Author - Jerry Paxton

V-Moda Reveals XS Headphones

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Milano – March 26, 2014 – V-MODA, maker of the world’s finest high-fidelity headphones trusted by pros and savvy consumers alike, is thrilled to announce the latest addition to their award-wining M-Class Series – the XS. Designed for ultimate comfort and sleek ergonomic fit, the XS reflects V-MODA’s commitment to fashion-forward wearable technology, combining professional-grade quality and a personalized style.

Sleek Ergonomix for Better Sound

The angles and sleek headband design of the XS “mind the gap” by minimizing the unsightly space between the headband and your head.  The result is a superior fit, added comfort, grander sound and a compact profile. 5+ years of R&D resulted in a wind-tunnel worthy design that contours evenly to the shape of your head, with angles that frame facial features. Enjoy long listening sessions comfortably with supple memory foam cushions that naturally adapt to your ears for faster “burn-in” and better noise isolation. The result of the meticulous design process behind the XS is a fashionable form-fitting design that elevates your listening experience; discover why “the fit is the sound.”

 

Case Study of Style

“For nearly 10 years I have studied global fashion trends and paid close attention to individuals who wear and don’t wear headphones including the different shapes and sizes,” says Val Kolton, CEO of V-MODA. “While on- and over-ear headphones have gained popularity due to substantial mainstream marketing, I found that many consumers are conscious of their silhouette and don’t like wearing bulky headphones. For instance, in quadrilatero della moda (quadrilateral of fashion) in Milano where V-MODA’s design studio is located, it is a rarity to see anyone wearing headphones. Until now, there have been no viable headphone options for the fashion-conscious music lover.”

“One Milanese woman I interviewed claimed she ‘looked like a helicopter pilot’ after she regrettably bought a set of plastic on-ear headphones,” says Kolton.  “In my eyes, the finest wearable technology should be engineered with a core of metal materials yet blend with the user through human feature-fitting industrial design and minimal branding.”

Über Portability

The XS model is one of the smallest in its category, because it features the patent-pending CliqFold Hinge that precisely folds the headphones into an impossibly small exoskeleton case. The headphones and case are so small that many users in focus groups decided to replace their usual in-ear headphones with XS.

XS Features

  • 40mm Dual-Diaphragm Drivers (patent-pending)
  • No batteries or artificial sound processing
  • CliqFold folding hinge (patent-pending)
  • Dual Inputs and SharePlay with V-CORK seals (patent-pending)
  • Exoskeleton case
  • Kevlar-reinforced universal SpeakEasy microphone cable for Apple iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows devices
  • 2-Year Premier Warranty, lifetime 50% immortal life program and V-MODA Six Star Service

Consistent Quality

In order to achieve the greatest sound for the greatest amount of people, extreme quality control standards over speaker driver variance functioned as the driving force in the release of XS.

“Headphone components are very small and unlike larger speakers even the smallest drop of glue can cause wild fluctuations from unit to unit. Each set must be carefully controlled to make every product virtually identical in sound,” says Kolton. “We not only apply QC procedures in line with leading technology manufacturers… we even have conducted research on wine making to understand an even deeper approach to constant quality. That means that I actually listen to and sign off on each batch,” Kolton added. “The end result is an exquisitely balanced and unique sound signature characterized by its addictive deep yet clean bass, vibrant mids, and extended highs.”

Renaissance Versatility

V-MODA designs its products to be versatile, adapting to different uses and looks thanks to a wide range of accessories. We call them “Renaissance headphones.” They are put through the tests of demanding consumers, modern audiophiles, athletes, musicians, travelers and even gamers.

Sharing & Dual Inputs

Dual inputs let you share the music with others, or function as a virtual on-the-go mixer. The patent-pending V-CORK seals allow discerning listeners to perfectly balance the audio. An optional BoomPro microphone instantly transforms the XS into the ideal headset for gamers, podcasters and broadcast professionals.

Military Durability

As with all of V-MODA’s Crossfade family, durability and exquisite material selection were paramount in the design of XS. The masterful combination of steel and metal materials stands up to military-level standards of the MIL-STD-810G testing guidelines.

  • Survives up to 60 drops on concrete
  • Virtually indestructible SteelFlex Headband
  • Minimal sound variance from unit to unit, checked along six parts of the sound curve versus 10-30dB+ of inferior products
  • Kevlar-reinforced detachable cables and 45-degree plug strain relief can each bend more than 1 million times, over 100x industry standard
  • MIL-STD-810G environmental tests including high and low temperatures, humidity, salt spray and UV exposure

View the official V-MODA XS “Mind The Gap” video at V-MODA.com/XS or Youtube.com/VMODA.

