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Microsoft: Surface was developed in an 'underground bunker' at first, we can play the secrecy game too
We commonly associate extreme secrecy around a product design with Apple, but it now looks to be in vogue with all the major technology companies: just days after Samsung revealed the Galaxy S III's secret sauce, Microsoft has explained to TechRadar that it developed its surprise new Surface tablets under a similarly tight watch. A special wing of Microsoft's hardware unit initially worked in an "underground bunker," according to the division's Stevie Bathiche, before moving to a more conventional building with an 'airlock' door -- the company was just that concerned that Bob from Accounts Receivable might spoil the whole thing. As we all know by now, that level of secrecy proved effective almost until the last minute and let Microsoft design to its heart's content; we still don't know if other PC builders were aware. The practice is a sharp break from Microsoft's tendency to telegraph its strategy well in advance, and it emphasizes just how much importance Redmond places on its self-developed Windows 8 hardware.
X-37B finally touches down, completing its not-so-secret classified mission (video)
After more than a year of circling the globe, the US Air Force's X-37B has finally touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The unmanned, reusable space plane spent 469 days in orbit, performing a number of experiments (many of which are classified) before finally ending its lengthy run Saturday. What exactly the military has learned from the extended orbital excursion is unclear, but, like the Mars rovers before it, the X-37B turned out to be far more robust than many had anticipated. Its mission was originally intended to last just nine months, but its operators managed to milk about six more months out of the craft. While we wait to find out what the next step is, enjoy the video of it landing after the break.
Diablo 3's secret world discovered
We don't want to spoil the discovery of Diablo 3's secret world for you – unless you willingly volunteer to be spoiled, in which case follow us after the break. The rest of you: move along.
ARM seeks better security for connected devices, teams up with Gemalto and Giesecke & Devrient
ARM is famous for its low-power chip designs, Gemalto is known for its NFC security features, and Giesecke & Devrient brings some nice nano-SIM notoriety to the table. As a trio, these companies want to push forward a security standard that could be readily used in a wide range of web-connected devices, including tablets, smart TVs, game consoles and smartphones. The standard itself is built on ARM's TrustZone hardware-based security, which has been around for a while and is built into every ARM Cortex-A series processor, but which still isn't as widely used as it could be. By founding an off-shoot company with its partners, ARM hopes to nudge the things along faster and turn TrustZone into the "Blu-ray" of mobile security standards.
Diablo 3 beta bug opens three secret gates of Hell
The Diablo 3 beta is well underway with hundreds of thousands of players delving into the dungeons of Sanctuary, and with so many deviants roaming the deadlands, there was bound to be some mischief. A bug in the beta granted access to three areas not yet intended for public play: the Festering Woods, Drowned Temple and Fields of Misery.The three bugged levels are mostly playable, featuring larger, more diverse beasts than in the released beta levels, including goatmen, violent trees, ghouls, spirits and more, incgamers reports. Blizzard pulled the servers to lock the areas out again, according to ubergizmo, but not before a few players recorded their adventures -- watch one romp through the Fields of Misery above.
Happy Biiiirthday Mr. USAF X-37B Robot Space Plane
The X-37B was only meant to stay up in space for a gestational nine months, but a full year has now passed since launch and the US Air Force apparently has little interest in bringing its baby home. On the contrary: according to Space.com, the plan is to send up another unmanned space plane to keep the X-37B company on its [CLASSIFIED] missions. Whatever it's getting up to in that airless playground, it must be doing something right. Air Force Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre says the craft is "setting the standard for a reusable space plane and, on this one-year orbital milestone, has returned great value on the experimental investment." Which is a fine way of saying [STILL CLASSIFIED].
ESRB warning might reveal new characters for Street Fighter X Tekken
Street Fighter X Tekken has been officially listed by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (T for Teen, if you're wondering), and some details in the listing may have revealed a few more characters for the game. The description of possibly objectionable content in the game mentions both a character that uses "chainsaws," as well as the fact that "one wobbly character uses 'drunken' fighting moves."Neither of those descriptions matches any of the announced characters thus far, and fans have jumped to the conclusion that Tekken's Alisa Bosconovitch (who wields chainsaw arms) and drunken fighter Lei Wulong may be making an appearance in the crossover. It certainly seems possible, and this wouldn't be the first time ESRB has mentioned information in its warnings that was supposed to be secret. With the game due out next month, we'll know the truth before long.
