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Cloud gaming with OnLive

Announcement of the launching – 22nd of September, in UK – brings OnLive officially in Europe! The event will take place at the Eurogamer Expo, in London, and it promised to reveal a package of over 100 new games for games devourers.
Let’s take a short look of what does cloud gaming actually mean for OnLive:
- Easy access from anywhere
- Gamers can play from any device: PC, mac, TV or any tablet
- Users don’t have to hold an up-to-date system configuration to play a “last generation game”, because their system is just an interface of the game.

The game is actually played in real time, on the OnLive’s powerful servers, within its datacenters. It will be needed an OnLive system which adapts games to run on the TVs
- There is access to free instant demo-games for you to play or for you to watch as others play, with the possibility of voice chat
- No more game-downloading, no further need of disks or any other special hardware
- Facebook integration.
Broadband is a key-factor regarding video quality and the required speed is 2Mbps.
The issue that came out in USA was also raised in UK – the delay. This is caused by lag and latency, which was officially recognized by the CEO of OnLive (Steve Perlman) to be 35-40ms, though in the US there were found played games at 200ms latency.

If you want to play a game, you can just rent it for a short time, buy it for unlimited play time, or pay an amount of money for 3 days, 5 days or a month of game access. But if you can make it to the event, OnLive promised to give thousands of Game Systems to the participants for free.

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Windows Phone users – be prepared! The two old-PC-games which we all enjoyed and (still) love are now available on the Windows Phone 7 platform.

The new editions of Minesweeper and Sudoku have now great improvements, a 21st century UI design and both are multi-leveled and multi-mode: Minesweeper has Classic and Speed mode, and Sudoku – Classic and Lighting mode. You can play on different difficulty degrees and being time restricted. This way of playing only improves your skills as it shows you the specific place you hold in the community rank, so be persistent to reach the top!
You can also change the background of the games with any picture you like, as it is customizable.

The two puzzle-games are integrated with Xbox Live and, most important, ad-supported and downloadable for free! Yet, they are released only for the US market.

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Last month GoldVish has added a new masterpiece in its portfolio – the new phone Equilibrium is the latest luxurious creation of the Swiss company.
The company addresses Equilibrium to successful business men / women and gives them the possibility to combine harmonious work and home – this being the main focus of this phone. Thereby it comes with two SIM slots, and it also has the possibility to maintain one of the SIM allocated to the home-area, while traveling in other countries.

Regarding technical data, let’s mention:
- 8GB memory
- 2.4” display, 240×320 pixels
- Camera, Bluetooth, Stereo FM
- 20 days stand-by time
- 7 hours talk time

Regarding extravagance, GoldVish suprises us again with:
- Used material: Titanium, Stainless Steel, space grade Aluminum or Leather
- Scratch resistance: fulfilled by natural Sapphire
- 18K Platinum or Gold accents
- Charming phone colors: pink, grey, brown, black or blue

This exclusivist phone has a spice price, as expected, the range being between 6900€ and 110000€ and it is available worldwide.

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iPad’s native Skype application delayed

Almost two months ago we were promised the release of the native Skype application for the iPad. Well, it was a success… almost!
The Skype app was released today but, after a very short time, it was removed – the explanation was that its release was “premature”. Yet, we have been assured that the removal would be temporary.

Even if the application was quickly removed, user had enough time to try it and give feedback. So, here it is:
- The application works over Wi-Fi and 3G and it also makes possible the chat during the video call
- Conversations are clean from the audio point of view and video is smooth, with few freeze-frames
- Of course, the main advantage for the conversation is the iPad’s big screen, which allow the conversations to be “seen” more clearly and very well defined
- Among the person you have the video call with, you can also see yourself in the same window
- You can use the iPad both in portrait or landscape mode
- There is also a dial option of your Skype Online Number

At the end, Skype promised to come back soon with a new application’s UI for the iPad – will we be amazed once again?

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Mango – Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft

Mango is the name of new Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft and it was released to the manufacturers for OS testing and compatibility.

It will probably be available in a few weeks in Japan first (by Fujitsu), then lately by Nokia, Samsung, LG and HTC.
Let’s sneak a bit in the phone and see – of course – what’s different? Microsoft is not bringing brand new revolutionary features on the market (at least not all of them…), but it makes them smarter and easier to access.

