Roxanne Briean

Watch the Mortal Kombat X Launch Trailer

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

With only a week to go until the official release date on April the 14th, developers of the Mortal Kombat franchise have released the launch trailer so fans can somehow endure what’s left of the waiting period.

You can watch the gruesome trailer right here.

I said it before, and I’m going to say it again – Mortal Kombat X is the embodiment of evil, and I’m going to enjoy every single piece of it.

The trailer was directed by System of a Down’s Shavo Odadjian, and with his help, the team that was in charge of creating the video has managed to create a stunning launch trailer that will make us fans hunger for more. Chop Suey is the perfect song to be listening to while you see Sub Zero, Rain, Scorpion, Goro and countless others chop through their enemies.

Those who have pre-ordered the game will receive Goro as a free playable character, those who haven’t will most likely be able to buy it from the store – at this time, we don’t know if you can buy additional characters on release date, or somewhere in the near future.

Players will have to choose from 29 characters that will feature both old and new Kombatants:

Tanya, Predator, Tremor, Sonya, Liu Kang, Jason, Jacqueline Bridges, Takashi Takeda, Kung JIn, Goro, Mileena, Ermac, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Cassie Cage, D’Vorah, Kotal Kahn, Ferra & Torr, Raiden, Kano, Reptile, Kenshi, Kung Lao, Quan Chi, Jax, Kitana, Erron Black, Shinnok, and Johnny Cage. That’s one hell of a roster!

There are some rumoured characters that we would most definitely love to see make a comeback:

Sindel, Bo Rai Cho, Kabal, Cyrax, Smoke, Rain, Stryker, Nightwolf, Fujin and Baraka.

NetherRealm Studios, and Warner Bros. Games have announced 4 limited eddition bundles for die hard fans:

Mortal Kombat X: Kollector’s Edition $150 – PS4/Xbox One – Available everywhere

Exclusive Scorpion figurine and Certificate of Authenticity, designed by Coarse
In-game Gold Scorpion Skin, inspired by the Coarse figurine
The Kombat Pack, which includes access to four add-on playable characters from Klassic Kombatants to Iconic guest characters

Mortal Kombat X: Kollector’s Edition &180 – PS4/Xbox One – Available only through Amazon

Scorpion Statue
Exclusive Steel Pack and Steel Card
Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties Comic Book Volume 1
In-game Gold Scorpion Skin
The Kombat Pack

Mortal Kombat X: Premium Edition $90 – PS3/PS4/Xbox360/Xbox One/PC – Available only digitally

The Kombat Pack

Mortal Kombat X: Limited Edition $95 – PS4/Xbox One – Available only through GameStop

Exclusive Scorpion Skin – this skin design, inspired by the Cold War, is a collaboration between NetherRealm Studios and a fan artist from the MKKollective.com
The Kombat Pack

I would definitely buy the Amazon one, but GameStop drives a hard bargain with that exclusive Scorpion skin.

What edition are you going to buy?

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Aluminium battery prototype can be fully charged in 1 minute

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Researchers at Stanford University have announced the creation of a new aluminium battery that can be fully charged in one minute.

Besides being able to offer an unbelievable charging time, it’s also a safe alternative to the widespread conventional lithium-ion and alkaline batteries.

Stanford chemistry professor Dai Hongjie has stated – ” We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames. Our new battery won’t catch fire, even if you drill through it.”

At its current state the battery prototype can’t be used in anything important – it can only produce 2 volts, far less that what an ordinary 3.6V lithium-ion battery can pump. The aluminium cells can only carry about 40 watts of electricity/kg whereas if you are to compare it to a lithium’s 100-206 watts of electricity/kg, it stands rather low in rankings.

We are fairly sure that aluminium batteries are contenders on the market, and they will soon get a place in our everyday devices. And why wouldn’t they? They cost a fraction of an lithium-ion battery, they can be recharged super fast, and they don’t explode in your pocket.

Aluminium batteries have come a long way. The first models cracked under the pressure after only 100 recharge cycles; now it can withstand up to 7,500 recharge cycles without losing its capacity – that’s 7.5 times more than the average lithium-ion battery.

