Shane Black, the celebrated action movie screenwriter and director of Iron Man 3, has signed on to helm Doc Savage — a film adaptation of the pulp comic series from the 1930s and 1940s. Sony Pictures announced the deal Tuesday, confirming that Black will direct and co-write the film, with Neal...
From stark to savage
The two men that got rich exploiting a bug in Las Vegas video poker machines won’t be facing hacking charges after all, now that the US Attorney’s Office is dropping some of the charges. This week, the US Attorney’s Office moved to dismiss...
Sony appears to be ready to refresh its range of VAIO Duo Windows 8 ultrabooks with the launch of a new slimmer 13-inch model. A leaked internal training video from UK retailer Dixons shows what appears to be Sony's new Surface-like ultrabook hybrid, which features the same backlit keyboard and "Surf Slider" hinge as its smaller sibling, but may double its battery life, lasting for up to 10...
Sony is back in the black after posting its first full-year net profit in five years. The company made a net profit of ¥43 billion ($458 million) in the 2012 financial year — an increase on its forecast of ¥40 billion ($404 million) — following a loss of ¥457 billion ($5.7 billion) in 2011. Operating profit was ¥230.1 billion ($2.45 billion), up from a ¥67.3 billion ($820 million) loss last year.
Back in black
"If everyone who wasn't skinny or looked a certain way didn't cosplay, no one would cosplay." Ger Tysk, professional cosplayer
During video game conglomerate EA’s most recent earnings call, the company’s CFO confirmed that it has laid off the roughly 900 workers whose jobs were rumored to be on the chopping block last month. “Our cost reduction plans will reduce our overall headcount by approximately 10 percent,” said Blake Jorgensen, who also serves as vice president, before explaining that the restructuring...
Is your social status too low to score a free pass to American Airlines' Admiral's Club? Social ranking company Klout is offering a new way to boost your score: sharing opinions on the subjects in which you already have some influence, and using the data to help answer questions on Bing.
In an expanded partnership with Microsoft, Klout will bring answers from its new "experts" service to the top of Bing search results. The integration, which builds on a partnership that began last year when Microsoft invested in Klout, brings crowdsourced answers to queries that search engines have long...
TechCrunch is reporting that Microsoft is trying to buy the Nook ebook and device ecosystem — for $1 billion. According to documents TechCrunch has obtained, Redmond hopes to buy the digital assets of Nook Media LLC; that's the Barnes & Noble subsidiary behind the ebook business, as well as the Nook e-readers and tablets themselves.
The documents also reveal that the current Nook tablets aren't long for this world. They reportedly state that Nook Media plans to discontinue its Android tablets like the Nook HD by the end of its 2014 fiscal year. The focus would then shift to what is referred to as "third-party partner" devices. It's not...
Spotify has patched an exploit that allowed a Chrome browser extension to download any song available on the music streaming service. We have tested and can confirm that the Downloadify tool is no longer able to connect to Spotify's web player. By allowing premium users to store tracks locally as part of their monthly subscription, Spotify inadvertently allowed the Downloadify tool to grab a copy of any song from its catalog of over 20 million...
No more Spotify pirating
Tesla Motors, for the first time in its 10-year history, has turned a quarterly profit. Sales at Tesla rose to $562 million, up 83 percent from last quarter, and this time some of that money is actually flowing into Tesla's coffers. While Tesla lost $89.9 million last quarter, on Thursday the...
Dashing. Affable. Visionary. Inquisitive. Daring. Provocative. Introspective. Expert. Renowned. Charming. Excellent.
With Nokia set to unveil a new Lumia lineup next week, you could be forgiven for forgetting about the company's flagship phone from last year. However, AT&T customers still holding on to their Lumia 900s have cause for celebration in the shape of...
The vice president of Google Wallet, Osama Bedier, is leaving to pursue "other opportunities." First reported by Venture Beat, Google confirmed the news in a statement saying that "Bedier has decided to leave Google this year." Bedier joined Google in 2011, after an eight-year...
The National Security Agency has declassified a version of an in-house training manual used to teach NSA members how to best utilize the internet for research purposes. Untangling the Web: An Introduction to Internet Research was written by Robyn Winder and Charlie Speight and published by the...
World of Warcraft may still be the world's leading subscription-based MMORPG, but the allure seems to be fading: 1.3 million players logged off between January and March, Activision Blizzard revealed today. The game's subscriber base now stands at 8.3 million — down from the 9.6 million figure reported in February. "Though the majority of our subscriber decline occurred mainly in the East, where we have more...
Last Friday, Verizon filed a proposal with New York state that would allow it to abandon traditional copper telephone lines in favor of wireless service in select areas. Companies like Verizon and AT&T have been trying to leave these old and...
Late last year, the struggling Japanese electronics company Pioneer announced a strange new product: a "compact" full-color printer for making 3D holographic images. About the size of a large briefcase, the printer now offers a new function — turning flat ultrasound images of unborn babies into...
FiftyThree today updated its app Paper for iPad to include pinch-to-zoom, one of the most requested features from users, and "Made With Paper," a...
The FBI still holds that it can access private emails without a warrant, according to a 2012 internal document released today by the American Civil Liberties Union. The practice has been in...
Stock Android and LTE data speeds for a buck. That's what awaits anyone who takes advantage of AT&T's just announced sale on the HTC First. The inaugural Facebook Home device is just 99 cents (on...
Microsoft announced on Wednesday that Amy Hood, formerly the CFO of the company's business division, will succeed Peter Klein as the chief financial officer. Klein announced his plans to leave...
In a world where 3D (and now 4DX) is constantly trying to overwhelm your senses at theaters, it's important to remember that the basic needs of some moviegoers remain largely unmet. Over a year...
A government-run system for monitoring every piece of citizens' telecommunications, including online activity, text messages, and phone calls, has...
In the world of high-end, exotic sportscars, Ferrari stands alone as the only manufacturer publicly taking a stand against the possibility of someday producing a fully electric car. Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari's chairman, said that "we will never manufacture an electric car as long as I'm chairman," according to a Yahoo Autos report.
The comments are notable because Ferrari's latest...
Universally respected businessman and thoughtful political figure Donald Trump has found a surefire way to give back to the community: backing a near-copy of Indiegogo or Kickstarter designed for the "masses." Trump has announced his support for FundAnything, a recently launched crowdfunding...
