More clues are emerging by the day pointing to what we can expect from BlackBerry 10 handsets when the touchscreen and QWERTY variants arrive next year, and today was not different.
Some slipped-out marketing material gave us a possible glimpse at the colors and name of the at least the touchscreen device, known up until now as the L-Series.
According to the picture provided to UnwiredView, the touch device is called the BlackBerry Z10 and will come in both black and white.
Z10 is a departure from the company's traditional 4-numbered names, such as the BlackBerry Curve 9350 and BlackBerry Bold 9790.
Zo nice to meet you (Credit: UnwiredView)
Credit: UnwiredView
10, 10, 10
RIM is preparing both a full-touch handset and a QWERTY device that falls in line with its typical offerings.
Rumor has it that the keyboard phone will be called the BlackBerry X10, keeping in tune with its touchscreen brethren's zippy descriptor.
The company just posted financials for the last fiscal quarter and while the numbers weren't awful, RIM has to be thinking it's BB10 or bust.
Verizon Wireless has announced that it will extend its 4G LTE service to 29 new markets before the year is over.
Verizon appears to be bolstering its LTE coverage for the New Year. The wireless network provider announced on Thursday that it has added 29 new LTE markets to its service.
Some of these markets that are now covered by Verizon’s LTE network include Selma, Ala., and Port Angeles, Wash. among many others. With these newly added areas, Verizon can now boast that it offers LTE service in 470 markets across the country. The company will also expand its LTE coverage in 36 of its existing markets, which means that it will now bring speedy Internet services to more than 250 million people.
This announcement comes just days after rival carrier AT&T revealed that it added LTE coverage to five more cities, bringing its total coverage count to 125 cities. These new markets include Green Bay, Wis., Springfield, Mass., Melbourne, Fla., and Oxford, Miss. Of course, Verizon as been quick to point out this vast difference in LTE coverage, which amounts to nearly four times the number of markets AT&T brings LTE service to. However, AT&T argues that its connection is faster.
According to a study that examined various carrier networks, Consumer Reports ranked AT&T as having the best 4G LTE network of any other US-based mobile provider. While this may be true, AT&T was voted as the worst carrier in the United States in the same report. Verizon placed as number four in terms of the best carriers in the country, and AT&T brought up the rear in seventh.
But still, today’s announcement further proves that Verizon wins when it comes to availability. Earlier this year, the company set a goal for launching 400 fully functional LTE markets by the end of 2012. Verizon is well over its predetermined goal and reached this 400 benchmark two moths ahead of schedule.
Verizon currently offers 27 smartphones that feature 4G LTE connectivity in its online store. These include mid-range devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Stratosphere 2, to high-end products like Apple’s iPhone 5. AT&T is stocked with a similar variety of 4G LTE enabled devices. From Windows Phone 8 handsets like the Lumia 920 to Apple and Android smartphones, users have 30 devices to choose from.
We continue our holiday giveaways with a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for the Xbox 360. Read on to learn how to enter to win.
If you judge these things by sales figures, for the last few years there has been an undisputed king of the gaming world, the Call of Duty series. Each new annual release frequently makes well over a billion dollars, a figure that only a few years ago we would only joking suggest that a game’s sales totals would reach. Yet Call of Duty continues to break its own records, again and again. The newest member of the Call of Duty family, and this year’s offering, is no exception.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 raced through the billion dollar mark, and continues to have a massive online presence all around the world. That isn’t likely to change any time soon, which means that Black Ops 2 will remain in heavy rotation for several months still, and with the many upcoming DLCs offerings on the way, there is little chance of it growing dull. So for those looking for a game this Christmas (or shortly after), we are happy to offer you a shot at taking home the biggest game of the year.
Check out our full review of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for more details.
Here’s all you have to do to win: post a comment below letting us know what game coming out next year has you most excited. Once you comment, you are set.
The contest will run from now through Monday, Christmas Eve. This offer is open only to North American residents, and it is specifically for the Xbox 360.
Good luck to everyone, and from all of us at Digital Trends, Happy Holidays to one and all!
More clues are emerging by the day pointing to what we can expect from BlackBerry 10 handsets when the touchscreen and QWERTY variants arrive next year, and today was not different.
Some slipped-out marketing material gave us a possible glimpse at the colors and name of the at least the touchscreen device, known up until now as the L-Series.
According to the picture provided to UnwiredView, the touch device is called the BlackBerry Z10 and will come in both black and white.
Z10 is a departure from the company's traditional 4-numbered names, such as the BlackBerry Curve 9350 and BlackBerry Bold 9790.
Zo nice to meet you (Credit: UnwiredView)
Credit: UnwiredView
10, 10, 10
RIM is preparing both a full-touch handset and a QWERTY device that falls in line with its typical offerings.
Rumor has it that the keyboard phone will be called the BlackBerry X10, keeping in tune with its touchscreen brethren's zippy descriptor.
The company just posted financials for the last fiscal quarter and while the numbers weren't awful, RIM has to be thinking it's BB10 or bust.
A new study has drawn comparisons between the revenue made by Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store.
Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS operating systems are undoubtedly the most popular mobile platforms, and a new report has compared both app stores to see which one raked in more cash this year.
While Google’s online app store is showing rapid growth, Apple’s marketplace more than doubled these profits. According to app analytics firm Distimo, the Google Play Store’s combined daily revenue has grown by 43 percent. Apple’s, in contrast, only grew by 21 percent. In terms of growth over the entire year, Apple’s App Store has seen an increase 51 percent in the 20 nations analyzed by Distimo. This includes Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK, and the US.
When it comes down to it, although Google’s store showed the most growth with its combined daily revenue, Apple smoked its competitor. The App Store earned $15 million in average daily revenue in November while the Google Play store only reached $3.5 million. Apple’s success can be largely attributed to in-app payments, seeing as this accounted for 69 percent of its overall revenues. This number is up by 16 percent compared to January 2012, the report said.
This surge of in-app purchases has caused app prices to slump down by 8 percent compared to last January for Apple’s iPad. However, as of last month, app prices were up by 16 percent for the iPhone, according to Distimo. The analytics firm noted that some app publishers are still seeing great success using a paid-only strategy, and this year 35 percent of revenue from the top 10 publishers resulted from one-off fees.