The XS is immediately available for $212 in Matte Black Metal and White Silver at V-MODA.com/XS including customization. It is also available without customization for $199.99 at Amazon.com, Brookstone, Microsoft, Collette and other fine stores worldwide.  For high resolution images and videos of the XS click here. XS loop chains will be available in 2-3 months.

About V-MODA

Designed in Milan, V-MODA’s products are part of an authentic music lifestyle for people around the world, thanks to timeless creations based on unparalleled quality, fashion-forward design and total passion for music, fine materials and high technology. Led by Chief Visionary Officer and professional musician Val Kolton, V-MODA blends analog inspiration, Italian design and global engineering. Alongside co-founder Joseph Bucknall, the world’s most progressive producers, musicians and DJs, V-MODA marches to the beat of a very different drummer.

Visit V-MODA.com, or follow us @VMODA on Twitter and Facebook.com/VMODA.

Mordheim: City of the Damned Revealed with Screenshots

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March 26, 2014 — Focus Home Interactive and Rogue Factor today proudly unveil the first video game adaptation of Games Workshop’s cult classic Mordheim. Set in the Warhammer world’s decimated Empire city, Mordheim: City of the Damned is a turn-based tactical game where you lead warbands into bloody and lethal skirmishes. The game blends RPG elements, fast-paced tactical combat and intricate unit customization in a time wrought by chaos and rivalry where only the strongest survive.

After the Comet of Sigmar crashed on Mordheim, the City of Damned turned into a terrifying battlefield where rival warbands fight fiercely for the control of key neighborhoods, looking for glory and fortune by acquiring the very valuable Wyrdstone fragments.

Pick your warbands from iconic Mordheim factions – Sisters of Sigmar, Possessed, Skaven, Mercenaries from the Empire, and many more – and lead your troops to battle. Recruit new units, equip them with enhanced gear. Evolve and customize your warband with the experience gained from each successful mission, transforming them into a terrifying force on the battlefield.

Devise the best strategy to annihilate your rivals. If you fail, some of your units might lose a limb… or worse. Keep in mind that in Mordheim: City of the Damned, a dead unit is lost forever! Consider the environment when formulating your battle strategy, exploiting the unique buildings, ruins or the layout of the streets. Deploy your troops carefully and anticipate the actions of your adversaries to set up ambushes! Organize ingenious battle plans where the talents of your units will be as important as your own luck during key moments of combat.

Loot items and weapons hidden in the ruins, or steal those of fallen opponents. Survive the dangers that abound in the City of the Damned and collect as many Wyrdstones as you can, but remain ever vigilant. Mordheim is one of the most treacherous places in the Warhammer world!

In these epic battles where fame and glory await, your strategy will definitely be your best ally! Visit the four corners of the City of the Damned to complete multiple missions in the solo campaign, or challenge other players in enthralling multiplayer modes.

Riches and infamy await you late 2014 in Mordheim: City of the Damned!

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Wolfenstein: The New Order Panzerhund Edition Announced for Pre-Order

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March 26, 2014 — We’re pleased to announce the Wolfenstein®: The New Order™ Panzerhund Editiona collection of premium items from the Wolfenstein universe, will be available on May 20 for $100.00 through our online merchandise store. Fans can pre-order this exclusive collection now at: store.bethsoft.com.

This Panzerhund Edition, limited to 5,000 units worldwide, comes packaged in a vintage footlocker-style box, each with an individually stamped number plate (approximately 20″ x 10.5″ x 8.5″), that includes the following items:

  • An 8 inch fully articulated hand-painted Panzerhund statue and base
  • Classified folder containing salvaged secret war documents including maps, case files, letters, blueprints and an x-ray
  • A set of 14 full-color ‘vintage’ postcards from Wolfenstein’s alternate 1960’s, bound in a display book
  • Three embroidered patches
  • Custom replica dog tags
  • An exclusive Steelbook case to house your copy of the game **Actual game sold separately.

For more information on the Collector’s Edition visit: store.bethsoft.com.

Wolfenstein: The New Order, the first-person action-adventure shooter under development at MachineGames, is slated for release in North America, Europe and Australia on May 20th on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. As an added bonus, everyone pre-ordering the game will be invited to access the DOOM beta with their copy of Wolfenstein. For more information on the DOOM beta access pre-order bonus, as well as applicable terms and restrictions, please visit:www.wolfenstein.com/doom.

Wolfenstein: The New Order has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information on the game visit: www.wolfenstein.com.

Adventure Time Games Coming from Little Orbit

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Santa Ana, CA. – March 26, 2014 – Leading worldwide video game publisher, Little Orbit and Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE) today announced an expansion of its partnership that will bring multiple properties to gaming consoles and handheld devices later this year. Serving as a licensing agent for its Turner Broadcasting sister network TNT, CNE initially partnered with Little Orbit to release the popular Falling Skies Planetary Warfare mobile game, based on TNT’s critically-acclaimed drama Falling Skies, earlier this year. Little Orbit will also launch a console version of the game later this year.

