If you have an interest in gaming or are looking at getting into gaming, you may want to think about whether to invest your money in a quality gaming PC or an Xbox console. Here we compare the advantages of both.

Gameplay

The ergonomic controller facility for Xbox is what swings it for many fans. However, this does not necessarily mean better game play. In fact, one of the reasons online multiplayer games are not played across different console platforms is because it was found that the PC game players, using mouse and keyboard, were far more capable than the Xbox game players. Even if you still prefer playing games with a console controller, you can buy Xbox style controllers that plug into the USB port in your PC. This is especially important when playing sports games such as Fifa, which do the transfer so comfortably onto the keyboard. Furthermore, it means that you can get multiple players playing at any one moment.

Live capabilities

For a long time the PC held the market for playing multiplayer games ‘live’ or across the internet. However, Xbox now has a range of high quality games that are available to play online. Call of Duty and the Fifa series have all been very popular with live gamers and expanded the market for Xbox. However, as the PC and Xbox online gaming platforms are not compatible with one another, there remains a far wider community of online gaming players for the PC. If you are seriously into online gaming, playing massive multiplayer online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft, the PC is the far better option, as there is a far wider range of quality OC games available.

Games

In terms of the range of games available, PC wins hands down. There is a massive range of PC games available, which are high quality and easy to win. As previously mentioned, most of these games have very large communities of gamers compared to Xbox, so if you are interested in visiting online forums and conventions and interacting with the gaming community, once again a PC is a better option.

Playing multiplayer

One of the reasons consoles have been so popular is because they are seen as the multiplayer platform for living room gamers. These are the people who like to play games such as Fifa with their friends. Traditionally, consoles such as Xbox have won within this area. This is because the console plugs straight into the television in the living room and most importantly, it comes equipped with a range of controllers so that all gamers can play together. Strictly speaking, these limitations do not really apply to the PC anymore. Most people have modern flat screen televisions that can be attached to a PC or laptop using an HDMI cable or a VGA to DVI cable. Furthermore, Xbox style controllers can be purchased to enable everyone to play at the same time.

Andrew William writes reviews and news releases about the latest quality PC games for a range of newspapers, magazines and websites.

Samsung announced a new product today – Galaxy S4 Zoom. Galaxy S4 Zoom can be called an upgrade of last year’s Galaxy camera because this one has phone functionality in addition to a point-and-shoot camera and Android interface.

As expected, Galaxy S4 Zoom is quite thick (15.4 mm) and quite bulky (208 grams), so a normal person won’t even think of buying this phone. So, this device is strictly for people who want a better camera on their Smartphones, hence it already has a pretty small market.

Galaxy S4 Zoom can take pretty awesome photos because of its 16-megapixel CMOS sensor, 10x optical zoom and Xenon flash.

As far as hardware is concerned, S4 zoom is nowhere close to Samsung’s flagship device. S4 zoom has a 4.3-inch qHD (960×540) Super AMOLED display, a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, supports LTE and runs on Android v4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system. Boring! *yawn*

Pricing and release date not confirmed yet!

Windows 8 is a little different from previous Windows operating systems because it has been designed to work well with both computers and tablets. The operating system uses Metro UI, which is touch-friendly, and all these features can be pretty intimidating if you’re not tech-savvy.

Several websites online gives free tutorials on how to use Windows 8, but that information is not complete. Sometimes you may find the need of a detailed manual, where you can quickly search the instructions to perform a specific task.

That’s where Windows 8 for Dummies: the book, will help you.

This book by Andy Rathbone covers all the features of Windows 8 and will explain this to you in simple language (i.e. Sans the tech jargon).

Windows 8 for Dummies: key features

• Detailed use of the desktop environment
• Dual-interface discussed
• Easy navigation tips covered
• Advanced file and folder management covered
• Securing the OS against viruses and malware
• How to use the new Messaging system
• How to administer internet connectivity
• Multimedia options of Windows 8 operating system covered

Buy now in India (Rs. 279 + free shipping)

Buy now in the United States ($19.08 + free shipping)

#1 Nikola Tesla

Why?

