IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 12/29/2014

Audi to invest $29 billion new car development over next five years
Audi is willing to invest $29 billion over the next five years to help increase production, research and develop new connected car technologies, all the while trying to chase down BMW as the premiere German auto maker. Audi is No. 2 in global sales, and wants to expand its vehicle lineup from 50 up to 60 by 2020, the company publicly noted.

"We are making huge investments in the pioneering regions of electric mobility, connectivity and lightweight development," said Rupert Stadler, Audi CEO, in a press statement.

As connected technology, electric engines and autonomous vehicle research continues, Tesla, BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and other luxury car manufacturers are expected to lead the way.


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Demand for 'The Interview' reportedly increasing in North Korea
In what must be a public relations nightmare for the government in Pyongyang, a growing number of North Koreans are not only aware of Sony Pictures' "The Interview" - but want to view the movie. The North Korean State Security Department and The Ministry of People's Security collaborated in a meeting to try to limit how the movie is able to enter the country.

There are reports of North Korean citizens interested in paying upwards of $50 for a copy of "The Interview," a significantly higher price than other movies available on the black market. North Korean officials have increased border security, and have instructed handlers of black market materials to avoid US material.

"Think of the movie as Chernobyl for the digital age," wrote Rich Klein, from the McLarty Associates advisory firm, in a Washington Post statement. "Just as the nuclear catastrophe in the Soviet Union and the dangerously clumsy efforts to hide it exposed the Kremlin's leadership as inept and morally bankrupt, overseeing a superpower rusting from the inside, so does 'The Interview' risk eroding the myths, fabrications and bluster that keep the Kim dynasty in power."

There are already plans to send balloons carrying "The Interview" in North Korea, but it remains to be seen how many people will actually be able to get their hands-on the film.


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Can you log onto Xbox Live? Connectivity issues seemingly reappear
Are you able to log onto Microsoft's Xbox Live service? Days after being dropped by the Lizard Squad on Christmas morning, it appears problems are surfacing again. On Saturday afternoon, the Microsoft service website saying Xbox Live is down once again, with Xbox One and Xbox 360 gamers confirming the news.

Although the Xbox Live Status website reports the core services, purchase and content usage, website, TV music and video, and social gaming aspects are reported to be working again - many users are reporting they are unable to game and access content.

Multiplayer titles such as Destiny and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare require active Internet service, but titles such as Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age: Inquisition - which are largely played in single-player - still access third-party server connections.


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US Navy helicopter drone successfully passes first testing milestone
The US Navy tested the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter drone during sea trials, with 32 successful takeoffs and landings earlier this week. A heavily modified Bell 407 utility helicopter can be controlled by command teams on military ships or ground-based teams.

"The MQ-8C Fire Scout's fist flight from the USS Dunham represents a significant Navy milestone," said Capt. Jeff Dodge, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Fire Scout program manager, in a press statement. "This is the first sea-based flight of the MQ-8C, and the first time an unmanned helicopter has operated from a destroyer."

The Navy and Northrop Grumman will continue to conduct tests to see how the helicopter drone operates in varying weather and wind conditions.


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North Korea describes Pres. Obama as 'a monkey' in latest tirade
Apparently, the North Korean government isn't happy with the Obama Administration and Sony's decision to release "The Interview." The North Korean National Defense Commission (NDC) released a statement that accuses the US of crippling its Internet - which has happened twice in less than one week - while also lobbing a racial slur towards Obama.

"Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest," said someone from the North Korean Policy Department, in a statement published by the Korean Central News Agency.

Once Sony Pictures reversed its decision to release "The Interview," it seemed likely the North Korean government would issue public statements. Furthermore, this isn't the first time North Korea has issued racially-driven statements aimed towards Obama, though this appears to be nothing more than political posturing.


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North Korean Internet infrastructure suffers another outage
For the second time in less than one week, it appears the fragile North Korean Internet infrastructure has been dropped offline from cyberattacks. Reports from Chinese media indicate the Internet and 3G mobile phone networks in North Korea have gone offline, following the US government's accusations that Pyongyang had a direct hand in breaching Sony Pictures.

In the incident reported earlier in the week, it appears a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack stopped Internet access for a brief period. Most Internet access in North Korea is reserved for high-ranking government officials and military personnel, reports indicate.

Despite countries focusing on developing cyberespionage weapons able to target foreign companies and governments, clearly not enough is being done to help improve cybersecurity. The United States, UK, North Korea, China, Russia, Iran, and other nations have greater cyberattack capabilities - but fall prey to their own data incidents on a frequent basis.


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Xbox Live, PlayStation Network regaining stability after DDoS attack
Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's PlayStation Network are clawing their way back to full functionality, a couple of days after crippling distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks by the Lizard Squad hacking group.

The Xbox Live service, which has almost 50 million global users, was working significantly better by Friday evening - but the PlayStation Network, supporting almost 110 million users, still had significant problems, preventing users from logging on.

In a tweet issued Saturday morning, Sony had this to say: "Update: PS4, PS3, and Vita network services are gradually coming back online - thanks for your patience." A follow-up statement noted: "We are seeing reduced reports of network issues. We'll continue to monitor."


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US government warns Sony breach tactics could be used in other attacks
The malware software and cybercriminal technique demonstrated against Sony Pictures could be used in additional attacks targeting US companies, according to a recent alert from the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). Specifically, the malware, which is similar to code used to target South Korean companies, is able to communicate with operators while spreading quickly and conducting brute-force password attacks against systems.

"Due to the highly destructive functionality of this malware, an organization infected could experience operational impacts including loss of intellectual property and disruption of critical systems," the US-CERT warning stated. It's true that next-generation malware, written by increasingly skilled cybercriminal groups, has a wide variety of different purposes. Although stealing and compromising infected PCs remains lucrative, cyberespionage would be better served by disrupting day-to-day operations of necessary systems.

North Korea has been blamed by the US government for the attack against Sony Pictures, a charge it vehemently denies - has dedicated resources to improving its cyberattack capabilities.


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'Game of Thrones' most pirated TV show of 2014, according to reports
Popular HBO show "Game of Thrones" maintained its spot as the most pirated TV show of the year, topping the list for the third consecutive year. The shows was downloaded an estimated 8.1 million times throughout the year via BitTorrent, and has topped "The Sopranos" as the most-watched HBO show ever made.