Despite the iPhone’s popularity, Android dominates an overwhelming portion of the smartphone market share. This is why it comes as no surprise that Apple’s iPad accounted for most of the iOS platform’s revenue growth. Daily revenues for the iPhone increased by 40 percent, while apps for the iPad saw a 71 percent jump.
Instagram placed as number one on Distimo’s list of the top 10 apps for Apple’s App Store, while Street View took this number one spot for Google’s Play store. Other runner ups for both platforms included Facebook, YouTube and Gmail.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity is coming to Nintendo 3DS, marking the return of Nintendo's portable dungeon crawling series after a four year hiatus.
Pokémon hasn’t had much a presence on Nintendo 3DS yet. There have been apps like Pokédex 3D and just one small spin-off game Pokémon Rumble Blast, but there hasn’t been an entry in the core series or one of the ongoing sub-series to really hook all those Pikachu freaks out there to Nintendo’s modern handheld. It isn’t quite time to catch them all in stereoscopic 3D but it is time to explore some dungeons. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity was announced on Thursday. The game will be out on March 24th.
Nintendo hasn’t made a full Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game since releasing Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky in 2009, which itself was a remake of 2008’s Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Dark. The initial two releases of the series sold 4.5 million copies during their first year on shelves, making them extremely profitable for spin-offs.
Nintendo’s consistently popular Pokémon games saw a slight dip in sales this year. Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 released in October selling a collective 865,000 copies during the first month. Impressive considering the relatively slow sales of retail games this fall, but downright poor compared to Pokémon Black and Pokémon White which sold a collective 2 million copies in their first two weeks on shelves.
Research in Motion released its third quarter 2013 financials Thursday, reporting $2.7 billion in revenue while losing $114 million. Net profit for the struggling company sat at $14 million, thanks largely to a $166 million tax settlement.
Revenue was down 5 percent from $2.9 billion the previous quarter and 47 percent from $5.2 billion in the quarter the year before. The year previous, RIM picked up profit of $265 million.
RIM managed to ship 6.9 million BlackBerry smartphones with about 255,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets hitting the streets as well.
Subscribers dipped by 1 million, dropping to 79 million users.
A bumpy ride
CEO Thorstein Heins had warned investors quarters around and even after the release of BlackBerry 10 would be difficult.
"[RIM] expects that there will be continued pressure on operating results as it gets set to launch its BlackBerry 10 platform in the third quarter," a company press release stated.
To alleviate some of that pressure, RIM is looking at pricing initiatives on BlackBerry 7 devices and service fees in some markets "as a way to maintain our subscriber base and drive more BlackBerry users," according to the release.
Marketing spending will go up in the next quarter, RIM said, which is certainly good for the BB10 push but serves as a warning to investors that profits might not rise for awhile. It anticipates posting an operating loss for Q4 2013, the quarter BB10 hits the market.
Google has hired famed inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil as director of engineering. Will he be a figurehead, or a driving force at the compan
Internet giant Google has made a very high-profile hire, bringing famed inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil on board as the company’s new director of engineering. Interestingly, the announcement wasn’t made by Google but by Kurzweil himself on his own site, perhaps indicating that Kurzweil will maintain a certain amount of independence: although Kurzweil has confirmed to various outlets the job is at Google’s Mountain View headquarters full time, and he will be continuing with activities like lecturing and things like his most recent book How to Create a Mind.
Kurzweil has long been a controversial figure in technology. Some lumping him in a loony bin with people making impossibly lofty claims about the future, fueled in part by Kurzweil’s forecasts people will be able to upload their consciousness to machines, spawn off copies of themselves, and that nanotechnology will enable people live in a transhuman state free of disease and aging. On the other hand, Kurzweil has an indisputable record of real-world, practical inventions and technologies that are now part of our every day lives, including things like optical character recognition, text-to-speech, and speech recognition technology — all of which are practical applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies of their day.
What does Ray Kurzweil bring to the table … and what can Google expect to get out of this relationship?
Who is Ray Kurzweil?
As an inventor and technologist, Ray Kurzweil has earned credentials and awards that are too long to list: suffice to say he is one of the most-lauded and widely-recognized technological innovators of the last four decades. And, unusual for an inventor, many of Kurzweil’s innovations have gone on to become commercially successful, mainstream technologies that have changed everyday life for millions, leading some to describe Kurzweil as something of an heir to Thomas Edison. Here are just a few examples:
CCD flatbed scanners
Optical character recognition technology that could handle virtually any typeface, rather than special fonts designed explicitly for OCR.
Text-to-speech synthesis, enabling computers to speak textual data.
Combine those three, and you get the Kurzweil Reading Machine, the first device that could read printed text out loud for the blind. And that was 1976; Kurzweil wasn’t even 28 years old.
First music synthesizer to use digital samples to recreate the sound of acoustic instruments
The first commercially successful speech recognition system
Entire industries have been built off these innovations. For instance, without flatbed scanners and optical character recognition technologies, massive print digitization efforts like Google Books simply wouldn’t be possible. (In fact, one of the first major customers for Kurzweil’s scanning and OCR technology was LexisNexis, which used them to create their digital archive of legal documents and news.) Text-to-speech and speech synthesis are one of the absolute keys to adaptive technologies — making books, magazines, news, and other information accessible to the visually-impaired — and is increasingly commonplace in everything from mobile phones to cars as devices need to convey information to their users without using a screen. (Heck, the technology has long been pop culture fodder: AUTO, the antagonist artificial intelligence in Pixar’s WALL-E, was voiced by Apple’s MacInTalk text-to-speech system — and it was immediately recognizable to millions.)
The first buyer of the Kurzweil Reading Machine was musician Stevie Wonder, who lead Kurzweil to apply technologies from speech synthesis to using digital samples to recreate the sounds of acoustic instruments. Although the term “sampling” in most popular music refers to lifting snippets of tracks entirely (and should by all rights have made drummer Clyde Stubblefield a very, very rich man) digital sampling technology revolutionized music performance and production, enabling synthesizers to move from the limited (although glorious) beep-boop of the Moog era into meaningfully reproducing everything from grand pianos and full orchestras to world instruments and full drum kits. (Kurzweil’s interest in music goes all the way back: that picture, above, is Kurzweil being congratulated by President Johnson in 1965 for a computer program that composed original music in the style of classical composers. Kurzweil was just 16.)