…because he knows the answers to all the problems that I (an electronics and communications engineering student) would ever have!

#2 Sir William Wallace

Why?

…because he was a Braveheart! In true sense. And he definitely knew how to keep his FREEDOM!

#3 Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore!

Why?

…because he knows how to change the game!

#4 Johnny Depp

Why?

…because this guy is a legend! He is a bigger perfectionist than Aamir Khan; his commitment to justify his roles in the movies is awe-inspiring!

#5 Cobb from the movie Inception

Why?

…because… WHAT THE HELL! Why do I hear classical music? Is this a dream? Wait. Where’s my totem?

#Scyther

Why?

…because Scyther has wings (can’t fly); has scythes (can’t cut). Why?

#7 Barney Stinson

Why?

…because this guy is Legen-waitforit-Dary. Who wouldn’t want to know all the secrets of Barney Stinson’s exotic life.

#8 Heath Ledger, wait! The Joker?

Why?

…because we all have a Dark side!

#9 Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z

Why?

…because some people are born to be hit with the chicks!  ;-)

#10 Lord Krishna

Why?

…because I want to keep in touch with the Godhead, all the time. He knows the meaning of life and at this moment, I think I am really going nowhere in life.

I am on the Highway to Nowhere! (song)

Check out WeChat’s YouTube channel

Google first introduced face-unlock feature in ICS operating system; it allowed users to unlock their Smartphones with their face. Since then Google has been trying to improve this feature; last fall they patented the technology where more than one users could unlock a single device with their face. This week, Google has patented a new facial recognition technology where users would have to either smile, or wink, or both in the front facing camera of their Smartphone to unlock the device.  Basically, the Smartphone will capture your smile and then authenticate with your photo stored so as to confirm that the smile is on the same face as stored in its memory; once this processing is done, the OS will unlock the device for use. Also, the patent suggests that users could use more than one expression, or a series of expressions to unlock their devices, so you’d have to wink, smile and maybe frown in an order known to you to unlock your device. It’s kind of innovative, but don’t you think it would make things a tad more complicated. What if, one fine day, your phone just refuses to recognize you.

Most people don’t realize that dedicated Gaming machines are very different from your regular notebooks (with dedicated graphics card), because they are not only powerful enough to run high-end Games, but also deliver the rich console-quality Gaming experience.

Apart from Dell’s Alienware range of really bulky and ugly-looking Gaming notebooks, there’s one company — Razer — that has aligned itself to designing and manufacturing products — exclusively for Gamers.

The company has tagged their latest Gaming notebook — the new Razer Blade — as World’s thinnest Gaming notebook, and they are absolutely correct in saying that because their new laptop measures just 0.66-inches in thickness. Can you believe that? It’s thinner than most of the latest Smartphones available in the market.

No doubt the device is absolutely stunning for a notebook, but don’t think it doesn’t have the muscle power. Remember, it’s a Dedicated Gaming machine.

The new Razer Blade is powered by a 4th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, 8 GB of RAM and SSD storage ranging from 128 GB to 512 GB. The advantage that SSD (solid-state drives) have over regular hard disks is much faster load times, a regular SSD is at least 4 times faster than regular 5400-rpm storage disks.

The device has a 14-inch HD+ display, and NVIDIA’s latest GeForce GTX 765M GPU for processing all the detailing that modern games offer.

Razer will be taking pre-orders for their new Razer Blade notebook from 3rd of June. Bookmark the official webpage, if you’re willing to commit money on this notebook; pricing starts at $1,800.

The blogosphere has been talking about the mysterious “X Phone” from Google for some time now. The reason being Motorola’s acquisition by Google. Since Google now owns a company that manufacturers Smartphones, the people of the blogosphere thought that the next Nexus phone would be manufactured by Motorola and would have several exclusive features.

