With the advent of social media, many aspects of our lives have become much more public than at any other time in our history. However, there are certain times when we not only want to maintain our privacy and security out of choice, but also out of necessity. One of these occasions is when using online services to back up and protect our digital files, whether they are documents, images, video or music. Our digital data is important to us, and part of who we are. It belongs to us, and its loss would be a major blow to many of us.

Therefore, understanding how online backup works, and in particular how are files are kept secure, is an important part of maintaining trust in the different services available for cloud storage. Understandably, companies providing online backup services will make a big deal about how secure their services are. For those who want extra peace of mind, however, a proper understanding of just how and why your data is kept secure helps to give you extra trust in the companies that manage your information.

What is Online Backup?

The principles behind online backup and cloud storage services are quite simple. In most cases, in order to keep accurate and current copies of your information, a backup service will most likely provide you with a piece of software to install on your computer. With a few clicks of your keyboard and mouse, you tell the software which files and folders on your computer you want to back up. The software will then securely copy those files and folders and send them, encrypted, over the internet for safe storage on a remote system. Using an online backup or cloud storage service prevents you having potentially unreliable and expensive hard drive costs of your own.

Online backup software keeps an up-to-date track of your files and folders, noting any changes when they occur, and uploading new versions of files to the online servers as and when it is necessary.

Of course, for this to happen safely, it has to happen securely. This means that the online backup service providers need to use special software and protocols (which is how computers on the internet move things around) in order to make sure your data and information is fully protected. Security is not the only consideration, however.
See here more information about online backup services.

What is Online Backup Security?

At the heart of online backup security are Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Socket Layers (SSL). If you have ever watched a spy movie, where a character calls back to base and asks for a connection to a ‘secure line’, the principle is exactly the same. With older phone lines, as well as with some forms of internet communication, it is theoretically possible for someone to ‘listen in’ and grab snippets of the conversation or data if they have the right skills or equipment. This is why security is of vital importance in protecting your data.

By using TLS and SSL, just as with a secure line in a spy movie plot, the information is scrambled and protected in such a way that it is extremely difficult for someone to listen in and grab any information. Almost all online file storage service providers, regardless of the connection they provide for you to upload your files (whether it is through their customized proprietary software, through a web interface, or through FTP), will be set up in a manner involving such measures as TLS and SSL to help keep your data safe.

The most significant part about this is that when you are uploading your important files and documents to your online backup service provider, you can be sure you are only uploading this data to them, and not to a third party who is snooping in on the internet ‘conversation’. Transport Layer Security and Secure Socket Layers are exactly the same services and protocols that are at work when you do your online shopping or internet banking. In those instances, people are often dealing with debit and credit card information and other important and personal financial information. You can therefore rest assured that an online backup service using TLS and SSL has the same level of high security as your bank.

Encryption

Next time that you are shopping online, look at the web address in your browser bar when you are going through the purchasing part of the site. Most web addresses begin with http://, but a secure web address (meaning one that uses SSL to transmit your information securely) will begin instead with https://. The key to this security is something that is called encryption. Encryption is a means whereby information is garbled, or encoded, at one end of the information chain. It is then decoded at the other end so that it makes sense again. If the information is interrupted in the middle of the transmission, it will make no sense whatsoever without the encryption key.

In the case of online data backups, the encryption keys that are used to encode and decode data are created and managed by the backup service companies. These companies go to great lengths to make sure that the keys are kept completely secure and are only accessed by those who are authorized to help you manage your data.  Some companies will even allow you to create your own encryption keys, if you would prefer to have even more control over your data. For most people, however, this is unnecessary.

Encryption can vary, with 40-bit encryption (no longer used) being typically the lowest level, and 448-bit encryption being the highest level. Most companies will use 128-bit standardized encryption, as does SSL. This is more than enough, as it has never been hacked.

Rest Assured that Online Backup Services are Secure

Although most online backup service providers will be considerably smaller businesses than the bank that looks after your money, your data is just as important to your backup service provider as your financial information is to your bank. This is exactly the reason why they use the same protocols and services, and will have staff whose priority is the safety of your data and information. With TLS and SSL encryption up to 128-bits, and in some cases beyond, you can be absolutely sure that your information and files are secure with online backup.

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“Computers have a lot of memory but no imagination in itself as the fantasy part is taken over by PC Games”.

Talk to any dedicated gamer and you will realize what it means. True, gamers have a world of their own. You may call them addicts, you may call them freaks or you may call it madness. However, one cannot deny the fact that most of these computer games have dominated the world of entertainment for kids and adults in the past 15 years.

Here, let us review some of the most expected PC games scheduled for release in 2012-

Half life 2 Episode 3

Half life 2 Episode 3 tops the list of the most anticipated computer games of 2012. The Half-Life series of video games are science fictions that have an alternate history. This one is the third and final instalment in the series of episodes with Half-Life 2 being the former version.

Developed by Valve Corporation, the series of games released so far were massive hits and the speculations revolving around the upcoming series is equally hot. It is extremely hard to silence or even turn a blind eye towards these rumours on the upcoming game, thanks to the success of the past episodes.

And of course, as gamers we have the right to expect and dream for more. So keep your fingers crossed as you may be playing the game of your life.

Diablo 3

Diablo 3 is yet another much awaited game that features dark fantasy and horror themed action role-play. Developed by Blizzard and his team, Diablo 3 makes its third edition debut by early 2012. The game was first announced in June 28, 2008 and very few know that it was a fantastic mix of thrill, horror, miseries, excitement and full of entertainment. It is a perfect blend of action and adventure with music and sound effects complimenting the game’s thrill.

The Diablo 3 is expected to have a feel that is similar or better to that of the earlier games in the series with innovative slots for armour and weaponry. As a game lover, you may expect a treat for your new year.

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm

Another action-packed game is on the way-

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. The theme of the event is a military science fiction nature and real-time strategy. The game spans approximately twenty missions and is more likely to be released by April 2012.

With different characters casting different powers, the game calls for a lot of intelligence and swift actions, making it more thrilling. With a strong story line up that is revolving around the game, every scene or action here has a meaningful touch to it.

For those who have played the earlier series of the game, this version promises to be a convincing update with even better improvisations.

Battle field 3

Battle Field 3 game is purely a depiction of the 21st century action cinema. It is a catastrophic event of destruction and gunfire in the remotely located cityscapes around the world. The Modern Warfare 3 is the most recent among the long range of first-person shooters. This game is also more likely to make a lot of money than any other blockbuster movie-based games. The Cold War – Call of Duty, an earlier version of the game last year, became the biggest selling American game ever.

The series of games have been based on bomb blasts and bullets and the upcoming game is also expected to be a huge paean in the art of computer generated destructions.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Launched as early as 2000, the very first version of Deus Ex is still considered to be one of the greatest games of all times by many gaming extremists and experts. The changes brought about in this game’s revolution saw huge changes starting from a collection of first-person shooters to an array of choices and customizations to create one’s own game-play styles and weapons.

The toughness of the game and its difficulty level can at times test your will power. Human Revolution is a worthy update to the original game and is definitely one that will stay long in your mind.

BioShock: Infinite

An expected first person shooting game, BioShock Infinite is the third game in the BioShock series. It is developed by Irrational Games and is slated for a 2012 release. It will be compatible with the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Interestingly, this game shows no imitation of its earlier version as it is equipped with different settings of the earlier age.

As the waiting time gets lesser and lesser, speculations and expectations on the game became more and more. Die-hard-fans of the game would have a short wait for a long-time gaming pleasure. With early reviews of the game promising a lot, the game is almost certain to be a huge hit.

Saints Row 3

Saints Row 3, developed by Volition Inc. is a sandbox styled action-packed adventurous game. The game may be released late this year or early next year. It will be compatible with Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. The game will be the third title in the series after the launch of the Saints Row 2 in 2008. In the previous series of the games, the player controls the head of the Third Street Saints. The whole theme revolves around the gang war between the rival criminal group called the Syndicate and the Saints.

BioShock Infinite is arguably one of the best story-based video games in the last 10 years. As always and as in the case of most of the games, Saints Row 3 would be easier to play on knowing the theme, the story behind the theme and the best way to play them.

As all of the above games are a big hit in the past, there is hardly any doubt about their success in the future. Either way, it’s going to be a breathtaking year for the gamers around. As former player and American Football coach, Jim Coule quotes, “Love is all fun and games until someone loses an eye or gets pregnant“.

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Gone are the days of computer games being played over dialup or barely-there internet connections, as technology has become more advanced, and as computers have become more powerful, games have become incredibly more demanding. So, if you’re in the market for an internet connection that will outshine your competitors’, what are the things you need to consider when doing a broadband comparison?

The Wiring

Today’s broadband internet connections generally fall into three groups, as far as wiring is concerned: there are copper connections, coaxial connections, and fiber-optic connections. Each of these has a certain set of features and drawbacks that affects the way your online game will be played.

Copper cable is generally associated with phone-line-based DSL connections, and offers the slowest internet speeds (and highest game-killing latency) of any broadband internet connection. While it’s great for casual internet users, it simply will not hold up to the demands of online gaming. Its latency will prove problematic, and its slow speeds may result in lost connections and lost games.

Coaxial cable is generally offered by cable broadband operators; these are the same cables that transmit television signals to digital cable set top boxes across the country. These connections are good, though the high speeds required for gaming will prove more expensive and rarer to find in rural markets. However, this is the predominant type of internet connection worldwide, and provides a solid way to take on the online gaming universe.

Finally, there’s the emerging market for fiber-optic internet connections. These connections are, far and away, the fastest internet connections in the world. And, as an added bonus, they typically have the lowest latency numbers of any type of internet connection. This makes them the ideal fit for gamers who need a huge amount of bandwidth that suffers from virtually no latency.

The Location

The game that you will be playing most likely operates through a central server, or a series of decentralized and user-hosted servers. These servers all have a physical location, just like your internet provider’s central office. The distance between that central office, and your online game’s servers, will determine just how much latency is experienced during game play.

Therefore, it’s important to research where your future internet provider’s main servers are located. Your distance from those servers, and their distance from your game’s host, may be the difference between virtual life and death. Remember that latency accelerates over long distances, so do your best to keep everything in the same general location or region of the country!

The Limitations

It’s no secret that bandwidth has opened up a new world of media downloads, demanding online games, and media streaming that has strained internet service providers worldwide. For this reason, many internet service providers have instituted strict limits on bandwidth use in order to keep users from abusing the ever-increasing speeds of their broadband networks.

When conducting a broadband comparison for your online gaming internet connection, pay special attention to these limits (known as “broadband caps”). Some providers may limit users to a certain number of gigabytes per month — no matter what — while others may allow unmetered usage during off-peak hours (such as the early morning or late at night). You know your game-playing and internet-using habits better than anyone else, so make sure your internet service provider works with them instead of against them.

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You’ve probably read this headline and are now slightly puzzled… I know I was when I first discovered the story. Let me break it down for you.  On April 23rd, 10,539 Xbox Live members created history, setting a new Guinness World Record.

The record? The largest number of participants in a simultaneous online 100m sprint, achieved by users during the Xbox Nations Free Live Weekend on April 23rd. Members were sent a challenge inviting them to “Play for their Nation” and thousands of competitors gathered at 11am (PST) or 6pm (BST) to take part.

This isn’t the only record the Kinect has managed to break. Back in March it managed to grab the Guinness World Record as the fasted selling consumer electronic device, selling an incredible 10 million units since it launched in November.

To help promote the event, Microsoft recruited many of England’s 2012 Olympic hopefuls. They included Cricketer Graeme Swann, Winter Olympics Gold medalist Amy Williams, Olympic gymnast Louis Smith and professional Table Tennis Player, Darius Knight. Knight somehow managed to run the 100 meters in an incredible virtual time of 9.20 seconds! That’s faster than the current world record held by Usain Bolt at 9.58 seconds. His fellow team mates coming with 9.33 seconds by Amy Williams, 10.45 seconds by Louis Smith and 10.60 seconds by Graeme Swann.

Stephen McGill, Director of Xbox and Entertainment for Microsoft’s Retail Sales and Marketing Division, UK & IR said

“We’re thrilled to hold a Guinness World Record title for the largest online 100 metre sprint! Breaking a Guinness World Record is such a massive milestone and we’re pleased that we had the chance to do this in partnership with the Xbox LIVE community, following our record breaking launch of Kinect, which was named the Fastest Selling Consumer Electronics Device by Guinness as well.”

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Here are a group of programming tools that you may want to put in your development library.

Start with a SQL development analysis program.

MSSQL.SchemaDiff

Developing databases is an intriquite job. Especially if you are taxed with trying to compare databases. But this is where MSSQL. SchemaDiff can help. You can use MSSQL Schema Diff to compare database schemas.  Start with the schema’s because that is where you will see the organizational structure of the databases. So this program quickly locates  structural differences between two SQL Server databases.  When the operation is complete, the results are displayed with MSSQL objects in a familiar SQL Management Studio tree layout with property comparisons in a matching data grid. What is more, you get intuitive icons and color codes, which make it easy to spot differences.  Filter buttons then make it easy to narrow down just what is different or missing from one or the other database.  To put this in context try this simply select two MSSQL databases, click Compare, then browse the  differences.

