Samsung unveils 6.3in Galaxy Mega smartphone

Samsung has unveiled the biggest smartphone to date - the Galaxy Mega, which features a 6.3in (16cm) screen.

The firm suggested its size made it ideal for watching videos or running two apps alongside each other.

Samsung helped popularise the so-called "phablet" category - in which phones approach tablet dimensions - with its original 5.3in Galaxy Note in 2011.

That proved more popular than many expected, but one analyst suggested the latest device might be a step too far.

Hackers steal Ubisoft's unreleased Far Cry video game

Ubisoft has halted sales of PC video games from its online store after hackers discovered a way to download titles without paying.

It has confirmed an unreleased game - Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - was among the software copied from the servers running the firm's Uplay service.

The breach was discovered after a video clip showing in-game footage was posted to YouTube.

DICE Reveals Next Generation of Battlefield

NEW BENCHMARK IN GAME DESIGN, MULTIPLAYER ENGAGEMENT

Only in Battlefield can players go through a building instead of around it or eject from a jet and take out the enemy mid-free fall. Those incredible gameplay moments that blur the line between game and glory can only be created by players, and occur only in Battlefield. DICE, a studio of Electronic Arts, today announced Battlefield 4, a genre-defining action blockbuster launching in Fall 2013. Powered by the advanced technology of DICE’s proprietary Frostbite 3 engine, Battlefield 4 offers players a glimpse into the future of interactive entertainment – a future that is more human, dramatic and believable than anything before it. With more than 65 million players worldwide, the Battlefield series has consistently been praised by critics for its world-class multiplayer gameplay, and is recognized as the only game that allows players to own land, sea and air.

Apple brand less 'inspiring', survey says

Technology giant Apple is perceived as less "inspiring" than it was three years ago, a brand survey suggests.

The findings will heighten concerns among shareholders who have seen about $230bn wiped off Apple's stock market value since September 2012.

Smartphone rival Samsung is now seen as equally "inspiring" in the US, says the survey by consultancy Added Value (AV).

AV is part of Sir Martin Sorrell's marketing group WPP, whose clients include Samsung, Google and eBay.

Analysts fear Apple may have lost its way since its visionary co-founder, Steve Jobs, died in October 2011.

Get your free game from SimCity

Following some of the recent "issues" with the launch and initial performance with SimCity... the kind people at Electronic Arts (EA), will be giving away a free game!

If you have been inconvenienced following the purchase of the game, you maybe entitled to something extra

Players at risk from game store hack attack

More than 10 million people thought to have accounts with Electronic Arts's (EA) Origin game store are at risk from a hack attack that swaps games for malicious code, researchers say.

In lab experiments, the researchers exploited a loophole in the way Origin handles links to games users have downloaded and installed to make it run code that compromised a target machine.

There is no evidence the loophole has yet been used by malicious hackers.

EA is investigating the vulnerability.

SimCity players offered free EA game

Players who buy and register the latest version of SimCity before 26 March can choose a free game from a selection offered by Electronic Arts.

The free games, available as digital downloads, include recent releases Mass Effect 3, Plants vs Zombies and Bejeweled 3.

The move follows connection problems and glitches caused by EA's decision to make SimCity an online-only game.

Earlier EA admitted that the game was originally going to be single player.

However those proposals were shelved early in the development of the latest version.

Internet's 'bad neighbourhoods' spread scams and spam

About 50% of all junk mail on the net emerges from just 20 internet service providers (ISPs), a study has found.

The survey of more than 42,000 ISPs tried to map the net's "bad neighbourhoods" to help pinpoint sources of malicious mail.

The survey by a researcher in Holland found that, in many cases, ISPs specialise in particular threats such as spam and phishing.

Gamer hacks SimCity to run offline

SimCity has almost been turned into a single-player game by an enterprising hacker.

By modifying the game's code, the hacker has made it possible to play the game offline almost indefinitely.

The feat sits at odds with assertions by Electronic Arts (EA) that the game requires a permanent online link.

EA said the "always on" requirement contributed to big problems at launch as it tried to keep different players' cities co-ordinated.

Soon after SimCity was launched on 5 March, many people reported that they were having to wait up to 30 minutes or more to play the game.

Others reported sluggish performance and others bugs as they played. EA said these problems occurred because many aspects of the game were shared and the sheer number of people trying to play overwhelmed servers.

Average UK broadband speeds hit double figures

The average speed of home broadband is now 12Mbps (megabits per second), according to research from regulator Ofcom.

That has risen by a third since its last report in May 2012 and trebled in the past four years.

Increasingly consumers are upgrading their broadband packages to super-fast services of 30Mbps or above.

The increasing appetite for online video and more devices per household were driving the changes, Ofcom said.