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The GeForce 320.18 WHQL drivers provide a "day-of-launch" update for the GTX 780 and also includes a number of other performance improvements and SLI profiles

Well, there's no guarantee, but the same team that worked on the "Trinity" Xbox 360 Slim unit is behind the hardware in Xbox One, and that's a good thing.

Exactly one year (to the day) after it began offering music content, global video streaming site Viki has announced a deal with Universal Music that will see it offer the label’s entire worldwide music video collection in South Korea and nine markets in Southeast Asia. Viki made its debut streaming movie and TV shows from a diverse range of countries and global broadcasters, including NBCU. It makes the content accessible to global audiences thanks to its unique, crowdsourced translations, which are managed and translated entirely by its community. Last year, the Singapore-based company landed deals to stream music videos from Warner Music, SEED Music Group of Taiwan and Korea’s LOEN worldwide. Now, users in South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam will gain access to 7,500 music videos from Universal Music’s global roster. That includes US artists like Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Lady Gaga, as well as those from Korea, other parts of Asia and worldwide. Razmig Hovaghimian, CEO and co-founder of Viki, tells TNW that the move to expand its music catalogue makes perfect sense since it “cross-pollinated” its TV and movie content in many markets, such as Korea, where a number of music artists also act or appear in TV shows. Not to mention that it will bring music videos from truly global stars in a number of markets in Asia that are not served by streaming services. Hovaghimian says Viki in the process of introducing new content to its global markets after it took time to review and analyse how its content was being consumed. Interestingly, he says that there are some unusual patterns emerging, for example Korean dramas are particularly popular in Saudi Arabia — thanks to the subtitles — while Bollywood is popular worldwide. That opportunity to search new audience segments that, without Viki’s subtitles, would struggle to consume content in their native language is attractive for music companies, which can broaden their reach using the service. That’s the message from Loo Yew Ming, VP of Digital & Business Development in Southeast Asia for Universal Music Group International, who comments thusly: We see a lot of potential in Asia and Viki offers an interesting and innovative way for our artists to engage fans who don’t speak their language. At the same time, translations help fans discover new music from artists they’ve never connected with before. Hovaghimian also reveals that mobile is becoming a prominent platform for Viki, with video consumption from phones and tablets overtaking that of desktops in a number if markets, including Singapore. That is, he says, in part due to a deal that sees the Viki service bundle on the Samsung Galaxy S4. For now, that deal is operative in Singapore only, but Viki is in talks to expand it to other “significant markets”, Hovaghimian explains. Viki fans in the selected countries can access the following initial 10 channels as of now, the remainder of Universal Music’s collection will follow very soon: B2ST Black Eyed Peas Maroon 5 Psy Rihanna Taylor Swift Demi Lovato Lady Gaga Ne-Yo Carly Jae Repsen Headline image via piitaaraq / Flickr

