Motorola has taken the wraps off of its shiny new smartphone, the Moto X,
and will let consumers customize several of the outer components of the phone
such as the front and back case. All in all, the company said, consumers have
more than 2,000 combinations to choose from and will be able to pick their
particular flavor of phone through an online design studio.
Because the phones are assembled in the United States, Motorola promises
that it will take just four days for phones to get from your brain to your
doorstep. Consumers can pick the front- and back-plates of their phones, plus
their own accent colors, wallpapers and optional engraved message. Consumers can
either pick a 16GB or 32GB version of the phone.
Cover options include everything from basic black to woodgrain and
everything in between, the company said on its official Web site.
As for the technical specifications, the phone will ship with Android 4.2.2
and has 2 GB of RAM. The Moto X sports a 4.7-inch screen, 10 MP rear-facing
camera, 2 MP front-facing camera and has the capability to shoot 1080p HD video.
The phone does have the new camera interface that lets users call up their
camera app by shaking their wrist twice and tapping anywhere on the screen to
take a picture. This is the same camera software that Motorola unveiled last
week for its new line of Droid phones.
The phone also includes advanced voice control options that users can
activate by saying “OK Google Now” at any time.
While the phone only has two options for memory, users also get 50 GB of
free storage for two years through Google Drive.
The phone will be available first on AT&T and will cost either $199.99
or $249.99 with a two-year agreement, depending on how much memory you want for
the phone. Sprint, U.S. Cellular, Verizon and T-Mobile will all carry the phone
later.
AT&T has not released information on when the phone will be available
to customers — other than to say it will be available in late August or early
September — but those interested can enter for a chance to order their phones
early through a page on AT&T’s Web site.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Windows Retailer and sort by "noteworthy
Greater than nine months in to the terrific revamping known as Windows
eight, a clear vision of its core is lastly beginning to emerge. The baked-in
apps have been streamlined and Windows eight.1 looms, ready to polish the
various rough edges located within the original release in the operating
program. But Microsoft alone can’t increase what's truly the beating heart of
Windows eight: The Windows Store.
Windows eight revolves around the Windows Store. Each and every Reside Tile that glimmers on the modern-style Start out screen will be the iconic representation of a Windows 8 app-and you may only snag Windows 8 apps in Microsoft’s personal Windows Store. As the Windows Store goes, so goes the Windows eight expertise.
How, specifically, is definitely the Windows Store performing? The obvious indicators are mixed. Windows RT devices can run only modern-style apps, not desktop apps, and they’re tanking tough. But app submissions picked up steam around the time of Microsoft’s Make conference, culminating within the shattering of your one hundred,000-app barrier in early July, and they’re nevertheless going (somewhat) robust.
That’s a fantastic milestone for Microsoft, but it is still paltry in comparison to the about 1 million apps in Google Play and 900,000 apps in Apple’s App Shop. So it’s a very good time to take the pulse with the Windows Store once again: Is one hundred,000 apps enough to maintain a body delighted? As I did last February, I spent days scouring the Windows Retailer and taking notes in five significant categories: games, music apps, video apps, social apps, in addition to a catch-all “other” category-to see how nicely Microsoft covered each and every. Here’s how they all measured up.
In my original Windows Shop evaluation, I noted that the game choice was an early highlight-and it has only gotten stronger given that February. The number of offered apps has tripled in that time. When the roughly 13,500 available games don’t hold a candle to the vast Android and iOS libraries, there is certainly more than sufficient to keep you distracted for months to come. A good deal of them are ports from other platforms, but, hey, they play just as nicely on Windows.
In reality, they play so nicely that we’ve had two separate roundups of killer Windows eight games, with pretty tiny overlap. In case you open the Games tab inside the Windows Retailer and sort by "noteworthy," you’ll locate dozens and dozens of high-quality titles. (I’ve been playing Royal Revolt nonstop lately.) Microsoft Studios in specific has released a bevy of bodacious games like Pinball FX2, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, along with the Gunstringer.
