In Depth Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox One do battle with eight-core AMD technology
Now that both the Xbox One and PS4 have had their respective launch events and subsequent press conferences at E3, we're in a position to compare what they offer.
The two consoles certainly look a lot like each other. Both have angular shapes, black colouring and a combination of matte and gloss finishing.
We're not particularly sold on either design, but they do both hold more than a passing resemblance to the Sony PS2 - the best selling console of all time.
Let's take a look at the specs, features, services and peripherals of both consoles...
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The Xbox One requires gamers to maintain a constant internet connection. If your Xbox One is disconnected for longer than 24 hours, your games will cease to function. You'll still be able to watch TV, use Blu-rays and surf the web, but your games will be off limit. This has made a lot of gamers very mad, so it's surely a huge advantage for Sony that the PS4 has no such limitations.
Unless you're playing online, streaming games or downloading, your PS4 does not need to be connected to the internet. Games will always work regardless.
Pre-owned titles
Another huge win for Sony comes in the realm of used games. Where Microsoft is allowing publishers the right to set their own rules with regards to allowing them to be re-sold, Sony is doing no such thing.
Pre-owned games will work on the PS4 just as they do with the PS3 and the PS2. You can lend a game to a friend simply by handing them the disc.
Next gen reviews Hands on: Xbox One review
Our first impressions of Microsoft's new Kinect-powered games machine.
However, with Xbox One, you can only lend a game to a person you've had in your Xbox live friends list for longer than 30 days, and you can only do it once. This could lead to reduced availability and/or increased prices for pre-owned titles, though it's hard to predict how it will all shake down when the consoles and games finally go on sale.
"We designed the Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers," said Microsoft on the Xbox site. "Microsoft does not charge a platform fee to retailers, publishers, or consumers for enabling transfer of these games."
The price
Both consoles will go on sale later this year - the Xbox One certainly in November, with no exact date confirmed for the PS4. We do have confirmed prices though, and again the Sony PS4 looks to be a more attractive prospect.
The PS4 will cost $399 in the US, £349 in the UK, €399 in Europe and $549 in Australia.
The Xbox One, meanwhile, will cost more - $499 in the US, £429 in the UK and $599 in Australia.
Price was always going to be a key battleground, and in these frugal times it will be interesting to see what percentage of gamers are willing to fork out the extra cash for the Xbox. You certainly wouldn't expect many to shift in Japan!
Agreeing on an AMD CPU
As much as the two warring systems are different, the heart of the Xbox One and the PS4 remain very similar.
That's because they're both running x86 octa-core CPUs, and these eight-core processors are built by the same chipmaker, AMD.
The use of AMD in the Xbox One and PS4 is certainly a switch for both companies.
Previously, Microsoft had used an IBM PowerPC processor, while Sony partnered with Toshiba and IBM on its own complicated Cell processor.
While the Xbox One will run a heavily modified eight-core AMD processor, PS4 will utilize a x86-64 "Jaguar" CPU.
PS4, while a no-show at the Sony event, has similar specs
AMD's Graphics Core Next
Both console makers are also relying on AMD to design their next graphics processors that will produce the next-generation visuals that differentiate console games from the emerging smartphone market.
The Xbox One marries its GPU to the CPU in a system-on-a-chip design, according to Wired, with Direct 11.1 support.
The single 40-nanometer SoC really contrasts with the two dedicated 90-nm chips found in the Xbox 360.
However, it only marginally contrasts with the PS4, which also combines its AMD CPU with the chip maker's GPU.
In the case of PS4, the graphics processor is described as semi-custom AMD Radeon that runs at 1.8 TFLOPS. Developers are really going to appreciate PS4's 8GB GDDR5 RAM
Sony scores with 8GB GDDR5 RAM
One of the most impressive things about the PS4 specs has been its use of 8GB GDDR5 RAM.
Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One to have 8GB RAM as well, but it's DDR3 memory variety.
That may mean more to game developers in the long run as opposed to gamers themselves right now, but it's still an interesting choice for the Xbox One.
Which has the better controller?
The Xbox One controller vs the PS4 DualShock 4 controller is a debate that won't be won anytime soon, mostly because gamers' already have a locked-in preference.
The reason for this is that neither Sony nor Microsoft have radically changed their respective controllers over the years - they're more like evolutions 2000 and 2001.
