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The Witcher 3 consists of 200+ hours of gaming

April 1, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

If you thought that Dragon Age: Inquisition is a time waster, wait till you play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

CD Projekt Red, who are in charge of developing the game, are working hard to keep the release date of May the 19th. To be honest, I won’t be disappointed if they delay the game a month or two – I would really much prefer quality over quantity any time.

Senior Game Designer Damien Monnier has taken to Twitter to announce that The Witcher 3 will have 200+ hours of gaming. That is, if you do everything in the game – from side quests, to the main story, to just wandering around the beautiful landscape and fending off monsters.

Back in January, CD Projekt Red stated that they want to create an open-world with absolutely no boundaries, and that their artists have no limits. It’s safe to say that the rumours of a 50GB install on the PS4 are pretty much founded at this point.

The game is inspired by novels created by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski – the action in the game is set after the books have been concluded. It’s a mythical story filled with old folk monsters, set in a fantasy universe that takes you in a journey riddled with adventure, despair and horrifying events. There are more than 10 stories, and short ones also, in The Witcher Saga

The first two games have received critical acclaim, and overwhelmingly positive reviews – from beginners and die hard fans alike.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be a new formidable experience to veterans and newbies – learning from their past mistakes, CD Projekt Red, will go for a slightly easier learning curve this time around.

If you were shocked at how incredibly vast and complex the world of Witcher 2 was, you will fall deeply in love with the new installment. Rumours have it that the game will be twice as big as its predecessor. We don’t know this for sure though, CD Projekt Red focused more on showcasing the combat and questing side of the game, and at E3 we managed to get a glimpse of the graphics. I’m really excited about the game, but if you care to compare the demos to the actual trailers, you’ll feel a little bit dissapointed – it’s like you’ve been told that there is icre cream in the fridge, only to find out that your room-mate bought sherbet.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be released on the 19th of May on PS4, Xbox One, and the PC.

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iPhone 6c has been leaked!

April 1, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Since its release in 2007, Apple’s iPhone has become one of virtually synonymous with smartphone, to some, and is directly responsible for making them popular household items.

It has been a little over a week since the company announced that they would be releasing three new iPhones this year, and already images of one these have been leaked on the internet.

The phones announced were the iPhone 6s, the iPhone 6s Plus, and the iPhone 6c.

Apple have yet to release a 4-inch version of the iPhone 6, but it would seem that the company is preparing to do just that this year with the iPhone 6c. Images leaked on FutureSupplier.com show a smartphone that is very similar to the previous budget-friendly 5c, but with a few cool changes.

Like the iPhone 5c, the 6c has a plastic body, and is expected to feature the same colors. The size of the rear shell indicates that the phone will be in the 4-inch range. However, there are two really notable differences, namely the pill-shaped flash LED next to the camera, and two rows of speaker grilles on the bottom of the phone.

Given the shape of the flash LED and the speaker grilles, there is a pretty good chance that the new 4-inch iPhone will have the same internals as the popular 5s, which is now already two generations old.

With Android phone popularity not showing any signs of slowing down, releasing another affordable version of the new iPhone, like they did with the previous iPhone 5, would be a really smart move on Apple’s side. Many people were surprised when the iPhone 6 Plus came out, but many were also disappointed for not having a 4-inch option.

Having three different sizes on offer for customers to choose from would be in accordance with the company’s new approach of giving clients more options, and it is my personal opinion that this is the best way of making everybody happy.

Apple have not made any announcements as of yet, so really all we can do is speculate and look forward to the phones’ release date later this year.

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Gmail unifies inboxes across accounts for Android users

April 1, 2015 By Roxanne Briean 1 Comment

Google will be updating their Gmail app for Android – adding a ton of new features and important bug fixes.

The key feature that stands out will be the one unifying inboxes across accounts. Google has finally realized that the average Joe has more than one account – whether it is for Google Drive or for Gmail. “Starting today you’ll be able to view all your mail at once, regardless of which account it is from, using the new ‘All Inboxes’ option. This way you can read and respond to all your messages without having to hop between accounts.” Google has stated in a blog post.

