The holiday shopping season is upon us and it seems we have lots of surprises coming from tech companies. Microsoft recently announced a 12-day promotional offer, including the best Sunday deals with savings of up to 50% on Xbox 360 games and Xbox One games. Walmart reportedly offers great discounts at $49.88 (AU$68.02) for Xbox games while Black Ops II is being sold for $29.99 (AU$40.90).  Although many retailers offer massive discounts this festive season, Microsoft’s sales price is the lowest of all. The Microsoft Store is also selling another Xbox game, Star Wars Battlefront, at half price at US$29.99 (AU$40.90). You can save an extra $20 (AU$27.27) on Guitar Hero Live that’s now selling for $79.99 (AU$109), reports 247wallst . Wonder why retailers like Walmart are selling Microsoft’s products at heavy discounts? It’s because Microsoft will pay special incentives to retailers once the company’s promotion ends. Microsoft feels there’s no better way to increase...

  Google’s big fall event is behind us, and we have some great new hardware to show for it. The new Nexus 5X is the hotly anticipated follow-up to 2013’s Nexus 5, and it’s everything Android fans were hoping for. Then the larger Nexus 6P offers an all-aluminum body, a 2K display and solid performance for a surprisingly affordable price. Bold phones are set to begin shipping next month, and fans of the “pure Android” experience can’t wait. Of course, Google also spent some time on software during Tuesday’s press conference, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow is set to begin rolling out next week . DON’T MISS: New memory chips use light to store and transmit data 100 times faster than SSD Android fans with recent Nexus devices like the Nexus 6 smartphone and Nexus 9 tablet will be able to update their devices to Android 6.0 beginning early next week. Google hasn’t set an official date that the Marshmallow rollout will begin, but a number of reports have pinpointed October 5th as t...

   For the first time, Google unveiled not one but two Nexus smartphones as part of its new smartphone line-up. Perhaps paying heed to feedback from Nexus fans who wanted a smaller device, the search giant launched the Nexus 5X in addition to the big-screen device -- Nexus 6P. Successor to the Nexus 6, which was not as popular as its predecessors because of a higher price, giant 6-inch display and some manufacturing defects, the Nexus 6P looks like a better phone, at least on paper. We take a look at what differentiates the Nexus 6P from the Nexus 6. 1. Smaller screen The Nexus 6P has a 5.7-inch display, which is smaller than the 6-inch display of the Nexus 6. Both the display panels have QHD 1440x2560p resolution but the Nexus 6P packs in more pixels due to the smaller screen real estate. The display on the Nexus 6P is an AMOLED panel while the Nexus 6 had an IPS LCD. While AMOLED panels offer deeper blacks and wide viewing angles, colours appear ...

The singer tells TIME about getting personal on her new album, finding her voice and FaceTiming with super-producer Max Martin Selena Gomez is making some big changes. When her new album Revival , led by the thumping A$AP Rocky collaboration “Good For You,” arrives on Oct. 9, it will be her first full-length release outside of the Disney-owned Hollywood Records, where she first recorded as a teenager. Her mother is no longer her manager as of last year. Gomez has also stepped in the role of executive producer for the album, taking on unprecedented levels of creative control and wracking up more songwriting credits than ever. There aren’t that many 23-year-olds singing about getting a second act the way Gomez does on Revival , but not many 23-year-olds have watched their personal lives and relationships becoming tabloid fodder the way Gomez has. “It’s not necessarily me being like, ‘Hey, I figured life out and I’m amazing!’” Gomez says of the record’s title. “ It’s more like, ...

The first trailer has been released for The Forest , the upcoming supernatural thriller which takes place in Aokigahara, a “suicide forest” at the base of Mt. Fuji. Many people choose to go there to end their lives, and as you might expect, it’s now become a source of inspiration for some filmmakers. Gus Van Sant recently took a crack at it with Sea of Trees , but the response to that film at Cannes was overwhelmingly negative. Whether this one will fare any better remains to be seen, but so far, it looks promising. Starring Natalie Dormer ( Game of Thrones ), The Forest is based on an idea by Man of Steel scribe David S. Goyer and will be directed by Jason Zada. Here’s the official synopsis for the movie: The Forest, which is set in the Aokigahara forest at the base of Mt. Fuji, tells the story of a young American woman who goes in search of her twin sister, who has mysteriously disappeared. Despite everyone’s warnings to “stay on the path,” Sara enters the forest...

