Thanks to a recent decision to expand the beta test for StarCraft II's Heart of the Swarm expansion, anyone who preordered the game prior to December 18 is now eligible to play the game prior to its official debut.
StarCraft II made its debut on July 27, 2010. The release was a huge event, as StarCraft fans had been anxiously awaiting a sequel to what has long been considered one of the finest real-time strategy games ever created since it first appeared in 1998. Likewise, fans have been intently awaiting the first expansion pack for StarCraft II almost since the game first hit store shelves. Dubbed “Heart of the Swarm,” StarCraft II’s first big, official addition will finally be released on March 12, 2013, and in an effort to make the expansion as excellent as it can possibly be, developer Blizzard Entertainment has been running a semi-public beta test for the title for months now.
As of this morning Blizzard offered up a piece of news that should be quite enticing to those prospective players of Heart of the Swarm who have long been hoping that they too might get a chance to play the title prior to its official release. While the beta test is still only available to a select group, Blizzard has expanded the terms under which people can gain access to the beta. Specifically, anyone who pre-ordered the title prior to December 18 is now able to download the beta client and start playing the current iteration of Heart of the Swarm right this very minute.
Well, sort of.
Assuming you pre-ordered the title digitally (that is, via Blizzard’s propriety Battle.net digital distribution system), your name has been entered into Blizzard’s pool of eligible beta testers. From now until a currently-unknown date in the future — likely two weeks prior to Heart of the Swarm’s official debut, if Blizzard history is anything to go by — Blizzard will be plucking large numbers of players from this pool each week to add to the beta test. Once your Battle.net account is selected the company will send you an email congratulating you for being so fortunate and offering up full details on how to acquire and play the beta test. As part of this, players agree to hypothetically report any and all bugs and gameplay issues they might discover while playing (though, in fairness, no one will revoke your beta access if you simply opt to enjoy the expansion without offering any feedback). As with all of Blizzard’s beta tests, once your name has been drawn you need not pay any additional cash for access, though obviously to be chosen in the first place you must have paid off the game in full as part of its digital pre-order.
Assuming none of this interests however, your other option is to simply wait for Heart of the Swarm’s official release. Come March 12 the game will hit retail shelves and Battle.net’s digital download service with an attached $40 price point. As with all Blizzard releases that’s the cost for the standard edition of the game, while truly devoted fans of StarCraft II will also have the option to spend $80 for a Collector’s Edition of Heart of the Swarm that includes a soundtrack CD, a behind-the-scenes featurette on both DVD and Blu-ray, a 144-page book detailing the concept art and other aesthetic assets found in the game, and an exclusive “Zerg Rush” mousepad.
People are buying iPhones and Android as if it's the end of the world.
Apple has the leading smartphone operating system in the United States according to new data released today, but the same sales charts show that Google is taking a bite of Apple's pie throughout Europe.
"Apple has reached a major milestone in the U.S. by passing the 50% share mark for the first time," said Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
His report cites the iPhone 5 launch as a boost to the company's improved marketshare, lifting Apple to 53.3 percent of sales this year from 3.58 percent last year.
"Further gains [are] expected to be made during December," which is good news for Apple... in the United States.
Stay Calm and carry an Android
Apple isn't having as much luck in Europe, however, giving Google chairman Eric Schmidt more reason to gloat over what he calls a cold war between the two companies.
Android's marketshare is now 61 percent there, which is nearly a 10 percent increase from last year's 51.8 percent in the EU5.
In France, Android handsets saw a 9.4 percent jump compared to Apple's more modest 4.4 percent gain.
Germany was home to a 7.2 percent Android sales bump, while iPhone's gains barely registered with a .03 percent increase.
iPhone's marketshare was down in Italy and Spain, and non-European countries Australia and Brazil. The contrast was starkest in Spain, where Apple controlled 2.5 percent fewer smartphone sales than last year, while Android lept up a significant 25.4 percent.
Great Britain was the only European country in the report where Apple cut into Google's lead. iPhone sales increased 5.3 percent compared to Android's bump of 4.9 percent.
Of course, Google still controls this market, with the newewst numbers standing at 51.5 percent for Android handsets and 36.1 percent for the iPhone during the 12-week reporting period.
Apple, Google dominate app downloads
Apple and Google were both winners on their respective mobile operating systems when it comes to dominating app installs.
Publishers with the top app downloads in 2012 were Apple on iOS and Google on Android, according to a report compiled by Distimo analyst Gert Jan Spriensma.
With six iPad apps and seven iPhone apps, averaging $7.43, Apple landed the number one spot on its own App Store charts.
Apple's Garage Band app was cited as a "popular app example" in the analysts' 2012 recap, finishing ahead of game developer Gameloft in second, and Google in third.
Google did manage to pull off a first-place finish in the same report's analysis of top Google Play downloads. Facebook checked in at No. 2, while Angry Birds publisher Rovio slingshot its way to No. 3.
More Google vs. Apple to come
Apple's marketshare have grown tremendously in the U.S. in 2012 due in part to the iPhone 5, but the Apple vs. Google fight will rage on.
Google's more affordable smartphones are driving its numbers up in Europe and the company is set to top one billion Android activations by next year.
In reaction to widespread fan outcry, SimCity developer Maxis has offered up a litany of reasons why the game's digital rights management scheme, which requires players to be connected to the 'net to save the game, is actually beneficial to players.
Earlier this week we brought you details on the digital rights management scheme that SimCity publisher EA and developer Maxis have programmed into the upcoming city-building video game. You can find full details in our earlier piece, but the most crucial point is that the game will require players to have an active Internet connection simply to save their progress in the title. There seemed no mechanical explanation for this requirement, but EA believes that this hurdle will go a long way toward preventing widespread piracy of the currently PC and Mac-exclusive SimCity.
Given its ongoing, collective hatred of any DRM scheme (which, it should be stated, is based on the numerous times that seemingly innocuous DRM schemes have done little to quell piracy while drastically hindering the gameplay experience of many legitimate players), the Internet masses immediately decried this decision, claiming that EA is purely motivated by profit. While the publisher has yet to address these complaints directly, a new blog post written by Maxis head Lucy Bradshow appeared this morning that attempts to explain to prospective buyers why the decision for this particular DRM scheme is, in fact, beneficial to all those hoping to enjoy the latest sequel in what is undoubtedly one of EA’s longest running, most intensely beloved franchises.
“Creating a connected experience has always been a goal for SimCity, and this design decision has driven our development process for the game,” Bradshaw writes.