Speaking of which, two games from Microsoft Studios-Skulls with the Shogun and Halo: Spartan Assault-aren’t just a blast-they’re also far-reaching, letting you play with gamers on Windows Phone and Xbox Live at the same time as with fellow Windows Store shoppers. That kind of cross-platform knowledge is an thrilling tease with the potential of Windows eight gaming in a 1 Microsoft form of globe. Here’s hoping it continues.
That’s to not say that all is well in Winny’s world, nonetheless. As described, even though the Windows Store game choice is impressive, it can not compare to the selections for iOS or Android-you won’t locate any mobile Walking Dead games or Grand Theft Auto ports here.
Windows eight revolves around the Windows Store. Each and every Reside Tile that glimmers on the modern-style Start out screen will be the iconic representation of a Windows 8 app-and you may only snag Windows 8 apps in Microsoft’s personal Windows Store. As the Windows Store goes, so goes the Windows eight expertise.
How, specifically, is definitely the Windows Store performing? The obvious indicators are mixed. Windows RT devices can run only modern-style apps, not desktop apps, and they’re tanking tough. But app submissions picked up steam around the time of Microsoft’s Make conference, culminating within the shattering of your one hundred,000-app barrier in early July, and they’re nevertheless going (somewhat) robust.
That’s a fantastic milestone for Microsoft, but it is still paltry in comparison to the about 1 million apps in Google Play and 900,000 apps in Apple’s App Shop. So it’s a very good time to take the pulse with the Windows Store once again: Is one hundred,000 apps enough to maintain a body delighted? As I did last February, I spent days scouring the Windows Retailer and taking notes in five significant categories: games, music apps, video apps, social apps, in addition to a catch-all “other” category-to see how nicely Microsoft covered each and every. Here’s how they all measured up.
In my original Windows Shop evaluation, I noted that the game choice was an early highlight-and it has only gotten stronger given that February. The number of offered apps has tripled in that time. When the roughly 13,500 available games don’t hold a candle to the vast Android and iOS libraries, there is certainly more than sufficient to keep you distracted for months to come. A good deal of them are ports from other platforms, but, hey, they play just as nicely on Windows.
In reality, they play so nicely that we’ve had two separate roundups of killer Windows eight games, with pretty tiny overlap. In case you open the Games tab inside the Windows Retailer and sort by "noteworthy," you’ll locate dozens and dozens of high-quality titles. (I’ve been playing Royal Revolt nonstop lately.) Microsoft Studios in specific has released a bevy of bodacious games like Pinball FX2, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, along with the Gunstringer.
Speaking of which, two games from Microsoft Studios-Skulls with the Shogun and Halo: Spartan Assault-aren’t just a blast-they’re also far-reaching, letting you play with gamers on Windows Phone and Xbox Live at the same time as with fellow Windows Store shoppers. That kind of cross-platform knowledge is an thrilling tease with the potential of Windows eight gaming in a 1 Microsoft form of globe. Here’s hoping it continues.
That’s to not say that all is well in Winny’s world, nonetheless. As described, even though the Windows Store game choice is impressive, it can not compare to the selections for iOS or Android-you won’t locate any mobile Walking Dead games or Grand Theft Auto ports here.
Monday, July 15, 2013
'The Walking Dead: 400 Days' an incredible expansion
The surprise success and glowing accolades bestowed upon interactive
adventure The Walking Dead is largely due to two characters: Lee and Clementine.
The ex-convict and young girl in search of her parents captivated players eager
to learn how they would fare together in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
Bonding with these two felt natural, making the twists and turns The Walking
Dead would take all the more gutwrenching.
But for expansion The Walking Dead: 400 Days, studio Telltale Games takes a different approach, focusing on the journeys of five survivors during the first 400 days of the apocalypse. Although players might not forge as powerful a connection as they did with Lee and Clementine, the expansion is another impressive example of Telltale's storytelling skills.
The Walking Dead: 400 Days is based near a truck stop, where an unidentified character views notes plastered on a board. It displays pictures of the expansion's five characters: Vince, Shel, Russell, Bonnie and Wyatt. Each person's story takes place at a certain point during the first 400 days of the apocalypse. For example, Vince's tale picks up on Day 2 of the outbreak, while Shel's adventure starts 236 days into the apocalypse.