The major problem, that we hope researchers at Stanford University can successfully tackle, is the one regarding cathode material. Nobody wants a 2 volt battery that can’t power anything – “Improving the cathode material could eventually increase the voltage and energy density.Otherwise, our battery has everything else you’d dream that a battery should have: inexpensive electrodes, good safety, high-speed charging, flexibility and long cycle life. I see this as a new battery in its early days. It’s quite exciting.” – has stated Dai Hongjie in a Stanford press release.

We are witnessing an industrial revolution – and I thought that 3D printers will be the next big thing. Just think of how this new prototype battery can change our lives. Laptops that can last up to days, and not hours, no more camping near a power outlet for a few hours to recharge your phone, research can be done in regards to electric cars, and prolonging their mileage, hospitals that won’t need to rely on generators in case of a power-outage – and so many more uses.

It’s awesome to live in the future.

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PlayStation Now adds new goodies to its streaming service

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Sony will be adding in April a ton of new goodies for PlayStation Now users – and it will be also available for Sony Blu-Ray players and TVs.

The most exciting game that will be available to Sony’s game streaming service has to be Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. An award winning game that ended the Uncharted trilogy – or so we have thought until we heard that Uncharted 4: A thief’s End is set to be released next year. It’s the perfect chance for gamers to catch up on the series, and fell madly in love with Naughty Dog’s rendition of a more charismatic Indiana Jones – if that’s even possible.

PlayStation Now will also receive two Team Ninja games – Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate. And for the casual gamers out there – Hustle Kings and Super Stardust HD.

It’s seem to be a month filled with great news from Sony. They have announced that their PlayStation Now service will be available outside of the PlayStation devices. Owners of Sony Blu-Ray players, 2015 models, and select 2014 Sony TV’s will be able to use the game streaming service. For more information regarding if your device is compatible with PlayStation Now, please read the FAQ sheet available on the official website.

PlayStation 4 owners will have PS Now pre-installed on their devices, and they will also receive a free seven day trial.

A subscription to PlayStation Now costs 20$ per month – or 45$ for 3 months – and it offers the user over 100 PS3 titles for pure enjoyment. The list of titles that are available on the streaming service can be read right here.

It seems that Sony wants to move further and further into game streaming services. In 2012 the company has acquired Gaikai, and recently a buy-out has been publicly announced by OnLive – one of the pioneers of game streaming services. Rumours have it that Sony didn’t acquire OnLive only for their network, or hardware capabilities, but most importantly for their patents.

If you weren’t planning on using PlayStation Now, maybe with these new additions you are enticed to give it a try. I know I will replay the Uncharted series. What about you?

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CERN LHC up and running after 2 year hiatus

April 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The Large Hadron Collider, or for short LHC, has been restarted after a 2 year hiatus, and is ready to go deep into new physics.

In 2012, scientists discovered the Higgs Boson, called The God Particle by the mainstream media, and it was one of the greatest things to be discovered in the past decade. Scientists are hopeful that now, after upgrading the LHC and spending $150 million, they will meddle with new physics and they will soon find out if Higgs Boson has relatives – distant cousins more likely.

Restarting the LHC after a 2 year hiatus doesn’t mean that it will start smashing particles. Scientists will need to re-calibrate each and every single instrument – ” It will take us about six weeks to two months to establish the first stable collisions for the experiments, because we have to commission all the instruments, all the systems one by one.” – Joerg Wenninger, coordinator of LHC operations.

Besides researching dark matter, scientists are hoping to prove, or disprove, the new so-called theory – Supersymmetry – it basically says that every particle has a partner particle.

If proven to be correct, this theory can fix major issues with the Standard Model – more exactly fixing the mass of the Higgs Boson. Supersymmetry can also explain how dark matter works, its mass, and how its linked to everything.

The Higgs Boson was thought to be the last missing particle to fill up the Standard Model, but with this new theory, questions have been raised on actually how many particles are there?

