Valve reveals Steam Controller, a new gamepad for 2014

In the third and final announcement of Valve's big week, the company has revealed the all-new Steam Controller for release in 2014

Valve has been making some big announcements this week and to round it all off the company has revealed the Steam Controller, a new gamepad for 2014.

The news coincides with Valve's previous announcements this week of SteamOS, a new Linux-based operating system for big screen gaming, and Steam Machines, a new line of consoles for release in 2014.

The new Steam Controller, stated as "a different kind of gamepad" by Valve sets out to give Steam users "a new way to play your entire Steam library from the sofa."

The controller adds the missing link to Valve's SteamOS and Steam Machines giving gamers the input to function the new hardware.

On Valve's official website the company reveals the Steam Controller will work with all games: past, present, and future.

The new gamepad reportedly "offers a new and, we believe, vastly superior control scheme, all white enabling you to play from the comfort of your sofa."

The controller features high-res dual circular trackpads, super-precise haptic feedback allowing electro-magnets to deliver a wide range of force and vibration with a vital channel of in-game information about your speed, boundaries, thresholds, textures, action confirmations, or any other events about which game designers want players to be aware.

The controller will aso have a centered touch screen and shared configurations allowing the controller to act as a keyboard and mouse.

Steam Controller will be operational with all versions of Steam, not only the new Steam Machines.

Valve is offering 300 prototype Steam Macines to lucky consumers along with 300 controllers, but the first 300 or so beta units available won't include a touch screen, and they won't be wireless.

Iron Man 3 named highest-grossing film of 2013

'Iron Man 3' has been crowned the highest-grossing film of 2013.
The Robert Downey Jr.-starring superhero adventure took in a massive total of $1,215,439,994 at the global box office, wiping out competition from runner-up 'Despicable Me 2' with total takings of $918,573,535.

Meanwhile, the sixth instalment of racing franchise 'Fast Furious' - which stars the late actor Paul Walker - came in third place with $788,679,850.
'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' has already grossed $771,484,011 in the few weeks since its release, while animated comedy sequel 'Monsters University' rounded out the top five with $743,559,607, according to Box Office Mojo.

Blockbusters 'Man of Steel', 'Gravity', 'Thor: The Dark World', 'The Croods' and 'World War Z' completed the top ten.
It seems Downey Jr. has found a winning formula with Marvel's 'Iron Man', since his role as playboy billionaire Tony Stark has made him the best paid actor in Hollywood with estimated earnings of $75 million.
Thanks to 2012 superhero team-up movie, 'The Avengers', Iron Man has also became the highest-earning superhero on the big screen of all time, raking in a combined figure of $3.8 billion.

The top 20 highest-grossing movies of 2013 are as follows:
1. Iron Man 3 - $1,215,439,994
2. Despicable Me 2 - $918,573,535
3. Fast Furious 6 - $788,679,850
4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - $771,484,011
5. Monsters University - $743,559,607
6. Man of Steel - $662,845,518
7. Gravity - $652,394,288
8. Thor: The Dark World - $627,858,622
9. The Croods - $587,204,668
10. World War Z - $540,007,876
11. Oz the Great and Powerful - $493,311,825
12. Star Trek Into Darkness - $467,365,246
13. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - $426,244,000
14. The Wolverine - $414,828,246
15. Pacific Rim - $407,602,906
16. GI Joe: Retaliation - $375,740,705
17. Frozen - $363,012,773
18. Now You See Me - $351,723,989
19. The Hangover Part III - $351,000,072
20. The Great Gatsby - $348,840,419

US Treasury Secretary Lew renews criticism of German exports in talks with Schäuble

Mindful of the differences in perceptions between Berlin and Washington, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said it would be a good thing if Berlin would do more to spur domestic demand and investment.

Following talks with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble in Berlin on Wednesday, Lew said it was very important for the eurozone that Germany narrowed the gap between its exports and imports.

Lew's call for more proactive policies to achieve this came just hours after official German data showed a widening trade surplus for the month of November. German exports rose 0.3 percent compared with the previous month to 93.2 billion euros ($127.13 billion), while imports declined 1.1 percent to 75.4 billion euros.

In recent months, Germany has come under fire for its persistently high trade surplus, with critics arguing that its economic prowess comes at the expense of the eurozone's weaker members. In October, the US Treasury riled Germany by saying that it needed to tap its surpluses to boost demand and help the eurozone recover from recession. The EU Commission even announced an investigation into the German trade surplus.

On Wednesday, the German Finance Minister, however, again defended his policies, saying German growth was primarily fuelled by robust domestic consumption. Moreover, German trade would help the eurozone's overall export performance, he added.

In his talks with the US Treasury Secretary, Schäuble also raised the issue of accommodative monetary policy currently being pursued by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks. Schäuble warned of the dangers involved in flooding financial markets with cheap money.