“Perhaps [SimCity creative director Quigley] Ocean said it best when he said that real cities do not exist in a bubble; they share a region and affect one another,” Bradshaw states. “[SimCity's new] GlassBox [game engine] does more than just segregate computing tasks, it also allows us to make it so that you can create specialized cities that are visually unique and personalized, and that can be economically integrated into a larger region. You’re always connected to the neighbors in your region so while you play, data from your city interacts with our servers, and we run the simulation at a regional scale.”
“For example, trades between cities, simulation effects that cause change across the region like pollution or crime, as well as depletion of resources, are all processed on the servers and then data is sent back to your city on your PC. Every city in the region is updated every three minutes, which keeps the overall region in sync and makes your decisions in your city relevant to any changes that have taken place in the region.”
“Running the regional simulation on our servers is something we also use to support features that will make this SimCity even more fun. We use the Sim data to update worldwide leaderboards, where you get to see your city or mayoral standings as compared to the other cities in your region and between all of the regions in the world. And since SimCity is a live service, we’re also using the data to create weekly global and local challenges for our players that keep the gameplay fresh and surprising,” Bradshaw adds.
In closing, Bradshaw states that SimCity is the best entry in the franchise to date and that due to how interconnected it is, the gameplay itself requires an omnipresent Internet connection. It simply wouldn’t be possible to achieve the level of regional interconnectivity Maxis has planned for the title without players being constantly connected to one another. Yes, this requirement does make it slightly more difficult to pirate the title, but if Bradshaw is to be believed, the decision to require an always-on Internet connection was not made by cynical bean counters, but instead by the creative types who designed the game’s inarguably impressive feature set.
Whether you’re apt to believe Bradshaw or not is another question entirely, but her words do make a lot of sense. It may simply be that long-time SimCity players have to adjust how they think of the game. No longer is SimCity a simple single-player attempt to turn the arduous task of city building into a compelling game; Instead, the latest entry in the franchise is akin to a massively multiplayer online game. We’ll leave it to you to decide if this is a positive or reason enough to avoid the title when it hits shelves in March of 2013.
A portable version of Halo 4 that you can play on your iPhone seems to good to be true, and if you attempt to download the game via the iOS App Store, you'll quickly learn that this is, in fact, the case.
If you fire up your favorite iOS gadget and take a trip over to Apple’s App Store, you’ll find that the digital distribution service offers not one, but two separate version of 343 Industries’ blockbuster hit Halo 4. Both games feature official artwork, seemingly legitimate splash screens and even trademark notifications from the developer, yet neither of the $5 games is anything remotely resembling Microsoft’s latest entry in the fan-favorite Halo franchise.
Instead, those who opt to purchase either of these faux Halo 4 titles will be left to enjoy either an objectively terrible racing game or a bare bones Chess game that only escapes our “objectively terrible” descriptor by virtue of Chess’ relatively simple, universally familiar gameplay. That said, as Kotaku points out, the Chess game is titled “Chess 4 ” (despite the lack of a Chess 1, Chess 2 or the inevitable Chess 3) in what appears to be a further attempt to link the otherwise unrelated game to Microsoft’s title.
Such linguistic trickery appears to be the sole strength of these games. Both are described using 343 Industries’ official text for Halo 4. “Halo 4 for iPhone/iPad is the fourth installment in the Halo series where Master Chief returns to battle an ancient evil bent on vengeance and annihilation,” the games’ descriptions claim before serving up a list of bullet points likewise swiped from the same PR blasts that gamers and game critics alike have been offered for the Xbox 360 incarnation of Halo 4. As you’d expect, these fraudulent iOS games don’t include wide-ranging online multiplayer game modes, nor an army of vicious alien invaders waiting for a stoic hero to fill them with lead (or whatever day-glo pink element the Needler fires).
So why do they exist? Kotaku believes that the problem lies in the relatively small team Apple has put in charge of policing the legitimacy of App Store programs. That said, it seems strange that Microsoft would have made no attempt so far to squash these imposters. Even if Apple is going to be slow on the draw in its attempts to suss out faux games like these, we have to imagine that Microsoft’s lawyers would be very keen to take every possible action within their not insignificant power to have these imposters removed. In that light we have to assume that Microsoft has simply not yet noticed their existence. Hopefully this article can clue in someone at Redmond that they’ve got a cease and desist order to send out tout de suite.
Less than a week after rumors cropped up about a Facebook product that mimics the hot new app Snapchat, the social network has released its very own self-destruct messaging app called Poke.
You probablying remember poking as perhaps the most annoying thing that Facebook allowed you to do – or allowed to be done to you. Now, however, Facebook is resurrecting it and spinning it into a new mechanism that doesn’t just subtly ping you, but sends over a private piece of content with an expiration date.
“With the Poke app, you can poke or send a message, photo, or video to Facebook friends to share what you’re up to in a lightweight way,” says Facebook. “You can poke an individual friend or several at once. Each message expires after a specific time you’ve set, either 1, 3, 5, or 10 seconds. When time runs out, the message disappears from the app.”
Snapchat has only just entered our consciousness and already Facebook is capitalizing on the self-destruct messaging trend. Snapchat has risen to the top 10 free apps in the App Store and captured young users’ interest – in some cases, unfortunately so, as we all by now know there are always ways to save those supposedly secure images. (Hint: screen capture is faster than you think).
Facebook makes no attempt to shield this as anything other than a Snapchat clone. You can manipulate photos before sending them, there’s an alert system so you know if someone took a screenshot, and you get the same timing options. Of course, Poke allows you to send more types of media, and there is a group messaging capability. This could be a death sentence for Snapchat, which, despite its popularity and early rise to the top of the App Store, can’t compete with Facebook’s social graph and the inarguable ease of a client that can offer access to (for many of us) nearly all of our connections.
It will be interesting to see if Facebook ends up folding Poke into its proprietary app. Camera and Messenger started out as standalone apps that worked with, but weren’t embedded in, the original app. These two still exist on their own, but now also within the main Facebook mobile app. It’s been Facebook’s mobile strategy thus far, to build out mobile products and eventually weave their features into Facebook proper. Poke will probably receive the same treatment.
Don't think free-to-play gaming is huge? Take a look at World of Tanks. The free MMO about tanks shooting each other has racked up 45 million players, close to four times the peak membership of World of Warcraft.
Free-to-play games may not replace full-priced games that you download or buy in a store, but there’s certainly a mammoth audience for web-based freebies. When we think of the world’s most popular games, we tend to picture Call of Duty, FIFA, or Super Mario Bros. but here at the end of 2012, it would be better to think about World of Tanks. Wargaming, publisher of the appropriately named MMO, now has a user base of 45 million players. To put that in perspective, that’s just less than 4 times the 2010 peak membership of World of Warcraft.
