How about a pretty big rumor to start off your Monday?  Epic Games, the folks behind the very successful Gears of War trilogy, also license one of the most popular game engines that many other developers use.  The Unreal Engine 3 is the engine that powers many many games, such as the Bioshock series.  Unreal Engine 3, from its infancy, looked great and since than it has grown and developed pretty much as far as it will go.

The next phase for Epic is of course the Unreal Engine 4, and thanks to two anonymous emails, both within the same weekend, we are thinking this could be real.  Both sources are telling us that Epic plans on taking the lid off of UE4, along with possibly some game footage, at E3 this year.  Epic has already said that UE4 will only be used on next generation consoles and hardware, so the possibility of Microsoft announcing the next Xbox is starting to become more and more real.

I for one am crazy super excited to see what happens at E3 this year.

Thanks A and A!

You can still put the rumor tag on this one, as nothing of course is announced or leaked, but thanks to a job listing that we were tipped off to it looks like Microsoft may be looking to bring its Xbox Live services over to both the iOS and Android platforms.  Smart move in my opinion.  Here is a little snippet from the posting:

Working with PM and test team to define, design and implement Xbox LIVE mobile experiences on Windows Phone, iOS and other platforms

While its nice to see Windows Phone 7 slowly take off and grow, and it will be good for the entire mobile eco-system to be down to 3 major platforms assuming RIM kicks the bucket or gets bought at some point in 2012/2013, its also a smart move by MS to bring Xbox Live services over to the top two platforms of choice right now.

Thanks Sal!

Here it is, folks.  Plain and simple.  There is “currently” no plans for Half Life 3 according to the official people at Valve.  No matter what you read on any site, Half Life 3 rumors or news is just trolling:

You are being trolled.

There is no ARG.

Wheatley’s speech was set in Portal 2 fiction – that is all.

There has been no directive from Gabe to leak anything. That is all false.

I just want to say this so there is no confusion. This is the community trolling the community nothing more. While it is nice to see people excited about anything HL, I hate seeing people be trolled like this.

Thanks

That is directly from the source.  Does this mean Half Life 3 will never come out?  Not at all.  But will it be anytime soon?  It does not appear so.  For the love of god, stop trolling HL3 rumors, everyone.  That is all.

Thanks Alex for tipping us!

This one is hot off the press, and it comes straight from the Wall Street Journal.  According to people familiar with the matter it would appear that Microsoft and Nokia talked about a joint venture to buy Research in Motion (RIMM).  While they do not know the current status of these talks the fact remains that if they even took place is huge.  RIM as we all know has been taking a beating as of late, with a declining stock over the course of 2011 and very underwhelming device’s.  Even their BlackBerry 10 devices, now looking to launch in late 2012/2013, will already be under powered compared to their Android and iPhone counterparts.

Keep throwing salt over your shoulder for this rumor, but we are starting to get more and more news regarding the next Xbox console and its release time frame.  CNet has learned that General Manager of Entertainment Design, Don Coyner, has not left Microsoft but is “no longer leading the design and experience group for Xbox.”  Emma Williams, who helped guide the just-launched redesign of the Xbox Live interface, will be his replacement according to two sources inside MS.  Another source had confirmed that the successor to the Xbox 360 is due to release in 2013, with an official announcement sometime in 2012.

Verizon Wireless is highly considering a bid on Netflix. An investment banker has told us that a sale should result by about Easter for around 4.6 Billion.

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When it comes to Apple products there is never a shortage of rumors and controversy.  One thing can always be certain though, Apple products always get upgrades and the iPad is not an exception.  Digitimes is reporting, based on some very good sources, that the next generation iPad will be launching in the 3 or 4 month timeframe.   This could very well be a solid tip, as past iPads launched in the February to March timeframe.  Time will tell, and while always a rumor until Apple says something, we have to believe a new iPad is due very soon.

Are you ready for the future of Windows? If not its okay, because it wont be here until late February 2012. We currently do not know exactly what features will be released with the beta, but we will be keeping our eyes peeled. We are expecting the full version to be released near June. So as long as we stay on track you can expect Windows 8 on next years seasons greetings!

Source

Facebook is planning to launch its own smartphone, built under licence by HTC, and currently codenamed Buffy (“the smartphone slayer”). It will run Android, but a highly modified version, with Facebook integrated into the very core of the OS. Everything you do with your phone will, in effect, be done through Facebook.

Facebook representatives have not yet commented officially to confirm the existence of Buffy, but did suggest they wanted just that kind of greater integration between their social network and mobile phones: “We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social. We’re working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world.” (more…)

The new Nokia smartphone will be the Lumia 900, a Windows Phone with the same basic set up as the Lumia 800 but with a larger screen and a few other enhancements. Hit the break for the rest!

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