Articles by Peter Suciu

Microsoft has released an unboxing video for its upcoming Xbox One video game console, which will arrive this holiday season. In addition to the console, gamers will get a number of accessories: the expected Xbox One controller; a Kinect sensor that supports 1080p video; a category 2 HDMI cable that will be capable of outputting video in 1080p, 3D and even Ultra-HD (4K); a wireless adapter that operates on dual-band 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequencies; and a gamer headset...

It appears YouTube cofounders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen want to mix it up with Vine and Instagram. Their video-editing app, MixBit, which was developed by the pair's new venture, Avos Systems, made its iOS debut on Thursday. An Android version is due in the coming weeks ...

Some Xerox copiers/scanners have produced altered copies, researcher David Kriesel reported last week. A Xerox Work Center 7535 actually changed the numbers on scanned documents....

Nielsen this week released a study that indicates there is a causal relationship between Twitter conversations and TV ratings. The findings suggest the volume of tweets could actually increase the number of TV viewers for certain shows. Nielsen's conclusion -- along with research projects including TV Ad Targeting and Twitter Amplify -- lends str...

Microsoft has knocked US$100 off the price of its Intel-powered Surface Pro tablet, which features a full version of Windows 8. The discount comes on the heels of last month's price cut of its Windows Surface RT tablet. ...

Google's Chromecast device has only been out about a week or so, but the ranks of participating content providers continue to expand. In addition to the Netflix support that launched with the streaming adapter, both Hulu and HBO now appear to be getting involved "We are actively working with Google to bring Hulu Plus to the platform," Hulu spokespe...

Targeting families and other multiviewer households, Netflix on Thursday introduced a new capability that makes it possible for each account to maintain individual profiles on the service complete with separate queues and personalized suggestions Starting in the next few days, Netflix subscribers will be able to add up to five additional profiles t...

Following the revised buyout offer from Michael Dell and investment firm Silver Lake last week, a special committee of Dell's board of directors announced on Wednesday that it has rejected a key part of it Specifically, the committee refused to accept the part of the new offer by which only shares that are actually voted would be counted in the fin...

CBS viewers who get their broadcast TV service via Time Warner may have felt a little bit like the characters in summertime drama Under the Dome in the last 24 hours or so. Specifically, as part of a battle over retransmission fees, the cable giant on Monday briefly pulled CBS from its lineup in several key markets, effectively cutting off CBS for viewers in New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles and other major cities...

The creators of the Guitar Hero video game franchise are looking to put down the plastic guitars and get pumped up instead. Specifically, RedOctane founders Kai and Charles Huang are teaming up with OpenLink founder Coleman Fung to launch Blue Goji, a new interactive fitness company, they announced on Monday Instead of creating games that allow pla...

A couple of white hat security experts have shown how hackers could take control of an automobile's steering, braking and other operations through the vehicle's on-board computer ...

After placing its bets on real-money online gambling late last year, Zynga on Thursday announced that it is abandoning that initiative The beleaguered company now believes that its best plan is to focus on free-to-play social games, it announced in its second quarter 2013 financial report. It will continue to evaluate the real-money gaming products...

It was just about a month ago that Microsoft relaxed the rules for players of its forthcoming Xbox One, and on Thursday it made a similar concession for small game developers. Specifically, in a break with past policies, the company announced that it will allow small, independent game makers to self-publish their games on Xbox Live "Our vision is t...

Michael Dell and investment firm Silver Lake have increased their takeover bid for Dell by 10 cents to US$13.75 a share, a special committee of Dell's board of directors announced on Wednesday As a result, the already-postponed special meeting of stockholders intended for the official vote on the buyout option was rescheduled for Aug. 2 to give th...

Verizon Wireless on Tuesday introduced a new family of Droid smartphones including the Droid Mini, Droid Ultra and Droid Maxx. All three handsets are being produced by Motorola as part of a new exclusivity deal With this partnership, Motorola Mobility will be the only smartphone manufacturer to produce handsets under the "Droid" moniker....

Netfllix added 630,000 U.S. streaming customers and achieved profit of US$29 million, or 49 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2013, it reported on Monday. Those profits represent a dramatic increase from the same period a year ago. The company's revenue, meanwhile, rose 20 percent year-on-year to $1.07 billion. Netflix's stock price has clim...

Video Games and Violence, Part 1: Risky Business At the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show, there was a common theme to be observed in the demonstrations held by both Microsoft and Sony of their Xbox One and PlayStation 4 technologies, respectively....

A day after announcing that it has begun shipping to early backers, Leap Motion on Monday officially launched its widely anticipatedgesture control system for the PC and Mac The system, which has been compared to the Microsoft Xbox Kinect and Nintendo Wii, had been delayed for several months but will finally arrive in stores next week....

There is hard evidence that Chinese Huawei Technologies has spied for the Chinese government, former U.S. CIA and NSA head Michael Hayden asserted in a recent interview The company -- now the world's largest telecommunications equipment maker -- poses an unambiguous national security threat to both Australia and the United States, Hayden said in an...

Microsoft on Thursday reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed expectations, blaming the disappointing results on the PC market slowdown and a write-down of Surface RT inventory Q4 net earnings were $4.97 billion, or 59 cents per share on revenue of $19.9 billion. The $900 million Surface write-down amounted to 7 cents per share....