T-Mobile's 'Nudge, nudge' bonuses revealed
Walk into any T-Mobile store and dither a bit and you'll find a cavalcade of freebies thrown in. The operator's outlined an "under the counter" bonus to coax fence-dwelling customers to open their wallets. Upgrade to "Unlimited-Premium 5GB" or "Unlimited-Ultra 10GB," wink at the cashier and tap your nose three times (we made the last two up, we admit) and a $15 "Mobile Hotspot" and $5 "MobileLife Album Plus" could appear in your package. In the corporate missive TmoNews scooped above, the company wants to keep these as a secret sweetener, but will add both if you request them directly. We'd suggest you pull your finger out, because when everyone starts asking for them, we can't imagine it sticking around for long.
Air Force X-37B space plane books additional time on orbital cruise, orders another margarita
If your secret space plane's in orbit and doing its secret thing well enough, why bother bringing it home? This appears to be the mindset of the Air Force regarding its experimental X-37B space plane, the billion-dollar robotic vehicle's orbital flight being extended beyond the 270 days it was initially designed for. While the Air Force has stated that the vehicle is meant only for conducting orbital science experiments, analysts say the X-37B is capable of much more, and could perform additional tasks such as acting as an orbital spy, sneaking up on and tampering with enemy satellites or hauling small batches of supplies to the International Space Station. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that the X-37B could stay in orbit for that much longer. Although the Air Force said last year that the X-37B could last nine months above the heavens before its power and fuel ran out, an inside source commented that "it sips power and fuel like a Prius." Click through the break for the full X-37B schematics, which -- crazily enough -- look nothing like a Prius.
Funcom shows off new Secret World location video
Funcom has released a new location video today showing of the Savage Coast (no, not that one). We're talking about the The Secret World's Savage Coast, and the two-minute clip takes us on an atmospheric journey around the waterways and backstreets of Kingsmouth and Solomon Island. Along the way, we see glimpses of previous location reveals including the Kingsmouth lighthouse, Innsmouth Academy, the Accursed Woods, and Atlantic Island Park. According to the clip's narrator, evil has always lurked in and around Solomon Island, and Funcom's editing results in many classically influenced scenes of dread and foreboding. The video finishes up with a few seconds of combat, intercut from a variety of group and solo encounters. While there's not a lot new here, the production values are so high that we can't help but be creeped out and anxious for the next reveal. Check out the full clip at CryGaia.net.
Bungie posts, pulls signup survey for secret beta
Ah, the perils of trying to do "secret" beta testing. A few Bungie.net members got an email this week asking them to join in on a Bungie beta tester signup survey, but when they headed over to the actual survey link on Bungie.net, all they got was an error message saying the survey was suspended due to "technical difficulties." Presumably Bungie will get the survey up and running later, though they'll possibly send the invitation out to less "talky" members of their community -- this is supposed to be a secret, after all. In other news: Bungie conducts secret survey! Could it be about that new MMO? Oh, wait -- never mind. [Thanks, Ed!]