Building on that successful relationship, the two companies will partner again to create two all-new interactive games – a multi-property game that will combine characters from Cartoon Network’s popular original series, and a game based on the global smash hit series, Adventure Time. Both will be released globally, with North American launches slated for this fourth quarter.

“Both TNT and Cartoon Network have tremendous experience developing both live-action and animated hits for a variety of audiences which makes them a perfect fit for what we want to achieve in terms of high-quality content,” said Matt Scott, President of Little Orbit.  “The expansion deepens our partnership with Turner networks enabling us to work closely together on development to bring a truly transmedia experience to the games.”

“Working with Little Orbit to create the Falling Skies game has been a great experience and from that, we’re excited to extend our partnership this year and develop new games based on some of the most popular characters and brands in the Cartoon Network portfolio,” said Pete Yoder, vice president of consumer products for CNE.

Additional titles and details for the new Cartoon Network and Adventure Time games will be announced soon with several launches planned for later this year.  For more information visit, www.littleorbit.com

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New Tropico 5 Cinematic Trailer

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March 26th, 2014, Ridgewood, NJ – Ever wondered how El Presidente first set foot on the island paradise of Tropico? Kalypso Media is now ready to reveal El Presidente’s first glorious steps towards power back in colonial times in this fantastic new cinematic trailer

Packed with a whole host of new gameplay features and all new artwork designed from scratch, Tropico 5 takes the series into a new and exciting direction – dynasties!

You, as El Presidente, will first take control of the infamous island of Tropico during early colonial times and then guide it through the centuries as the world changes and moves ever forward. You must tackle the changing needs of your people, as well as opposing governments and factions, and thus lay the foundations for your own dynasty. As you move through your years in office you can promote members of your extended family on the island to positions of power: such as ambassador, commanding general or even Supreme Ruler, to ensure your legacy thrives through the eras.

As well as a wealth of other new features, including advanced trading mechanics, technology, scientific research trees and island exploration, Tropico 5 will add cooperative and competitive multiplayer for up to four players for the first time in the series’ history! Viva El Presidente!

Trailer

Tropico 5 will be available in early summer for Windows PC, Mac, Linux and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft – followed by PlayStation®4 later this year.

For more information on Tropico 5 please visit the Kalypso Media website at www.kalypsomedia.comor the official Tropico 5 website at www.tropico5.com.

Our Diablo III Reaper of Souls Launch Party Photos

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We had a couple reporters on hand to celebrate the launch of Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo III Reaper of Souls over at their exclusive event in Hollywood. Here are some of the pictures they took at the event. Please keep in mind that there really weren’t a lot of big cameras in the event as it was meant more as a party environment. So, our reporters resorted to using their trusty cell phones.

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Deus Ex: Human Revolution Short Film Now Live On Machinima

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March 25,  2014 — Square Enix’s critically-acclaimed third Deus Ex game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, has been an inspiration for many forms of media including a DC Comic Book series. While people continue to wait on word of the Deus Exfeature length movie, Dcode Films founder Moe Charif gives the game live-action treatment with an all-new short that airs on Machinima Prime next Tuesday, March 25. Charif also plays Adam Jensen in the program, which focuses on Jensen’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend Megan Reed.

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Facebook Buys Oculus for $2 Billion Dollars

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So… This is either going to be great or not so great. It looks like Facebook has acquired Oculus VR for a whopping $2 Billion dollars. The danger? Will Facebook significantly alter the Oculus plan of creating a VR device for amazing PC gaming? Will “Facebook Next” be VR compatible? Personally, I don’t want to see a VR version of Farmville. Let’s cross our fingers that this is not the case and they leave them independent!

Here is the official post from the Oculus website:

We started Oculus with a vision of delivering incredible, affordable, and ubiquitous consumer virtual reality to the world. We’ve come a long way in the last 18 months: from foam core prototypes built in a garage to an incredible community of active and talented developers with more than 75,000 development kits ordered. In the process, we’ve defined what consumer virtual reality needs to be and what it’s going to require to deliver it.

A few months ago, Mark, Chris, and Cory from the Facebook team came down to visit our office, see the latest demos, and discuss how we could work together to bring our vision to millions of people. As we talked more, we discovered the two teams shared an even deeper vision of creating a new platform for interaction that allows billions of people to connect in a way never before possible.

Today, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve joined forces with Facebook to create the best virtual reality platform in the world.