“The tremendous success of World of Tanks has showcased that the company has developed a strong and reliable technological platform with an incredible amount of remaining potential,” said Wargaming’s Andrei Yarantsau, “The result is that we’ll keep being able to provide top-notch online services and regular high quality content and updates.”
Put another way: A ridiculous number of people around the world are playing our game, it’s making us money, so we’re going to be able to keep making a lot of games similar to this.
45 million is an astronomical number of players for any game, and it places World of Tanks in the upper echelon of the most-widely played games on the planet. There were 600,000 players on a single Russian server playing simultaneously at one point this year. To put that in perspective, the entire top 100 games on Steam logged 650,000 users on May 10 this year. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, one of the most successful games ever released, logged 3.3 million players online but worldwide and over the course of an entire day.
World of Tanks’ major competitor is the free-to-play strategy game League of Legends. League has just 35 million daily active users compared to World of Tanks’ 45 million, but it does log about 12 million daily users.
Wargaming is going to try and keep its empire growing with two more MMOs next year. World of Warplanes and World of Warships are currently in beta testing but the company aims to have them open for business next year.
Holiday promotions are well underway at digital distributors, including Steam, which launched its winter sale this week. Valve will be swapping the major discounts regularly throughout the event, but we've added many of the current top sellers to our list, such has Dishonored and Borderlands 2, which are half off. You'll find plenty of deals elsewhere, especially Amazon, which offers Max Payne 3 for $15, Hitman: Absolution for $20 as well as various heavily discounted bundles. As a reminder in case you missed our post earlier this week, a new Humble Bundle has kicked off with six top indie games and a movie.
If a new report from the Wall Street Journal is to be believed, Google will soon be taking charge of its own branded smartphones and tablets.
According to the WSJ, Google and Motorola are now working on a new project dubbed the "X Phone," with a planned "X Tablet" to follow once the new smartphone is completed.
Motorola will still be creating Droids during this developmental stage, as the X Phone will be its own separate product.
Prior to this rumored new device, Google had let other companies develop the hardware for its Nexus brand, including the Samsung Nexus 4 and Asus Nexus 7.
Google's X man
Believed to be heading up the X Phone is former Google product manager, Lior Ron, who has a bit of experience with mapping.
Apparently Google doesn't wish to emulate the same troubles Apple had with its recent mapping software, and has put one of its top men in charge.
The reports also indicated the focus of the X Phone would be on providing consumers with an impressive, high-quality camera and the software to back it up.
That software is believed to include image and gesture-recognition technology from Motorola's recent acquisition, Viewdle.
Though actual specifications were on short supply, there is speculation bendable screens and ceramic materials were being used to make the X Phone more durable.
Whether or not the final phone ends up using such a design remains to be seen, but it appears Google is willing to try new tactics to create an attractive smartphone.
Page also stated Google was evaluating the development of "amazing innovative devices," and it appears he was telling the truth on both counts.
With all attention focused on the idea of a Motorola Nexus, no one was expecting Google to be working with its recently purchased manufacturer on an entirely new line-up.
There's no telling how long it will be until the X Phone is revealed to the public, but Google entering the smartphone arena with its own potential devices is a major step.
TechRadar has reached out to Google, and will update this story if and when they reply.
Bethesda finally published a hit outside The Elder Scrolls series this year when it released Dishonored. Now people are wondering what happened to its other promising original, Prey 2. Developer Human Head says to ask the publisher for news.
Prey 2, that oh so promising open world game that turned heads at E3 2011, leads a charmed un-life. One second it’s cancelled, the next it’s simply in stasis, and the next Bethesda is looking for another developer to take it off the hands of Human Head. It’s uncertain development is fitting seeing as the original’s tortured path to release took eleven years. According to developer Human Head, fans can help bring the game to fruition. All they need to do is start pestering publisher Bethesda.
Human Head designer Nathan Cheever has been communicating with fans about the game on Twitter, hoping to build support for the game since Bethesda’s gone quiet on the title.
“Bethesda’s captain of that ship, so I can’t officially speak for it,” said Cheever at the beginning of December, “I’m not implying anything, only that Bethesda Softworks owns the rights and are the only ones that can legally say anything about Prey 2’s status.” When one fan mentioned that the game seemed fairly far along in development when shown in 2011, Cheever said that was the case. “I agree! It’d be great to get some good news soon.”
“It’s up to Bethesda to decide what to do with it. The best you can do is ask them they’re thinking, like [Bethesda marketing VP] Peter Hines,” said the designer.
Cheever actively discussed the game online back in October as well, explaining that the game is stuck in stasis at the publisher. “P2 hasn’t been officially cancelled, only in limbo,” said Cheever at the time, “If you want to know more about the status of the game, find other ways to contact Bethesda more directly. My impression is they don’t read the Facebook page (for Prey 2) as much as they used to, since your interest has gone unanswered over the past year.”
Bethesda hasn’t discussed the game publicly since April. “Development of Prey 2 has not been cancelled but the game will not be released in 2012 as planned,” said the publisher, “The delay is due to the fact that game development has not progressed satisfactorily this past year, and the game does not currently meet our quality standards. Prey 2 has shown great promise and we regret disappointing our fans. We have made a substantial investment in game development to deliver the experience fans want. We are determined only to release the AAA game that fans rightfully expect, and are unwilling to compromise our quality standards to meet a release schedule.”
The V350 isn't the only Acer device to leak this week
GLBenchmark has struck again, listing the specs for another device that has yet to be officially announced: Acer's V350 smartphone.
The Acer V350 appeared in GLBenchmark's listings recently, though exactly when is unclear.
Reports of the unannounced Acer smartphone began arriving on Friday, however.
Given its specs, it seems the V350 will be Acer's flagship device for 2013.
Acer V350 specs
The benchmark profile pegs the Acer V350 with a 1280 x 720 display that's likely over 4 inches in size.
Pair that with Qualcomm's 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor - the same one that powers Samsung's Galaxy S3 - and you've got an impressive device.
The Acer V350's given specs also include Android 4.1.2: Jelly Bean right out of the box, a first for the Taiwanese manufacturer.
More leaks at Acer
Acer's ship has sprung leaks left and right in the last week, with the Acer V360 and Iconia B1 tablet inadvertently revealed in addition to the V350.
Despite the names, the Acer V350's hardware appears to be superior to the V360's 4.5-inch 950 x 540 resolution display and 1GHz dual-core chip.
Like the V350, though, the V360 will run on Jelly Bean.
The Iconia B1, on the other hand, is a budget-priced 7-inch Android Jelly Bean tablet expected to launch at CES 2013 or the Mobile World Congress next year.
The V350 and V360 could make appearances at CES as well, so stay tuned - TechRadar will be there live to bring you all the big announcements.