A scientist that is involved with the CERN LHC, Tara Shears from the University of Liverpool, has said that – “Of course in every particle physics experiment we’ve ever done, we’ve been wanting to make a big, unknown discovery, but now it’s become particularly pressing, because with Run One and the discovery of the Higgs, we’ve discovered everything that our existing theory predicts.”

So it’s safe to say that we will most likely enter a new era filled with scientific theories that will baffle our minds.

The Large Hadron Collider, commonly known as LHC, was built between 1998 and 2008 by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, and it is the world’s largest, and most powerful particle collider machine to ever be built. Spanning 27 km, or 17 miles, in circumference, and as deep as 175 metres, or 574 feet, it is also the world’s longest machine.

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Appointment needed to purchase the new Apple Watch

April 6, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The Apple Watch will be available on the 24th of April, but somehow the boys and girls over at Apple have thought that clients who want to buy their device need to make an appointment. Now, I don’t really know if this is the worst decision a company has ever made, or just pure brilliant.

It’s an incredibly risky thing that Apple is trying to pull here – everyone wants to try out the product before buying it, and what company that is set out to make profits doesn’t want their customers to buy something just out of sheer impulse?

I bought an iPod once out of impulse because I loved how it was designed. I already had an mp3 player back home.

Now, let’s look at the bright side for a bit. Maybe Apple wants to be sure that every store has sufficient devices in stock for purchase on release day – but it doesn’t make any sense. History has taught us that people have stood in humongous lines before with the goal to buy their devices only to find out that they were too late for the party, and the stock was no more – they didn’t riot, they didn’t even complain, some of them whined, but in the end they came back and bought the device. You can’t ensure that everyone will have a chance on buying the product.

Another possible reason, that seems more probable, is that Apple employees will instruct each and every single customer that buys the Apple Watch on how to actually use the device. Guiding customers through the process of customizing their new gear, selecting which band they want, and if they prefer the Sport version or the standard Apple Watch, doesn’t seem like a bad idea – but the question here is why? Why go through all the hassle of explaining such details? Isn’t Apple known for its simplicity, and incredibly user-friendly design?

Buyers of the Apple Watch, or any smart watch, will consist of individuals that have already made their research regarding the product. You’ll not see Mark, my room mate, who doesn’t know the difference between a CPU and GPU, buy a first hand edition of the Apple Watch. Of course, there will be buyers that will acquire the smart watch only because it’s made by Apple, and it’s something new, but those aren’t in the target demographic.

In the end, we know that the Apple Watch will sell like crazy – crazy millions actually. In the last few months, Apple has plastered cities with billboards and commercials for their new device, ads on TVs, and of course articles on well known tech blogs.

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PlayStation Plus subscribers – April game list announced

April 6, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Sony has announced what titles will be coming in April for PlayStation Plus subscribers – the games will become available on the 8th of April, so be warned that March’s offer will end then.

[PS3/PS4] – Tower of Guns – is an old-school first person shooter that offers a vintage style experience. The launch trailer makes me remember those countless sleepless nights of LAN parties – playing Quake, Unreal Tournament and Serious Sam from dusk till dawn. It also has a really cool cartoon’ish feel to it which I consider a major plus in a game like this – epic boss fights, and tons of weapons to wreck said bosses.

[PS3/PS4] – Aaru’s Awakening – is an amazing teleportation based 2D platformer that will frustrate you more than once – to be fair, if you don’t throw your controller at the screen, you have nerves of steel. It’s incredibly brutal. Think of Super MeatBoy on steroids, coming down on a heroin withdrawal. The game puts players in charge of Aaru, a mythical creature with two abilities – teleportation and charging. The gaming experience will be challenging, but once you get a hang of it you’ll see fluidity spawn from your every movement.

[PS4] – Never Alone – is a beautifully made puzzle platformer that is going to be perfect to play when it’s raining outside and you are all snuggled in bed. It reminds me of Limbo, sort of – if Limbo wasn’t black and white. The artwork is inspired by Alaska Native people, and the game is telling their story. What are stories of use, if their wisdom cannot be shared?