  Fans eager to see the last trailer for " The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 " won't have to wait for much longer. According to the folks at Hypable , Samsung and Lionsgate plan to unveil the final trailer for The Hunger Games series on Samsung's tablets at Best Buys across the U.S. starting on Friday, Oct. 2. Samsung's collaborative promotion with Lionsgate will also offer a preview of the new Hunger Games "virtual reality experience." The official Lionsgate and Samsung press release says that the "experience" will be a "6-minute, 360-degree immersive journey through some of the defining moments of The Hunger Games film franchise using the Samsung Gear VR headset. The VR experience takes viewers through Katniss' journey throughout the The Hunger Games series." Paula Kupfer, who serves as the Senior Vice President, for Global Partnerships and Promotions at Lionsgate,  thinks this new promotion is a great way to brin...

The highty anticipated Need For Speed release date (Nov. 3) is just over a month away and it promises to deliver a sort of racing game we haven't seen in a very long time. Particularly, the all-new hardware in the current-gen Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles have prompted a resurgence for race sims like Project CARS and Forza Motorsport 6. Of course, there was also multiplayer-centric Driveclub and The Crew, but neither game sustained its appeal. Meanwhile,  Need For Speed  decided to take a year hiatus from releasing a new game in 2014 in order to really focus on making the anticipated game as flawless as possible. Need For Speed  2015 will be a full reboot of the series so there's obviously a lot of pressure to really nail the final product. "We took a year out from Need For Speed because we wanted to listen to what the fans were saying," said Ghost Games creative director Craig Sullivan . "So they said, 'we want a narrative, we want modified c...

Cyber Sec Oz pits 251 hackers in capture the flag comp. Two hundred and fifty one university and TAFE students will today compete to hack the hell out of the Enterprise Wellness Initiative, smashing its apps, and pulling off feats of forensics. The simulated hack-off is part of the Cyber Security Challenge Australia run by a cadre of security companies with the Australian Signals Directorate. Players across 64 teams from 23 universities and TAFEs will compete from 10am in the capture the flag event. "It's designed to simulate security testing," says Chris Gatford, director of Sydney based HackLabs. "They'll do internal and external tests, web apps, and forensics." Gatford says he and other sponsors Facebook and Pricewaterhouse Coopers will observe the event live from a Telstra operations room. Hacklabs will fly the winning team to DEF CON and put the students up in Las Vegas. Runner ups and other well-performing hacking teams will get tickets to hacker ...

Tesla unveils Model X electric car with Falcon Wing doors Silicon Valley electric car-maker Tesla has launched its third model to date - a sports-utility vehicle distinguished by its double-hinged "falcon wing" rear doors, which unfurl themselves upwards to help parents put their children inside. The Model X was unveiled nearly two years later than originally scheduled. The firm's chief executive Elon Musk acknowledged that the "difficulty in engineering" some of the parts involved had been greater than he had originally expected. The car can fit seven people and can travel about 250 miles (400km) on a single charge. However, analysts say its price - which runs as high as $144,000 (£95,100) - is expected to temper demand. Tesla has said it plans to unveil a lower-cost vehicle in 2017. The company has yet to make a profit.  

September saw the release of several huge games, such as  Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain , Forza Motorsport 6, and many more. October is looking to continue 2015's trend of huge game releases with both Xbox One and PS4 getting some major games to play. Let's first start off with the games that both consoles will be getting. Multi-Platform Games These games are coming to both Xbox One and PS4 in October. The first game coming to both Xbox One and PS4 is Transformers: Devastation. This over-the-top action game has been developed by Platinum Games, the creators of the Bayonetta series, Metal Gear Rising: Revengence and more. Expect to see tons of action on Oct. 6. It'll be more than meets the eye. The Game of the Year Edition for Dragon Age: Inquisition will be coming to PS4 and Xbox One on Oct. 6. This version will include all previously-released DLC content packs, including Jaws of Hakkon, The Descent, Trespasser and more. It's the perfect time to try out Drago...

