Samsung ‘Fast Tracks’ Android Updates to Fix OS Vulnerabilities
Samsung announced today that it's implementing a new update process to better protect its Galaxy devices from security flaws.
The move comes after the discovery of the Android Stagefright security flaw that was said to affect nearly 950 million devices. The vulnerability allowed a hacker to gain access to a person's phone using a simple MMS message, and required no actions to be taken on the device itself.
In a blog post, the company stated it was "acknowledging the importance of time sensitivity in addressing major vulnerabilities," but didn't specify if Stagefright is what prompted the response.
Hearthstone: Jousting Coming, Plus Changes to Ranked Play
Hearthstone's upcoming expansion, The Grand Tournament, will add 132 new cards to the game, and introduce a number of new mechanics.
The reveal event two weeks ago focused on "Inspire" - a new key word that is activated when players use their hero power, but today at Gamescom, Executive Producer Hamilton Chu and Senior Game Designer Mike Donais revealed that the expansion will also introduce jousting.
This mechanic sees two cards randomly drawn - and shown - from each player's deck, with the higher mana cost card winning the duel.
Jousting seems designed specifically to slow the game down as a whole, and will help ensure that the Inspire mechanic is more viable. At the moment Hearthstone is quite fast and aggressive, and many players would like to see the super aggressive decks lose potency to make room for slower, more control-oriented play. A number of new cards were revealed that show off the possibilities of jousting - you can see all the new cards in the slideshow at the bottom of the page.
The International 5 Will Have a New Champion
Following the elimination of Na'vi and Newbee, Invictus Gaming has been eliminated from The International -- meaning a new team will emerge victorious when the $18 million tournament ends on Saturday, August 8.
IG lost the third game in a best of three against Team Secret in the Lower Bracket on Day 3 of The International's Main Event.
Na'vi won the first International, and Invictus Gaming followed the year after. You can see Na'vi's journey in Valve's documentary film, Free to Play. Alliance, who won The International 3, did not qualify for TI5 this year. Newbee, which won TI4 in 2014, was the first team eliminated from TI5's Main Event.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 Has a New Art Style
Only two months away from launch, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 has a brand new art style.
"There's been a marked upgrade in the graphics," Activision said, "which showcase playable skaters including Hawk, son Riley, Lizzie Armanto, Nyjah Huston, and Aaron 'Jaws' Homoki."
See the new look for yourself in the gallery below.
The game will be released on September 29. THPS 5 will have 20-person multiplayer, but remember that no multiplayer will be available on the last-gen console versions.
Brian is an Editor at IGN. You can follow him @albinoalbert on Twitter.
The Top 10 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Episodes
This week marks 10 years since the depraved, deranged exploits of the Paddy's Pub Gang entered into our unsuspecting lives, on August 4th, 2005. So to celebrate all the selfish insanity that FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has spread throughout the past decade, we've updated our Top 10 Episodes list from a couple years back - including a brand new #1!
"Oh whoops! I dropped my monster condom that I use for my magnum dong." - Frank
Rumor: Nightmare on Elm Street Getting Re-rebooted
New Line Cinema is reportedly look to reboot horror franchise A Nightmare on Elm Street ... again.
"Plans are to scrap the lackluster 2010 reboot and start with a fresh new take," according to The Tracking Board. "There’s no producer on board yet, but Orphan scribe David Leslie Johnson has been tapped to script. Toby Emmerich, Walter Hamada, and Dave Neustadter will oversee for New Line."
Johnson was also announced this week as scripting Warner Bros.' new Dungeons & Dragons movie. His other screenwriting credits include Wrath of the Titans and the forthcoming sequel to The Conjuring.
The Leftovers: Season 2 Trailer
It's here! The trailer for HBO's second season of The Leftovers, starring Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Margaret Qualley, Regina King, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, and Chris Zylka.
The Leftovers: New Setting, New Story, Less Guilty Remnant
With Ruelle's "Take It All" playing in the background, you'll see Kevin, Nora, and Jill leave Mapleton behind for a Texas town that miraculously suffered no departures. But is "Miracle" truly the haven they're seeking?
The Leftovers: Season 2 premieres October 4th on HBO.
Every Big Xbox Gamescom Trailer Analyzed
Microsoft's Xbox Briefing at Gamescom 2015 did not disappoint, as we got first looks at Halo Wars 2, Scalebound, and Crackdown 3. We also got a look at the re-cast Quantum Break, which now stars some big-name actors. We pored through each of the new trailers and extracted a ton of new info about each big game. Take a look at each of our Rewind Theaters below. Enjoy!
For more Xbox coverage from Gamescom, don't miss our Xbox Gamescom wrap-up!
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews and Xbox Guru-in-Chief. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Podcast Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.
Dark Souls 3: 5 Things We Know and 5 Things We Want to Know
After almost two months with nothing but the hands-off E3 demo to refer to, it felt great to finally play Dark Souls 3 last week. It's as tough and engaging as ever, but unfortunately, access to attributes, stats, inventory, and other info panels were barred off, and everything was super simplified to streamline the preview process. There was no way to check up on things like equipment load and poise, how the heavily speculated bonfire mechanic will be implemented, or even how hollowing and humanity work.
While the demo did an otherwise incredible job showing off the web-like level design, tone, and grandeur of Dark Souls 3's world, it left a lot to be desired in the way of Dark Souls' more technical aspects. It’s still very early, so that’s forgivable, but until we learn more, here’s a list of the things we know and the things we want to know about Dark Souls 3.
Anchorman’s McKay Bringing Archie to Broadway
The long-running Archie comics series may soon find its way onto the Broadway stage.
Writer-director Adam McKay (Talladega Nights, Anchorman) has been hired to write a musical based on the classic Archie comics, which will be presented by McKay's comedy producer Funny or Die in partnership with Archie Comics.
McKay is only contracted to write, and details surrounding other creative team members remain unknown. While we don't know the main story thrust of the stage play, Variety reports McKay describing it as "bright, colorful, and slightly demented."