Facebook working on a mobile news app called "Reader"

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="http://static.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2013-06-24-image-2.jpg" style="max-width: 98%;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Facebook is developing a newspaper platform for mobile devices. Formally called Reader, the service will act as a news aggregator that pulls together a multitude of stories coming from fellow Facebook users, as well as established publishers.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">According to the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323998604578563853135203858.html" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a>, early versions of the design resemble those of Flipboard, a mobile app which collects news articles and social media reactions, and then presents the content in magazine format.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Currently, Reader is exclusively being designed for Apple products, consisting of iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">This move is a sign that Facebook is trying to reinvent itself, fully knowing that its share price has fallen to just 35% of the initial public-offering price (IPO). The current Facebook interface is primarily used to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. It is rarely used in a more professional manner; a space that LinkedIn has effectively cornered. As a matter of fact, <a href="http://www.techspot.com/tag/linkedin/" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">LinkedIn</a> has also set its sights on the news industry, acquiring mobile application Pulse for an estimated $90 million.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">In another effort to extend its reach, earlier this month, Facebook announced that it would soon <a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/52880-facebook-officially-announces-support-for-hashtags.html" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">add hashtag-compatibility</a>. This move should help the company to compete with Twitter; the rivaling social media destination is widely used to track trending news topics and follow events in real-time.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Unfortunately for Zuckerberg, many analysts believe that a shift to journalism might not go so well. Nate Elliot, who works for Forrester, added, "There are a lot of things people didn't do on Facebook several years ago that they now do. But I imagine it's going to be very hard to retrain consumers to see Facebook as a go-to hub for news."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">So what’s pushing Facebook to make such a move? Not surprisingly, profit seems to be the driving force. News sites are an advertisers dream since users traditionally stay connected for an extended period of time. “The opportunity to own the place where people go for long-form reading is a very large opportunity, especially for advertising," explained Josh Elman, a venture capitalist at Greylock Partners.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/53002-facebook-working-on-a-mobile-news-app-called-reader.html" target="_blank">Read More...</a></div></div>

Facebook working on a mobile news app called "Reader"

Facebook is developing a newspaper platform for mobile devices. Formally called Reader, the service will act as a news aggregator that pulls...

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Facebook glitch exposed phone numbers, e-mail addresses of six million users

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="http://static.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2013-06-23-image-2.jpg" style="max-width: 98%;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Facebook recently disclosed a bug found in their “Download Your Information” tool that accidentally exposed some members’ contact information. As a result, approximately six million users may have had their e-mail addresses or phone numbers exposed to another person according to a post on the social network’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-security/important-message-from-facebooks-white-hat-program/10151437074840766" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">security blog</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">The post notes that describing the bug can get pretty technical but basically, here’s what happened. In the event that you elected to download a copy of your data using the above mentioned “Download Your Information” tool, there’s a change that the archive may have included the e-mail address or phone number for contacts or people with whom you have some connection.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">The information is said to come from other people on Facebook and thus may not be accurate but either way, it was inadvertently included with the contacts of the person using the DYI tool. Facebook said the bug was patched within 24 hours of being reported.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Speaking of, the bug seemingly slipped past Facebook’s technical team and was reported earlier this month through their White Hat program. If you are unfamiliar, Facebook offers security researchers monetary rewards (minimum of $500) in exchange for information about bugs and security holes.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">At present, the social network has no evidence that the bug was exploited in a malicious behavior and they have not received any complaints from users that would suggest any wrongdoing. As such, the impact of the bug is expected to be minimal.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/52999-facebook-glitch-exposed-phone-numbers-e-mail-addresses-of-six-million-users.html" target="_blank">Read More...</a></div></div>

Facebook glitch exposed phone numbers, e-mail addresses of six million users

Facebook recently disclosed a bug found in their “Download Your Information” tool that accidentally exposed some members’ contact informatio...

