An earlier report revealed that President Obama has decided to announce several executive actions that would help fight against patent trolls and reduce the number of patent troll cases seen in the courts, and now it looks like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has decided that they’ve had enough of patent trolls too. According to a report from the New York Times, FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez is preparing to propose an inquiry in which patent-assertion entities will be put under federal scrutiny. Patent-assertion entities are basically companies whose sole existence is to buy and collect on royalties made from patents which they own or might have bought from another company.

Assuming this proposal goes through, what this means for patent-assertion entities is that should they catch the eye of the FTC, they will be subject to an inquiry where they will need to detail how they operate and if the proceeds they make from patent royalties are actually paid out to the patent’s original owner. Will this proposal help curb patent trolls? We guess we will have to wait and see, but for now it sounds like a pretty good idea.

While Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag will be launched on multiple platforms such as the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the Wii U, gamers on the PC will be disappointed to learn that the game will not see a launch on the PC the same time as consoles as it has been delayed by a few weeks. This is according to Ubisoft who confirmed the delay, although they did not state their reasons why. According to Ashraf Ismail, the game’s director, “We’re working hard on the PC version. It’s one of the main platforms we work on in the office. For our PC fans, don’t worry. The game on PC looks phenomenal.”

This is not the first time Ubisoft has delayed games for the PC as they have done so with Assassin’s Creed 3 as well. Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag is expected to be released in October and will also be compatible with next-gen consoles, so we guess PC gamers hoping to get their hands on the game will most likely see it come November or even December, hopefully at the very least by the end of 2013. No specific dates have been given but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more information anyway.

We’ve seen some pretty fancy coffee art in the past, ranging to creative designs, to even 3D ones which are achieved through clever milk froth manipulation. However while they are all pretty cool to look at, for those who are a little narcissistic and wouldn’t mind seeing their faces being used as coffee art, a small coffee kiosk in Taiwan might have figured out a way to do that. Dubbed Let’s Café, these kiosks can be found in Family Mart convenience stores and basically how it works is by customers uploading their photo to the coffee machine, which will then “print” their photos onto their drinks, although it’s more or a sprinkling rather than printing which we guess is somewhat similar to how bubble jet printers work. It’s pretty cool and if you’d like to have your face printed on your coffee in the future, be sure to stop by one of the Let’s Café outlets in Taiwan the next time you’re there! In the meantime for those of us not in Taiwan, you can check out the machine in action in the video above.

With the Sony PS4 set to launch later this year, we’re sure that many gamers who have no plans to pick up the console are looking forward to potential price cuts of the Sony PS3. This is more or less expected since we expect Sony will want to get rid of older stock while focusing on sales of the PS4. However gamers looking to pick up a PS3 console for themselves on the cheap will be disappointed. According to the PlayStation UK’s marketing director, Fergal Gara, there are no plans for a PS3 price cut yet. Speaking to the folks at GamesIndustry International, Gara was quoted as saying, “The PlayStation 3 is a system where it hasn’t been particularly easy to get the costs down,” which might be why the company has no plans for a price cut just yet. This does not mean that there will not be any price cut as Gara stated that Sony will continue exploring opportunities, but just don’t expect one anytime soon. As it stands, the PS3 retails for $300 while the PS4 will be priced at $400 when it is released later this year.

So it was only yesterday that Microsoft officially rescinded their used games policy and always-on internet connection, possibly putting themselves back in the competition against Sony’s PS4, and at the same time winning back fans and customers who might have otherwise jumped ship. Well it looks like gamers aren’t the only one who are pleased with Microsoft’s decision as retailer GameStop has announced that they are quite pleased with Microsoft’s decision as well. The company has released a statement in which they applaud Microsoft for changing their policy, and for understanding their customers as well as recognizing the importance of the pre-owned market. This isn’t too surprising especially since GameStop makes a bulk of its profits by selling used games, so we can only assume that this means that business is back to usual for the retailer.