Steve Jobs' super yacht, the Venus, cost more than 100 million euros to make. But the designer has not received his full commission.
In 2007, Steve Jobs started working with French designer Phillippe Starck on plans for a superyacht. Jobs passed away before he had a chance to use the boat, dubbed Venus. Now, a lawyer representing Starck’s company has said the designer has only received 6 million euros out of the 9 million euros that he was owed on commission. As a result, the yacht was impounded on Wednesday night and will remain at its current location in an Amsterdam port until the rest of the money is received.
“The project has been going on since 2007 and there had been a lot of detailed talk between Jobs and Starck,” Roelant Klaassen, the lawyer for Starck’s firm, told Reuters. “These guys trusted each other, so there wasn’t a very detailed contract.” The legal counsel for Jobs’ estate was not available for comment.
The yacht was finished and unveiled to Jobs’ family in the Netherlands in late October. The vessel was designed with a minimalist, streamlined aesthetic, just as you’d imagine an aquatic Apple product to be. The ship is 80 meters long, and has several 27-inch iMacs installed on the deck. Jobs also consulted with the chief engineer for Apple stores and asked him to create special glass that could be used for structural support.
According to Jobs’ biography by Walter Isaacson, the creation of this superyacht was a project near and dear to Jobs. Even when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Jobs continued working on the boat’s design. It’s uncertain what will happen to the vessel once the dispute over Starck’s commission is resolved.
Welcome to Digital Blend, your one-stop shop for coverage and recommendations of all things relating to mobile gaming, digital marketplaces, and indie titles (for the week ending December 23).
Welcome back to Digital Blend, our weekly look at the world of downloadable video gaming that exists at the fringes of the mainstream. That means we look at the hottest new mobile game releases, downloadable content drops on consoles and PCs, indie darlings that deserve your love and attention, and the best gaming values under $20.
Keep your comments and feedback coming. We want to hear from you! Did you try something you read about here and enjoy it? Is there a particular game you think we’ve overlooked or news you want to share? Any questions you are dying to ask? Let us know! Your thoughts, feedback, suggestions and (constructive!) criticism are welcome, either in the comments section below or directed at yours truly on Twitter, @geminibros.
Making headlines…
* The Walking Dead is a pretty big deal. I mean… right? It’s a multiple Game of the Year-winning effort (including Digital Trends!) for Telltale Games, with the five-episode story amounting to the best execution of an interactive narrative that this industry has ever seen. What’s amazing about the game is how, even with the key story beats never changing, anyone who plays is going to have a dramatically different experience, with different interpersonal connections forged based on your interactions with fellow survivors. It’s a monumental achievement and a definite gateway drug for future gamers. It’s also a COMPLETELY FREE iOS download right now, for Episode One. This is a limited time offer, so grab it now while you can… and then prepare to spend whatever money is necessary to unlock the remaining eps.
* BioWare’s free-to-play MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to embrace a bigger galaxy in spring 2013. The Rise of the Hutt Cartel pack is the first, official content expansion for the game, adding a new planet, a new main questline, and a newly boosted level cap (from 50 to 55), among other things. Those who pre-order the $19.99 add-on pack ($9.99 for continuing SW:TOR subscribers) before January 7, 2013 can also look forward to five full days of early access to the expansion when it arrives on an unspecified date in spring 2013.
* The PlayStation Vita just moved up roughly 10 spaces on the “Awesome” scale this week with the news that downloadable PlayStation 3 game Tokyo Junglenow supports Remote Play. That’s still a step removed from a truly portable Vita version of the charmingly bizarre JRPG(?), but we’ll take what we can get. How many other games let you dress up a Pomeranian in ridiculous outfits and then send it off to wander a post-apocalyptic landscape, where it will hopefully (but probably not) be able to avoid being crunched between the jaws of a hungry velociraptor. THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN IN TOKYO JUNGLE. Pretty nifty.
* Borderlands fans! Great news for y’all. Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt is officially confirmed as the title of the game’s third DLC expansion (out of a confirmed four), and it’s coming on January 15, 2013. You can get all the details from our extended hands-on preview, but here are your key bullet points: new environment as you explore the Pandoran continent of Aegrus, new enemies of various sorts (not just re-skins), a selection of new loot, and a pair of new raid-style bosses. There’s also another vehicle added in the DLC, a fan boat. Great stuff. In related Borderlands 2 news, Gearbox Software also confirmed plans to hike up the game’s level cap in Q1 2013. It’s not clear how big the bump will be, but it’s going to be enough to support a newly added third playthrough option that will be released in tandem. The important thing to note is that these are two separate items: the DLC is coming on 1/15 and the level cap boost/third playthrough is coming in Q1.
* Minecraft: The Story of Mojang is a feature-length documentary from 2Player Productions chronicling the success of Mojang’s blocky world-builder and the rise to fame of the game’s creator, Markus “Notch” Persson. The movie will finally makes its world premiere this weekend, on Saturday, December 22, 2012, via Microsoft’s Xbox Live service. You’ll need to be a Gold-level subscriber to check it out.
* Valve’s Steam service has grown in some important ways over the course of 2012, including the launch of Big Picture Mode, the upcoming Linux version (now officially in beta), the addition of non-gaming software to the service’s product offerings, and the well-received Steam Greenlight initiative. Still, mistakes are sometimes made. The War Z, a multiplayer-focused zombie apocalypse simulator that takes some cues from ArmA 2 mod (and upcoming standalone release) DayZ, arrived on Steam this week riding a wave of controversy. The game’s description made content claims that turned out to be untrue, and while Hammerpoint Interactive claims that the words speak to planned features, those who purchased the game — a large enough number to top Steam’s sales charts — are understandably peeved. The saga unfolded over a period of days, concluding with Valve removing the game from Steam until more work can be done on completing it. Those who purchased the game before it was pulled are free to keep it, though refunds are also being offered due to the falsely advertised content.
Top buys for the week…
Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath :: PlayStation Vita :: $14.99
Just Add Water’s superior enhanced HD remake of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath came to PlayStation 3 in late 2011, and now the game makes its debut this week on Sony’s portable platform, the PlayStation Vita. This right here is what we need to see more of. Maybe the Vita can’t run Uncharted 3, but with Sony shepherding so many HD remakes and HD collections into release, it’s shocking that few-to-none come to the Vita. Stranger’s Wrath is a welcome addition to the still-growing Vita library, being a killer game in its own right with some nice tweaks and improvements from Just Add Water. Well worth your time and money if you’ve somehow missed it until now.