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Mozilla's "Do Not Track" browser stirs up concern from advertisers

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Online businesses often rely on advertising to bring in revenue. Unfortunately, when tracking the activity of users in an effort to drive targeted ads, the line between innocent observation and privacy violation begins to blur. The use of third-party cookies is one of the easiest ways for a company to learn more about prospective customers; something that Mozilla <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/mozilla-moves-ahead-do-not-track-browser-150487" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">plans to tackle</a> in an upcoming version of the Firefox browser.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Mozilla first announced the “Do Not Track” feature back in February, but later said that it had to undergo further testing. Despite the ongoing hiatus, the company continues to face backlash from the advertising community, with many claiming that this will have a negative impact on the entire online network. Mike Zaneis, general counsel for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, called the new browser a “nuclear first strike” against advertisers.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><img src="http://static.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2013-06-21-image-17.png" style="max-width: 98%; outline: none;" /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">It’s important to note that Mozilla does not intend to block all cookies, just those that are deemed undesirable. After all, cookies can be beneficial and serve purposes such as remembering settings for sites that we frequently visit. The company has been working alongside the Center for Internet and Society (CIS) at Stanford to develop the list of websites whose data gathering priveleges will be axed; an initiative being called the “Cookie Clearinghouse”.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Aleecia McDonald, director of privacy at CIS, added, “The Cookie Clearinghouse will create, maintain and publish objective information. Web browser companies will be able to choose to adopt the lists we publish to provide new privacy options to their users.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">In response to the statement, advertisers argue that numerous online businesses, many of which are small web establishments, will cease to function if cookie-blocking browsers become the standard. However, this already seems to be the case; Apple's Safari browser carries a similar privacy feature, while Microsoft's IE10 has made the "Do Not Track" technology its default setting.  “It’s troubling,” added Lou Mastria, the managing director for the Digital Advertising Alliance. "They're putting this under the cloak of privacy, but it's disrupting a business model."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">What are your thoughts on Mozilla’s new feature? Do cookie-blocking browsers pose a threat to the sustainability of the internet, or are ad agencies just trying to protect their own livelihood?</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/52993-mozillas-do-not-track-browser-stirs-up-concern-from-advertisers.html" target="_blank">Read More...</a></div></div>

Mozilla's "Do Not Track" browser stirs up concern from advertisers

Online businesses often rely on advertising to bring in revenue. Unfortunately, when tracking the activity of users in an effort to drive ta...

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Galaxy Tab 3 lineup pricing and availability detailed, starts at $199

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">After announcing a trio of Galaxy Tab devices over the <a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/52404-samsung-galaxy-tab-3-announced-looks-eerily-familiar.html" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">last couple</a> <a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/52769-samsung-announces-8-and-101-inch-galaxy-tab-3-tablets-for-june-release.html" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">of months</a>, Samsung is finally ready to share US availability and pricing details for the next generation of its tablets. In a nutshell, they’ll start at $199, $299 and $399 for the 7.0- , 8.0- and 10.1-inch models respectively, and will be available from retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon and others beginning on July 7, with pre-orders starting tomorrow June 25.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">As a refresher, the entry-level Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 sports a dual-core 1.2GHz processor paired with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. For anyone desiring more space there’s also a microSD expansion slot. Other than that you get a 7-inch 1,024 x 600 TFT display, front and rear-facing cameras at 1.3 and 3.0 megapixel respectively, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, as well as Samsung's apps and built-in hubs.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 bumps up the processor to an Exynos 1.5GHz dual-core, offers 1.5GB of RAM, and its 8-inch screen also improves resolution to 1,280 x 800. Base storage is doubled to 16GB while keeping the option to expand through microSD, and you’ll be running the latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean release. A 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3-megapixel front camera round out the specifications sheet.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><img src="http://static.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2013-06-03-image-6.jpg" style="max-width: 98%; outline: none;" /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Lastly, the 10.1 inch model is perhaps the most intriguing of them all, due to the fact that it uses a 1.6-GHz Intel Atom Z2560 "Clover Trail+" processor. This will be the first Intel Android device released in the U.S.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">The tablet features the same 1280 x 800 resolution as the 8-inch model, which means it has a lower PPI at 149, and as you might expect it sports a bigger 6,800 mAh battery to support the power demands of a larger screen.  It is also lacking next to its smaller sibling in a couple areas. It has 1GB of RAM, down from 1.5GB, and while its front facing camera is the same, the rear unit is only 3-megapixels.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">On the upside it does include a built-in IR blaster as well as Samsung's WatchON TV recommendation service,  so you can use it to control your TV. It comes with Android 4.2, 16GB of memory and a microSD slot.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">To sweeten the deal Samsung is including a $10 Google Play Store voucher, one free year of Boingo’s hotspot service, three months of Hulu Plus, and 50GB of free Dropbox storage for two years with all three models.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/53003-galaxy-tab-3-lineup-pricing-and-availability-detailed-starts-at-199.html" target="_blank">Read More...</a></div></div>