At an AllThingsD‘s executive conference, Motorola’s CEO – Dennis Woodside — confirmed the existence of Motorola X Phone. He further added that the phone would be called “Moto X” and would launch this summer with all major data carriers in the United States.

Motorola didn’t achieve great success in the Smartphone market with their previous Smartphone generation, so when Google acquired the company, they sat down with Larry Page and tried to figure out what they needed to do in order to make their phones more attractive to the customers. Page suggested to “take it back to the roots of innovation.” And that’s where the boys are headed!

Woodside didn’t reveal the technical specifications or exclusive features of the Smartphone, but did reveal that the phone would be based on company’s “Smart actions” philosophy, where the phone, using Smart sensors, would read what users want and then deliver — like a Boss! The phone will adjust itself as per user’s needs — whatever that means!

One of the strangest things that Woodside revealed was that the phone wouldn’t be outsourced. 70% of the components of Moto X would be manufactured in the United States, while the OLED displays and CPU would be manufactured in Korea and Taiwan respectively.

Moto X is just the beginning, with this new thinking, the company would look to bring a range of products by the end of this year. Woodside also hinted that Moto X would be priced very competitively by saying that the current gap between $30 feature phones and $650 high-end Smartphones wouldn’t exist if Motorola had something to say about it.

Woodside also said that they aren’t getting any exclusive treatment from Google. For the parent company, Motorola is just like any other OEM. With that said, though there may not be any major unique Android functionality in Moto X, but to bring that “exclusive user-experience” to Moto X, the company might layer the Android operating system.

Moto X is confirmed to release during this summer, with more products to follow by the end of this year.

Google Glass seemed cool when Google first introduced the concept of it, but when Google told the world that they are actually gonna make and sell this product, it actually freaked me out.

It was because — people are already dependent on social networking to the extent that they need rehab or several chances at Social Roulette, and with a beeping display in front their eyes, the situation would get worse.

Also, the privacy thing is a big factor, which I covered in the post that I wrote.

And now, there’s a news to satisfy your first instinct about Glass — yes, you would be able to watch p0rn on the Gadget. Android adult app seller MiKandi has confirmed that they will be building an app for Glass, because they know Glass is a great tool to record P0V (point of view) p0rn.

MiKandi told ZDNET,

Obviously, Glass is perfect for shooting POV video, so we’re experimenting with that first. But what’s really interesting about Glass is that it’s not just a hands free camera. It can receive and send data, so there are a lot of interesting interactions that we want to explore.

What do you think? Would you buy Glass and watch p0rn on it?

Angry Birds Space, one of the coolest games of the franchise, has gone free for both iPhone and iPad at the App Store.

This is a limited time promotion, or offer, or whatever you want to call it, and would be available only for this week.

Angry Birds Space is a physics-based game, and what makes it different from other games in the franchise is the “Gravity thing.”

Angry Birds Space is based on the space; the variations of pigs hiding beneath rocks, glass and wood is astounding and you’ll find Gravity playing a big role in getting All-Star success in the game.

Follow the links below to download the game from the official App store.

Angry Birds Space — download link

Angry Birds Space HD – download link

The fifth installment of the very successful GTA franchise is set to launch on 17th of September.

The game revolves around the lives and hookups of characters such as Michael, Franklin and Trevor and comes loaded with missions, stunts and random bullsh*t that will keep you busy for a while.

Like most popular games, Rockstar Games have decided to release two collector editions of GTA V.

The one that costs $80 will get you an artbook, a blueprint map, several in-game boosts, stunt plane trials, more weapons and bonus outfits, in additional to the physics of the game. The other collector’s edition, the expensive one, costs $150 and would get you a branded security deposit bag, a cap, a logo key and even more in-game content.

Apart from that, if you decided to pre-order even the standard edition of the game, you’ll get keys to an Atomic Blimp bonus vehicle.