The Lost Treasures of Infocom :: iOS :: FREE – $9.99
Let’s get it out of the way: clear front-runner PICK OF THE WEEK right here. Infocom is one of the most important publishers in the history of video games, responsible in the early ’80s for releasing classic text adventures like A Mind Forever Voyaging, Planetfall, and, of course, anything bearing the title of Zork. The company’s two founders will be honored at next year’s D.I.C.E. Awards, and Activision makes good on the positive press this week with the release of the iOS-exclusive enhanced port of The Lost Treasures of Infocom. This collection of 27 games is a free app store download, though you only get the original Zork to start with. The rest of the collection can be downloaded in five-game packs for $2.99 apiece or as a full collection for $9.99. Developer Code Mystics went all out too, really enhancing the port with some cool touchscreen-specific shortcuts and features, as well as full access to virtual versions of Infocom’s Feelies. This is video game history, folks. Go get it.
Pudding Monsters :: iOS :: $0.99
The light release week is rounded out by Pudding Monsters, the latest iOS-exclusive from ZeptoLab, creators of Cut the Rope. The new effort is basically a sliding puzzle puzzle game. What it lacks in originality, it makes up for in charm. You play by manipulating adorable little blobs of pudding around a game board, with the goal of aligning your gelatinous goobers on three star pads. It’s an eye-catching game, and a challenging one for those who put the time into nailing 100 percent completion for each of the included 75 levels. Check out our review for a more detailed rundown.
Kinect Party :: Xbox 360 :: FREE (through 12/31)
Our own Nex reviewed Double Fine Productions’ latest Kinect-loving toy, and while he wasn’t exactly raving wildly about Kinect Party, he also admitted that he’s not exactly the target audience. This is a family game, like Double Fine Happy Action Theater before it. It’s also more of a motion-controlled toy than a proper game. It’s completely free until the end of the year though, and definitely worth a look if you’re going to have younger family members around in the coming weeks.
Following numerous player complaints, indie zombie-apocalypse sandbox title The War Z has been removed from sale on Steam. Kotaku provides a great, in-depth look at exactly what happened, but most complaints were due to a bevy of missing features and game hacking. The developer described items such as private servers, being able to spend XP for new skills and sprawling 400 kilometer landscapes -- none of which had actually been implemented in-game. Well, not yet, that is.
Public uproar and Valve's subsequent discontinuation of The War Z's sales seem particularly embarrassing for fledgling indie developer Hammerpoint Interactive. However, the game's executive producer issued this somewhat backhanded apology to players, suggesting that customers were actually the ones who futzed up -- they should have realized some listed features were still in development.
... it was clear that there were a number of customers that felt that information about the game was presented in a way that could have allowed for multiple interpretations.
We've taken steps to correct this and format information presented on our Steam Store page in a way so it provides more clear information about game features that are present in the Foundation Release and what to expect in the coming weeks.
We also want to extend our apologies to all players who misread infromation [sic] about game features.
Player furor also prompted this thread, which attempts to explain some of the shortcomings the game's "Foundation Release" currently exhibits.
Valve began issuing refunds to angry customers after determining The War Z's release was "premature". The company temporarily suspended sales of the title until it has "confidence in a new build" from the developer.
Although The War Z is no longer for sale via Steam, it does still have a place in its catalog -- Valve simply removed the option to purchase the game. Anyone interesting in buying the game may still do so at the publisher's website.
Beleaguered video game publisher THQ found a buyer to carry it through bankruptcy proceedings this week, but that doesn't mean other companies won't make a bid. Word is that Ubisoft may buy THQ in 2013.
While the Clearlake Capital Group has posted up the funds to keep video game publisher THQ running as the company goes through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process before becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the holdings company, that doesn’t mean THQ won’t find another buyer. “Our Chapter 11 process allows for other bidders to make competing offers for THQ,” explained company president Jason Rubin in a public message on Wednesday, “So while we are extremely excited about the Clearlake opportunity, we won’t be able to say that the deal is done for a month or so.”
Who else might want a piece of THQ’s pie? French publishing giant Ubisoft may be a buyer.
MCV reported on Friday that Ubisoft plans to take over THQ’s remaining studios and intellectual properties when the company’s Chapter 11 proceedings are completed. Its anonymous sources explain that Ubisoft is currently dealing with Clearlake Capital to negotiate an appropriate deal.
In years past, THQ’s value came from its licensed games, particularly Nickelodeon brands like Spongebob Squarepants, the UFC series, and WWE. With the rise of iOS and Android devices, though, the home and handheld game console market that THQ’s kids games dominated has all but disappeared. THQ also lost the UFC license to EA earlier this year. Since 2008 the company has focused more and more on developing original IPs aimed at gaming enthusiasts. Company of Heroes, Red Faction, Homefront, Darksiders, and Saints Row are all franchises with successful releases in the past three years, but not successful enough to keep THQ afloat.
All of those properties, as well as the studios that make them like Vigil, Relic, Volition, and others in THQ’s diminished stable make the publisher a reasonably attractive purchase. Ubisoft said as much in November. “They have good things,” said CEO Yves Guillemot, “We are always interested in good brands. It’s something we can consider, but I can’t tell you more.”
THQ’s properties would certainly fill caps in Ubisoft’s layout. Darksiders would give it a fantasy universe missing from its sci-fi and military-centric line up, while Saints Row would give it crass teen comedy. Company of Heroes may clash with Ubisoft’s sprawling Tom Clancy franchise, but it also doesn’t have a strong multiplayer shooter anymore with Rainbow Six still dormant.
Purchasing THQ would also bring one of Ubisoft’s lost creators back into the fold. THQ Montreal head Patrice Desilets, allegedly making a game called 1666, was the creative director of the Assassin’s Creed but left after completing Assassin’s Creed II.
On its Office blog, Microsoft announced several aging features to be whacked by the deprecation hammer in Outlook 2013. Amongst these imminent changes is the elimination of importing (and exporting) legacy Microsoft Office formats, namely 97-2003 .XLS and .DOC files.
It's unknown if other areas of Office 2013 (e.g. Excel and Word) could adopt a similar distaste for legacy file types, but any decision of that magnitude seems highly improbable. Rather, I suspect this aging-format abrogation will remain isolated to the infrequently used Outlook import and export features.
"As much as we love adding new features to Outlook, for the maintainability of our product we sometimes need to remove those that are out of date and aren't utilized by a large number of users." the blog post's author wrote.
Outlook's ability to import files like .XLS and .DOC is mostly used for importing contact information -- a rather specific feature which presumably still works with newer .XLSX and .DOCX formats. Although the blog post doesn't say specifically, it may be reasonable to assume that "Mail Merging" will also be affected.
Also disappearing in Outlook 2013 is its "Classic Offline Mode", which has been replaced with "Cached Exchange Mode". This likely explains why "Deliver to PST" has been usurped by its cache-friendly, OST-based alternative.