[PS3] – Dishonored – this has to be one of the greatest game PlayStation Plus subscribers have received. You will be taken in the world of Dunwall – that will make you think of pre-Victorian London, if the English were more electricity oriented, rather than steam promoters.You are Corvo Attano, and you were an agent and bodyguard to Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, but the usurper Royal Spymaster Hiram Burrows has imprisoned you on the claim of murdering the one you should have protected and kidnapping her daughter. You barely escape on your execution day, and you become an assassin. You’ll not rest until justice has been brought upon the betrayer. I immensely love this game because it’s what Thief should have been.

[Vita] – Killzone: Mercenary – if you have a Vita and you haven’t played any Killzone games, this is your time to start – and also to be ashamed that this awesome series has avoided you somehow. It’s the FPS that made me buy a PS3, it’s the FPS that made me learn, the hard way, how to play a FPS using a controller, and not a keyboard, and a mouse. You’ll have countless of hours of pure enjoyment.

[Vita] – MonsterBag – is a cute puzzle platformer which you can play on your morning subway commute – you will also make everyone near you stare in excitement at your Vita screen. Basically, you need to reunite a monster bag with her owner Nia, but somehow it all goes wrong and you start the apocalypse. You know, something that you do every Monday.

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Android Security State of the Union – what is it?

April 6, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Google has just released new security features for Android users called Android Security State of the Union.

Its task is simple – improve security measures for Android, to be on par with iOS. We all know that the openness that Android offers us comes with a price, and that price is having a smartphone that is not so secure. Recent efforts suggest that they are planning on closing the door for Android a.i the very open operating system will receive some drawbacks in the openness department. Google has also set, with an update, data encryption to be on by default in Android – in the past, you had to set it manually.

Through their Verify Apps tool, Google is scanning 200 million devices per day. They have stated that it’s an important security measure and scanning devices doesn’t take away personal information – it’s just a scan for security reasons. In 2014, scans have reached a high peak of 300 percent.

The downside of having an operating system that is praised to be the most libertine, for the lack of a better word, one around is that users that choose to download apps from third-party app markets and developers are most vulnerable to malware, and attacks on their smartphones. One way you can rest assured your personal information won’t be stolen is to download apps only though Google Play – a lot of users will be annoyed by Google’s decision to back down on what initially was said to be the most open OS.

Besides downloading apps only from Google Play, Google also recommends us Android users to set a PIN or a password on our devices.

If you are still afraid of attacks on your phone, you can add even more security measures. Install an app from one of the most well known antivirus makers – AVG. Apps like this will scan your smartphone when you receive a message, download an app, or surf the web. It’s free and it can also monitor battery, storage and data package usage, kill tasks that slow your device, and enable finding, or locating your lost, or stolen phone via Google Maps.

Android Security State of the Union is trying to help ensure Android users that their data will be forever safe, but we all know that it’s most likely our data will never be safe, and we are always prone to attacks.

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OnLive has been acquired by Sony

April 3, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Amongst the first pioneers of on-line cloud gaming, OnLive is to be acquired by Sony and it will shut down its gates on the 30th of April.

Why would Sony acquire all assets of OnLive only to close the shop? Is this a hint to some sort of new streaming service that Sony will announce soon? According to the announcement on the OnLive website, it seems so – ” After five years of uninterrupted service, the OnLive Game Service will be coming to an end. Sony is acquiring important parts of OnLive, and their plans don’t include a continuation of the game service in its current form.”

Services will remain throughout the 30th of April, but with extremely limited coverage for customer service over the next 27 days.

The phrasing is definitely a major hint – ” in its current form” tells us that the service will continue, but we will most likely see a re-branding, or a complete makeover. More detailed information about the takeover can be read on OnLive’s support page right here.

“As the first-ever game streaming service of its kind, everyone who has ever played a game using OnLive has contributed to the technology and its evolution in some way. We’re immensely proud of what’s been achieved and extend our heartfelt gratitude to you for being a part of the OnLive Game Service.” – ended the announcement.

After 5 years, users that have purchased hardware, acquired subscriptions, and even games will not receive a refund – states the FAQ sheet. But if you purchased a Steam game, that certain game will still be playable by using your Steam account.

With the closing on the 30th of April, everything will be deleted – from payment data to game achievements.