Grand Theft Auto is a very popular gaming franchise, no doubt the fifth installment is gonna break sales records.

Yahoo! recently acquired the micro-blogging website Tumblr for a massive $1.1 billion dollars, and around the same time, they also revamped the user-interface of its very popular online photo-sharing service — Flickr.

At a press event in the New York City, Yahoo! unleashed the new user-interface of Flickr and also announced the free users now get 1 TB of free storage, such that they can share their beautiful photos in high-resolution.

Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Meyer writes:-

Photos tell the stories — stories we’re inspired to relive, share with our friends, or capture simply to express ourselves. Collecting these moments is a part of our everyday. Since 2005, Flickr has become synonymous with inspiring imagery. Today, we’re thrilled to take Flickr even further with a beautiful, completely re-imagined experience that puts photos front and center. When it comes to photography, technology and its limits shouldn’t hinder the experience. So we’re also giving our Flickr users one terabyte of space — for free. That’s enough for a lifetime of photos — more than 500,000 original, full-resolution, pixel-perfect, brilliant photos. Flickr users will never have to worry about running out of space.

Apart from that, the new Flickr will also accept video uploads. You would be able to add videos of up to 3 minutes at length, shot at a maximum of 1080p resolution; a lot of 1080p 3-minute videos would be required to fill the 1 TB of free storage that accompanies every Flickr account. There’s also a cool slideshow mode which you can employ to go down the memory lane.

As for the revenue, Flickr has resorted to generating money by selling ad spaces. You will now see banner advertisements in your account and along your photos. You can remove these advertisements for $49.99/year and I would say if you use Flickr to demonstrate your photography portfolio, you better buy this upgrade. Also, if 1 TB of free storage isn’t enough for you, you can double the amount for $499/year. Isn’t that cheap?

The folks at SamMobile.com have arranged an Android 4.2.2 firmware which will bring almost all the latest features of Galaxy S 4 to your Galaxy S III. This is a test firmware, still it works perfectly on the Galaxy and brings features such as: an updated version of S-Voice, new display modes, revamped settings interface, voice-guided controls, more lock/unlock screen options etc.

The above video walks you through the features of the firmware that we are talking about. At the source link below, you find the complete set of features included in the firmware, entire software change-log and screenshots. You will also find the tutorial to flash your S III with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Since installation requires you to flash your Smartphone, proceed at your own risk! And preferably get a backup before you start the installation process.

[Source: SamMobile]

Archos is back in the cheap Android tablet game with a new contender — the Archos 80 Xenon.

Unlike other tablets in its Elements range, this one has an 8-inch IPS display, which is touted to deliver sharp images, superfine playback and extra-wide viewing angles.

As for the hardware, the tablet is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor, a 2-megapixel front camera, a microSD card slot, a gig of RAM and Android v4.1 Jelly Bean operating system; it isn’t known yet whether the OS is stock or custom.

Archos 80 Xenon is a Google certified tablet, which means that you’d be able to access all the stuff Google offers for Android in your area, which includes apps, games, movies, music and tv shows.

The 80 Xenon tablet will go on sale by the end of June for $199.

I think if you’re looking to buy a cheap Android tablet for entertainment purposes, then you should consider buying Archos 80 Xenon tablet.

Not too long ago, we saw a specs page on Amazon.com, which listed a new 8-inch tablet from Acer. The listing revealed a few features of the tablet, but they weren’t very reliable. Read about it here. Since the specs weren’t reliable and hence the listing vanished from Amazon’s website within a matter of hours.

A few days ago, Acer revealed that the tablet in question — the Iconia W3 — is an 8.1-inch Windows 8 tablet, but full features of the device would be revealed at Computex on 4th of June. But Acer couldn’t hold the specs of the tablet until 4th of June and hence they’ve created a dedicated specs page at Acer.fi domain.

Acer Iconia W3 features an 8.1-inch WXGA (1280 x 768) display, is energized by an Intel Clover Trail Atom Z2760 processor, has 2 GB of RAM under its hood and comes in two storage options – 32GB or 64 GB.

