Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Playstation 4 trumps the xbox one on announcement day

Japanese tech giants Sony have unveiled the fourth instalment of their hugely admired Playstation series.

The gaming console, which was officially revealed at this year’s E3 Trade show in Los Angeles, California, have been hotly anticipated.

Though several of the console’s textures and updates were announced in February, Sony had kept prospective consumers guessing on some essential details, including the general design of the Playstation 4.

Andrew House, Head and Group CEO of SCE, said the Playstation 4 represents, in many ways, a very new Playstation.

Possibly the news that has many people discussing could be the declaration the PS4 will gravely dent its close rival, Microsoft’s Xbox One, on price. Mr. House unveiled the Playstation 4 could be sold at US $399 (£349) upon release, whilst, at the identical show, Microsoft had earlier revealed the Xbox One will be US $499 (£429).

Another vital announcement came when it is revealed that Sony wouldn’t be introducing any limitations on second hand games. In fact, the Playstation 4 is not going to even require gamers to frequently verify their machines via the Internet so as to continue play.

Conversely, Microsoft has added more restrictions regarding who a gamer can buy second-hand titles from. The company has even gone as far as to require Xbox One players to connect to the web once every day in order to use their console.

In response to Sony, there are about 140 Playstation 4 video games presently in progress, with 100 roughly expected to go on sale within the Playstation 4′s initial year of issue. Industry insiders have speculated that Sony are attempting to reach out to indie designers, particularly those who feel muted by Microsoft.

Drawing a massive cheer out of the audience, Jack Tretton, boss of SEA stated, “PS4 won’t impose any new limitations on your use of Playstation 4 game discs,”



BBC correspondent Dave Lee reported that, “If console battles were decided by the frequency and volume of whoops and cheers from excitable games fanatics, then Sony has won it hands down”.

The present Sony console, the PS3, outsold Microsoft’s Xbox 360 by a good margin, but was consequently outsold by Nintendo’s Wii. It’s consideration that Sony are trying to rectify this using the release of the Playstation 4.

Sony’s announcement has been seen by some like a calculated strike against Microsoft, with IGN.com’s UK Editor-in-Chief Alex Simmons describing it as a very public slap across Microsoft’s face.

Sony declined to provide a release date for their new machine, but tenaciously hinted the PS4 ought to turn up around Christmas time.


Sunday, June 16, 2013

Is the Microsoft Surface Pro better than the Surface RT?

Id Computer software originator John Carmack has suggested that, within the not-too-remote future, our individual computers might be integrated into our smartphones. With TV plus a host of other devices now incorporating an increasing number of elements of pcs (and seemingly everything supporting Online access), it isn’t ridiculous to envisage a future where the desktop PC evaporates completely from our existence, but simply after depositing itself in every other home device.

If this future is pending, then a Microsoft Surface Pro is more likely to be seen as a significant stepping-stone across the way. But is it the sort of stone that helps you get to your destination, or is it secretly a crocodile in disguise, getting ready to snap your leg and delay all progress? (Dig those Monday morning similes, people). We dispatched our reviewer to discover.

THE Specifications

Peculiar Crocodile-themed asides aside, the Microsoft Surface Pro sports a few pretty clever stats. The Microsoft surface pro is dissimilar from its RT equivalent for any quantity of reasons. Chief along with these motives is the employment of the Windows 8 Pro operating system (that is designed for Intel processors as opposed to RT’s dependence on their ARM equivalents) and the promise for a colossal 128GB storage space (and that’s not including the Pro’s MicroSDXC slot).

The Dual-core 1.7GHz Intel i5 CPU may be a beast, in truth, when you start this tablet up, it flies away like a pup straining away from a leash, anxious and needing to get started. With its strong memory; the Surface Pro can calculate 25.6 GB of data another (that’s more than my poor, crocodile-obsessed brain can process in a week).

THE PRICE

The Surface Pro is, at the moment, not available in the UK, but it will be shortly. Within the United states, you can buy one for $899, which translates at about £590, although that is not taking the keyboard into account.

THE PERFORMANCE

Sales for the Surface series have not been as strong as Microsoft were obviously hoping, which comes as a genuine wonder to me. The Surface RT sold moderately well, but the response was in general mixed and, ever since the release of that Surface Pro, the sales have not risen in any important way. In reality, tech website ‘The Register.co.uk‘ reported last month that the Surface profits had started off disappointing and had continued to droop ever since.

As I stated, it is a revelation, since the Microsoft surface pro seems to be by far the better product.

The display is, quite literally, stunning, a gorgeously rendered mixture of color, light and depth. Furthermore, the Surface Pro works incredibly smoothly and effectively.

Personally, my trouble with the Surface Pro is identical one I had with a Surface RT, namely, Windows 8.

