2012
Latest
Prey 2 announced for 2012, in development at Human Head Studios
Back in 2009, Bethesda parent company Zenimax picked up the Prey trademark. Since then, we'd heard nothing -- until just now, of course. A sequel is confirmed to be in the works at Human Head Studios, developers of the first game, and is being built on the id Tech game engine. Prey 2 is slated to launch some time in 2012. The press release (in full after the break) offers few additional details about the game, other than that it's in development for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC; though Bethesda did toss out one small, barely satisfying bone: More details will be in the May issues of OXM and PlayStation: The Official Magazine, in addition to unnamed European publications. With E3 coming up in June, we bet there will be more info there, as well.
Smithsonian Museum will have a video game gallery next year, wants you to vote on what's in it
Nobody tell Roger Ebert, but the Smithsonian Museum has announced plans for a new exhibition, called The Art of Video Games, which will run between March and September next year. Charting the 40-year (now there's a number that will make you feel old in a hurry) evolution of gaming from paddle-based pixel exchanges to sophisticated online multiplayer extravaganzas, this collection of memoirs will focus on the most visually striking and technologically innovative titles. Perhaps knowing how heated debates about video games can get, the Museum has sagely decided to co-opt its audience into the curatorial process -- the second source link below will take you to a voting page where you can select your top 80 games from a shortlist of 240... and of course express your rage at the omission of some obscure title you totally loved late one night in 1995.
Chevrolet launches MyLink smartphone integration for 2012 Volt and Equinox
Welcome to the wonderful world of smartphones, Chevrolet. The company has just announced (on our very show, no less) a system it calls MyLink. It's a definite competitor to things like Ford's AppLink and the recently unveiled Toyota Entune system. Offering compatibility with iOS, BlackBerry, and Android it allows for a driver to interact with apps running on their smartphones using controls in their car. Connectivity is totally wireless for the last two, with data going over Bluetooth, but as of the current version iOS devices need to be physically tethered to the car. That's a bit of a bummer. Currently there are only two compatible apps: Stitcher and Pandora, the latter maintaining its status of the world's most popular infotainment app. Naturally, more are coming. Drivers can interact with the apps using voice, courtesy of Nuance, or using the touchscreen displays found in the Volt and Equinox, the first cars that will offer this system and which will also offer PowerMat charging, meaning you can not only stream tunes wirelessly but also charge your device. No word yet on cost or what option packages this system will be available in, but we'll be bringing that to you as soon as we can. Until then, enjoy the video demo after the break. %Gallery-117055% %Gallery-117064%
Obama's 2012 budget includes push for 'mini-nuke' reactor development
The President revealed his 2012 budget proposal today, including $853 million for nuclear energy research -- which includes development of "mini-nukes," or small, modular reactors that can be shipped and deployed relatively quickly, and built relatively cheaply (up to $2 billion, as opposed to the $10 billion price tag of your traditional reactor). But don't get excited -- you won't likely be able to get your own backyard reactor just yet. For the time being, they're to be placed in existing large-scale labs like the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. It is hoped that the reactors will bring a 28 percent reduction of the Energy Department's carbon footprint by 2020.
THQ says WAR40K MMO due by March 2013
It looks like March 2013 is the latest expected delivery date for THQ's Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online MMORPG. Rock, Paper Shotgun reports that THQ told its investors the sci-fi opus should see the light of day in the fiscal year 2013, a period stretching from April 2012 to March 2013. While news of the far-future setting has excited some fans, others are put off by rumors that the extensive faction roster from the source material is being distilled to a more MMO-palatable pair of opposing organizations. However it turns out, we'll have to wait quite a while it seems and content ourselves with the slow trickle of WAR40K news.
LG working on an NFC payment system for Europe, planning launch in 2012
All these upcoming NFC-equipped smartphones wouldn't be worth much without places to use them, so it's good to hear LG's announcement this week that it's working on providing the infrastructure for contactless payments. The Korean company has set its sights on Europe, where it's conducting beta testing of point-of-sale technology that will facilitate paying for goods and services by swiping your phone near an NFC sensor. We're not told whether that phone would necessarily have to be built by LG, though we imagine the company would be well served by including as many devices as possible and just taking its slice of the profits. Whatever LG does, it's looking increasingly safe to assume that having NFC on your phone will be a legitimate asset in the coming months (and not just if you live in Japan).
UK and French carriers working on cellular coverage for Channel Tunnel, aim to finish by 2012 Olympics
If you live in a technophile city like Taipei, you'll have been enjoying underground 4G for a long time now, but in London the rule is that you have to bid adieu to your mobile connectivity when diving into a tunnel. The city's Mayor has been active in encouraging (forcing?) the major British carriers to install the necessary equipment to provide coverage on the Tube, and now we're hearing that ambition has stretched beyond the nation's borders as well. The Daily Telegraph reports that Vodafone, O2, Everything Everywhere, and Three from the UK along with Orange, SFR and Bouygues from France have agreed to share the cost of putting together a £20 million ($30.8m) project for making cellular coverage possible while traveling through the 31.4-mile Channel Tunnel between the two countries. The goal is to get things up and running by the Olympics in 2012, though we've no indication as to what speeds those wireless data transfers will reach. Still, having some bars is better than none, right?