What has Kurzweil done for you lately?
All this is well and good, but it does smack a little bit of the 1980s. What has Kurzweil been up to more recently?
Many of the practical applications of Kurzweil’s innovations have been in adaptive technology and education. Kurzweil maintained that focus in the 1990s, working on developing educational technologies to assist people with learning disabilities and visual impairments. Examples include text-to-speech applications specifically designed for the visually impaired to enable use of applications like word processors and spreadsheets, and as well as electronic learning programs that applied pattern matching and heuristic technologies to help students develop study skills as well as basic reading and writing. Kurzweil’s interest in the area continues with devices like the Kurzweil Portable Reader for the Blind — technology that’s already been applied to mobile phones. Kurzweil also founded the Medical Learning Company, which developed a medical simulator (or “virtual patient”) as part of an interactive training program for physicians.
Kurzweil has also applied artificial intelligence and pattern recognition technologies to visual arts and even poetry, but also to financial markets, including a project called FatKat that applies “non-linear decision making processes” based on models of the human brain to make investment decisions. The FatKat site may be cobwebby, but the funds are active and in 2005 Kurzweil claimed the system was getting returns of 50 to 100 percent over two years.
The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades
Kurzweil’s track record for innovations is impressive, but for nearly two decades he has been primarily known as a futurist, mainly through a series of books (1990′s The Age of Intelligent Machines — essentially updated and expanded in 1999′s The Age of Spiritual Machines and 2005′s best-selling The Singularity is Near) as well as a number of articles published elsewhere.
Forecasting the future is a tricky business, but so far Kurzweil’s track record has been remarkable. For instance, in The Age of Intelligent Machines Kurzweil forecast the astronomical growth of the Internet during the 1990s giving users worldwide access to information – he also forecast that by the early 21st century users’ preferred way of tapping into the Internet would be via wireless technologies. He also forecast that information technologies like mobile phones and fax machines would lead to the demise of the Soviet Union, and that computers would be able to defeat the best human players at chess by 1998 (that actually happened in 1997).
Many of Kurzweil’s forecasts have been criticized as being obvious or so vague that there’s no way to quantify whether or not they’ve come to pass. Nonetheless, in 2010, Kurzweil published an essay (available as a PDF) tallying up how various predictions in his book were panning out: he figured 89 our of 108 came out to be entirely true and another 13 were “essentially” correct.
“In 1999, I said that in about a decade we would see technologies such as self-driving cars and mobile phones that could answer your questions, and people criticized these predictions as unrealistic,” said Kurzweil, announcing his position at Google. “Fast forward a decade – Google has demonstrated self-driving cars, and people are indeed asking questions of their Android phones.”
A few things about singularity
Predictions aside, Kurzweil has perhaps drawn the most attention – and criticism – for his discussion of “the Singularity.” The term was coined by mathematician John Von Neumann in the 1950s, but was popularized by computer scientist and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge (who is also generally credited with first describing “cyberspace”). In this sense, singularity refers to the possible emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technology. Von Neumann used the term as a kind of tipping point that would signal the end of human culture as we know it; Vinge expanded the notion to include the idea that interfaces between technology and humans could become so sophisticated that users of those systems would effectively acquire superhuman intelligence.
For some, the singularity – if it happens – represents an apocalyptic scenario wherein the pace of change and development will become too rapid for regular humans to comprehend, and they’ll potentially be left behind or wiped out by super-intelligent humans or devices. That’s certainly great fodder for science fiction. For others – including Kurzweil – the singularity represents a tremendous opportunity for humanity, enabling us to rewrite the rules of economies, innovation, culture, logistics, and even death itself. Among Kurzweil’s so-far-untestable forecasts are things like “software-based humans” whose consciousnesses will essentially live on the Web, with the ability to manifest their presence anywhere they like, including in the form of holograms or even as swarms of nanobots. These humans would also be able to load their consciousness into another person and essentially experience the world as that other person would – like Being John Malkovich but without a hidden passage. Other forecasts include machines eventually attaining the same legal status as humans and most conscious beings actually doing away with any physical form at all, preferring to exist as pure data.
For Kurzweil, advances in medicine and life-extension technologies are significant factors in the scenario. For instance, Kurzweil forecasts that nanotechnology will be able to significantly extend human life, including repairing things like spinal injuries, as well as cellular-level medicine or the ability to eat all the junk food we like. The singularity will herald the ability to upload consciousness to computers, effectively make us immortal.
Kurzweil, now in his mid-60s, is practicing what he preaches there. He has claimed to be taking more than 150 nutritional supplements every day along with intravenous treatments and other practices in an effort to survive long enough to reach the singularity. If that fails, Kurzweil has arranged to have his body cryogenically preserved in the hope future technology will be able to bring him back.
Critics often point to Kurzweil’s forecasts regarding the singularity as both brilliant and spectacularly crazy. Virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier has described Kurzweil’s ideas as “cybernetic totalism,” others have questioned Kurzweil’s claims regarding biotechnology, and renowned cognitive researcher Douglas Hofstafer – who’s widely honored in his own right – characterized Kurzweil’s prognostications as “an intimate mixture of rubbish and good ideas.”
Kurzweil at Google
At first glance, Kurzweil might seem to be a better fit at a company like IBM, which is already simulating computers with neural connections approaching the level of the human brain and famously invests in long-term research and development, than some technological upstart like Google known for doodles and an “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. However, Kurzweil’s entrepreneurial bent and practicality probably make him a better fit at Google. He has demonstrated he can not only think big thoughts about where the world might be in a century or two, but also take concrete actions to apply today’s technology to real problems and make industry changing products, not just cool ideas. Kurzweil has founded innumerable companies to develop and market technologies.
