Headlines Archives - Page 38 of 58

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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New 12-inch Retina MacBook to hit stores 10th of April

April 2, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Apple will be releasing their new 12-inch Retina MacBook on the 10th of April, but a popular Vietnamese blogger got his hands on the device earlier. It doesn’t seem to be a shipping model, and we can only presume that it’s available only for reviewers, tech journalists – it doesn’t even boot OS X.

Tinthte also did an unboxing video, but since last night, it has gone private. I will update the article as soon as it comes back on-line, so be sure to check back with us in a couple of hours, or days.

Apple announced the device last month, and it will hit Apple stores the same day as their wearable tech. Now you have 2 reasons to visit their store, and see what you can come home with.

Their brand new ultra-thin MacBook is the thinnest laptop that Apple has produced – sporting a 2304×1440 resolution, with a new engineered keyboard that spans on the entirety of the device.

Two versions will be available for purchase:

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

and

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

A 1.3Ghz version has been also announced, but the price remains a secret.

Apple has stated that the battery life will be between 9-10 hours – it depends based on if you just surf the web, watch videos, or have a craving for video games. The company has also stated the their new device can also ” operate in silence”.

With a 13.1mm thick device, Apple wants to be known as creators of the thinnest laptops – it’s also 24% thinner that it’s 11-inch predecessor – weighing at about 2 pounds ( that is 0,9 kg).

Besides being available in its traditional silver colour, the Retina MacBook will also be offered in gold and space gray colours. Yup, gold. I don’t know why anyone would want something gold covered, or tinting the nuance of gold – it just seems tacky and cheap.

Benchmark statistics have been made available by Primate Labs’ Geekbench test suite, and Apple’s base model stands out at a score of 1,924 points for the single core operations, and 4,038 points for multi-core operations – it occupies the position just below their 2011 model.

Will you be exchanging your old 2011 model for the new one? Tell us in the comments section below, and don’t forget to keep checking the article for an updated unboxing video.

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Scientists analyse gravitational waves with black hole mergers

April 2, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Albert Einstein was the very first scientist to try to better understand the mystery behind gravitational waves. By analysing black hole mergers, one could see magic happening but nothing more – except secrecy from the universe.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found new solutions to the problem that has plagued even the great Einstein. When two black holes are near each other, and they collide, they emanate pure energy – it’s one of the most energetic events in the universe – and they release it in form of gravity waves.

Think about it this way – you’re walking down on the pathway in the park, and it leads you to a pond. Near the pond there is a nice little old woman that feeds the ducks by throwing little pebbles of bread into the water. The ripples that are provoked by the pebble of bread can be compared with the release of energy, in form of gravitational waves, from the colliding black holes. Of course, it’s not the same, but the pattern is. The waves are in space time itself, and nobody knows how to calculate its distance.

Physicists have been working on detecting, and analysing data from the event, but have been unsuccessful so far using sensitive detectors – it’s time for another plan.

Michael Kesden from the University of Texas at Dallas, has stated in a paper regarding the effective potentials and morphological transitions for binary black hole spin precession, which you can read right here, that – “An accelerating charge, like an electron, produces electromagnetic radiation, including visible light waves. Similarly, any time you have an accelerating mass, you can produce gravitational waves.”.

By finding a way to analyse the pure energy dispersed in gravitational waves, astrophysicists can open a whole new world for astronomers.

Astronomers are studying every object in space, over a wide range of electromagnetic frequencies – from visible, and infrared light to radio and micro waves.

“Using gravitational waves as an observational tool, you could learn about the characteristics of the black holes that were emitting those waves billions of years ago, information such as their masses and mass ratios, and the way they formed. That’s important data for more fully understanding the evolution and nature of the universe,” Davide Gerosa of Cambridge University stated in a press release.

The key to the equation is finding a way to properly calculate the changes a black hole goes through when it rotates. Researchers have successfully found out that a black hole undergoes 3 different stages over time. It paves the way to better understand how a black hole evolves.

Kesden has also stated in a press release that – “With these solutions, we can create computer simulations that follow black hole evolution over billions of years. A simulation that previously would have taken years can now be done in seconds. But it’s not just faster. There are things that we can learn from these simulations that we just couldn’t learn any other way.”

It feels more and more like living in an Arthur C. Clark book. I’ll probably visit my grand-children on Mars.

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This weekend’s total lunar eclipse will last only 5 minutes

April 2, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

This Saturday you’ll have the chance to greet a total lunar eclipse – it’s the third one in less than a year!

I know I’ll be up and gazing at the stars compelled by a state of excitement and thinking what will the future hold for us? Is it going to be anything like what Isaac Asimov has prophesied in his books? Or will we become a horrid empire addicted to spice like in Frank Herbert’s ” Dune”?

