Skyrim interactive world map launches for iPhone and iPad

Skyrim fans that have an iPhone or iPad need to get ready to buy the latest app from Bethesda and Prima. The companies have announced the launch of an interactive map application that will help fans of the videogame explore the massive world without getting lost. The giant interactive map is free to download. Some of the goodies that you will probably want do require in-app purchases.

Map includes a world map of Skyrim and all nine capital cities at no cost. There are over 160 interior maps, 350 primary locations, 200 secondary locations, and another 1000 points of interest. All of that content requires in-app purchases. You can toggle the points of interest on or off and the map has 3200 percent zoom so you can see all the details. Players can also add their own custom points of interest.

The application has a fully integrated search function to make it easy to find things you want to visit. There are also screenshots of all nine capital cities along with the primary and secondary locations. The map makes it easy for you to track where you visited and where you still want to go. If you’re not based in the United States, sadly you won’t be able to get the app.

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Looxcie and Taser International team for rugged wearable Axon Flex camera

We have talked about Looxcie wearable cameras many times over the years. These cameras look sort of like giant Bluetooth headsets and record video from the wearer’s point of view. The company has now announced a collaboration with Taser, the maker of Taser devices police officers use to subdue bad guys without having to shoot them. The collaboration has resulted in a device called the Axon Flex.

The Flex is a small camera that clips on the side of the ubiquitous Oakley shades that many police officers wear today. The product is set to be available in the first quarter of 2012 and supports real-time video recording and streaming from the officer’s point of view. The camera system will sell for about $700 and is specifically designed to work with the Oakley Flak Jacket sunglasses.

There will be additional mounting options as well including a collar mount, epaulette mount, and a mount for a baseball cap or helmet. An optional extended controller has a 12-hour battery life and has a buffer that allows for the recording of 30 seconds before the cameras activated. The camera hardware is weather resistant and designed to capture detail in low light conditions. The camera and Flex DVR weighs 15 g, and mobile apps are available so officers can get a live feed of the footage their recording on Android and iOS devices.

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PlayBook OS 2.0 finally released

RIM has released BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 for its 7-inch tablet, finally adding much-needed features like a native email app and social networking integration, as well as turning your BlackBerry phone into a remote control. The free upgrade is available today, bringing with it select Android app compatibility; RIM says the BlackBerry App World is also being updated with “a range” of Android apps that will work with the PlayBook.

Although the PlayBook was first put on sale in April 2011, RIM opted to release the tablet without its own email abilities. Instead, users who wanted on-device email access had to tether the PlayBook to their BlackBerry smartphone; otherwise the only way to access messages was through the browser. RIM’s motivations were seemingly speed to market and an attempt to spur handset sales as well, but the strategy backfired.

That’s been addressed now with OS 2.0, which also brings a new Print To Go app, a boosted on-screen keyboard with better prediction and auto-correction abilities, and Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn integration in the contacts and calendar apps. BlackBerry Bridge also gets a boost, with the ability to use your smartphone to remotely control your PlayBook; however, CrackBerry has discovered that, since the system uses the Bluetooth HID profile, the new Bridge app turns a BlackBerry handset into a remote for seemingly any tablet or other device.

Meanwhile, RIM is also making an initial release of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, its tool for managing BlackBerry PlayBook tablets and BlackBerry smartphones in an enterprise. The full version – which will add mobile device management capabilities for iOS and Android devices – is scheduled to arrive in March 2012.

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Samsung outs Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy Mini 2

Samsung has offered up the official specifications for a pair of new smartphones ahead of Mobile World Congress. The two new devices are the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 and the Galaxy Mini 2. Each of the smartphones appears to be aimed at folks shopping in the lower-middle end of the smartphone realm. As things happen in the smartphone market, the devices are expected to show up at various carriers under different names and will launch in Europe first.

