GUILDFORD, UK – Jan. 18, 2013 – The day that Mayors have been clamoring for is almost here – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) today announced that the SimCity™ beta will run from January 25 – January 28. Those who previously signed up are already in consideration for access to the beta, limited slots are still available for late applicants. Eager fans who want to get an advance look at SimCity have a limited time to sign up at www.simcity.com/beta before the application process ends at 2am, GMT on January 21*. Developed by Maxis, SimCity will be available March 8 and is available for pre-order right now.
“It is always an exciting moment to share a game that is still in development with its biggest fans prior to launch,” said Lucy Bradshaw, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA’s Maxis Label. “This beta will help the team improve the live service aspects of SimCity to ensure a smooth and user-friendly experience at launch. I want to thank everyone for signing up – we are excited to share one of our most beloved franchises with our fans.”
Running from 5pm GMT on January 25 until 8am GMT on January 28, the SimCity beta offers fans the chance to play a one hour slice of the game** and to deliver feedback that will help shape the final product. As a live service, SimCity will continue to provide updates that evolve the experience, delivering a dynamic platform that grows and expands over time. For more details about the beta head over to www.simcity.com/beta.

Developed by the renowned Maxis studio in Emeryville, SimCity delivers unprecedented depth of simulation with the new GlassBox Engine, where everything is simulated, up to 100,000 individual Sims in a city, to every Kilowatt of power pulsing through a region of cities. The model-like world and detail of the simulation make this the most responsive and personal SimCity ever. This is also the most expansive city management game yet where multi-city gameplay across regions delivers a larger playing field. Play a single city or up to 16 cities at once each with different specializations, it’s your choice. What kind of Mayor will you be?

Multiplayer is also a first for the series, which adds a new dimension to the game, as decisions impact both the city and the region, creating new ways to play by collaborating or competing to earn achievements and to top leaderboards. Whether you play by yourself, with your friends or the rest of the world, SimCity introduces an infinite world of possibilities.

SimCity has been rated PEGI 7. To stay up-to-date on the latest regarding SimCity, and to pre-order now, please visit www.SimCity.com and http://www.facebook.com/SimCity. 

*Conditions and restrictions apply. See www.simcity.com/beta disclaimer for details.
**Beta players can play the one-hour slice of the game multiple times during the beta period.

MindArk introduces dramatically new avatar system

Gothenburg, Sweden – January 18, 2013 /Entropia Universe/ – Entropia Universe AB, the largest Massively Multiplayer Online Real Cash Economy (or MMORCE) game, announced today that MindArk has released a brand new avatar system.  This new system will bring Entropia Universe to the forefront of graphics technology in an MMO with highly detailed and fully customizable new avatars.    

The new avatars are significantly enhanced with over twice as many polygons as their predecessors for surprising fidelity.  All character textures have been heightened as well, with faces becoming four times more detailed.  Bilateral asymmetry is now a key factor in making distinctive creations as tattoos, scars and makeup no longer need to be even on both sides; and even hair has been improved so that it now moves and bounces naturally.  Additionally all avatar animations have seen improvements so they move more fluidly, with clothes and armor redone to better fit the new models.  This all allows for a much richer user experience as players in-game representations will now be much more engaging and realistic.

To add to the gameplay the avatars not only look better, but they have been optimized for better performance on all machines as well. While overhauling the creation system to introduce the high-fidelity models the developers also took the time to work on the basic user interface.  They made it far easier to customize a unique character so players can explore the world as anyone they wish.  The new system also improves the handling of different races to better represent players and their backgrounds.  The team also included pre-set appearances to allow for faster entry into the game if a player doesn’t want to spend the time on their avatar.  Upon release of the new avatar system all existing users will get a chance to re-customize their look for free.

Entropia Universe is the largest Massively Multiplayer Online Real Cash Economy (MMORCE) game in the world. Players have no monthly costs, but deposit and withdraw real funds for their adventures on any planet in the Entropia Universe. For more information on Entropia Universe or to download the free game please visit www.entropiauniverse.com. To download the new app please visit the Google Play App store at https://play.google.com/store.