The expansion serves as a bridge between the first series of The Walking Dead episodes and the upcoming second season. Choices made in the initial season carry over, and decisions made in 400 Days impact what happens in season two. There's also no set order to the mini-episodes, as each players can choose how they want to view the stories.、
For players new to The Walking Dead series, it's an interactive adventure that combines context-based action with expertly-written dialogue. The game consistently presents players with several challenging decisions that impact how the story unfolds.
As with the original Walking Dead, 400 Days' storytelling is top notch. Players may not spend as much time with the five characters, but each of their short stories is equally fascinating. There's Shel, who's taking care of her younger sister while inside a makeshift safehouse in an abandoned diner, and Vince, who finds himself on a prison bus for murder. Every story features a different perspective of the outbreak, yet boasts the same sudden turns and challenging dilemmas.
Also, the scenarios Telltale creates in 400 Days play out wonderfully. One encounter features a struggle with a gunman where players must frantically fight off a gunman while fumbling to escape. Between the combination of well-timed button presses and exploring with the thumbsticks, it's a dramatic sequence that finds players quickly -- and anxiously -- skirting death and leaving unharmed. It's hard to explain in too much detail without giving away key points of the story, but Telltale again conveys action in a way that heightens tension.
But for expansion The Walking Dead: 400 Days, studio Telltale Games takes a different approach, focusing on the journeys of five survivors during the first 400 days of the apocalypse. Although players might not forge as powerful a connection as they did with Lee and Clementine, the expansion is another impressive example of Telltale's storytelling skills.
The Walking Dead: 400 Days is based near a truck stop, where an unidentified character views notes plastered on a board. It displays pictures of the expansion's five characters: Vince, Shel, Russell, Bonnie and Wyatt. Each person's story takes place at a certain point during the first 400 days of the apocalypse. For example, Vince's tale picks up on Day 2 of the outbreak, while Shel's adventure starts 236 days into the apocalypse.
The expansion serves as a bridge between the first series of The Walking Dead episodes and the upcoming second season. Choices made in the initial season carry over, and decisions made in 400 Days impact what happens in season two. There's also no set order to the mini-episodes, as each players can choose how they want to view the stories.、
For players new to The Walking Dead series, it's an interactive adventure that combines context-based action with expertly-written dialogue. The game consistently presents players with several challenging decisions that impact how the story unfolds.
As with the original Walking Dead, 400 Days' storytelling is top notch. Players may not spend as much time with the five characters, but each of their short stories is equally fascinating. There's Shel, who's taking care of her younger sister while inside a makeshift safehouse in an abandoned diner, and Vince, who finds himself on a prison bus for murder. Every story features a different perspective of the outbreak, yet boasts the same sudden turns and challenging dilemmas.
Also, the scenarios Telltale creates in 400 Days play out wonderfully. One encounter features a struggle with a gunman where players must frantically fight off a gunman while fumbling to escape. Between the combination of well-timed button presses and exploring with the thumbsticks, it's a dramatic sequence that finds players quickly -- and anxiously -- skirting death and leaving unharmed. It's hard to explain in too much detail without giving away key points of the story, but Telltale again conveys action in a way that heightens tension.
The explanation, he says is that Computer
Microsoft nowadays released an update to OneNote for Windows RT and Windows
8, adding Workplace 365 help and making the on-screen keyboard dismissible.
You'll be able to download the new version now directly in the Windows Shop.
The biggest addition with this release is undoubtedly the capability to sign in with your Office 365 account. This suggests you could now very easily open your operate notes.
To complete so, tap around the Much more Notebooks drop-down menu inside the left pane, tap the plus button that says “Add a work or school account to view more notebooks,” and sign in together with your function or college account. It is best to see a list of not too long ago made use of notebooks seem in the left pane; tapping any of them should open it.
Subsequent up around the list is usually a modest but critical tweak towards the way OneNote’s touch keyboard operates. Though the feature has usually allow you to type anyplace, Microsoft has finally admitted that “you do not would like to kind.”
Because of this, you can now dismiss the on-screen keyboard so it is possible to see the whole screen for reading. In Windows 8 and Windows RT, the on-screen keyboard shows up whenever you tap into a text box and goes away whenever you tap outdoors. Tapping “outside” in OneNote suggests tapping into any empty space.
