Google have announced today that the Google Play experience is coming to Google TV.
This is what Google posted on their blog:
Starting today more of the Google Play experience will come to your Google TV. Google Play Movies, TV shows, and Music will be rolling out to your Google TV over the next few weeks. You’ll be able to buy or rent content directly through the Google Play Store on Google TV, and purchases you’ve made on other devices will also be automatically available on Google TV. Google Play titles will also be discoverable through our TV & Movies app, which brings recommendations for shows and movies available on live TV and apps like Netflix, Amazon, and now Google Play.
Have you got a Google TV? Let us know when you see this and what you think of it.
Borderlands 2 is the sequel to the popular game Borderlands. We have been playing it for a few weeks now and have managed to pull ourselves away long enough to write the review, so here it is. Wub Wub.
Combining invention and evolution, Borderlands 2 features all-new characters, skills, environments, enemies, weapons and equipment, which come together in an ambitiously crafted story. Players will reveal secrets, and escalate mysteries of the Borderlands universe as they adventure across the unexplored new areas of Pandora.
Who are 2K Games?
From their website:
Founded in 2005, 2K develops and publishes interactive entertainment software games for the console, PC, and handheld gaming systems through its three divisions: 2K Games, 2K Sports, and 2K Play. 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including first-person shooters, action, role-playing, real-time strategy, sports, casual, and family entertainment.
The 2K label has some of the most talented development studios in the world today, including Firaxis Games, Visual Concepts, 2K Boston, 2K Marin, 2K Australia, 2K Czech, Cat Daddy Games, and 2K China. In just a few short years, 2K launched the 2007 Game of the Year – BioShock; continued the award-winning Sid Meier’s Civilization series; delivered the #1 rated and #1 selling basketball franchise with NBA 2K9; and broke new ground in the family entertainment market with its multi-million unit selling hit Carnival Games.
Back in August, 2K were kind enough to let me hitch a ride on their Borderlands 2 bus to Cologne for Gamescom!
Taking place five years after the events of the first game, players fight to take down Handsome Jack, the leader of the evil Hyperion Corporation.
While the original four heroes from the first Borderlands return in Borderlands 2 as nonplayable characters, gamers will step into the shoes of four all-new heroes with vastly different and powerful skill abilities:
Salvador / Gunzerker class – Gunzerking – Salvador can dual wield ANY gun in ANY
combination. Want a sniper rifle and a rocket launcher? Go for it! Two guns are better than one!
Maya / Siren class – Phaselock – Maya can lift and lock enemies in place where they sit helplessly out of battle and prone to damage. Phaselock can take many forms including healing party members, creating massive damage to enemies or for crowd controlling numerous enemies.
Axton / Commando class – Sabre Turret – Axton can deploy a turret which can be upgraded with many gun and missile attachments or augmentations. Some of these upgrades can grant the turret the ability to teleport far distances or create nuclear explosions!
Zer0 / Assassin class – Deception – Zer0 can vanish into stealth, do massive critical hit damage and distract his enemies with a decoy. While in Deception, Zer0 can also see critical weak points on enemies or assassinate enemies with fast attacking melee strikes
Single Player
Once you have chosen your character, and personalised him, or her, it’s time to start the game. You meet Claptrap and are thrust into the main story arc, although it’s not long before you start getting offered side quests.
Here is a video of my first 40 minutes playing single player mode (including the really cool intro to the game):
Matchmaking and Co-Op
There is a mode called Matchmaking which allows you to join up with other players online and have some fun.
However, the more players playing, the more bad guys appear and the harder they are to kill. After all, you wouldn’t want it to be too easy now, would you?
Final Thoughts
I hate this game – why you might ask? Well because it’s so addictive I just cant stop playing it! So ok, I don’t actually hate it!
Not only is it a lot of fun, and believe me if you haven’t played it yet, it is A LOT of fun, it is massive! The first several hours of playing I was still just doing side quests. Obviously you don’t have to do them, but it’s a lot of fun, you get XP (which means you level up quicker) and you often get and find interesting items.
You don’t need to have played the first game to enjoy Borderlands 2, but I would suggest getting the first game anyway as it’s a lot of fun!