We have been waiting for this feature for ages, but better to be late than never, right? With the added support for Microsoft and Yahoo Mail, it just feels like an early Christmas present. Now you can easily use your forgotten Yahoo e-mail – just for nostalgia sake I presume because that place is a ghost city.

Another cool feature that Google developers have thought of is regarding how a user stacks his conversations from Yahoo, and Outlook accounts – doesn’t matter witch e-mail provider you’re using, you’ll be able to stack them neatly into a single, individual conversation instead of just going back and forth.

Those of you who were reticent of using the Gmail app should know that these added features, and bug fixes are only available for Android 4.0 and upwards – Gmail 5 has replaced the Android e-mail app with the release of Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Google is constantly trying to improve their search algorithms not only for their search engine, but for their apps also – “Search is the cornerstone of Google, and of Gmail. The new Gmail app for Android has better auto-complete, so you can find what you need even faster.” I’m really glad to see that Google is improving their apps, and they are keeping up with the times. I have been using their services since 2007, a date that coincides with the start of The Official Gmail Blog, and I have witnessed all the layouts and changes.

For a full detailed list of what Google has added, changed, or fixed, I urge you to visit their post on The Official Gmail Blog – it has been redacted by Régis Décamps, a Google software engineer.

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Valve is giving the VR headset for free

March 31, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

It isn’t shocking news that Valve will be giving away, for free, their VR headset, named HTC Vive Developer Edition – they are known for their marketing strategies of giving away free gear for developers to play around with. Valve Steam Machine suffered from the same marketing ploy, and it raised its popularity tenfold.

At this time, it’s unknown when, and where you can apply for a HTC Vive – rumours have it that you’ll be able to apply on HTC’s VR website next week.

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait long enough for the VR gear to be available to the general public. ” Built to deliver high-end VR, the HTC Vive Developer Edition is the first look at SteamVR.” Valve states on the Steam website. “The dev kit comes with a headset, two controllers and two base stations-everything you need to dive in and start creating new interactive VR experiences. It will be available this spring, followed by consumer edition hardware later in 2015.”

HTC’s, and Valve’s marketing strategies are somewhat different, and at the same time they can be seen as aggressive if you care to compare them to Facebook-owned Oculus Rift, or Project Morpheus, currently developed by Sony.

Oculus Rift has already been sent to backers of the Kickstarter campaign, and the developer edition is sold for 350$ – although the creators highly recommend non-developers to wait a while and not meddle with on-going demos, and concept games, because it will have a bad impact on their future experience with their virtual reality machine.

On the other hand, Sony has shipped the Project Morpheus to only a few, and select developers. Maintaining a hush-hush strategy for their virtual reality gear. And even more so, Sony has borrowed the headsets to the developers – free doesn’t make big corp investors think of profits, does it?

According to HTC, those who will be chosen will be sent a headset along with two controllers and a base station – it’s everything a developer needs to create a virtual reality world for the end-user to experience.

HTC VR’s homepage states that their collaboration with Valve is for the long-run and that we should be expecting more news regarding games, and apps from both of the companies – ” The Vive headset was developed in conjunction with Valve, creators of such ground-breaking games as Portal and Half-Life. HTC manufactures some of the finest consumer electronics on the planet and Valve is an unrivaled architect of virtual worlds, so you know the collaboration is something special. Vive is powered by Valve’s SteamVR so plenty of games that take advantage of its capabilities will soon be available on the Steam service.”.

The thing that differentiates Vive from other virtual reality gear is that the user will be rooted in real space. The headset maps out the room, and then selects various scenarios for you to play in – it alerts you when you get too close to a real-life object. It limits its ability to create a space exploration game, for example, but at the same time, you can be fully immersed in your own room, walking down the hallway seeking glorious treasure at the end of the, what is now, an underwater cave.

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GTA V – 2 weeks until PC release

March 31, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Grand Theft Auto V, or for short GTA V, will be released for the PC on 14th of April 2015. You can pre-order it via Steam for 59,99$ right now!