"Game of Thrones" also set a record when 254,114 users downloaded and shared the same torrent file.

"The Walking Dead" had an estimated 4.2 million downloads while "Breaking Bad" rounded out the No. 3 spot as the most pirated TV show, collecting 3.6 million downloads.


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NVIDIA shield receives Android Lollipop update to great success
NVIDIA was one of the first companies to roll-out Android's 5.0.1 Lollipop Operating System to their devices, seeing this widely-acclaimed update work flawlessly on NVIDIA's tablet offering.

Said to focus on adding new features to the Android platform, with NVIDIA adding in a few extra's of their own to increase the updates potency, as per their usual practice.

Seeing their Camera Awesome App updated to include new FX features said to take advantage of the Tegra K1 chip on offer (for acceleration of live and preview recording), NVIDIA also brought back their acclaimed SHIELD power control menu. The feature is designed to help you pick your processor modes, including things such as Custom Battery Saver, Optimized and Max Performance, alongside giving you the ability to enable an auto-shutdown of your device.

As far as general performance is concerned, NVIDIA has claimed that it has been improved - seeing UI and app performance improved alongside enhancing memory organization.

Given this news we highly recommend that you update your SHIELD Tablet as soon as possible.


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Lizard Squad stop DDoS of PSN and Xbox Live thanks to Kim Dot Com
Thanks to the "Lizard Squad", many bright-eyed youngsters were left out of luck - being unable to connect their new Santa-given PlayStation's and XBOX's to their respective online gaming and content networks.

This group of hackers targeted both of these large-scale online mediums on the 25th of December, seeing Kim Dot Com come in as some kind of savior - offering them 3,000 lifetime premium Mega accounts worth $99 each in return for PSN and XBOX Live's safety. The squad accepted, stopping the DDoS atacks instantly, vowing never to return.

According to a Twitter post, this deal is only made true if "they don't attack Xbox Live & PSN again. #ThatsTheDeal," in the words of Dot Com himself.

XBOX live services were restored fairly quickly, however reports from Sony claim that they were having a little trouble getting back on their feet. According to a Tweet made by Lizard Squad, the attacks were stopped immediately and any further downtime was just a digital "aftermath".

Thanks Kim Dot Com, you've just saved Christmas for many. In thanks, many users are tweeting themselves pretending to Kiss his "Mega" website logo, claiming he is the savior of their sanity.

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Experts claim SSD's to out-price HDD's in 2016 and beyond
According to a publication by Wikibon, "Flash will become a lower cost media than disk for almost all storage in 2016." This will mark a new era in today's digital age - seeing faster storage capacities become mainstream.

Do you remember when you first installed your SSD? Something under 25 seconds to completely re-boot your system was simply unheard of in HDD-only days, seeing you often click that restart button and adventure out to the kitchen to grab a drink or a snack. Well now according to Wikibon, we're only a couple of years off seeing flash memory price-match or even become cheaper than hard disk technology.

The main limitation of flash memory in this day and age is the price per GB on offer. For sub-$100 you can now easily purchase a 2TB data drive to store all of your photos, home videos and various backup data - this is compared to a hefty price tag of $3,301 for a comparable SSD offering from SanDisk.

Given this information, don't expect 4TB SSD's to be running off the shelves any time soon, however if you're looking for a handy 1TB C-drive, the faster alternative may be cheaper quite soon.

This article also covers the facts about hard disk improvements and if they ever have the chance to closely match or somewhat catch up to flash technology. It's claimed that "Seagate introduced flash as a buffer on each disk as an alternative approach. However, the uptake of this technology has been paltry for two main reasons:

1. Buffers are a partial solution, not nearly as good to (say) a PC end-user as all-flash storage as Apple has shown with the success of the all-flash "Air" products.
2. Separate buffers on each disk is a sub-optimum way of designing buffers, both for IO average latency and more important IO latency variance (jitter)"

The short of this story is that by 2016, technology will have advanced far enough that you might start looking into flash-storage architecture for all of your data needs and leaving the old Western Digital Green drives on the shelf.


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Peel and stick sensor sets out to improve health
Pitched as an IndieGoGo campaign, the QButton is claimed as the "world's first post-it Bluetooth sensor."

In simple terms, the QButton is being designed to help remind you when it's time to take care of yourself. Ranging from reminders such as when it's time for you to take a sip of water, or prompting you to stand up from your desk and walk around - this new stick-on technology is trying to work as a preventative, rather than a cure.

Currently sitting at $27,000 raised of their $30,000 goal, QButton utilizes motion detector technology connected to your smartphone device. Stick it wherever you want the reminder to take place and let it nag you into better health.

For a donation of $9, you can get yourself a first issue release of this new device.


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Kodak will unveil an Android-powered smartphone at CES 2015
Kodak will reportedly be showing off its new Android-powered smartphone at CES 2015 next week, as part of the companies new plans for 2015 and beyond. These new plans will kick off with the launch of a new smartphone, but we don't know what to expect, at all.

Kodak's CEO, Oliver Schulte, has said that the company has taken its heritage and used it to inspire a range of beautifully designed devices that will allow their suers to take great pictures, and then edit, share, store and print them in an instant. This has me hoping for some kind of amazing Polaroid Phone... or am I dreaming?

The company says that it will not be manufacturing the handset, as this will be in the hands of Bullitt Group, who has been tasked at making rugged handsets for construction company Caterpillar. Kodak adds that it will not be compromising on design and the users experience, with its unnamed handset aimed at those who are after a high-end experience, without a complicated interface. The smartphone itself will be shipping with an advanced remote management application pre-installed, so if users need to get help from family and friends, it's super easy to do so.


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Palo Alto Police Department testing new recording technology
At a time when critics want better oversight of police departments in the United States, the Palo Alto PD has a new video technology solution being used in squad cars. Each car uses five cameras, able to provide an enhanced 270-degree field of view of the car's surroundings. The system is operated via touchscreen, so officers have access to the cameras: one points forward, two side cameras show coverage of blind spots, a rear-facing camera, and one prisoner camera.

Officers are able to scan through up to 40 hours of recorded video data - and could lead to a drop in public complaints towards officers.

