Hey folks – quick heads up that the Galaxy Nexus 4 which has been totally sold out for the last month is now available in the Google Playstore. If you were thinking of picking one up, I’d head over there and put your order in real quick before it becomes too late! I put in for one myself and the site is saying it ships in 1-2 weeks for both versions (8G and 16 G). This is Google’s latest in the Nexus Series, and it comes with the vanilla (raw) version of Google’s latest mobile OS Jellybean. Are you getting one?
I often wonder what it must have been like to actually be in Rome while the great gladiators of ancient times battled in front of frenzied crowds clamoring for more blood and torn flesh. Chunks of guts lay on the floor from your defeated enemies while you stand towering above their lifeless carcass laughing aloud – weapon of choice hoisted in victory!
So that’s pretty much the God of War: Ascension Multiplayer pack which you can download from the PlayStation network if you’re a PlayStation Plus Member. I played around with it for a while and it was pretty cool! You have to choose a God to align yourself with – Zeus, Ares, Poseidon, or Hades. They give you a weapon and certain abilities that are unique to them. After that you off to the Hercules arena where you battle other mortals over the PlayStation Network. It’s pretty much a free-for-all really, however, button mashing though tempting is not the way to go. Timing is really everything, as well as collecting power-ups before the others.
In between matches you can level up your character by equipping any relics you found or leveling up your magic, weapons, or armor. You get points by doing different things around the stage like getting a certain number of kills, or collecting a certain number of secondary weapons. The better you do in battle, the more points you will have in your possession to spend on better upgrades. Check it out on the PSN and don’t say anything if you run into me online and I wash you up!
If you’re like me, then you’re always looking at start-ups lamenting about how you came up with the idea for the mp3 player back in high-school and someone stole your idea. We have tons of ideas, but don’t quite know how to bring them forth into reality – be it funds, or drive, or whatever stands in the way of a good idea’s fruition. Well keep reading, I have good news for you.
I spent some time with Brian Shields, Co-Founder of Incubate NYC. Incubate is a program developed by Brian and Marcus Mayo to help those of us with brilliant ideas to take said idea and give birth to it in reality. It’s a start-up program specifically designed for first time entrepreneurs. When I spoke with Marcus, he told me what makes the program unique is the support system that comes along with being in the program. Being in the fox hole so-to-speak with others can be profoundly helpful. Seeing how someone else solves a problem can be helpful to you or vice-avers. He also mentioned that three main keys to the success of a particular project are getting started, knowing what to focus on, and sticking with it.
The program is a 5 week “Bootcamp” – which is basically workshop to refine your business ideas and concepts. However, what’s cool is that the program doesn’t stop there. Once the bootcamp is finished, graduates still have access to the Incubate NYC resources and community. It seemed quite unique to me, and I’ll update you guys once I’ve gone through it.
Honestly, many people were really looking forward to play Raiden in his ultimate Cyborg Ninja Form and the change is coming closer than ever. You can definitely count me in as one of those folks and Konami has just announced that it’s Metal Gear Rising: Revengance Demo will drop next week on the 22nd. The demo will show the first chapter in the game which is pretty cool. The game drops officially on Feb.19th.
It looks like Raiden has some internal mental issues that he’s coping with, and unfortunately, other people are around for him to work out his frustrations on. Oh well, pretty much everything in the game is collateral damage as his sword can cut almost everything.
See the latest “Jack the Ripper” trailer below:
UPDATE:
I got a chance to play a demo that came with the Zone of Enders HD Pack. So let me say this – the graphics are amazing! I actually took a few moments just to look at the work that went into the model of Raiden. A ton of effort clearly went into making this game candy for the eyes.
In terms of gameplay – it has similar elements to the regular Metal Gear franchise in that you can store weapons and health items in sort of an app drawer where you can call upon them in the middle of a fight. As you can guess, a huge part of the game-play is the High Frequency Blade Raiden is carrying. That thing is crazy – cutting just about everything other than walls or doors that mark the end of an environment. Trees, boxes, cans – you name it – all get sliced. The cutting mechanic does take some getting used to though I won’t lie, and got frustrating at times. Especially when you are fighting at a fast pace. I couldn’t get all the moves down, but I think with a little more practice I’ll probably get it. I just have to be willing to traverse that learning curve.
If you are looking for a stealth game – look elsewhere. This is strictly an arcade game. I don’t even think Raiden can crouch. He can’t even jump that high either, which sort of annoyed me. I’m pretty sure there will be all sorts of software and battle upgrades you can get later so I’ll look forward to that. If you ask me, this is looking pretty good and I can’t wait to get my hands on the full version.