GTA V is an open-world, action adventure game created by Rockstar North, and published by Rockstar Games. Grand Theft Auto isn’t a term created specially for the game, but it stands in US law as – a felony crime defined as the theft of objects exceeding a certain monetary value, as set by statute or court ruling. It is usually distinguished from petty theft where the value of the item taken is substantially lower in value. Theft of an automobile is usually considered Grand theft even if the vehicle is a salvage or scrap vehicle having no value or a very small value. The value necessary for a crime to rise from Petty to Grand theft can be as low as $100 depending on the jurisdiction, but is usually $200 or $1000.

GTA V is a behemoth!

It was released in September of 2013 for the PS3, and Xbox 360, and September of 2014 for the PS4, and Xbox One. Although it had received positive reviews regarding the last gen title, it still felt lackluster, and awkward looking sometimes – with walktrough breaking bugs that would put a dent in the enjoyment of the game, graphical glitches that appeared randomly while you played, and the on-line experience with its poor server stability that sometimes would lead to frustration of the highest degree.

GTA V is a behemoth in the video-game industry, and each title sells millions of copies – engaging its audience in a world full of violence, crime, sex, drugs, and just mindless fun.

Almost two weeks ago Rockstar patched the game without stating exactly what it fixed ” Fixes for GTA Online to improve stability, and other minor fixes for both GTA Online and Story Mode.” Not much to go on. They definitely didn’t change the architecture of the game, but they did something. And we hope that the something they fixed on last gen consoles doesn’t suddenly break for PC users. But seriously, it is the most useless patch notes I have ever read – ” We fixed some stuff, we hope that the stuff we fixed will remain fixed.”

After two years of waiting, the Heists DLC Pack has finally been released, and it has crippled the on-line enjoyment of it due to the high user load that hugged the servers to death. The Heists DLC adds to the immense world that is GTA V – with a new mode called cooperative heists. It teams you with other 3 players, each having different tasks, to take on a heist. It will test your helmet to the metal – flying, combat, stealth and driving skills must be practised thoroughly. Or if you want to make the gang a fool of themselves, then by all means don’t get a hold of the frying pan before jumping in the kitchen.

Take control of 3 characters!

GTA V’s storyline is one that we are accustomed to – superb narrative, exciting plot twists. The game is set in Los Santos where the people of the city, and the country alike, are on the brink of dividing even more due to the wake of the global financial crisis. In this new installment you will take control of three characters Michael, Trevor, and Franklin. They form an unique bond over their abilities to perform a clean, and quick heist. Their criminal fraternity is fuelled by their sense of crime, and not always, but sometimes, hatred towards the establishment.

The player can switch between each of the characters. Unlocking the main story, and different side quests, by playing with each and every one of the main protagonists – but you can do so only when you are not in a mission!

Switching between characters is a great way to see how well thought the game is. Each individual is independent, and sees the team as something more than a bunch of guys robbing a bank – only if they work together they can reach their goals. It’s like when the villains of a cartoon realise they have a chance of defeating the super-heroes if they team up, but alas, they end up divided due to their humongous egos, and hidden motives.

Heist missions are the pillars of the game that make GTA V an unique team-work experience. A player needs to prepare for a heist – and that preparation require reconnaissance, staking out the place, acquiring certain weapons and ammunition and executing the plan in a certain style. Well, a certain style is a too loose of a term. The game offers you the possibility of going the subtle way, or heads first, aggressiveness to the max. While I do recommend to have fun while playing a game, and more so an open-world action adventure like GTA V deserves every bit of violence that you can put into, I would let you think twice before going into a bank and setting off the alarms in 5 seconds flat.

GTA V for PC will be a one of a kind experience!

GTA V PC fans will have the time of their lives. Not only that the game has gone through after-release patches, and content has been added, but the hardware capabilities of a PC are vastly superior that of any console available at the time. Of course, it’s a ton more expensive than a PS4 that is about 400$, or an Xbox One that stands at almost the same price. But you’ll notice how the traffic, and people that roam the street, is much more denser, and the little details like how the wind blows and the trees move, how tall-grass interacts while you move through it – makes the game an unique experience.