Galaxy Tab 3 lineup pricing and availability detailed, starts at $199

After announcing a trio of Galaxy Tab devices over the  last couple   of months , Samsung is finally ready to share US availability and pric...

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AOL launches their own Google Reader replacement

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><img src="http://static.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2013-06-24-image-3.jpg" style="max-width: 98%;" /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Who knew that Google’s decision to shutter their RSS reader would spawn so many replacements? Since the<a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/51938-google-to-shut-down-reader-and-more-as-part-of-spring-cleaning.html" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">announcement</a> back in March, we’ve seen several clones launch or promise to do so in the coming weeks. Now we can add AOL’s name to that growing list as the company launched their own reader earlier today.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://reader.aol.com/" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">AOL Reader</a>, described as bringing all your favorite websites together in one place, is now available on the desktop as well as mobile devices. The service can easily import your entire Google Reader library and allows users to share content across social networks like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Functionality to save articles for later and tag articles for archiving comes baked right in. Developers will appreciate an available API to facilitate the creation of third party apps.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">To get started, you simply need to sign up using an AOL account. If you don’t already have one, you can create one free of charge beforehand. From there, you’ll be asked to add new subscriptions or import ones already in use from other services – like Google Reader. AOL offers multiple pre-selected categories to choose from that are already populated with poplar websites in that genre.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">Naturally, you can add your own or remove others from the list at will. Once subscribed, new stories will appear in your feed with the most recent stories being shown first.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;">While there’s no doubt that many are sad to see Google Reader go, there’s also no denying the impact that it will have on the reader community as a whole. More options are always welcomed and with any luck, perhaps some new innovative features will stick and become commonplace.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/53005-aol-launches-their-own-google-reader-replacement.html" target="_blank">Read More...</a></div></div>

AOL launches their own Google Reader replacement

Who knew that Google’s decision to shutter their RSS reader would spawn so many replacements? Since the announcement  back in March, we’ve s...

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PC Games That Weren't Cancelled, But Should Have Been

