It looks like PlayStation 4 owners won't have to worry about Sony ever considering support for Oculus Rift because the company is working on its own VR headset. According to CVG, Sony will reveal the last bit of its hardware strategy for the PS4 at the Tokyo Game Show by revealing its own custom-built virtual reality headset.

President Barack Obama will soon choose members of a panel that will "independently review" the National Security Agency's surveillance policies. The President announced the plan to form such a committee earlier this month at a press conference, and promised that it would be comprised of "high level group of outside experts." But early indications of his possible picks for this committee show that some of the choices are anything but outsiders. In fact, several have worked in past administrations, and at least one worked in two administrations.

The Xbox One can tell when it is overheating and automatically adjust its operations on the fly, according to what Xbox General Manager of Console Development Leo del Castillo tells Gizmodo.

While a majority of the stories about Google Glass are about privacy concerns, people being idiots with the wearable device, or some Google Glass wearer getting banned from a business because it creeps everyone around them out, it can be used for pursuits many of us are interested in - like gaming.

Before Google's Loon initiative brings internet access to remote regions in places like Africa, Microsoft founder and former front man Bill Gates thinks people should be more concerned about the diseases that kill children in poorer nations around the world.

When it comes to the NSA's overbroad surveillance activities, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) would be perfectly within his rights to say "I told you so." Wyden, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been talking - vaguely, because all the information was classified back then - about how the Patriot Act was being used in an overbroad way to keep tabs on American citizens. It used to be that spying on American citizens was outside the NSA's purview and jurisdiction, but the Patriot Act and other laws opened the flood gates.

According to a tip sent over by Foss Patents, Google has appealed Motorola's loss to Microsoft in its ITC patent case which sought to have the sale of its Xbox 360 banned in the United States.

Last week Microsoft asked the Justice Department for permission to release information to the general public about its participation in government controlled surveillance programs, but the DOJ would not allow it. According to CNet, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith sent a letter on Tuesday to the Obama administration asking for permission to reveal details about how it responds to orders from the U.S. government for private user data.

What happened to Ottawa-based patent-licensing firm Wi-Lan in an East Texas court this week has to be the nightmare of every company using patent licensing portfolios, lawsuits, and settlements as their business model of choice.

A new research report from ABI Research claims that new technologies like cloud-based streaming will not be a game changer for new consoles coming out this fall. In fact the research firm predicts that new console numbers will not be on par with the previous generation's retail sales number in the first five years. ABI Research says that the push to "market online video access in the new consoles is undermined by the availability of cheaper streaming devices from Roku, Netgear, WD, Apple and Seagate, among others."

Would you buy a peripheral - for the purposes of training yourself to be a better gamer - that gives you feedback in the form of an electric shock? If the answer to that question is "yes," then you might be interested in the $249 Foc.us, "a tDCS [transcranial Direct Current Stimulation] headset for gamers" that allows users to "overclock your brain to increase the plasticity." The Foc.us comes with an iOS app so that the headset "can be controlled manually using the touch sensor."

According to a Wall Street Journal report (sourced by IGN), Google has been secretly developing an Android-based home games console, which could be available as soon as this fall. Citing anonymous sources close to the situation, the WSJ claims that the console is just one of a number of secret projects Google has been working on.

The Android-based home console the Ouya is available in North America and the United Kingdom today. The system is widely available for $99 at most retailers. An additional controller will cost you $49.95.

Currently the system offers consumers over 170 free-to-try games including Chronoblade and Final Fantasy 3, access to services such as Twitch.tv, TuneIn and Plex, and a whole lot more.

Tithe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to loosen some regulations related to passengers using electronic devices during flight, take-offs and landings. The current regulations require that passengers turn off all electronics during take-off and landing, usually during the climb to 10,000 feet. The rule was implemented in the 1960's because airlines and the FAA believed that certain devices interfered with equipment in the cockpit.

Nvidia announced today that it will cut the price of its portable gaming device Shield. After "listening to gamers," the company said that it would slash the price of the device from $349 to $299. Customers who have already pre-ordered a unit will pay the new, lower price. Shield is set for release on June 27.

Nvidia said today on its blog: "We've heard from thousands of gamers that if the price was $299, we'd have a home run. So we're changing the price of Shield to $299.