NEW BOUNTY STRAW HAT PIRATES CREW – Chopper: 100 Berries. – Nami: 66,000,000 Berries. – Brook: 83,000,000 Berries. – Franky: 94,000,000 Berries. – Nico Robin: 130,000,000 Berries. – Sanji: 177,000,000 Berries. – Usopp: 200,000,000 Berries. – Roronoa Zoro: 320,000,000 Berries. – Monkey D. Luffy: 500,000,000 Berries.  

Neither the average song nor the fake sets help matters much… These two days have been quite a treat for all Puli fans. Yesterday, we saw a really mesmerising, fantasy elements-laden, second promo of Puli , filled with giants, panthers, angry birds and a huge turtle, along with superstar Vijay in his most swashbuckling avatar! And today, we get to see the promo of the song Jingiliya from Puli ! However, if you had too much expectations from the song, like this writer here, after having watched the fantastic second trailer of the film, there is bound to be some disappointment. The song is not really one of the best compositions of Devi Sri Prasad (DSP), from whatever little we have heard from the video. Sure, the beats are catchy, especially for the front-rowers, but I couldn’t make anything of what they were singing! To top it all, the sets look colourful, but fake and the CGI still needs polishing. This doesn’t bound well, after that wonderful trailer we saw yesterday. I...

'Calendar Girls' A; Drama Director: Madhur Bhandarkar Cast: Akanksha Puri, Avani Modi, Kyra Dutt, Ruhi Singh, Satarupa Pyne Rating:  2 stars  

Leading Indian e-retailer Flipkart's co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal are the latest billionaires in the country, with $1.3 billion ( 8,582 crore) net worth each, according to leading business magazine Forbes India' rich list released on Wednesday. "Indian e-commerce has added its first billionaires with Flipkart's founders (Bansals) making debut on our rich list at number 86, with $1.3 billion net worth each," the magazine said in a statement in Mumbai. Though Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani tops the rich list for the ninth consecutive year, his net worth, however, declined $4.7 billion to $18.9 billion ( 127,700 crore) from 2014 owing to lower oil prices that hit his oil and petrochemicals giant. Sun Pharmaceutical's Dilip Shanghvi also retained the second spot, with $18 billion net worth, acquisition of drug major Ranbaxy Industries for $4 billion by his company notwithstanding. Wipro chairman Azim Premji also reta...

  Introduction Do we have a good one for you today – two powerhouse phablets go up against one another…the Mi Note Pro (4G LTE model) versus the new Samsung Galaxy Note 5.  We have a classic battle of Chinese design by Xiaomi competing against its South Korean rival, Samsung.  Both devices are the true flagships of their namesakes, each sporting their own version of a metal frame and all-glass construction and they look every bit the part of a premium smartphone. Let’s take a quick look at what these two devices have in common before we look at each one on an individual basis. Surprisingly, the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro 4G and the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 do have several features in common.  For starters, let’s look at their size – they both have a 5.7-inch QHD display size and even in physical size they are almost identical and differ only10 grams in weight.  Both devices are running a 64-bit octa-core processor and both are packing 4GB of RAM and neither on...

  The Xiaomi Mi 4c, which was announced recently by its manufacturer, is the new variant of the Xiaomi Mi 4i that was launched exclusively for customers in India. The Xiaomi Mi 4c is exclusively available in China currently. However, Gear Best is selling the Standard and Advanced Edition to worldwide buyers. The Xiaomi Mi 4c has a thickness of 7.8 mm and weighs 132 grams. It is a dual-SIM handset that comes with a 5-inch screen that supports full HD resolution. The display offers a pixel density of 441 ppi. The handset features the Snapdragon 808 chipset that works at 1.8 GHz. It is the same chip that powers flagships like the Moto X Pure Edition, the LG G4 and the upcoming LG Nexus 5X. The Standard Edition of the Xiaomi Mi 4c comes with 2 GB of RAM and features 16 GB of internal storage. The Advanced Edition features 3 GB of RAM and native storage of 16 GB. Both the editions support up to 32 GB of microSD card on the external storage slot. The Mi 4c smart...

  Largest Chat app for Smartphones is now at Risk whatsapp hack that allow user to steal conversation, Israeli security firm Check Point discovered a critical vulnerability of WhatsApp Web that might put at risk the 200 million users of the service. Exploiting a flaw in the system of sending vCard, the attacker can easily execute arbitrary code remotely and potentially acquire full contol of the target system. The vulnerability has already been corrected, but the service has been exposed since its debut to possible hack remotely. WhatsApp Bug 2015 Web is performed by web browsers and could be violated simply by sending a vCard suitably manipulated to contain malicious code. If the vCard had been opened on the web-app the attacker could execute code contained on the system in use by the victim. WhatsApp spy Web could be used to convey many types of malware, such as ransomware, bots and even remote access tools (RATs). Carry out the attack was simple: “To exploit the...

