Wireless Carriers Now Required To Unlock Phones
If you've ever attempted to switch wireless companies and hold on to your old phone, you may have experienced what a hassle unlocking your phone can be. Beginning today however, all major wireless carriers in the US are legally obligated to unlock people's phones upon request once their contracts are up.
The change comes as part of an agreement made with the Federal Communications Commission back in 2013, but the deadline for meeting all of its requirements didn't land until today.
Carriers also have to post their unlocking policies online, tell customers when their phones are eligible to be unlocked, respond to unlock requests within two days, and unlock phones for deployed military personnel.
White House Partners with Pro Gamers to Promote Healthcare
To combat the numbers of young Americans without current healthcare coverage, the White House is working with various eSports athletes to encourage people to enroll.
Featuring a number of professional gamers, a video (embedded below) released by the White House in partnership with the ESL, GEER, and Twitch shares the stories of eSports athletes who have had various run-ins with healthcare. The video is meant to motivate youth to sign up for a healthcare plan by the Sunday, February 15 cutoff date.
Magic the Gathering Board Game Summons Title, Release Window
Last year Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro announced a forthcoming board game version of long-running card game Magic the Gathering to be released in 2015. At the time it had the working title "Magic the Gathering Strategy Board Game," but now Hasbro has revealed the official title will be Magic the Gathering: Arena of the Planeswalkers. Check out the box art here:
Arena of the Planeswalkers is for two to five players and includes five Planeswalker figures. All characters from Magic lore, four were announced at the initial announcement: Chandra Nalaar, Jace Beleren, Nissa Revane, and Liliana Vess. Today we can reveal the fifth Planeswalker in the game: Gideon.
Black Sails: Exploring Vane & Max’s Shared Obsession
You have to hand it to Eleanor (Hannah New), on Black Sails - she clearly leaves an impression on those that love her.
In the most recent episode of Black Sails, we saw an interesting and unusual heart-to-hear occur between Vane (Zach McGowan) and Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy), a woman they'd both been romantically involved with. During my visit to the South African set of Black Sails recently, I spoke to McGowan and Kennedy about what Vane and Max think of one another and if either of them have really and truly broken away from Eleanor - though as the end of the last episode also showed, it certainly doesn't seem Vane has moved on!
Check out what McGowan and Kennedy told me in the video above.
Blizzard Raises Over $1M to Help Fight Ebola
Through a recently-announced fundraiser, World of Warcraft developer Blizzard has raised a large sum of money to help the American Red Cross fight Ebola.
Funds were collected through the sale of Argi, a space goat players could purchase as an in-game pet in Blizzard's popular fantasy MMO. The sales of Argi earned $1.9 million, which will be sent to help fight the Ebola outbreak in Africa.
"In December, we announced that for every Argi purchased by December 31, 2014, 100% of the adoption fee would be going to assist in aiding in the fight against this deadly disease -- and the community embraced this cute little intergalactic nibbler, helping out a great cause in the process. Thanks again to everyone who helped make a difference," reads a post on Blizzard's blog.
App Store Update: February 11
Every day hundreds of new apps make their debut on the App Store, and hundreds more are updated or reduced in price. We have sifted through the noise and highlighted those select few that might be worth your attention.
Note: The prices and deals compiled below are accurate at the time we published this story, but all are subject to change.
Voxelvoid – (Free, For a Limited Time!)
When chunky, blocky pixels step into the third dimension, they become cubes called voxels. When an old-school, 2D arcade shooter steps into the third dimension, you get Voxelvoid:
EverQuest Studio Suffers Layoffs
Daybreak Game Company, formerly known as Sony Online Entertainment, has been hit with layoffs.
In a statement to IGN, Daybreak spokesperson Michele Cagle said the move is a "strategic decision to rationalize the business," with both its San Diego, CA and Austin, TX studios seeing the elimination of positions.
"This alignment of resources better positions the newly independent studio for future growth opportunities and developments," Cagle said, adding that the reductions will not affect current game operations. "The company will continue on its mission to partner with its player community to drive the future."
EverQuest franchise director of development David Georgeson was among those affected, saying on Twitter "Yeah, I'm sorry folks but it's true."
Google I/O 2015 Set For May 28-29
Google's annual I/O developer conference will take place on May 28th and 29th in San Francisco's Moscone Center this year.
Registration for the event begins on March 17th at 12:00 pm Eastern and ends on March 19th.
Those who sign-up will have their names thrown in a lottery and selected at random, with winners permitted to purchase tickets. This system was created one year after tickets for the event sold out in less than an hour.
Several parts of the event, including the keynote and select sessions, will be livestreamed for offsite attendees.
Google hasn't announced specific topics for the convention yet, but watch its official I/O event page for news. We'll also keep you updated.
It’s Black Canary vs. Black Canary on Tonight’s Arrow
In this week's new Arrow, Oliver gets back to Starling City and finds that the dynamics of Team Arrow have changed in his absence. They've had to make their own decisions with Oliver gone and falling back into the previous hierarchy isn't simple. And then there's the matter of Laurel taking on the Black Canary mantle. Oliver is not a fan.
Laurel doesn't listen to Oliver and goes against his wishes to face Vertigo (Peter Stormare). He unfortunately gains the upper hand, and the hallucinations Vertigo causes make Laurel see and fight her sister Sara (Caity Lotz). Canary on Canary. See photos from the episode in the below gallery.
Arrow: "Canaries" Photo Gallery:
Report: Samsung Will Release 2 Versions of the Galaxy S6
A new report suggests Samsung is gearing up to release both a curved-display and standard-display version of the Galaxy S6.
According to Bloomberg, the curved-display version of the smartphone will have a "display covering three sides." The report states that both versions of the Galaxy S6 will have 5.1-inch screens and will use Samsung's most advanced processor chips. Each version will also have an "all-metal" body, compared to all-plastic build of the Galaxy S5.
It should be noted that the report doesn't explicitly mention the Galaxy S6, only Samsung's "top-tier Galaxy smartphone."