Gone too will be the "Journal" feature, Windows Explorer-Outlook search integration and Outlook's independent VPN / Dial-up Settings. Users who utilize VPN or Dial-up connections are now being directed to set those options system wide via the Windows Control Panel (Windows Key + R > control > Internet Options > Connections). Meanwhile, users looking to search for items in Outlook 2013 will need to stick to the client's built-in search or third-party utilities.
PubCal, which offers the ability to publicly share calendars on Office.com, is also being discontinued for all Outlook clients. Microsoft says it will post more details in the future about moving away from PubCal, including instructions which will allow users to achieve the same set of features via Outlook.com.
Nintendo's killer app for the Wii U is an amazing concept for bringing together all the different ways we watch television in 2012. There's just one problem: It doesn't really work yet.
The Nintendo Wii controller was and is an elegant work of genius. Forget the motion controls, though. The Wiimote (is that still a phrase people use?) gets its magic from its design. Revealed nearly a year before the actual Wii console back in 2005, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that the remote was created specifically to look like a television remote as much as the iconic NES controller from the 1980s. The remote is a simple mix of familiar contraptions to invite people seamlessly into playing with a piece of technology.
The Wii U leverages the familiarity of television in a wholly opposite way through Nintendo TVii. Video games have changed in the seven years since the Wiimote’s debut, but television has changed far more. Digital video recording is now standard in cable packages as is on demand programming, and around 50 million Americans pay for streaming video services Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, and Netflix. Most people have to use multiple remote controls to even watch television in the living room now. The Wiimote has lost its cultural currency. Nintendo TVii is a service that tries to unify the multifarious television landscape of 2012. It’s meant to be a simple, all-encompassing, familiar way to navigate content. The idea is sound but only partially realized in the service’s debut.
Remote Control
Nintendo TVii is not actually an app you need to download to the Wii U. It’s pre-loaded and functions like a web browser. If you’re playing a game or running an app like Hulu Plus on the Wii U when you click the Nintendo TVii icon, it will continue running. On firing TVii up for the first time, you’re walked through a simple profile set up, selecting your local service provider and television package based on your zip code. So far the service seems to work well in finding providers, even recognizing broadcast television, something Nintendo was hesitant to confirm ahead of Nintendo TVii’s release.
In addition to selecting favorite shows and movies—TVii gives a small sample of current releases for both, leaving you to search for others—you can select local favorite channels which are added as buttons to the touch screen remote control on the Wii U GamePad. The remote layout is interesting, but limited. It’s an array of wheels that pop up in the right hand corner of the touch screen, with numbers and channel icons (ABC, NBC, ESPN, etc.) on the outmost wheel with volume, pause/play functions for movies, and input selection on the interior wheels. There are also tools for linking to social networks, including Twitter and Facebook as well as Nintendo’s own Miiverse, and you can comment on those networks while you’re watching shows.
Finding a show and options for watching them is also simple. Want to watch Parks and Recreation? The icon will be in the “Live” section of the menu on a Thursday when it broadcasts on NBC, but clicking the show icon will also show buttons for watching it on Hulu Plus or Amazon Instant. (Netflix support isn’t included yet, though the Netflix app is available already on Wii U.) Want to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers game on Sunday? The sports section of TVii will have all NBA, NFL, MLB, and NCAA Football matches loaded up and will show you your options for watching those games based on what services you have. The layout works as promised, as easy to navigate as streaming video apps on iOS devices and other consoles.
Failure to Launch
Unfortunately actually watching television and movies is where the problems begin. The browser service itself may work smoothly out the gate, but the Wii U’s sluggish operating system and an overly simplistic virtual remote can cause early problems. The touch screen wheel inputs are laid out smoothly but they’re missing many of the features on modern TV remotes, like a decimal button. Living in New York City and watching broadcast television, all channels have a decimal. CBS is 2.1, Fox 5.1, etc. While the Nintendo TVii service knows this and lays out programming for local channels on the GamePad screen, selecting the channels on the virtual remote doesn’t work. The TV will simply try to go to channel 2 then channel 1 before giving up and quitting back to the HDMI input where the Wii U is.
Selecting a television show to watch via Hulu Plus or Amazon Instant works just fine, but suffers from the crippled operating speed of the Wii U. Choosing to watch that episode of Parks and Recreation on Hulu Plus will force the Wii U to quit to its home menu and then launch the Hulu app no matter what. Even if the Hulu app was already running in the background, it will quit, go to the home menu, and restart the app. With no other app running, choosing to watch a video on Hulu or Amazon via Nintendo TVii takes between 65 and 80 seconds to get to the menu where that episode is in the native app. Not for it to start, just to get to the menu.
Conclusion
These are first world complaints. I’m 30-years-old and remember when getting a low resolution, 15-second clip to load in Internet Explorer could take up to 20 minutes. That iTV has created a service that just shows you all the different things you can watch on a television, from broadcast to cable to web, is pretty amazing. Nintendo TVii doesn’t quite work yet, though. When Nintendo gets its system to the point that selecting a program on any of the various services covered is as fast as changing the channel, it’ll really be on to something. Nintendo acknowledges that Nintendo TVii is incomplete as well. As of now there is no DVR support whatsoever. TiVo will be supported sometime in 2013, but no other DVR service is confirmed yet. Nintendo TVii is a service meant to grow. As it is, Nintendo TVii version 1 is an impressive start, and a good try at making the complexity of modern television simpler, but this is not the elegant simplicity of the Wiimote. Not by a longshot.
A small but growing number of iPhone 5 owners are complaining of shorter battery life with iOS 6.0.2
Apple's latest iOS 6 patch may have cured Wi-Fi issues plaguing iPhone 5 and iPad mini users, but the update now appears to be causing battery life headaches for others.
CNET reported Friday that this week's iOS 6.0.2 update may be one step forward and two steps back for some owners of the latest iPhone 5.
Beginning Wednesday, a handful of users flocked to Apple's support discussion forums with complaints of substantially shorter battery life following the iOS 6.0.2 update released the day before.
"Today I barely used my phone at all, and I noticed I was down to 40 percent after three hours of being off the charger," one iPhone 5 owner remarked, referring to it as "a significant change in battery drain."
Wi-Fi to blame?
Curiously, the battery drain appears to only affect the iPhone 5 and not the iPad mini, which was also updated to iOS 6.0.2 this week; other devices did not receive the minor update.
Initial speculation points to a change in Wi-Fi antenna behavior under iOS 6.0.2, although this theory doesn't explain why most iPhone 5 devices - and all iPad mini tablets - remain unaffected.
The battery drain may be tough for Apple to nail down since it affects a small (but growing) set of users, compared to prior updates where such issues were more widespread.