Screen_Database Selection

[Download Link]

Game Develop

Now a different programming tools set is on game development.  So if you want to try your hand at game development here is a gaming develop program that you can use to start programming in that environment. Game Develop, the free game development software, allowing to create any kind of 2D game. Easy to learn and to use, powerful, with help file and examples included. The creation under Game Develop is entirely visual : Creation of objects, image insertion, objects positioning. The user interface allows you to preview your game and test it inside the editor, by simply clicking on a single button.  No line of code has to be written, Game Develop uses indeed a event system based on conditions, which have to been filled so as to execute actions. As for examples of programs developed by Game Develop see this link.

[Download Link]

Install Simple

Finally, after you have developed your application, you need to create an installation package. With Install Simple you can create installation package easily and quickly. You can give the steps for the installation, system requirements,  you can also provide the name and description of your software.

[Download Link]

These three programs, one for database, one for gaming, and one for the installation process can give you good insight about the different aspects of programming development or analysis.

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Recent news has appeared in the media which doesn’t bode well for Sony. All shipments of their PlayStation 3 game console have been seized in Europe. The decision came about after LG won a preliminary injunction in a patent dispute with Sony.

The 10 day ban on the import of the Sony PlayStation 3 into Europe came into effect yesterday when the civil court of justice in the Hague granted the injunction on shipments of the PlayStation 3 to Europe. Of course this news is not too good for Sony who will inevitably see there sales slip dramatically, especially if LG apply to have the embargo extended after the initial 10 days.

The decision came about after a patent dispute between LG and Sony. LG believe that they hold two patents that they claim Sony are using and violating with the PlayStation 3. The patents relate to the way the game console’s Blu-ray player uses data from a Blu-ray disc, apparently for the “reproduction of multiple data streams”  when a couple of different camera angles are used, but also includes how text is displayed in subtitles.

The consoles were first seized by custom officers in the Netherlands yesterday where the officers are said to have stopped “tens of thousands” of game consoles from entering Europe according to the Guardian. Sony generally imports around 100,000 of the consoles a week, and of course are frantically trying to get the ban lifted. They do have the right to appeal to the European patents office.

LG have also filed a similar patent lawsuit in the US, but at the moment there has been no further action on it. This all came about after Sony filed a complaint against LG last December claiming that it’s using some of it’s technology found in there mobile phones and they were looking for LG phones to be banned from sale in the US. But nothing more ever came of it.

This news is not good for consumers in Europe either. The majority of orders here are pre-orders which means consoles have been sold nearly before they’ve even shipped. This could mean current supplies could run out within 2 or 3 weeks. Let’s hope Sony can get this embargo lifted by then.

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The Guinness Book of World Records 2011 Gamer’s Edition has recently come out, and it includes a list of the 50 best video game characters of all time. Now firstly, who decided on this list? Well the results were determined by a poll on the Guinness website. So readers and fans determined the results of the poll. Over 13,000 different votes were counted so it’s a pretty conclusive result in my opinion.

Want to hazard a guess as to who got the number one spot? Well I don’t think it’s any surprise really, Nintendo’s Mario of course claimed the top spot. This iconic little guy first appeared back in 1981 and the Mario franchise has blossomed ever since.

Link from Zelda was another one for Nintendo with him coming in second place. Master chief from Halo claimed the 3rd spot for Microsoft and Sony’s Solid Snake coming in 4th. I think you’ll find that the majority of the top 10 are held by older characters from the classic games with the exception of one or two.

Looking further down the list you see characters such as “Soap” MacTavish from the Call Of Duty Franchise as well as others.  Most of these characters have been around longer than I have and I’ve never heard of several of them, but somebody must have if they managed to make it into the top 50 characters of all time

Have a look at the list below and let us know what your list is in the comments below

1. Mario (Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981)
2. Link (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 1986)
3. Master Chief (Halo: Combat Evolved, Microsoft, 2001)
4. Solid Snake (Metal Gear, Konami, 1987)
5. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII, Square, 1997)
6. Pac-Man (Pac-Man, Namco, 1980)
7. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider, Eidos 1996)
8. Gordon Freeman (Half-Life, Valve, 1998)
9. Kratos (God of War, Sony, 2005)
10. Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega, 1990)
11. Crash (Crash Bandicoot, Sony, 1996)
12. “Soap” MacTavish (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision, 2007)
13. Nico Bellic (Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar, 2008)
14. Samus Aran (Metroid, Nintendo 1986)
15. Ratchet (Ratchet & Clank, Sony, 2002)
16. Nathan Drake (Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Sony, 2007)
17. Captain Price (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision, 2007)
18. Kirby (Kirby’s Dream Land, Nintendo, 1992)
19. Marcus Fenix (Gears of War, Microsoft, 2006)
20. Pikachu (Pokemon Red/Green, Nintendo 1996)
21. Yoshi (Super Mario World, Nintendo, 1990)
22. “CJ” Johnson (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar, 2004)
23. Mega Man (Mega Man, Capcom, 1987)
24. Sam Fisher (Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Ubisoft, 2002)
25. Shadow (Sonic Adventure 2, Sega, 2001)
26. Jak (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Sony, 2001)
27. Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem, Apogee, 1991)
28. Dante (Devil May Cry, Bandai, 2003)
29. Naruto (Naruto: Konoha Ninpoch, Bandai, 2003)
30. Altair (Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft, 2007)
31. Zelda (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 1986)
32. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII, Square, 1997)
33. Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981)
34. The Prince (Prince of Persia, Broderbund, 1989)
35. Ezio (Assassin’s Creed II, Ubisoft, 2009)
36. Leon S (Biohazard/Resident Evil, Capcom, 1996)
37. Ash Ketchum (Pokemon Red/Green, Nintendo, 1996)
38. Guybrush Threepwood (The Secret of Monkey Island, LucasArts, 1990)
39. Spyro (Spyro the Dragon, Universal, 1998)
40. “Ghost” Riley (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Activision, 2009)
41. Goku (Dragon Daihikyoe, Epoch, 1987)
42. Max Payne (Max Payne, Rockstar, 2001)
43. Jill Valentine (Biohazard/Resident Evil, Capcom, 1996)
44. Princess Peach (Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, 1985)
45. Larry Laffer (Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Sierra, 1987)
46. Augustus Cole (Gears of War, Microsoft, 2006)
47. Bowser (Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, 1985)
48. Eddie Riggs (Brutal Legend, EA, 2009)
49. Ryu (Street Fighter, Capcom, 1987)
50. Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet, Sony, 2008)

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Though users were quite impressed with the custom A4 chip that Apple had introduced a year back, the technology is somewhat out-dated by now. There has been a constant buzz that all iDevices will now undergo a major upgradation with the launch of the dual-core A5 processor using multicore ARM CPU’s. It has been reported that it is highly possible that iOS devices like the iPad 2 and iPhone 5 and quite possibly the next iPod Touch will now be manufactured with a dual-core SGX543MP2 graphics chip and probably be combined with a dual core ARM Cortex-A9 main processor. It is most likely that the new graphics in the chip will pair two SGX543 cores which will be programmed to work as a singular unit.

This will be a decisive upgrade from the A4 processor’s single SGX535 GPU that Apple devices use now in their existing iOS hardware. The latest versions of the iPod touch and the Apple TV are rumoured to be scheduled for launch with the same upgrade in September. It is already known that the latest version of the iOS 4.3 beta SDK has drivers that are suitable for the new SGX543 GPU. Therefore it is but natural that it is meant to be the next GPU for the iPad. Indsutry leaks have more or less confirmed that the A4 custom silicon that was introduced with the original iPad will now see a successor in the A5. The upgraded version of the iPad is predicted to be out in April, while the new iPhone 5 is expected to be launched in June or July.

The SGX543 is capable of supporting a number of multi-cores settings ranging from two to sixteen. The adding of cores does not bring about any change in the driver software or any other application. Majority of the complex management of the data, pipeline and the thread will be managed by the hardware. This upgrade improves the graphical power by almost four times the current generation graphical power, in graphics and video functions, thereby enabling the possibility of the 2048 x 1536 display resolution that the next iPad is rumoured to be coming with. Since 1080p HDMI video output has become the default specification for most of the latest gadgets available in the market today, it is only natural that the same specification will be featured in devices like the Apple TV. The presence of dual graphic cores will facilitate their smooth functioning. This will also allow the user to get a genuine HD display through a dock.

current iPhone

It is expected that this A5 will be produced by Imagination Technologies — the same company who brought the A4 to life based on Apple’s in-house chip designs. A5 will retain the cast of A4 characters including Apple’s Intrinsity and PA Semi influences, while the production duties will be carried out by Samsung.

And if Apple actually pull this off, they still just somehow maintain the lead in the handheld market because other players are now aggressively trying to catch up. The handheld gaming indsutry in particular is saturated right now with rumors of Sony’s next generation handhled gaming device that will have features almost equivalent to the iPod Touch. Of course, with the large difference in how the iOS platform works and how Sony’s development process works, the large number of games and the out of the box, addicitive indie titles that make the iOS popular as a gaming console, will still continue to push Apple forward. Whilst Sony is trying to work on a platform that will give the writers the same on the fly experience that they get from the iTunes store, it is highly unlikely that Sony will change its developers policy to release an easily accssible SDK.

It's quite popular amongst casual gamers

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The recently launched Razer Switchblade has been attracting a lot of buyers and is all set to redefine the way people perceive PC gaming. It is actually a mini handbook that is powered by Intel Atom. It is capable of running computer games that run on Windows 7 and does so at amazingly well, giving you a performance of 30FPS or so.

Razer has always been popular with gamers because of the wide range of premium PC gaming accessories they offer. This year, however, marked the launch of the Razer Switchblade prototype. This is primarily a newer avatar of the handheld gaming device but much smaller and capable of running a larger number of PC games. This has been the most awaited gaming device since Alienware M11x’s launch in all likelihood.

But unlike gaming notebooks like the Alienware M11x, the Razer Switchblade comes with a smaller 7-inch multi touch screen and a keyboard that is nothing like other keyboards. Instead of an ordinary QWERTY keyboard, the notebook uses a programmable keyboard that makes it both unique and dynamic. This keyboard is actually another LED backlit touch screen display overlaid with transparent tactile keys. Therefore, each key is capable of transforming in order to serve any specific function needed by Windows 7- be it an application or a particular game. For instance, the normal QWERTY keyboard that one sees on switching on the Switchblade transforms into a media player interface when a movie is played. The keyboard also adapts itself according to specific game controls. This feature makes it one of the most innovative keyboards in the market today.

The Switchblade is powered by the Intel Atom processor and provides the platform to run Windows 7. There’s also the custom Razer UI that controls the keyboard changes, making the screen easier to use. The manufacturers have not clarified on the features of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) that runs the games on this notebook but given the optionson the market, it is probably using NVIDIA ION2.

Even though the company has said that the Switchblade plays games at thirty frames per second, not a lot of information is available about its resolution or settings at which it does this thing. Although the exact specifications of the notebook is yet undecided, it will probably feature a 128 GB SSD, Wi-Fi, 3G, a USB 3.0 port and a mini-HDMI port. It promises a battery life of about 4-6 hours for playing games and even more if it is used for web browsing or if used like a regular PC. So it looks like a major part of the bulk of the notebook is probably just battery, which is good news for gamers.

However, through all the hype and everything that is surrounding the Switchblade right now, we still have to see whether an Atom-powered device is actually capable of living up to the expectations of PC gamers. We also don’t know yet if the Switchblade can handle all PC games or how well it performs with them. Cost is also going to be another issue because because of the specialized parts and the dual screen set up. Whilst you will get sub-$300 notebooks in the market, this is very much likely to cost a lot more.

Though gamers have set their hopes high on this portable gaming device, we are yet to see how well the device performs once the product or a production-level review sample is released. So it will be a while before we get to find out what the device performs like in real life.

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The last two editions of Call Of Duty have been developed by Infinity Ward and both Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops have managed to break sales records.

Over the past number of years, the Call Of Duty series has had Treyarch developing the odd numbered installments with Infinity Ward doing the even numbered ones. It was between Call Of Duty 4 and 6 that things really kicked off for the franchise and the popular Modern Warfare sub-series developed. Technically speaking the next series of Call Of Duty will be 8, which would see Infinity Ward doing the game.

But due to disputes between Infinity Ward and Activision, it doesn’t look like they will be this year. Earlier this year some legal issues sparked up between the two. Infinity Ward wanted a bigger cut of the massive amount of money that Activision were rolling in, but they were having none of it. Since then, the two founders, Jason West and Vince Zampella, have left the company.

This could mean that Infinity Ward are out of the series, or it could mean they’re taking an extra year to work on a future title, since it’s a bit of a tight schedule churning out one title each year. Rumor has it they are going to work during 2011 on a prequel to Modern Warfare.

So what’s  next in the Call Of Duty series is beyond me, but it looks like it will be developed by Sledgehamer which means that it could be a completely new edition to the series all together. We’ll just have to wait and see, one things for certain, it’s got a lot to live up to.

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Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was the biggest selling game of its time, easily besting every other title out there. It was Activisons biggest selling game and it made them a whole lot of money. Nobody thought that Black Ops would be able to live up the incredible reviews and sales figures that came hand in hand with Modern Warfare 2.