Probably one of the hardest decisions you will have to make in the game is which character you want to play. I have found that the majority of people I talk to about the game say they choose the Gunzerker, but for me it was the Commando. There is nothing quite like throwing your Sabre Turret into the middle of a bunch of crazed killers and watching them get taken out.
Yeah, ok, maybe I need a little time away from it!
The graphics are great, and somewhat cartoon-like, which fits really well. When you shoot, slash, blow-up or generally do something to one of your enemies you see a number appear, which is the amount of damage you have inflicted. And when they are dead you get XP and you have the option of collecting their loot, which could be money, health or a variety of weapons or other items.
The sound and music also really fits well with the game, and you really find yourself immersed in the world of Pandora.
Gameplay and controls are fairly straightforward as well – you move, duck, run, shoot, interact with, drive, etc, etc, all by using the controller, and it’s all fairly intuitive too, so you won’t find yourself pressing the wrong button, and least not after a few tries.
And don’t worry if you do get killed (and you will get killed), you come back to life, at cost of some of your hard earned dollars.
Weapon wise there are literally millions and millions of possible weapons, and each time you play they are different! Certain weapons cannot be used until you are at a certain skill level, so you may want to carry them with you ready to use.
Talking of skills, each time you level up you get a skill point, which can be used to increase your skills (yeah, I know, obviously really!). Each character has their own skill tree, for example the Commando’s first skill is the Sabre Turret, and from then on you can choose to increase the skills in a variety of different ways.
Here is Axton’s Skill Tree so you can see what I mean:
Oh, and there are 50 levels so it will take you a while to level up!
There is a lot of humour in Borderlands 2, and there are times you will just want to laugh out loud. Claptrap keeps saying amusing things and you can interact with a lot of the different characters on Pandora, but I don’t want to give too much away!
Did I mention this game is massive? And that’s without the 4 additional packs that are coming soon.
There is so much to see and do on Pandora, you won’t get bored!
So you have to buy this game, seriously! If you don’t already have it, you must buy it, Go on, stop reading and order it now! You won’t be disappointed. Easily one of my favourite games of the year.
Borderlands 2 is available right now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
Must resist the urge to go back and carry on playing, at least for a little while…… Nope, didn’t work! Hang on Claptrap, I’m coming……
Nokia announced on their Conversations blog that their Lumia 810 is coming to T-Mobile USA. Read on for details.
T-Mobile USA is getting the Nokia Lumia 810, which appears to be similar to the 820 that was announced as coming to Verizon. Here is the announcement:
T-Mobile USA today announced they’re bringing the Nokia Lumia 810 to the United States. A beautiful smartphone that brings the best of Windows Phone 8 along with a sharp-shooting camera, the Nokia Lumia 810 also brings a minimalistic design and industry-leading navigation services.
Expected to be available in the coming weeks, Nokia Lumia 810 comes packed with a sharp and gorgeous 4.3-inch OLED screen that features a ClearBlack display, meaning your colors will pop and blacks will be deep and dark. Want to add some personality to your phone? No problem, the Lumia 810 makes this possible with interchangeable charging shells that come in black and cyan and let you charge your phone without hooking up a wire at all.
Picture perfect
We’re proud to have Carl Zeiss as a long-term imaging partner, and Nokia Lumia 810 carries an 8-megapixel camera accompanied by a Carl Zeiss lens. If you like making video calls, you’ll be happy to know that Nokia Lumia 810 has a front-facing camera that lets you conduct video chats in crystal clear HD resolution.
Making use of the new Lens capability, Nokia Lumia 810 owners will be able to capture memories with Cinemagraph, a built in animated-photo creative studio; wide-bodied panorama photos and Group Shot – which gives you the capability to take that perfect group photo by assembling everyone’s wonderful smiling faces.
Know where, now!
Nokia is quickly becoming known as the where company – giving Lumia owners crucial information on what’s going on around them as well as how to get there. Nokia City Lens is an easy-to-use app that overlays information about restaurants, shops and hotels as you look at a building. Think of it as a “heads-up” display for your daily life.
Additionally, with Nokia Drive, you’ll never get lost with voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation that works even when you’re out of reach of a mobile signal. If you are reliant on public transportation, Nokia Transit will help you hop onto buses and trains in major metropolitan areas with ease.