Rumor: iPad config page mentions camera
It's already more or less a not-so-well-kept secret that the iPad will very likely have a camera eventually, but just in case you needed yet another hint that that's the case, Apple has provided. AppleInsider found a security document over on Apple's website (I think this is the one [PDF] though it appears to have been edited) that says the iPad has a restriction setting that will cut off "use of the camera" with an Exchange policy or a certain configuration. That would indeed seem to indicate that some future form of the iPad will come camera-equipped. Or does it? While AppleInsider's document explicitly shows an iPad, here's the iPhone Security Overview, and it looks like a lot of the text was cut-and-pasted from the document for the little handset to the one about Apple's tablet. It's possible this is just a typo, basically -- whoever was writing the new document for the iPad just forgot to take out the part about restricting the camera. Since both devices run iOS, there are probably a lot of similarities between each, and a lot of reused documentation. Even if this is just a mistake, though, the building evidence for a future iPad camera is hard to ignore. It's a sure thing that we'll eventually see an updated version of the iPad hardware, and once that comes around, it's hard to believe Apple isn't strongly considering putting a camera (or two) on the device. [via Engadget]
Officers' Quarters: It's a secret
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available from No Starch Press. Normally, for the introduction to this weekly feature, I write a little bit about the topic at hand before I post the email that will serve as the focal point for the discussion. This week, however, I don't want to spoil the tale for you before you read it. So, let's dive right in! Hi! I just recently started reading your column, and even bought your book on guild leadership for my husband's birthday. I have a question about behavior as a guild leader, and am curious as to what you think of my situation. I started playing in a family-oriented, RP guild on Moon Guard about two years ago. I joined just a few weeks after the guild's creation, and made quite a few friends among the other members, even meeting my husband through the guild. Sadly, I had to leave the server for a while, due to real life issues with a stalker that was trying to track me through the game. Fortunately, those issues were resolved, and my husband and I decided to rejoin the guild, even though we knew things would have changed. We were welcomed back, and I was even promoted back to a position just under my old one as an officer, allowing me to help recruit as some of our guild members had taken time off. However, my guild leader then did something that hurt me deeply, making me wonder what I saw in the guild in the first place.
Rumor: Steam coming to the Mac?
Telltale Games recently held a Mac revolution, and that was a nice piece of news for Mac gamers, but this would be a "game-changer": Valve may be considering bringing their Steam platform over to the Mac. They released the beta version of the new UI for their digital game delivery system, and a few users found some "OSX" icons hidden in the game files. Unfortunately, that makes this just a rumor (it's certainly possible the icons were simply included in some stray bit of code, as they appear to be simple window controls, not actual game code), but if there's anything to this at all, it would be huge for us Mac gamers: Steam comprises a gigantic library of present and classic PC games, and bringing even a portion of them over to the Mac would be terrific. CrossOver Games has been working with Steam in the past, and they already have most of Steam's biggest games up and running on the Mac platform through emulation. If there's a partnership between the two companies, or if Steam is planning to take advantage of the demand for their games running on OS X, that would be great. We'll keep our eyes open. Ever since Apple switched over to Intel, there's been more potential than ever for Mac gaming, and Steam on the platform would be amazing.
Mario used in original Punch-Out without Miyamoto's permission
For fans of the NES' flagship pugilism sim Punch-Out!!!, the latest edition of Iwata Asks is chock-full of tidbits about the game that you probably didn't know. For instance, Nintendo Entertainment and Analysis Division's Makoto Wada reveals a long-hidden secret that makes fights against Bald Bull go much easier. Also, Glass Joe? He's got osteoporosis. Yeah, you should feel bad. Poor guy.However, the most entertaining unearthed secret is the fact that Shigeru Miyamoto never signed off on the use of Mario as the game's mustachioed referree. In Miyamoto's own words, "we didn't have an approval system when using Mario images back then and it went right past my check." The interview transcript adds that he laughed after saying this, but we imagine at least one stink-eye was shot across the table.[Via GameSetWatch]
EVE Evolved: Untangling the mystery of the Sleepers
When EVE Online's Apocrypha expansion was released, details on how wormholes and the 2500 new systems that came with them worked were sketchy. The advanced Sleeper AI found protecting these systems were a force to be feared, unknown and mysterious. There were no guides, no stories of encounters on the forums and anyone that had mounted a successful expedition was keeping their closely guarded secrets to themselves and raking in the ISK.My corporation (Pillowsoft) were among the first to launch their expedition, having previously prepared an Orca with a medium POS, fuel, equipment and everything else we thought we'd need. We set up in an unknown system and explored this new frontier with a cautious optimism. Over the months that followed, we learned a great deal about EVE's new wormhole systems and the Sleepers that lived in them. After striking gold many times and making each of our expedition members over a billion ISK richer, we began telling our story and giving up those secrets we had been so careful to protect. Today, a great deal is now known about the "unknown" wormhole systems and with ever more corporations launching their own expeditions, it's now more important than ever to research the Sleeper menace before venturing into the abyss.Join me for this extensive three-page article where I dole out the fruits of my research on wormholes and begin to untangle the mystery of the Sleepers.