With the release of the title on last gen consoles, GTA V has added a new perspective – that of the first person. It substantially immerses the player into the chaotic world of Los Santos, and it adds depth to the tons of detail that the developers have worked so hard on.

With over 3000 new animations made specifically for the new perspective, one could feel madness taking control, and going on a rampage – of course, in the game. You’ll be able to see how Michael is reloading his weapon, throwing punches at unfortunate passers by, and how frustrated he is when he gets stuck in traffic – hitting the steering wheel with the wrath of a thousand suns, or the wrath of not having a drink in the morning.

As if Rockstar has thought of everything, you can preset your camera to change to the third person in particular situations. For example, when combat unfolds, and you need to duck for cover, you can set the camera to automatically change to the third person – the game is meant to be played in third person, and I’m not saying that the first person perspective doesn’t offer the same fun, even more so, but shooting out of a cover, and panning the camera right and left is crucial to the game’s playability. You will be swarmed by enemies trying to out-flank you because the first person perspective doesn’t allow you to pan the camera – it’s like real life, and you’ll die countless of times before getting fed up with it.

Lost Santos, and Blaine County – beautiful landscapes!

The locations of Los Santos, and Blaine County have a magic in them that will most likely make you wander around the place just visiting shops, parks, forests, beaches – immersing yourself in the virtual world. And you know how strolling around a Birch Wood forest can get better? Riding your dirt bike through it, while having the option to listen to over 300 tracks, spanned over 15 radio stations – with 2 of them being talk radio. I remember how much fun I had in GTA: Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA IV by just getting into a car and listening to the radio.

GTA V is an icon in the video-game industry, and it revolutionizes how a player embodies an avatar, and has tremendous fun over and over again. It will hit PC stores, both physical copies and digital ones, on the 14th of April 2015. I can hardly wait!

Has the Grand Theft Auto franchise marked our childhood with its breakthrough free world? Or has it left you down by taking a more gritty, and dark path?

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Gorilla Glass 4 makes Galaxy S6 impossible to destroy

March 31, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The video in question can be watched right here.

While I do know that the video is too blurry, and we don’t see possible scratch marks, a smartphone resisting that beating and still be able to work afterwards is just plain incredible. I cringed every time I heard that slapping noise – something deep inside of me was prepared to leap into the screen, and save that poor device from its tyrannical overlord.

Samsung is preparing to release its new Galaxy models – S6, and it’s curvier brother the S6 Edge. Besides sporting a beautiful next-gen design its protective shell consists of Corning Gorilla Glass 4. Corning has stated that their new coating can withstand a serious pummelling – as we can clearly see in the video.

Before the release of the iPhone 6, Apple was having seconds thoughts regarding Gorilla Glass 3 – although its an incredible foliage, if an user drops the phone at certain awkward angles, the screen can horribly crack. Apple was looking into another manufacturer that could make glass with sapphire, which is much stronger, more durable. But the deal fell through and the iPhone was released with Corning Glass 3. We are sure that Apple’s next release will most certainly display Gorilla Glass 4.

After watching the video, I think I might be considering wrapping everything that I posses in Gorilla Glass 4 – it would be hard to brush my teeth, but I have to live with my decisions.

Corning doesn’t use sapphire for manufacturing their Gorilla Glass products, but they are seriously tinkering with the possibilities. Corning is experimenting with sapphire on their Project Phire. That can only mean good news for us clumsy fools – no more worries of dropping our smartphones, and having to use a cracked, and heavily scratched phone.

” The sick feeling of dropping a phone and breaking the screen is all too common. Which is why Corning’s top scientists performed thousands of hours of tests to understand how and why glass breaks when dropped.” a Corning representative has stated.