"We hire people for character and we want them to have character and to treat people with dignity and respect," said Dennis Burns, The chief of police in Palo Alto, in a statement to CBS News. "And this really should be kind of secondary to everything else. It's just another tool that we have to show that we are doing the right thing."


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Inateck FD2002 Dual Bay Storage Docking Station Review

Over the last year, we have seen a plethora of devices coming on the market offering dual-purpose capabilities. In the case of docking stations, like the FD2002 we have in the lab today, these solutions have become capable of performing stand-alone cloning operations.

The Inateck FD2002 like we mentioned above is a dual bay docking station. Features of this solution include UASP support and hot swap capabilities, along with being tool-free. In addition to those features, the FD2002 can also function as a stand-alone cloning solution, allowing users to quickly and efficiently clone drives. Operating system support includes modern Windows, OS X and Linux.

MSRP of the Inateck FD2002 is listed at $69.99 with a one-year warranty.

Scope of delivery for the FD2002 includes a power adapter, USB 3.0 cable, and reading materials.

Looking at the top of the dock, we have a setup of LEDs to the left for the cloning function. To the bottom left is the clone button and to the right we have both of the drive bays that accept either 2.5" or 3.5" drives.

The back of the dock houses the USB 3.0 connection, along with the power input and power switch.

To test the performance of the Inateck FD2002, we installed a Crucial M550 1TB SSD. As you can see above, we were able to reach 215 MB/s read and 307 MB/s write.

The Inateck FD2002 is quite a solid solution for those that want a dual bay docking solution. The build quality is quite good as all the plastics used in construction are held together tightly. While the unit doesn't carry an eject button for the drives, we had no issues removing our 2.5" or 3.5" drives.

Performance of the FD2002 was pretty good. We were able to reach 215 MB/s read and 307 MB/s write with our 1TB SSD, which is plenty of performance for the average user. Testing out the cloning function, we installed our 480GB SanDisk Extreme II that held our second test systems operating system.

In the second slot, we had the Crucial M550 1TB SSD to accept the clone. After setting off the clone operation by holding down the clone button, we waited about 30 minutes for the operation to finish. Now this was with roughly 130 GB of data on the SanDisk drive, so your results will vary with more or less data to be cloned.

PRICING: You can find the Inateck FD2002 Dual Bay Docking Station for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.

United States: The Inateck FD2002 Dual Bay Docking Station retails for $39.99 at Amazon.

... Read the rest in your browser!



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Samsung NX1 Showcases 4K UHD in Short Film with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and hitRECord
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced the launch of a new short film created by renowned actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his open collaborative production company, hitRECord. 'In a City' was shot entirely in 4K Ultra HD(UHD) on the Samsung NX1, the new premium mirrorless camera, and depicts diverse perspectives of seven cities from across the globe. The actor and his global team of cinematographers capture the essence and stories of their home cities, set to the backdrop of a powerful crowd-sourced soundtrack.

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​"This emotive short film is testament to both Joseph's exceptional talents as a director and the outstanding technology within the Samsung NX1" said Younghee Lee, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, IT & Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics. "The NX1's advanced features make it ideal for filmmakers in search of a camera with 4K UHD capabilities, to wow their audiences with exceptional beauty and clarity in every shot."

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​"When you're creating art, it's important to know that your tools will match your ambition, and that you can rely on the technology to enable, not limit your artistic vision," said Joseph Gordon-Levitt. "Samsung's NX1 is an awesome camera and it allowed us to create something really special with "In a City". The project was one of the most popular collaborations we've ever had on the site, with the whole hitRECord community excited to get behind it. We set out to make a film that speaks to a common experience, shared by millions of people, but set in some of the world's most diverse cities. It was important to capture the unique texture and energy of each city. The NX1 allowed us to do that , and make something that we're all very proud of."

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​Joseph Gordon-Levitt enlisted the help of hitRECord's talented community of cinematographers, musicians and lyricists to create the short film, curating the best crowd-sourced content to feature in the final cut. The film is structured around a collaboratively written poem, performed by artists from around the world. It takes the audience on a journey through the crowded markets of Cairo and Rio De Janiero, the iconic arches of London and Prague, as well as Tokyo's neon towers, the industrial streets of Sheffield and Los Angeles.

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​Exclusive unseen footage will be revealed on December 16th, with the launch of a behind the scenes, untold story video which highlights how the film was made, along with background from Joseph Gordon-Levitt on his creative process.

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​The Samsung NX1 has advanced features that make filmmaking easier and more enjoyable, supporting both Cinema 4K and UHD video recording. Its built-in HEVC Codec (H.265) allows users to compress and store video clips without compromising quality, and its advanced Auto Focus System III with 205 Phase Detection AF points covers nearly the entire imaging area.

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​Additional benefits to filmmakers include manual exposure control, focus peaking and zebra pattern, as well as microphone and headphone ports. The NX1 is also equipped with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and offers the most advanced connectivity available, even allowing users to watch UHD movies on a UHD TV wirelessly.

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​'In a City' can be found on:

Samsung camera Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/samsungcamera)

Samsung camera YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/samsungcamera)

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​For more information on the NX1, visit http://www.samsungmobilepress.com

For more information on the hitRECord, visit http://www.hitrecord.org/


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Aussies Set a Click Frenzy Record with Online Sales up 27.7 Percent
IBM reported record online and mobile sales for Australia's third Click Frenzy ahead of the Christmas shopping blitz. The results are based on Australian online shopping transactions analysed by IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark.

The key trends are:

• Click Frenzy online sales were up 27.7 percent over the same period in 2013.
• Click Frenzy mobile traffic reached 43 percent, up 29.4 percent over the same period in 2013.
• Click Frenzy mobile sales reached 20.4 percent, up 15.3 percent over the same period in 2013.

Here's a closer look at the key drivers that supported these trends:

Consumers Cash-In on Online Bargains: As consumers become more comfortable with digital coupons average order value increased to $151.02, an increase of 15.2 percent over the same period in 2013. This indicates that shoppers are being much savvier in how they use online coupons and rebates to secure the best bargains. Shoppers purchased an average of 5 items per order, up 48.5 percent over last year.

Smartphones Browse, Tablets Buy: Smartphones drove 24.8 percent of total online traffic, outpacing tablets, which drove 18.3 percent of overall traffic. However, tablets are winning the shopping war. Tablet sales accounted for 13.3 percent of online sales, nearly twice that of smartphones which drove 7.1 percent.