Apple has yet to comment on the matter, which could remain unresolved through the holiday break and into the New Year should engineers be unable to pinpoint the problem quickly.
Update: BlackBerry 10 (or BB10) is still under development and not yet a finished product, but we've checked out an almost-final version of the user interface, which is pretty close to perfection, according to RIM - but we'll let you be the judge by checking out our findings below.
We saw the near-final version of BlackBerry 10 running on the new Dev Alpha B handset, building on the other test units and newer devices we've seen in the past.
The Dev Alpha B handset has been seeded to select BlackBerry developers, to aid them in their quest to produce applications for the new platform.
RIM has already handed out over 5,000 of the original Dev Alpha devices, and we wouldn't be surprised if the new handset gets the same sort of circulation.
We've also heard about the first Dev handset to sport RIM's famous Qwerty keyboard. Known as the Dev Alpha C, this will be the first handset with physical keyboard to run BlackBerry 10.
1,500 Dev Alpha C handsets will be winging their way to the hardcore BB10 developers before the official launch on January 31, so apps can be tweaked to work on the smaller screened phone.
BB 10 sees the implementation of a whole new user interface, with RIM doing away with the familiar BlackBerry system we're all used to, in favour of something which resembles the likes of Android and iOS, although with its own unique features.
With BlackBerry 10, RIM has merged homescreens, widgets, app lists and a unified inbox into one slick interface, offering up an easy-to-navigate user experience.
Lock screen
The lock screen shows notifications for alarms and unread messages on the left plus your upcoming meetings as well as the date and time, with a button to launch the camera straight from the lock screen to grab a quick snap.
You unlock the phone by sliding your thumb up the screen and from there slide from anywhere on screen and the handset starts to draw in around where you slide so if you just want a quick peek at the information in one area of the screen, you can just drag to show it and then let go – with the device remaining locked (more on that in 'Peek' mode below).
Home screen
The main homescreen comprises of 'Active Frames', technically mini-applications, which give you an overview of information from a particular app and launch the full version when tapped.
Users can select up to eight of these active frames, which arrange themselves in order of most recently used, with the latest app appearing in the top left position.
A maximum of four frames are shown on the screen at any one time, and if you scroll down and you'll be able to view the others – the display in order of use allows you to jump quickly between your recent applications.
RIM tell us that any application, even third party ones, will be able to appear as an 'Active Frame' on the BB10 homescreen, which is excellent news for anyone left frustrated by the limited widget options on Android or live tiles on Windows Phone.
For those of you who may be concerned that these 'Active Frames' could be both data and battery intensive, Research in Motion assures us that this is not the case, with the QNX core of BlackBerry 10 providing efficient power management, and the frames only downloading the minimum amount of data required for them to update.
Interface
Swiping from right to left will take you to the app list, with 16 apps on the screen at any one time – if you have more than 16 apps additional pages are added and can be accessed by swiping the same way again – familiar territory for iOS and Android users.
At the bottom of both the homescreen and app list you'll notice a shortcut bar, with quick links to the phone, search and camera applications – allowing you to quickly jump to these regularly used features.
There's a pleasant fading animation as you flick between pages, and you'll see the previous page of apps fade away to the side of the screen, to be replaced by the new page.
The idea behind BB 10 is that it Flows... which is the phrase RIM is using mercilessly to describe the new OS.
Further screenshots of the BlackBerry 10 interface have appeared online, showing off official social networking apps from all of the big players, plus a voice control feature which will likely challenge Apple's Siri and Google Voice on Android.
Notifications
The whole Flow concept really comes to life when you swipe up from the bottom of the screen – this minimises the current app/screen you're viewing and shows new notifications counts down the left hand side, including new emails, BBMs, texts and social media messages.
If you continue the slide to the right, the unified 'Hub' application can be previewed – allowing you to 'peek' at your messages.
Complete the slide and you'll open the hub fully, otherwise you'll be returned to the page you were viewing before the little red light on your handset started to flash.
This means you can easily see who has just messaged you without having to close down your current application, and knowing who it's from allows you to make a decision on whether or not to answer them straight away or continue with what you were doing originally.
BlackBerry Hub
When we say all, we mean all, as the unified inbox, or the 'Hub' as RIM likes to refer to it as, can deal with multiple email accounts, text messages, BBM, call history, third party messaging apps such as Whats App and a whole host of social networks including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Of course, with so many accounts feeding into the handset, the more popular among us will be quickly inundated with notifications from various different channels, and this is where the peek idea makes it easy to see when you've got anything new to look at.
To make the reams of messages easier to manage place your finger on the title in the bottom left corner of the message centre and pull across to reveal a list of all the accounts you have linked up and then select the one you're interested in – this will then populate the Hub which notifications from just that source.
There are also various options which can be selected for a particular message, hold down on the communication in question and a slim column of tools will pop up to the right for you to choose from, including reply, forward and delete.
Drag down from the top of the message centre and the Hub will automatically pull in your calendar events for that day in the top half of the screen, allowing you to quickly see what you've got on without having to launch the full calendar app.
Peek
Peek works much better when you get your head around all the gestures - however it may prove to be overly complex for some users, although RIM will be providing video tutorials on its BB10 handsets during the initial set up phase when you switch the phone on for the first time.
Having the 'peek' idea work the same way in so many applications helps you get used to it as well (though we don't yet know how well third-party applications will be able to do the same thing, although RIM has said it's developed nearly every API asked for when it comes to developers, and they have full access to the Peek code).
When you do get into a message or an appointment, you can see more information about the people involved in a way that will be familiar to BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 users; you can see who you know in common, what messages you've exchanged or recent social network updates.
It's a new look for the 'flow' between different apps and information sources that BlackBerry has always been good at, but with a fresh modern look on a much larger screens.
Personal and Work modes
Sweep down on the home screen or an app list page and you'll see Personal and Work buttons that let you switch between the two BlackBerry Balance modes.
In Personal, you can install any apps you want, send any email, save any file and so on, working in a partition that's encrypted for privacy but not locked down in any way.
If you use your BlackBerry for work though, you'll also have a Work partition that's also encrypted but completely separate and can be locked down if that's what the company wants.
Drag down on the screen, pick Work mode and all your personal apps disappear – so you can't accidentally copy a work file into your personal cloud storage account.
Your company can have complete control of this work section, giving you as much, or as little freedom within this area as they see fit – and everything in Work mode is fully secured, with remote wipe available just it case your handset goes astray.
However work won't be able see what files you have on your personal area when they're managing it, because your personal partition is encrypted.
BB10 in work and personal modes
Select Work mode and you'll be prompted to enter a password before gaining access to your protected area, which means prying eyes won't be able to steal a glimpse at all your company secrets. Phew.