You can rest assured that Gorilla Glass 4 won’t be available only for Apple or Samsung owners – there will be many smartphones that will adopt Corning as their lord and saviour. We just have to wait for the list of future smartphones that will withstand clumsiness’ wrath.

You can check the outdated products list right here.

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Legend of Zelda – delayed by a year for the Wii U

March 31, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Not only will Legend of Zelda not make the 2015 release date, but it won’t even appear at the E3 game expo in June.

Eiji Aonuma, the producer of the game, has announced on Facebook the delay and its motives.

“I must apologize to you all that were expecting the game by year’s end, but we are no longer making a 2015 release our number one priority,” said Aonuma. “Instead, our priority is to make it the most complete and ultimate Zelda game.”

Some will definitely be annoyed by the delay. I, for one, am of strong conviction that if a game resides more in its developing stage, then the end-product will be worth it – we are talking about Nintendo here. Although, history has thought us that it doesn’t matter if a game goes through a longer development period, it still has a chance of being a weak title – I’m looking at you Doom.

“As we have worked to turn these possibilities into reality, new ideas have continued to spring forth, and it now feels like we have the potential to create something that exceeds even my own expectations,” said Aonuma. “As I have watched our development progress, I have come to think that rather than work with meeting a specific schedule as our main objective, and releasing a game that reflects only what we can create within that scheduled time, I feel strongly that our focus should be to bring all these ideas to life in a way that will make The Legend of Zelda on Wii U the best game it can possibly be.”

Not being able to display their game at E3 can hint us to one thing – Nintendo is way behind their schedule. Now, don’t panic. Maybe it means that they are working on every detail of the game. One could only hope…

The Legend of Zelda is expected to make big sales for the Wii U. Nintendo’s expectation have been shattered by the not poor, but mediocre sales of their latest device. More and more fans have issued concerns with Nintendo’s strategies – it’s the time for mobile gaming, whether the Japanese company understands it or not.

Eiji Aonuma’s video message can be seen right here.

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Motorola Moto E 2 (2015) Review

March 30, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

If you’re on a budget, and are planning on buying a new smartphone that has almost all the features of flagship phones, look no further – the Motorola Moto E 2 is only 150$.

Building on top of its predecessor, the new Moto E 2 is elegant and sports a comfortable design, with great battery life, 4G connectivity, and good build quality.

On the downside, you will encounter problems such as limited visibility while out-doors – the display is difficult to read, even with brightness set to max; a mediocre camera that is enough for selfies, or for sharing on Facebook – even if the primary camera has 5 MP, at 2592 х 1944 pixels, you won’t do much photography wise; performance problems – even though it comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 200, Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7, Adreno 302 for the 3G model, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 410, Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53, Adreno 306 for the LTE model, it feels like it has half of those stats.

Hardware

If you want to see how the smartphone industry is evolving its tech, the best way for you to do so is to buy budget phones. My first smartphone, that I paid more than 500$ at the time, didn’t even have half of the performance capabilities that the Moto E 2 has. Sure, it was not entirely made out of plastic, but the Moto E 2 doesn’t feel like a toy, it feels like a high-end phone – although it doesn’t act like it. It’s one of the most inexpensive smartphones around, but in all fairness it offers what you pay.

Even though the LTE model sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410, Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53, Adreno 306 the tech doesn’t seem to shine in any way. That’s a bad point for Motorola, because a smartphone user requires a fast paced device – playing a game on your morning commute doesn’t have to be stressful, nor infuriating when you try to answer a message. You end up waiting 5 minutes for it to acknowledge a task you have given, and hope it does not freeze due to high RAM usage. It has 1 GB of RAM, but it seems like its running on 256 mb trying to reach the moon – if you try to teach a fish to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking it is stupid.

The Moto E 2 comes with 8GB of internal memory, and you can add a microSD card up to 32GB. It’s more than enough for the average Joe.

The screen has been enlarged only by a bit – it’s now 4.5-inches, from 4.3-inches. Although it may seem like a minor change, it feels quite better in your hand now, like a real smartphone should feel. Motorola has removed the smooth edges from it too, so you can properly grip your phone, without worrying that it will slip from your hand.