The Desktop is Not Dead: Even so, many shoppers chose a more traditional online experience with desktop traffic representing 56.7 percent of all online traffic, and desktop sales reaching 79.6 percent of all online sales. Further, consumers spent more money on average on their desktops at $161.76 than their mobile devices at $121.82 a difference of 32.8 percent.

iOS vs. Android: Apple continued its leadership in compelling mobile shopping experiences, beating Android across three key metrics: Average Order Value: iOS users averaged $122.42 per order compared to $116.72 for Android users.

• Online Traffic: iOS traffic reached 32.8 percent, outpacing Android traffic, which reached 10 percent as a component of total online traffic
• Online Sales: iOS sales which reached 17.5 percent, were also higher than Android at 2.7 percent as a component of overall online sales.

Ian Wong, Retail Industry Lead for IBM Australia said, "Our hypothesis is that omni-channel retail experiences have really taken hold in Australia over the last 12 months. We anticipate customers are fusing in-store experiences, using the concept of 'show-rooming' to touch and feel products, complemented by mobile browsing both in and out of store, and then using the convenience of online to make the purchase. Australians are really making the most of multiple retail channels to get the best products and best deals possible - and we anticipate this trend will continue to grow in popularity."


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Westfield Insurance Selects IBM to Transform Claims Processes; Leverage Analytics to Improve Customer Service
IBM announced that Westfield Insurance, a provider of personal, commercial and surety insurance, is working with IBM to transform their claims operations. In their transformation, Westfield is using business analytics to increase flexibility, operational efficiency and effectiveness, enabling Westfield to keep pace with its evolving customer base and business growth.

According to a study conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, leading insurers are leveraging cloud, analytics and social technologies to stay ahead of the competition. Specifically, more than 60 percent of identified leading insurers are focused on advanced analytics to improve their claims handling in order to improve processes and increase customer satisfaction. Westfield's multi-year claims handling transformation initiatives, including process, organizational and technology changes, focuses on using data and analytics to better serve customers.

IBM's deep end-to-end capabilities allow the company to improve customer service though an integrated claims solution that standardizes operations. IBM brought together the best of IBM, from software to its strategy and analytics services, to deliver several of the major components of the program. IBM developed a new protocol to migrate data for use with predicative models and uses simulation models to evaluate bottlenecks in the claims process and develop a strategy for expedited workflow. This simulation helped expedite organizational changes. The new claims system will also utilize a suite of IBM counter fraud capabilities to detect suspicious activity.

"We've been working with IBM for years on multiple initiatives, in order to become a data-oriented company," said Robert Bowers, National Claims Strategy Leader, Westfield Insurance. "Our new claims platform will enable our employees to make quicker decisions, with greater insight. We anticipate lowered costs and improved customer service, all while streamlining operations throughout the country to enhance the customer experience."

"Analytics are the most visionary element to drive a competitive advantage. Since 2007, Westfield Insurance has been working hard to build an enterprise view of their data across their business," said Patricia Hamilton, Vice President, Insurance Strategy and Transformation, IBM. "This new claims platform is the next step in their transformational journey to build a structured process around data governance. By consolidating and standardizing its claims handling systems, Westfield is able to increase operational efficiencies, benefiting employees and customers."

IBM has optimized Westfield's current claims handling process to provide a seamless, fully-integrated customer experience. Westfield's claims system with Guidewire is now consolidated to ensure efficient operations across its network. Through industry leadership, technology expertise and proven practices, IBM was able to evaluate current processes and determine a roadmap to develop an optimized business model, including:

• A fully integrated solution to enable paperless processing, decreasing errors and increasing efficiency. Customers are also able to communicate with Westfield electronically, shortening the lifecycle of a claim.
• Systems integration with third party providers to allow for automated actions throughout the claims process, improving the customer experience and creating adjuster efficiencies.
• Controlled and secure access to applications, functionality, and data. Additionally, IBM's advanced analytics solutions and services are used to analyze millions of data points and identify and predict suspicious claims and activity in real-time.
• Conversion of data from legacy claims system to ensure existing claims are still open and that a record of closed claims are accessible to agents throughout the country.

For more information on IBM Insurance, please visit http://www.ibm.com/insurance .


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IBM Opens First Cloud Data Center With SoftLayer in Japan
Today IBM announced the opening of its first cloud data center with SoftLayer in Japan, located in Tokyo. This announcement comes on the heels of recent SoftLayer cloud data center launches in Melbourne and Paris and represents the next step in IBM's $1.2 billion investment to expand its global cloud footprint.

The facility in Tokyo complements other SoftLayer resources located in cities within the Asia-Pacific region, including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Melbourne and broadens data redundancy options and geographic diversity within IBM's growing number of cloud data centers worldwide.

It also addresses the industry's growing concerns about data residency and privacy by offering a local Japanese facility to compute and store sensitive data that needs to remain in country.

"Since we established a Singapore cloud data center in September 2011, SoftLayer has seen tremendous growth in the Asia-Pacific market," said Lance Crosby, CEO of SoftLayer, an IBM Company. "Our new cloud data center in Tokyo will support this evolving market by offering locally the security, resiliency, and efficiency that customers are demanding around the world."

The Tokyo cloud data center is launching at an opportune time for IBM Cloud. Between Q3 2013 and Q3 2014, IBM Cloud's customer base in Japan increased more than 600 percent, and Japanese customers using its SoftLayer Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) now total more than 1,000.

"IBM Cloud's global expansion of SoftLayer cloud data centers, including the new facility in Tokyo, is good for our business," said Hiroyuki Mashita, managing director and vice president of PioneerVC Corporation. "We are based in Japan and have clients located all over the world who use our real-time collaboration solution xSync Prime, which relies on SoftLayer's robust bare metal and virtual cloud servers, services, and worldwide network to provide a low-latency connection. We plan to move some of our clients' accounts and domestic data into the new cloud data center as soon as it opens in Tokyo."

The new facility will provide strategic support for local Asia-Pacific customers as well as global customers that want to reach local end users. SoftLayer's global network, differentiated by its unique network-within-a-network architecture, offers 10Gbps connections to SoftLayer services, less than 50 milliseconds of latency from the Hong Kong cloud data center, and less than 270 milliseconds of latency from other SoftLayer cloud data centers around the world.

