SimCity for Mac pushed back to August

To put it mildly, the EA Maxis team has learned a few hard lessons about launchingonly when ready. The company is putting that theory into practice: it's delaying the launch of SimCity for Mac from June 11th to August. The OS X version just isn't "ready for primetime," the company says. As compensation, all Mac buyers will get access to the recent Launch Park bonus that they'd otherwise miss. And Windows users, you're still getting some TLC -- EA Maxis has detailed the impending Update 5 release, which fixes some bugs while delivering big improvements to chat and trading. While SimCity still hasn't shaken its rocky reputation, it's clear that the developers are determined to (eventually) set things right.

Report: UK security agency also gathering secrets through PRISM

The United Kingdom's main security agency, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), is apparently working with the United States' Prism intelligence program to gather data on various internet companies, The Guardianreports. Documents given to the UK news outlet indicate that GCHQ was able to retrieve "personal material such as emails, photos and videos" from internet companies operating outside the UK, and the GCHQ employed 197 intelligence reports in 2012 alone. This allows the UK government to circumvent red tape that would otherwise tie up the process of acquiring information from companies located outside of its own region.

Apparently the GCHQ's been working with the US Prism service since "at least June 2010," and it's unknown how that's impacted UK citizens in the past several years -- a GCHQ representative wouldn't comment on how long the two agencies have been working together. Though the GCHQ didn't directly confirm the collaboration, the agency issued a statement to The Guardian stating it, "takes its obligations under the law very seriously."

The PRISM system is said to enable access to records held by the nine largest internet companies, from Apple and Google to Skype and even Engadget's parent company, AOL.

In Win's Tou desktop case has glass and class all over it Hands-on

At Computex, Taiwan-based In Win has once again brought out its funky-lookingdesktop cases, but this time there's a new star on the stage. Dubbed the Tou (meaning "transparent" in Mandarin Chinese), this ATX full tower features several 3mm-thick tempered glass panels that are screwed onto an aluminum structure. And since the coated glass is semi-transparent, you can just about see the desktop's innards if you switch on the LEDs inside, which can be controlled via the touch panel above the two front USB 3.0 ports. When the internal lights are off, the desktop is pretty much just a mirror, but you'll want to degrease your fingers before touching any part of it.

Sadly, at the moment the Tou is still at concept stage, so we couldn't squeeze a price or date out of the reps. When the chassis does become available, you'll know as soon as we do.

Amazon introduces Storyteller tool to turn scripts into storyboards HD

Amazon Studios has been forging ahead with its push to develop original movies and TV series, and it has now introduced a new tool that it's hoping will help foster further development. Dubbed Amazon Storyteller, the tool lets writers quickly turn their script into a storyboard without the need for any actual artistic skills. As Amazon explains it, the tool first scans the writer's script and then "identifies the scenes, locations and characters from scene descriptions, and 'casts' them from a library of thousands of characters, props and backgrounds." Writers and filmmakers can then choose to customize the storyboard or upload some of their own images if they like, before sharing it with others to solicit feedback (naturally, it's only available if you submit your script to Amazon Studios). According to the company, the tool works best with contemporary dramas or romantic comedies given its current art assets, so you may still have your work cut out for you if you're looking to storyboard your post-apocalyptic fantasy epic.