Resident Evil: Damnation trailer debuts
In this trailer for Resident Evil: Damnation, a new 3D computer-generated film due in 2012, our salon-fresh savior Leon S. Kennedy finds himself in a European warzone, facing "the worst evil." Are retailer-exclusive pre-order bonuses just as bad in Europe?
Windows 8 about two years away, according to Microsoft Netherlands
When will Microsoft bring Windows 8 to market? 2012's looking like a safe bet -- not only was it slated for that date in an allegedly leaked product roadmap, but Microsoft Netherlands hints that the OS is just two years away. Buried at the bottom of a press release celebrating the first birthday of Windows 7, you'll find the above Dutch phrase, which Google Translate returns as "Furthermore, Microsoft is of course the next version of Windows. But it will take about two years before "Windows 8" on the market." There are certainly plenty of reasons why Microsoft's riskiest product bet might not hit its target date, but the machine translation seems clear. Here's hoping the OS will ship with some suitably futuristic hardware.
Interplay: Fallout Online in second half of 2012
In an interview with Edge magazine (excerpted by Eurogamer), Interplay president Eric Caen reconfirmed the company's plans to launch a beta of the MMO Fallout Online in 2012. He also specified that the "second half of 2012" will see the release of the commercial game. Thanks to the ongoing legal troubles with Bethesda, responsible for Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Interplay is in the unique position of trying to promote its game without being able to show it -- because, according to Caen, "anything we show will help Bethesda in their fight." Of course, Interplay staffers are free to go to the store and pick up the current Fallout releases for themselves, which they are doing. "What I can say is that of course we're playing what Bethesda is doing," Caen said. "We appreciate some portions of it, and we're not necessarily fans of everything. I think they miss a lot of the humor, and the fans seem to agree with that." To that end, the Fallout MMO is intended to be "extremely funny."
iSuppli: Apple to sell 120 million iPads by 2012
Many analysts were disappointed when Apple announced 4.2 million iPads sold in Q4 during the conference call yesterday. The consensus -- or hope -- among many on Wall Street was a 5m+ iPad quarter. But if iSuppli's report today is any indication, the Wall Street boys have nothing to worry about when it comes to future iPad sales. iSuppli states that due to increasing component availability (a lack of which, they suggest, is the only thing that kept Apple from selling more iPads), Apple is set to sell a total of 13.8 million units in 2010, up from 12.9 million units. For 2011, iSuppli has raised total iPad sales estimates from 36.5 million to 43.7 million. It gets even better for the tablet maker in 2012, when iSuppli estimates Apple will sell 63.3 million units, up from their original estimate of 50.4 million. If iSuppli's estimates are correct, that means that by the end of 2012 -- just 2 years and 9 month since the iPad went on sale -- Apple will have sold 120 million of them. Now that's a lot of iPads. The increased forecasts are due to greater than expected interest in the iPad from business and education institutions, and also due to the fact that the iPad is now available in more retail outlets like Amazon, Verizon stores, Target, and Walmart.
BioShock Infinite coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2012; see the trailer now
It has been nearly three years since Irrational Games released BioShock, a critical darling and a financial success. Somehow, designer Ken Levine and his team have managed to keep their new project under wraps until now. The mystery ends today, with the unveiling of BioShock Infinite. Set in 1912 (making it a prequel!), Infinite will look unlike anything you'd expect from a BioShock game. Curious to see? Watch the debut CG trailer after the break, and feel free to peruse the first ever screenshots in our gallery. If you're hankering for more coverage, check out our interview with Ken Levine, and find out how the game works in our preview.%Gallery-99251%
Honda will bring plug-in hybrids, full EVs to United States in 2012
Though they probably won't look anything like Honda's adorable EV-N, the Japanese automaker's got some new technological vehicles up its sleeves -- in a speech today, Honda CEO Takanobu Ito formally announced plans to produce a plug-in hybrid competitor for Toyota's flashy new PHEV Prius by 2012, which rumor has it will sport an estimated fuel economy (when it's using fuel, we assume) of roughly around 140 miles per gallon. Better still, a completely battery-powered electrical vehicle will also go on sale by 2012, and you won't have to fly to Japan to try them out, as they're slated for the States as well. Hydrogen fuel cells are apparently still Honda's long-term solution, though the FCX Clarity received only a passing mention. In the short term, Honda's still circling the wagons around part-gasoline systems like the Civic (which will receive a Li-ion battery pack) and the Fit Hybrid, destined for Japan this fall.
