One Hacker's Opinion: It's All About the PlayStation 4..And PS Vita and ios Too!

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1 PS4 To Get Two Cameras and A $400 Price Tag There have been so many PS4 rumors coming out of the wood work, that there's no way this column could account for every single one of them. However, we'll start off this round up with the one that got this somewhat silent community talking the most. You know how Microsoft has that really interesting Kinect accessory that was sort of hit or miss? Well in the next Sony console it is rumored we will see two 720p cameras to track 3D movement in a very similar manner. That's not all though. Supposedly all of this will come in at a price of $ / 10

2 In terms of how truthful this might be, I would say the inclusion of two cameras is certainly an interesting idea and certainly works to combat what the Xbox 360 has done. Still, like most of these innovations, it will only work as good as the developers allow it to. In Sony's case especially, this is all about whether third-parties will want to use it, and I'm not entirely sure that will be the case. Having the hardware in from the get go is a pretty solid start, but I'm not sure how interested in these kinds of features our community really is. Much like 3D TV, I feel like it's something we could live without, but console manufacturers are pretty sure we need it to make our games better. As for that $400 price, Sony has historically shot higher than imagined, so I'm betting at a $500 tag which is a little higher than most rumors dare to go. Hopefully we will be getting some answers after the supposed announcement event on Wednesday! As if PS4 rumors aren't enough to start speculating, next I have word of a new PS Vita design that could just save a starving handheld. Original Story 2 / 10

3 PS Vita To Get 4G and HDMI With Cheaper Memory Aside from all the PS4 launch talk that's been going on, there has also been some small but significant chatter about the Vita as well. Specifically, come Wednesday's PlayStation event, it is expected that we will see a redesigned Vita featuring 4G, HDMi, USB, and cheaper prices for the stock memory cards. Could this be enough to save a slow selling handheld though? My bet is probably not. All of that stuff is really a great bonus, but it doesn't solve the issue that most people have with the hardware: it's too darn expensive. Sure cutting the memory card prices will mean that new buyers are spending less overall, but to me it's not really the same as giving the actual hardware a drop in price. 3 / 10

4 Let's think about this from the consumer's point of view. When looking for a new console to buy, the base unit price is going to be one of the very first (if not the first) thing they consider. However, when they see that it's still going to cost them three Benjamins they aren't going to be any more interested to get it unless they decide to do further research to see the cheaper memory cards. The problem is that by then most folks will have already made their mind up and moved on to get the much more successful 3DS instead. If Sony really wants to wow us, give us a better model that's at least $50 cheaper per version on top of the memory card slash. Then you'll see sales climb a little at least. Rolling on with Vita talk, I've now got an update on the elusive TN-V hack. Find out the skinny on the next page! Original Story 4 / 10

5 TN-V Will Be Mainly for 2.02 For the Public With the somewhat starving release schedule for the PS Vita, it's no secret that a lot of you guys on this site are probably running exploits as well in an attempt to get your homebrew fix on top of all those console-quality games. The very latest kernel exploit coming down the pipe line will be called TN-V and it will feature full use of the PSP XMB. In terms of its firmware requirements however, it looks like you'll have to be on 2.02 or earlier to get things up and running. The big story behind this is, that a kernel exploit does in fact exist for 2.05, but it will only be used for development needs by Total_Noob and a few special others. 5 / 10

6 Sure this might make a lot of you hack hopefuls bummed out if you decided to update to 2.05 for whatever reason, but I think this is a pretty smart move by a talented developer. It certainly stinks that some of us won't be able to play homebrew for a little bit, but as the old adage goes, "good things come to those who wait." If we hold on to fully-functioning hacks for now, they could be very useful the next time we get a major firmware that actually adds features to the console. Spoiling it now would probably just mean the subsequent release of another small fix numbered Why work toward that when 3.0 homebrew is already on the table. I'm a fan of Total_Noob holding back for now as long as the developments make way for a brighter future for us. Through the kind heart of this hacker, I know we will eventually see the benefit. Even with all this talk of Vita hacks though, the bigger more sure story comes from the PS4 camp with a full on glimpse at the controller and dev kit! Original Story 6 / 10

7 Is This the PS4 Controller? As I've said before, the PS4 rumors just seem to keep on pouring in. One of the most interesting things to come out of last week's speculation though is the emergence of a very interesting PS4 controller model which features a very Dualshock-esque form complete with a display (and in some reports) a rear touch pad similar to what it is already on the PS Vita. The question to ask is, will this be the controller we see, or will we be in for a bigger surprise come Wednesday's event? My personal answer to that is I could see this design very much being like the final product. 7 / 10

8 Let's consider the past for inspiration. Remember what happened the last time Sony tried to change the PS3 controller to the dreaded boomerang? The public cried out in agony. That means they're probably going to be hesitant to make any huge changes to the design that has worked for a decade. Not to mention with this generation of home machines possibly being the very last traditional console competition, I think the company will be saving their input changes for when that transition happens. As for all the other features, it seems a bit weird to have no start or select buttons, but I think we could adjust to it. Once again the touch pad will have to be something supported by third-parties to work well, so I'm still really not sure how that will pan out. Regardless, all this future talk get's me excited. Enough about the PS4! ios fans should listen up next because an update could be in your future! Original Story 8 / 10

9 Apple Lock Screen Bug a Sign of Poor Quality? The entire ios 6 series has certainly had a rough go with the public. With the first release, the public criticized the horrible Apple Maps, which the company thought they could fix through 6.1. In some cases this proved to be true but it only ushered in a series of other problems including connectivity issues on the 4S and now this very simple but strange glitch that allows users to entirely bypass the lock screen. To me, all of these stories combined serve to show that for one reason or another the quality of Apple software releases is starting to degrade. The real issue with me though is that these are all some very small and stupid glitches that are in many ways the equivalent of making careless errors on a math test. 9 / 10

10 So what (or who) is to blame for all of this? I think unfortunately it's very easy to point the finger in the direction of Tim Cook because we never saw so many bugs in the Jobs era, but I think in addition to this regime change there are also other forces at work too. The biggest of these is competitive pressure from folks like Android. The fact is, the GS3 in particular is breathing down Apple's neck constantly with more features and pretty comparative performance for a cheaper price. This means that to combat these advances you need to quiet the news through software for now. In effect, this might mean putting out a final product sooner than you intended, which could lead to bugs. With Apple being a company that handles both the hardware and the software aspect of things, it can be a lot to handle under competition. Whether they will recover is anyone's guess, but we're certainly seeing them start to buckle at this point. That's all for this week, but I can assure you next week's edition will be a big one. PS4 announcement discussions coming? I can almost guarantee it. Until then though, this has been another week of One Hacker's Opinion. Be sure to leave a comment or two if you've got something to share! Original Story 10 / 10