Even though the Intel-friendly Microsoft window 8 is much easier to work with (Microsoft sticking with what they know is not likely to lead us far wrong), it very much features the majority of the same annoyances. Windows 8 is really highly customizable, but the system’s dense and often unforgiving nature can with no trouble cause you to toss your hands up in the air and completely give up on what you are trying to do with it.

The operating system just is not as welcoming and user responsive as Android or iOS and therein lays the main dilemma.

THE VERDICT

Technologically speaking, the Microsoft surface pro is a miracle. Some of the technology utilized by this gadget is actually Next-Gen stuff and, in that respect, the Microsoft surface pro represents a milestone in portable computing.

When you like a challenge, or you happen to get a specialist programmer, this is likely to symbolize an ‘iPad beater’ for you. Yet, if you are one of us ordinary individuals, for whom computers are a tool and not a puzzle, you will get an easier Operating system (and save about £200 in the process) by purchasing an apple ipad.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Legendary musician Ray Manzarek, dies at seventy four

Ray Manzarek, the influential keyboard player best acknowledged for his work with iconic Us rock band ‘The Doors’, has passed away aged 74.


 


Manzarek was in Rosenheim, Germany, being cared for bile duct cancer.


 


Manzarek’s existence reads like a rock n roll fairy tale, with all the pieces falling into place at precisely the appropriate time.


 


Manzarek had taken piano lessons since his childhood in Chicago, Illinois, but he also had a enthusiasm for film. It was this passion that led young Manzarek to enrol in UCLA (University of California) and move to Los Angeles in ’62.


 


In the beginning, Ray played in the band called ‘Rick & The Ravens’ along with his brothers Rick and Jim. The band was moderately successful, releasing three singles.


 


Whilst studying at UCLA, Manzarek met impending Doors singer/poet Jim Morrison and the two planned to form a band jointly in 1965. He also met his future wife, Dorothy Fujikawa, at UCLA. The pair were married in ’67.


 


Ray manzarek and Morrison teamed up with guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore, forming ‘The Doors’ (they took the name from a book by Alduous Huxley).


 


Because of the deficit of a bass player, the multi-talented Manzarek regularly played the bass notes on his piano.


 


One year after forming, The Doors released their debut album on Elektra records; it is, naturally, a success.


 


The Doors went on to record quite a few more records, taking an iconic position throughout the chronicles of Rock n Roll and inspiring a generation. The band has since sold over 100 million records worldwide.


 


In 1971, lead singer Jim Morrison died under unexplained circumstances in Paris, France. The band continued for two further victorious records and tours, before disbanding in ’73.


 


Following the band’s split, Ray manzarek went on to be a record producer as well as a Grammy-nominated solo performer in his own right, in addition to performing and recording with such high-profile Doors followers as ‘Echo & The Bunnymen’ and Iggy Pop.


 


In 2002, following a couple of of sporadic reunion events, Ray manzarek and Robby Krieger tied up with ‘The Cult’ musician Ian Astbury to form ‘The Doors of the 21st Century’. The group, even though a highly successful live draw, also suffered from controversy, due to some court case from ex-Doors drummer Densmore.


 


Furthermore, Ray manzarek’s autobiography ‘Light My Fire’ made him a bestselling writer upon its release in ’98.


 


He died together with his wife Dorothy and his brothers at his bedside.


SOURCES:


 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22604798


 


http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ray-manzarek-doors-keyboardist-dead-at-74-20130520


 


http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/20/185608273/ray-manzarek-founding-member-of-the-doors-dies



Legendary musician Ray Manzarek, dies at seventy four

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

A view of these tablet pc, why are we at this juncture in the present day

In early 1970’s, comics legend Jack Kirby shaped a densely woven science fiction mythology series entitled ‘New Gods’. One of the series’ most unforgettable creations was that of a ‘Mother Box’, a complex gadget the characters carried around with them. The Mother Box was responsible for numerous mundane tasks as it was fantastical ones, it could calculate unfeasible reams of data, heal the sick and supply information as and when needed.

Now, a tablet pc may not cure the sick, but other than that, I’d say that Mr. Kirby was quite ahead of the curve on that particular call. A superb tablet pc inside your back pocket could be a substitute for almost everything.

Besides persistently listing everything a tablet pc can do, it would be far quicker to cobble together the things a tablet pc can’t do.

Current technology repeatedly borrows its improvements out of the realm of fantasy. The Mother Box, or pc tablet, is probably the very best example of this. A tablet pc is really a slice of the future, and everybody who purchases one knows it.

We live inside a persistently bright age. Gleaming spires touch the sky, reaching formerly not possible heights, PC products map the whole geometry of our planet and communication across the world has never been easier. The pc tablet is yet one more brilliant, shining example of restless Human creation, the sort that were science fiction only a few short decades ago.