Work mode still features the same UI as found in Personal mode, with all the flow and peek activity present, allowing you to perform some slick, one-handed operations.
Other apps use the swipe-down motion in a different way, allowing to function like a menu key - for instance the mapping app allows you to change accounts or settings with a quick finger flick.
Cascades
Then there's Cascades, a new navigation system cooked up by RIM especially for BB10, allowing for quick multitasking from within applications.
The example we've seen is in the messaging app - open an email it will display full screen, but drag your finger from left to right and the message will slide with you, revealing the inbox below.
This means if you get a new message in the middle of reading an email, you can check who it's from without having to close the application – similar to the notification bar on Android and also now iOS.
If you were to open an attachment from the email, a PDF document in the case of our demo, pulling to the side to view the cascade will show the app's layers stacked up – a more visual paper trail, if you will.
It's certainly an intuitive feature that we found to work smoothly on the development handset – but it will be interesting to see how this feature is embedded into other applications and if it will have the same pleasing results.
New App world
BlackBerry App World is also getting a makeover with a cleaner, more intuitive design ready to show off all the apps RIM is pushing developers so hard to make in time for launch.
As well as offering applications, the new App World will also provide music and videos to purchase and download – allowing BlackBerry 10 handsets the chance to compete with the likes of Google Play, iTunes and the Apple App Store.
There's a sperate version of BlackBerry AppWorld where your company can offer specific work apps – like an app that uses the NFC chip in your BlackBerry to unlock the door to the office, as well as locking out applications they don't deem suitable for using while at work.
Keyboard
BlackBerry handsets are famous for their physical boards and RIM is keen to bring this typing experience to its BB10 touchscreen smartphones with its own offering.
Visually the keyboard looks similar to the stock Android offering, but each row of keys is separated with a silver line, or 'fret' – which is supposed to reflect the metal strips between buttons on the Bold range, such as the Bold 9790 and Bold 9900.
Next word prediction, auto-correct and spell check are all common features on smartphones today and RIM has spent some time developing its own system to offer an efficient typing experience.
It sees next-word suggestions appear above the character the word begins with, and if it's the word you want to use, you just need to swipe up over the word and it will be added to your sentence.
As with many offerings these days, the keyboard will learn your style of writing, meaning it will be able to suggest better words the more you use your phone.
RIM reckons that heavy users will quickly see a marked improvement once they start using the keyboard, as BlackBerry 10 will only take a couple of days to learn their style of writing.
Another interesting feature is that the keyboard can support up to three languages at any one time, so if you're writing in English it will offer up English words as suggestions, but suddenly switch to tapping out French, even in the same message, and the BB10 board can detect the change in tongue and adjust its recommendations accordingly - smart.
We found the keyboard to be fairly accurate and relatively well spaced, but for those of you used to the physical buttons of a traditional BlackBerry it will take some getting used to.
Camera
RIM is making a big song and dance about its BB 10 camera application as well, especially the 'Time Shift' feature, which allows you to select the perfect smile of your subject after taking the photo.
Fire up the camera app (from the lock screen if you so wish), which was relatively quick to open on the Dev Alpha B device, select 'Time Shift' mode and snap your subject, and the app will then search for faces in the image.
Once a face is located in a photo, you can tap it and literally roll back time to find the point at which your friend had their eyes open and the perfect grin.
If there are multiple people in your snap, you can individually adjust each person, however during our demo we found 'Time Shift' struggled in lower lighting conditions, subjects face's need to be illuminated well for the camera to detect their mugs.
'Time Shift' did take several seconds after the photo was taken to detect faces and offer us the chance to tweak the image, but this could be down to the fact it's running on a development build of the BB10 software, and speed could be improved in the final product.
Of course the camera can take standard photos and record video alongside the 'Time Shift' function, which itself is an impressive function, but we wonder how much we'd actually use it day to day.
Browser
The BlackBerry browser has also had a refresh for BB10, bringing it in line with the minimalist style of current offerings on other devices, and the location of the URL bar at the bottom of the page is reminiscent of Internet Explorer on Windows Phone.
Even though Adobe has already ditched future support and upgrades of its Flash platform, RIM has made sure it's built in support for the dying format, allowing you to access all your favourite Flash built sites and videos of Korean men dancing on invisible horses.
There seems to be a partnership with a particular search engine, allowing you to search via the URL bar, as well as pulling info into other applications, but RIM are currently not in the position to disclose whether they've opted for Google, Bing or something a little more left field.
Sweep from left to right while in the browser and the 'peek' functionality comes into play again, this time showing various internet-centric options such as History, Bookmarks, New Tab and currently opened tabs.
There's also a Reader mode built into the new browser, which lifts article text and images from a web page and displays it in a more manageable and easy to read format, stripping out fancy ads, menu bars and any other clutter which gets in the way of actually reading something.
Comparison tests have shown the BlackBerry 10 web browser to be faster than its equivalent on Apple's iOS 6 and the new version of Windows Phone - we'll reserve proper judgement until we have a final handset in our sweaty palm, but at least this is a positive sign.
Battery life
As we've mentioned briefly earlier on, RIM is promising that BlackBerry 10 will help to deliver decent battery life, even with the big touchscreen and those lovely 'Active Frames'.
RIM has even gone as far to say that's its two BB 10 launch devices, one fully-touchscreen and the other sporting the famous Qwerty keyboard, will offer up a full days battery life, thanks to a lot of hard work by the QNX team on power management in the core of the BlackBerry 10 platform.
Obviously we were unable to put this claim to the test during our brief hands on viewing, but we'll be sure to push the new BB10 devices to their limits once we get our review units in.
Early verdict
Although the BlackBerry 10 operating system is in development, we must say that we were impressed with how smooth and slick the interface felt under out fingers – seamlessly zipping around without fuss.
BlackBerry assured us that is smooth experience would still be present in the final product, thanks to the clever integration of the HTML 5 system, which optimises the performance of the software. We certainly hope they're right.
There are plenty of features of BB 10 that are exciting - the gestures work very, very well after a few minutes, the powerful messaging ecosystem is still there and even the on screen keyboard is great.
What does strike you about the new OS is how the phone is so integrated - Facebook, Twitter, Email are all available, connected to your friends or easy to share to throughout the phone.
It's a much more complex OS than iOS or Windows Phone, but there are only so many ways to re-invent the smartphone wheel; in the case of BB 10, RIM has gone for usable power over rows of easy to use icons.
It's a bold move, and one technophiles will love. If the hardware is decent too, there may be enough BB fans out there willing to use the finger-flicking platform... but with so many things to learn, it will take some serious and quick eduction to get users up to speed.