"Over the past two years, IBM Cloud's SoftLayer infrastructure has helped us provide a cost-efficient, robust, scalable, and responsive experience for our users", said Mark Sun, co-founder of Singapore-based MotionElements, a royalty-free worldwide stock media marketplace for Asia-focused digital artists. "IBM Cloud has proven to be a very reliable technology provider for us, and we look forward to growing our business with their continued support."

The Tokyo cloud data center has capacity for thousands of physical servers and offers the full range of SoftLayer cloud infrastructure services, including bare metal servers, virtual servers, storage, and networking. It will seamlessly integrate via SoftLayer's leading private network with all SoftLayer cloud data centers and network points of presence (POPs) around the world. With services deployed on demand and full remote access and control, customers of the Tokyo center can create their ideal public, private, or hybrid cloud environments to deliver their services with low latency and ultimate efficiency, performance, and low latency.

Customers can receive $500.00 USD off of new orders for the Tokyo cloud data center for the first month of service, for a limited time. For more information about this discount, visit http://www.softlayer.com/info/tokyo-hosting. For more information about SoftLayer's cloud centers, visit http://www.softlayer.com/datacenters.

SoftLayer, an IBM Company, operates a global cloud infrastructure platform built for Internet scale. With 100,000 devices under management and a global footprint of data centers and network points of presence, SoftLayer provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service to leading-edge customers ranging from Web startups to global enterprises. SoftLayer's modular architecture provides unparalleled performance and control, with a full-featured API and sophisticated automation controlling a flexible unified platform that seamlessly spans physical and virtual devices, and a worldwide network for secure, low-latency communications. For more information, please visit softlayer.com.


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IBM Named a Worldwide Leader in IDC MarketScape for Mobile Application Development and Testing Consulting Services
IBM announced it has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Mobile Application Development and Testing Services 2014 Vendor Assessment.

Following an evaluation of 19 service providers against more than 100 criteria, IBM was recognized in the "Leaders" category for its performance across business services capabilities, sales/distribution structure, employee management, customer satisfaction criteria and overall project management capabilities. In addition, IBM was credited for the scale of its user experience and creative design skills, through IBM Interactive Experience, the largest digital agency in the world, according to Ad Age.

Today's announcement reinforces IBM's commitment to helping organizations speed their mobile enterprise transformation and eliminate barriers to adoption. The IBM MobileFirst portfolio features key capabilities in analytics, data, security and cloud to deliver innovative solutions. These solutions empower employees to make more effective decisions and enhance customer interactions; help developers create, deploy, manage and secure mobile apps, on-premise or in the cloud; and enable organizations to manage and secure mobile devices, applications, content and transactions with confidence.

The report emphasized IBM's mobile application development and testing services strengths across traditional technologies, native mobile device technologies and cloud platforms. Other highlights included clients' high regard for IBM's technical expertise in mobile, global scale and flexibility to work with the client's application development methodology, whether the client used an agile, waterfall or hybrid approach. Also noted was IBM's strong industry partnerships, customer service and overall project management as key assets they valued when working with IBM.

"This report is further recognition of IBM's unmatched mobile enterprise consulting leadership" said Paul Papas, global leader, IBM Interactive Experience. "IBM's trusted mobile experts understand our clients' business, create strategies that align with industry and user expectations, and execute with scale and speed through our unique combination of design, strategy, analytics and enterprise mobile skills."

In late March, IDC also published a MarketScape on Worldwide Mobile Application Development, Testing, Management and Infrastructure Services2 in which IBM was also ranked a Leader. This new report is an adjunct of that work, focusing on application development and testing services only.

To download the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Mobile Application Development and Testing Services 2014 Vendor Assessment report, visit http://www.idc.com.

For more on IBM Business Consulting Services, visit http://www.ibm.com/services/gbs.


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ASUS Ranks Number 1 in the Prestigious 2014 Taiwan Global Brands Value Survey
ASUS has been recognized as the number-one Taiwanese brand in the Best Taiwan Global Brands Awards 2014. This year marks the second consecutive year ASUS has won the award as well as the twelfth straight year the company has been in the top-three list of international brands from Taiwan. The brand value is now estimated at US$1.723 billion and has maintained steady growth despite a competitive market.

"We are honored to be recognized as the top brand in the Best Taiwan Global Brand Awards for the second year in a row," said ASUS Corporate Vice President S.Y. Hsu. "2014 has been an especially remarkable year for ASUS with the launch of ZenFone. ZenFone brings empowering luxury to everyone, and consumers have responded by making it the number-one phone in Taiwan by market share in the third quarter of this year. We will continue with our In Search of Incredible brand promise as we strive to create an effortless and joyful digital life for everyone."

During 2014, ASUS has continued its tradition of innovation with the launch of several flagship products, including ZenFone, ZenWatch, and EeeBook X205. The ZenFone smartphone series incorporates beautiful design, high-quality materials, and the seamless functionality of ASUS ZenUI to provide an unparalleled mobile experience to users. The new ZenWatch, the first wearable device from ASUS, is an exquisitely crafted watch that pairs seamlessly with ZenFone or other Android smartphones to provide relevant and useful information when it is needed most, and serve as a personal wellness manager. Continuing the concept of the iconic EeePC, EeeBook X205 is an affordable 11.6-inch Windows 8.1 notebook with a full-size keyboard that integrates the latest technology in a compact, lightweight design perfect for consumers who are always-on the go.

The Best Taiwan Global Brands Awards is held by the Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C and global branding consultancy Interbrand. The awards are seen as a key indicator of the position held by Taiwanese brands in the global market. The awards are given out based on brand value, which include the financial performance of the company, the role the brand plays in the consumer purchase decision, and the competitive strength of the brand.


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LifeApps Digital Media Inc. Continues to Expand its Product Lines and Distribution Channels While Increasing Revenues
LifeAppsDigital Media Inc., an emerging growth company, and designer of m-health, fitness and sports applications ("apps) has worked hard in 2014 on solidifying and growing the company's established products and services. In the past two quarters the company has devoted programming and design resources to updating the LifeApps Tutorial App Platform to integrate new features from Apples HealthKit. This integration will expand our apps, like MDWorkout, to utilize data gathered from pedometers, heart monitors and more within our own app. Our apps will also be able to share information back the HealthKit for other apps to share making our apps a more integrated part of a customers complete mobile health solution. We have also been working on a new LifeApps Health website that will focus more on the needs of our consumers. The new apps and website are slated for release in early 2015.