Apart from that, it features a 2-megapixel front facing camera for Skype and thanks to the x86 architecture of Clover Trail Atom processors, the device runs full-blown Windows 8 Pro operating system.

If the price of this tablet listed in Amazon’s specs page was correct — $379 for the 32 GB model — then Iconia W3 from Acer would become the most cost-effective Windows 8 tablet in the market.

For some time now, Smartphone audio wasn’t a very big concern for Smartphone makers, because they majorly focused on hiking the numbers (like 4-core processors, 2 gigs of RAM, 1080p displays etc.) so as to look more appealing to consumers.

But now, it seems, since they’ve done what they could in terms of scaling their hardware, Smartphone giants like Samsung could team-up with Wolfson audio to create better “studio” sounding Smartphones. If marketed correctly, this could give the South Korean company a leading edge over its arch rival HTC, which is already getting mass attention because of Beats audio processors in their Smartphones.

The current generation of Smartphones doesn’t face any problems while playing CD-quality music, which is 16 bits per sample, sampling 44.1 thousand times per second.

Sure, many Smartphones doesn’t have those spectacular speakers to do justice to the quality of the music, but if you’d listen to the songs on a good quality headset, you’ll certainly hear the music — loud and crisp!

Wolfson Microelectronics’ latest audio processor — the WM5110 aims at making Smartphones deliver “studio master” quality audio i.e. 24 bits per sample, sampling at 192kHz.

For the record, some of the recently launched Galaxy S4 houses the Wolfson WM5102.

The quad-core audio processor from Wolfson — the WM5110 does good noise and echo cancellation and is also quite power efficient.

OEMs would get a look of these next-gen audio processors in Q3 of this year, and we could probably see these in the next generation of Smartphones, maybe in the Galaxy S5!

NVIDIA SHIELD: the portable gaming console which was announced at CES in January is now available for pre-order at the official NVIDIA website and other online stores such as Newegg for $350. You would also be able to pre-order the handheld, Android-powered portable gaming console from physical stores like GameStop, Micro Center, and Canada Computers.

For some reason, Gaming companies and Gaming startups think that Android gaming could be big; Android brings flexibility, and since it is open-source, a developer can load it onto any device that can have a micro-processor — be it a watch, a refrigerator, a television or even a fan.

Just a couple of months ago, OUYA, another Android gaming start-up released their product for the world to play. They are offering their Android-based console for $99; it can be connected to any display and runs graphically intense games without any issues.

NVIDIA Shield is a device which is very much like OUYA, but portable. The SHIELD has a flip-out design, the upper half has a 5-inch 720p display and the lower half has a console-grade gaming controller.

As for the hardware, Shield has a lot to offer. First up, it is powered by Tegra 4 processor — 72-core GPU and quad-core ARM-based A15 CPU. Apart from that it supports Wi-Fi, has integrated speakers, and pure stock Android operating system. While the people who buy this device would most of the time use it for Gaming, but they can also enjoy music, WhatsApp and movies, if they wish to.

As of now, there are not too many games that would do justice to the amazing control that Shield would provide. A few titles that have been Shield-optimized are ARMA Tactics, Dead Trigger 2, Hamilton’s Great Adventure THD, GTA Vice City, Conduit etc. If sales of OUYA and SHIELD grow, the whole set-up of controller powered Android gaming would expand, and more developers would jump into creating games to suit the hardware.

Check Out: NVIDIA Shield: the portable Android gaming console

Sony has posted a job opening on LinkedIn for a “Speech Recognition Engineering Intern.” The person would be responsible for developing a software that can detect what is being said by the gamer, especially in loud environments, and then process that data clearly. This clearly indicates that Sony would be using voice commands as a control for next generation of PlayStation consoles. As of now, we don’t know anything about the platform for which this software would be developed, but most probably, it would be company’s next generation Gaming console — the PlayStation 4.