Despite not having as good reviews as its predecessor, Black Ops has yet again gone and broken all the previous sales figures. Black Ops generated an incredible $360 million in revenue in the first 24 hours that it was on sale. This meant that Black Ops is now the biggest entertainment launch in history, stealing the title from Modern Warfare 2. Activision managed to shift an incredible 5.6 million copies of Black Ops on launch day, compared to the record breaking 4.7 million copies previously set by Modern Warfare 2.

So after enjoying record launch sales, Activision were looking forward to breaking the 5 day record sales crown. And it wasn’t too hard for them to do it either, today it was announced that the franchise sold over $650 million worldwide in its first 5 days. That’s 100 million more than what was held by the previous record holder, which happened to be Modern Warfare 2 with $550 million.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said that

“Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for two consecutive years across all forms of entertainment.”

Activision claim that Black Ops has bested any release in “theatrical box office, book, and video game sales.”

Call Of Duty : Black Ops seems to be setting all the records, it even managed to set a new record for online Xbox Live game time, with 5.9 million hours logged on the first day, compared to 5.2 million logged with Modern Warfare 2.

So despite what some critics and gamers are saying, the Call Of Duty franchise seems to be growing more and more and it just keep setting new records all the time.

Where it will go from here whoever remains to be seen

Source:

Cnet

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Facebook Gamers have been complaining for some time now about some annoying aspects of the gaming experience when using Facebook. The Social Network Company is working to clean up their user interface and to get application spam under control. The changes will roll out over the next six months.

Facebook itself does not have games. Instead they are available by searching games on the top right hand corner. Here are some of the games that are available: Farmville, Fish World, Pillow Fight, Restaurant City, Petville, Farmtown, Happy Island, and Mind Jolt.

Bubbletown

Here is a list of some of the changes that are expected to develop.

For Starters, smarter bookmarks: the left hand panel of bookmarks will now actually consider user behavior. There is a relevance algorithm involving the number of times in the last 30 days that you have used an application. Before, that left hand panel just sat there, doing nothing.

There is a stronger reengagement channel. Before: there was grey text for gaming notifications. Now: the gaming notifications will stand out more with blue bubbles. There is the ability to retract games requests, and Facebook will be moving requests to the left sidebar.

Requests to the Dashboards. Here gaming related requests will now be moved to the games dashboard for convenience sake.

Targeted Stream Posts plus Personalizing Stories: For people who don’t play games, the updates will be more specific, they will only see when a game is added, not the ongoing update notifications like “Monica is building a barn in FarmVille.”

There are Simplified Policy Changes: Facebook will be adding more changes and features in the upcoming months in order to streamline the social gaming experience.

Normally, you wouldn’t expect the gaming issue to be a big item in Facebook’s to-do list. But with about 200 million people playing games on a monthly basis, this perception is wrong.

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Ok technically speaking Sony have made a profit before, but haven’t managed to make one in gaming in years! Ever since the company launched the PlayStation 3 in 2006, they’ve been losing money on it. However, since the redesign of the Playstation 3 back in August last year, things have taken a turn for the better.

Previously Sony were losing money on every single PlayStation 3 console sold. However in April it finally passed a milestone which made the PS3 profitable. This happened because advances in Technology made the console cheaper to produce and sales were higher than expected. That profitability has continued on through July to September. Sales of the PS3 were an impressive 3.5 million units, higher than the 3.2 million sold during the same quarter last year.

“The game business has been profitable for four quarters in a row and is steadily progressing to a profit for the full year,” said Masaru Kato

Sony managed to generate a profit of $375 million during it’s second quarter with revenue of $20.8 billion. $4.4 billion of that came from the division that includes both the PC and Playstation 3 consoles which saw an increase of 5 percent.

The increase in PC sales was caused from Sony expanding into more regions and increasing their market share. Even though game sales were down, strong sales of PlayStation 3 hardware and the arrival of the PlayStation Move towards the end of the quarter more than made up for them.

So it’s good to see Sony finally making a profit on their game console after 4 years of a losses. Fair play to them for sticking at it for this long, it must be hard when your shareholders are shouting at you for selling a product at a loss for 4 years to keep at it.

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In an announcement that will come as no surprise to anyone, Microsoft Games Studios’ General manager Dave Luehmann has said that the company should be putting more resources into Games for Windows Live.  NeoWin has reported that he think’s it’s Microsoft’s responsibility to “lead the way” with PC gaming.

This fits entirely consistently into the company’s current plans for the Xbox and Windows Phone 7 platforms.  They will be making a big push towards mobile gaming with the integration of the Xbox Live platform into their new smartphone OS.  It’s only a matter of time before that gaming integration, something that was promised with the launch of Windows 7 but has yet failed to materialise, comes to the PC as well.

The “Games for Windows” moniker has not been entirely successful.  It was introduced with Windows Vista as a way to help reassure consumers not only that a game would run happily under Windows but that it would also integrate seamlessly into the new Games panel in the OS.  This can make it easy to control settings, change parental control options and update the game.

Sadly the main reason for this failure was probably Windows Vista itself which was far from a gaming platform and shunned by almost all hard-core gamers.

In the interview, Leuhmann said “There’s been a fair bit of criticism aimed at Microsoft that we were spending a lot of our focus on console, and we need to be putting resources behind PC as well. Other companies should look to Microsoft for leadership, but I’m not sure they do. It is our job to lead the way on PC. And in some ways we are doing that and in other ways we are not. So we need to step up.”

It will be interesting to see what happens going forward and how and if the Games for Windows Live and Xbox Live services integrate in the future.

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Now I’m sure most of you know all about over clocking processor chips, heck I’m sure many of you are probably running machines with over clocked chips. You can buy some chips over clocked above their rated speed, but this usually involves a bit of hacking around and if you don’t do it right, you could cause some trouble for your machine.

But Intel now are testing the water and offering to unlock additional caches and threads on the new Pentium G6951 processor. It’s not exactly the same as over clocking, but it should give you a modest performance boost, albeit for $50.

Hardware.info got their hands on an early sample of the chip and discovered it’s actually a full 1MB of L3 cache that’s enabled plus HyperThreading support, and they say it’s a modest, but noticeable upgrade to the chip.

Now the likes of Intel and other chip manufacturers do regularly sell chips with lower specs than what they’re capable off, and thats why people can over clock them above their “rated” performance. Regularly the chip is capable of more than what it’s rated, but due to stringent quality control, they aren’t run at their full performance.

So Intels new processor performance upgrade card will give you that little extra boost, and go about it the legit and right way,but they only appear to be trying it out on their new pentium processor for the moment. What do you think about paying an extra $50 to unlock the features that are already on the chip?

Let us know in the comments as usual

Source:

Engadget

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Online RPGs have been a very popular game genre ever since the early days of the internet, allowing gamers to immerse themselves in fantasy worlds taking on new identities. The format for many online RPGs is similar, with new skills, powers, weapons etc typically rewarded for time served or when quests are completed.

Most of the top Online RPGs charge fees to play or to purchase extra items, but there are some good free RPGs out there such as Algadon.  Set in the mystical land of Algadon, players are able to battle monsters, compete with other players and complete quests which if completed will endow their character with new powers and strengths.  To start the game a race must be chosen, where each race has different strengths and weaknesses.  Races available include orcs, elves and dwarfs.  Players can also choose a profession such as knight, mage, assassin or merchant.

As with most of these games, you are able to work cooperatively with other players and this tends to be advisable for new players.  There are also clans within Algadon, providing the usual clan war matches.  Once you’ve joined a band of merry men, you are able to message each other both in the game and outside via a forum.

Registering is easy – all you have to do is provide an email address, chose a password and a race.  As with most of these games, to achieve a high level of skill and ability will take time and it’s nice to see that Android and iPhone apps are available for those who want to play the game on the move.  There’s also a MySpace version of the game, although this has completely goals and challenges.  Hopefully, the developers are working on a facebook version of the game which would seem a logical step.

To enter the world of Algadon, click here.

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Gamers may soon be rejoicing when Microsoft release the new Xbox 360 Slim edition which is expected to land sometime this fall alongside with Microsoft’s much anticipated ”Kinect” which was previously called Project Natal. It’s expected to go on sale in the fall for an affordable $199.

But not only does Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 have built in Wi-Fi support and a cheaper price tag, but it now looks set to ditch the red ring of death that has plagued thousands of Xbox users over the last number of years. There have been multiple reports carried out which have shown that the Xbox had the highest failure rate of all consoles so this won’t be a sight gamers will miss.

Apparently the new Xbox constantly evaluates itself for overheating issues. If the console doesn’t feel it’s getting enough ventilation as it needs to satisfy you hardcore gamers, it will display a red light in the middle of the power ring, and the console will automatically shut down before any damage is done. You can then restart your Xbox safely when the power light stops flashing.

Microsoft have confirmed the existence of this new monitoring function and said that the game console does indeed have safety mechanisms in place to shut down.

Now I’m sure all you gamers would prefer not to have this issue at all, but I think you’ll agree with me when I say that i’d rather see a message telling me what’s going on, than my game console suddenly just dying. At least you now know it’s an overheating issue and that you just need to take a break, then once it’s cooled down sufficiently you can get back to your gaming, where as in the past it was off to the repair shop.

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MTV Networks announced last week a programming partnership with Microsoft Corp. for the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 (E3 Expo 2010), the video game industry’s leading trade show.

In this arrangement only MTV Networks will take viewers inside the controller-free games provided with Project Natal. The show will feature a live performance created by Cirque du Soleil showing the Xbox 360 experience and demonstrating how Project Natal works.

With Project Natal, a gaming program, there is no controller. The gamer is the controller. According to the Project Natal website if you “see a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak you and your friends can jump into the fun — the only experience needed is life experience.”

Project Natal is a new Microsoft product and MTV Networks will be the partner to bring this event from Xbox and Cirque du Soleil to its viewers and gamers all across the country. Cirque du Soleil is a Montreal based entertainment company.

SPIKE TV, home to the SPIKE Video Game Awards, will be the broadcast home for the Xbox 360 E3 Media Briefing. This show is set to air live and commercial-free in HDTV on Monday, June 14, at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

Project Natal

MTV Networks’ GameTrailers.com will provide live, high-definition video streams on the Internet of both the Xbox 360 Media Briefing and the Project Natal demonstration.  GameTrailers will also present exclusive live pre- and post-shows for the Xbox 360 Media Briefing on June 14 with additional video game world premieres and announcements.

Xbox 360 is a video game and entertainment system. But it is also home to one of the best and broadest library of games, and a streaming library of thousands of movies and TV shows in 1080p HD. It also has millions of songs connected to the television.

Source: Microsoft

Project Natal

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As of today, owners of the Nintendo Wii gaming console will be joining the Xbox and Playstation in their ability to stream content from Netflix. On Thursday the company announced that they had begun shipping the discs required to stream content to the Wii.

Netflix has been available on the Xbox and Playstation for quite some time now, but owners of the Nintendo Wii have been waiting quite a while for this now after they were told a while back that it would be coming, but no release date was given.

Source: Engadget

So as part of the “Final Phase” of Netflix’s plans, it has now shipped out the disc required to stream content to it’s customers in the US who requested it and they should be arriving from today onwards. However it’s only a gradual roll out and only those who registered their interest will be receiving the discs as Netflix plan on “using the feedback it gains from those users to improve issues with the service prior to its official launch” according to marketing exec Jessie Becker in a blog post.

Now that Netflix is available on the Wii, it completes the companies goal to get their service on all three of the major gaming devices. However the Xbox 360 is the only console that has built in support for Netflix and doesn’t require an additional disc to stream content.

Netflix have refused to say how many discs they sent out or when they plan to roll this service out fully to everyone else, but existing Netflix subscribers can register for their disc now. Any Netflix member with an unlimited plan for $8.99 per month or higher, a broadband connection, and a Wii console will be able to access the service at launch. To sign up, reserve a copy of the Wii disc online, and Netflix will send you an e-mail once it launches.

But do Nintendo Wii owners really want Netflix on their consoles, especially when you consider that the Wii isn’t capable of HD playback, it can only manage a mere 480P and it’s not really set up to be a home entertainment system like the Xbox or Playstation.

What do you think,

Is there really much demand for Netflix on the Wii?

Let us know in the comments

Source:

Cnet

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As I talked about in my last post, the iPhone has been growing tremendously fast as a mobile gaming platform. And just as I finished that post, I get to see this the latest stats released by Flurry. The first one is about all the apps that are being tested out for the soon to be shipping iPad — Apple’s iPhone OS based full touchscreen tablet.

As you can see from the pie chart above, apps falling under the ‘Gaming’ category have an overwhelming majority over all other categories at a whopping 44%! The next category in terms of percentage is the ‘Entertainment’ category that has a measly 14% when compared to that 44%. Social Networking comes in third with 7%.

Even though the iPad was pitched as content consumption device, it seems like the developers zeroed in on two things — more horsepower and a gorgeous and large touchscreen to work with. What do you do with so much power, responsiveness and great display? Why you make games of course! What other kind of iPhone apps has the immersive experience that games do? So if you want to stun people, now is a good time.

Besides, it became quite clear that this device would be great at gaming during the keynote itself. Doesn’t matter if the Apple top rung hates seeing their precious platform turn into a game machine, they know it’s good for business. The iPad being a very personal device that you old up close to use, gaming of any kind is going to be extremely enjoyable.