At first glance, it might not seem obvious why Oculus is partnering with Facebook, a company focused on connecting people, investing in internet access for the world and pushing an open computing platform. But when you consider it more carefully, we’re culturally aligned with a focus on innovating and hiring the best and brightest; we believe communication drives new platforms; we want to contribute to a more open, connected world; and we both see virtual reality as the next step.

Most important, Facebook understands the potential for VR. Mark and his team share our vision for virtual reality’s potential to transform the way we learn, share, play, and communicate. Facebook is a company that believes that anything is possible with the right group of people, and we couldn’t agree more.

This partnership is one of the most important moments for virtual reality: it gives us the best shot at truly changing the world. It opens doors to new opportunities and partnerships, reduces risk on the manufacturing and work capital side, allows us to publish more made-for-VR content, and lets us focus on what we do best: solving hard engineering challenges and delivering the future of VR.

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Over the next 10 years, virtual reality will become ubiquitous, affordable, and transformative, and it begins with a truly next-generation gaming experience. This partnership ensures that the Oculus platform is coming, and that it’s going to change gaming forever.

We’ll see you in the Metaverse!

– Palmer, Brendan, John and the Oculus team

DUST 514 Uprising 1.8 Patch Delivers Cloaking Tech and More

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March 25th, 2014 — Today, CCP Games deployed the latest update to DUST 514®, entitled Uprising 1.8, delivering the biggest battle-changing elements to immortal mercenaries yet!

New Dropsuits

DUST 514 players now have even more dropsuit options that better represent the major factions in the EVE universe. Uprising 1.8 sees the inclusion of new Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar Heavy Frames. These new additions to players’ dropsuit choices come in Basic, Sentinel and Commando roles for each faction. Also available are the newly introduced Caldari and Amarr Light Frames with Basic and Scout roles for each faction. With these additions, the full assortment is complete and all racial variants of DUST 514 dropsuits are now included.

For full details of the dropsuit changes, additions and the unique perks that each racial variant dropsuit has, please see the ‘Dropsuits of Uprising 1.8’ developer blog.

New Weapons

Uprising 1.8 ups the ante on the arms available to DUST mercenaries by delivering three new weapons to the DUST 514 arsenal:

The highly prized and impressively powerful Caldari Bolt Pistol
The Caldari Magsec SMG, a highly versatile semi-automatic with punishingly accurate fire from mid to long range
The impressive Gallente Ion Pistol, with its powerful ability to deliver a devastating overcharged plasma blast that will tear apart most soft targets

For even more weapon changes, balancing notes and details please check out the ‘Expanding the Arsenal with Uprising 1.8’ developer blog.

New Modules/Equipment

DUST 514’s range of equipment and player gameplay options continue to grow with the exciting addition of Cloak Field equipment that conceals mercenaries with invisibility. Now mercs have even more flexibility on the battlefield with deadly stealth and new reconnaissance options.

Full equipment and skills changes, as well as all patch notes, are available in the ‘Uprising 1.8 Overview’ developer blog.

DUST 514 brings intense infantry combat, large-scale warfare and deep character advancement to the PlayStation 3 in an exclusive free-to-play massively multiplayer shooter. Set in, and integrated with, the massive universe of EVE Online®, players wage war in the next generation of first-person shooters, where a single victory could prove the crushing blow to a galactic empire of thousands of online gamers.

For more information, visit www.dust514.com

Swann Unveils Stealthy Car Remote HD Video Recorder

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Santa Fe Springs, Calif. – March 25, 2014 – Swann Security, global leader in security monitoring, introduces the HD RemoteCam, the newest product in their line of covert recording devices. Designed to resemble a car remote with keychain, the HD RemoteCam allows users to discreetly record high definition videos, photos and audio at the push of a button and then share on their favorite websites.

The camera features a built in microphone and a fixed focus lens that captures full color, high definition 1280x720p AVI video as well as still photos (1600 x 1200 pixels). Press the record button quickly to snap a photo, or press and hold the button to record video. HD RemoteCam will begin shooting video and continue to do so until the user presses the button again. An LED light lets users know they’ve turned on the power, but the light will turn off while recording in order to complement the stealth design.

HD RemoteCam comes equipped with a 2 GB microSD card to store up to 20 minutes of video. After recording, users can easily transfer videos and photos to their computer via the USB cable and then share them to Facebook, YouTube, and other favorite sites. The USB cable also doubles as a charger and once fully charged, the HD RemoteCam’s built–in battery offers 60 minutes of recording time.

Perfect for capturing life on the move, HD RemoteCam is great for lawyers, law enforcement, mystery shoppers, covert surveillance or YouTube fun.

For more information on Swann’s HD Remote Cam please go to www.swann.com.

Available

The HD Remote Cam is available at Amazon, Fry’s, Tiger Direct and B&H stores nationwide for $69.99.