LifeApps continues to seek new digital and product partnerships for our products. In 2014 LifeApps entered into a partnership and distribution agreement with TotalGym for the sale of The Golf Core Grip Workout System as an accessory to the TotalGym. This included the creation of a new set of video instructions from Dr. Peter Mackay demonstrating how the Golf Core Grip is used with the TotalGym. ( http://www.totalgymcatalog.com/total-gym-core-grip.php )

Operations of Sports One Group saw a complete overhaul of the companys product database across multiple sales channels. The company has also contracted with developer ProMo Mobility to create a new Sports One Group catalogue app for our ASI sales partners to access our catalog easily through any mobile device. Currently Sports One Group maintains a 5 star SAGE and ASI rating for excellent customer service.

LifeApps assisted Veterans Research Alliance, a non-profit supporting medical research for returning veterans with free website services and support as part of our efforts to give back to our community in 2014 . ( http://www.veteransresearch.org )

LifeApps recently announced its quarterly earnings for its fiscal 2014 third quarter ended September 30, 2014 in its 10-Q filing on November 18, 2014. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $83,724 representing an 11.7% increase year-over-year for the quarter. Year-To-Date the Company reports revenues of $288,606 representing a YTD increase in revenue of 71.2% over the same period in 2013. In addition to revenue growth in the quarter, expenses for the company have decreased 31% over the year-ago quarter and 52% over the same YTD period in 2013.

LifeApps CEO Robert Gaymans featured guest appearance on The Stock Radio to discuss LifeApps strategies has been delayed to early 2015. More details will be released as they are finalized. ( http://thestockradio.com )

LifeApps continues to seek out digital, product and service provider partnerships to grow our business development efforts in health, fitness, sports and entertainment.

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/lifeapps-digital-media-inc-continues-to-expand-its-product-lines-and-distribution-channels-while-20141223-00515#ixzz3N6NimS00


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Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date
Microsoft Corp. will publish fiscal year 2015 second-quarter financial results after the close of the market on Monday, January 26, 2015 on the Microsoft Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/investor. A live webcast of the earnings conference call will be made available at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time on the Microsoft Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/investor.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

For more information, financial analysts and investors only:

Investor Relations, Microsoft, (425) 706-4400


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Sony launches PlayStation business in China with release of PlayStation 4 and Vita on January 11, 2015
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced that it will launch the PlayStation® business in the People's Republic of China on January 11, 2015, with the release of PlayStation®4 (PS4�) (CUH-1000 series) for 2,899 RMB and PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) (PCH-2000 series) for 1,299 RMB.

Along with the release of PS4 and PS Vita, SCE will offer a robust after-sales service to ensure Chinese users have a smooth and positive experience on PlayStation.

"PS4 is expanding at the fastest rate in PlayStation hardware history, and the global gaming community is enjoying the ultimate entertainment experience only available on PlayStation," said Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "We are delighted that we are able to fully launch our business in China, which is a market with great potential. We look forward to delivering exciting software, convenient services and entertainment experiences only possible on PlayStation to the many gamers in China."

Along with SCE Worldwide Studios, more than 70 third party software developers and publishers are planned to deliver a steady stream of software titles to gamers in China. Additionally, a variety of exciting titles such as King of Wushu ( Suzhou Snail Digital Technology CO., Ltd), Mr. Pumpkin Adventure ( Shanghai Youju Information Technology Co., Ltd) and One Tap Hero ( Shanghai Kena Information Technology Co., Ltd) created by Chinese game developers will be available on PlayStation.

Furthermore, in cooperation with Modian.com and business partner Shanghai Oriental Pearl SUOLE Culture Development Ltd., SCE will actively provide support to Chinese game developers to bring their content to PlayStation platforms.

SCE will continue to further expand the PlayStation platform to deliver entertainment experiences that are only possible on PlayStation.


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Announcing a New Enterprise: Sony Global Education
Sony Corporation ("Sony") and Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. ("Sony CSL") have announced plans to establish a new company, Sony Global Education, Inc. It will offer online educational services in Japan and a number of other countries after it is incorporated on April 1, 2015.

Sony CSL conducts fundamental research in many different domains, and has been collaborating on network research with Sony since 2012. One focus of attention has been education, which in recent years has come to an important turning point in countries including the USA, China and Japan. In a quest to identify new business potential in this context, various applications have been developed. They include "MathNative," the first math quiz presented in the form of a picture book (available in multiple languages) and "Global Math Challenge," a worldwide online math competition. Sony Global Education, Inc. will take over the operation of these applications from Sony CSL.

MathNative, Global Math Challenge and other applications run on a common platform, developed independently by Sony CSL, that represents the core of Sony Global Education Inc.'s business. The platform is designed to be used for math and various other applications, covering all the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), which are essential in education and human resource development across the world. The platform will be easy to use for all interested corporations or individuals, and the new enterprise will seek open partnerships with a wide variety of businesses and organizations, both in Japan and in other countries.

Education plays an important role in national and regional culture, as well as in community identity. The mission of the new enterprise will be to deliver a learning platform that helps to fuel the educational curiosity and creativity of people across the globe. By providing applications that integrate diverse learning elements while remaining free of existing curriculum constraints, this advanced service will create new educational experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds.


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Sony Announcing the Start of a Logistics Joint Venture with Mitsui-Soko Holdings
MITSUI-SOKO HOLDINGS Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui-Soko", together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "Mitsui-Soko Group") and Sony Corporation ("Sony", together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "Sony Group") today announced that they have concluded definitive agreements pursuant to which Sony Group will accept capital investments from Mitsui-Soko into the logistics business that Sony operates in Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia through its subsidiaries, thereby starting a joint venture (the "Transaction"). The joint venture will continue to provide distribution services for Sony, as well as cultivate additional business by meeting third-party demand for distribution services.

Through the Transaction, Sony is aiming to enhance the quality of distribution services for its electronics businesses and to further increase its cost competitiveness, while Mitsui-Soko is aiming to increase its corporate value by offering new platform-based services.