However, this pie chart only shows what app is in testing — most of the normal apps do not need much testing because it is more or less the same OS. But games are extremely complex and the resolution difference will matter a lot. So may be that’s why they are in testing mode en masse.

And now let’s move to the second pie-chart for the day. This one shows the iPhone’s growth in the gaming sector. This is an year over year growth representation showing the growth achieved between the period of 2008-2009.

As is visible clearly, the iPhone OS started out as a tiny sliver in the larger scheme of things, thanks to the not so powerful hardware. And then the iPhone 3GS happened. Soon, the portable and the console parts gave way to more iPhone OS. And with the iPad, this will happen all the more.

I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that console gaming has actually shrunk and portable gaming has increased. This can be taken as an indicator of current market trends. People do not want to invest in a larger console and parents aren’t solvent enough anymore to buy it for their children. Portables on the other hand are comparatively less expensive and give the choice, a lot of working adults will choose to play on a portable than on a console. Not everyone has disposable time and income to spare to sit at home and play on a console connected with a great TV. Plus, the games cost a lot as well.

And those are the overall gaming stats. Have a look at the stats when you take it to the level of portable gaming.

Both PSP and the Nintendo DS have lost money to the iPhone OS. The chart is unforgivingly clear on this — the iPhone is here to stay and it is eating market share right and left. Why would you want to lug around an iPhone and a PSP anyway? Sure, if you are addicted to it or are a fan boy but otherwise, with the likes of EA onboard, you should see it clearly — the future of portable gamin is on convergent device like the iPhone.

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The iPhone in general is a great platform. It is extremely solid, innovative and user friendly. Since the main point of contact between man and machine on an iPhone OS device is one large capacitive screen, the iPhone presents the developers with a lot of flexibility in designing the UI. The iPhone is also very fast, stable and streamlined for performance. And for these very reasons, the iPhone is a fantastic platform for Gaming.

Quite a few developers and game developers realized this quite early on and hence released fantastic games that completely work the platform. They take full advantage of the vivid display (okay, nothing on an AMOLED screen but still) and the high accuracy of the capacitive touchscreen. As a smartphone, it is already the right size and weight for a mobile handheld gaming device and with a thriving third party ecosystem, it is just begging for games to be developed.

And more games are being developed but there are several other factors at work here other than just the technical factors that are work here. The iPhone OS devices are hugely benefitted by something that Apple really stands by — convergence. Apple knows that making a one-trick device won’t do them much good in terms of sales. Because even on paper, it immediately reduces Apple’s target audience.

People do not want to carry an extra mobile device just so that they can play games. It isn’t like mobile game are better played on dedicated consoles, it’s just that companies saw the potential in making handheld gaming devices and they made them as soon as the technology became sufficiently advanced. At that time, people hardly owned this many gadgets, let alone depend on them so much.

Now however, people are carrying more gadgets with them wherever they go and they don’t like this. Give me one good reason why you want to carry a portable media player, an eBook reader, a handheld gaming device and a phone wherever you go? So, people began to see that the iPhone was all of that rolled in together and except the eBook reader’s longevity and larger screen — it is pretty good at those things.

During the iPad Keynote, Steve mentioned that Apple has moved over 75 million iPhones and iPod Touches. That means that many people are already familiar with how to operate the system. Steve highlighted this for the iPad and let me highlight this for gaming on the iPhone platform. There are a lot of people out there who are using just this one device and they have already invested a lot into it.

So when it comes to investing into another platform all over again, it is definitely going to be hard to do. Prying people away from one device that does everything is simply not an easy thing to do.

Developers and studios understand this. Which is why the presence of small and big game makers on the iPhone is growing steadily. And the App Store system is another thing that pulls a lot of developers in it’s direction.

After all, the handhelds do not have markets that are as integrated as the App Store on the iPhone. And now that Apple allows for in-app purchase, things become even better for game developers. Buying in-game features, upgrades and extra levels becomes a painless process. And with Apple’s control over the platform and negligible impact from piracy, developers indeed have things to be excited about.

Hence, as time goes by, this platform will only become more and more powerful. Flurry has recently released stats supporting this statement, which I will deal with in a separate post.

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We’ve been hearing from various sources that Sony would be unveiling their very own motion controller for the PlayStation 3 and today they delivered on that promise. So now we have a three way fight between Microsoft ( Project Natal ) Nintendo ( The Wii ) and now Sony with the “Sony Move” all in an effort to get you off the comfort of your couch and make you put in some effort.

Sony is describing the Sony Move as a “platform” and a “virtual console launch”. PlayStation Move is a motion controller system, with sensors to detect the player’s movements and translate them into gameplay. While it does have all the obvious features that you find in the Wii, there are a few more things that make this stand out from the Wii.

First off, just like the Wii you have to hold the controller in your hands, in fact there’s two of them, much like the Wiimote and the Nunchuck, the only differences is, in this case the Nunchuck is also wireless.

Sony also have wrist straps just like the Wii, so they must be expecting us to perform some pretty exuberant manoeuvres. However what’s different from the Wii is the PlayStation Move can capture your position precisely within real 3D space, instead of just relative movement based on a previous position. The Wii does a good job a detecting movement (with its built-in accelerometers), pointing (with the sensor bar), and even your exact orientation (with that addition of MotionPlus) but it’s not this accurate.

So those of you who like to play the Wii with a little flick of the wrist instead of the full blown manoeuvre will be caught out here since you will have to perform the full motion to get the desired reaction. But this will also give you more control over the game and should prove interesting in augmented reality since it’s based around the “Eye Toy” camera which reads the position of the coloured ball on the top of the controller.

Sony have also worked hard at getting the mathematics of it all right and they claim that the reaction time is a mere 1 fps delay between sending the data. That’s equal to that of the dualshock 3 game controller.

Sony are aiming to get lots of new titles out to take advantage of this new technology, but have also showed off that you can still use it with some of the current titles like in “Little Big Planet”.

So when is it going on sale? Well we’re being told in time for the “Holidays” so it will be around the same time as project natal is released as well. We’re being told that you can get the remotes, the camera and a game all for $100. We’re yet to hear of prices for the individual elements.

So what do you think of it?

Let us know in the comments

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Palm Pre is a multimedia smartphone designed and marketed by Palm. The phone has a multi-touch screen and a sliding keyboard. It was the first to use Palm’s new Linux-based operating system, webOS. The Pre functions as a camera phone, a portable media player, a GPS navigator, and as an internet client (with text messaging, e-mail, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity).

Apart from a brilliant 3.2MP camera and a storage capacity of at least 8GB, the smartphone has a number of other great attractive features which will surely help its sales. Now Electronic Arts and Palm have teamed up in a venture that gives Palm Pre users another reason to be happy about their cellphone.

EA Mobile and Palm have teamed to provide three great cellphone games for Palm Pre users in the UK.

These three games are:

Need for Speed Underground: Chase or be chased in this fast paced game of pursuit and betrayal. The cops are back like never before – win and collect the world’s fastest cars.

Monopoly: Play the original best-selling board game where you can own it all. Shake your device to “roll” the 3D dice. Tap the screen to manage properties. Customize the number of players and if you are feeling more competitive, challenge friends with Pass ‘n Play.

The Sims 3: Based on the number one PC game franchise of all time, the Sims 3 brings exciting new game play and endless possibilities to your Palm Pre. Enjoy unexpected moments of surprise and mischief.

This amazing offers of 3 great games being offered for free ends on 31st March 2010. So if you a Palm Pre user in the UK, follow these simple steps to get the game:

1. Simply open up the App Catalog on a Palm Pre handset.

2. Search for the individual game name(s),

3. Select the correct game and tap ‘download for free’.

4. Wait for the game to download and then either click ‘tap to launch’ or exit the Apps Catalog and enjoy playing later.

Do not waste a minute – take advantage of the offer while you can.

Download these games HERE.

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For those of you who don’t know, Steam is one of the most popular gaming distributors for Windows PC’s. Gamers will be familiar with the program which lets you buy and download games directly from the program. There have been some hints and rumors floating around the web recently hinting at a release for the Mac, but only today have Valve themselves confirmed it.

Steam and Valve’s library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April.

“As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients,” said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. “The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services.”

And that’s not all, Steamworks for Mac also boasts a new feature called “Steam Play,” This will let you buy a game and play it on your PC at work. Then when you go home, you can play it on your Mac right from where you left off. This means that Mac and PC users will no longer have to buy two copies of a game.

Portal 2 will be the first game released by Steam both for the PC and Mac.

Portal 2 will be Valve’s first simultaneous release for Mac and Windows. “Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step,” said Josh Weier, Portal 2 Project Lead. “We’re always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac.”

So gamers may rejoice, Mac users can finally get some decent games on their machines because at the moment the selection of games is quite poor. Maybe this could be the start of a new gaming revolution for the Mac, just like the App Store was for the iPod Touch and iPhone?

What do you think?

Let us know in the comments

Source:

Macrumors

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This is a big article, but for the time being I am just going to set this up and let you watch the video.

My friend Andrew posted the following link last night on Facebook. I watched it with my morning coffee, email, RSS and podcasts. Really good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMLtwJGA4Wc

Who would have predicted the massive impact of Farmville, for Christ’s sake? These guys are printing their own money. It must shake game developers to the very core and make them question all their existing knowledge on game design.

Here’s the deal. I am 44, today in fact. Feel free to use the comments section to give me a great orgy of birthday wishes. Anyway, I grew up in a world where information came from print media. Computers barely did anything.

Everything has changed, and I am connected in ways that I could never have imagined 20 years ago, 10 years ago, even 5 years ago. The internet and technology is a bullet train that is not going to stop for me, you or anyone to figure it out, so you better be quick on your feet and you better be paying attention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GaqoE_qLCs

I wouldn’t trade any of it. All of this does enrich my life in terms of access to information and connectivity with my friends and family.

BUT

…is it driving us away from the real world? Can all of this obscure our connection to the things in life we really need to be connected to? Yes, and I think we all need to be aware of how our electronic and analog lives intertwine and exercise great care that we don’t abandon the real for the electronic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lTprV-dRmY

If you have any interest at all in gaming, technology or social media, please take the time to sit down and watch these three videos. It’s Jason Schell, who is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and it’s the most compelling presentation on the above topics that I’ve seen. Thought provoking doesn’t do it justice, just watch.

The Future Of Gaming And Social Media is a post from Connected Internet - tech, mobile and gaming news. - Updated daily with the latest news, tips, tweaks, social networking, wordpress tips & tweaks, windows optimization help and more.. Visit Connected Internet - tech, mobile and gaming news. for more articles.

If you play Warcraft, you must be a member of Blizzard’s forums. These forums let players discuss not just Warcraft, but other Blizzard games as well (such as Diablo). Here you can discuss strategies, debate changes in the game, and learn about any Blizzard game news you are not yet aware of.

Since there are many players who spend a lot of time Blizzard games like Warcraft, they end up spending a lot of time on the Blizzard’s forums as well. While the overall design of these forums is great, there are still places for improvement. The forum experience of users can be remarkably improved by introducing certain changes into the forums.

Until Blizzard incorporates those changes into the default forum, you can check them out yourself by using BNet Squelcher.

BNet Squelcher is an extension for Google Chrome that does exactly what its description states: adds useful features to the Battle forums.

Firefox users can take advantage of this extension as well because there is a Firefox add-on available which can be gotten here.

The major changes made to the forums by BNet Squelcher are extendedBML, gracefully degrading exBML, auto-linking URLs, auto-embedding images, adding usernames to Quotes, setting custom avatars, disabling link interceptor, reordering page titles to show thread subject first, strip signatures, and disabling auto-complete for the CAPTCHA.

You can see that all these features highly useful but are absent from the default interface of the forums. So whether you use Chrome or Firefox, for a fuller experience of the Battle forums get BNet Squelcher right away.

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Sony has identified a bug in the software for it’s older PS3 gaming console (known as the fat model) that could result in data loss for gamers.

The problem, which doesn’t affect the newer slim model, is caused by a bug in the clock functionality in the system, and is causing games to exit prematurely.  The error is caused when gamers, or their games, try and access the PlayStation Network.

Sony say they aim to have a fix available “within 24 hours”. They go on to say…

"In the meantime, if you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data.”

The knock-on effects for PS3 gamers, of having to find something else to do on a Monday evening, will probably not be great but it’s highly unusual to see a Windows’esque bug appear in a console, especially not a Microsoft one!

About a Million people worldwide use the PlayStation Network, which allows gamers to play games over the internet with other people who don’t own an Xbox (sic!), and a great many will be affected by this problem.

Sony will have a fix publicised on the official PS3 website when it becomes available this week.

Source: BBC News

Sony tells PS3 owners to stop gaming, buy Xbox (okay so I made that last bit up) is a post from Connected Internet - tech, mobile and gaming news. - Updated daily with the latest news, tips, tweaks, social networking, wordpress tips & tweaks, windows optimization help and more.. Visit Connected Internet - tech, mobile and gaming news. for more articles.

The Apple iPad is powered by a SoC (System on a Chip) that is an in-house product from Apple. Of course, it was fabricated somewhere else, because Apple does own a fab. It was possibly Samsung, who does this sort of things. But that is besides the point. The point here is the fact this chip as important to Apple’s future plans as is the iPhone OS 4.0 that has not been released yet.