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="PC Games That Weren't Cancelled, But Should Have Been" height="341" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/pc-gaming-hall-of-shame.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Although some decent games do poorly for no good reason, many titles are so headscratchingly bad that you have to wonder why the developer even bothered.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">In the group of terribly bad games, there are the truly bad ones and then there are the big flops: those that have built an irredeemable amount of hype. Without further ado, here's our PC gaming hall of shame: games that weren't cancelled but should have been...</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">Outpost (1994)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">We're digging way back into PC gaming history with this one, all the way back to the days of DOS and Windows 3.1. Developed and published by Sierra On-Line, Outpost was highly anticipated by science fiction fans and was noteworthy for having a former NASA scientist among its main designers. But while gamers were ecstatic about the possibilities the space-based gameplay claimed to offer, the game just didn't live up to expectations.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/outpost.jpg" style="outline: none;" /></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Reviewers at the time were given access to an early beta with plenty of missing features, but scores were pretty generous nonetheless based on the promise that they'd be added by launch. They weren't. In fact, many of the features described in the game's own documentation and reviews did not exist in the game at all, and the ones that were patched in later were merely cosmetic and didn't affect gameplay. All that on top of the game's general bugginess and perceived mediocre gameplay earn this title a spot on our list.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">Streets of SimCity (1997)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">The strategy gurus at Maxis actually released a PC game called Streets of SimCity back in 1997 that had players driving around and blasting foes. The one novel aspect of the game is that it allowed players to race in actual cities created in SimCity 2000, but that's where the positives ended.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/streets.jpg" style="outline: none;" /></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">While it might have appealed to hardcore SimCity fans, the game had really bad controls and was poorly optimized and full of bugs (ran sluggishly on fast hardware of its time). It was evident Maxis tried to ride on the popularity of the franchise and compete with a stellar vehicle combat game like Interstate 76 or the popular Carmageddon.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">Extreme Paintbrawl (1998)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">On one hand, I want to give the developers of this game a pass since they threw the game together in two weeks. However, that was the developer's choice, and with that in mind, they should have never released this game for public consumption. Far too many gamers gave this title a shot out of morbid curiosity, and as you might expect, they were disappointed. Many fundamental features were missing -- not least of which was a functional AI -- it used an outdated graphics engine and the 'perfect' aim was not truly a feature, it broke the entire gameplay.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/extreme.jpg" style="outline: none;" /></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">Daikatana (2000)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">This first person shooter got off to a rocky start when an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Daikatana_ad_-_John_Romero_is_about_to_make_you_his_bitch_-_Suck_it_down.jpg" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">ad for the game</a> rubbed many gamers the wrong way. Then it missed its release date (John Romero first intended to get the 24-level game done in 7 months -- first big mistake), and between its conception in 1997 and its release in 2000, the game's release date kept being moved, causing a great deal of annoyance for players looking to get their hands on it.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/daikatana.jpg" style="outline: none;" /></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Daikatana stained the legacy of John Romero, co-founder of id Software and designer of gems like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake. By the time Daikatana was released it was heavily criticized for its dated graphical engine, terrible save game mechanic, dull enemies (enemy AI was almost non-existent), and overall for being simply boring to play. Although Daikatana is not the worst game ever made by a long shot, it'd have been better left out of the history books.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (2003)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Widely regarded as one of the worst video games ever made, the object of Big Rigs -- as explained on its packaging -- is to drive a big truck across the country carrying some illegal cargo with police in pursuit. Unfortunately, the game doesn't actually have any cargo or police, while other cars lacked AI and the game wasn't even smart enough to tell if you were crossing the finish line or starting the race.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/bigrigs.jpg" style="outline: none;" /></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Everything that could be wrong with a game was wrong with this one. Out of five courses you could pick, only four were playable while the fifth would simply crash the game. Even the most basic driving mechanics were off as you could throttle indefinitely in reverse and come to a full stop by simply releasing the reverse key.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">American McGee’s Bad Day LA (2006)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Intended as a political satire, this third-person action title actually had an interesting premise featuring a Hollywood agent turned homeless man after a series of natural and manmade disasters. Unfortunately, Bad Day LA failed to impress critics, receiving unanimously bad reviews upon release and being included on plenty of "worst game" lists since.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/american.jpg" style="outline: none;" /></center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">While the art style looked interesting, in-game visuals were poorly executed from a technical standpoint. The game's attempt at humor also fell flat -- unless witless and childish potty jokes are your thing -- and the actual gameplay mechanics left much to be desired.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">"Halo 2 for Windows Vista" (2007)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Halo 2 on the PC wasn't really a bad game -- some might even consider it great -- but the fact that it was released almost three years after it debuted on the Xbox was an insult to any serious PC gamer. Worse still, Microsoft called it "Halo 2 for Windows Vista" as it was intentionally released to push sales of Vista (it only ran on Windows XP with a hack) and to promote the company's Game For Windows Live platform. The thing was, anyone who loved Halo would have already played it on the Xbox and by the time Halo 2 arrived on PC, plenty of other more sophisticated shooters had been released. Shame on you Microsoft.