Apple has seeded beta 3 for iOS 6 to developers.
This new update includes Map updates, some changes to Safari, and a lot of behind the scenes changes.
I tried beta for a week and had to remove it as it was quite buggy and I found that the battery life of my 4S was dramatically reduced to the point it was almost unusable.
I will give beta 3 a try and report back.
iOS 6 is expected to be available later this year.
Have you tried it yet? If so let us know by leaving a comment below.
Last week I got to spend a few hours with Square Enix playing their forthcoming game Sleeping Dogs – and it is cool!
Sleeping Dogs is a gritty and visceral openworld cop drama set in the vibrant city of Hong Kong.
Developed by United Front Games in collaboration with the renowned Square Enix London Studios.
Sleeping Dogs catapults players into the role of undercover cop Wei Shen, tasked with taking down one of the world’s most fearsome criminal organisations from the inside… the Hong Kong Triads. As players explore the bustling and crowded Hong Kong island, through its neon-lit side streets and sprawling street markets, an incredible story unfolds of loyalty and betrayal, where Wei begins to question his own motives as he is sucked in deeper than he could ever imagine.
Offering players an island packed with action, every street corner, market stall, harbour dock or city skyscraper can become an opportunity for intense shoot-outs, adrenaline-fuelled street races and intense, brutal martial arts combat. Featuring one of the most intuitive and imaginative combat systems, Sleeping Dogs empowers players to perform an extensive set of martial arts moves, singlehandedly taking on numerous opponents. Players perform bone-crunching kicks and combos, vicious counters and a cinematic set of environmental takedowns making use of countless real-world items from circular saws to phone booths, incinerators to refrigerator doors.
During the few hours of game play, I played the first few levels and a few of the levels mid way through the game.
The game starts off with a Wei Shen doing a deal and getting arrested, that’s when you find out he is an undercover cop, and the action pretty much starts there!
Tasks in the game include colleting protection money, fighting various people, shoot-outs, car chases, and much more. I don’t want to give too much away (and I am sworn to secrecy anyway) but the game really makes use of the openworld feature. I liked that the game I was playing was different to the game being played either side of me. I chose to steal a car and drive around until I found something I wanted to do, whereas you could do pretty much anything within the confines of the game.
The graphics, music and gameplay were excellent – I really found myself immersed in the game, and be warned, there are some pretty graphic scenes – I even found myself wincing at one point – but I wont say what it was, I will let you find out for yourself.
You can use objects as weapons, for example, in one scene I was fighting a few guys, and I picked one up, put him under a suspended engine and dropped it on him. Not a pleasant way to go!
[toggle title_open=”Spoiler Alert” title_closed=”Spoiler Alert” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]There is even a scene at a wedding that turns into a complete blood bath with both the bride and groom getting killed![/toggle]
During the game I recognised a few famous actors and actresses who have leant their voices to the game. These included Tom Wilkinson, Lucy Liu, Edison Chen, Emma Stone, Will Yun Lee, Robin Shou, Terence Yin, Ron Yuan, Irene Tsu, James Lew and Parry Shen.
Sleeping Dogs will be available in August for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PCs. and I can’t wait to continue from where I left off!
For more information about Sleeping Dogs, visit http://www.sleepingdogs.net
As well as updating the iPad app, Sonos have also updated the Android version of the Controller app.
The Sonos Controller for Android is a free wireless music controller for Sonos.
Control all of your music, in every room, from your Android device. Manage your library, the best online music services, shows and podcasts, plus hundreds of thousands of radio stations around the world; to stream through every room in your home. Play a different song in every room or play together in perfect synchronization, while adjusting the individual volume of each player.
Use the touch screen or physical keyboard on your Android to pick a room, pick a song, then hit play. Simply link and unlink rooms to play different songs in different rooms or the same song in every room — perfect synchronization.
This release of the Sonos Controller for Android has been optimized for ALL Android tablets–giving customers more ways to control their music with landscape and album art modes.
Download the Sonos Controller app now from Google PlayHave you used it? If so, leave us a comment below.
Sonos have updated their Controller for iPad software to include support for Retina devices.
Control all of your music, in every room, from your iPad. Manage your iTunes library, the best online music services, shows and podcasts, and thousands of radio stations around the world on the multi-pane view, exclusive to iPad. Browse through cover art or drag and drop to create playlists to stream through every room of your home. Play a different song in each room, or play together in perfect synchronization, while adjusting the individual volume of each player.
