• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Details Leaked

    // Gradly // blog, Featured, Games, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors, Trailer No Responses

    The first major details of the upcoming Call of Duty:  Modern Warfare 3 have been outed as part of a major leak. The Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer and Raven-developed game will launch on November 8, 2011, The single player story will kick off moments after the cliffhanger ending of Modern Warfare 2 with the US attempting to repel a surprise Russian attack. You can watch the first teaser video below:

    These leaked details came from Kotaku after they got their hands on information and images relating to the new game. Infinity Ward has said that these massive Modern Warfare 3 leak is only partly accurate. Creative strategist Robert Bowling of Infinity Ward has Tweeted.

    A lot of hype & a lot of leaked info on #MW3, some still accurate, some not. To avoid spoiling the experience, I’d wait for the real reveal.

    It’s said to feature around 15 missions taking in global locations including New York, Paris and London. The site reports: “The single-player campaign will ping-pong players around the world as they take on the multiple throwaway roles as a Russian Federal Protective Services agent, SAS Operative, tank gunner, and AC-130 gunner as well as key characters from previous instalments and new recurring characters.”

    the game will reshape the landscape of the Call of Duty franchise by introducing a number of eclectic settings, deep multiplayer gaming and a story that ties up nearly all loose ends from previous titles, including the final moments of key figures in the series’ history.

    It’ll also introduce new characters “who appear to be destined for future Modern Warfare games”.

    A List of game Locations:

    • Dharmasala, India
    • New York, New York
    • A plane transporting the president of Russia
    • A town in Sierra Leone
    • London, England
    • Mogadishu, Somalia
    • Hamburg, Germany
    • Paris, France
    • Prague, Czech Republic
    • A castle in the Czech mountains
    • Berlin, Germany
    • The Kremlin in Moscow, Russia
    • Dubai, United Arab Emirates
    • Washington. D.C.

  • Microsoft is About to Announce a Partnership Deal with Chinese Search Company Baidu

    // Gradly // blog, Microsoft, Rants & Raves, Rumors No Responses

    According to sources in Chinese press, Microsoft is close to announcing a deal with Chinese search giant Baidu. Both parties will officially sign a strategic agreement at the end of this week, both sides will co-operation in the field of search, but specific details of cooperation is not revealed. Insiders speculated that Microsoft’s Bing (bing) using Baidu PPC services provided. More details roughly translated below:

    In 2006, Microsoft has reached an agreement with Baidu, Microsoft MSN, Live, and other Microsoft partner Web site to start the search service provided by Baidu bid ranking services. It is known that the Beta version of Microsoft’s bing was introduced in June 2009 in China, in China’s market share is still very limited, according to Analysys think tank Enfodesk industry database data display, in the last quarter of 2011 China search engine operators market share, Baidu accounted for 75.8%, Google accounted for 19.2% in China. Total market share to both 95%.

    Since “Google out of China” when an event occurs, Microsoft has been looking for partners in China, to help make Microsoft a major force in one of China Internet search market. Microsoft Senior VP Ya-Qin Zhang said Beijing in Asia mainly focused on Bing Microsoft (Bing) English version of the research and development, and there are relatively few personnel engaged in research and development of the Chinese version of bing.

    Reports also suggest a deal could be announced as early as next week.

    It looks like Baidu is taking over the paid ads on Bing China, and Bing will provide the English language results for Baidu. Bing is a tiny player in China’s search market. Perhaps by striking a partnership with the biggest search engine there, it can gain some traction. The deal could be announced next week.

    Microsoft has recently acquired the Internet communication service Skype for $8.5 billion.

  • Purported iPhone 5 Parts Suggest Separated Camera and Flash?

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Gadgets, iPhone, Rants & Raves, Rumors 1 Response

    Components purported to be for the fifth-generation iPhone have sparked new rumors that the device’s camera and LED flash will be separated, and will no longer sit snuggled up to one another in the corner. Strengthening these rumors is a case discovered on trade site Alibaba for an ‘iPhone 5G’, which features a mysterious new hole in its rear.

    As noted by cultofmac, these images were first published by Taiwanese site Apple.pro – a site which often gets its hands on Apple component and hardware leaks – and show redesigned components for both the front- and rear-facing cameras. While it’s difficult to establish any technical details at this point, the most obvious difference is that the new rear camera for the iPhone 5 has no LED flash attached.

    It’s unlikely Apple will do away with the LED flash completely, so these components lead us to believe that the camera and flash will be separated on the fifth-generation iPhone – possibly to prevent light leakage from the flash into the camera. Backing up this speculation is a case discovered on Alibaba from Kulcase.

    Claiming to be an ‘iPhone 5G’ case, this snap-on rear casing features two holes at the top, in addition to an iPhone 5 mockup image that reveals a larger, ‘edge-to-edge’ display and a thinner bezel. While the two holes initially led to speculation that the device would feature two cameras for taking 3D images, it now seems that one is for the camera and the other for the LED flash.

    This isn’t the first time case manufacturers have revealed product designs well in advance of their launch. You may remember that cases discovered last year revealed the iPad 2′s new size and design, as well as its rear camera and redesigned speaker. Some manufacturers clearly manage to get their mitts on design specifications for upcoming Apple products way before they’re supposed to.

    If these two separated holes on both corners happen to be a camera and flash LED then Heart Rate App (and the like) will not be working on the new iPhone. If the two holes are actually two cameras then this allows for 3D photo shooting, which is a potential possibility?!

  • PlayStation Network PSN Is Back Again, Firmware 3.61 Released

    // Gradly // blog, Consoles, Games, News, PS3, Rants & Raves, Scandal, Software, Sony 1 Response

    Sony just announced that over the next several hours it will be flipping the lights back on in its Playstation Network that has been since hackers attacked it nearly a month ago.

    The company announced a phased restart to its network starting with the Americas followed by Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. the company has also pushed out a software update 3.61 that will prompt users to change their password as part of the new security procedures put in place.

    Hirai announced advanced security technology, encryption and additional firewalls:

    We have greatly updated our data security systems. These changes were the result of an intensive investigation aided by some of the most respected forensic and security experts in the computer industry.

    Here is the statement released from Sony today:

    Thank you for your patience and encouragement over the last few weeks. As covered in the post from earlier today, you can now update the firmware on your PS3 and change your password. Kazuo Hirai just announced that we have begun the phased restoration by region of some of the services, starting with online multiplayer functionality.

    Please note that these services will take a bit of time to be turned on and rolled out to the whole country. The process has begun and some states are being turned on now, so please be patient as we reach your city and state. We’ll be updating the map below as service comes online in individual states. It will take several hours to restore PSN throughout the entire country, so please keep checking back for the latest updates. In the meantime, now’s a great time to get your PS3’s firmware updated, which is required to get online.