Some may perhaps see this as a minor detail, but it is in fact rather crucial within the touchscreen world that Microsoft has suddenly located itself in. Tweaks like this 1 make the difference involving a very good app along with a wonderful 1.
When these are the only two improvements Microsoft chose to highlight, the app has received a bit more within this release. The complete changelog is as follows.
In creating Windows eight, Microsoft produced a massive bet that adding touch capabilities to personal computers would aid revive an market that was having eaten away by smartphones and tablets. But Creative Techniques president Tim Bajarin, writing more than at Time, says his analysis has identified that generating touch such a vital part of private computers was a serious strategic error on Microsoft’s element. The explanation, he says, is that Computer users are so used to utilizing mice and keyboards that they see no benefit to touching their screens to have work carried out. So even though touch interfaces make best sense for smaller, portable devices including smartphones and tablets, they make small sense for personal computers which have bigger windows 7 ultimate activation key displays and that already come with trackpads or mice.
“While adding touch input to screens will not be a undesirable issue, persons getting able to adapt swiftly to touch as a primary type of user interface input on bigger PCs does not take place overnight,” Bajarin writes. “Early on, Apple’s scientists studied the kinesiology of arm movements in connection to keyboards and mice, and concluded that implementing any gestures in to the user interface worked greatest by way of a trackpad. The company also determined that picking the hand up in the keyboard location and moving it to touch the screen was unnatural, and factored that in to the final choice to add gestures towards the Magic Trackpad instead.”
The biggest addition with this release is undoubtedly the capability to sign in with your Office 365 account. This suggests you could now very easily open your operate notes.
To complete so, tap around the Much more Notebooks drop-down menu inside the left pane, tap the plus button that says “Add a work or school account to view more notebooks,” and sign in together with your function or college account. It is best to see a list of not too long ago made use of notebooks seem in the left pane; tapping any of them should open it.
Subsequent up around the list is usually a modest but critical tweak towards the way OneNote’s touch keyboard operates. Though the feature has usually allow you to type anyplace, Microsoft has finally admitted that “you do not would like to kind.”
Because of this, you can now dismiss the on-screen keyboard so it is possible to see the whole screen for reading. In Windows 8 and Windows RT, the on-screen keyboard shows up whenever you tap into a text box and goes away whenever you tap outdoors. Tapping “outside” in OneNote suggests tapping into any empty space.
Some may perhaps see this as a minor detail, but it is in fact rather crucial within the touchscreen world that Microsoft has suddenly located itself in. Tweaks like this 1 make the difference involving a very good app along with a wonderful 1.
When these are the only two improvements Microsoft chose to highlight, the app has received a bit more within this release. The complete changelog is as follows.
In creating Windows eight, Microsoft produced a massive bet that adding touch capabilities to personal computers would aid revive an market that was having eaten away by smartphones and tablets. But Creative Techniques president Tim Bajarin, writing more than at Time, says his analysis has identified that generating touch such a vital part of private computers was a serious strategic error on Microsoft’s element. The explanation, he says, is that Computer users are so used to utilizing mice and keyboards that they see no benefit to touching their screens to have work carried out. So even though touch interfaces make best sense for smaller, portable devices including smartphones and tablets, they make small sense for personal computers which have bigger windows 7 ultimate activation key displays and that already come with trackpads or mice.
“While adding touch input to screens will not be a undesirable issue, persons getting able to adapt swiftly to touch as a primary type of user interface input on bigger PCs does not take place overnight,” Bajarin writes. “Early on, Apple’s scientists studied the kinesiology of arm movements in connection to keyboards and mice, and concluded that implementing any gestures in to the user interface worked greatest by way of a trackpad. The company also determined that picking the hand up in the keyboard location and moving it to touch the screen was unnatural, and factored that in to the final choice to add gestures towards the Magic Trackpad instead.”
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
HTC Misses Estimates as One Smartphone Fails to Boost Sales
HTC Corp. (2498), the Taiwanese smartphone maker, posted second-quarter
profit that missed analyst estimates as the release of its flagship One handset
failed to reverse a slide in sales. Shares dropped.