The Galaxy Ace 2 has 800 MHz dual-core processor under the hood with 4 GB of internal storage. The smartphone has a 1500 mAh battery and rocks a 3.8-inch WVGA display. The smartphone will run Android 2.3 and is expected to hit stores this spring sporting a Navy blue battery cover. The Mini 2 has lesser specifications with an 800 MHz single-core processor.

It will have a 1300 mAh battery and 3.27-inch HVGA screen. It will have a yellow-gold back. The Mini 2 will also run Android 2.3 and will land in France this March. The Ace 2 will land in UK stores at some point in April. Honestly, these devices seem a little boring but every smartphone line needs lower end, cheaper handsets. At this point, pricing isn’t announced, but we expect these to be very reasonable.

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iPhone 4S hits China Telecom March 9

Apple’s iPhone 4S will arrive on China Telecom come March 9, the Chinese carrier has confirmed, priced from free with a select contracts. Already available on China Unicom – with a somewhat disastrous launch that saw Apple’s stores freeze sales of the coveted handset after queues turned violent – the second carrier will begin taking reservations for the smartphone from March 2.

The further push in China is part of Apple’s ongoing growth strategy, the country being a huge opportunity to boost the company’s already impressive sales. The brand has strong customer recognition in the country; in fact, delays in launching the iPhone 4S and the growth of grey-market demand for the smartphone were cited by some as the root cause of the unrest seen at its launch.

China Telecom currently has around 130 million subscribers, though the carrier isn’t predicting how many it expects to see pick up an iPhone 4S. Similarly, sales figures for China Unicom are also yet to be released.

All three capacity versions will be offered by China Telecom – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB – with upfront pricing from RMB 0 depending on agreement. It will be available in the carrier’s own stores and online.

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Google: Microsoft grandstanding over web privacy

Google has fired back at Microsoft over claims the search company bypasses privacy systems in Internet Explorer, arguing that its rival’s P3P policies are “widely non-operational” and incompatible with today’s web use. Microsoft had suggested that Google did not observe the so-called “self-declaration protocol”, or P3P, which demands sites present a machine-readable version of their privacy practices. However, in a statement by senior VP of communications and policy, Rachel Whetstone, Google says Microsoft’s system is outdated and over-involved, and more importantly breaks features like the Facebook “Like” button.

“Newer cookie-based features are broken by the Microsoft implementation in IE. These include things like Facebook “Like” buttons, the ability to sign-in to websites using your Google account, and hundreds more modern web services. It is well known that it is impractical to comply with Microsoft’s request while providing this web functionality” Rachel Whetstone, senior VP of communications and policy, Google

Microsoft’s P3P system, Whetstone writes, was launched in 2002 and is, by now, hopelessly outdated. She points to a 2010 research report that, at the time, indicated more than 11,000 sites were not complying with P3P policies, and argues that rival browser privacy systems are far more effective.

“Browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Safari have simpler security settings” Whetstone says. “Instead of checking a site’s compact policy, these browsers simply let people choose to block all cookies, block only third-party cookies or allow all cookies.”

The Microsoft allegations come hot on the heels of complaints around how Google and other sites handle privacy settings in Apple’s Safari browser, both on iOS devices and on the desktop. Google was found to be using a workaround system to track surfers, even when they had ostensibly disabled cookies and the like.

Nonetheless, Google seems to be all but outright saying that Microsoft is jumping on the bandwagon. “P3P adoption has not taken off” Whetstone concludes, “the reality is that consumers don’t, by and large, use the P3P framework to make decisions about personal information disclosure.”

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LG Optimus L Series borrow PRADA style

LG can’t stop announcing phones ahead of MWC 2012, and next up is the LG L Series, a trio of Android devices spanning price and spec points, and borrowing liberally from design language seen on the PRADA Phone 3.0. The LG Optimus L3, L5 and L7 mark the debut of the company’s so-called L-Style design language, wrapping a choice of 3.2-, 4- or 4.3-inch touchscreens respectively.