In February, when Sony officially unveiled the PlayStation, they showed the world the all new DualShock 4 controllers and a double-camera PlayStation 4 Eye peripheral, which comes with “four channel microphone“. With PS Move, Sony has made Gaming a lot more interactive, and treading the same path, with speech recognition, the company would look to make Gaming even more engaging and realistic; maybe all these dots connect to a big niche of Gaming that isn’t very well capitalized by consoles — Social Gaming. These are vague ideas, but we will hear more substantial plans by Sony at the upcoming E3 event. Stay tuned!

Clearly, If Google decides to give away free “Google Glass” units to tech bloggers in India, I won’t be one of them, because I really don’t like the idea and I’m not afraid to share it on my blog.

With more internet services readying apps for the platform, it feels like Google Glass will make mockery out of people who are already addicted to social media and the internet.

Previously, only Path and the New York Times were developing apps for Google Glass, but now, companies like Evernote, social networking trio (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr), Elle and CNN are also making apps for Glass.

• Elle’s app for Glass would let you browse through photos from the stories of their magazine. Also, the app is capable of reading the stories to you.
• CNN’s app will let you select topics of interest and whenever there is some breaking news, it will pop-up in front of your eyes — like magic!
• Apps from the trio will bring updates to you and would enable you to post updates, photos, voice messages etc. Sharing is caring you see.
• Evernote’s app will let you read notes that you’ve created using your computer or your mobile device.

This is just the beginning, Google plans to make Glass mainstream and they sure have the resources to do so. At the moment, the technology is freakishly expensive, so I won’t be able to afford it; since it clearly doesn’t solve “a greater purpose,” it is of no use to me. Google is already making the Glass experience videos, so if the company is trying to make a profit out of this device, an extensive promotion will follow the official release. Let’s see whether Google manages to turn us all into Robocops!

Bang & Olufsen have designed a new compact surround system which should attract any frugal music lover — the BeoLab 14.

The first thing to notice about this tiny surround sound speaker is its design; it’s a round silvery speaker, which can be placed in rooms with a stand or hanged on the walls.

The company says that they have designed this speaker so as to make it appear more adorable to women, who prefer buying stuff that suits with their home decor.

Bang & Olufsen have provided an elongated white lampshade-style subwoofer in the system, and because of that BeoLab 14 is capable of delivering unreal bass. Apart from that, BeoLab 14 can become a part of a 4.1 system or a 5.1 system and still sound amazing. In fact, when Pete Pachal of Mashable.com heard these tiny 2.5-inch spherical speakers in Bang & Olufsen’s showroom in the NYC, he claimed them to sound pretty great.

Listening to female vocals as well as the sharp movie sounds of the original Iron Man trailer over the speakers, everything came through crystal clear, with great separation and surround effects. I was struck by how small the speakers were — with the subwoofer, they really deliver big sound. You’ll barely notice them, though, and when you do, it’s because of the beautiful design.

As I mentioned these speakers were for frugal music lovers, these speakers aren’t cheap. 4.1 system variant costs $3,995 and 5.1 system variant costs $4,395.

It was a rumor before, and now we know it for sure — Google will be selling unlocked Samsung Galaxy S4 directly from the Play Store, and that phone will run on the stock Android v4.2. Jelly Bean.

Google broke this news at its I/O event.

By this move, Google wants to deliver “the Nexus experience” on a device that is capable of becoming the best Android Smartphone. This obviously means more sales, hopefully, for both Google and Samsung.

Unlocked Galaxy S4 would run on AT&T and T-Mobile’s network and would get software updates as soon as Google makes them available for Nexus phones.

Surprisingly, Google’s S4 would cost more than the Samsung’s S4, yeah, you would have to pay $649 to buy this phone directly from Google.

Shipping starts from 26th of June; would you buy the US S4 hardware (quad-core processor) with unadulterated Android software?