The summary of the Transaction is as follows:

(1) Sony Group will relocate its logistics operations in Thailand and Malaysia under the umbrella of Sony

Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. ("SSCS-J"), which currently operates Sony's logistics operations in Japan,

Internal Procurement Office ("IPO") operations and Customer Service ("CS") operations. To achieve this,

Sony will conduct the following transactions:

• SSCS-J will acquire all of the shares of Sony Supply Chain Solutions (Thailand) Ltd. ("SSCS-T"), a
• subsidiary of Sony that operates its logistics operations in Thailand; and
• SSCS-J will establish a new company in Malaysia ("New Malaysia Company") and Sony Supply
• Chain Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. ("SSCS-M"), a consolidated subsidiary of Sony that operates its
• logistics operations and IPO operations in Malaysia, will transfer its logistics business to New
• Malaysia Company.

(2) After relocating the IPO and CS operations currently in SSCS-J to different organizations within Sony Group, 66% of the shares of SSCS-J, whose sole function at this point will then become running logistics operations, will be transferred from Sony to Mitsui-Soko. As a result, SSCS-J will become a company that operates a logistics joint venture between Mitsui-Soko and Sony. After the Transaction, Sony will hold 34% and Mitsui-Soko will hold 66% of the shares in SSCS-J. As consideration for the (i) acquisition of SSCS-T shares by SSCS-J, (ii) transfer of the SSCS-M logistics business to New Malaysia Company, and (iii) acquisition by Mitsui-Soko of 66% of the shares of SSCS-J, Sony Group will receive a total of approximately 18,000 million yen from Mitsui-Soko Group.

Sony Group possesses global distribution services for its electronics businesses as well as human resources with a wealth of experience outside of Japan. To further enhance the competitive ability of its distribution operations, Sony Group is allying with Mitsui-Soko as a strategic partner in the Transaction. The Transaction will permit Sony Group to benefit from and utilize, through the joint venture, Mitsui-Soko Group's sales network and extensive knowledge of and experience in the distribution industry. These should enable Sony Group to maintain and enhance the quality of distribution services for its electronics businesses and to further increase its cost competitiveness.

Mitsui-Soko Group developed its medium-term management plan "MOVE 2013" in order to speed up growth of the entire group and realize its business strategies. The plan identifies development and deployment of platform-based services as a central business policy, along with the concentration of investments mainly in the Asia-Pacific sector. The Transaction should permit Mitsui-Soko to benefit from and utilize Sony Group's experienced human resources and global distribution services framework, including Sony Group's experience in closely coordinating distribution and production plans. These should enable Mitsui-Soko to establish platform-based services that take the entire supply chain - from the procurement of components to manufacture to sales - into consideration and, with these, to aim to expand direct sales of its distribution business.

The Transaction is scheduled to be completed in April 2015, subject to the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals. Due to this timetable, the Transaction has no impact on the consolidated financial results forecast for the current fiscal year for either Sony or Mitsui-Soko. Impacts on the consolidated financial results for the next fiscal year are currently under evaluation.

Full information available HERE.


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EPAM Wins Most Transformative Branch Experience Award in the Citi Mobile Challenge
EPAM, a leading provider of product development and software engineering solutions, today announced that its "Citifiers" Concierge app won the "Most Transformative Branch Experience" award in the Citi Mobile Challenge. The app delivered by EPAM's Digital Engagement Practice creates a personalized experience for customers at a Citi branch and provides analytics for Citi to optimize branch operations.

The Citi Mobile Challenge U.S. is a virtual competition hosted by Citi that is designed to accelerate digital banking innovation by bringing together the most talented and creative developers and designers in the world to create cutting edge applications for Citi's Digital Banking Platforms.

"The Citi Mobile challenge was an extraordinary event that brought together more than 3,000 developers in 744 teams from 319 cities, 62 countries and 6 continents. At EPAM, we always begin with understanding the customer needs. By visiting a local Citi branch we learned how the branch operates and we discovered pain points and opportunities through talking to the Branch Manager, Personal Banker, Teller and Citi customers. This resulted in 4 ideas that were all selected for the Citi Mobile Challenge finals. Our winning project, Citi Concierge, not only creates deeper loyalty for the brand through personalized customer attention and expedited service, but also provides valuable analytics to improve the services," said Yev Galper, Head of EPAM Mobile Competency Center.

"The caliber of the presentations we saw from finalists at the Demo Day events was outstanding," said Heather Cox, Chief Client Experience, Digital and Marketing Officer for Global Consumer Banking at Citi. "These developers are poised to help us transform the way banks innovate and we are so excited to begin working with them."


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ADATA to Give a Glimpse into Innovative Consumer Products at CES 2015
ADATA® Technology, a leading global manufacturer of high-performance DRAM memory modules and NAND Flash application products, will show its complete line of innovative consumer products in the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Shows (CES), taking place January 6 - 9, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada. ADATA's display will include the world's fastest DDR4 memory, a full range of solid state drives (SSD), USB 3.1 external storage and Type C USB flash drives. ADATA invites 2015 CES attendees to come visit the Venetian Hotel's Piazza Suite to see the latest innovations in PC memory and storage technology.

At CES 2015 online gamers and power PC overclockers will be glad to see ADATA's XPG Z1, an ultra-performance DDR4 memory module clocking in at the world's fastest speed: 3465 MHz! With its shining gold racing fins, it's sure to draw looks of envy from every gamer's eye. ADATA will also showcase its 32GB (8GBx4) large capacity 3200MHz XPG Z1 DDR4. Currently ADATA is the only player that can provide a steady supply to answer the market's need for such high-capacity high-speed memory.

In addition to its full line of SSD storage solutions, ADATA will also show a variety of industrial storage, including its M.2 and 2.5-inch SSDs featuring Power Loss Protection (PLP), which helps to protect against data loss in the event of power failure such as abnormal shutdown.

Also see external storage with the newest USB 3.1 ultra-high speed data transmission standard and portable Type C OTG flash drives, with transmission speeds reaching upward of 10GB/s, providing faster, more convenient and secure storage. Come experience the latest in USB flash drives that leverage Bluetooth pairing with your cellphone that enables protection at the user level. See personal cloud backup and remote data storage providing double-level security as you access your data anytime, from anywhere.

ADATA is also proud to demo the stylish "Tulip" table lamp and the latest in wirelessly controllable AURA RGB bulbs that you can adjust to over 16 million color settings. You can easily control up to 64 AURA RGB bulbs all at once by using ADATA's free downloadable Bluetooth smartphone app.