The DualShock 4 is a little bigger in the next-generation thanks to its unique front-and-center touchpad. Sony stuck with the dual analog sticks down in front, but at least have a central divot recess for easier gripping.
Microsoft also didn't mess with success, only slightly modifying its controller in the jump to the Xbox One. It's 40 design innovations are subtle, including the tweaked D-Pad on the bottom-left of the game pad.
Xbox One Kinect vs PS4 Eye
While Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will appeal to "core" gamers with mature launch titles, Microsoft and Sony are charging forward with motion-sensing devices.
The Xbox One Kinect was unveiled along with the system during the May 21 announcement, when Microsoft refered to to the advanced camera as "human control for a human experience."
Expanding on that motto, the packed-in 1080p Kinect 2.0 will be able to process 2GB of data per second, analyzing more joints, the slight rotation of a wrist or shoulder and your heartbeat.
Less is known about the PlayStation 4 Eye, but Sony did state that its similarly shaped camera bar contains two two 1280×800px cameras.
The PS4 DualShock 4 controller will come into play with the PS4 Eye thanks to its multi-colored light bar. It will also be compatible with those PS4 Move motion controllers that have gone unused.
The Final Four will pit a storied program against a fairy tale in the making on one side.
The other will feature the lone Big Ten team standing against a team trying to end its Big East era in historic fashion.
After a season in which parity was the storyline, No. 1 seed Louisville, No. 9 Wichita State, No. 4 Syracuse and No. 4 Michigan collide in Atlanta in hopes of winning two more games and earning the NCAA tournament championship.
No. 1 Louisville was fueled by the loss of guard Kevin Ware to a gruesome leg injury to beat No. 2 Duke in the Elite Eight.
The Cardinals, who received the nation's support for the loss of Ware, is back in familiar territory. They lost to Kentucky in last season's Final Four. This season they meet a team with far less notoriety in No. 9 seed Wichita State, which is navigating new territory.
Of the three teams in the tournament from Kansas, including the Jayhawks and Kansas State, few thought Wichita State would be the one in the Final Four.
The aptly named Shockers are the first No. 9 seed to advance to the Final Four since the tournament expanded to 64 teams.
But a mid-major storyline is nothing new in the recent history of the tournament. A so-called mid-major Cinderella has appeared in three of the last four Final Fours with Butler appearing in 2010 and 2011 and VCU joining the Bulldogs last season.
The only thing missing is a championship.
The appearance by Wichita State will do wonders for the Missouri Valley Conference's reputation.
The last time a MVC team appeared in the Final Four, there was a guy named Larry Bird competing for Indiana State.
Who could have seen Wichita State's tournament run coming? The Shockers finished second in the conference, losing twice to Evansville and to Indiana State and Southern Illinois.
But they're headed to Atlanta after holding Ohio State to 31 percent shooting and 20 percent on 3-pointers in the Elite Eight victory.
Michigan and Syracuse have slightly more history, but the game features an interesting crossing of paths between the coaches.
Michigan coach John Beilein can dust off some old scouting reports on No. 4 Syracuse from his days as a Big East coach at West Virginia. The two also are familiar with each other from the time Beilein coached at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., from 1983-92 as he worked his way up the coaching ladder.
The Wolverines will face the Orange and their perplexing 2-3 zone defense.
Boeheim is making his fourth trip to the Final Four, the last time in 2003 resulting in his only national championship. The Orange solved top-seeded Indiana 61-51 by neutralizing Cody Zeller to earn a trip.
Michigan's Trey Burke is the last of the player of the year candidates still competing. And the Wolverines still are competing mostly because of him.
He hit a game-winner in overtime against top-seeded Kansas to force overtime and after a rough start finished with 23 points and 10 assists.
In a bracket-busted season, one team will end an unpredictable tournament as champion.
The Baltimore Ravens have defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
It's the second championship for the Ravens and linebacker Ray Lewis, who is retiring after 17 seasons.
After taking a safety on their final possession, Baltimore punted to San Francisco, which was unable to set up a return.
Ravens 34, 49ers 31 (4 seconds left)
The Baltimore Ravens are closing in on a Super Bowl title.
After moving the ball from their own 20-yard line to the Ravens’ 5, San Francisco saw Baltimore defensive back Joey Smith break up a third-down pass to Michael Crabtree.
Colin Kaepernick was then rushed heavily, forcing a throw that 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh begged for pass interference with a Ravens defensive back and Crabtree jostling for position.