Those consumers who were looking forward to buying that "other" Android home console, the Gamestick, will have to wait a bit longer. The release of PlayJam's Gamestick has slipped to August, citing a delay with manufacturing the micro-Android device. The $500 pledge tier - called "Designed By Me" - offered 50 people the chance to advise on the Gamestick UI. However, the prototype units intended for this stage of production were delayed, and the entire project has been pushed back until August as a result.

Oculus VR has secured $16 million in its first round of funding as the company moves towards bringing its virtual reality hardware technology to the masses. According to reports from Panodaily and AllThingsD the series A funding round was led by Spark Capital and Matrix Partners.

Nvidia Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang said Tuesday that his company was open to acquisitions that fit into its business. Huang spoke to the Wall Street Journal about Project Shield and other issues important to the company at Computex, Asia’s biggest PC trade show.

After missing a few deadlines, it looks like a reworked model of the Android-based Wikipad will finally be released at retail on June 11 at a better price point of $249. A 10-inch version of the hand-held gaming device was supposed to be released last October and was to be sold for close to $500. That model was scrapped in favor of a seven-inch version that does not include a rear camera.

Code for America founder Jennifer Pahlka is headed to the White House for a year. Pahlka founded Code for America in 2009 as a way of pairing technology and software companies with cities that are struggling to bring services into the information age. Pahlka will serve as the White House’s latest deputy chief technology officer for government innovation, according to a post on the organization’s blog.

Nvidia today announced pricing and a release window for its hand-held console system, Project SHIELD (now called simply SHIELD), this morning. The system will cost almost as much as the Wii U, which is surprising given that its other Android-based competitors like the GameStick and the Ouya are priced at right around $100.

A source speaking to The Wall Street Journal today tells the publication that Microsoft's long-rumored "Xbox TV" set-top streaming device is struggling, with Microsoft not sure how or if it will move forward with the device.

The unnamed sources claims that the device has gone through several redesigns - including a recent design that integrated the Kinect - but Microsoft is not satisfied with it.

Bluestacks wants its new console system, the Android-based GamePop, to be "Netflix for games." Pre-orders have launched for the device, which won't cost consumers more than a monthly commitment to sign up to its games services and to pay around $10 for shipping and handling. For a $6.99 monthly fee, customers get access to a library of over 500 Android-based games, the GamePop console, a controller, the power supply and HDMI cable.

Signifi Solutions has launched a new video game vending kiosk called the 'Gamer Spot Shop' that allows consumers to rent and purchase video games, going head-to-head with other companies that provide similar services such as Redbox.

Signifi says that most retailers spend a lot of resources to sell video games, but with its kiosk solution retailers can automate the process, have better control over inventory and reduce manpower.

This really shouldn't come as any shock to anyone that has spent even a little bit of time at a real casino in America, but it looks like some folks in Las Vegas, Nevada don't like Google Glass.

Even as the makers of the Ouya console (seem to) struggle to fill the orders of those individuals who backed them in their successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign (to the tune of $8.3 million), the company behind the Android-based console announces that they have secured $15 million in venture capital financing and that it will move its retail release from early to late June. The $15 million in funding is from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), the Mayfield Fund, Nvidia, Shasta Ventures and Occam Partners.

While the Senate is likely to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act being rammed through the Senate past the red tape of committees and onto the floor for a vote later today or by the end of this week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NEV.), House Republicans face a roadblock that they put in place themselves when it comes time to vote for their Internet tax bill: a pledge.

Middleware game engine technology company Unity announced this week that it will no longer support Adobe's Flash, saying that the company has all but given up on its technology. In a blog post, the company said that Adobe has moved on to other projects and has basically abandoned Flash at this point:

The $99 Android-based home console Ouya, has signed 10,000 developers worldwide that have signed on to produce content for the system, according to what head of developer relations Kellee Santiago told GamesIndustry.biz this week. Santiago, who co-founded Journey developer thatgamecompany and this year moved to OUYA, said that partnerships with larger companies will be announced in the coming months as well.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) this week began the process of pushing the Marketplace Fairness Act before the full Senate without making its way through the Senate Finance Committee (mostly because many of the leaders in the committee don't like the bill and would stall it), according to Politico.