Konami Code Easter eggs dug up across the web
Remember the short-lived Unicornification of ESPN.com which could be viewed by entering in the Konami Code? Turns out that's not the only site that can be modified by entering in everyone's favorite sequence of keystrokes. Check out the extremely aptly named KonamiCodeSites.com to see a list of pages that respond in various ways to the familiar tune of Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start (or Enter).For instance, Facebook adds a lens flare effect once the code is entered. AdventureQuest Worlds shows a short flash clip featuring ... unicorns! (We're beginning to see a pattern here.) The best we've seen? The official site of jQuery, a JavaScript library program, loads up a Java-based Guitar Hero game when you input the code. Oh, and Joystiq? Every time you enter the code here, an angel gets its wings.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
AT&T rumors: LG Secret canceled, Shine 2 and Vu 2 on the way?
Brace yourselves, folks: it looks like one of the more painful incidents in recent memory might be in the process of repeating itself. Remember a while back when AT&T canceled the hotly-anticipated Sony Ericsson K850 at the last possible fricking second? Yeah, well, we're hearing that LG and AT&T may have mutually agreed to put the brakes on the CF750 Secret (which, like the K850, just happens to be a 5 megapixel phone) "due to cost" -- in other words, some guy in a suit thinks the price point wouldn't make sense. He's likely right, but we're going to grumble nonetheless if that ends up being the case. In happier news, the well-traveled Shine looks due to finally be put out to pasture by the end of May "at the latest," while the Vu is scheduled to be euthanized in August -- but don't worry, both models have replacements in the pipeline. Currently, it looks like AT&T expects the Shine 2 and Vu 2 to hit in the third quarter, though we know from countless past experiences that this is liable to slip dangerously close to the holiday shopping season as both manufacturer and carrier realize that neither the hardware nor software are ready for primetime. The Vu 2 is said to have "some new 3D touchscreen that... was very impressive," which we take to mean that S-Class is a strong possibility here. Could the Vu 2 end up being a thinly-veiled Arena or Viewty Smart clone? [Thanks, Kal]
It lives: LG CF750 Secret passes FCC gauntlet in AT&T livery
Geez, we'd almost forgotten about this rumor, but yeah -- now that we think about it, we'd heard all sorts of stuff about the LG Secret showing up on AT&T a while back. What happened to that? We can't say for sure, but it definitely wasn't a lack of FCC approval; this thing actually earned its shiny gold seal way back in October of last year, but we're just now getting confidentiality lifted on the good stuff like user manuals and external photos. Sure enough, that manual is rife with AT&T references like the notorious Video Share service, so we can still say with some confidence that it'll be heading that way eventually. Given the slim shell, touchscreen, and 5 megapixel cam, we'd like to be able to say that'll be happening soon -- but given how long they've gone so far, it's anyone's guess when we'll actually see it show up. Need any help with testing, guys? [Via Phone Scoop]
Kaos Studios hiring for unannounced project
After letting so many employees go, perhaps THQ is running out of pink slips to hand out. The publisher announced that its New York-based Kaos Studios is actually hiring, with new staff set to work on an as-yet-unannounced project from the Frontlines: Fuel of War developer. As for what the game will be, neither company is talking. Still, there are some possible clues, with a handful of job openings on Kaos' website looking for staff with "broad knowledge" on both PCs and consoles, and one in particular seeking someone skilled in the art of taking Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Wii games online. We cornered a THQ rep earlier, but all we could pry out of her was that the publisher is "very excited" about the project and that it is "saving the details for E3." And Kaos, if that mysterious project doesn't work out, the extra bodies should make decent meat shields should THQ decide to swing its axe your way.