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/halo2.jpg" style="max-width: 98%; outline: none;" /></div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (2009)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Leisure Suit Larry was never a particularly great video game franchise, but it wasn't terrible either. A lot of the attention it received and possibly deserved was because it pushed the envelope in a certain direction. Leisure Suit Larry titles were mostly basic adventure games with some very adult themes.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/leisure.jpg" style="max-width: 98%; outline: none;" /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">The older games had been pretty decent, but 2009's release "Box Office Bust" was simply atrocious. It received universally bad reviews, and with good reason. The gameplay was repetitive and the game wasn't even remotely funny -- one of the redeeming qualities of the previous entries. It seemed like the creators were attempting to cash in on what little legacy the franchise had, but all they did was tarnish it, perhaps beyond repair.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">Call of Juarez: The Cartel (2011)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">There are some really good games in the Call of Juarez series, but The Cartel isn't one of them. Although it fares better than most -- if not all -- other titles on this list from a gameplay perspective, the title was riddled with bugs and glitches. The change of setting from the frachise's traditional Wild West to modern times wasn't all that well received either. In fact, many accused The Cartel of being racist and insensitive towards real world issues, inaccurately addressing issues such as human trafficking and the drug wars in Mexico.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/call.jpg" style="max-width: 98%; outline: none;" /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Graphics are subpar, characters are unlikeable and underdeveloped, the dialogue and voice acting are bad, and the campaign feels unpolished and repetitive. Its co-op mode would have been a rare bright spot if it weren't for the scant online community. To top it all off, Ubisoft required an Internet connection to start the game.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">Postal 3 (2011)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">The first and second Postal games were received with mixed reactions, not so much due to their gameplay but because of the over-the-top violence that characterized the franchise. However, the third and last game in the series really messed things up. Original developer Running with Scissors outsourced development of <a href="http://www.techspot.com/products/pc-games/postal-3.82837/" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Postal 3</a> to Russian game company Akella. Upon release, the reception was pretty negative as the game was marred with bugs and graphical glitches. The open-ended world that gamers expected after Postal 2 was no longer there and fans of the series also protested the game's poor attempt at being offensive (again, like its predecessors). As a last resort, Running with Scissors tried to <a href="http://runningwithscissors.com/main/index.php?topic=625.0" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">distance themselves</a> from the title, pulling it from their online store.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/postal3.jpg" style="max-width: 98%; outline: none;" /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">As if the Postal franchise didn't have a bad enough track record (depending on who you ask, of course), it has been made into a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486640/" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">terrible movie</a> by director Uwe Boll.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">Duke Nukem Forever (2011)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">When it comes to epic PC gaming fails, <a href="http://www.techspot.com/products/pc-games/duke-nukem-forever.86943/" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Duke Nukem Forever</a> is unmistakably the first title that comes to mind. After a widely successful ride during the mid to late 90's, Duke's last episode has unfortunately become one of the biggest jokes in the video game community. The game was in development for what felt like a lifetime (15 years to be exact), only to be released with some renewed momentum and end up as an utter disaster.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/duke.jpg" style="max-width: 98%; outline: none;" /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Duke Nukem Forever's aiming and shooting mechanics were poor, game progress was tedious, level design confusing, the quintessential Duke one-liners weren't funny, and its graphics looked as if they came from a lousy console port. The development of Duke Forever spanned multiple PC and console hardware generations. After a few years of things not working out, 3D Realms should have realized that something was wrong and given up.</div><h3 style="background-color: white; color: #05408f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px;">The War Z (2012)</h3><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Not to be confused by DayZ, a pretty awesome mod for tactical shooter Arma 2 (and upcoming standalone title with the same name), "<a href="http://www.techspot.com/products/pc-games/the-war-z.89099/" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">The War Z</a>" tried to ride the aforementioned mod's popularity by using a similar name but eventually changed it to "Infestation: Survivor Stories" to avoid confusion. Originally released in December 2012 on Steam, the title was deemed broken and incomplete, promoting several key features on its promo page that<a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/51163-steam-suspends-the-war-z-sales-due-to-gamer-outcry.html" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">weren't actually implemented</a>. In spite of the fact The War Z was not free-to-play it tried to leverage microtransactions for purchasing items and respawning quicker after death.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"><img border="0" src="http://static.techspot.com/articles-info/683/images/thewarz.jpg" style="max-width: 98%; outline: none;" /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rigs:_Over_the_Road_Racing" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>, Sergey Titov is the executive producer of this game, who was also listed as a producer and developer for Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (see the 2003 title above). That's not to say he's to blame for all of The War Z's controversy, but it's a big coincidence that he's been involved in two of what are considered some of the most atrocious game launches in PC history... draconian DRM titles aside, of course.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><center style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; outline: none;">***</center><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Gamers are a tough but forgiving crowd. A good game riddled with bugs can overcome a poor initial impression, especially when developers correct their mistakes publicly and promptly. But that's not the recurring theme here. Seriously, if you haven't played any of these games, consider yourself lucky.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"><a href="http://www.techspot.com/article/683-pc-gaming-hall-of-shame/" target="_blank">Read More...</a></div></div>