To start with, the home screen – it is actually the Start Screen. So you can stay up to date with everything you want to know (depending on the applications that you are interested). For example: weather, friends’ social status, emails, calls, agenda or texts.

Microsoft is launching the hub term in its Windows Phone 7. So it has:

- People Hub: referring to friends, there is not just a list of contacts. Windows Phone 7 integrates a person’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Windows Live profiles and tells you right up to date everything that is new for each person in your list.
- Similar to this is unification of the messaging inbox, which allows the user to easily see all the text he receives, but in a smart way, divided in personal (social network messages, personal email accounts and so on) and business (Outlook)
- Pictures Hub: collects your entire taken photos (which you can shot even if the phone is locked!) and even your friends’ posted photos on the social networks.
- Games Hub: besides playing whatever game you desire, you can create a gamer profile and go online through Xbox live to meet other gamers. Your scores will always be remembered!
- Media Hubs: music and video collections, among PC wireless synchronization.
- Office Hub: because it is the only phone with Office Mobile, Windows Phone 7 is detaching you from your PC: you can reach all you need: from Word, Excel and PowerPoint to OneNote and SharePoint.
- Marketplace Hub

One of the breakthroughs is the built in Bing, which helps the user with maps and search. The search actually does the work for you:
- It can scan a bar code and find any related thing you would want to know about that particular item: where does it come from, where can you find it, what does it contains, what is the price, reviews, etc.
- It can locate you and suggest to you: nearest places to visit, or nearest restaurants, shopping center, trains, locations – it is a life saver!

As a browser it uses IE9, it runs instantaneously and it is multitasking.

Last but not least, it has the smart possibility to Find Phone – if you lose your phone, you can remotely write a massage on it, locate it, lock it or erase things.

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Sony CyberShot TX55 – thinnest camera ever

Everybody is counting down the days until September, when the thinnest camera , CyberShot TX55 , we have ever seen will be launched!
Sony CyberShot TX55 is smashing the market having only 12.2mm (this is a bit thicker than a pencil!). But when it comes to resolution, zoom quality and keeping performance – the size is not an issue. Sony is using brand new technologies to fulfill our expectations:

- By Pixel Super Resolution: the 5X optical zoom range is doubled with this innovating technology, so it can reach 10X optical zoom without any quality or sharp loose .
- Picture Effect: it eliminates the use of other photo-editing programs on taken pictures, as it allows everybody to express his / hers artistic ideas using the built in camera’s effects.

Features:

- Image stabilizer for shooting even while walking (so it corrects possible vertical or horizontal handshakes)
- 3D pictures
- Detailed 42.9 MP 3D panorama shooting ability
- Large touchscreen display of 3.3”
- High Resolution images of 16.2 MP
- 1080i AVCHD video, 60 fps, full HD function
- Flash memory and card slot compatible with M2 and micro SD / SDHC (up to 16 GB for ideal media) – the cards offered by Sony have free downloadable PC software
- You can take a 12 MP picture while recording, without interrupting your full HD video
- Styled new look, four colors available: black, silver, red and purple.
The rumored price is 350$, but it’s worth every penny if the camera performs as it is told.

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After almost 5 years of the first Nintendo Wii release, it was about time for Nintendo to come out with a drop-dead new console! The 2nd Wii generation was announced at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) edition, it is to be released next spring and the name will be Nintendo Wii U. Because of early 2012 release, Nintendo is gaining Sony and Microsoft, as these two announced new generations launching in 2014.

What is Nintendo Wii U preparing for us?

First of all, Wii U is fully compatible with the previous generation’s versions, so you can still play Wii games and use Wii kits – this is great!

There will be a console – a controller screen, not only a controller:
- a 6.2” touchscreen tablet that allows the user to control motion (velocity and orientation)
- front-facing built-in camera, microphone and 3 menu buttons are included
- fully HD, 1080p
- HDMI onboard
- support for 3D games – but it seems it will not be the main focus
- wireless 802.11n Wi-Fi expected

The included camera allows you to make video calls or take photos – and then easily switch them on your TV for an even comfortable slideshow.

TV games vs. TV watchers

Wii U has resolved this issue! It comes with a new game experience which gives you the possibility to free your TV screen for someone who wants to watch TV and continue playing on your Wii U screen in an instant, almost immediately.