Net income fell to NT$1.25 billion ($42 million) in the three months ended June, the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company said July 5. That’s down 83 percent from a year earlier and trails the NT$2.17 billion average of 19 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Taiwan’s largest smartphone maker, which has seen its stock slump 80 percent in the past two years, released the HTC One into the U.S. in April, the same month Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) put its flagship Galaxy S4 on sale. New marketing plans and executive changes may help the company rebuild its brand after its global ranking fell to ninth behind Chinese handset makers ZTE Corp. (000063) and Huawei Technologies Co.
The stock dropped as much as 5.4 percent to NT$192 in Taipei today, the lowest since November 2005, and was 4.4 percent lower as of 9:18 a.m. Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex index lost 0.3 percent.
Revenue for the quarter fell to NT$70.7 billion compared with the NT$72.8 billion average of 21 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company had forecast sales of about NT$70 billion.
HTC lost the early momentum of unveiling its HTC One in February prior to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 as a shortage of camera components forced it to delay shipments. A smaller version of the flagship will be released this quarter, Bloomberg News reported last month.
HTC fell to ninth in the global smartphone market during the first quarter, with 2.4 percent share, according to data from Bloomberg Industries and IDC.
Net income fell to NT$1.25 billion ($42 million) in the three months ended June, the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company said July 5. That’s down 83 percent from a year earlier and trails the NT$2.17 billion average of 19 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Taiwan’s largest smartphone maker, which has seen its stock slump 80 percent in the past two years, released the HTC One into the U.S. in April, the same month Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) put its flagship Galaxy S4 on sale. New marketing plans and executive changes may help the company rebuild its brand after its global ranking fell to ninth behind Chinese handset makers ZTE Corp. (000063) and Huawei Technologies Co.
The stock dropped as much as 5.4 percent to NT$192 in Taipei today, the lowest since November 2005, and was 4.4 percent lower as of 9:18 a.m. Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex index lost 0.3 percent.
Revenue for the quarter fell to NT$70.7 billion compared with the NT$72.8 billion average of 21 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company had forecast sales of about NT$70 billion.
HTC lost the early momentum of unveiling its HTC One in February prior to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 as a shortage of camera components forced it to delay shipments. A smaller version of the flagship will be released this quarter, Bloomberg News reported last month.
HTC fell to ninth in the global smartphone market during the first quarter, with 2.4 percent share, according to data from Bloomberg Industries and IDC.
Microsoft’s WPC, as its title implies
Microsoft will hand around its most up-to-date edition from the running
program, Home windows eight.1, to OEMs in late August, Microsoft’s Windows
advertising chief informed its companions on Monday morning.
Speaking at its Around the world Companion Meeting (WPC), Tami Reller,
company vp and main advertising and marketing officer for Home windows, claimed
that Microsoft would make the RTM (release to producing) version of Windows
8.one to OEMs by late August. Microsoft didn't say when Windows eight.one would
be launched to shoppers in its closing form, but background suggests that
Microsoft must a minimum of be on course to ship by Oct.
Microsoft’s WPC, as its title implies, is Microsoft’s chance to talk its roadmaps to its companions; Microsoft began its partner software about 20 years ago. In accordance to main govt Steve Ballmer, 90 % of the profits Microsoft realizes “in a way, form or form” is produced through the companions Ballmer resolved currently as component of a three.5-hour keynote tackle.
In mixture, all those partners experienced “quite a fantastic yr,” Ballmer claimed, with all of its associates escalating six.5 per cent above past 12 months, on base sales of $650 billion.
Ballmer’s information, mainly because it has actually been upgrade to windows 8 pro pack, was that Microsoft has reinvented by itself being a equipment and solutions organization, as an alternative to merely a computer software agency. “Windows has constantly been more a tool than a piece of program; it described a category of unit called the Personal computer,” he stated, whether they be, tablets, all-in-ones, convertibles, plus more.
Ballmer said that Microsoft’s companions might be demonstrated how Microsoft has enhanced in the cloud, specifically how Microsoft straddles the public and private cloud; “big information,” including how Microsoft programs to share Bing research facts with builders and supply general public facts to non-public clouds with the Azure Information Marketplace; how Microsoft’s social initiatives straddle several different merchandise; and cellular, specially how Microsoft supports its individual products and solutions from itself and many others.
