Stories by Matt Peckham

Samsung to outsell Apple in first quarter, despite iPhone's hot sales

Apple's iPhone 4S may be top sales dog at AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, but the company is still expected to lag significantly behind rival Samsung in first-quarter smartphone sales. Samsung will sell an estimated 41 million units this quarter, compared ...

Apple TV shortages fuel rollout rumours

Shortages of the Apple TV are being reported across the country, fueling speculation that Apple will reveal a new Apple TV at its media event this week.

Office for iPad not happening? Don't believe the naysayers, claims site that leaked image

PCWorld's Damon Brown says yesterday's Office for iPad tease by The Daily is probably just hype, and he's in good company -- Microsoft itself said in a recent New York Times story that the purported screenshot was bunkum.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

You begin in a prison cart, hands bound, juddering down a mountain path as a chorus of French horns plays a mournful melody. You'll spend a lot of time navigating Skyrim's mountains -- whether you're climbing through their snowy heights or just stari...

Arkham City's Too-Forgiving Combat System

I'm asking for it, I really am: I'm nearly finished with story mode in Arkham City, about to ascend the loftiest tower in the prison-city's center, preparing to do battle with forces I won't spoil here. I've been playing on the hardest difficulty set...

Sony Distribution Center torched in London riots

Rioters in London apparently set Sony's Enfield-based DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corporation) facility ablaze last night, reducing the massive disc distribution center to flames and smoke. The massive multi-story, 20,000 square meter building would hav...

E3 2011: watch the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim demo

I actually kind of like Adam Sessler (see Sessler's cathartic Soapbox, "Killzone Mailbag"), though I have no idea what to make of Morgan "like huge frigging dragons!" Webb. And Bethesda's been a favorite developer for me personally since Morrowind. S...

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be ridiculous, hit November 8

To paraphrase, it doesn't take the most powerful nations on earth to create the next global conflict -- nope, just some skyscrapers-go-boom-now developers, channeling contemporary doomsayers.

Sony denies PSN hack, confirms PSN Web exploit

The PlayStation Network wasn't hacked so much as threatened yesterday when a password exploit accessible through its PSN web page login page came to light, claims Sony.

PSN apology: What else would you have Sony do?

Now that the PlayStation Network’s back, Sony’s trotting out something it's calling a "PlayStation Network and Qriocity Customer Appreciation Program," prompting cries of "too much" or "too little" in certain press channels.

Sony Online Entertainment hacked, 12,700 credit cards stolen

Not quite out of the frying pan, but into the fire anyway: Sony just acknowledged another network breach related to the first one.

Is Sony’s PSN ‘Welcome Back’ enough?

Sony Japan’s explanation for the PSN’s takedown yesterday didn’t tell us much, but -- nearly a week and a half on -- at least the company apologized. Sony’s deputy president Kazuo Hirai took the stage, bent forward as if to touch his toes in a deep a...

Portal 2: a little better all the time

The fleeting hour I was able to devote to Portal 2 last night, dashing through the remainder of its suddenly capacious middle chapters, proved a little better than the dull, shallow preliminary five.

What you'll get in the Microsoft Kinect for Windows SDK

If you're waiting for Microsoft's official do-it-yourself motion-sensing PC kit, you won't have to wait much longer. Microsoft says the Kinect for Windows software development kit (beta) will ship this spring, and they've put up a research page to pr...

Analyst: Apple iPhone 5 may slip to next year

Tired of all the will-they, won't-they iPhone 5 stories? Or are you secretly kind of jubilant each time they pronounce the iPhone-next's arrival "later than expected"? I'm talking about those of you who picked up a Verizon iPhone 4 in February (okay,...