The Kaepernick pass flew beyond Crabtree with cornerback Jimmy Smith tugging on his jersey.
The Ravens went three and out on their next possession, opting to take a safety with four seconds remaining as the punter ran out of the end zone.
Taking possession at their own 20-yard line with 4:19 left in the game and trailing by five points, San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick ran for a first down, then completed a 24-yard pass to receiver Michael Crabtree to the Baltimore's 40.
A Frank Gore run moved the ball to Baltimore’s seven, and it’s now the two-minute warning.
Ravens 34, 49ers 29 (4:19 left in fourth quarter)
The Baltimore Ravens have increased their lead over the San Francisco 49ers to five points with 4:19 left in regulation.
On a third-and-inches play with Ray Rice in the backfield would’ve appeared to call for a run, but the Ravens opted instead for another Joe Flacco pass to Anquan Boldin.
The completion kept San Francisco’s raging offense off the field, as Boldin moved the Ravens to the San Francisco 39-yard line.
A Rice run picked up more yards, setting up a Justin Tucker 38-yard field goal.
Along with the rapid rise in identity theft has come the explosion of a specialized and sophisticated form of theft: tax identity theft.
During the 2011 tax processing year, roughly 940,000 tax returns were filed fraudulently. This year the number will likely reach 1 million. Even the IRS' own taxpayer advocate, Nina Olson, says the IRS is woefully incapable of handling the boom.
A recently released report from the National Taxpayer Advocate to Congress says that the IRS "has failed to provide effective and timely assistance to victims of identity theft" even as the number of crimes continues to soar. Olson says in the report that tax-related identity theft has risen some 650 percent since 2008.
Scott Mitic, the CEO of TrustedID, says that tax identity theft has grown so rapidly it's caught many people off guard.
"Identity theft is a crime that's anonymous in many cases, but in the case of tax identity theft, the government doesn't have in place the level of protection that many other financial institutions do to prevent fraud," Mitic says. "At this moment, the IRS is one of the weakest links in the financial services world and as a result is highly targeted."
The IRS allows filing of taxes as early as Jan. 19, and prompt thieves will file immediately with the hopes of beating more cautious individuals to their own returns.
Rebate? What Rebate?
Far more advanced than simply intersecting a rebate check or prepaid card, these thieves are stealing year-end statements, W-2s and other income information to file returns on victims' behalf. Americans can legitimately receive their refunds in a variety of ways: direct deposit (often the fastest), loaded onto a prepaid card, or via check mailed to a location of their choosing. Mitic says thieves will often choose prepaid cards.
"Prepaid cards are a source of significant amounts of fraud. If you use tax filing assistant like HR Block or Turbo Tax you could get a refund on a prepaid card," Mitic says. "They're beautiful from a tax ID theft perspective because they're just like cash."
How to Protect Yourself
For the most part, the identity theft methods that we must guard against during tax season are the same ones the criminals use during the rest of the year, and taking your precautionary tactics seriously is the only way to keep your information safe.
Be wary of a slow-running computer or out-of-place pop-ups when filing taxes online.
Be suspicious of any phone calls or emails claiming to be from the IRS, even with the appropriate logos. According to the IRS website: "The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels."
Don't put your return in your office mailbox or in outgoing mail bin at work. "When filing taxes by paper, take them directly to the post office and put them right into a postal worker's hands," Mitic says. "Tax returns are usually pretty obvious, and can easily be snatched."
Bob Meighan, vice president of Turbo Tax, agrees that an ounce of prevention is often worth a pound of cure. "If you take precautions up front, you mitigate the chance that you'll be a victim of tax identity theft," he says. And, he points out, filing online is safer than using a paper return. "We take security and verification very seriously," he says. "All of our customers use passwords to access their accounts, transmissions between our customers and the IRS are all sent on encrypted, secure lines, and we encourage our customers to use common sense practices when filing taxes, and year-round."
Finally, don't get complacent: Odds are you will file your tax returns without incident this year, but tax ID theft is a growing trend. The best way to avoid being a victim this year, and in future tax seasons, is to remain vigilant.
Taxpayers who suspect they've been victims of identity fraud should call the IRS Identity Theft department at 800-908-4490 with a copy of a police report, the completed IRS affidavit (Form 14039 (link opens PDF)), and state-issued identification. You'll find more information in the Taxpayer Guide to Identity Theft on the IRS website.