Google founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin have repeatedly demonstrated a penchant for future-leaning technologies and product ideas. After all, in 2005 the idea of offering free municipal Wi-Fi in Mountain View seemed like something out of the Jetsons; now, Google is rolling out gigabit fiber in Kansas City. Similarly, Google is looking to possible futures with projects like Google Glasses and self-driving cars. These might not be projects on the scale of uploading human consciousness to a computer, but they are real examples of technologies that could very well shape the future.
Kurzweil’s work at Google will likely intersect strongly with Google’s X Lab, currently overseen by co-founder Sergei Brin. X Lab is basically a secret skunkworks facility that’s reportedly working on everything from a space elevator to technology aimed at making a wide range of everyday devices fully accessible (and interactive with) the Internet. (X Lab spawned Google’s driverless cars and wearable goggles.) Kurzweil has only said he’ll be working on “new projects involving machine learning and language processing;” that seems to tie in very neatly with X lab work reportedly underway on neural networks capable of learning, understanding speech, and analyzing audio, video, and other media.
That’s not much to go on, but one thing seems reasonably certain: Kurzweil will be more than a figurehead adding some shine to Google’s overall talent pool. To be sure, having Kurzweil on board will likely attract some top talent towards Google. There are any number of talented engineers and developers who would love to work under Ray Kurzweil on projects funded by a company with pockets as deep as Google. But Google isn’t known for making high-profile hires and letting them sit idle. After all, the “father of the Internet” Vinton Cerf has been with Google since 2005 and he’s substantially enhanced his contributions to Internet governance and policy since that time. Kurzweil won’t be a big name who Google trots out to the press every time they need to attract some attention; they will be leveraging both his big ideas and his proven ability to apply existing technology.
Long term – and that’s how Kurzweil likes to think – Google could be entering the big leagues when it comes to shaping the future of technology.
It's hard to match the magic of a game like Cut the Rope, but ZeptoLab is doing its best with Pudding Monsters. A sliding puzzle game with a dessert theme, the gameplay is as delicious as its main character. Fresh animations and interesting elements make this game worth going back for seconds.
Mobile games tend to lean toward cutesy and quirky in presentation and style. The idea, started thanks to Rovio’s success with Angry Birds, is to capitalize on every opportunity for marketability. The game doesn’t sell for much, but mark up on merchandise is significantly more profitable. It’s not uncommon to see wannabes fail at this, and even successful studios can’t always recreate the magic. For ZeptoLab, the creators of Cut the Rope, the task would be harder than usual. Not only was their first game a huge hit that dethroned Angry Birds, but it also became a commercial success outside of the virtual world. The studio’s new title, Pudding Monsters, has a lot of expectations as a game and a brand. It definitely doesn’t fall short on the game front, and we’ve got a feeling we’ll see Pudding Monsters plushies on store shelves soon.
Stripping this game down to the bare bones reveals little innovative. It’s a sliding puzzle game, something that has been around well before it found a modern home on tablets and smartphones. There are plenty of games already available in the App Store with a similar premise, but those titles weren’t made by ZeptoLab. Even if the studio didn’t break any new ground in the genre, it still put together one of the finest and funnest sliding puzzle titles around.
As one would expect in a sliding puzzle game, you’ll be sliding things around a game board for the majority of your play time. In Pudding Monsters, your pieces are little blobs of pudding, though they look and act more like gelatin (or Jello). Different colors have different abilities that will affect how you approach each puzzle. Variables are added at consistent intervals, with new types of pudding or new objects on the game board that change the dynamic of the slide. The only problem is, all of these elements never seem to accumulate into anything especially big. You’ll also have the same goal in mind every time: to combine every pudding piece on the screen into one solitary monster that’s large enough to fight back against the hands of the invasive and gluttonous human.
Pudding Monsters operates on the premise of “easy to play, difficult to master.” Odds are good that you will be able to figure out some way to put all the pudding together in every level. That isn’t the challenge, though. The real goal is to put together your pudding in a way that will have it encompass the three star pads on the game board. While most games opt for a star system that encourages speed or collecting a certain amount of an item, Pudding Monsters ditches the rushing clock and the out-of-the-way objectives and instead allows you to take your time and try to get the perfect placement. There are sometimes multiple solutions to levels and you may get the same stars in different ways if you were to play again. If you’re playing through Pudding Monsters with no intention of collecting every star, don’t expect the experience to last long; You can blow through the 75 levels in no time. It’s the head scratching, trial and error of trying to get all three stars that adds extended play time to Pudding Monsters.
While the gameplay tends to play it safe, the real step forward for ZeptoLab is in the visuals. The animations are impressive and it’s fun to see the way the pieces behave with one another. Watching pudding blobs combine and take on traits of the other, like adopting the hat or moustache that one piece was wearing, is a simple but joyous element that keeps the mood light and friendly. The cartoony style of the entire experience is pitch perfect, from the nonsensical, Sims-like chatter between the pudding to the watching eyes of each piece that will follow the moves you make on screen. There are little details that really add to the overall ambience of the game.
Despite what could be debated as a lack of difficulty, Pudding Monsters manages to add a new flavor to the sliding puzzle genre. The cute and clever style that ZeptoLab has mastered combined with an ever-changing game board and deep puzzles make this a late contender for mobile game of the year. ZeptoLab is promising more levels soon. We can’t wait.
You can download Pudding Monsters from the iTunes App Store for $1 on iPhone or iPad.
The PlayStation 3 had several big releases, as did the PS Vita. Here are our choices for the best of the best.
One of the best selling points of the PS3 has always been its library of exclusive titles. Some of the best franchise games available today are only to be found on the PS3, including Metal Gear Solid, God of War, Uncharted, and on and on. Sony continues to churn them out and next year’s slate of PS3 exclusives is looking as good as ever. A new God of War is coming, the highly anticipated Beyond: Two Souls is creating a lot of buzz, Naughty Dog’s next offering The Last of Us looks incredible, plus many more.
That’s next year though. For now we look back on 2012, an important year for Sony. The company released the Vita, a cornerstone of its gaming strategy. It also further developed its online presence, and continued to nurture its digitally downloaded library – and in that library came some true masterpieces.