ADATA cordially invites you to experience a full variety of the most advanced data storage, computer memory and LED lighting products.

Exhibition: 2015 CES Las Vegas, January 6 - 9, 2014

Showroom: Venetian Hotel ─ Piazza Suite


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New Pac-Man Face Watch Chomps the Time Away for Android Wear
BANDAI NAMCO Games America Inc. this week launched its first custom watch face for Android Wear smartwatches with the new PAC-MAN© Watch Face. Made possible by a recent software update that allows Android Wear users to download custom-made displays to their devices, this clever mobile design gives PAC-MAN fans a new way to take gaming's original icon anywhere.

Android Wear smartwatches deliver the freedom and functionality of Android-powered smartphones and tablets in a comfortable wrist-worn form. The new PAC-MAN Watch Face brings past and present together with a colorful, retro-arcade-styled graphical display. As time ticks away, PAC-MAN traces a breadcrumb trail of Pac-Dots around the screen, gobbling up ghosts, fruits and power pellets. No quarters necessary!

The new PAC-MAN Watch Face is now available to download to Android Wear smartwatches for $0.99 on Google Play:

https://play.Google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bandainamcogames.pacmanwatchface


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Conquer Online Kingdom Guild War: A Warm-up for the New Expansion
The PvP oriented MMOPRG, Conquer Online, announced that an important expansion, "Kingdom War", will be released in the first quarter of 2015. In this expansion, 60 servers will be split into 6 big world's. Every single server will be an independent kingdom, with ten kingdoms in each world. Facing potential invasion from other kingdoms, players from each kingdom need to complete quests, kill bosses, engage in PvP battles, and rush other kingdoms to carry out subversion, sabotage, intervention, and aggression!

Unlike traditional cross-server PvP events in other online games, the kingdoms in Conquer Online include the concept of a ruling party and opposition party. Guilds of each kingdom can assemble coalitions to announce intent to be opposition parties, and coalitions can elect either one of the guild leaders to be the president.

After the 1st Kingdom War, there'll be a vote for all heroes for the favorite party to become the ruling party, and the president of the ruling party will be the "Emperor" for that week. A new Emperor will be elected after the next round of the Kingdom War.

A ruling party can arrange various official positions, such as Emperor, General, Palace Guards, and exercise the powers of the kingdom. The president can choose to be a tyrant, leading all the men to wage an invasion, or he can choose to be a wise ruler and reward all his civilians and protect his own kingdom.

First conceptual poster of Kingdom War is available in the assets included in this press release.

The Kingdom War will allow thousands of heroes from different servers to fight in the same areas, becoming the biggest and most crowded battlefield since the beginning of Conquer Online! The update of this gameplay will bring more excitement for players from all over the world. It could even turn out that players from the Middle East, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, form their own kingdom. Players from North America can form the frontline as the US and Canada, and European players can also assemble their own kingdom, to make the Kingdom War into a true world war!

On the eve of the upcoming Kingdom War expansion, the Kingdom Guild War will have already begun. The Kingdom Guild War is a stress test battle for the coming Kingdom Wars. In the battle, players from 5 different servers, which included Faith, Honor, Lion, Triumph and Phoenix, were split into two forces. Heroes of the first 4 servers comprised the offensive force, and heroes from the Phoenix server became the defensive force.

The Map of the Kingdom "Guild War" also available with the assets in this press release.

There are three fortress gates for the offense to attack. The goal for heroes of the offense is to storm their way into the inner fortress and destroy all four Heaven Pillars. Let's take a look at the highlights of the 1st Kingdom Guild War!

New Trailer Available at http://youtu.be/G0bxPxEqVRs

For more information about the Kingdom Guild War and Kingdom War, just visit http://co.99.com!


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Antec Launches GX300 Entry-level Chassis
Antec Inc., a global leader in high-performance computer enclosures, power supplies, and mobile accessories today announces the availability of the GX300, the latest addition to Antec's GX series. There is also a version with a window in the side panel available, the GX300 Window. The GX300 is now commercially available from 59€ (suggested retail price including VAT) and is backed by Antec's Quality 3-Year Warranty.

The Midi-Tower is painted black inside and out and features an advanced cooling system as well as rounded upper and lower edges. The GX300 is a clean yet aggressive case with space for high-end video cards up to a length of 15.7 inches (400 mm), as well as extra space behind the motherboard tray and routing holes to ensure a neat and tidy build. Thanks to its cutout for the CPU and generous space for cable management, it is fun and easy to assemble a system.

The top-mounted I/O panel allows direct access to the main components, such as USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, Audio jacks, the power button, a fan control switch (high & low speeds) and last but not least an illuminated LED indicator. The GX300 accommodates Standard ATX, microATX, and mini-ITX motherboards and features six tool less drive bays (6x 2.5" bays or 6 x 3.5" bays) for an easy installation, seven PCI-E slots for multi-GPC expansion and supports multiple video cards.

The advanced cooling system includes fan mounts for two 120 mm top exhaust fans, a mount for one 120mm rear exhaust fan as well as two mounts for 120mm front intake fans. The chassis features an elevated stand for improved air flow management.

"At a very competitive price, the GX300 offers a lot of features and lets users be prepared for future upgrades", explains Jerome Francois, Sales Director Europe at Antec. "It demonstrates the opportunity to create an up-to-date system with great airflow and space for the latest components."

Specifications

• Chassis color: Black
• 6 drive bays

o 6 x 3.5" / 2.5" drive trays

• Motherboards: Standard ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX

• 7 expansion slots

• Maximum video card size: 15.7" (400 mm)

• Maximum CPU cooler height: 5.5" (140 mm)

• Cooling System:

o 2 x 120 mm top exhaust fan (Optional)
o 1x120mm rear exhaust fan pre-installed

o 2 x 120 mm front intake fan (Optional)

• Front I/O ports:

o 1 x USB 3.0 High Speed USB port
o 1 x USB 2.0

o 1 x Audio I/O (HD97)

• Unit Dimensions:

o 485 mm (H) x 180 mm (W) x 475 mm (D)
o 19.09" (H) x 7.08" (W) x 18.70" (D)

• Net Weight:

o 5.45 kg

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