If you want to be amongst those who witness the shortest total lunar eclipse this century you’ll have to be awake at 3:16 a.m. PDT. In the morning of the 4th of April we will be all waiting for about one hour and 45 minutes for it to start. At about 4.58 a.m PDT, Earth’s shadow will move across the lunar disk and we will see the mighty, yet short, eclipse.

Lunar eclipses are possible only when the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its shadow. This can only occur in syzygy – Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, with the Earth in the middle. There are 3 types of lunar eclipse – total, partial, and penumbral – and the are 5 stages of a lunar eclipse. Don’t worry, you’ll see it without using binoculars or special equipment – but for the best experience I highly recommend using gear.

I’ve been to a couple of lunar eclipse gatherings in my life time, and every time the moon comes up with that nuance of copper-red, everyone asks why does it have that colour. Well, it’s that way because the world doesn’t stop, it’s in constant motion, and people around the hemisphere are experiencing sunrises, and sunsets which shine incredibly into the Earth’s shadow. The red orb that will appear in our sky on the 4th of April is called a blood moon – it has been a bad omen since the dawn of humankind, when the very first people gazed upon the red’ish sky.

Don’t miss this lunar eclipse, because the next one is set to appear on the 28th of September 2015.

Fun fact – astronomers are calling the 4 eclipses that have plagued our sky, each one 6 months apart from the other, a tetrad. A phenomenon that is incredibly rare.

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Microsoft Surface 3 goes on sale on May 5th

April 1, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The tablet PC market is a big one, and as far as operating systems go, you would be forgiven for thinking that there are really only two options: Android and iOS.

Windows RT is a distant third, and I think that really affected Microsoft tablet sales, with its limited offer of Windows Store applications. Microsoft Surface 3 is the company’s bid to change all that by running the full Windows 8.1 OS, and it goes on sale on May the 5th.

Compared to the Surface Pro 3, the Surface 3 is lighter, weighing only 1.37 pounds, thinner at 8.7 mm, has a smaller yet brighter 10.2 inch screen with 430 nits of brightness, and costs 499$, as opposed to the Surface Pro 3’s 799$ price tag.

It keeps the price down by using the new quad core 1.6GHz Atom x7 Cherry Trail processor, which is a hybrid chip for both laptops and tablets. Microsoft, however, boast that the Surface 3 battery should last a very impressive 10 hours.

Microsoft Surface 3‘s real selling point is, like I mentioned earlier, the fact that it will run Windows 8.1, unlike the previous models’ Windows RT, which was designed for tablet PCs which used 32-bit ARM architecture. Running the full Windows 8.1 OS means that Surface 3 will not have any of the software compatibility limitations associated with RT, and you will get to upgrade to Windows 10 for free, once it is released.

It comes with 64 GB of internal storage and 2 GB of RAM, but for an extra 100$ you can get LTE support or 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB internal storage. For 699$ you can get both LTE support and the extra RAM and internal storage.

Some other interesting things to mention about Surface 3’s hardware are the 8 MP rear-facing camera and 3.5 MP front camera, and a great selection of ports, including a full-size USB 3.0, a microSD card reader, a microUSB charging port that doubles as a USB 2.0 for data, a Mini DisplayPort, and a headphone jack.

Although sales start on May 5th, pre-sales have already started since yesterday, and testing in stores has begun today.

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New Evil Within DLC Comes Out on April 21st

April 1, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

It has been just under two weeks since the first Evil Within DLC, and Bethesda Softworks have already announced the next one to come out on April 21st – The Consequence.

Directed by Shinji Mikami, best known as the creator of Resident Evil, The Evil Within follows Sebastian Castellanos as he tries to survive an unreal apocalypse, and unravel the mysteries surrounding it.

The Assignment explores the story of one of the supporting characters, Juli Kidman, and the upcoming DLC, called The Consequence, is the continuation of this story.

Anyone who has played the original game knows that Kidman is a mysterious character which leaves lots of unanswered questions. The Assignment and The Consequence aim to answer these questions, and shine a clearer light on what her purpose is and who she is.

Bethesda have not said much in the way of what we will be seeing in this next instalment, other than that it will see Juli Kidman’s story through to the end.

“Since it’s only been a couple of weeks since The Assignment released, we don’t want to spoil too much of what’s happening next – there would assuredly be consequences for that.” says a spokesman for Bethesda.

The short teaser they released does not reveal much, either. Most of its 19-second runtime is taken up by the ESRB and the logo, with just 7 seconds of gameplay. In those 7 seconds, we see Juli Kidman walking on what look like suspended rails, with fog all around her. She appears to be walking toward a light, until, all of a sudden, the light rushes toward her, and we hear a woman’s scream. At the very end of the teaser, we hear Kidman saying “I’m not running this time.”

The Consequence will be available of April 21st, and it is free for everyone who got the game with the 19.99$ pass. It can also be purchased as a stand-alone item for 9.99$.

Are you ready for a gruesome encounter in the new DLC? Has the last one left you with a bad taste? 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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