Ubuntu Desktop for Android

Canonical has announced Ubuntu for Android. Your Android smartphone can now fully scale up in to a full fledged desktop computer!

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Are we going to see Android Jelly Bean as early as this summer?

Last October all the hype was around Google's newest iteration of their mobile operating system Android, named Ice Cream Sandwich.  Yet after five months, there is still only one device currently supporting the OS, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  Although there have been promises that the operating system will get pushed to a number of other devices, we will not see those until late this year. 

And now, sources close to the matter, are stating that the next operating system for Android could be out as soon as this June.  The next mobile OS, codenamed "Jelly Bean" will primarily be geared toward tablets. The OS will be a slight improvement upon ICS with the added ability to dual boot between Android and other operating systems.  Namely, it is aimed at dual booting between Android and Windows 8, making the Microsoft mobile operating system even that more diverse.

This is all speculation at this point, but with Windows slated for a fall release, Android Jelly Bean could see its debut just prior to that.

Mass Effect 3 Full length Trailer

Did you catch AMC's The Walking Dead last night like you should have? Well, if you did you got in on the new Mass Effect 3 full length trailer, "Take Earth Back".  But if you are one of those that refuses to watch live TV, we pulled the trailer for you and have it right here for your geek eyeballs.  Check it out after the break.

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The Geek Domain Podcast - 023 - 2/20/12 Back and Loving It

We have had some scheduling and technical difficulties over the past couple of weeks, but we are back today to bring you all the geek news in a podcast! We talk about Apple as they introduce their new operating system amid a large patent lawsuit with Google AND the iPad 3 is right around the corner. The Superbowl gave us some awesome trailers for new films that we are excited to talk about and The Walking Dead as well as The River premiers. Mass Effect 3 is coming as well as we discuss the trailer. Finally, we give you some books you should be reading. Tune in for all the geekiness!

Host: Dustin Turley

Co-Host: Josh James

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The Geek Domain Podcast - 023 - 2/20/12

New Resident Evil 6 Info Surfaces

Capcom says the new character's portion of the game will be set in Eastern Europe where the infection has spread and that this new player will be a mercenary of sorts. Our old friend Chris Redfield's part will be in the fictional Chinese village of Lanshiang, where he is apparently recovering from RE5.

Capcom also said that Leon's new partner is Helena Harper, a government agent tasked with protecting the President. 

There is a new type of Zombie as well known as the J'Avo that will be super aggro and will ave certain regenitive properties. If it takes emmense damage, it will mutate whatever body part is damaged into "a number of varied forms," making the players change their strategy to take them down.

Capcom has also revised their control system as well. Resident Evil 6 will take on far more of a 'shooter' aspect with the ability to move and shoot (finally) as well as take cover, slide in and out of cover, and roll.  Close quarter melee will also be added.

It's also been announced that the game takes place in 2013, a full 15 years after the events in the original Resident Evil. 

So what's really going on with Google Wallet?

Google Wallet is Google's mobile payments application and online payment platform.

The Google Wallet application allows a person to tap their phone with NFC against a receiver in a store, quickly type in a pin code, and rejoice with their most recently purchased product. However, recently, it has gotten in some hot water over an apparent lapse in security. There were two security issues recently uncovered. The more heinous of which required an offending hacker to go in to the settings of your phone, erase the data within the Wallet application, set up their own account, and presto! They have access to your Google prepaid card. Pretty simple. So, of course, people freaked out. But let's go over Google Wallet's alternatives:

Cash- If someone has access to your cash, they have your cash. Inherently insecure.

Credit card- If someone has access to your credit card, they can make unlimited purchases online and in store at some locations with a simple forgery of your signature. Pretty insecure as well.

Moral of the story? Guard your stuff. To Google's credit, very shortly after this "hack" went public, in a knee-jerk reaction, they stopped issuing new prepaid cards to temporarily remedy the problem as they worked on a true solution. Soon after that, Google fixed the issue and reopened the prepaid cards. But people are still freaking out saying that this is indicative of the lack of security in Google Wallet and they are already counting Wallet out.

Poppycock, I say.

Google Wallet is more secure than other forms of payment, it's easy, and it's awesome. Besides, if someone steals my phone, I would be much less worried about the ten dollars on my Google Prepaid Card and much more worried about my $730 Galaxy Nexus.