New hardware companies are one of the hottest trends in the startup world. Instead of building apps and Web services, companies are building real physical hardware that you can buy and use. A lot of these find life on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, where the community votes with its wallet on what gadget they want to use. Most notably, there's Pebble, a company that makes smartwatches, and Ouya, a company that makes an Android-based video console. Both companies have raised millions in regular VC money after seeing success on Kickstarter. But they're not alone. Check out some other cool hardware startups you need to know about.Grand St. helps hardware makers sell their products Startup: Grand St. Founded: 2012 Location: New York, NY Founders: Amanda Peyton, Aaron Hendhsaw, and Joe Lallouz Concept: An e-commerce consumer electronics marketplace. Why you should care: Grand St. is an online hyper-curated boutique that sells creative technology. Grand St. is a great way to discover new products because the site only stocks gadgets that have been tested by someone on staff. Funding: $1.3 million Pebble makes a smartwatch that connects to your Android phone or iPhone Startup: Pebble Founded: 2012 Location: San Francisco, Calif. Founder: Eric Migicovsky Concept: A fully customizable e-ink smartwatch. Why you should care: Pebble was one of the largest Kickstarter campaigns ever, raising over $10 million in about 30 days. The watch uses sports and fitness apps, allowing you to get notifications from your smartphone. Pebble also lets users wirelessly control music without having to remove your smartphone from your pocket. Funding: $26.1 million Ouya is a $99 game console that challenges traditional systems. Startup: Ouya Founded: 2012 Location: Los Angeles, Calif. Founders: Julie Uhrman and Yves Behar Concept: A $99 open-sourced video gaming console based on Android. Why you should care: Ouya is re-imaging how we consume video games. Traditionally, consoles cost upwards of $300, but this device is tiny and cheap. The Ouya runs its own version of the Android operating system and is in the process of developing exclusive content. The platform is completely open, meaning any Ouya owner and gamer can also become a developer. Funding: $23.6 million See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Tumblr was recently acquired by Yahoo for $1.1 billion. Which early employees hit the jackpot with their stock options? We rounded up 14 of the earliest employees at Tumblr. They were the site's first users, template designers, and friends of David Karp's. The first employee was Marco Arment, who went on to found and sell his own startup, Instapaper. Another early Tumblr employee, Jared Hecht, went on to sell a startup, GroupMe, to Skype for ~ $80 million. See how they all fared ...David Karp is the founder and CEO of Tumblr Date founded: 2006 Role and career history: David Karp is the founder and CEO of Tumblr. The acquisition will net him somewhere around $200 million. Prior to founding Tumblr, Karp was Head of Product at Urban Baby, a site that was acquired by CNET in 2006. The money from the acquisition seeded Davidville, Karp's creative company that ultimately produced Tumblr. Marco Arment was Tumblr's first employee. While he isn't "yacht-and-helicopter- rich," he did alright. Date joined: 2006 Role and career history: Arment was Tumblr's first employee in 2006. He calls himself an "idea editor." "While I wasn’t a 'founder' financially, David was generous with my employee stock options back in the day," Arment wrote on his blog earlier this week. "I won’t make yacht-and-helicopter money from the acquisition, and I won’t be switching to dedicated day and night iPhones. But as long as I manage investments properly and don’t spend recklessly, Tumblr has given my family a strong safety net and given me the freedom to work on whatever I want." Marc LaFountain was Tumblr's third employee and he launched their customer service office in Richmond, Virginia. Date joined: Full time in April 2008, part time before that. Role and career history: LaFountain was one of Tumblr's first 18,000 users. He started working part-time for Karp and joined full-time in April 2008 as Tumblr's "one-man tech support shop." "I just wrote them and said, hey, I'm one of your earlier and most passionate users and I would really love it if you would give me the opportunity to do tech support for Tumblr. I had a bit of an IT and support background," LaFountain told The Atlantic in 2011. He says he and Karp exchanged two emails calls and had a call that likely was shorter than ten minutes. After that, he had the job. See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Amazon's plans for global domination continued today, with the online giant announcing its plans to ship the Kindle Fire HD tablet to an additional 170 countries, including Australia.Both the 7-inch and the 8.9-inch versions of the HD tablet are currently available for pre-order, with the 7-inch version starting at $US214 and the 8.9-inch version starting at $US284.The tablet will officially begin shipping to the additional regions on June 13. That's nine months after the tablet was originally announced in the US and eight months after it launched in the UK.Apps, but no mediaTo accompany the tablet's international rollout, Amazon has also enabled its Android app store around the world today. While the app store is available on most Android devices, it is designed to truly work with the Fire range of tablets.Despite the availability of apps and ebooks, one thing the Kindle Fire HD appears to be missing in its global rollout is entertainment content like music and videos, as well as the Amazon Prime streaming video service.Given the difficulties companies like Apple and Google have had getting Australian rights to content, this isn't a surprise. But it's not clear if Amazon is working towards launching these features in the future, or if it is cutting its losses to try and get the device out to a global market.

Users in the U.K. and France will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on the HTC First. The first smartphone to come preinstalled with Facebook Home has been delayed in those countries while Facebook updates the software to address some negative user feedback.Facebook is wise to delay the rollout, one analyst said, rather than release the product to other markets and risk turning people off."It's like the old adage, 'You don't get a second chance to make a first impression,'" said Greg Sterling, senior analyst with Opus Research."Facebook is trying to maximize Home's potential in these other markets," he said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Randomosity is one of Saints Row's defining elements now, so why should Saints Row IV be any different? With August just a few months away, Deep Silver and Volition have started a video series proving that point. That the game is hilarious and random. Hey, THQ did the same thing for Saints Row: The Third. This is just the first of many in an ongoing series, "Hail to the Chief," where Volition do something "weird" in-game, then show it off to the world. Seems like business as usual for the Saints, really. The video basically shows the leader of the Saints lifting a robot with... telekinesis and then throwing it into the distance. And then everyone dances in terrible outfits. Hail to the Chief #1 - YouTube Saints Row IV will be released August 20 to Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. No next-gen.Comment on this article (0)

Hey have you guys heard about this development studio named Ninja Theory? They're pretty solid. Back in 2007 they made Heavenly Sword and just this year they released DMC: Devil May Cry, which sold over a million copies ridiculously fast. Makes you wonder what they're working on now, huh? Well, maybe, just maybe, we'll find out tomorrow. Ninja Theory put out the following tweet this morning: Tomorrow. Something new to show. — NinjaTheory (@NinjaTheory) May 23, 2013 There you have it. Something. Ninja Theory has something to show tomorrow. To be honest, I feel pretty stupid posting a news story about a five word tweet, but it is E3 time and everyone else seems to be announcing games right about now. I think it has to do with both of the big next-gen consoles having been announced already. Suddenly developers have the freedom to announce their own games, as opposed to keeping Microsoft's secret. Anyways, yeah. Ninja Theory. Tomorrow. It could be DMC 2, or Heavenly Sword 2, but almost definitely isn't Enslaved 2. It may be a coincidence, but Capcom is currently throwing a DMC: Devil May Cry sale for the game and all of its DLC over on their site. Hmm! Still, that sounds like something Capcom would announce and not Ninja Theory themselves. Something new, perhaps?Comment on this article (0)

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