We look back at the year, and offer our picks for the best Sony hits – both PS3 and Vita – of the year.
Journey
This year featured several incredible digitally downloadable titles that changed the nature of gaming and will have several long term affects that could have an even greater impact in the years to come. Among the cream of that crop is Journey, one of the best games of the year, regardless of what medium it was delivered on. Featuring stunning art, a carefully crafted campaign left to interpretation, and a new way to look at co-op gaming, Journey is more than just a game, it is art.
Like Journey, Papo & Yo is more than just a game. It’s a personal narrative reinterpreted for a video game format. Papo & Yo re-imagines the childhood of its developer, Vander Caballero, who grew up with an alcoholic and abusive father. That experience is recreated in an abstract way, with both beautiful and tragic moments represented in the game. It is a deeply personal game, and one that defies the simple borders created by most genres.
The Xbox Live online community is larger than than that on the PS3, but there are several very good multiplayer games that make up for it. One of those is Starhawk, a third-person shooter with a touch of real-time strategy mixed in for good measure. The solo campaign itself is entertaining, but the online side of things is what really makes this game stand out.
Another digitally downloadable title, The Unfinished Swan isn’t quite like anything we’ve seen before. The game is a canvas that requires your interaction to reveal the beautiful painting underneath. It pushes the boundaries of what a game can do and be, and refreshes gamers with its originality.
When it first came out, Twisted Metal had a few issues, primarily in the online side of things. Problems connecting scared off a lot of people (including us for a time), which was a shame since this game is made for online action. The campaign was fine on its own, but it felt flat compared to the thrill of playing against real people. It took a while, but the online issues were corrected, which meant that the game could reach its full potential. And it did.
Although Assassin’s Creed isn’t the only major franchise to feature a Vita exclusive release, it is the biggest, and arguably the most important. Liberation shows that the Vita is a legitimate platform in its own right, capable of expanding an established universe rather than just offering a truncated look at that same setting that has been done better in other mediums. This is not just a mini-version of the Assassin’s Creed series, it is a completely original story and game, featuring a new world to explore. There were a few sacrifices in the downsizing to the handheld, but none that should prevent Assassin’s Creed fans from trying Liberation out.
Sometimes the classics are the best. Although Super Stardust Delta is a new title, its core is based in very traditional gaming. You have a ship and plenty of things to blow up. And yet somehow developer Housemarque managed to create a game that honors the past and polishes the familiar gameplay in a way that makes it feel original. The low cost helps, and this game proves that digital downloads aren’t just for the PS3.
We conclude the list with another digital download, this one exclusive to the Vita. Mutant Blobs Attack! combines some of the best platforming elements seen in years, with a vibrant and lively look at the stylized world of 50s sci-fi. The levels are filled with creative designs, and the backgrounds are distractingly good. A handful of mini-games keeps things lively, and it all culminates in one of the greatest final levels a platformer has seen in a long, long time.
Samsung's nearly $4 billion Austin plant expansion is a sign that the company's getting serious about building new, better processors for more than memory.
Samsung Electronics and the state government of Texas have finalized talks to invest $3.9 billion into the company’s facility in Austin. The South Korean company is already the top memory chip manufacturer in the world, according to International Business Times, and the new expansion will further bolster its production of system chips.
The move signals that Samsung is looking to reduce its dependence on the unpredictable market for memory processors and make bigger inroads into processors for tablets and smartphones. In an unusual twist, Samsung’s biggest client for those processors is Apple, Samsung’s longtime, bitter legal rival. However, Apple has indicated that it may be shopping around for a new supplier, with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) rumored to be a frontrunner.
With the new expansion, Samsung is putting TSMC in its crosshairs. “Our ongoing, multibillion dollar investments in Austin will expand our footprint as a comprehensive semiconductor hub,” Woosung Han, president of Samsung Austin Semiconductor, said in a statement earlier in December.
Samsung has had a busy year, from it’s well-publicized spats with Apple to big new product launches. Next year promises to be interesting as well, if the company’s recently released teaser trailer for CES 2013 is any indication.
THQ has narrowly avoided death yet again. As the publisher enters bankruptcy proceedings to protect its existing projects, new information emerges about unannounced THQ games from the creators of Company of Heroes, Darksiders, and Assassin's Creed.
THQ will survive. Not thanks to the millions it raised during its recent sale alongside Humble Bundle, but thanks to the new deal it’s struck with the Clearlake Capital Group. The publisher behind Darksiders II and Saints Row The Third has entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, liquidating assets but keeping its core studios staffed and working on a number of games.
“Clearlake is even providing the company the money it needs to keep working on the products as the process plays itself out,” wrote THQ president Jason Rubin in a message on the publisher’s website Wednesday, “And importantly, when the purchase is complete, Clearlake has committed to invest additional ample capital to let us finish the games we are making and continue making games going forward. In short, they are investing in a new start for our company.”
Not much is known about what THQ has in production, though. Obsidian Entertainment is still plugging away on South Park: The Stick of Truth for THQ, while Volition is hard at work on Saints Row 4. THQ’s Chapter 11 filing reveals that the company has a number of other titles brewing in the background.
With Darksiders II complete and series mastermind Joe Madureira leaving the company, it’s unknown if studio Vigil will continue its tale of four apocalyptic horseman. It is, however, working on a game codenamed Crawler. This could be a codename of Darksiders III, but seeing as crawling isn’t a regular activity for the hulking protagonists in that series, it’s likely something new.
Company of Heroes creator Relic Entertainment is working on a 2014 title called Atlas. The company used to also work on Warhammer 40,000 games, but that license was recently acquired by Sega. Relic is planning to release Company of Heroes 2 in 2013.
Former Valve studio Turtle Rock Studios is making a game called Evolve according to the filing. Turtle Rock announced that it was developing a game for THQ in 2011 but nothing has ever been shown. The group’s last title was Valve’s Left 4 Dead, which came out in 2008, though Turtle Rock did help with downloadable content for that game and its sequel.
Finally, THQ Montreal is working on a title called 1666. The publisher filed a trademark for the game earlier in 2012. THQ opened its Montreal studio in 2010 with Patrice Desilets, creative director of the first two Assassin’s Creed games, as its lead.