It’s sad to see such a great pioneer company go away in the nether. Shortly after its launch in 2010, the company filed for bankruptcy. OnLive was founded by Steve Perlman – who has also worked for giants of the industry like Microsoft and Apple.

In 2012 OnLive was being used by 1.75 million users world-wide – with a monthly subscription of $9.99, users could have played any game available in their roster by streaming the whole thing on their PC’s. It’s hard to believe that such a great idea has ended – hopefully, Sony will not let us down and they will continue Perlman’s work in another form.

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App of the week – iOS, Android and Windows Phone

April 3, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

It’s safe to say that 99% of the apps available on the marketplace are just pure rubbish. Digging through all of them is just a hellish nightmare, and more than often we download and install apps that just use RAM – instead of actually helping us.

” What do we say to the god of death? Not today.“ In our case – the god of horrible apps.

App of the week for Android users

Jobr

I think it’s safe to say that we all dread searching for jobs, and going to job interviews. It’s just the worst thing ever – well, the worst thing ever is being stuck in a box with killer bees, but that’s another story.

How does this killer app work? You input your skills and location in the app, and it does the searching for you – it digs through one million job opportunities and it finds the most suitable one. I wouldn’t delete my LinkedIn profile just yet – one million jobs consist of a really small list when you think about how many jobs there are in the world. But it has incredible potential and it’s a tool that is totally worth it – even more so because it’s free.

App of the week for iOS users

Spylight

So you just watched the entire first season of Hannibal in one sitting, and you are just awe struck at how elegant, and practical Mads Mikkelsen’s wardrobe is – one could say that he has a killer look. You want to go out and buy all the cloths that you’ve seen on the show, but you don’t know where to shop. It’s not like you’ll find anything at Target, or Wal-Mart. Here is where Spylight comes in and saves the day for you – it’s also free. It’s basically an app that tells you where to shop for the cloths that you’ve seen in TV series, or movies. Maybe you fancy that rugged-cop look that Rick sports in The Walking Dead, or probably you want to look like a Wes Anderson character? No problems. Want to sport that Whoopi Goldberg fashion sense? Why?

Be warned, this author isn’t responsible for shopping sprees that will spend your entire month’s rent.

App of the week for Windows Phone users

MS-DOS Mobile

Yes, I know this is an April’s Fool joke, but it’s so damn funny, that I couldn’t resist not prompting it in the list. And to be honest, its simplicity rivals the one that Apple holds so dear to its heart.

Did you know that George R.R. Martin, the famous creator of The Song of Ice and Fire series, better known as Game of Thrones, has written, and is currently writing, all of his books in an MS-DOS interface? The software is called WordStar 4.0 and George has stated that it’s the best word program that he has ever written in – ” Well, I actually like it. It does everything I want a word processing program to do, and it doesn’t do anything else. I don’t want any help. I hate some of these modern systems where you type a lower case letter and it becomes a capital. I don’t want a capital! If I’d wanted a capital, I would have typed a capital. I know how to work a shift key!”

App of the week for multi-platform users

Riff – for Android, and iOS

We know you dread Facebook apps – they always seem so terribly implemented, and completely useless – but this one actually works as intended. It’s a video messaging service available for free for Android, and iOS users where you can create a standalone video, or a chain of videos and sent them to whoever you want to. If you want to reply to someone, you do it in video. If someone has to reply to you – bam – video time. It feels like a dumbed down version of Snapchat, but it has a ton of potential and with updates coming in, I’m fairly sure that it will be the next fun thing to do.

Be careful with your data cap – remember that videos are way larger than photos.

Do you ave any other cool apps that didn’t made our short list? Post in the comments section below.

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The newest laptops and hybrids available this Spring

April 2, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Winter has passed and along with it Christmas, and New Years – those holidays were a strain on our finances. Hopefully, all of us have managed to get back on our feet by now, because it’s the perfect time to spend your hard worked money!

Apple is releasing their new 12 inch Retina MacBook in April, Asus has already released their devices, and Lenovo is planning on attacking their competitors starting in May. Don’t worry, we’re not only going to talk about high-end products – we also keep budget in mind.