The Super Bowl is less than 10 days away, and the streets of New Orleans will soon be full of die-hard fans rooting for the San Francisco 49ers or Baltimore Ravens. Prior to the AFC and NFC Championships, I suggested that the Super Bowl match-up that would likely have the most people chomping at the bit would be the Ravens vs. 49ers. With that anticipated match-up now a reality, how difficult will it be for fans of football to see the game live?
Secondary market ticket aggregator, TiqIQ, has provided Forbes.com with ticket price data for the Super Bowl, which is up-to-date as of this morning. There are currently a little over 4,900 Super Bowl tickets available on the secondary market, with an average ticket price of $3,177.14. The lowest price to get in to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the Big Game is $1,930. The average ticket cost is roughly $100 more than immediately after the conclusion of both the AFC and NFC Championship games, but the lowest get-in price is only $40 greater than it was roughly five days ago.
Hunstville, AL -
A little-known law could soon leave Huntsville roads with a little less team spirit.
License plate frames, like those showing off your favorite college football team or even advertising the dealership that sold you your car, are illegal in Alabama.
Huntsville Police Department Court Liaison Nathan Nickelson said the frames are an absolute violation of the law. If an officer sees you driving with a frame covering any part of your tag, you can be pulled over and issued a citation. According to Nickelson, the violation could cost you around $200 in fines and court costs.
Nickelson said the law aims to make important parts of the tag visible, like the dated stickers.
"When those are on the corners usually those plate frames will cover the numbers that are on those stickers, and that's what we have to have," he said.
The law also links itself to the controversial Alabama immigration law, because it gives officers a little-known cause to pull someone over.
"That gives them the ability to stop you, and then of course if you're driving without a license or whatever then you'll get ticketed for that also," said Nickelson.
Under the immigration law, drivers must be able to show proof they are legally in the U.S. A valid driver's license is sufficient proof to satisfy the law's requirement.
Some civil rights groups have raised concerns the law will be a catalyst for racial profiling.
MIAMI -- Alabama will win its third Discover BCS National Championship in four seasons because it matches up well against every one of Notre Dame's strengths, physical or mental, tangible or no. Conversely, the Fighting Irish aren't built to take advantage of the Tide's weaknesses. Notre Dame plays fundamentally sound, well-executed football. Notre Dame is well-coached. Notre Dame is physical at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. But Alabama is all of those things, and maybe even a little more of all of those things. Here's why:
1. Experience
Alabama head coach Nick Saban believes that last season's BCS title -- or the 2009 title -- doesn't matter. Each season is an organism unto itself. If that's what he needs his players to believe for them to focus, fine. But you can't tell me that knowing what it feels like to step on the big stage won't be an advantage for Alabama. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly believes that the Irish are ready for the spectacle and pressure of Monday night in part because of their success at Oklahoma in October. It was loud. It was intense. It was a huge step forward for Notre Dame. And it in no way resembled the atmosphere of a BCS National Championship. Irish offensive coordinator Chuck Martin told me that until midseason, the coaches believed that their team was a year away. The Irish proved them wrong, but it's hard to believe that their relative callowness won't bring them up short against the Crimson Tide.
2. The Alabama running game
It's not just that Alabama's two All-Americans on the offensive line, guard Chance Warmack and center Barrett Jones, have 88 starts between them. It's not just that junior tailback Eddie Lacy (1,182 yards) got better as the season progressed, running for a career-high 181 yards in the SEC championship game against Georgia. It's that behind Lacy is freshman T.J. Yeldon, who rushed for exactly 1,000 yards. Lacy is a bruising, twisting runner. Yeldon is an intimidating package of size and speed. Over four quarters, they take a toll.
3. Saban
Brian Kelly has proved he can win at several levels of college football. He is a dynamo. He has done college football a great service by restoring Notre Dame to the ranks of the game's elite programs. But neither Kelly nor any other active coach has taken a team to the heights where Alabama resides. The Crimson Tide are 60-7 (.896) over the past five seasons. Saban has won as his staff has changed. (Only two coaches remain from 2007, his first season in Tuscaloosa.) He has maintained his recruiting prowess even as Alabama has continued to win. And he is the reason that those top recruits reach their potential. "The unique thing about our program," running backs coach Burton Burns said, "is our guys develop. They get better. If you come here as a five-star player, you're going to leave here as a five-star player. If you come here as a three-star player, we like to believe you'll leave here as a five-star player."