'I've pointed out that we need to closely watch excess liquidity in the markets to prevent the emergence of new speculative bubbles,' he said.

Lew responded by saying that growth in global economic output and employment was needed to achieve that.

Nvidia announced Tegra K1 chip for mobile gaming

At CES today Nvidia announced the Tegra K1, the next evolution in mobile chipsets. The company’s last mobile chip, the Tegra 4, was hugely successful and currently powers the company’s Nvidia Shield gaming platform.

The Tegra K1 features the same Kepler architecture found in the company’s desktop GPUs, and has 192 CUDA chip cores. This increase in cores allows the chip to render super-realistic effects and animations, as seen in current next-gen consoles. The company also announced the the Unreal Engine 4 by Epic Games would also be supported by the Tegra K1.

The chip will be available in two versions – a quad-core 32 bit version based on ARM’s Cortex A15 CPU, and a 64-bit dual core “Super Core CPU”. The company said that devices utilizing the TEgra K1 32-bit processor will ship in early 2014, while 64-bit devices will be released later this year.

Zotac introduces their SteamOS powered ZBOX at CES

ZOTAC International, a global innovator and manufacturer of graphics cards, mainboards and mini-PCs, today previews the upcoming ZBOX Steam Machine mini-PC with Steam OS at The Consumer Electronics Show 2014 in Las Vegas, Nev. The ZOTAC ZBOX Steam Machine is engineered from the ground up for breathtaking gaming performance in a compact mini-PC form factor that’s a fraction the size of traditional mini-ITX based gaming systems.

“ZOTAC is pleased to work with Valve Software to create the ZBOX Steam Machine. Valve’s SteamOS is a game-changer to the PC gaming market that enables us to deliver a game console experience that’s superior to the latest next-generation console,” said Carsten Berger, senior director, ZOTAC International. “Gamers can expect the latest Intel Core processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics processor in the upcoming ZOTAC ZBOX Steam Machine for stunning visuals and world-class features.”

The ZOTAC ZBOX Steam Machine will feature an enthusiast-class Intel Core processor that delivers class-leading performance with excellent energy-efficiency. Graphics power for the ZOTAC ZBOX Steam Machine will come from an upcoming performance-class NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics processor for an outstanding smoothness and superior features.

Exterior enhancements to the ZOTAC ZBOX Steam Machine include an all-black 3rd Generation ZBOX chassis with orange lighting that gives the mini-PC aggressive and sporting aesthetics. The ZOTAC ZBOX Steam Machine will ship with SteamOS preinstalled and include the Steam Controller.

Expect the ZOTAC ZBOX Steam Machine to reach retailers in the second half of 2014. More details will be released closer to the launch date.

LG to launch its first 4K monitor

At the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), LG Electronics (LG) will break new ground with the launch of its 34-inch IPS 21:9 UltraWide (Model UM95) monitor. Also available in a 29-inch version, the UM95 will offer stunning image clarity thanks to an UltraWide QHD resolution (3440 x 1440) display.

In addition to the UM95, LG will be showcasing a number of other exciting IPS 21:9 UltraWide series monitors at CES in Las Vegas from January 7-10, 2014.

Model UM65 (available in 25-, 29- and 34-inch display sizes) and model UB65 feature ergonomic designs ideal for the workplace environment.

CES visitors will also be able to experience the Real 4K (Model 31MU95) and the latest Color Prime (Model 27MB85) monitors from LG.

The company’s newest monitors boast a long list of impressive features that make entertainment more immersive, multitasking easier than ever and work more productive.

“LG IPS 21:9 UltraWide series was originally developed as user-centric PC monitors toenhance the computing experience, for both work and play,” said Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT Business Division at LG Electronics. “Our 21:9 aspect ratio monitors has proven to be a critical and commercial success and we forecast this market will continue to grow.”

France to turn corner on growth in final quarter of 2013

France's economy had gained momentum towards the end of 2013 and was likely to post growth of 0.5 percent on the final quarter, the Bank of France said as it released preliminary fourth-quarter growth figures on Friday.

Ahead of official figures to be released next week, the French central bank said the rise came after a contraction of 0.1 percent in the third quarter and followed improving business sentiment in Europe's second-largest economy.

In November, French manufacturing output rose 1.3 percent, which was almost three times as high as expected by analysts. In addition, business sentiment improved 0.3 points on the European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicator published on Thursday.

The rise is good news for French President Francois Hollande who is struggling with weak poll ratings due to high unemployment amid a shrinking economy.

Nevertheless, international ratings agency Standard Poors lowered the rating for French sovereign debt in November over doubts that Hollande's policies could restore robust growth over the medium term. Moreover, the European Commission said it expected French growth to remain sluggish in 2014, forecasting a rate of 0.9 percent which is half as strong as is predicted for Germany.