Also preloaded on the Nokia Lumia 810 is Nokia Music, offering free music streaming from a collection of over 17 million tracks. Nokia Music lets you create playlists from your own tastes, or select from hundreds of specially curated mixes drawn from the Nokia Music collection. What’s more, you can download these playlists to listen to anywhere. Nokia Music doesn’t require a subscription or sign-up and it’s completely free.
All in all, the Nokia Lumia 810, powered by T-Mobile’s ultra-fast 4G network and value data plans, is an amazing phone that comes in a beautiful package.
Stay tuned to NokiaUS on Twitter and Facebook for the latest on pricing and availability.
Check out the Nokia blog post here to see some additional product shots. Nokia has yet to post specs, but this really looks like the 820 released for T-Mobile. T-Mobile has issued a press release, but includes no useful information beyond this announcement.
So how about it? Are you interested in a mid-range Windows Phone 8 device on T-Mobile? If so, this is your opportunity to pick one up, sometime in November (to be confirmed) at a yet-unknown price. Sound off in the comments and let me know what you think!
Ubisoft have released the Assassin’s Creed III Liberation Liberty Chronicles Dev Diary.
Introducing Assassin’s Creed III Liberation, the stunning new chapter in the Assassin’s Creed saga designed exclusively for the PlayStation Vita.
In 1765, events leading to the American Revolution are heating up in the north whilst Spanish forces plan to seize Louisiana in the south. Standing in their way is Aveline, a deadly Assassin who will use every weapon and well-honed skill in her arsenal to win freedom for her land and her people. Whether silently eliminating her enemies with lethal chain kills or luring them into deadly traps, Aveline strikes mortal fear into the hearts of those who stand in her way.
As an Assassin, Aveline soon finds herself on an unforgettable journey that will take her from the crowded streets of New Orleans to voodoo-haunted swamps and ancient Mayan ruins. Aveline will play a pivotal role in the turbulent birth of a new nation as she fights for freedom not only for herself, but for her fellow citizens.
Here is the Liberty Chronicles Dev Diary for you to watch:
Today saw the BBC take the wraps off their new iPlayer Radio website and iOS app.
For the website:
Stations takes me through to the network homepage for each station where I can see what is on live and listen live with a single click.
Categories takes me through to the radio categories where I can browse for content.
Schedule lets me go through to the full schedule, or the detailed page for the current and next programmes.
Favourites lets me quickly find my favourite shows, a feature that we are looking to build out further over time to make this page more and more valuable for our users.
The key features of the iOS app include:
A touchscreen dial that beautifully shows the breadth of our radio, allowing easy access to all 57 BBC radio stations and their live streams.
An alarm clock to let you wake up to your favourite BBC Radio station.
From programme pages you can enjoy catch-up content, video clips, access to our podcasts, and for music shows the details of the tracklist.
You can set programmes alerts to tell you when specific favourite shows are on.
You can favourite tracks and share them with friends via email and Twitter.
It will be available later today in the Apple App Store.
Have you used it yet? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.
The Simpsons: Tapped Out is releasing a Treehouse of Horror XXIII-themed update. Read on for details.
The Simpsons: Tapped Out is releasing a new Halloween theme update for the game. In addition, tune in to The SImpsons on Sunday night on FOX for a clue that helps unlock some bonus in-game content. Here is what EA Mobile is announcing:
The Simpsons: Tapped Out Offers a Trick and Treat with Treehouse of Horror XXIII Themed Update
Fans Who Tune in to The Simpsons’ Special Episode this Sunday on FOX Receive Special Clue to Unlock In-Game Gift
This week, EA unveiled a major update to The Simpsons: Tapped Out featuring content from this Sunday’s The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horrors XXIII episode (Sunday, October 7 at 8/7 pm CDT on FOX). EA worked directly with The Simpsons award winning writers, producers and animators to integrate distinctive content between the TV show and game. As part of the update, game players will collect artifacts that help them unlock a trivia question about the episode. Then by watching the episode, they will see the answer which will help them complete an in-game quest.
Treehouse of Horror is The Simpsons highest rated episode annually and The Simpsons: Tapped Out is distinguished as the only game on the iTunes App Store to integrate with a current hit TV show. In addition to this substantial integration, The Simpsons: Tapped Out will receive a slew of additional content in this update including new game modes, characters, buildings and decorations giving fans the ability to collect a spooky tree or build the Springfield cemetery as well as enjoy new game modes including a zombie outbreak game.
