Code Retard

Google is preparing some important changes to Chrome’s browsing behavior as predictive powers and better download scanning protocol land in the latest beta update.

Released today, Google Chrome 17 beta for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome Frame.

Of the multiple improvements and fixes noted in Google’s Chrome 17 beta changelog, these two have the potential to affect users the most. The change in security behavior expands Chrome’s safe browsing technology to scan not only Web sites visited, but downloads as well. It will analyze installation files downloaded with the browser, starting with Windows-based EXE and MSI. Google hasn’t clarified if the scan will also include other Windows-based file types or installers from
Mac and Linux operating systems. The feature is important for being able to block the threat of ransomware “fake antivirus” programs, among other things.

While the feature is certainly appreciated for future threats, this is a bit like closing the barn door long after the horse has bolted for the open plains. Fake antivirus has been plaguing Windows users for years, and last year made some notable attacks against Macs.

Chrome’s pending psychic powers sounds similar to the technology that’s currently present in the Kindle Fire’s Silk browser. As you type in a query into Chrome 17 beta’s location bar, which Google calls the “omnibox,” it will begin to load some pages in the background. “If the URL auto-completes to a site you’re very likely to visit, Chrome will begin to prerender the page,” wrote Dominic Hamon, a software engineer at Google in the blog post announcing the browser update. The pre-rendering makes the full site show up much faster, instantly in some cases, according to Google.

Choplifter HD from developers inXile Entertainment is finally getting released on January 11th for XBLA, PSN, and PC. And there’s a price to boot: $15, or 1200 MSP in Xbox 360 parlance.

If you check out the video below you can see the obvious upgrades to the classic helicopter game. It has 3D graphics, but still consists of you flying a chopper to rescue people. It is also said to feature Duke Nukem as a playable character (all these classic games/ gotta stick together, I guess) and in the video you can see that at some point you have to rescue Meat Boy! They have also added a zombie invasion to Choplifter, so you get to rescue survivors while zombies cling to the side of chopper in addition to the usual military-themed lifts. Good times.

The price is a tad steep for me, so I’ll probably wait until it comes down a bit, but it’s cool to see a great old game like Choplifter get a facelift(-er?) for the new gen. Oh, the puns.

Below you can find links to download PwnageTool, a utility released by the iPhone Dev-Team to build custom IPSWs that jailbreak the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

PwnageTool 5.0.1 (Mac): PwnageTool_5.0.1.dmg
PwnageTool 4.3.3 (Mac): PwnageTool_4.3.3.dmg

*We will be updating this list with new versions and mirrored download links as necessary.

The Silk browser, now available beyond the Fire–but not with permission.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

The browser Silk may be native to the Kindle Fire, but one
Android developer has discovered a way to transplant it to any rooted Android device, an XDA forum post from the end of December revealed.

If you’re an Amazon.com addict but don’t have a Fire, Silk could become your go-to browser.
Silk is unique because of its “cloud acceleration” ability, which renders Web sites extremely quickly using a combination of the SPDY protocol developed by Google and computing power provided by its own cloud-based servers. Silk is also known for the ability to learn from browsing habits and predict which sites will be visited next, in some cases. Note that you can protect your browsing habits–but also slow down the browser–by disabling the predictive browsing.

Once you’ve rooted your Android, the process for installing Silk is quite simple. The XDA developer, TyHi, created an archive to download, which you then manually copy over to your Android and install.

Amazon might be working on an official port of Silk to other devices and operating systems. As early as September 2011, almost two months before the Fire’s release, Amazon was found to have registered domain names that indicated a broader roadmap for the browser. It also had included language in its terms and conditions that indicated multi-system support was in the works.

Amazon has yet to respond to questions regarding third-party ports of Silk.

The Call of Duty franchise has been an enormous cash cow for publisher Activision.
Image courtesy Activision

It can sometimes feel like the commercials for Activision’s Call of Duty series are always on. If the publisher has its way, the games will be too.

Speaking to Wired.com via phone last month, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said the company looks at the popular shooter series as a persistent world for its players, one that is both constantly evolving and perpetually played.

“The idea of giving people constant incremental playable content and making it so you’re never more than a few weeks away from the next new experience within the Call of Duty universe is part of what we’re experimenting with,” Hirshberg said.

“This franchise doesn’t really behave like most franchises,” he said. “It’s become something of a year-round activity for a large percentage of our player population.”

Activision released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the series’ eighth installment, last November for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and PC. The game moved 6.5 million copies in the U.S. and U.K. during its first 24 hours, setting a brand new day-one sales record and earning the company $400 million. In December, Modern Warfare 3 hit the $1 billion mark.