Some time ago at Technically Motivated – the technology blog ran by myself which is supported by all of us at Sanitarium.FM – I briefly covered BlackBerry 10, Research in Motion’s attempt to modernise it’s once-popular BlackBerry range of phones and other devices and the proprietary BlackBerry OS system running on them; and to make BlackBerry relevant to the modern generation once again. It’s also common knowledge now that BlackBerry plan to launch two models of phone at first to run this system: first, a fully touchscreen model recently officially named the Z10; and then, a month or two later, a keyboard-equipped model akin to its popular Bold line, tentatively known as the T-Series.

RIM have been keeping very mum over the new system and phones, choosing not to reveal any major details until the official launch announcement of BlackBerry 10, still two weeks away. However, with regular leaks from RIM’s manufacturing partners; and tech reviewers getting prototype models, there has slowly been a number of details being released about both.

A new video making the rounds, however, might be the best look we’ve had yet. German newspaper Telekom Presse, after a hands-on with a prototype model of the Z10, recently released two YouTube videos detailing both the software and hardware of the upcoming BlackBerry phone quite extensively.

The first seven-and-a-half minute video, which has been given English subtitles to be easy to understand by those who don’t speak German, describes almost everything the phone has and does; and assuming RIM doesn’t make any substantial changes to the model that hits markets, you may well be looking at the final product here, albeit without the official explanations and highlighting that RIM will be doing when it’s announced.

With that said, what are your views on this potential new phone? Do you think RIM has a chance with this new model and system; or are they too far down to be saved? Let us know in the comments; and don’t forget to stay tuned to Sanitarium.FM and to visit and bookmark Technically Motivated to always keep on the pulse of the latest news!

AWESOME!!!

Original post from bit-tech here: http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2013/01/15/dell-buyer/1

Dell is claimed to be in talks with a pair of private equity firms as it looks to find a buyer and go private in the face of slumping PC sales.

Dell has been a victim of the recent slump in the PC market, which has dropped even beyond worst-case estimates with the usually lucrative Christmas sales period seeing a 6.4 per cent drop world-side compared to the same time last year. According to figures released by research firm IDC, Dell bore the brunt of those losses with shipments dropping 20.8 per cent year-on-year – beaten only by Acer, which saw its own shipments drop a staggering 28.2 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2011.

That kind of loss, at a time when sales are traditionally at their strongest, is enough to make investors nervous – and Dell is claimed to be looking to bail on its status as a publicly-traded company with a lock, stock and barrel buy-out by a private investment group.

The claims, as yet uncorroborated by any statement from Dell itself, come from two anonymous sources ‘with knowledge of the matter speaking to Bloomberg. According to said sources, Dell is looking towards investment groups TPG Capital and Silver Lake for a finance package that would see the company held privately for the first time since its initial public offering in 1988.

Things have changed since that day, however: where Dell raised $30 million in investment cash from its 1988 IPO and hit a market capitalisation of $85 million, the company is currently worth $21.35 billion – not bad for a company started as a one-man band in 1984 with $1,000. Dell’s current market capitalisation has been helped by a massive surge in share price as investors sought to capitalise on the buyout rumours, pushing the company’s share value up 12.96 per cent in a single day of trading.

With the PC market slumping – and some in the industry claiming that we’re entering a post-PC era where tablets, smartphones and convertible devices rule the roost – and the global economy still struggling to climb out of the doldrums of recession, it remains to be seen whether either of the investment firms will be able to drum up the cash required to take Dell private once more. Should the expected deal fail to materialise, investors who piled onto the company’s shares in the hopes of a quick profit will likely abandon them in droves – adding to Dell’s woes.

For Dell, whose attempt to branch out from its image as a dull shifter of plain boxes and servers for office types included the 2006 acquisition of gaming PC specialist Alienware, the following months are likely to be interesting indeed.