offer our response. The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties. In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones. And if you have paid for your mobile device, and arent bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. Its common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers needs. This is particularly important for secondhand or other mobile devices that you might buy or receive as a gift, and want to activate on the wireless network that meets your needs even if it isnt the one on which the device was first activated. All consumers deserve that flexibility. The White Houses position detailed in this response builds on some critical thinking done by the Presidents chief advisory Agency on these matters: the Department of Commerces National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). For more context and information on the technical aspects of the issue, you can review the NTIAs letter to the Library of Congress Register of Copyrights (.pdf), voicing strong support for maintaining the previous exception to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) for cell phone carrier unlocking. Contrary to the NTIAs recommendation, the Librarian of Congress ruled that phones purchased after January of this year would no longer be exempted from the DMCA. The law gives the Librarian the authority to establish or eliminate exceptions and we respect that process. But it is also worth noting the statement the Library of Congress released today on the broader public policy concerns of the issue. Clearly the White House and Library of Congress agree that the DMCA exception process is a rigid and imperfect fit for this telecommunications issue, and we want to ensure this particular challenge for mobile competition is solved. So where do we go from here? The Obama Administration would support a range of approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes in the telecommunications space that make it clear: neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation. We also believe the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with its responsibility for
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Back in February, the Library of Congress and U.S. Copyright Office decided to make it illegal for consumers to unlock their cellphones, which obviously didnt sit too well with consumers. Within a very short time, a petition was started on the government's We The People petition site to have this silliness overturned. Well, today we got their reply to that petition. Back in February we told you about the petition that had been started at the government's We the People petition site with the goal being for the Obama Administration to overturn the ridiculous 'law' that made it illegal for consumers to unlock their smartphones. Not surprisingly, the requisite 100,000 signatures needed in order to require a reply from the White House was quickly met and all that remained was that reply; which we finally got today.

As it turns out the White House agrees with the 114,000+ (final signature count by the cutoff point), and they go even one step further by suggesting that tablets should be included as well. One of the reasons the White House agrees that this unlocking law needs to be changed isn't just about new devices, but also those smartphones and tablets that are bought second hand and consumers choices. According to the statement issued by the White House (see the full statement below) the Obama Administration would support a range of options in order to address the issue, even to the point of extremely narrow legislation that would make it clear that neither technological locks, or criminal law, should prevent the consumer from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service contract. It should be noted that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is backing the government on this issue. Here is the full statement in reply to the petition:

March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

promoting mobile competition and innovation, has an important role to play here. FCC Chairman Genachowski today voiced his concern about mobile phone unlocking (.pdf), and to complement his efforts, NTIA will be formally engaging with the FCC as it addresses this urgent issue. Finally, we would encourage mobile providers to consider what steps they as businesses can take to ensure that their customers can fully reap the benefits and features they expect when purchasing their devices. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress, the wireless and mobile phone industries, and most importantly you the everyday consumers who stand to benefit from this greater flexibility to ensure our laws keep pace with changing technology, protect the economic competitiveness that has led to such innovation in this space, and offer consumers the flexibility and freedoms they deserve. R. David Edelman is Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation, & Privacy

how it works, and when it starts. Read on for new beta information. Our first invites are going out this month. We know many of you have questions about the program, so weve put together this article to give you some answers and help prepare you to beta test ESO. Thank you for all your enthusiasm about testing, and we look forward to seeing you in the game."

Below you can see some of the more important information contained in the Elder Scrolls Online Beta FAQ: How long are beta events and when are they held? At first, beta events will generally be held on the weekends, and each test will have limited windows of access to the game. Youll receive your invitation in advance so you can make time to participate. While there will only be a few events per month early on, they will be held more frequently as we approach launch. As we progress through testing, well also begin scheduling longer tests that allow testers to provide more detailed feedback on topics like progression. How many testers will be invited? Were starting with smaller groups of focused testers during March and April. However, as we approach launch, beta events will get bigger. Our AvA tests will likely require thousands of participants, and stress tests will be even larger! Can I be invited to multiple beta events? Yes, its possible to be selected for multiple beta events. However, an invitation to one beta event does not guarantee that youll be invited to additional events. When you receive an invitation, it will be for a specific beta event.

Elder Scrolls Online update: Bethesda to send out beta invites later this month
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/elder-scrolls-online-updatebethesda-to-send-out-beta-invites-later-this-month/19147.html March 5th, 2013

Bethesda has recently taken the time to answer a few of the most commonly asked questions centered around their new MMOG, including the most burning of them all: when the beta invites will start being sent out.

Bethesda has recently taken the time to compile a basic FAQ concerning the Elder Scrolls Online Beta, answering some of the most commonly asked questions about the highly anticipated beta test. The questions themselves are very general and formulate a basic FAQ with essential information such as "How do I Sign Up?" and "How long is the Beta?" Bethsoft started the Q&A session with the following: "The Elder Scrolls Online beta is approaching, and we have more details for you about the program,

March 5th, 2013

Published by: VR-Zone

Just about every gamer who has experienced Bethsoft's award-winning fantasy series is excited for the Elder Scrolls Online for many reasons, and ESO has been named the "Most Anticipated MMOG of 2013" by many gaming outlets including IGN. In ESO, gamers finally get the chance to join their friends in the virtual magic-infused land of Tamriel, forging legendary battles against enemy factions and embarking on epic quests to save the world from certain doom. Anticipation for the beta has been building for months now, and gamers across the world are eager to experience what Bethesda has in store with ESO. We may see more information once the first invites are sent out--depending on Bethsoft stance on upholding an embargo on the gameplay info--but it will be interesting to see how the developers take what was always a distinct one-player experience and mold it into a communal, global adventure. In case you've missed it, check out Bethesda's official Alliances trailer for some amazing cinematic scenes!

The (Omoshiro RC) Sugoi Mop is, as you can see, a mop that can be controlled via remote controller. You can let it sweep across the room, taking care of floor messes while you stay at a comfy position without moving a single inch. We know, the concept kind of looks a bit tedious compared to automated robots, but it can be actually fun, just try imagining the entire living room as a race track of some sort while using it. The product is actually marketed as a double-purpose cleaning tool designed to "let kids help with the household chores while still being able to play". We don't know if this would really be effective in making your kids clean the house or not, but it is quite interesting to see an object like this scooting and cleaning around the floor while someone is happily controlling it at the comfort of their bed or sofa. Optionally users can attach the mop to its main body, so that you can use it as an ordinaryerr, mop. You can also clean the mop easily because the cleaning material portion itself is removable (meaning no risk in damaging its electronic components in water).

Sugoi Mop cleans as you play with it, and vice versa
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sugoi-mop-cleans-as-you-play-withit-and-vice-versa/19148.html March 5th, 2013

The Omoshiro RC Sugoi Mop is a new generic tech item in Japan that lets anyone control and clean with the mop remotely using a wireless controller. Automated cleaning robots like Roomba may look high-tech and all, but wouldn't some of us just want to take command of the cleaning schedule once in a while? Of course, it'd be boring if we are to do it in the same old way, so we'll call in a new Japanese gadget to make things just a bit more interesting.

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