Microsoft’s WPC, as its title implies, is Microsoft’s chance to talk its roadmaps to its companions; Microsoft began its partner software about 20 years ago. In accordance to main govt Steve Ballmer, 90 % of the profits Microsoft realizes “in a way, form or form” is produced through the companions Ballmer resolved currently as component of a three.5-hour keynote tackle.
In mixture, all those partners experienced “quite a fantastic yr,” Ballmer claimed, with all of its associates escalating six.5 per cent above past 12 months, on base sales of $650 billion.
Ballmer’s information, mainly because it has actually been upgrade to windows 8 pro pack, was that Microsoft has reinvented by itself being a equipment and solutions organization, as an alternative to merely a computer software agency. “Windows has constantly been more a tool than a piece of program; it described a category of unit called the Personal computer,” he stated, whether they be, tablets, all-in-ones, convertibles, plus more.
Ballmer said that Microsoft’s companions might be demonstrated how Microsoft has enhanced in the cloud, specifically how Microsoft straddles the public and private cloud; “big information,” including how Microsoft programs to share Bing research facts with builders and supply general public facts to non-public clouds with the Azure Information Marketplace; how Microsoft’s social initiatives straddle several different merchandise; and cellular, specially how Microsoft supports its individual products and solutions from itself and many others.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Is Sony prepping an Android phone with 4K video capture?
It’s just a rumor at this point, but it’s possible that Sony will be coming
to market with a new Android smartphone with a 20-megapixel sensor capable of
capturing 4K-resolution video meant for Ultra HD TVs.
As reported by the Xperia Blog, system software for the phone codenamed “Honami” was uncovered which indicated that video capability will handle the higher 4K standard because of the power inherent in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 chip. The chip’s specs state that it can handle both 4K and also stereoscopic 3D video and still images at a total resolution of 55-megapixels.
New camera modes are expected to be introduced to make use of these advanced features, though it’s not clear what will ultimately make it to the final product. The rumors also suggest that Sony will put its own stamp on Android to differentiate itself more from the crowded and competitive Android market. But again, details are vague, other than a revamped interface, apps and the new camera.
If this comes to fruition, it would be the first reported smartphone to offer 4K Ultra HD video capture, though there are standalone video cameras that can already do so. Ultra HD is still very new, and despite efforts to lower prices, content remains elusive, with true 4K-resolution Blu-ray discs only coming to market next year at the earliest. Sony has said a 4K streaming service is slated for launch this summer, but there has been no word yet on an exact date for that, nor how much content will be available and what it will cost to stream it.
Much like 3D first came to market, this may be a push to spur 4K adoption through user-generated content that can be played back directly onto a 4K Ultra HD TV. There’s also the possibility that competitors will be doing the same, particularly since Samsung, LG and Toshiba have also been working on 4K Ultra HD TVs.
As reported by the Xperia Blog, system software for the phone codenamed “Honami” was uncovered which indicated that video capability will handle the higher 4K standard because of the power inherent in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 chip. The chip’s specs state that it can handle both 4K and also stereoscopic 3D video and still images at a total resolution of 55-megapixels.
New camera modes are expected to be introduced to make use of these advanced features, though it’s not clear what will ultimately make it to the final product. The rumors also suggest that Sony will put its own stamp on Android to differentiate itself more from the crowded and competitive Android market. But again, details are vague, other than a revamped interface, apps and the new camera.
If this comes to fruition, it would be the first reported smartphone to offer 4K Ultra HD video capture, though there are standalone video cameras that can already do so. Ultra HD is still very new, and despite efforts to lower prices, content remains elusive, with true 4K-resolution Blu-ray discs only coming to market next year at the earliest. Sony has said a 4K streaming service is slated for launch this summer, but there has been no word yet on an exact date for that, nor how much content will be available and what it will cost to stream it.
Much like 3D first came to market, this may be a push to spur 4K adoption through user-generated content that can be played back directly onto a 4K Ultra HD TV. There’s also the possibility that competitors will be doing the same, particularly since Samsung, LG and Toshiba have also been working on 4K Ultra HD TVs.
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