The console gamers of the world were abuzz today with high anticipation that Sony Computer Entertainment would be unveiling the much-rumored PlayStation 4 at a big conference they had planned that was streaming all over the world.

A large event was held, and Sony did indeed officially announce the PS4, as expected. What they did not do, however, was unveil it. Instead, some technical details about the new console and what it will do were shared, and the new controller—the DualShock 4—was shown off along with a collection of next-gen game titles and demos.

Not exactly what everyone was expecting, but nevertheless, continue on below to find out what we do know so far. [...]

Within the course of seven months, Reddit user Scopolamina went from relative newbie to 2012′s top ranked user on the social news site, amassing an unheard of 1.87 million karma points, the Reddit currency that marks the success and popularity of a particular user. During that span of time, he also submitted well over 37,000 posts, moderated about 300 subreddits (most NSFW), and has personally been responsible for removing countless incidents of spam on the site.

Then, in mid-January, as seems to happen with increasing frequency to top Reddit users, he was unceremoniously banned from the site, following allegations of selling his influence to spammers. Joining us to talk about that incident, his experience as Reddit’s top user, and his insider secrets to becoming a top user, is Reddit user Scopolamina [...]

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This week, Chinese hackers infiltrate U.S. newspaper networks, Twitter also gets hacked, Oreo takes advantage of the Super Bowl blackout, is Netflix’s full season release schedule the future of television…or a big mistake, will your body be the next unlimited storage device, and if you thought J.J. Abrams hit the motherlode last week for helming both Star Trek and Star Wars franchises, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet! [...]

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This week, we discuss the most ridiculous law of 2013 (so far), Twitter launches a video service, Microsoft Office & YouTube go to paid subscriptions, Ashton Kutcher & JJ Abrams induce nerdgasm, and is the new Blackberry OS 10 & device Blackberry’s last stand, or is it already too late? [...]

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This week, Kim DotCom is back with Mega, FCC wants gigabit broadband nationwide, Steve Jobs hated poaching, a sneak peek at the new Blackberry OS, Firefox phones, game deveolper THQ calls it quits, and more [...]

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This week, tragedy strikes the life of a maverick online activist Aaron Swartz, CBS‘s journalistic bias at CES, Amazon rips your previously purchased CDs, MySpace relaunches, Facebook unveils a few surprises, and the Obama Administration shoots down the Death Star [...]

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This week, black boxes for cars, Intel’s top-secret cord-cutter, an Ubuntu phone, Google makes nice with the FTC, a new controller/console from NVIDIA, Valve‘s “Steam Box”, Kickstarter project Pebble gets a launch date, the most insane keynote ever, and can we put an end to legalese in our EULAs? [...]

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It’s undoubtedly the wave of the future – a fully functioning robot band!

The German-based Compressorhead, which is made of up guitarist Fingers, bassist Bones, and 4-armed drummer Stickboy along with his hi-hat shuffling offspring Stickboy Junior, are making their debut as a ‘metal’ band this month at Australia’s Big Day Out 2013 festival. In preparation for their big gig, the self-proclaimed “World’s Heaviest Metal Band” was back home practicing Motorhead’s “Ace Of Spades,” one of the many covers they’ll performed during their set.

Check out the video here below to witness these metallic headbangers play “Ace Of Spades.”

According to the band’s Facebook page, their 15-song setlist will consist of such popular covers as Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” and “Rock and Roll,” The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” and Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.” (Full setlist is below.) [...]

This week, The Drill Down crew looks back at the year in tech and the web for the year 2012. We’ll discuss our favorite tech events of the past year, and what we can expect in 2013.

Plus, our review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 48fps, Google Maps is back on iOS, and Google hires groundbreaking futurist Ray Kurzweil. [...]

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I have seen the future, and it plays at 48 frames per second. It may not currently be without notable flaws, but technological revolutions seldom begin as such.

This week I saw a Digital IMAX projection of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in HFR. HFR (High Frame Rate) is a marketing term for digital video projected at 48 fps (frames per second), exactly twice the current film frame rate standard of 24 fps.

As some have accurately criticized, to the unaccustomed eye this has the tendency of making the film look like a 70’s BBC TV drama or an old soap opera (that’s because rather than using film, pre-HDTV era soap operas were acquired using economically efficient video cameras which captured at a rate of 60 interlaced fields per second, or the equivalent of 30 frames per second).

During scenes populated mostly by CGI characters I often felt I was watching a cutscene from a fantasy videogame. The high frame rate also appears to reveal more potential imperfections, particularly in scenes involving actors. At times Ian Holm’s (older Bilbo Baggins) face looked so waxy and dull I thought his makeup was applied by morticians. Makeup artists are going to have to be more stringent than ever in the HFR world. In fact, I’d say the majority of criticism attributed to the “eerie” look of this new process is an indication that all filmmaking disciplines will need to reinvent themselves to meet the challenge of the medium [...]

This week, the UN meets to decide the fate of the Internet & the U.S. pushes back, will your cellphones cost full price in the future?, Twitter & Instagram fight for your photo data, Apple is ‘Made in the USA’ again, Tesla takes Motor Trend‘s Car of the Year, and Will ‘The Hobbit’ make you nauseous? [...]

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This week we begin the slide into the Holidays with Black Friday & Cyber Monday, Microsoft & Apple drop key team members, Apple patents the page turn, Nintendo launches the Wii U, and real (and hoax) Facebook changes make users nervous [...]

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The holiday season is coming up and The Drill Down would like you to be ready for it. So as we do every year around this time, we’ve prepared a list of what we consider the perfect gifts to give… and get this holiday. So before you stand around for hours this Black Friday, spend some time with us [...]

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This week, President Obama wins another four years — what tech aided to win him the election, and what can we look forward to from his tech agenda?, Frankenstorm Sandy gives Instagram growing pains, Microsoft’s rumored XBOX tablet, and how can we not geek out over the Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm? [...]

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This week, Apple launches the iPad Mini as well as a slew of other product upgrades. Should you trade up your 3rd Generation iPad for the new Lightning iPad? Listen in and find out. Joining us on the panel this week is Box.com IT consultant Tosin Onafowokan.

But first, the headlines…Kim Dotcom launches Mega, Microsoft launches Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Surface, SmartGlass & a new Halo 4 trailer, Zynga uses Apple’s launch to cover layoffs of over a hundred employees, and Google officially announces Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. [...]

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