The Activision chief said that to continue achieving this kind of massive financial success, the company has to listen closely to the desires of its fans. What they want, he said, is more downloadable content. Though 2010?s Call of Duty: Black Ops was followed by the release of several new multiplayer map packs, Hirshberg says that its players are looking for more.

“One of the things that was most appealing when we were researching these ideas with consumers is the idea of breaking up the DLC so that it comes more often and more regularly,” Hirshberg said. “We want to provide DLC to people more often and also experiment with more of a variety in the forms of playable content.”

The publisher might release missions or spec-op modes instead of just multiplayer maps, Hirshberg said.

A large chunk of Activision’s “always on” strategy for Call of Duty is riding on Elite, a hybrid social-networking and stat-tracking service that Activision released alongside Modern Warfare 3 last year. Despite some early technical hiccups, the service has been a rousing success, garnering over a million premium subscribers during its first week online.

Premium members pay a $50 yearly subscription fee to get free access to all of the game’s downloadable content in addition to a host of features and strategy guides.

Though it’s tough to predict how Elite will evolve over the next few years, Hirshberg says the company’s strategy is to communicate with fans as much as possible, using social networking tools like Twitter and online message boards to accumulate data on what Call of Duty players want and tweak the nascent service accordingly.

“The nature of this kind of service requires constant iteration,” Hirshberg said. “There are things [in development] that consumers don’t yet know they want… because they can’t imagine it,” he said.

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Nikkei Trendy ( a Japanese magazine ) has reported in its latest issue something rather interesting. An industry insider has told the magazine that Capcom will release a Monster Hunter game on PlayStation Vita in the second half of the year. You can see a scan of the magazine above ( in Japanese ).

Note : The Nikkei Trendy is famous for their good insiders. They have predicted Nintendo’s Wii U’s 6-inch touchscreen, camera, and mid-2012 release as well as Vita’s ( NGP back then ) 3G and an OLED touchscreen  and more.

Source : Gematsu

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• PS Vita disassembled – Internals exposed.
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• Rayman Origins : New trailer
• First PS Vita bugs and hardware issues exposed

Welcome to 2012! We’re eager to see what our developers have in store for Xbox LIVE Indie Games in the coming year and to kick things off we have an exciting announcement regarding some changes to App Hub that make it a good time to be an Xbox LIVE Indie Games developer.

* Higher maximum CCGAME size
Since the start of Xbox LIVE Indie Games, CCGAME bundles submitted for Xbox LIVE Indie Games were limited to a maximum size of 150MB. We’ve heard all the great feedback on this subject and today we are pleased to inform you that developers are now able to submit CCGAME bundles up to 500MB through App Hub for publishing on Xbox LIVE Indie Games.

(Credit:
Dropbox)

Dropbox is an incredibly useful service for sharing files between computers, smartphones,
tablets, and with other users.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to add the Dropbox folder to the Send To menu in
Windows 7, so you can send files to your Dropbox folder just by right-clicking on the file.

Step 1: Open the Run dialog box by hitting Windows Logo+R, then type: %APPDATA%MicrosoftWindowsSendTo

(Credit:
Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

Step 2: When the SendTo folder opens, right-click on the Dropbox icon in the left pane, under “Favorites,” and drag it over to the SendTo folder in the right pane.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

Step 3: After you let go of the icon in the SendTo folder, select “Create shortcuts here.”

(Credit:
Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

Step 4: Confirm that the Dropbox shortcut is in the SendTo folder.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

Step 5: The next time you need to send a file to your Dropbox folder, just right-click on the file and send it away.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

That’s it. This also works great when you have more than one file to copy in the same folder, but not the entire folder. Just hold down the Ctrl key and select your files with your mouse, then right-click on any highlighted file and send it to Dropbox.

The PS Vita, as we mentioned earlier in the week, had a pretty rough second week. After opening strong with over 324,000 sales, the device tanked by 78% and was outsold by both the 3DS and the original PSP. The 3G model in particular isn’t moving well, with retailers reporting that only 56% of those units have been picked up compared to 85% of the WiFi only version.

The tough week has led many analysts to panic about the device’s future and clamor for a potential price drop, but Sony has remained mostly mute on the subject. Now, however, it looks like Japanese retailers are speaking for the software company, dropping prices of their own accord.

According to Edge, one retailer has dropped the price on the 3G Vita from ¥29,980 to ¥24,999, a drop of around 17%. While only one retailer appears to be engaged in the price drop, it may trigger a domino effect of discounts across the nation – either to stay competitive, or simply to entice more people to buy the device.

In the meantime, we’ll just have to wait and see how the events in Japan translate here in the west. Vita could do better and it could do worse; most of the launch games have a bigger western following than they do in Japan.

What do you think will happen with Vita when it hits shelves in March?

[Edge]