Use with the SONOS PLAY:3 or SONOS PLAY:5 or any Sonos ZonePlayer running v3.5 or higher to enjoy all of your music, in every room.
•Stream all the music on earth all over the house, wirelessly – no docking or computer required.
•Works seamlessly with Anubis.fm, Aupeo!, Deezer, iheartradio, Last.fm, MOG, Napster®, Pandora®, Rdio®, Rhapsody®, SiriusXM™ Internet Radio, Spotify®, Stitcher, Wolfgang’s Vault®, and downloads from any service offering DRM-free tracks. (Service availability varies by region.)
•Instantly access music stored on your computer, and play music from a NAS drive or Apple Time Capsule without turning on your computer.
•Play a different song in every room or the same song in perfect synchronization.
•Control the music selection and volume in each room individually.
•Search for any song with the touch-screen keyboard.
•Drag and drop songs or albums into the queue or now playing pane.
•Wake up or fall asleep to your favorite music or Internet radio station with full-featured alarms.
•Set up or expand the Sonos system wirelessly with the touch of a finger.
•Play Apple Airplay® music sources all over the home
Requires at least one Sonos ZonePlayer. To start playing music, one ZonePlayer or Bridge must be connected to the router, then all the rest work wirelessly.
I tested out Excel 2013 briefly tonight; here are my initial impressions!
I installed Office 2013 Consumer Preview here, and told you my initial impressions of Outlook 2013 here. Now, I bring you some feedback on Excel 2013.
I am an accountant by trade and live in Excel most days. Therefore, Excel is one of the most important application in the Office suite to me, and I wanted to check it out briefly. First, go to the Metro desktop and click on Excel. I circled the tile in this screen shot.
You get this startup screen. I decided to take the tour and see what is new, so click on Take a tour.
Excel loads up a workbook that shows off some of the new features. Click on Let’s go.
The first demonstration is something called Flash Fill. Excel watches what you are doing, and anticipates when it can autofill for you.
I installed Office 2013 Consumer Preview tonight. Here are my early impressions of Outlook 2013.
I posted a walkthrough of the installation process for Office 2013 Consumer Preview here. In this article, I give you some of my early impressions of Outlook 2013. I’ll spend more time working in Office 2013 Consumer Preview in the coming days as well so stay tuned for more feedback.
I use Outlook pretty heavily, and currently have an Exchange (Office 365) account, a Live account and three IMAP accounts configured to work with Outlook 2010 in Windows 7. I decided to configure the Exchange account and the Live account for this test.
First, go to the Metro desktop and locate your Office tiles. I reorganized them to segregate all of the Office apps into one area of the screen. Click on Outlook 2013, which I have circled in this screenshot.
An Outlook 2013 installer will kick off on the legacy desktop. All of these Office apps are for the Professional version of Windows 8 and run on the legacy desktop. Click on Next.
Tell the installer that you want to add an email account. Click Next.
Microsoft released Office 2013 Consumer Preview today. We install it on Windows 8!
We told you about Microsoft releasing the Office 2013 Consumer Preview here. Now, we install it and show you some screen shots. Ready? Let’s go!
I am installing Office 2013 Consumer Preview on an HP Pavillion Elite with Windows 7 and Windows 8 installed in a dual-boot environment. I am installing to Windows 8 Release Preview With Media Center (Build 8400). I am running Internet Explorer 10 and am using a Live account to connect the Office service.
I chose to download the Office 2013 Consumer Preview from here.
Simply click on Sign Up and you’ll see the screen below. Click on Try Now.
Do you see that green Install button? Hit that and away you go!
Today, Microsoft unveiled the new customer preview of Office, designed to work with Windows 8. Read on for details!
Microsoft unveiled the new version of Office in a Consumer Preview today. Here are the highlights:
Here is a portion of the press release:
SAN FRANCISCO — July 16, 2012 — Today, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the customer preview of the new Microsoft Office, available at office.com/preview. The next release features an intuitive design that works beautifully with touch, stylus, mouse or keyboard across new Windows devices, including tablets. The new Office is social and unlocks modern scenarios in reading, note-taking, meetings and communications and will be delivered to subscribers through a cloud service that is always up to date.
“We are taking bold steps at Microsoft,” Ballmer said at the press conference in San Francisco. “The new, modern Office will deliver unparalleled productivity and flexibility for both consumers and business customers. It is a cloud service and will fully light-up when paired with Windows 8.”