Forget the next Galaxy smartphone - Samsung has other treats in store for CES 2013
Your next smartphone may be able to bend to your will - literally! - thanks to flexible screen technology Samsung Display plans to show off at the Consumer Electronics Show next month.
CNET reported Thursday that the display division of Samsung Electronics will be showing off a pair of bendable screens which could one day reinvent how smartphones, tablets and even HDTVs are made.
Attendees at CES 2013 next month will be treated to their first glimpse at a 5.5-inch flexible display touting a 1280 x 720 HD resolution with a pixel density of 267 ppi.
Samsung Display will also use the same event in Las Vegas to unveil the technology applied to a 55-inch television set.
Nice curves
The impressive technology used for the screen is currently missing a touch panel and cover lens, which are considered necessary to form a modern touchscreen-enabled device.
While demonstration prototypes will indeed bend without breaking, Samsung Display was quick to note that they're not yet made to curl up into a roll.
In addition to flexible screens, Samsung is rumored to announce its next Galaxy S4 smartphone at CES 2013, along with a QWERTY-based tablet.
There are also rumblings that Samsung could debut a completely new image for its iconic brand next month, with a focus on lifestyle activities more befitting its new "global powerhouse" status.
Imo announced a new iPad app, with a design that mimics its existing iPhone app to provide users a seamless cross-platform experience, while also adding a few new features, like VoIP.
For quite some time now, Imo’s iPad app remained untouched, while new updates were being pushed to its Android and iPhone app. Yesterday Imo finally announced an updated iPad app that brings the design and interface up to speed with what iPhone and iPod Touch users have been playing around with since early November of this year.
The iPad app is essentially a replica of the existing iPhone app, but fit to the larger screen. A slight difference between the iPhone and iPad app that you’ll notice is that when you click on a contact’s profile picture, their contact information opens up in a floating box on the iPad app instead of opening up a new page. Also on the new iPad app the list of contacts has been fixed to the left-hand panel instead of the right, which is where it was located in the previous iPad version. On the iPhone app, you had to swipe to open up the contact list.
What will be new to its iPad users, aside from the redesign, is the VoIP and group photo sharing features that have been a staple of the Imo 2.0 redesign that’s been pushed to smartphones.
“Our VoIP feature and UI redesigns for iPhone and Android have proven extremely popular, and many of our users have requested these same functionalities on our iPad app. The recent changes to our iPhone and Android apps have been received very well, and now we’re able to offer the same user experience whether on the computer, smartphone or tablet. We want our users to have an easy, streamlined way to communicate with friends on all of our platforms, especially for people using multiple devices,” ” Imo.im CEO Ralph Harik told Digital Trends.
To recap, you can share photos with a group of friends by adding them to a group chat and sharing photos from your smartphone’s gallery. Or you can opt to take pictures with Imo’s in-app camera, which is a particularly useful feature should you want to pool all the photos that you and your friends from an event. Every photo that you take is automatically uploaded to the group’s chat and gallery in real-time – Facebook launched the real-time upload feature after Imo’s redesign. And after these photos are uploaded to the shared gallery, you can go back and browse, delete, or download the uploaded photos.
The other major feature added to iPad is VoIP capability. Calls over 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi can be made to your Imo contacts without the calls eating into your carrier’s allotted monthly minutes.
Imo has been seeing increasing adoption rates as budding contender among messenger apps filling in for where Meebo bowed out, which is good news for the company. So far across platforms, Imo has been downloaded on five million mobile devices and sees 700,000 unique daily users with 50 million messages being sent on a daily basis.
But there’s room to grow as the competition among messaging apps intensifies. You might have noticed that the latest updates to Imo have been concerned with introducing new native features to Imo’s own messaging platform. Since its founding, Imo has integrated third-party messaging apps like AIM, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, and others. But as the messaging space matures and the upper crust of contenders like Whatsapp, Nimbuzz, Kakao Talk, LINE, and WeChat are vying for the global market with their proprietary messaging platforms, mid-sized niche competitors like Imo have to build out their own native mobile products.
The new Black Isle Studios ended three months of radio silence with a call for crowd-funding on its website. The new studio is looking to make a post-apocalyptic RPG called Project V13 but it doesn't reveal who will actually be making it.
The house known as Black Isle Studios is not the house formerly known as Black Isle Studios. The iconic Interplay studio responsible for Fallout, Icewind Dale and Planscape: Torment disbanded in 2003 but suddenly re-emerged at the end of August promising to “make the world’s best RPGs.” The new Black Isle broke its silence on Thursday, updating its homepage asking for funding from the audience for a codenamed game, Project V13, but the update raises more questions about the studio than it answers.
“Project V13 is the first planned Black Isle Studios release in years, a post-apocalyptic strategy RPG,” reads the update, “Your character will be a hardy adventurer from a variety of backgrounds; one of the last remaining humans, a new breed mutant, or a technologically advanced cyborg.” The post goes on to describe how you’re found a colony in the ruins of the world and fill it with goods and citizens found while questing about the world.
If that sounds similar to a handful of other post-apocalyptic role-playing games, that’s because it is. Project V13 is, based on that description, not too dissimilar from the original Black Isle Studios’ Fallout series or Black Isle-founder Brian Fargo’s Wasteland. With Fargo’s InXile Entertainment making Wasteland 2 and ZeniMax Bethesda holding the Fallout license, it’s no wonder Black Isle is using a different name while also returning to its roots.
The question remains, though: Just who is it returning to their roots here? In August, Brian Fargo said there wasn’t enough information about the new Black Isle for him to comment. Obsidian Entertainment, headed by Chris Avellone and staffed by many of the former creators at the old Black Isle Studios is hard at work on its own games like Project Eternity. “[The new Black Isle] doesn’t involve Obsidian at all,” said Avellone in August, “No idea what it’s about. I wasn’t aware of anything beyond the name was left at Interplay.”
“We’re an experienced team of game developers,” reads Black Isle’s vague message, “We need to raise money to put together a prototype. We need more developers and staff. This is a big world we’re developing.”