Apple’s new 12-inch Retina MacBook

Apple’s newest laptop will be releasing on the 10th of April. It’s going to be the thinnest laptop on the market measuring 12-inches and weighing 2 pounds – almost 0.9kg. It’s going to come out in two models:

– A 1.1GHz version with 256GB storage that will most likely sell for $1,299

– A 1.2GHz version with 512GB storage that will make you reach down your pockets for about $1,599

Apple has also announced a 1.3GHz version, but they are keeping the price a secret.

The CPU is a low-power Intel Core M processor, and users can turbo-charge it up to 2.9GHz in the 1.3GHz model. It comes with an Intel HD Graphics 5300 GPU that will make gamers happy. Battery life expectancy is somewhere between 9-10 hours – but it depends on what you do with your device. The Retina MacBook will be available in the traditional silver colour, and in gold and space gray colours. Why would you want to buy it in gold?!

It’s really expensive, but when you think about it, you buy apple quality wrapped up in simplicity. It’s worth the price, but I wouldn’t buy it when there are a ton of other options at that price range.

Lenovo LaVie Z HZ550

Lenovo will be releasing in May their new laptops and hybrids – the devices will stand at $1,299 and $1,499. The new Lenovo laptops will sport a 13-inch screen, and they will weigh approximately 1.72 pounds – that’s a staggering 0.7kg. Their new line of hybrids called Yoga-style will have 13-inch screens and will weigh 2.04 pounds – 0.9kg. By using magnesium-lithium chassis, Lenovo has halved the weight of their devices – aluminium is twice as heavier.

Both products will have a 2560×1440 resolution, and will make use of Intel’s fifth generation processors – known as Broadwell. The laptop can go up to i5, but the hybrid can sport a high-performance Core i7. Storage wise – both devices will have a 128SSD.

I would be much more inclined to buy a Lenovo, rather than spend the same ammount of money on a MacBook. At the end of the day, it comes down to one thing – which one do you prefer the most. Whether it is design wise, or because of its technical capabilities.

Asus T300 Chi

I’m not one bit disappointed in Asus – I bought a laptop from their product line for about 700$ 4 years ago, and it’s still up and running perfectly. I can even play Civlizations 5 and Europa Universalis on it – at medium-to-low details. I started having problems with the battery 2 months ago – it lasts only about 3 hours tops – but it’s astonishing when you realize that I haven’t changed it since I bought it from the store.

Their new hybrid called T300 Chi starts at the low price of 699$ and you can order it on-line right now – it was released on the 20th of March. Low price and flexible design, top-notch quality and sporting a 12.5-inch display make it a must buy if you’re on a budget.

It sports Intel’s new Core M processor that is specifically designed for high-end tablets, laptops and hybrids. You can upgrade your device to 8GB of RAM, 128GB SSD storage space, and your resolution from 1920×1080 to 2560×1440 for a total of $899.

Lenovo Flex 3

Lenovo’s Flex 3 will be available in May. Not like its predecessors, Flex 3 can actually hinge folds back a full 360 degrees. Their new device will be available in 11,14, and 15 inch models. The price will start at $399 and the 11-inch model will come packed with a Pentium CPU from Intel, at 1366×768 display. The slightly more expensive models will use Intel’s new fifth-generation Core i-series – with the option of changing the display with a 1920×1080 one.

The 14-inch model will be priced at $549, while the 15-inch one will roughly cost you $50 more – adding it up to $599.

These are some pretty darn good prices taking into consideration that most of them will use Intel’s new fifth generation processors.

I’ll be looking for a new laptop starting May. I will probably stop at the Asus T300 Chi if nothing better comes my way, but I’m not ashamed with owning a Lenovo Flex 3.

Are you planning on changing your laptop? Are you dead set on something? Tell us in the comments section below.

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App of the week for Android users

App of the week for iOS users

App of the week for Windows Phone users

App of the week for multi-platform users

Apple’s new 12-inch Retina MacBook

Lenovo LaVie Z HZ550

Asus T300 Chi

Lenovo Flex 3

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