With the added LTE model, your budget phone can be compared with high-end products regarding downloading and streaming media. But the resolution will not be on the same level – 540 x 960 pixels, qHD, seems off, more so when you try to read an article. Maybe I’m used to devices that offer a higher resolution, subsequently a higher definition. It’s not really a bad point for the Moto E 2, and I’m sure that you can get used to the lower resolution, and more so if it’s your first smartphone, you’ll probably won’t even mind it.

The primary camera stands at 5 MP, 2592 х 1944 pixels, and it also has auto-focus. Like I said before, it won’t do you any good if your planning on taking high quality photos. It does well if you want to post on Facebook, or share a picture with a friend, but that’s just it. It also has an added front camera – 0.3 MP VGA. It has been a long time since I read the word VGA – you can’t take proper pictures with the front camera, but you can video chat with your other pixelated friends.

Moto E 2’s display isn’t top notch, but it stands tall, and proud, amongst other devices that can found at the 150$ mark. IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, with 16M colors will work just great in-doors, but if you’re planning on reading the text, or trying to message someone back while you’re outdoors, well, then, you’ll have a bad time. Even with the brightness set to its maximum capacity, you’ll have to squeeze your eyes and make a face if you want to fully understand the text you’re looking at. But it shouldn’t be that much of a problem if you’re already adjusted with smartphones – it’s pretty user friendly, and you can work solely based on intuition. If not, just seek shelter under huge trees that mark the Earth with their shadows.

Software

Software-wise it’s better than most other smartphones. No, it doesn’t come with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop. Some of you may be disheartened by the lack of Lollipop, but don’t fret just yet. You can install it by yourself. The strategy that Motorola has had with the Moto X back in 2013 has seemed to please owners. It doesn’t come bundled up with crapware that strain the smartphone. What it does is it adds apps from Plex, Revision3 and Flixster – and you will surely end up using them.

But, of course, you may choose to install Android 5.0.2 Lollipop that already comes bundled with a ton of cool apps, and it will make you forget the price range of your phone.

Having only just 1GB of RAM can put a strain on your gaming experience, or surfing on websites that have been optimized for mid-quality and up phones, but I didn’t encounter any latency problems playing Angry Birds, Into the Dead, checking out photos on Instagram, or just scrolling down on my Facebook news feed – that is, if I do one thing at a time, and wait for them to come up.

The 4G connectivity is arguably the biggest change from the previous model, and in an era where the internet is a part of our lives, and it’s constantly evolving into something more, 4G connectivity is a must!

Battery

The non-removable Li-Ion 2390 mAh battery fits the design perfectly – too bad we can’t change it with a spare. It’s one of Moto E 2‘s strong points, and we can compare it with Samsung Galaxy S5‘s battery – both devices can offer stand-by time up to 390 h, talk time up to 21 h, and music play up to 67 h. For a 150$ smartphone this is sublime. But let’s not get drunk on cold water here – it has an outstanding battery life, but if you crunch hard on apps all day long, it won’t last you more than 8 to 10 hours a day. Still good though.

Other tests show that after looping, continuously, a 720p video, the battery died after 10.5 h – that’s double of what last year’s model could stand.

The Competition

At this price range we can think of only a few that could stand alongside the Motorola Moto E 2. Sharp’s AQUOS Crystal for 149$, Lumia 640 LTE at 70$, and of course the Moto G that is a little bit more expensive that the E – it’s about 180$. Let’s break them down.

