A Closer Look at LEGO – New Avengers: Endgame War Machine Buster

Andrew Edney
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A Closer Look at LEGO – New Avengers: Endgame War Machine Buster

The LEGO Group announced the launch of their all-new LEGO Avengers Super Heroes range, in collaboration with the upcoming Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame, which is in UK cinemas from April 25th. Here is a closer look at the War Machine Buster set.

Storm into battle against the Outriders and save Ant-Man with the LEGO® Marvel Avengers 76124 War Machine Buster. This awesome posable mech features an opening minifigure cockpit, 6-stud rapid shooter, 2 detachable stud-shooting cannons, 2 flick missiles, gripping hands and an opening storage compartment for extra ammo. This hot construction toy has 4 minifigures—including War Machine and Ant-Man, both with new-for-March-2019 Avengers team suit decoration—to recreate thrilling scenes from the Marvel Avengers movies.

  • This buildable superhero playset includes 4 Marvel Universe minifigures: War Machine, Ant-Man and 2 Outriders.
  • War Machine Buster mech features an opening minifigure cockpit, 6-stud rapid shooter, 2 detachable stud-shooting cannons, 2 flick missiles, posable arms and legs, gripping hands and an opening storage compartment for extra ammo.
  • Detach the stud-shooting cannons and place in the War Machine minifigure’s hands and on his shoulder.

  • The War Machine and Ant-Man minifigures in this LEGO® building set for kids feature new-for-March-2019 Avengers team suit decoration.
  • Recreate thrilling action from the Marvel Avengers movies with this creative construction toy.
  • War Machine Buster mech measures over 6” (17cm) high, 2” (6cm) long and 5” (14cm) wide.

If you are a LEGO fan and an Avengers fan then these sets are for you – go get them now and prepare to save the galaxy!

LEGO – New Avengers: Endgame War Machine Buster is available now priced at £29.99.

You can see all the new sets on the LEGO website here.

Join the conversation on social media using #LEGOAvengers and #BuildYourEndgame to see other creations and share your own heroic builds!

LEGO – New Avengers: Endgame range released ahead of film launch

Andrew Edney
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3
LEGO – New Avengers: Endgame range released ahead of film launch

The LEGO Group has today announced the launch of their all-new LEGO Avengers Super Heroes range, in collaboration with the upcoming Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame, which is in UK cinemas from April 25th.

The new range of LEGO brick creations consists of five exciting sets that offer builders from the age of six and older the opportunity to recreate scenes from the film, or build their own endgame to save their universe from the evil Thanos.

Available from March 31st, the range will be stocked at Amazon, Smyths Toys, and Argos, as well as other key retailers.

The range features a new War Machine Buster set, offering fans a unique building experience to save Ant-Man from the dangerous Outriders. The War Machine Buster can be posed for display, but also fully functions as an action fighter – perfect for battling your friends or as a centre-piece for your LEGO Marvel collection.

Also new to range are the Avengers’ Ultimate Quinjet and the Avengers Compound Battle, both of which are bound to excite LEGO brick and Marvel fans alike, helping them get even closer to the action with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

One of the new sets in the range is the Iron Man Hall of Armour, where builders can carry out experiments with Tony Stark and capture the Outrider amongst a range of Iron Man armour suits – including the Iron Man MK 1, Iron Man MK 5, Iron Man MK 41 and Iron Man MK 50.

Avengers stars that have returned in Minifigure form include Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Nebula and more – as well as larger figures of Thanos and Hulk that can add excitement to any action scene.

You can see all the new sets on the LEGO website here.

Join the conversation on social media using #LEGOAvengers and #BuildYourEndgame to see other creations and share your own heroic builds!

Teespring sees increase of thousands of gamers on merch site

Andrew Edney
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1
Teespring sees increase of thousands of gamers on merch site

Gaming is one of the largest, most in demand and most profitable markets today, so much so that it has spawned a generation of gamers whose YouTube channels are amongst the most watched on the planet.

These creators now bring themselves that bit closer to their loyal fan bases by creating merchandise which is evidently being snapped up by their followers. Teespring, the leading Silicon Valley e-commerce platform, has seen a huge increase of UK gaming creators since the introduction of the merch shelf feature on YouTube. There are thousands of gamers globally on Teespring, and the merch shelf feature allows these content creators to sell custom merchandise directly under their videos.

The feature is available throughout Europe, the UK and the US, and has supported monumental growth already in the merch industry. Recently, the merch site has seen a huge influx of interest from gamers such as TRUEMobster (1,288,196 subscribers), Outside Xbox (2,362,348), Eurogamer (572,000), xHOUNDISHx (404,000), Fudgy (447,000), GameboyLuke (203,000) and coreross (244,000). Each of these leading YouTubers are being empowered in diversifying their revenue streams, while expanding how their followers can connect with them.

