Crysis 2 Recommended Specs Leak?

Within the last couple of weeks, the minimum specs for Crysis were made public. While it gave us a good glimpse as to what would be required of our machines to power the latest and greatest Crytek has to offer, it didn’t tell us much in the sense that minimum requirements are often low-balled. Recommended specs are what really matter. Unfortunately, thus far Crytek has been pretty tight lipped about said requirements. Until now. Well, Crytek still isn’t actually saying anything, but fellow tech site VR-Zone is. They claim to have the recommended specs in the bag. As seen above, Crysis 2 is still a very power hungry game, but not in the same context as it was back in 2007. These days, a Core 2 Duo and Nvidia 280/ATI 4870 aren’t exactly “high-end”. Nevertheless, the true test will be running the final version of the game on our systems to see the results for ourselves.

We’ll definitely be picking up Crysis 2. You?

UberTwitter/Twidroyd Twitter Suspension Update.

Well that was quick — mere hours after learning of Twitter’s banning of popular 3rd party services, UberTwitter and Twidroyd, parent company, UberMedia has already stated that the accusations made by Twitter have been fixed. This is slightly odd in the sense that Twitter themselves had stated that they had been warning UberMedia since April of last year about the suposed violations — violations which included insecure handling of 140+ character Direct Messages, mis-handling of links, UberTwitter’s use of “Twitter” in its name. On that latter note, UberTwitter is going to get a name change (as Twidroyd did) to UberSocial.

Now that the apps themselves were put in jeopardy, UberMedia acted. Slightly ridiculous if you ask us. But hey. At the end of the day, everyone will be happy and connected once again. Look for these updated apps to hit their respective mobile app stores once Twitter un-bans the apps’ APIs.

[Update] Twitter Suspends UbetTwitter and Twidroyd For “Violating Policies”

Bad news for Twidroyd and UberTwitter users: Twitter has officially suspended both apps. In an announcement on the company’s blog, Twitter claims that both Twidroyd and UberTwitter were “violating policies” that ultimately degrade the Twitter experience for everyone.

The company goes on to say that they suspend hundreds of apps each day, and do so without ever telling the general public. But because these two suspensions in particular will affect a larger than usual crowd, Twitter found it necessary to inform us. We’ve reached out to Twitter to find out exactly what policies were violated and will update you when we hear back.

In an attempt to soften the blow, Twitter casually reminds you that they have official apps for Android, BlackBerry, and iOS as well as a great mobile web page. Unfortunately, most of the people who use these two apps do so because they feel it’s better than Twitter’s own offerings.

In the meantime, any Twidroyd and/or UberTwitter users care to vent?

Update

Mashable was already able to garner a response from Twitter (Emphasis added) :

We ask all developers in the Twitter ecosystem to abide by a simple set of rules that are in the interests of our users, as well as the health and vitality of the platform as a whole.

We often take actions to enforce these rules; in fact, on an average day we turn off more than one hundred services that violate our API rules of the road. This keeps the ecosystem fair for everyone.

Today we suspended several applications, including UberTwitter, twidroyd and UberCurrent, which have violated Twitter policies and trademarks in a variety of ways. These violations include, but aren’t limited to, a privacy issue with private Direct Messages longer than 140 characters, trademark infringement, and changing the content of users’ Tweets in order to make money.

We’ve had conversations with UberMedia, the developer of these applications, about policy violations since April 2010, when they first launched under the name TweetUp – a term commonly used by Twitter users and a trademark violation. We continue to be in contact with UberMedia and hope that they will bring the suspended applications into compliance with our policies soon.

So there you have it — trademark infringement and improper use of DMs and link editing.

Spotify Inches Closer To U.S. Launch With New EMI Deal.

After last months announcement from Spotify that a deal had been signed with Sony, music streaming aficionados began getting excited. Finally we were beginning to see some progress on an innovative music streaming service that had been promised to us for many months. As we look onwards in 2011, it’s been well over a year since Spotify originally announced plans to tap the U.S. market. Unfortunately thus far, greed on behalf of the major music labels has stalled Spotify’s efforts. But those efforts are finally being rewarded.

Today, Spotify is expected to announce their latest deal towards getting their services up and running in the U.S. — this according to a statement from the WSJ. What this means is that Spotify only has two more major music labels — Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group — to woo before we can all enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Of course, now that the U.S. has had no less than half a dozen reputable streaming services blossom and mature over the last year and half, is Spotify as much of an item as it once was?

Atrix 4G Launch Pushed Up To February 22nd.

Usually when a gadgets launch date is changed, we treated with more waiting. But the Atrix 4G follows a road less traveled. AT&T’s PR man, Seth Bloom updated his Twitter status today with the following:

We’ll beat our target timing. ATRIX 4G in-store sales begin 2/22. Existing pre-orders will be shipped for delivery on 2/21.

Did you order one?

Via: @sethbloom (AT&T)

Apparently Sony Doesn’t Like The PS3 Jailbreak

There you have it folks. Sony has finally published a ban-hammer press release on PS3 Jailbreaking. We’ve been covering all the info about the lawsuit against geohot, but here it is, finally something has been released for the regular mom and pop out on the street. It’s pretty easy to understand; they don’t want you to do it!!!

Sony released this statement on the Playstation Blog this morning:

Notice: Unauthorized circumvention devices for the PlayStation 3 system have been recently released by hackers. These devices permit the use of unauthorized or pirated software. Use of such devices or software violates the terms of the “System Software License Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System” and the “Terms of Services and User Agreement” for the PlayStation Network/Qriocity and its Community Code of Conduct provisions. Violation of the System Software Licence Agreement for the PlayStation 3 System invalidates the consumer guarantee for that system. In addition, copying or playing pirated software is a violation of International Copyright Laws. Consumers using circumvention devices or running unauthorized or pirated software will have access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently.

To avoid this, consumers must immediately cease use and remove all circumvention devices and delete all unauthorized or pirated software from their PlayStation 3 systems.

Just as Microsoft has done in the past with Live, you’ll lose all access to the Playstation Network. And in case you weren’t aware, copying or playing pirated software is a violation of International Copyright Laws

Source: Playstation Blog

Sony Working On “S1″ Gaming Tablet.

We tend to give Sony a hard time for when it comes to mobile hardware, software, and being behind the curve, but new information that Engadget has managed to score may have us reconsidering that notion. As if we needed another tablet to pay attention to, two highly respected and accurate sources of Engadget have come forward to spill the beans on a new Sony gaming tablet currently code named “S1″. This tablet is roughly ~9.4″ in size, and sports 1280 x 800 resolution, is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor, and has Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) installed by default. Other goodies include USB-A port for flash drive support, an IR port to open up a whole host of remote possibilities, and plenty of Sony-specific softwares exclusive to the gaming giant. On that note, the S1 is supposedly a “Playstation Gaming” certified device meaning support for PS One games, Bravia Media Remote, and Playstation Integration.

As for pricing and release date, nothing is confirmed yet (and can certainly change without a moments notice) but we’re seeing $599 for the WiFi-only model and a release date of September. 3G/4G variants are likely, though nothing specific was mentioned at this time. It’s also worth noting that the original ship date was well before September but has since slipped several times. Perhaps we won’t be seeing this mythical S1 gaming tablet until holiday 2011. Either way, we’re intrigued. Stay tuned…