This 1GHz chip is called the A4 by Apple. That naming, it’s power efficiency and clock speed makes us think that Apple has made this chip based on the designs it licensed from ARM. It could be the Cortex A9 that has the ability to push well past 1GHz, on paper at least. It was most definitely built by the star team of engineers of PA Semi, the company that Apple acquired not too long ago. It was well-known at that point that Apple all really wanted from the company was that star engineering team and they have been working on this ever since.

So why is it so important to Apple? Well, let’s look at the market for a moment. The only 1GHz chip being used by handheld device makers is the SnapDragon chip made by Qualcomm. That too is an ARM chip. What can it do? It can give you great phones like the Droid, the Nexus One and the soon to arrive XPERIA X10 and HTC Bravo (rumored and leaked). It gives the mobile OS a much deserved performance boost and the results show.

If you look around the web for the opinions of those who have actually handled the iPad, you will notice that they are all praising the smoothness and the response of the UI. According Chicago Sun-Times’ Andy Ihnatko — dragging an image across the iPad’s screen is like dragging something in real life — the response time is that good. Putting the UI through a mad volley of gestures one after another apparently cannot slow the thing down, it still acts as if you’re moving real objects. The videos seem to tell as much.

You know that is because it’s a light OS running on an extremely capable processor. But there’s more to the iPad than that. Have you tried watching HD videos on your netbook? It simply won’t work. Your netbook will cough and splutter like an old asthmatic on his deathbed to keep up with multi-tabbed browsing. It will slow down and crash on you. The iPad? It goes on as if nothing’s the matter. It will really make video watching a treat for you.

That and the great UI/app animations requires major graphics muscle. So the A4 is not just an 1GHz chip, it is also a very capable SoC that has great graphics without guzzling battery juice by the gallons. The 10 hours battery life might turn out to be unrealistic, as is usual with companies but even 8 hours is a fantastic up time.

Now that this thing has such great graphics and video performance with such a speedy UI, guess what is coming to the iPad? Great handheld gaming! I mean this device, with that screen and HD capability, is definitely making game developers drool. To be able to fill up that screen real-estate with an immersive RPG (my bias) or an FPS or RTS or some MMO, must be hard to resist. And we don’t want them too. Let’s have more ports of great table top games that sucked out so many hours of our lives. So many pleasurable hours filled with fond memories. Let’s bring that back, especially on this eminently shareable screen.

The A4 also allows for future growth potential and I am certain that there’s a massive headroom for iPhone OS 4.0 to play in. With this chip in hand, Apple might be looking to beat back the development taking place around NVIDIA’s Tegra, which is currently inspiring a lot of tablets. That is because this is likely better than Tegra at performance and energy-saving. Thus, this might be a great step forward for Apple if only terms of components used.

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George Hotz, who is well known among the hackers community, was responsible for unlocking the iPhone not too long ago. Well now he’s been spending some time on the PS3 and only last Friday he announced that he had successfully hacked the Playstation 3 to run his own software.

He originally said he would wait until he was certain that exploit was possible for fear that Sony would patch it up. But now he has made the information available to the public on his blog. He decided to release the exploit to see what others could do with it and because he wanted to move on to other work.

“Hopefully, this will ignite the PS3 scene, and you will organize and figure out how to use this to do practical things, like the iPhone when jailbreaks were first released, I have a life to get back to and can’t keep working on this all day and night”

Geo Hotz, announced that after5 weeks of hard work he had successfully hacked the PlayStation 3 with some ”  Very simple hardware cleverly applied, and some not so simple software “. The PlayStation 3 traditionally only runs software that has been digitally certified and signed by Sony themselves. It’s part of the complex digital rights management system designed to prevent software piracy. But this hack from Geo Hotz is the hardest and most important step in cracking the digital protection.

Now that this hack has been released online, we should expect to see many more programmers begin to explorer deeper into the PS3 to see what else they can do with it. I would expect that the prime aim for many will be by-passing the digital certification process so as to allow illegal pirated games to run on the PS3

“The PS3 is hacked, it’s your job to figure out something useful to do with it.”

The exploit Hotz has found works with the PlayStation 3′s “Other OS” feature that allows a second operating system to be installed on the machine. This feature was discontinued on the newer PS3 Slim model so I’m not sure whether the hack works on the new PS3.

Sony’s Tokyo based Gaming Unit are now examining the code to see whether or not these claims made by Geo Hotz are true. They have so far refused to comment on the situation until they have finished their investigation.

So if this hack by George Hotz becomes more widespread and begins to be adopted by people then Sony may be forced to release a firmware update so as to prevent pirated games from running on the PS3 or whatever else the programmers can come up with.

Let the game of cat and mouse begin, just like what Apple and Geo Hotz have been in since he cracked the iPhone.

You can download a zip file from Geo Hotz with the exploit here

Source:

Geohotps3.blogspot

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It seems all the doom and gloom we’ve been experiencing for the last 12 months may finally be starting to turn around for us. Due to the economic downturn, the gaming industry was seeing massive decreases in its sales, but now it seems things are starting to turn around for the better.

December was the industry’s “Best Ever” month for consoles sales, even better than December of 2008. This news came from the NPD Groups retail data, which saw an increase in all categories apart from game software. This department saw a drop of 7% from $2.8 to $2.2 billion compared to last year.

“The video game industry experienced its biggest sales month ever, besting last December by 4%,”

Said NPD analyst Anita Frazier in a press statement. Understandably this one month record wasn’t enough to make up for the drop in sales for the previous 11 months and the industry was still 8 points down, or $19.7 billion compared to last year’s $21.4 billion, but at least it’s not as bad as we had feared.

“The big sales [in December], particularly on the hardware front, [are] a positive move for the industry headed into what will hopefully be a recovery year in 2010.”

There is even better news for Nintendo, the Wii had been experiencing a rapid decline in sales over the last few months but December showed a big turn around for the console. Last December the Wii sold 2.15 million units. This December it sold nearly double that, racking up an astonishing 3.81 million in unit sales, the system’s biggest month to date and a new record at that.

The Nintendo DS also saw a slight increase on sales compared to last years, it sold 270,000 more units than it did last year ( 3.04 million )

Sony’s PS3 also set its own records, breaking a million sales units for the first time since its release, putting it ahead of Microsofts Xbox 360 by 50,000 units. Sony’s PS2 was known for being a best seller for Sony and actually sold more units than the PS3 when it was released, however according to NPD, the PS3 has now outsold the PS2 by over 9 million units in the first 50 months in the market.

Hardware (units)

3.81m – Wii
3.31m – Nintendo DS
1.36m – PlayStation 3
1.31m – Xbox 360
655k – PSP
333k – PlayStation 2

These console sales are very promising for the industry and the overall global economy, and is just another sign that the worlds economy is starting to pull itself together and begin the path to recovery. The software market should expect to see a boost in its sales now, with an increased number of hardware platforms out there and there are several great titles coming up this year.

Here’s hoping 2010 is the year of recovery for us all.

Source:

PC World

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2009 was a great year for technophiles. Android OS got me excited about wireless phones, which I’ve always had a strange aversion to. The eBook reader is evolving into something that is starting to become an attractive device for ordinary people. The first of a tidal wave of tablet devices has started to hit the market and while they’ve all been duds so far, the potential is so obvious that it is easy to get excited about what is coming in 2010. All in all we’ve had plenty to talk and speculate about, and despite a crappy economy there have been some cool toys to look forward to.

So on the eve of this new decade I found myself thinking about the last year, and what I was looking forward to in 2010.

The stuff that really stood out to me in 2009

• Android OS While I didn’t fall in love with the Motorola Droid, it certainly made me open my eyes in a big way. Android OS is ready to take on iPhone. While it still may not have the spit and polish of iPhone OS, Android has advanced like terminal cancer and I don’t see Google stopping anytime soon if they keep getting successful devices that people want in the market. Lots of growth in Android development, lots of improvement in the interface and applications, and nothing but good things to look forward to. Next week Google will make the Nexus One official, and while I think T-Mobile was the wrong partner for the device, there is no denying that it is a killer piece of hardware. Verizon are you listening? Give me an Android phone from Motorola or HTC with a sexy form factor, a big screen, and a GHz CPU and I will sign any piece of paper you want me to.
• Barnes and Noble Nook I like the Nook not so much for the actual device, but for the fact that now that there is a serious contender to the Kindle it will accelerate innovation and design in eBook readers, and you and I will have better devices to pick from. That said, I do like the Nook. It has a nicer form factor than the Kindle. If they can fix the performance issues with firmware updates it is a legitimate alternative at the exact same price point. Bravo Barnes and Noble. Oh, and for those of you holding out on an eBook reader because you think a tablet device will somehow be magically better at being an eBook reader than an actual eBook reader, have fun testing that theory. eBook readers are good at what they do because they approximate reading from paper. No matter how good your monitor or tablet is they will still induce eye strain. eInk is here until someone figures out something better, so the death of the eBook reader has been greatly exaggerated.
• LED LCD Television The addition of LED backlighting has solved two LCD problems: one, you should never wear out a backlight with LED. Two, dark detail and contrast that could never have been achieved on LCD is here, now. There is now no reason to cling to any other display technology. Goodbye plasma and DLP.
• The netbook is dead, long live the tablet! We’re not there yet, but the idea took in 2009. Look, if I feel cramped on a 13″ or even a 15″ laptop, how am I going to like using an 8″ or 9″ netbook? I get the idea, cheap, portable computing. Wrong form factor. No one gets the same wow response the first time they use a netbook that they do the first time they use a capable smart phone. Now just magnify that cool smart phone experience to something that is a little bigger and the appeal is obvious. Tablets are going to be huge. Not only will they sell people on a niche that netbooks never would have, a lot of people shopping for laptops will decide a tablet suits their needs better. I want one yesterday.
• Demons Souls (PS3) God bless Atlus for publishing this gem from From Software in North America. It would have been criminal if this game had never made it off Japanese soil. What is all the fuss about this game that has so many editorial reviewers crying because of the difficulty? This game is simply the best RPG of 2009 for any platform. Heavy on the action and less so on RPG elements, Demons Souls makes you remember when games were actually challenging, and you didn’t mind because they were also well designed. An immersive world, phenomenal and huge boss battles, and fighting like your own welfare depends on it because the game does not allow you to save, and you are carrying six hours worth of souls, the only currency or experience that means anything in the game. All of these aspects are so well crafted and wrapped in a game that looks and plays like a dream (a really challenging dream) that it just impresses the hell out of you. We don’t get very many games like this, and I’ve been collecting console games for longer than most of you have been alive. Buy Demons Souls and cherish the experience. This game is reason enough to own a PS3.

2010 is going to deliver on many of the promises made in 2009. Here is what is foremost on my radar going into the new year:

Get this stuff in my hands, now

• iSlate If you haven’t been paying attention, this is the presumed name for Apple’s mythical tablet device that they will be making official in January. We don’t know the specs. We aren’t sure of the size. We aren’t quite sure about the form factor, other than that it will appear like an oversized iPhone to one extent or another. What we do know is that Apple won’t be content to simply offer a tablet device that functions as a large iPhone sans the phone. Look for their tablet to bridge the gap between handheld device and full blown laptop, integrating features of both, and doing so with a user experience that everyone else will copy. I started to think outside the box a little today. Sure, a 10″ Android powered tablet would be cool, maybe just the thing, but that isn’t what Apple is looking to deliver. Remember how the iPod and the iPhone changed the whole game for their niches? Expect iSlate to do the same. On the plus side for the anti-Cupertino, it will also have the effect of making everyone else step up their game, and tablets are going to get really cool really quick. (HTC is already rumored to be showing an Android tablet behind closed doors at CES next week.) I am so down with this, I can’t wait to get one.
• Next Wave of Android Phones Google’s Nexus One is your first glimpse. Expect Motorola and HTC to follow suit by summer time. Android OS 2.x is a solid system, and when you pair it with a gigahertz CPU and a lucious high res capacitive OLED touch screen, well there is only so much sexy your pocket can hold. We know that HTC has a similar device headed to T-Mobile in the Bravo come April, and rumors are starting to fly about new Motorola phones. What you can count on is that they will show up. On the fence about a Droid right now? Can you wait a little while? I would.

2009 was a fun year to write about, and 2010 is shaping up to be even better for overgrown kids like me that never outgrew toys. What did Santa leave in your stocking last week? What are you saving up for in 2010?

Have a safe and happy new year, Connected Internet!

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Most of you whippersnappers reading this have lived almost your whole lives in a world where the internet has existed. Old timers like me grew into young adulthood without the benefit of a global network, and the world used to be a much different place.

Technology and entertainment were different animals pre-internet, and the things that seemed like incredible technological advances back then are almost comical now in their antiquity. In celebration of that amusement here are some of the things that seemed like a Big Deal back then. Here’s a glimpse at pre-internet technology from someone who was born in 1966:

• Pong Forget Space Invaders, Pong was THE revolution. If we ignore Space War, everything that preceded Pong was either a pinball table or some gun game. There is no describing how modern and new Pong seemed at the time, you just had to be there. My first game console was a Magnavox Odyssey II.
• Remote Control The introduction of television remote controls seemed like something out of Star Trek. In fact, my family’s first remote control television, a Quasar, had a remote that looked, well, remotely like a phaser. These original remotes were not infra red, they were sonic. They had little tuning fork looking deals inside, and made a loud click. One for volume, one for channel change. My mom had a plastic and metal belt that would occasionally turn the channel because I guess it made a similar sound when the metal bits hit each other just right.
• LED and LCD LED and LCD both appeared when I was a kid, followed by a million primitive devices that utilized them. Mostly calculators and wristwatches. The personal calculator was a big deal and just look up slide rule if you want to see why. Analog wristwatches and gauges still rule btw.
  