Select Bus Service brings New York City transit into the 20th century
Did you know adding an extra subway stop to New York City's 7 train is going to cost $2 billion? In the middle of this big ol' recession, that's a big reason why transit geeks are freaking out about buses - they can be orders of magnitude cheaper than subways. It turns out in New York City (home of America's slowest buses at an average 7.5 MPH) they're jamming out on some serious tech to dispel the traditional associations commuters have with above-ground mass transit. The MTA's new Select Bus Service offers street-based payment kiosks (1 in the image above), low-riding rear entrances for quicker boarding (2), a "signal prioritization" system that will hold the light green for fast buses (3), and a separate terra cotta-colored lane with constant camera surveillance to keep stray cars and trucks out of the way (4). We've seen cabbies not get scared of things more serious things than painted lanes - personally, we'd install piranha-infested moats to protect our Select Bus System - but we'll have to trust the MTA on that one. The faster, funner new buses are already showing up in the Bronx, and If they're able to get through all the red tape associated with making things easier and more efficient for everybody, you can expect to see them on First and Second Avenues this fall and on 34th Street in 2012... provided we make it through the apocalypse.
Chevrolet bringing 10,000 Volts in 2011, but it's the current of change that will kill you
Good news for all electric heads out there: "intense interest" in the Chevy Volt has led General Motors to expand its launch markets to now include Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. They join California, Michigan and Washington DC, although only Austin in Texas and New York City will have the honor of retail Volts before 2010 is through; the rest of the new markets will get their fill in 2011. Though Chevy still hasn't set down a final date and price for its electric car, late 2010 availability seems to mesh well with a November 1 rumor we heard earlier. Beyond this year, 10,000 units are planned to be built in 2011, with 30,000 more coming up in 2012. So it's gonna be a pretty exclusive club however you look at it, now can we get a cheesy music video going for this car or what? Oh wait...
Tesla switches gears, plans to keep Roadster till 2012
Well, that was quick. Just weeks after hearing that Tesla would be nixing Roadster production prior to the world ending, it looks as if those planning to blow their life savings in the next 18 or so months took issue with the intentions. So much so, in fact, that Tesla has now "negotiated agreements with key suppliers that will increase total Roadster production by 40 percent and extend sales into 2012." Better still, the iconic electric supercar will soon be hitting Australia and Asia, so even if you hit the relocate button in the next little while, you should still be covered should you choose to buy (or lease) in.
Keio University and Toshiba ready tiny 1TB SSDs for 2012
Japan's Keio University claims to have developed, in conjunction with Toshiba, the technology to shrink the size of SSDs by a spectacular 90 percent while also cutting energy consumption by 70 percent. If that's not enough mind-boggling numbers for you, the final product of this partnership is expected to yield 1TB drives with 2Gbps throughput. The details of this are still somewhat unclear, but we're told researchers stacked 128 NAND flash chips atop one another, with the breakthrough being in the way they communicate -- using short-range magnetic signals --- which results in less wiring complexity and reduced production costs. We'll take some convincing to believe they can really put these to practical use by 2012 as promised, but if they do make it to any sort of commercial launch, you can bet we'll be queuing up through the night to get one. Note: Nikkei source link requires a paid subscription to access.
Darksiders, Saint's Row sequels from THQ in fiscal 2012
THQ's Brian Farrell has revealed on today's investor conference call that the company is planning to revisit some of its most successful franchises as far away as the fiscal year of 2012 (which would be sometime after March 2011), including this year's bestseller Darksiders, and the popular Saint's Row franchise. Farrell says the company is looking to fiscal 2012 for "accelerated growth with three major core game titles scheduled: Warhammer 40k Space Marine, a sequel to Darksiders and the third generation of our popular Saint's Row franchise." Given that these are more than a year away, we don't have any more information besides the fact that they're planned for release (Who will Darksiders ape next? Will Saint's Row finally solve all of those bugs?). But news of sequels for both games will be welcomed by their respective fans.
Microsoft roadmap pegs Windows 8 release for 2012, or just after the world's end
It's somewhat hard to believe that we're already talking about Windows 8 given that Windows 7 just hit the shelves two months ago, but you know the engineers at Microsoft are already planning ahead. According to a roadmap constructed over at Microsoft Kitchen -- based around whispers heard through the grapevine on the eventual release of the next Windows Server -- the next iteration of Windows is tentatively pegged for release in the year 2012. Of course, a three-year window between Windows 7 and the next version is totally believable, but we wouldn't go planning your end of the world party with the assumption that a new OS will be the main attraction. Or you could, but then you might be disappointed, which would be a sucky way to go out.
CTIA jumps on the micro-USB bandwagon
Think the CTIA is only good for swank trade shows? Think again! It's actually a trade group created to fight for your interests -- or at least those interests of your duly elected wireless providers -- and apparently top among those lists of interests is plug standardization. Yes, we're not the only ones sick of still having a sprawling mess of a gadget charging station, so CTIA is saying that micro-USB will be the power standard for all handsets and mobile devices. Likewise, the 3.5mm audio plug will be the standard for audio output on those same gadgets. It's shocking, we know, if only because we thought the entire gadget universe was already on board, with everyone and their mommas signing up for micro-USB and even HTC finally making room for a 3.5mm hole in the bottom of their handsets. These standards are set to go into effect in January of 2012, meaning we should get a good 11 months or so of dongle-free gadget harmony before the apocalypse.