This free mobile app brings to life TV’s longest-running comedy and has reached new levels of popularity reaching #1 spot on the iTunes App Store top grossing charts around the world. Fans are able to recreate and customize the iconic town of Springfield and play along with many of the beloved characters they have come to know and love throughout the show’s more than 20-year history.
NEW FEATURES
New Characters – Do a “diddily deal” with Devil Flanders, ride a broom with Marge the Witch, or enslave earthlings with Kang.
New Buildings – Incubate zombies in the Springfield Cemetery, summon demons with the Heck House, or sell some cursed frogurt in the House of Evil.
UFO – Build a Giant Space Laser and show those aliens once and for all who’s boss.
Mysterious Artifacts – Find mysterious artifacts and uncover the secrets of the Ancient Mayan Calendar.
Zombies –Squish Zombies as they escape from Springfield Cemetery before they can turn your favorite Simpsons characters into the walking dead!
The Simpsons: Tapped Out is now available for free on the iTunes App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.
Cloudberry Backup now supports Server Essentials 2012. Read on for details.
Cloudberry Backup has now added formal support for Server Essentials 2012. Here is the blog post:
CloudBerry Backup supports Windows Server 2012 Essentials
CloudBerry S3 Backup is a powerful Windows program that automate backup and restore processes to Amazon S3 and Amazon Glacier cloud storage. We are glad to announce that we fully support Windows Server 2012 Essentials, which is the next generation of Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials. To be able to install it on Windows Server 2012 Essentials you will need the version for SBS 2011 Essentials.
As always we would be happy to hear your feedback and you are welcome to post a comment.
Note: this post applies to CloudBerry Backup 3.0 and later.
If you use Skype a lot, or anything else that needs a mic but you want something small with noise cancelling technology there is a solution in the guise of the Tiki USB Microphone from Blue, and here is our review.
The new Tiki is the world’s first USB microphone that mimics the intelligence of human hearing by focusing on desired sounds, minimizing background noise and knowing when to mute altogether. Tiki’s two modes give any Skype user, podcaster or musician the versatility to quickly choose the best option in any situation. First, Intelligent Speech Mode brings your voice to the forefront of a conference call or chat while noise-cancelling technology simultaneously minimizes unwanted, competing background noise. Natural Recording Mode captures a wide range of sources from vocals to acoustic guitar, recording high-fidelity audio with exceptional clarity. Tiki sets a new standard for crystal clear audio for wherever you go.
Who are Blue?
From their website:
Blue Microphones was founded in 1995 with the belief that technical innovation and cutting-edge design can combine to create a family of audio tools that not only look inspiring, but sound like nothing else on the planet. Building on years of repairing and improving classic Golden Age microphones, and recognizing advances in digital processing (extended frequency response, dynamic range, and project recording capability,) Blue fundamentally changed the way microphones are imagined, creating a line of mics with custom-designed sonic signatures that make each Blue microphone truly unique and perfectly situated to take advantage of today’s increased digital bandwidths. Or to put it simply: the perfect analog devices for the digital age.
Starting with state-of-the-art technology that ensures the purest possible signal path, along with Class A fully discrete circuitry (no ICs, pads, or filters), each microphone is designed to fill a specific role in a recordist’s repertoire. Every studio series mic contains its own propriety capsule that is hand-tested and approved to capture specific sonic signatures in specific ways. The first proprietary design, the Blueberry (Electronic Musician 2000 Editor’s Choice Microphone of the Year) was designed and engineered at the behest of John Gass, a Grammy award-winning engineer/mixer, who asked if it was possible to create a contemporary pop vocal mic that also substantially eliminated the need to spend hours “EQing” or over-processing the signal source. The Blueberry’s success led to future Blue designs that focused solely on delivering the best possible reproduction of specific vocal or instrument types. The result is a portfolio of professional microphones that create a full palette of sounds, enabling artists to realize the sonic landscape of their vision. And that portfolio is still growing, with the new additions of the Spark and Reactor mics to the Blue family.