Sharp AQUOS Crystal

149$
TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
5.0 inches, with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels
Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat)
Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8926 Snapdragon 400
CPU: Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7
GPU: Adreno 305
Internal memory of 8 GB, with the possibility of adding a microSD card up to 128GB, sporting 1.5GB RAM
Primary camera stands at 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels
Secondary camera stands at 1.2 MP
Li-Ion 2040 mAh battery – up to 13 h of talk time

Lumia 640 LTE

70$
IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
5.0 inches, with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, sporting Corning Gorilla Glass 3, ClearBlack display
Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim
Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8926 Snapdragon 400
CPU: Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7
GPU: Adreno 305
Internal memory of 8 GB, with the possibility of adding a microSD card up to 128GB, sporting 1GB RAM
Primary camera stands at 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels
Secondary camera stands at 1 MP, 720p
Li-Ion 2500 mAh battery – up to 864 h standy-by, and up to 26 h 30 min talk-time

Moto G

180$
IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
5.0 inches, with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, sporting Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Android OS, v4.4.4 (KitKat), upgradable to v5.0 (Lollipop)
Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8226 Snapdragon 400
CPU: Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7
GPU: Adreno 305
Internal memory of 8 GB, with the possibility of adding a microSD card up to 32GB, sporting 1GB RAM
Primary camera stands at 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels
Secondary camera stands at 2 MP
Non-removable Li-Ion 2070 mAh battery

The one that seems to stand out is the Lumia 640 LTE. For 70$ it rivals Moto E 2 at everything – it even has a better secondary camera that stands at 1MP, 720p. The only complaint we have is that it runs on Windows Phone 8.1. I, for one, am not a fan of Windows Phone. I had only miserable experiences with Microsoft’s OS, and it will be another 10 years from now until I try it again.

The Conclusion

If you’re looking for a cheap smartphone just for that long talk-time battery life, that also has some of the capabilities of high-end products, then the Motorola Moto E 2 is the one for you. But if you’re planning on multi-tasking, and having as many apps as possible on the screen, while at the same time sending and receiving text messages, then you should probably look for a different phone that has its strengths in performance, not battery life.

It’s a good phone, and at the end of the day I can give it a score of 7. I will most likely keep using my Samsung Galaxy S5, and I will not change it even for the S6, but if I had to choose between the Motoral Moto E2, Sharp AQUOS Crystal, Lumia 640 LTE, and the Moto G, I would definitely go for the E2. Not only do I love what it can do technically wise, but the design, how the phone feels in your hand just adds a little bit more magic to it.

The only thing that I hate about the device is the horrible camera that they decided to put into the phone. Yes, I can wait for my apps to open, but I can’t stand the VGA camera at all. It’s a major drawback when you see it in action, and deep inside you regret their poor choice. But yet again, for 150$ I can’t wish for HD quality.

Motorola has stated that it will come only in: Black or White. But you can change the bands – Golden Yellow, Turquoise, Blue, Raspberry, Purple, Red – and grip shells – Golden Yellow, Charcoal, Turquoise, Blue, Raspberry – they are sold separately.

Are you planning on buying the Motorola Moto E2? Or are you going to wait for another option that will rival with Motorola?

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Bloodborne hotfix coming soon – What to do until then?

March 30, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Before scrolling down to read about the hotfix, be warned that the entire article is riddled with minor, and to some, major spoilers.

It wasn’t enough that Bloodborne was incredibly hard – on par with the Souls series – but it has a random multiplayer bug that will skip a bossfight.

Bloodborne has been released last week, and it has received praise from critics and fans alike. It’s one of those games that keeps beating you up, but you can’t wait to come back for more – it’s that good!

From Software and Sony Computer Entertainment have been contacted by Polygon.com. The reply was short and sweet – it states that they are aware of the bug, and a hotfix will come soon i.e a weeks time. The patch won’t fix the issues with loading times, or the totally random fps drops.

While we wait for the patch to be available, here’s a workaround for the nasty issue.

The item that creates the problem is the Lunarium Key – it can be found within Byrgenwerth College, but due to the bug, it can’t be found at all for some unfortunate adventurers. Players who don’t have the key can’t proceed to talk with Master Willem, therefore they will not be able to visit the Moonside Lake location, and fight the boss that resides there – Rom the Vacuous Spider.

Gamers are advised not to start the multiplayer event that unfolds battling in the Forbidden Woods area using the items Small Resonant Bell or Sinister Resonant Bell. It’s simple as that – don’t use those items, don’t start the fight, don’t encounter the bug.