The site is asking users to pledge $10 or $20 to the game, but neither amount gives access to the non-existent game. All that money gives access to is different sections of a Black Isle forum that won’t open until sometime in January.
We’ve emailed Interplay for clarification on who, if anyone, is actually staffing this new studio.
Back for a second helping after the success of its first franchise, Cut the Rope creators ZeptoLab released its sophomore offering today. Pudding Monsters is a strategy game that will have players sliding pudding across the refrigerator to make a dessert too big to eat.
ZeptoLab, the creators of mobile gaming darling Cut the Rope, has officially launched their second franchise. Pudding Monsters is available for iOS devices today.
Most companies take to their second offering by simply looking to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump. For ZeptoLab, the bar from its first title is so high it’d be hard not to fall a little. Even so, Pudding Monsters will aim to please. Featuring characters that do their best to match the cuteness and lovability of Cut the Rope‘s Om Nom, Pudding Monsters offeris an entirely new style of play.
When a terrifying villan, in this case just a gluttonous human, is threatening to wipe out the pudding population in the refrigerator, it’s up to these delicious misfits to stick together–literally. Players will slide pudding pieces across the game board in an attempt to pile them into an immovable force. Every pudding has its own personality and special abilities that will come in handy over the course of compounding and adding strategy to each level. There are 75 levels available upon download, plus ZeptoLab has a tendency to add content and is already promising more levels to come.
Pudding Monsters is available in the iTunes App Store for $1 for both iPhone and iPad. Unlocking all available episodes carries a $5 price tag and can be completed from in the app.
It hasn't even been a year since the original Samsung Galaxy Note launched. It was a work of genius for old Samsung. Many (including us, we admit) were not convinced. Who on earth would want something so big to make their calls and surf the internet, even with a glorified stylus?
Cue awkward silence.
Millions of you, it would appear. The Samsung Galaxy Note has sold by the bucketload. And while it is most definitely a niche device, it's done wonders for Samsung's balance sheet. How do you follow that up? With something better, of course - the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
If you've ever fondled or caressed the original Samsung Galaxy Note and found its larger size too much to handle, we'll break this to you with a sledgehammer - the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is bigger.
It's now 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4mm (5.9 x 3.2 x 0.4 inches), so slightly up from 146.9 x 83 x 9.7mm (5.8 x 3.3 x 0.4 inches). That said, we didn't find it cumbersome at all.
In the way the original Samsung Galaxy Note followed the Samsung Galaxy S2's square design, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 follows the Samsung Galaxy S3's more rounded rectangular look.
And what a beauty it is. It actually felt slightly smaller to us in day-to-day use - but that may be down to the fact that we have gravedigger hands.
The Samsung Galaxy Note had a frankly amazing screen as it was, so would have taken some beating. But Samsung clearly likes a challenge. The size has gone up slightly from 5.3 inches to 5.5. And although pixel density is reduced, we didn't notice it.
This is the bright, vivid Samsung Super AMOLED panel that we all know and love - and what a beauty it is, replicating colours amazingly and immaculately.
As expected, that screen takes up most of the front. You get a home button and two hidden soft keys beneath it as before, plus a front-facing camera and sensors up top.
The handset itself has little to note (geddit?) around the edges. A headphone jack up top, power button on the right, volume on the left and charger port below, right alongside the S-Pen slot - more of which will follow later.
Around the back, you'll find the 8MP camera with flash.
The additional sorcery is carried out away from view. The microSD expansion slot is beneath the rear cover - as is the microSIM slot, hidden behind the enormous 3,100 mAh battery.
And there's a whole lot of goodness even further inwards than that: HSDPA (LTE if you're extra lucky), NFC, GPS, Wi-Fi and so forth. It's a veritable treasure trove of geekdom.
One other thing we'd say is that this does feel like a quality Android smartphone/tablet. We're aware of the protestations by some readers (particularly iPhone users) that phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 feel like toys because they're so light and plasticky.
At 183g (0.4lbs), you couldn't describe the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 as a feather - and the weight gives it a real notion of substance.
If you want to pick one of these big boys up, you'll need to be willing to part with some serious cash - around £530/AU$999/US$700 appears to be the average SIM-free price. It is also available on contract, but be willing to shovel top dollar each month in the network's direction for two years.
Normally, this is where we'd talk about the alternatives on offer. But we admit, we're stumped here. Why? Well, in our mind, there is no clear rival. The Samsung Galaxy Note created its own category, in that there were no real phablets about before.
There is the LG Optimus Vu, which hasn't hit the UK, but is in the US under the moniker LG Intuition, however it's 4:3 ratio screen makes it an extremely odd proposition.
And while you'll get the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system and similar benefits from the Samsung Galaxy S3 or Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (depending on whether you want a phone or tablet), the form factor is pretty unique.
In fact, the only real rival is the original Samsung Galaxy Note - a worthy contender for that title, because it's now available for a much reduced sum.
However that's all about to change as reports suggest the likes of HTC, Sony, Huawei and ZTE all have 5-inch plus handsets on the way, many of which will apparently boast full HD, 1080p display - your eyes won't know what hit em.
Around £400/AU$480/US$500 will get you an original Note SIM-free - and that makes it a very serious and credible alternative to its replacement, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
The excitement of the rumour mill, the titillation of every leaked photo led to higher than ever levels of expectation over the iPhone 5 features, and while the announcement was greeted with some derision at the lack of perceived headline improvements, the record sales tell an entirely different story.
Given the underwhelming changes to the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 launch really needs to re-energise customers to prove Apple can repeat the game-changing trick it managed with the iPhone 4.
The iPhone 5 price is predictably high, so consumers will need to bear that in mind too when looking for their next smartphone.
So is the Apple iPhone 5 the greatest smartphone ever, and did it finally see Apple ascend to the top spot in our 20 best mobile phones chart? Or was it a case of too little, too late... and what about those darned Maps, eh?
Design
We'll begin in the traditional manner: how the thing actually feels in the hand. With the iPhone 5 there will be many types of prospective buyer: the upgrader from the 4 (or more-money-than-sense iPhone 4S upgraders), those tired of their Android handset and those taking their first steps in the smartphone market and want to get one of them iThingies their friend/child has.