We got a chance to review the new HTC 8X with Windows Phone 8. I got the navy blue phone which was really nice. No doubt you’re asking the question: How is it different than any other phones, and any other Windows Phone 8 devices. Well keep reading to find out. As usual, I’ve divided the review into two main portions. The stuff I liked and the stuff I didn’t.
What I liked:
Size:
The screen is 4.3 inches which isn’t the largest display out there, but it definitely gives you plenty of room to see what’s going on. The dimensions end up making it long (132.35 x 66.2 x 10.12 mm) but it really fits the Windows Phone motif where you have to scroll forever to get to what you want. It’s also really slender so it’s comfortable to hold on to.
Screen:
It has an HD 720p screen and it certainly looks like it. The screen is beautiful to look at and all the colors are really vibrant. The black background wasn’t as nice as Nokia’s “true black” which apparently kills all light around anything being displayed for a richer black background, but the 8X screen really isn’t too bad.
Speed:
Everything was snappy and I really think this was due to both the processor and the nature of the OS. Windows Phone 8 doesn’t have a lot going on so it’s gestures are really simple and the results are a really simple and smooth experience. I never get any stutter of any kind when scrolling around. CPU is a Qualcomm® S4 1.5 GHz, Dual-core processor which doesn’t slouch around. Add that to Verizon’s LTE speed online and I didn’t have to wait for anything. Downloading was zippy, watching video was fast. This was really a pleasant experience. Whenever I wanted to do something – I didn’t really have to wait any real length of time to get going.
Camera:
The camera took really nice pictures as you can see below. Many of which weren’t in the best of lighting conditions. I’m not photographer, but I was impressed and think it will get the job done for those of us who just need to snap a quickie on the go with a significant other, or with family and friends. Skype worked really well with the front facing camera except that movement seemed a little blurred when I moved around too much. The front facing camera is 2.1 MP which is really competitive in the phone market these days.
OS:
Microsoft wasn’t lying. This OS really was tailored to the user. It’s all about displaying my personal and relevant information without really having to delve too deeply to find it. All of my emails (and we’ll talk about this later) are a tap away and I can see how many I’ve missed while my phone was in my pocket. I can see messages, and items ready for download. It’s like I’ve got an assistant with all of the information for my day ready for me which is really cool. I do however miss widgets though, but the live tiles try to fill that gap. If your coming from Android, you will probably miss them. Yet there is definitely something to be gained from the simplistic approach.
What I didn’t like:
Power Button Position:
On some Samsung devices – the power button is on the side so you can wake/sleep your phone the the tap of your thumb. That would be nice with this phone because it’s so tall. I found myself having to adjust my grip just to get my pointer finger in a position to hit the power button which was a little annoying. Also, the button is not really raised so I couldn’t tell if I had hit the button or not. On several occasions I had not hit the button, but had been pressing on the space between the button and the right edge of the phone.
Google Sync Not Active:
So apparently Google and Microsoft are not playing nice and the user is beginning to feel it. Google has disabled it’s exchange active sync. What that means is you won’t automatically get your Google Calendar appointments or contacts transferred over to your shiny new Windows Phone. I did notice this when I was testing the HTC 8X. None of my Google Calendar events were in my Windows Calendar. None of my contacts either. To add fuel to the fire, I wasn’t able to use Google maps either, however, I hear that’s being fixed. That issue wasn’t too bad since I actually like Windows Maps. It has cool features like available wifi hotspots which can be handy, and places to eat and check out based on your location.
Build:
The Phone build wasn’t bad. I really liked the soft material on the back, but I didn’t like that there was no option to remove or replace the battery. I also didn’t feel like the phone was a really expensive device. I’m getting spoiled by Nokia and Apple and their superb build quality. Now, even when a phone has no real defects – if it doesn’t feel like a work of art, I’m not too impressed.
Summary:
All in all – I do recommend this phone, especially to those who would like to upgrade from their present Windows device. It’s a solid phone that really performs well. I have no complaints in terms of negative experiences besides the Active Sync issue with Google which is not to be overlooked. If you feel like you are immersed in the Google ecosystem and can’t do without your Google contacts and calendar then you may have a problem. This will definitely effect a large amount of people who will switch back to Android or for fear of losing data will stick with Android and not get the chance to check Windows Phone 8 out. It’s a shame really because I love testing new devices and seeing what else other companies are coming up with. Google’s move reeks of “sheep herding” and I don’t know about you, but I’m no sheep.
