If you live in Brazil, next-gen gaming is going to burn a serious hole in your wallet this winter. Sony announced on one of its blogs today that the PS4 will cost 3,999 Brazilian real, or $1,853 when it launches there on November 29.
That’s a crazy amount of money. We’ve written in the past about why consumer electronics are often so expensive in Brazil , but that explanation doesn’t make this sort of price tag any easier to swallow. Microsoft, on the other hand, will be selling the Xbox One for $2,199 Brazilian real .
For comparison, the PS4 will cost just $399 in North America. If you haven’t done the math already, that means the console will be sold for more than four times that amount in Brazil. Ouch.
We wouldn’t be surprised if most players in South America simply import their console from North America this winter (the PS4 is region-free, after all.) You’ll save some serious cash and be able to buy a bunch of extra launch titles.
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Nest CEO Tony Fadell vows to make any privacy policy changes transparent and opt-in
Following last week’s Google acquisition, Nest chief executive Tony Fadell has vowed to make any alterations to its privacy policy opt-in, and to be transparent about such changes to all of its users.
In an interview at the DLD Conference in Munich, he said there were no changes at the moment, and said any data that it collected from users was to be used for improving its range of smart and well-designed home automation products.
“At this point, there are no changes,” Fadell explained. “The data that we collect is all about our products and improving them.”
Seven days ago, Nest Labs was acquired for $3.2 billion , sparking concerns and speculation about how Google might use this new data to change its services and better understand its customers.
“If there were ever any changes whatsoever, we would be sure to be transparent about it, number one, and number two for you to opt-in to it,” Nest’s founder and CEO said on stage today.
During the interview, Fadell also talked about some of the meetings he had with Larry Page and other Google executives, prior to the deal’s completion. He revealed that these discussions took months, and in some cases years to finalize.
“The amount of things that I learned from them, personally, in the same meetings that they learned from me, personally…the two way interchange of what was for me intellectual happiness and the stimulation of being able to go back and forth, and really create a new world together – and in a different way than either of us had imagined – that was personally exciting to me,” he said.
CNN’s Laurie Segall, interviewing Fadell on behalf of the DLD Conference, pressed him further about what Page said to him said during those meetings.
Unfortunately, Nest’s leader was less forthcoming: “All I can say is we were finishing each other’s sentences and the visions that we had were just so large and so great, and they weren’t scared by them. We were both getting exhilarated by what could change and how things could change, and that we could have the ability to change those things together.”
Google has never been short on ambition, so it’s not surprise that the technology giant has big plans for Fadell and the rest of the team at Nest Labs. If any other company said they wanted to “create a new world”, we would be more than a little skeptical. In the case of Google and Nest, however, the notion feels less far-fetched.
“This is a hand and glove fit,” Fadell added.
➤ DLD Conference 2014
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BBM to come pre-installed on some LG smartphones, starting with the G Pro Lite
BlackBerry has revealed that its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) client will come pre-installed on some LG smartphones, beginning with the LG G Pro Lite, which was announced back in October .
The company hasn’t revealed which other LG handsets could get the BBM preinstallation treatment, but it’s an important step for BlackBerry as it tries to find its legs in an ever shifting mobile market. Starting to pre-install its popular IM and chat client is one way of staying visible and relevant as it puts more emphasis on services.
For LG devices that don’t come with it preloaded, or indeed, for any other Android or iOS devices – the standalone BBM app is still available to download from the Google Play and Apple’s App Store.
➤ BlackBerry
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