From Software has stated that more patches will be coming in the future – some will fix performance issues, while others will add balance to the game. What we won’t be expecting from the creators of Bloodborne is a patch that will reduce the cruel difficulty of the game. Exactly like in Demon Souls, and Dark Souls, you’ll have to focus, and pray to all the gods that you’ll make it out alive from the next area.

Bloodborne is a worthy successor to the Souls series. While the older games would have pinned the player against demonic creatures with only a sword and shield in hand, Bloodborne adds firepower in the mix – making the game even more exciting.

One should not think of Bloodborne as a sequel to the series, but as a standalone project that will mark your gaming experience with its fast paced combat, fascinating mythical stories, and prioritizing offense, instead of defense.

Available only for the PS4, Bloodborne is a action-role playing game that will throw the adventurer into a Gothic city called Yharnam – known around the plateau for remedies. You are a traveller that seeks to cure his afflictions, only to find out that the entire city has been contaminated with some sort of plague that transformed its inhabitants into bloodthirsty monsters. Your goal is to survive to tell the tale.

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Driverless Tesla Car Interface Concept

March 29, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The future is upon us, taking concepts from movies like Sylvester Stallone’s “Demolition Man” and making them a reality. The era of driverless cars seems closer and closer with each year’s passing. Many car developers strive to combine technology with comfort in order to develop futuristic automobiles. The concept is not at all new but the development’s speed is mind blowing and each day we come closer to an actual working product and not just a prototype.

This Thursday, CEO and chief product architect of Tesla Motors, Elon Reeve Musk asked for a press conference to address the matter of “range anxiety” and their new software update developed to get rid of this problem. For those of you that do not know, “range anxiety” is the fear that your electric vehicle will be unable to reach its destination because it will run out of juice during longer trips.

After this subject was concluded he casually dropped the bomb saying that this summer Tesla cars will receive an update that will allow them to be driven in, as he put it, “Autopilot” mode.

As it happens in most cases he did not give many details but he did state that the autopilot will actually be disabled when you are not driving on the highway. He did reveal a few features about the software saying that the vehicle will be “technically capable of driving from parking lot to parking lot.”

You will also be able to summon it and the car will drive itself to your location. On top of that, apparently the vehicle will also have the ability to auto park in the garage.

These cars are already available for purchase and in just some months they will receive the above mentioned update and gain the ability to pilot themselves. We are not discussing a far into the future concept but something that is available today.

Tesla also announced their new user interface concept and we can safely say that it is stunningly beautiful and at the same time it is a massive improvement over the current one available for the “Tesla Model S”. With the help of Bureau Oberhausen, a team of designers, they managed to create a simple, easy to use, precise and efficient UI concept. Bureau Oberhaeuser recently released a video showing you how to use it.

The existing UI allows the usage of two different features at the same time by placing each function in a separate window. This concept, however, takes it one step further by allowing you to utilize as many panes for contacts as you want at any given time and giving you the ability to resize them to better fit your needs. Energy usage, tire pressure, web browsing and many other features will also be available simultaneously.

In the meantime, Google also seems to partake in this new technology with their own “driverless car project”. Many cars in Nevada and California already hit the streets in order to conduct driving tests.

This week, during the “South by Southwest talks”, Astro Teller head of the Google X made an announcement that shocked everybody present at the Austin ballroom. He stated that they could have offered auto piloted driving on the highway for two years now, but they did not want to rush it and, instead wanted to construct a car that will be able to handle all kinds of driving. He went on to say that at the moment their biggest problem is to predict people randomly walking into traffic.

To sum up, we could have had auto-piloted automobiles for some time now but Google chose perfectionism instead, but Tesla will give us this ability starting this summer.

GTA V is a behemoth!

Take control of 3 characters!

GTA V for PC will be a one of a kind experience!

Lost Santos, and Blaine County – beautiful landscapes!

Hardware

Software

Battery

The Competition

Sharp AQUOS Crystal

Lumia 640 LTE

Moto G

The Conclusion

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