  The calculator circa 1972

• Apple II The computer that began mainstream adoption. Never mind that your parents never owned one. You knew someone whose parents had one. Playing old text-based adventure games on an Apple II seemed like the coolest thing ever.
• Cable Television Cable television was nothing new. Areas like Colorado, where the mountains play havoc with reception had used cable television for a while. In the late 70s and early 80s the rest of the country got it. It was 79 or 80 when my parents got cable, and I thought it was the coolest thing since Pong. Movies with boobs, sports, movies with boobs, music videos, movies with boobs. Cable television opened up whole new vistas of slackerdom.
• Mattel Football Mattel Football was the original handheld gaming system. Since we didn’t have Gameboys back then it seemed pretty darn cool. Granted, it had a limited library of titles (Football), but it wasn’t long before Mattel followed their success with a baseball version, and eventually an LCD handheld that used cartridges and played more than one game. I spent a happy month playing Mattel Football in study hall until the school district figured out what this new menace was and banned them.
  

  The original handheld gaming system

• Microwave While it wasn’t as cool as a spontaneous matter generator, it was a least a step in that direction. Prior to the microwave people had to wait for 5 minutes of pre-heat time and 10 minutes of cooking time to enjoy piping hot pizza rolls. While it still isn’t good for anything but cooking hot pockets, warming up leftovers and melting butter, it seemed pretty futuristic back then.
• Sony Walkman We would not have the iPod without the Sony Walkman. Sure, boomboxes preceded the Walkman, but those of you old enough to remember will recall just how much luggage it was to have to carry around a gigantic boom box and a suitcase full of audio cassettes. The Walkman represented a truly personal-sized music player, and the use stuck even if the device didn’t.
• Laser Disc A record-sized two sided disc that contained an entire analog encoded movie. Are you kidding me? Beam me up Scotty! No one had one, too expensive. My girlfriend’s dad had one at one of his places in Vail, and we used to spend a lot of time up there partying and enjoying the Rockies. Let me tell you something, watching The Warriors on laser disc was just about the coolest thing. Ever.
  

  That thing is as big as a suitcase!

• VCR When I was a kid I was hooked on Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, a precursor to Fangoria. The last few pages were ad-heavy, and I used to dream about owning a Super 8 projector, because you could own your very own copies of Planet of The Apes and Godzilla movies. Just imagine! By the time I was getting out of high school and entering college the VCR had receded to consumer price levels, and mom and pop video rental places were popping up on every corner. I can’t tell you how many movies I watched the first couple of years of owning a VCR. People had never had that kind of unlimited access to entertainment before. Now we’re used to it and we cry because between digital cable or satellite, Netflix and on demand we still can’t find anything to watch.
• Compact Disc The compact disc fell squarely in the Star Trek category. I mean, look at that thing. It’s only 5 inches, it’s shiny, and it’s read by a LASER for God’s sake. I bought my first CD player in 1987 and made a big mistake. The first CD I bought was Sister by Sonic Youth, an album that I had owned for a couple of years or so. I heard sonic details listening to that CD that I had never heard on the vinyl, and I sold my entire vinyl collection, some of which are now nearly priceless. Oh well, live and learn. Incidentally, it turns out that records reproduce a larger frequency spectrum than CDs do. Never mind that 80% of that spectrum is beyond human hearing, the experts say it makes a difference in how we perceive sound. Vinyl has been making a big resurgence the last few years, but the CD is here to stay until portable digital media finally drives a stake through its heart.

You know, some of this stuff seems pretty funny now in 2009, and some of it represents the birth of ideas we use everyday. A lifetime goes by in the blink of an eye, and I remember all of these entries like it was yesterday. The rate at which new technologies are created and implemented is blazingly fast in 2009, and we have a lot of cool, new stuff to look forward to. I’m equally sure that in 20 years we’ll laugh about some of these things heading our way in another Connected Internet article.

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A lot of kids love reading Batman Comics along with the adult fans but apart from the few Batman movies they did not have much chance of seeing their hero in action earlier. However, the newly released PC game named Batman: Arkham Asylum, gives them a chance to play the role of their idol in a virtual world and slash the enemies. The setting of the game is Alcatraz in Gotham City, an asylum where some lunatics create mayhem and chaos. The players need to don the hat of the comic book hero and restore normalcy in the third person action game world. However, the game offers more than face to face combat with some gruesome enemies. The player needs to learn certain stealth tactics to proceed in the game and solve some riddles thereafter.

The game opens with a story mode that sets the backdrop for theforthcomingactionsandadventures. Joker, Batman’s archenemyiscapturedand sent to the asylum. The rogue is least bothered abouthiscaptivity and it becomesclearthathe has dark plans to take control of the asylum after reaching there. Joker succeeds in fulfilling his mission and throws a party to trap Batman. The player needs toknockdown a few of Joker’s alleys in thebeginning. Like most of the present generation gamesthereare somesuper villainssuch asHarley Quinn andScarecrow in this game.

The combatisnot too complicated inthisgame. However, with each level theplayerneeds to learn new attack combos and way to use gadgets. It is the movetimingthat plays a decisive role in slaying theenemiesin Batman:Arkham Asylum. The players get theadvantageof using the atmosphere in the asylum to their benefits,somethingthat the enemies can not do. The enemy AI is good and it is interesting to watch their reaction when theyrealizethat their members arediminishingin number.

The game is imbued with richvoice overand captivating background score. The voice of joker isawesomeandhistaunts are simply superb. To proceed quickly in the game, theplayersneed to use its detective vision mode. It is useful for indicatingdestructible surfaces, locating enemies hidden behind the walls. Joker continues to taunt and appears throughout the game by means of TV screens. From a gamer’s perspective, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a delight to play. The graphics and sounds are immersive and the game runs comfortably on mid range graphics cards. The entry level ATI Radeon and Geforce cards would suffice for playingthisgame on a PC with the game settings set to medium.

However, if you want to experience the glory of the PhyX engine used in the gamer, you will need really powerful hardware. To play with PhyX enabled a player needs a graphics card like theGeForce GTX 260 or above. These cards are pretty expensive, but thegraphicperformance they offer is awesome. Once you playthisgame with PhyX enabled chances are there you would not want to disable it.

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Ubisoft’s FPS offering for hardcore game aficionados, Call of Juarez proved to be extremely popular when it was released almost two years back. This year the company has released prequel to the original game titled ‘Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood’. It is a FPS with a gripping story-line and stunning graphics that makes the players feel as if they have been transported to the wild locales of the West all of a sudden. The story of the game revolves around a number of well known motifs of the West such as faith, greed, betrayal and honor etc.

The backdrop of this game is set ages before the time-span used in the first game. It focuses on the development and change in the McCall brothers-Thomas and Ray. The players who have seen Ray in the first game will be stunned to see his cold-hearted and lustful avatar in the prequel. The ending of the game is really moving and the players get to see the transformation taking place gradually. Both the brothers in the game are quite violent by temperament but Thomas is thoughtful as well. The players can don the hats of both the brothers in this game.

Throughout the game, the player can choose to play as either of the brothers barring a few missions. Most of the times in the prequel, the brother duo is seen in action and carnage together. As the game is set in the pre-modern era, the choice of weapons is quite limited. Thomas and Ray can use some types of pistols, shotguns and rifles in this game. There is a fair amount of adventure packed events apart from the intermittent gun fighting. The escape from the ancient temple as it gets swallowed by sand or the frantic chase on river by annoyed Native Americans will make your adrenaline rush. In some missions of Bound In Blood, the players need to be on Horseback.

Like most of the present generation FPS games Bound In Blood also has different difficulty levels. The default level is medium which most of the game freaks will find suitable. In the hard difficulty mode, the enemies become more powerful and the accuracy of their aim also increases significantly. The multi player version in Bound in Blood supports up to a dozen players. It is more flexible to play and offers a total of 5 modes and 8 maps.

Apart from a captivating game-play experience, Bound in Blood also offers awesome visuals for the players. The lush forests, open deserts, dusty rural stretches in Mexico-all look convincing. The interplay of light and shadow has been used in the game to great effects. The sound effects used in the game complements the jaw dropping visuals perfectly. The background score as well as the voice of the characters is authentic. The McCall brothers use a lot of Mexican accents in their dialogues. The game reminds one of the well known Hollywood flicks shot on the wild terrains of the west. You will need a powerful dual core AMD or Intel Processor and 2GB of RAM to run this game smoothly on your PC.

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The gaming addicts who are fond of the titles that offer cinematic FPS excitement swear by the ‘Call of Duty’ series of games. The earlier versions used the Second World War as the backdrop but this was changed in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The new characters and plot infused fresh life into the Call of Duty franchise. The Modern Warfare 2 was announced by the beginning of 2009 and it got released a few days back. It has become extremely popular within a short time among the gamers.

The game can be divided in three sections. The single player mode is ideal for the impatient gamers who have a tendency of jumping into the game as fast as possible. Those who like online gaming can try the multiplayer version of the game. Apart from these, the game also has a Spec Ops mode. In fact, Modern Warfare 2 retains a lot of elements present in its predecessors but also polishes up and tweaks the gameplay. Playing in the single player mode gives one the experience of watching a Hollywood action flick. The plot of the game is quite elaborate and presents a lot of difficulty levels for the players.

The game starts 5 years after where the first version left off. It offers a montage of chronicles to update the player about the developments that have taken place in these years. The players also need to represent various characters in the game for different missions. The player will be transported to many places of the world where war has broken out as a result of large-scale terrorist attacks. The plot has enough turns and twists to keep the players hooked till the end. The players may face difficulty in completing some missions as the enemy AI is strong and the action sequences are quite hectic. The multiplayer version has improved level designs and the weather effects and game terrains look spectacular.

Infinity Ward deserves credit for making the latest release of Modern Warfare realistic and hard hitting. The top notch visuals of the game are matched by the sound score. Both the background music and conversations are interesting. The Dolby Digital sound enhancement implemented in the game sounds best in a home theater setup. Activision has made the game available for Windows, Xbox and PS3. However, the Xbox Live party Chat cannot be used in a number of sections in the game.

In the game’s single player mode, the gamers need to don the hats of 5 separate characters. However, in the majority of the game the player needs to act as Gary Sanderson. He is a group member of Task Force 141, an international commando unit. The game also has a number of characters who are not involved in the missions. Modern Warfare 2 lives up to the expectation of the fans of the Call of Duty series. The plot of the game, while not ground breaking, offers enough excitement and interesting events to the FPS lovers. The continuity in the story line is credible and the characterization is captivating as well.

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The popular social networking website Facebook, has now teamed up with Xbox and Playstation to bring Facebook to your game console. Now you can let all your friends know what games your playing and what awards you’ve earned etc..

For the Xbox, the new feature dubbed as ” Facebook for Xbox ” allows users to link their Facebook profile to their Xbox gamertag. It gives gamers the ability to find friends on Facebook and connect with them over Xbox live. Users will also be able to update their status, browse through photos and view updates straight from their consoles.

We’re excited that beginning today the social game experience is coming to Xbox Live, so now you can play Xbox games with your Facebook friends… It’s never been easier to discover friends you never even knew played Xbox.

Said Gareth Davis, Facebooks program manager for games. He also noted that he is aware of the privacy issues people have with Facebook and said that the Xbox is set to automatically recognize the privacy settings users have set on their accounts.

What’s more Twitter and Last.Fm are also coming to the Xbox but only for Xbox Live Gold membership users. But if you aren’t a gold member a free preview will begin from the 20th and end on the 23rd November.

Today the Playstation got its 3.10 firmware update and with it a newly integrated Facebook icon to the XMB account management menu. It now allows you to send out your trophy rewards direct to your Facebook feed as you earn them.So be sure to update your Playstation to get this new feature.

You can also customize what’s shared in your news feed and opt out of sharing Playstation store purchases and in game events. You are also prompted whether or not you want to publish something to your Facebook so you have complete control over what goes up on your Facebook.

“We put a lot of things in place to make it really flexible,” said PSN director Eric Lempel in a phone interview.

What do you think about bringing social networking to game consoles? Will you avail of these new features? Let us know in the comments.

Soures:

PCWorld

Cnet

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Computer gaming has evolved considerably over the past two decades. From the DOS based basic graphic games, Console gaming has reached new heights where the line between virtual and real world has blurred. However, there are some good old games that remain popular even today despite the advancements made in the sphere of technology. Mario was a popular game of the Pre-Windows era when personal computers were yet to become a reality. It is still loved by a lot of veteran PC gamers who find the quirky and funny characters of the game and its fascinating, colorful world a delight. These people can check out the reincarnation of Mario in Super Mario Bros

The gameplay and graphics look familiar to the original Mario series. However, the attraction of the game lies deep under its surface. The first level of the Super Mario Bros. Wii may make some gamers disappointed. However, once they cross past that stage and explore the goodies hidden in the advanced levels they are likely to get addicted to it. In fact, the multi-player version of the game offers more thrill than the single player version. The level design of the game is among the best that can be achieved in 2D platform.