Back in May, EA announced that they would be removing the Online Pass feature from all of its games. We guess some had speculated that was in anticipation of Sony and Microsoft announcing their own DRM policies which would ultimately make EA’s Online Pass redundant, so when Sony did reveal their plans, and with Microsoft backtracking on theirs, some are probably wondering, does this mean that EA will reintroduce Online Pass as a way to prevent gamers from selling or lending used games to one another? Well the good news is that despite EA being named the worst company in America, it looks like they will be sticking to their guns and will remove the Online Pass feature.

According to EA, the decision to remove Online Pass was based on feedback from players, and that the recent announcements by both Sony and Microsoft did not affect EA’s decision and that there will not be any changes made to their plans. Either way we guess gamers can now breathe a sigh of relief!

With all the fuss over game sharing with next-gen consoles, we’re sure many PC gamers are gloating at how easy it is for them to share their games. In fact, game sharing can even be done through platforms like Steam by giving your friend your user ID and password. While that isn’t exactly the cleanest way to do that, or the most efficient, it just works, but it looks like Valve might be exploring a more official way to allow friends to share Steam games with one another. A user over at the NeoGAF forums has spotted a piece of code which has indicated that Valve could be coming up with a way to allow gamers to share their games with each other.

The code makes reference to a shared game library, along with a notification which would let the user know when a game is currently being played by their friend, presumably not letting them access it in the meantime. We’re not sure what is the extent this sharing feature will go, and if all games will be compatible, especially since both Sony and Microsoft’s policies have left it in the hands of publishers with regards to DRM, so we wouldn’t be surprised if Valve took the same route as well. No word on when this alleged sharing feature will be released to the public, but what do you guys think about it?

While we’re still waiting for the Moto X to be officially announced, @evleaks has recently uploaded a photo which has been allegedly snapped by the device’s camera itself. While the photo above doesn’t look too shabby, it seems that it was snapped by a 10MP camera which might not sit too well with Android users who are looking forward to the device. After all, current high-end Android phones are sporting at least 12MP, with phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom sporting 16MP cameras, so at least on paper, it would seem that the Moto X phone is lagging behind. Other rumored specs include a dual-core processor with a 720p HD display. We’re certainly hoping that this isn’t the case, especially since current-gen Android devices sitting on the high-end spectrum of the market are featuring quad-core chipsets with Full HD displays. Of course it is possible that the Moto X could be designed as a mid-ranged device to target a wider audience, but either way we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out. In the meantime what do you guys think of this photo’s quality?

When iOS 7 was revealed, many were pleasantly surprised by the visual changes afforded by the new OS, while others were horrified at the pop colors that Apple had decided to go with. While iOS 7 is still a work in progress, here’s how some of the icons might have looked like if former Apple designer, Louie Mantia, were still working at Apple. Mantia was in charge of some of the design of the icons prior to iOS 7, which to be honest was a good thing because there was really nothing wrong with the way the icons looked in the first place. However keeping to the theme and feel of iOS 7, Mantia has come up with his own set of iOS 7 icons which we can’t help but feel look a bit better, as the colors are slightly more subdued, but at the same time keeping to the overall theme.

According to Mantia, “Today, I revisited that original task and took about a day to understand the new style. Simpler, smoother, subtler. While I don’t employ the grid they created (and while I instead use the colors I chose), these feel interesting and balanced. Vibrant and bold, but not overbearing.” What do you guys make of Mantia’s design? Would you have preferred this over the current design?

With the oils from our hands and our faces, not to mention dirt, grease, and whatnot, the screens of our phones get pretty nasty and usually within the course of a day, many of us wipe our phones down several times. Usually a microfiber cloth will do the trick, but not everyone has one or brings one out with them, which is why this shirt from designer Voy Voy might be something worth checking out. The design of the shirt itself is pretty normal, clean and simple, but what makes it unique is how it comes with a small piece of microfiber cloth sewn to the bottom corner of the shirt, allowing the user to use it to wipe down the screens of their electronic devices such as camera LCDs, tablets, or even smartphones.

In fact according to the product’s description, the shirt has been created for the iPhone in mind, with a pocket designed to hold the iPhone specifically. We’re not sure what this entails – could it be that the pocket has been measured and designed in a way that it will hold the iPhone securely, versus larger pockets where the phone could slip out when you bend over? In any case this shirt is priced at $98 and can be bought at Voy Voy’s website.