'Guild Wars 2' coming to consoles

With the announcment that Guild Wars 2 will be released later this year, many people wanted it to include a console playable game. Deveolpers listened and earlier today during a confrence call with an NCSoft representative, it was confirmed that the game will be devopled to be playable on console systems. He had this to say during the call:

“For the console game – when it comes to Guild Wars 2 – as we have announced already, we are in the preparation stage,” said NCSoft when asked of their plans for console development. “And also, for other titles we are in the preparation stage, but nothing has been finalized yet for me to make specific comments now."

Although it is unlikely for the console version to be released with the PC version, many console players are steadily awaiting the deveolpment and release of Guild Wars 2. 

Microsoft updates XBOX 360 to fix color space in video playback

Microsoft has announced it has begun rolling out a system update that will fix the color space issues seen in video playback. Over the past two months, more and more gamers have complained of issues with the video playback, which showed up after the Dashboard update in December. Last month, Microsoft promised a fix and has delivered. 

Here is what Xbox's Larry "Major Nelson" had to say:

I wanted to let you know that the team has just released a system update for the Xbox 360 over Xbox LIVE. Starting today when you sign in to Xbox LIVE you'll receive a prompt to accept this mandatory update. If you are signed into LIVE already, you may be signed out and asked to accept the update and you'll be back online in a few moments.

This update will increase performance and is part of our continued effort to provide the best possible Xbox LIVE experience. In this update, we are providing a fix to a color issue that some were experiencing, and it will be immediately notable in the dashboard. The fix is also being applied by partners to their apps on Xbox LIVE, which we expect to roll out over the coming months.

Hulu Plus Comes to Wii

Well the folks over at Nintendo had promised us a Hulu PLus integration by the end of summer 2011 and they did not deliver, but they are hoping you forgive them enough to enjoy it Q1 2012 because you can now get your subscription-based TV watching on.  Even if you have to suffer through it on 480p SD. So head over to the Wii Shop Channel to get your Hulu Plus app.  

Apple OS X Mountain Lion Pre-Release Available to Developers

So it turns out we can get OS X Mountain Lion, so we will be diving straight into it because Apple is releasing the preview version of its latest OS X to the members-only Developer Program. If you're up to date on those $99/year dues as we are, you can head on over to the Member Center to get your OS 10.8 fix, and start checking out those shiny new Messages, Reminders, Notes and Notification Center apps. Or kick up your feet and bring your desktop to the big screen with AirPlay Mirroring. If you have the Apple-approved credentials to proceed, you can find all that and more by making your way over to our reference link just below.                     

Apple previews OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

Many of us thought that 10.7 Lion would have been the final step before OS 11, but we were very wrong.  Apple has announced a pre-dev build of theit latest OS slated to be released later this year (summer most likely). With more and more iOS like applications and overall feel, this looks like a very cool OS.  We here at The Geek Domain were not one of the lucky ones to get our hands on a build. But, our friends over at The Verge were so hit that source link to see their full run down of the new OS from Cupertino.

New Mass Effect 3 'Take Earth Back' Trailer

Are you as excited for Mass Effect 3 as we are? Can you not get enough of BioWare? Do you foam at the mouth for a Sci-Fi RPG shooter? Well you don't have to wait much longer for the third chapter in the Mass Effect saga, and to tide you over is this cinematic teaser trailer.  And stay glued to your TV sets as the full trailer airs during this weeks' episode of AMC's The Walking Dead February 19th! Hop on over after the break for the trailer.

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iPad 3 announcement to be first week of March

 Is the long, treacherous wait for the iPad 3 nearly at an end? That's what anonymous sources tell All Things D. The site caught wind that an Apple event next month will host the announcement of the company's latest tablet. The event is said to be slated for the first week of March at that popular Apple haunt, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco -- and seeing as how last year's event was held on March 2nd, that timing doesn't seem all that crazy to us. As for an actual release date, said sources are not so sure.

iPad 3 to have LTE on both Verizon and AT&T says the WSJ

Citing sources "familiar with the matter," The Wall Street Journal is now stating rather unequivocally that both AT&T and Verizon Wireless are set to begin selling LTE versions of Apple's iPad. The latest revelation is hardly a leap of faith, as rumors to this effect have been swirling for a month now. Still, it coincides rather nicely with the recent chatter surrounding the launch of Apple's next iPad, which is currently thought to launch during the first week of March. It remains unknown whether Sprint will be stocking a 4G version of the iPad to call its own. Perhaps Sprint will be forced to sit this one out. 