The Teespring platform already has over 5 million users worldwide, helping its creators to sell over $100 million products, and ship over 35 million orders. The video games market is expected to be worth over 90 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, (BestTheNews, 2016), and gaming merchandise has been growing in popularity over the last few years – Rovio generated more than 40% of its $200 million revenue through licensing official Angry Birds merchandise back in 2012. Teespring predicts further growth in 2019, as creators in the field continue to benefit from this revenue stream.

Chris Elsheikhi, Head of Europe, says: “Our most engaged UK creators are part of the gaming industry, and we’ve seen a huge increase in UK-based creators this year. We’re excited to continue to support this influential group of creators as they continue to deliver what their fans are looking for.”

Catch-22 from The Folio Society

Andrew Edney
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0
Catch-22 from The Folio Society

Joseph Heller’s masterpiece of anti-war satire is given a fittingly glorious home in this Folio edition introduced by celebrated writer and critic Malcolm Bradbury.

Illustration ©Neil Packer from The Folio Society edition of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22

Captain Yossarian is a rebel with a cause: to avoid flying the bombing missions over Italy and France that sooner or later will almost certainly result in his own death. His attempts to convince his superiors that he is insane and should be grounded are thwarted by the oblique piece of reasoning known as Catch-22. ‘If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.’

Illustration ©Neil Packer from The Folio Society edition of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22

One of the greatest anti-war novels ever written, Joseph Heller’s darkly comic masterpiece is now in its sixth Folio printing, the best-selling illustrated edition celebrating the massive literary significance of the book. In an introduction that is as critically insightful as the novel is compelling, the late academic and celebrated novelist Malcolm Bradbury discusses the global heartbreak caused by two world wars, while reflecting on their transformative effect on art and literature.

Illustration ©Neil Packer from The Folio Society edition of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22

The presentation of the book, from the artwork on the case, to the printing on the spine, is lovely – just like the other books from The Folio Society.

For this book, The Folio Society has artist Neil Packer produce some striking images.

And for those of you who might be interested, Catch-22 will also be a TV mini-series starring George Clooney which is due to air in May 2019.

The Folio Society edition of Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, introduced by Malcolm Bradbury and illustrated by Neil Packer is available exclusively from www.FolioSociety.com priced at £39.95.

Review: Shadow Ghost the new streaming box for the Shadow Cloud service

Chris Hare
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0
Review: Shadow Ghost the new streaming box for the Shadow Cloud service

If you like the idea of gaming on your TV in your living room the Shadow Ghost (£109.95), a new streaming box that brings the power of a high-end Windows PC to your home office or living room without any of the hardware, feels specifically made for gamers like me, those who want to play on PC without having to do any of the technical work.

Shadow Ghost works with all your peripherals and makes connections easy via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It supports resolutions up to 4K UHD 60Hz through HDMI 2.0.

HDMI 2.0 4K UHD 60Hz / 1080p 144Hz
Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Dual Band
Bluetooth 4.1
Ethernet Gigabit
2 USB 3.0+ 2 USB 2.0
Audio in/out Jack 3.5 mm

Dimensions : 182x123x50 mm

 

Like the review of the Shadow service, you don’t need the Shadow Ghost to use the cloud service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGliTNhQKY8

Shadow Ghost contains only the necessary hardware to log you into your Shadow account and connect your favourite accessories (gamepad, keyboard, mouse,etc.).

You just plug your power and HDMI cable and the internet cable or login via WI-FI if you like. The whole device is completely silent when running at all times, its good value for the money but only if you need it.

So for this time, I won’t give it a score because you don’t need it to use the service but it is a beautiful design device.

Review: Can Shadow Cloud computing help you game and be creative as well

Chris Hare
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Review: Can Shadow Cloud computing help you game and be creative as well

Cloud Gaming has come a long way in a short time with the now dead Onlive service, now Shadow cloud computing has come to help.

Not only does Shadow give you full access to a Window 10 Home PC, with the following specs.

The Shadow PC has an Intel Xeon e5 2667 v3, accompanied by 12GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 1080 with 16GB of VRAM. Sadly, storage space is limited. It comes with 256 GB as standard, but you can upgrade the storage to 1TB for an extra £2.95 with the service costing Pricing is £29.95 for the cancel anytime option, or £26.95 if you sign up for 12 months.

Shadow gives you access to very fast internet connection, it’s said to have a 1Gbps download with 100Mbps upload speed.

The connection on the Shadow servers
My home internet connection speed

But given the fact that Shadow connects you to a 1Gbps internet connection from the data centre, you can download games at lightning speeds. And it doesn’t matter what connection you’re using to dial into your Shadow either – all that connection needs to do is transmit your inputs and send you the video – the link between the cloud-based Shadow and the internet remains a solid 1Gbps.

As such you only need internet bandwidth between 5 and 25Mbps to get a decent Shadow experience. Though for the best gaming performance you want a low ping, stable connection, with low packet loss. That’s why fibre and cable connections are preferred for the best gaming experience, but you can game on your phones using there Shadow app or iOS and Android.