Dell has expanded its networking portfolio to address complexities in campus networking and bandwidth demands in the Datacentre. For the campus, the vendor has introduced a new unified-campus architecture powered by new Dell Networking C9010 Network Director switch and companion C1048P Rapid Access Node. In the datacentre, Dell debuted the Dell Networking S6100-ON, combining multi-rate connectivity, modularity and open networking to deliver in-rack networking flexibility. The new Dell unified-campus architecture gives a single management view for the campus from access to core. The vendor said this enables a single point of control, policy provisioning and software upgrades, as well as programming software-defined attributes. Additionally, through the use of industry-standard protocols, the campus architecture can be jump started using existing Dell campus investments by re-deploying Dell Networking N-series switches as access nodes. The new Dell Networking C9010 Network ...

So far in the lead-up to the September 27 release date of Lego Dimensions , we've seen Joel McHale , Christopher Lloyd , and the voices of Chris Pratt, Michael J. Fox, Elizabeth Banks, and more . Now it's Unikitty's turn to give the world a peek at the highly anticipated video game that crosses characters, movie properties, and more in the toy brand's multiverse. This time Alison Brie, like McHale and Lloyd before her, gets a mysterious delivery that turns out to be a rather powerful Lego set. But when one small piece is missing, the deep rage within rears its vengeful head, even if for just a fleeting moment. It's a fun, if less elaborate, continuation of a thoroughly charming marketing campaign for the game. The game footage of a Batmen slapfight is just an added bonus.

  A new gameplay trailer for "WWE 2K16" was recently released by 2K Games. It features some of the interesting new additions in the soon-to-be released professional wrestling game. In the trailer dubbed as "Oh Hell Yeah," the different entrance acts of some of the most popular WWE superstars are seen, including several fan-favorites like Seth Rollins, John Cena, The New Day, and Brock Lesnar, among others. But perhaps the highlight is Stone Cold showing his iconic "Stone Cold Stunner" as he performs it on The Rock and Vince McMahon.  As an added feature, the trailer also shows what the players will get when they pre-order the game through selected shops like Gamestop, Amazon, and other popular retailers that accept pre-orders. For the 17th major installment in the "WWE 2K" game series, a bonus character for the pre-ordered game happens to be actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his legendary "Terminator" character T-800.  The for...

Who wouldn’t want to be “The YouTube of Video Games”? User-generated games portal Roblox is doing its best to apply the model to video games as opposed to just videos, by lowering the bar for content creation enough so that anyone can build something interesting, then push it out to as many platforms as possible. “We believe we’re the best place in the world to build and develop your first game,” says Roblox Chief Marketing Officer Rick Silvestrini. "We have created the only platform in the world where you can build a game once and have it deploy across PC, Mac, iOS, Android, and now Xbox." Just one user-made Roblox game. That platform boasts 15 million monthly visitors, and Rick and his Roblox team stopped by IGN to show me the Xbox One app, which launches on November 12. All the games will be free for anyone to play, with Roblox sustaining itself by selling augments to its existing community-shared asset packs and creators able to make money by incorporating i...

Video game developer 343 Industries isn’t slowing down as it builds anticipation for next month’s Halo 5 release date. Just a day after it introduced a new season of its podcast to hype the game’s story, Microsoft is back with a new video that introduces the Blue Team and teases the game’s campaign. What’s more, it’s letting journalists talk about their experience with the game so far. Microsoft added the trailer to its Xbox Wire news blog last night. Then this morning video game websites began publishing articles describing their time with the game’s campaign. It was only yesterday that Microsoft began releasing new episodes of its Hunt The Truth podcast setting up the Halo 5: Guardians story. The whole thing is a massive effort by Microsoft to built the game’s profile ahead of release on October 27th. Halo 5: Guardians is the crown jewel of Microsoft’s holiday 2015 line-up. With a weak line-up of exclusives on the PS4, many believe its Microsoft’s last hope of catching u...