PC Games That Weren't Cancelled, But Should Have Been

Although some decent games do poorly for no good reason, many titles are so headscratchingly bad that you have to wonder why the developer e...

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New Sony SmartWatch might be released next week

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img src="http://static.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2013-06-21-image-13.jpg" style="max-width: 98%;" /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">For a product that has yet to be released, Google’s Project Glass has definitely sparked an interest in wearable computing. In addition to their high-tech eyewear, the search giant is purportedly working on a <a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/52031-google-rumored-to-be-working-on-a-smartwatch-too.html" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">phone-compatible smartwatch</a>. On a similar note, rumor has it that Apple will soon announce plans for an Intel powered “<a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/52830-supply-chain-ready-to-build-iwatch-awaiting-go-ahead-from-apple.html" style="color: #05408f; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">iWatch</a>”. But what few people realize is that smartwatches are not a new phenomenon – Sony has entered this niche before, and going by a tweet by the Sony Xperia division, they're set to release their third rendition of the device.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Accompanied by the hashtag #itstime, the tweet foreshadowed the watch’s release at the upcoming Mobile Asia Expo (MAE) being held next week in Shanghai. A follow up tweet also included a photo of the new hardware; something that closely resembles its predecessor from just a year ago. </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"><img src="http://static.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2013-06-21-image-12.jpg" style="max-width: 98%; outline: none;" /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Unfortunately, the tweets are currently the only things we know about the new Sony product, but hopefully it will be a significant improvement over past models, dubbed the SmartWatch and LiveWare, respectively.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">Sony's SmartWatch was able to connect with most Android phones and could display SMS, Twitter feeds, and it also offered convenient music controls. That being said, the devices were criticized for having a hard-to-follow interface, as well as difficulty with phone integration. Not to mention the fact that apps were of limited use, and at a price of $149.99 for the latest model, it was too expensive to be a novelty device.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;">However, with a newfound global interest in these type of devices, Sony might actually have the upper hand against Apple and Google. Neither one of them has dabbled in this space before, while Sony already has an existing product to build upon.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: none;"><a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/52988-new-sony-smartwatch-might-be-released-next-week.html" target="_blank">Read More...</a></div></div>

New Sony SmartWatch might be released next week

For a product that has yet to be released, Google’s Project Glass has definitely sparked an interest in wearable computing. In addition to t...

Read more »