As the game can be played using just two buttons, others can use a controller to join it. The gamers can fly upwards using the propeller suit. With the penguin suit a player gets the ability to freeze his enemies in the game. It also makes swimming much easier. The small but effective tweaks help the players in advancing through the various levels of the game. A lot of challenges are unfolded as the player finishes one version and moves to the next. The myriad game challenges ensue that the player never gets bored with shooting the enemies. It has all the elements to become a hit Nintendo title.

Its multi player version offers more excitement as the players can interact with one another. The grievances of other players that run like a commentary provides a comic relief. The game levels have many hidden treasures and secrets. Besides, the players have the option to find them or just finish the levels fast. This adds a good amount of replay value. A player can choose to play the game according to his own style and this flexibility is hard to find in other similar games. While the children will love this game, their parents will find its simplistic approach unbeatable.

However, the game is not flawless from a gamer’s perspective. The fact that Super Mario Bros. Wii does not offer an online version is a drawback on its part. The game is definitely attractive and engaging but its attraction would have multiplied with online support and voice chat. With its new features and a few inherent limitations, the game offers the charm of classical 2D animation games in a revamped version. The Mario aficionados will surely have a go at this one. The revamped version seems exciting enough to enthral the gaming freaks.

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Microsoft disconnected 600,000 Xbox 360 users, or 3% of all users, from Xbox Live today for having modified Xboxes that allow them to play pirated games.  Microsoft have booted the users because using a modded Xbox 360 violates the terms of Xbox Live.

“The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive from manufacturers, retailers, and the third parties that support them.”

I think it’s a shame that most console modders do software or hardware mods (inserting a chip) just so that they can play pirated games.  I’m surprised that so many users have been connecting to Xbox Live with modded consoles as Microsoft were always going to get around to banning them at some point.  The ban will also be permanent as it’s at a device level, so to get back onto Xbox Live users will have to buy a new Xbox 360 console rather than just registering a new Xbox Live account.

Modding a console can provide so much more than just getting a few games for free, and it’s shame that so many users have only modded to do this.  In the past I proudly owned two modded Xboxs running XBMC exclusively that I used as my main media centers.  To this day XBMC remains one of the best free media center programs, and I would still be using it if I hadn’t switched to building Windows Media Centers so that I have full HD support.  In fact, I still have my modded Xboxs sitting in a corner.  They are broken but easily fixable and my original intention was to give them away, but I haven’t bothered as I know whoever I give my Xboxes too will keep coming back to me for support that I don’t have the time to give.

Were you one of the Xbox 360 users who Microsoft banned?

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BioWare recently released its massive RPG saga titled ‘Dragon Age: Origins’ on several gaming platforms. However, this fantasy role playing game is so rich in story-line and content that casual gamers may not be able to cope with it easily. The game offers the players 100 hours about to finish it. But this is just the basic game. More enthusiastic gamers have the option to download optional quests and patches from the web for extended gaming sessions.

The dark epic of BioWare has a lot of combat sequences replete with visual effects and close knit story line that keep the players hooked till the end. ‘Dragon Age: Origins’ is said to be inspired from another BioWare Masterpiece of the late 90′s, ‘Baldur’s Gate’. The game sticks to the classic RPG traditions like the choice of selecting the gender and race of the protagonist. The players are also allowed to alter the appearance of the protagonists.

The game will unfold according to the choice of the protagonist made by the player. If the player chooses a male warrior, he will have to go through the devastation of his castle and a Grey Warden will be his savior. But if the player selects a female Elf as the protagonist, she will be kidnapped at the venue of her wedding in the game. But all the stories are inter-weaved at the end. What follows is the reincarnation of a powerful and gigantic demon.

There is a range of exciting and interesting combat modes in the game like archery, swordplay, special attacks and even black magic. This game was in making for the last few years and that is why its visual effects and character animations do not exactly look cutting edge. Another quirky aspect is that the protagonist remains silent though he hears other characters speaking around him. But the game has many strong points that easily override these minor limitations.

For more information on Dragon Age click here.

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I recently quit my day job and I’m been working from home full-time for the last month.  My wife also quit her job at the same time and she’s joined the ‘family firm’.  Using a laptop on her lap was only good for short sessions, so we purchased a desk, monitor and keyboard monitor for her to plug her laptop into.  When deciding on what monitor size to buy we decided to buy her a 22″ monitor and without much thought to be honest I purchased a Samsung T220 for just over £100 because it was the cheapest one I could find with a DVI input.

When the Samsung T220 arrived I was amazed by how sleek and sexy it was – it has a very cook red bezel around the edge, and is very slim.  But, what really amazed me was the image quality.  Compared to my old 19″ Samsung 913N monitors which I purchased in 2005, the images were so sharp and clear.  In fact overnight my wife’s Samsung monitor made the image quality on my monitors ‘unbearable’ with whites looking more grey than white.  So, I of course had to replace my monitors as well…..

This time I did more shopping around, but in the end I decided to buy a pair of Samsung T220 monitors for myself.  Once unpacked, not only did I have a have a much better viewing experience, but I was startled by how much faster windows were appearing on my machine.  The Samsung T220 monitors have a 2ms response time compared to a 8ms response time of my old monitors.  I didn’t think I would be able to spot a 6ms response time difference, but I can and as a result my PC feels faster.  Normally, monitor buying guides say that you only need fast monitor response times if you are a gamer, but from my experience even non-gaming PCs can benefit from faster response rates so it’s worth adding this to your list of criteria when shopping for a new monitor.

If you’re looking for a good, budget monitor then you can’t do much better than the Samsung T220.

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In a recent move, noted Japanese console and games maker Nintendo has decided to ship a large sized edition of its popular console DSi handheld. The new device will have two screens and it will be known as DSi LL. It will be available in stores approximately in the last week of November. The estimated cost of the device will be around $220 USD. According to the news available from a Nintendo spokesperson, the device will be sold in overseas market by early next year. It will be the costliest device in the DSi series of consoles.

In April this year, Nintendo released the DSi with two cameras which was a tad bigger than the original DSi. However, the screen size of the new DSi will come close to Sony PSP’s screen size. The dual screen will add to its novelty factor. As per the specs, the new version of DSi will offer increased battery life. It could be close to three hours or even more depending on the screen brightness. Those who think they will get a better resolution in the new device are likely to be disappointed. The resolution will remain as it is. In Europe it will be sold as DSi XL.

Apart from the pixilation issue the new device will also be heavier. At 314 grams it is quite bulky. The device is not going to offer any revolutionary change in game play to the Nintendo fans. The weight of the device may deter some of the users to carry it around.

For more information please click here.

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According to a press release spilled out from Netflix, PS3 will now will get Netflix streaming, thereby enabling the users to experience the streaming feature at no extra rate. Sources revealed that the newest feature will be made available at no extra cost other than the usual rent that the Netflix users had to pay, which is as low as $9.

The newest technology on the block offered from Netflix has been readily welcomed by the PS3 users. The only problem that the PS3 owners will have to face is the fact that now they have to inculcate a Blu-ray disc which will seemingly initiate streaming with the help of BD functionality. Moreover, the PS3 owners who do not have a Netflix account will now have to create one in order to get the newly introduced facility. Billed as one of the biggest ventures from Netflix, the latest technology offered to the users is expected to initiate the growth of PS3 users. According to the sources, the service will be available in the US from the month of November.

The press release that was unveiled from Netflix also suggested that the users can categorize the content according to their personal choices and preferences. If any additional content is required then it can be added through a PC Web Browser. The latest move now heats up the ongoing competition in the game console arena, especially between PS3 and XBox 360. Only time would reveal whether PS3 powered by Netflix gains a stronghold in the market or not.

For more information regarding the news please click here

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Sony Corporation has planned to launch an upgraded version of the PlayStation 3 coming November, according to a statement made by a spokesperson of Sony Computer Entertainment America. There were rumors circulating that it would be released sometime in October. At $350, it’s slightly more expensive than it’s counterpart which was priced at $300. The price has been reduced from $400 in August, which was originally decided upon.

This new PlayStation 3 250GB is being launched keeping in mind the festivities that take place during this time of the year in every part of the world. Sony hopes that the slightly higher price would not deter the consumers from buying this product, as generally during festive seasons people are in the mood of splurging.

The new Sony PlayStation 3 will be more or less identical to it’s older counterpart. It will contain more storage space than the former model; at 250GB, it will have a little more than double the space of older PlayStation. It will be able to store more games, movies, installations, applications, photographs and music. Everything has to be downloaded from Sony’s online PlayStation network. The extra storage will make the PlayStation more user friendly, as the users would no longer have to keep deleting content or store these files somewhere else when there is need for more space.

The improved Sony PlayStation 3′s North America launch is not the first launch, though. The same product was launched in Spain a few days back. It was also loaded with Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2. Australia too is to get it’s new version of Sony PlayStation soon.

For more information, click here.

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This year’s Intel Developer Forum has been very interesting to say the least. Not only have they released their usual fare of different chips and announced future ones, Intel has also been diversifying like never before. Given the sheer variety of things that they are dabbling in, a pondering on Intel’s future is fully warranted at this point.

Looking at the hardware side of things, it is obvious that Intel actually looked upon the netbook market and decided that they can quickly release a chip that would suit this new class of devices. They of course did not anticipate this much growth and their current steps are showing the surprise.

Once they realized that things are going so well, they decided that they have to consolidate the market for retaining the share that they now command. Which is why it started the Atom Developer Program. But there is more to it than meets the eye.

A chipmaker should understand better than anybody else that the money is no longer in the power hungry performance beasts like the Nehalem chips. Sure they have a steady demand at the high-end of things but the actual market is now in the MID, Netbook and SmartPhone categories. The future essentially belongs to the portables to the ultra-portables to the handhelds. With the sagging economy, the focus on convergence and more support for mobile broadband, everyone wants to carry one single device to do it all instead of spending money on multiple portable and non-portable devices.

For example, most people are carrying their iPhones to meetings and classes for taking notes. The same device also entertains them, lets them access everything the Internet offers (minus Flash content) and offers un-paralleled functionality via the 75,000+ apps. Similarly, people are making do with just one netbook and no laptop or desktop. This is because not everyone’s a professional and they have realized that that is all they need. Desktops have one foot in the grave and laptops are replacing them even as the market declines further.

Given this scenario, it is no wonder that a mainstream chipmaker like Intel is looking towards the markets of ARM and VIA who are mainly known for their power-efficient chip designs for handheld devices.

For now, we can tell that Intel is heavily netbook focused. We are not hearing Nehalem as much as we are hearing Atom. The new CE4100 may be a routine upgrade but it is also true that Intel has big plans for its smallest chip, namely Atom and soon Moorestone.

Moorestone is the platform that will succeed Atom in the (very) near future. The aim is of course to increase power efficiency as well as performance.

Then there is the software market. Other than the Atom Developer program, there is also the Moblin initiative. I have already mentioned that fact that it will compete directly with Android if makes it to a Smarpthone device but consider its original objective – running on netbooks. Netbooks are currently running on stripped down versions of Windows. So in all practicality, Intel will actually be competing with Microsoft in the netbook segment. It wasn’t very long ago when Microsoft declared in April this year that they are looking at the netbook market with the explicit intent of making money.

We still don’t know what will become of the Chrome OS but we can guess. While we spend time talking about the Google SideWiki, Google Wave is inching closer to worldwide release. This revolutionary platform, coupled with a speedy, open to all Chrome OS with built-in support for Google Apps might make for a very compelling combination indeed for netbooks owners.

Thus whatever Intel is planning, it will end up on the anvil with the others as the end-users pass judgment over the many choices that they will be facing very soon.

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I have already covered the fact that Intel wants developers to make Atom the center of their developing universe for the time being. Now we move on to the other things that they have been doing. Intel has been engaged in a wide range of activities and it seems like they really want branch out from just making computer and they are trying harder than ever to do it. From working with LG on a smartphone to attempting to create a universal standard for computer connectors, Intel has been diversifying indeed.

Atom CE4100 To Make Beastly Cable Boxes and Blu-Ray players

Intel is going all out with its Atom chip. They have realized that Atom has given them an edge nothing else. So they have gone ahead and upgraded the CE3100 media chip (which carried a Pentium M core) to the Atom CE4100 that has an Atom core.

What this means for the end-user is sheer power in devices that we do not think of as very powerful in a computing sense. That includes cable boxes and blu-ray players. These will get capabilities like being able to render 3D graphics and decoding two simultaneous 1080p streams at once. Dual blu-ray players, here we come.

A Peek At Light Peak

Light Peak is an optical cable standard that is being developed by Intel in order to cut down on the myriad connectors that modern computers use. This way, they argue, portables like netbooks (Intel’s current favorite device class) can be a lot more compact.

The Light Peak cable can maintain a constant transfer rate of up to10 gigabits per second both ways (through lengths up to 100 feet). The demonstration showed a custom rig feeding a larger than 1080p display and saturating an SSD at the same time. Intel is planning to include copper wires in order to power connected devices.