Well, all of those picking up the iPhone 5 will have the same reaction: this thing is amazingly light. You've probably heard the numbers by now (20 per cent lighter than the predecessor, as well as beating most of the opposition too at 112g.)
It's an odd sensation, but it actually detracts from the experience when you first pick it up. We've praised the weighty feel of the iPhone in the past, lending it a premium feel in the face of toy-like phones, and it's almost disappointing that Apple decided to join that clan.
However, through extended use this problem quickly disappears, as the overall effect of the phone is still a chassis designed for strength, it just sits more anonymously in the pocket.
You'll obviously see the change in height too – the iPhone 5 stands 123.8mm tall to allow for the larger 4-inch screen. In truth, those not familiar with the iPhone 4S probably wouldn't notice the difference, which is why it's a good move from Apple to include the larger screen if it's not going put people off that hate larger phones.
The decision to stick at 4-inches is Apple's admission that while it recognises people are all over the idea of having more screen real estate to play with it doesn't want to move away from the thumb-friendly nature of the device.
Through a mixture of moving the centre of gravity slightly as well as repositioning the screen within the bezel, it's still possible to scroll your thumb mostly around the whole display one-handed, which Apple is clearly keen to keep hold of.
However, we're not convinced of that argument any more, and the power button was still a little out of reach when using the phone normally, as was anything in the top left-hand corner of the screen.
This was no issue in reality, as scooting the phone down a touch in the palm is a natural action. But if that's the case, then why not offer a 4.3-inch screen at least?
There's more to a phone than a screen these days (although increasingly less and less) and the general construction of the iPhone 5 is excellent to say the least.
We've tested both the ceramic white version and the anodised black, and the two tone effect on the back of the phone is stunning, both visually and under the finger.
It doesn't beat the sheer beauty of the HTC One S, with its micro-arc oxidised back and rounded lines, but it's well-set in second place.
The two sections of pigmented glass at the top and the bottom of the phone add a pleasant effect, and the sapphire glass is meant to be thoroughly durable, to complement the Gorilla Glass on the front.
Apple knows consumers get furious when they drop and iPhone, and is clearly seeking to stop the smashes before they happen with a tougher exterior - although it seems the anodised black version is pretty prone to scratching, with a number of users mentioning chipping on the darker hue.
Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Marketing, reportedly replied to an email from a user pointing out that aluminium will scratch and chip in natural use - and we're also hearing that white iPhone 5 models are being returned through flaking as well.
We kept our black iPhone 5 in a soft pocket in a bag for much of its life, yet saw the following chip with minimal key / coin contact in under a fortnight:
For a device of this premium quality, users will expect it to survive the pocket test, and especially do so for the first two weeks of life. It's a big fail for Apple to expect users to accept that a product can be damaged so easily.
The same industrial band around the outside is in effect again as on the iPhone 4 and 4S, with small sections removed where the antenna joins.
Apple has gone for a more advanced form of antenna here, meaning the days of lost signal are gone, and generally increasing the power of your call connection and GPS lock on too.
There are other big design changes here too: the headphone jack has moved to the bottom of the phone, and the iconic 30-pin connector has been retired in favour of the new Lightning port, giving a headache to all those that have invested in chargers, docks and other accessories over their iPhone lives.
You can buy an adaptor, but it's pricey at £25. And unless you want to keep it permanently attached to the bottom of the iPhone 5 you'll need to buy a few, which is far from ideal.
However, let's not harangue Apple too much for this: a smaller connector is not only easier to use (you can plug the smaller cable in either way round, and the connection feels more solid), but you're rewarded with a thinner and more compact phone to boot.
There's also a small chink of light on the top right hand side of the iPhone 5 - when the screen is illuminated, you can see it under the band if you really, really look for it. It's been seen by a number of users, but is hard to actually replicate unless you mask the screen and hold it at the right angle.
It's again a sign of slightly under-par machining from Apple, but in day to day use it's almost completely invisible.
The decision to move the 3.5mm headphone jack to the bottom is an odd one, as while it allows you to slip the phone into the pocket head-first when listening to music, which is a more natural action, it's a real pain in the posterior for some apps that will only work in landscape a certain way up.
Using it this way means your headphones experience will be one of having to jiggle the jack around two fingers.
It's not the most comfortable way to hold a phone, and even when using the phone in portrait mode, the jack gets in the way somewhat. Plus it's miles away from the volume keys, which makes it hard to change the audio level in the pocket if you don't use the dedicated headphones.
There are other smaller design changes to the iPhone 5 too, such as the iSight front-facing camera moving to the middle and the home button being noticeably more robust to help reduce instances of a broken portal to your home screen.
But enough about what the phone looks like - the killer question is how the thing feels in hand. And we'll sum it up by saying: smooth. It's a little slippery, and we were always worried we would drop the darned thing.
But that's the only negative thing about the design (apart from the low weight initially and scratching aluminium) as it sits in the palm nicely and allows you to do it all with one hand, including hitting the top-mounted power/lock button with ease.
That lock button is actually still loose, as it was on the iPhone 4S, meaning when you shake the phone around you can hear it clicking away, which undoes a lot of the premium feel Apple is going for.
Make no mistake, the iPhone 5 is one of the most beautifully crafted phones out there - but when you're paying £529 up front for the thing, we'd hope this would be the very minimum Apple would be doing.
And while it looks nice, from the front it doesn't really add much to the design of the iPhone - it's certainly not the same as the jaw-dropping design of the iPhone 4 compared to the 3GS... it's another evolution in the iLine. It's not bad, but for those that hoped the iPhone 5 would be another step change there's a good chance they'll be disappointed about the look... until they feel the lovely back on offer.
There was a real chance here for Apple: remove the bezel and give the front of the screen a look that's similar to the OLED TVs from the likes of Samsung or LG… but instead we're treated to the same lines as before.
You always get the feeling that Apple saves what it can for the next iteration of the iPhone, and while there's nothing wrong with the current construction we can see the edge-to-edge screen becoming something amazing on the iPhone 6 or iPhone 5S.