A year ago, Alabama became the first team in 25 years to finish first in the four major defensive categories: scoring, total, rushing and pass efficiency. This season, despite returning only five starters, the Tide are first in total and rushing, second to Georgia in pass efficiency and second to Notre Dame in scoring. Why do people doubt the Tide defense? Because LSU, Texas A&M and Georgia, top-10 teams all, combined to score 74 points. But keep in mind that the other 10 teams combined to score only 65 points. Yes, Johnny Manziel dissected the Tide defense. Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson is a redshirt freshman, and he can run and pass, but that's where the comparison to Manziel ends. The Irish offense is not built to pass the way that LSU and Georgia passed against Alabama.
6. Special teams
Alabama has a significant edge in the return game, with both Cyrus Jones on kickoffs (25.0-yard average) and Christion Jones on punts (10.6-yard average, plus a 99-yard kickoff return for a score against Ole Miss). Notre Dame averages fewer than 3 yards per punt return. Tide kicker Jeremy Shelley is 11-for-11 on field goals shorter than 40 yards. Speaking of which, here's something else to think about: Alabama has scored 65 touchdowns and 15 field goals. Notre Dame has scored 36 touchdowns and 24 field goals.
7. Schedule
For all the fuss made over the difficulty of the Notre Dame schedule, Alabama reached the BCS title game against a schedule that proved just as arduous. Before the season, it appeared that the Irish would never survive a lineup that included Michigan State, Michigan, Stanford, BYU, Oklahoma and USC. Stanford and Oklahoma finished with double-digit wins. Michigan State and USC struggled to stay above .500. Notre Dame played at home against Michigan early in the season and won by seven points. Alabama opened the season at a neutral site against Michigan and won by 27 points.
8. Tradition
Notre Dame has it in spades, and it has served the Fighting Irish well for a century. I'm not saying that Alabama has more tradition than Notre Dame, just that these programs will enter Sun Life Stadium on equal footing. Any defensive coach will tell you that the key to stopping an opponent is taking away what it does best. Because Alabama can match Notre Dame championship for championship, outsized expectation for outsized expectation, the Tide deny the Irish that advantage.
9. Fourth quarter
Kelly has said for a month that he wants to keep the game close and give the Irish a chance to win in the fourth quarter. That will be especially difficult against the Tide. It's not merely that Alabama rose up in the fourth quarter to smite LSU and Georgia. It's that Alabama takes the field in the fourth quarter with the idea of moving the sticks and running out the clock. Against its 12 FBS opponents, Alabama held the ball in the fourth quarter for an average of nearly nine minutes. Lacy and Yeldon are harder to tackle in the fourth quarter than in the first.
10. Fight
Alabama has every right to a sense of entitlement. Yet this team is playing for another crystal football because it lacks entitlement. "To be honest," Saban said Sunday morning, "I think this team has kind of exceeded expectations." Alabama plays with that mixture of heart and desire that every coach wants but so few develop. "When they play with a chip on their shoulder, they are hard to beat," said Scott Cochran, the strength coach and, by all acclaim, the tender of the Crimson flame. "This team is mad because everybody is doubting them. Everybody is talking bad about the defense. In January, you could hear Nico [Johnson, the linebacker] and [safety Robert] Lester talking, 'They're doubting us already.'" The team that came from behind in the final minute to win at LSU, and came from behind twice in the second half to beat Georgia, proved that it is rich in hunger. That hunger, combined with the Tide's talent and experience on the big stage, will make the difference Monday night.
It’s now Baltimore 34, San Francisco 31.
The Super Bowl is less than 10 days away, and the streets of New Orleans will soon be full of die-hard fans rooting for the San Francisco 49ers or Baltimore Ravens. Prior to the AFC and NFC Championships, I suggested that the Super Bowl match-up that would likely have the most people chomping at the bit would be the Ravens vs. 49ers. With that anticipated match-up now a reality, how difficult will it be for fans of football to see the game live?
The Super Bowl is less than 10 days away, and the streets of New Orleans will soon be full of die-hard fans rooting for the San Francisco 49ers or Baltimore Ravens. Prior to the AFC and NFC Championships, I suggested that the Super Bowl match-up that would likely have the most people chomping at the bit would be the Ravens vs. 49ers. With that anticipated match-up now a reality, how difficult will it be for fans of football to see the game live?
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