Intel intends to use this to replace the standards like HDMI, DisplayPort, FireWire, etc. It will prove difficult, replacing all these standards. But Intel is already talking with various companies in order to push this forward. However there are similar competing standards vying for attention and one of them is actually wireless. May be Intel has the leverage required to push this ahead of them all.

Nehalem ‘Em All! Intel Core i7 Goes Mobile

Intel’s Nehalem architecture is finally available for portables. Core i7 quad-core processors are the only processors right now that use this architecture and now both Core i7 Extreme and Core i7 are available in mobile versions.

Alienware is fast on the heels of such development and true to form – they are the first to adopt this and release a laptop that uses the Core i7 processor. Of course, the only difference is that the company is now owned by Dell and hence the official credit goes to Dell. The new laptop is an Alienware gaming beast, as usual and it is called the M15x.

Moblin To Rival Android?

Moblin, an acronym that stands for Mobile Linux, is a Linux-core OS that was started by Intel for running on netbooks. Since then it has seen many adaptations with the recent one being an implementation on the Asus Eee Keyboard all-in-on portable.

Intel has hinted that Moblin may be the OS of choice for the smartphone-like mobile Internet device that they are working on in collaboration with LG. They demoed a Moblin 2.1 implementation that has been designed for handheld devices. It looks like a great OS for touchscreens. If this happens, it will be a direct competitor for Android – the only other Moblin equivalent OS in the market.

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Some gadgets have always had a way of surprising us in to noticing them. Some of them are designed in a surprising manner, in ways that you won’t expect. But even then they remain true to what they are originally meant to do. Others are just plain weird. So when I started noticing a few of the recent gadgets for their quirky natures, I couldn’t resist making a post about them.

iTwinge

iTwinge is a fantastic idea really and one that iPhone users have been demanding (in a way) for a long time. Yes, it is an iPhone gadget. That nifty little handheld device from Apple has a way of generating the most innovative and intriguing of gadgets. iTwinge fills a gap that would make many iPhone owners very happy. This is a physical keyboard that actually takes the place of the onscreen keyboard on the iPhone. Yes, it is a sleeve that you slide on to the iPhone and start typing.

On the flipside, do keep in mind that this is just a normal QWERTY keypad and it won’t adapt like the iPhone’s keyboard does. It will draw power from your iPhone and there is also the ‘ugly’ problem. I will not mince my words, it looks bad on the slim and sexy iPhone.

Gyration Air Mouse Elite

This is a mouse that works by moving in thin air. No mouse pads, no LEDs or Lasers, no hassle. This mouse solves the problem of users who want something to use with their HTPC or living room PC and do not want to use a conventional mouse with it. Those who make presentations frequently might also find it useful.

Okay, so this is not the first mouse to work this way but this one caught my attention because a) it is from a company called the Gyration (nudge nudge wink wink) and b) it looks pretty cool. You might think of it as a normal mouse with some special buttons looking from over the top but once you look at it in the profile you will realize that it is nothing like your normal mouse.

The Air Mouse Elite will behave just like Wiimote but instead of using IR and receivers, it uses an inbuilt gyroscope. That does not sacrifice the usability though. It will still be quite easy to move the mouse pointer from one point to the next.

Razer Naga

This is the second mouse to make this list and even though this is a short list, this is one of those recent gadgets that everybody’s talking about. This is the Naga from Razer, makers of high precision gaming mice. These mice are always something special in the sense that if you want precision, Razer’s got your back. This company is actually run a by a dream team of hardcore gamers who also happen to be engineers.

If you thought your 5 button mouse was cool, Naga completely pwns it with its 15+ mouse buttons! It has a 4×3 grid on the left side for using as macros within MMOs plus extras. If you had any doubts, then you should know that Razer calls this the MMO mouse. The backlighting and 5200dpi (!) just adds to the sweetness of this mouse.

Nokia 7705 Twist

This is one phone that most users will either hate or love or go meh at. We have all lived through the swivel phones and we have seen square phones too. But at what point Nokia thought that a square swivel phone would be cool, I have no idea. Okay, so I am kinda attracted by its uniqueness. Let the picture do all the talking here.

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The first counterpoint of any PC advocate in a Mac Vs. PC argument is gaming. The fact of the matter is, none of us Mac owners bought a Mac for the purpose of gaming in the first place. However, the argument is valid. It’s the one area where the PC is, and always will be, superior.

Recently I introduced my oldest son to UFO: Alien Invasion, an excellent, open source, modern interpretation of the gaming classic, X-Com: UFO Defense, or simply UFO Defense if you live in the UK. X-Com has been my desert island game, the one game I would choose if I had to limit myself to just one game for the rest of my life, since about 1995. Turns out that IGN agrees with me, as I saw that they had voted it their best PC game of all time in 2007.

Anyway, it’s done my old heart good seeing my 15 year old dive headlong into UFOAI and really get into it. It rekindled a nostalgia in me, something that isn’t hard to do, for beloved games from yesteryear, and I began to populate the Mac with games for the boy to discover and for me to revisit.

So, here are my recent experiences with Mac gaming, both with apps that run native on the system, and others that we need a little smoke and mirrors to run:

• Native Gaming As the name implies, native represents those games that are ported to run directly on OS X and Apple hardware. Most of the blockbuster PC games do receive ports, although the timeliness of their arrival depends on the developer.There are a couple of developers that specialize in porting games to Mac, and a couple of the big publishers are also pretty good about releasing Mac and PC versions simultaneously. Id Software has always been good about providing Mac binaries for their games, and Quake through Doom 3 can be played natively on a Mac. So can Doom through Final Doom, but you’ll rely on one of the source ports that popped up after Id made their source open.I recently got the wife Sims 3, which supports PC and Mac out of the box. I was pretty surprised when I looked in the package and saw that the Mac Sims3 app contains a Windows install of Sims 3. Turns out that EA utilizes Cider technology, a proprietary fork of WINE, to run their Windows games on Mac. WINE is a system service that runs a Windows API compatibility layer on a non-Windows system. So far no complaints from the wife about how it runs, so I can’t bash their decision not to port when the Cider technology represents a way for them to potentially offer all of their games for Mac consumption.

  Also, a lot of older Mac ports that were made for Power PC architecture run just fine. Apple has included a Power PC emulation layer in Leopard called Rosetta, and so far all the old PPC titles I’ve played haven’t shown any sign at all that they were running under a wrapper. The only question is, how long does Apple keep Rosetta in OS X? Is it going to disappear in future versions the way Classic support did?

• DOSBox This excellent DOS emulator is just the ticket for old MS-DOS games no matter what platform you are on, and that includes Windows. So far I have had great luck with the original X-Com games, some old LucasArts adventure titles, and a couple of old DOS first person shooters. They all run better under DOSBox than they ever did on the old PCs I used to play them on. DOSBox is an open source solution, and you know how I love to support free software. It works great.
• VirtualBox As much as I love Sun’s VirtualBox, it’s not up to par for Windows gaming. As an open source project, it will be, but until then…..
• VMWare Fusion or Parallels VMWare Fusion and Parallels both do the same thing that VirtualBox does, you just have to pay for the privilege, unlike VirtualBox which is free. However, they both do something that VirtualBox doesn’t: provide Direct3D support under Windows. I’ve been using Parallels this week to play some old Windows titles, and while it works great for the most part, the key phrase with both VMWare and Parallels is YMMV.Some games work perfect, some display slow performance that makes it a deal breaker, some stutter on cutscenes, and some have weird issues with keyboard assignments. On the whole, games play just fine for the most part, and faster than on any PC I’ve played them on. Of course, the PCs I played them on were about 10-15 years old, so I would hope that modern hardware wouldn’t be too tasked with these old bits of code.I recommend VMWare and Parallels for gaming, provided that you don’t mind the odd, but frequent display of off-kilter behavior with the peripheral portions of the game like cutscenes and menus. You need to play around with compatibility modes for executables on games that have issues. Sometimes that is all it takes to go from unplayable to nearly perfect. Also, searching the web produces quite a few links to home brewed widescreen patches of these old games, if 1024x768x16 on your 24” LCD isn’t your thing.
• Open Source Projects You aren’t the only one who experiences gaming nostalgia, and in some cases enough of the right people are suffering it for a certain game that new projects have arisen. I mentioned UFO: Alien Invasion already. In 2002, the developers behind Star Control II, the best space opera of all time, went open source, combining the code from the PC and 3DO versions of Star Control II and unleashing The Ur-Quan Masters on the world.My 15 year old is also playing this game, and thinks it’s brilliant. He asked me why Mass Effect wasn’t as much fun as a near-20 year old game that could be made to run on a cell phone, and I had no good answer for him, just an agreeing nod. I’m sure there are many more cool projects out there that recreate gaming classics, and I welcome your mention of them in the comments section.I’ve had a lot of fun this last week revisiting some old favorites, and getting into some crusty old games that I missed the first time around. Should the Mac be your first choice for gaming? No way. Is there a lot of gaming to be had on a Mac? Absolutely. If you’re a Mac user that’s really into gaming you already have a PC, a 360 and/or a PS3 anyway.

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After weeks of deliberating I finally ordered, not one, but two iPhone 3G S – one for me and one for the new Mrs Blair. They should be arriving next week, and I’m already creating a list of apps I want to install. Portable video games are hot as a pistol, and the iPhone platform is just perfect for this form of entertainment. The screen is pretty large, thanks to the non-existing keypad, and the phone registers any change in position, which allows you to use the phone itself as a game control.

Among the pretty rich range of iPhone games, here are the five best ones that I’m going to install first on my brand new shiny iPhone!

Aquatica

This game is a really nice and soft underwater adventure for iPhone. You make your little amoeba swim around in the light blue ocean and eat other microbes to grow bigger and more handsome. It’s similar to the popular PS3 game flow. Actually so similar that is has created accusations of plagiarism, more about that here.

Blimp

Blimp reminds of Aquatica but it’s the other way around – it’s a flying adventure. You must fly to the right places and pick up the right stuff. This game environment is really, really good-looking, and you play it using the iPhone as a controller, that is, tilting the phone to control your flight.

Let’s Golf

This is nothing less than a truly entertaining golf game for the iPhone. As a matter of fact, this is as close as you get to console gaming on the iPhone right now. The game play also reminds a lot of the usual golf games – aiming, hitting, putting with easy controls. You can customize your character, buy new clothes for reward points, and so on.

Zynga Live Poker

This is an astonishingly good multiplayer poker game for the iPhone. The game play reminds a lot of genuine online poker, and you can play against thousands of other players around the world. The usual poker rules apply, the betting is what you’re used to, and except for the lack of a real-money option, this is real poker on the iPhone.

Peggle

In Peggle, you must try to nail a number of pegs with balls that come out of a small cannon at the top of the screen. You set the direction of the cannon, tap the fire button and the ball comes bouncing around like crazy. If in ten balls you manage to nail all orange pegs, you advance to the next level (a total of 55). It’s a classic “game”, and the iPhone version brings it alive very nicely.

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The popular American Video game developer and publisher, Activision has just announced three new game titles to extend the Guitar Hero gaming franchise. This includes  DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero. It’s been revealed that the turnable controller of DJ Hero will be used to create original mixes from hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance songs.

The Turnable Controller of DJ Hero

Guitar Hero 5

On the other hand Guitar Hero 5 will feature some of the hottest rock and roll artists along with the classic rock bands. It will give players an unprecedented level of control over the way they play the game with the avility to drop in and out of songs. Furthermore they will also be able to change band members, instruments and difficulty levels on the fly.

Band Hero

Last but not the least the Band Hero promises to deliver an exciting music collection that will feature top 40 hits designed to expand the appeal to a broad family audience who can play together on the drums, bass, guitar, microphone while experiencing a new genre of music.

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Played something cool like Left For Dead? How about Far Cry?

I like visiting  the PC stores to buy games. The games are not always for me, mind you. Often, they’re for my cousins or friends. Giving the gift of games is almost guaranteed to elicit a wide smile. (In contrast, try gifting someone with Encarta)

It’s imperative for game buyers like myself to consult the minimum system specs required for potential software. This tends to minimize dissatisfaction. Nothing can be more frustrating than installing a$49 game and finding it unplayable. Now this tact worked for awhile until game manufacturers started lowering the stated system specs on the boxes.  They’d rate their game as playable on, say a P4 2Ghz instead of a Core2Due 2Ghz. That’s a world of difference. Try running the latest iteration of C&C  on a P4 and you”ll see what happens.

I suspect that this calculated move is designed to draw in more buyers. Not everyone has high end PCs. A lot do own midline units, however. Sell the game to these midline owners and you got chachings at the cash register!

More than once, I’ve been had by misleading spec requirements. I bought software that made it appear the target PC not only exceeded minimum mark, but rested in the waters of “Recommended capabilities” It gets  worse when store clerks are less than happy to accept a returned game. Some have the nerve to even point to a “No return No exchange sign”.

These days I no longer refer to system specs that are self-serving. The numbers there are meaningless. Instead I mosey over to The System Requirements Lab (http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest). Here is one totally free site that evaluates your PC in real time and informs you whether it can run a specific game of choice.  In just seconds, it tests your processor speed, system memory and video capabilities. The output is a concise recommendation: the game can be/cannot be played.

Try it. You’ll save cash on your next purchase!

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