Grand Theft Auto 4 Gets a Face Lift

The wait for Grand Theft Auto 5 is going to be a grueling one, but fear not, ICEnhancer 2.0 is here to save the day. This mod for Grand Theft Auto 4 makes it look absolutely breath taking. It provides GTA 4 with near next gen graphics as well as advertisements in game for real movies and products. The addon also reskins the cars to apear as real cars, one that is really noticeable in the video is a Shelby Cobra. So if the wait for GTA 5 is killing you, and you think your computer can handle it, make sure to pick up this mod. Click after the break for more details and a video.

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Blizzard and Valve duel for DotA

We all have played DotA during our Warcraft 3 days, but Valve attempted to trademark the name for their upcoming DotA 2 game and this hasn't sat well with Blizzard.  Although DotA was a freely developed mod, now that someone is attempting to profit from it, there may be legal issues involved. Hit the link to read the whole nasty story after the break.

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Firefox accommodating Windows 8 this year

We all know that Windows 8 will be really two OS's, with a Windows 7 style desktop environment working together with the touch friendly Metro UI. Given that Firefox has a significant market share in the PC web browsing market, it's only natural for Mozilla to accommodate both parts of Microsoft's new OS. According to its 2012 Strategy & Roadmap, the company has plans for a proof-of-concept Win8 Firefox release in Q2 of this year. In that document, Mozilla reveals that a "simple evolution" of its existing browser will work with the "Classic" environment, but brand new new front-end and integration code is needed for Firefox to play nice with Metro. The plan is to build a Gecko-based browser that brings full Firefox capabilities and can handle Windows 8's unique requirements like being suspended by the OS when it's not being viewed and supporting multiple "snap" states to ensure a good browsing experience when multiple apps are open. Looks like Mozilla's crew of coders has their work cut out for them, and you can peep the full to-do list at the reference link below.

Apple going after Android 4.0 and the Galaxy Nexus

Apple has moved its attack on Samsung back to the U.S., after spending a year trying to take the company down in Germany and other European nations. The latest complaint directly targets the Galaxy Nexus, the first Android 4.0 device to be released. The company is looking for an injunction on sales of the device in the U.S. 

Four patents are in focus, including one for Siri, one for unified search, one for slide-to-unlock technology and word completion for touch screens. 

All of the patents are very new, and were issued in the last few months. Patent specialist Florian Mueller says the patents "are the patent equivalent of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Because Apple already won its ITC suit for the "data tapping" patent, the company will almost certainly win again this time, adds Mueller. 

'The Walking Dead' Returns Tomorrow Night

As many of you know, the second half of season two of 'The Walking Dead' takes place where it last left off tomorrow night, February 12, at 9/8c. This zombie-drama or "Zombama" as we've called it before left us hanging from a cliff in the latest episode and it has been painful waiting on the second half of season two. There are so many side stories left to conclude, along with the one huge question that we all are dying to have answered. It would be a shame for it to be spoiled so, if you haven't had the chance to catch every episode, AMC is having a 'The Walking Dead' marathon tonight starting at 8/7c.

Android 4.0.4 ROM leaks out for the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon

A little gem known as Android 4.0.4 wriggled its way onto the interweb last week, and while it was geared specifically for Sprint's Nexus S 4G, a similar version has just cropped up for the CDMA / LTE Galaxy Nexus from Verizon. While it's only available for tenacious users who've unlocked their bootloader, it seems that a host of improvements are on deck for the official release. First and foremost, the ROM is said to be noticeably faster, with the speed gains also extending to the web browser and the device's boot time. The release also packs a new radio file that (at least from user impressions) offers more seamless transitions between the CDMA and LTE networks. All in all, the rest of the changes are rather minor, but if you'd like to join the bleeding edge, you'll find everything you need in the source link below.

XDA-Developers