Office at Its Best on Windows 8
- Touch everywhere. Office responds to touch as naturally as it does to keyboard and mouse. Swipe your finger across the screen or pinch and zoom to read your documents and presentations. Author new content and access features with the touch of a finger.
- Inking. Use a stylus to create content, take notes and access features. Handwrite email responses and convert them automatically to text. Use your stylus as a laser pointer when presenting. Color your content and erase your mistakes with ease.
- New Windows 8 applications. OneNote and Lync represent the first new Windows 8 style applications for Office. These applications are designed to deliver touch-first experiences on a tablet. A new radial menu in OneNote makes it easy to access features with your finger.
- Included in Windows RT. Office Home and Student 2013 RT, which contains new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote applications, will be included on ARM-based Windows 8 devices, including Microsoft Surface.
See how the new Office gives you the flexibility to focus on what is important.
Office Is in the Cloud
- SkyDrive. Office saves documents to SkyDrive by default, so your content is always available across your tablet, PC and phone. Your documents are also available offline and sync when you reconnect.
- Roaming. Once signed in to Office, your personalized settings, including your most recently used files, templates and even your custom dictionary, roam with you across virtually all of your devices. Office even remembers where you last left off and brings you right back to that spot in a single click.
- Office on Demand. With a subscription, you can access Office even when you are away from your PC by streaming full-featured applications to an Internet-connected Windows-based PC.
- New subscription services. The new Office is available as a cloud-based subscription service. As subscribers, consumers automatically get future upgrades in addition to exciting cloud services including Skype world minutes and extra SkyDrive storage. Subscribers receive multiple installs for everyone in the family and across their devices.
Microsoft have released an update to their My Xbox LIVE app for iPhone and iPads, bringing with it the ability to connect, control and discover content on your Xbox.
Take your Xbox LIVE experience wherever you go with the My Xbox LIVE app. Track and compare your achievements, connect with your Xbox LIVE friends, and change up your 3D Avatar. Review all your recent great games you and your friends love to play and compare achievements with them. Jump into our games hub to learn about the latest LIVE games and apps. Access Xbox Spotlight feeds, get breaking news from Xbox LIVE, game tips and tricks, gamer spotlight and much more.
• Use your iPad with your Xbox to connect, control and discover content on your console. Connect your iPad for access to a quick list of your most recent console activity. Control your content with play, pause, fast forward and rewind media controls. Find fresh entertainment to play in the new Discover section.
• Bug fixes
Download My Xbox LIVE from the Apple App Store Check out our hands-on with the My Xbox LIVE app
The Spotify app for iOS has been updated to version 0.5.3.
![Spotify-icon_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb[1]](https://i0.wp.com/moviesgamesandtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Spotify-icon_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb1.jpg?ssl=1 "Spotify-icon_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb[1]"){kind=icon}
Get free access to Spotify Premium now! With Premium you’ll get access to 15 million tracks from thousands of albums and artists on your iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad. If you haven’t tried Premium before, you can try it on your mobile for 48-hours, completely free. You don’t even have to enter credit card details. Simply download this app and log in.
– Instant access to over 15 million tracks
– Stream online
– Listen offline – no mobile connection needed
– Share music with your friends
– Star your favourite tracks
– Wirelessly sync your own MP3s to your iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad
– Create and sync playlists
– Send the tracks you listen to direct to Last.fm & Facebook
* If you don’t have log in details – simply register for a free Spotify account on the Spotify website. Full mobile terms of Use & 48-hour free trial terms and conditions can also be found on the Spotify website.
– New: Context menu in search on iPad.
– Fixes: Loading more albums and artists in search on iPhone.
– Fixes: Playback when your device is full.
– Fixes: Stability improvements.
![mzl_oxqljlfs_320x480-75_thumb_thumb_[1]](https://i0.wp.com/moviesgamesandtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/mzl_oxqljlfs_320x480-75_thumb_thumb_1.jpg?ssl=1 "mzl_oxqljlfs_320x480-75_thumb_thumb_[1]")
![mzl_pabjyxpy_320x480-75_thumb_thumb_[2]](https://i0.wp.com/moviesgamesandtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/mzl_pabjyxpy_320x480-75_thumb_thumb_2.jpg?ssl=1 "mzl_pabjyxpy_320x480-75_thumb_thumb_[2]")