At the turn of the millennium, after receiving an early version of Apple’s GarageBand™, Blue realized that project studio recording presented the next revolution of the recording industry. Believing that the lack of a high-quality USB microphone to protect the signal source would slow down this revolution, Blue developed the Snowball, the world’s first professional USB mic. Throughout the development process, the Snowball was designed specifically with musicians in mind; however, people very quickly began to adopt the product for consumer applications, such as podcasting, chat, and narration. Out of this, Blue’s line of consumer audio products was born, and its audio DNA continues with Blue’s newer consumer desktop mics, from Yeti Pro to Tiki, along with Mikey Digital, our portable recorder for iOS devices.
Blue is 100% committed to getting the very best microphones in the world into the hands of those who have a passion for high quality audio; this is our heritage and will always be the core focus of everything we do. From the uncompromising and revolutionary Bottle to the desktop/studio flexibility of the Yeti Pro, every product reflects Blue’s rare expertise and inimitable design sense. We encourage you to audition each Blue microphone to discover the ideal sonic character for your audio needs.
Specifications
Intelligent ultra-compact USB microphone
Brings your voice to the forefront using voice isolation and noise-cancelling technology
Improves vocal clarity for online communication like Skype and iChat, and voice recognition software
Reduces computer fan and typing noise by intelligently auto-muting
Recording mode optimized for podcasts and music recording
Multi-colored LED indicates muting status and more
What’s in the Box?
The box contains the Tiki mic, a USB extension docking cable and a manual.
A Closer Look
And here is the Tiki “docked” with the extension cable.
And just to show you the actual size of the Tiki, here it is against my iPhone 5.
Using the Tiki
There are no required drivers for the Tiki – just plug it into your Windows machine or your Mac and away you go.
There are two modes, and these can easily be switched by pressing the mode selection button (which is the tip of the Tiki).
When you are in “Intelligent Speech” mode, the light on the side is Blue. This mode is best for chats, conference calls and noisier environments.
The other mode is called “Natural Recording” and shows Purple. This mode is best for podcasts, vocals, instruments, narration and quieter environments.
There is also an orange light that is displayed when it is muted or there is no sound – I couldn’t get a picture because the Tiki picked up the sound of the camera every time and changed it to blue!
What can I say, I was very impressed with the Tiki.
When I took it out of the box, my first thought was that is was very small and light, and that it surely wouldn’t be that great quality wise, and boy was I wrong!
I was impressed that it didn’t need drivers for either Windows or Mac and that it worked perfectly first time on both machines.
The two different modes are very useful, and provide different results (both of which are great).
Using the Tiki on Skype was excellent, I found it gave me just as good results as using my Snowball (also from Blue), and there is quite a bit of difference in size there! The noise cancelling technology works very well indeed.
I was also happy that Blue included a USB extension dock in the box so that you can have the Tiki away from the machine if required (and let’s be honest, most of the time it will be required).
The cost of the Tiki is around £35, which is a really good price for a mic of this size and quality – if you have any need for a small high quality mic then look further and get yours now, you wont be disappointed.
BradyGames, masters of the official strategy guide, have launched its Official Strategy Guide for Blizzard Entertainment’s Mists of Pandaria and we have two copies to give away!
Spread across 400 lavishly designed pages, the Official World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Strategy Guide represents one of BradyGames’ biggest strategy guides to date, offering beginner-friendly gaming knowledge to ease new players into the land of Pandaria, while providing exhaustive insight into every aspect of the game for master players.
Developed with input from World of Warcraft developer and publisher Blizzard Entertainment, the Official World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Strategy Guide walks players through every region of Pandaria. From picturesque new starter zones to perilous high-level dungeons, BradyGames’ thoroughly researched guide reveals insider tips and tricks for every new quest, raid, gameplay mode and player-versus-player challenge, making it the ultimate resource for new players and seasoned World of Warcraft veterans alike.
What do you have to do to win?
Well, we have two copies of the guide to give away, and all you have to do is to leave a comment below telling us a little about your character in WoW. Simple, eh?
The giveaway runs until the 13th October, so good luck!
And a big thank you to Lunch for the prizes.
Rules
Our usual competition t’s and c’s apply, and this one is only open to those in the UK – sorry to everyone else, we will be running some other cool giveaways over the next few weeks for you!