But Nintendo did not stop here! The new Wii U gives you the possibility to use both TV and the touchscreen tablet while playing games!
There is nothing mentioned about the price yet, but having into consideration the new controller, it is expected to be a bit higher.
And because Nintendo has something for everyone, core gamers have nothing to worry about – Wii U’s next generation console promises to be friendlier to them.

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iPhone 5 will be released in September

The latest rumors say that iPhone 5 will be released this fall, in September, maybe October. The rumors multiplied after the appearance of the latest iOS’ beta versions last week. The 3rd beta version of iOS 5 has been revealed, so it becomes a fact that we are closer to the 5th iPhone generation.
Apple is again revolutionizing with the new iOS 5, with one of its new feature – “Assistive touch”. It seems that iPhones, iPads and iPods will no longer need any button with this improvement.

“Assistive touch” is actually a menu that helps the user jump off the button pressing and, with just one finger tap, you can:
- rotate the screen
- lock the screen
- adjust volume
- go back to home menu
- open the multitasking bar
- simulate the shake of the device
- do custom movements and save them into different gestures for further fast utilization
- arrange the icons wherever you want on the screen.

A latest detail has to be mentioned – the brand new and free iCloud, which will come along with the new iOS5. It will have a storage capacity of 5GB (or more, if bought) and it will load / sync / share on other devices wirelessly: photos, music, documents, contacts, agenda – it goes PC-free! You will be also able to do back-ups and restores, media streaming or just use it for storage.

Browsing is again renewed with offering the possibility to read your daily newspaper or magazines just like if you were in a newspaper store. Emailing has an integrated dictionary, and – for the iPad – the keyboard splits, for an easier writing. As the iPhone5 has already reached AT&T (telecommunication service leader) for testing, it means it’s just a matter of time until we can benefit of all the wonderful innovations that Apple prepares for us!

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Nokia launched in Singapore this month it’s latest smartphone,  although the company promises another phone to be on the market until the end of 2011.

What is different from the other smartphones?

The Nokia N9 features a uni-body design, it has a 3.9” AMOLED display – there are no buttons, the phones body is made from polycarbonate material, the glass is curved, the colors are powerful and intense and it is the best we have seen so far from Nokia.

I am sure you are asking why the Nokia N9’s glass is curved. Nokia said the new glass shape allows applications to appear clean and bright and it is very easy to use. Just swipe your finger across the screen and you are at the home view. The phone comes with an 8MP Carl Zeiss camera with touch to focus, free navigation, free maps and fast browsing, as it is using latest mobile browser technology. The phones colors please everybody – black, cyan and magenta.

Nokia N9 Detailed Specifications:

Operating System: MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan
Processor: ARM Cortex A8, 1 Ghz.
Screen: 3.9 inch AMOLED
Camera: 8 MP Carl Zeiss
Memory: 16 and 64 GB
Body material: Polycarbonate
Available Colors: Black, magenta and cyan

The price starts from 660 $ / 749 $ (for 16GB / 64GB version). It seems that Nokia is gaining and wants to overcome the “touch revolution” that Apple created.

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3D without special glasses!

March 27th, NYC, Union Square – hundreds of persons throwing away their 3D glasses. The new Nintendo 3DS is launched. It’s the moment the entire world expected: improved 3D graphics which incorporates you right in the middle of the games you play, with no further need of the red-blue glasses.

The breakthrough is the stereoscopic 3D screen on the top of the device, which makes you “see“ how space (2D) extends in depth (3rd D).  This feature is full controllable, as the producer attached a 2D-to-3D button, with which the player can adjust the 3D effect. The second display is a touchscreen with million brilliant colors and it has 3 intuitive buttons for easily menu navigation while playing 3D games.  You can also browse the internet, download 3D videos, 3D movies or music.

Another new feature is the Analogic Control – Circle Pad, a 360-degree analog input.
The 3D effect is improved with the three added cameras:

1. One is inner facing and enables you to insert your own photos in games
2. Two are out facing 3DS cameras, which you can use for shooting real 3D pictures.

For a complete 3D experience, Nintendo added motion and gyroscopic sensors, so movement is transposed in game. For 250$ you can have the Aqua Blue or Cosmo Black version, so Nintendo players – prepare for the real 3D!