The Optimus L3 opens the range, with the smallest display and a design intended to be easily held and operated in a single hand. Like all of the L Series phones, it has a textured back cover that’s meant to feel like leather, squared off lines and a dash of metal. It’s the only model with an “old” OS, too, running Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The LG Optimus L5 and Optimus L7 each run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, some of the first LG devices to get the new version out of the box. There’s a 1,500 mAh battery but otherwise LG is keeping detailed specifications close to its chest.

Availability is tipped for the first half of 2012 in Europe, though there’s no word on pricing or North American launch plans. We’ll likely find out more when SlashGear heads to Mobile World Congress in under a week’s time.

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Nintendo Pokemon director hints at impending announcement

Pokemon Black and White continue to sell through at impressive levels, even though the hardware they were released on has been usurped by the Nintendo 3DS and, shortly, the PlayStation Vita. Of course, though, the formidable Nintendo franchise has kept its strength because of its continuous churning out of new titles, and it appears the next game announcement may be coming soon.

The director of the Pokemon Black and White titles, which are the most recent in the franchise’s storied RPG history, said in a recent interview that fans should keep a close eye on the weekly Japanese TV show Pokemon Smash. He reiterated this point in a post on his Twitter account. This was in direct response to a question about when the newest entry in the series would be revealed.

Since the launch of Pokemon Black and White on the Nintendo DS, there have been additional Pokemon games, but many fans, even the most hardcore, only care about games that are directly connected to the traditional RPG franchise. The number of spin-off games has increased in recent years, but the core of the franchise remains those RPG titles. The most recent episode of Pokemon Smash aired over the weekend, with no news about a new title. But it seems we should start going into “waiting with baited breath” mode. It should be noted that the next entry in the series is likely to be a new version of the Black/White titles, on the DS, as opposed to a brand new installment on the 3DS.

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EA expects Simpsons mobile game to be one of its biggest titles of 2012

The yellow-skinned Fox cartoon series has kind of fallen out of favor in recent years, but Electronic Arts is planning to release a new mobile app based on The Simpsons that it expects to be a big cash cow moving forward. Or, as Mr. Burns might say, “Excellent.” The company is developing the app as a freemium title, meaning players can download it for free and will then be suckered into paying money once they get hooked.

The publisher went all out for the mobile game, which is titled The Simpsons: Tapped Out. It will feature voices from the same actors who provide voices for the show. The setting is that Homer accidentally sets off a nuclear explosion that wipes out Springfield, and then players are tasked with the monumental job of rebuilding the city. Players will need to buy doughnuts with real-life money to increase their rebuilding efforts.

The game is set to debut on iOS. There’s no launch date yet, but EA is enthusiastic about its prospects. “We want this to be one of the biggest titles this year. We’ve invested a lot. It’s absolutely a top-tier development priority for us,” EA SVP Bernard Kim was quoted as saying. The Simpsons has been around since 1989 and has grown quite a following since then. It just aired its 500th episode.

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Sony rolls out PS Vita update ahead of Wednesday’s launch

A few lucky people have already managed to get their hands on a PlayStation Vita, including us here at SlashGear, a handful of contest winners, people who work in the industry, etc. But the device doesn’t officially go on sale in the US until Wednesday, and in preparation for that Sony has made a bunch of last-minute tweaks to the Vita’s operating system so all the early adopters can take full advantage of what the device has to offer.

Of course, you’ll still have to download the firmware update when you take it out of the box, but that has become an expected part of any new console purchase, hasn’t it? Nevertheless, once you connect to the Internet and have everything ready to go, here’s what you can expect from the Vita’s latest update: for starters, a new Maps app has been added to the home screen, and the camera app has been enhanced to allow for video recording. Previously it only offered still shot photography.

In addition, firmware update 1.61 includes integration between the PlayStation Store and Facebook, letting users automatically post to their Wall when they buy a new downloadable game or piece of content. Finally, the last major part of the update is the inclusion of support for Mac computers. Vita owners will be able to link their system to their computer to transfer content. The PC version of this software has also been updated. The Vita goes on sale on Wednesday, with numerous midnight events happening throughout the country.

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