But why would you want Shadow instead of your own dedicated gaming PC? As much as we love our gaming rigs we can’t deny there’s one significant barrier to entering the high-performance PC game, and that’s money. It costs a huge amount of cash to build yourself a serious gaming rig, even if you get your hands dirty, carefully source all the parts, and build it all yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYNyYJidzis

With the cost of an equivalent PC being around £1,000 it would take you more than three years to spend the same amount on your Shadow account.

Here’s the big kicker though, all that time later the physical gaming rig you would have spent £1,000 on three years ago will have become increasingly behind the times in performance terms and that’s about the time when you’d have to start seriously thinking about some expensive CPU or GPU upgrades.

From my laptop specs

To the Shadow Specs

Here is me playing Fortnite using Shadow on my rubbish laptop

https://youtu.be/99p5-ZW7BeA

For the time I used the service I had no problems at all, I even used the service when I was travelling to Paris I even used it on my phone using an Xbox One controller linked via Bluetooth.

All I can really say is I hope more hard drive space is added as normal as 256GB is used very quickly indeed, I really like this service.

Vodafone UK is the first company to live test 5G in Birmingham

Chris Hare
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0
Vodafone UK is the first company to live test 5G in Birmingham

Vodafone is the first company to live test 5G in Birmingham as part of its UK-wide trial, with Birmingham New Street becoming the first train station to test the new, faster mobile technology.

Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, tested the region’s new technology on the New Street concourse.  Passengers at the station were also invited to test 5G speeds using a 5G router.

When compatible 5G handsets and devices arrive later this year, commuters in busy locations will be able to load a web page or a video instantly.  Thanks to super low latency, they will be able to stream a movie or download a work file over 5G seamlessly without buffering or lag. Vodafone is rolling out 5G to a number of key commuter locations across the UK during 2019; and will switch on the new network in 19 towns and cities, including Wolverhampton, by the end of the year. 

The introduction of 5G services supports the West Midlands Combined Authority’s strategy to give consumers and businesses in Birmingham and the surrounding area the very latest digital communications.

Live testing is now also taking place at a number of sites across the city.  The sites are all connected to Vodafone’s multi-billion-pound single optical fibre converged network, which is already providing customers in the city with fast 4G mobile, home broadband, Internet of Things (IoT) technology and business services.

Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street said: “I am delighted that Vodafone has brought 5G to Birmingham; and that New Street is the UK’s first 5G-enabled rail station. When I was Managing Director at John Lewis, we saw online shopping transform the retail industry. I believe the West Midlands 5G project will enable our businesses, hospitals, public transport and universities to explore new services and stay ahead of their competition.” 

Anne Sheehan, Director of Vodafone Business said: “We are delighted to bring 5G to the West Midlands, giving businesses, residents and visitors fast and reliable connectivity even in exceptionally busy locations such as train stations and airports.  5G will enable new applications and experiences and support the development of connected cities and smart transport solutions. It will help businesses to implement emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT and robotics. We look forward to continuing to work with Andy Street and his team to deliver the vision of a more prosperous and digitally connected region.”

Leader of Birmingham City Council Cllr Ian Ward said: “The West Midlands wants to lead the way in 5G and this is an exciting step forward. 5G will help us supercharge the West Midlands economy; and the possibilities for businesses, individuals, investors and innovators are huge.”

The West Midlands Urban Connected Communities 5G Project (UCC), initiated and jointly funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), will create the UK’s first region-wide 5G test bed and will roll out later this year.

Northern Lights come to London for the launch of the Huawei P30 series

Chris Hare
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0
Northern Lights come to London for the launch of the Huawei P30 series

Huawei is bringing the Northern Lights to the skies of London this weekend, with a mesmerising laser art installation to mark the UK launch of the new Huawei P30 Series and new ‘Aurora’ colour.

Lighting up the night sky above the iconic Tower of London, the global technology leader commissioned immersive artist Dan Acher to recreate a bespoke installation of the Aurora Borealis, which occurs most prominently near the Northern and Southern poles; the result of the sun’s influence on the Earth’s magnetic field, using a series of breath-taking lasers and haze.

Huawei brings the Northern Lights to London to celebrate the launch of the Huawei P30 Pro. Overlooking the iconic Tower of London, The Aurora Borealis was staged to showcase the superior photographic capabilities of the new handset, which allows users to capture incredible detail and colour in even low light. (installation created by Immersive artist Dan Acher)

 

The installation will be open free to the public on both Friday evening and Saturday evening from 8pm to 10:30pm.

DJ and model Vogue Williams and long-standing star of Made in Chelsea and fashion designer, Oliver Proudlock, were among those who attended the exclusive VIP preview of the dance of the Aurora Borealis on Thursday 4th April.


Vogue Williams and Oliver Proudlock attended Huawei London Lights event to mark the launch of the new Huawei P30 Pro. The unique installation was created by immersive artist, Dan Acher, who recreated the Northern Lights over the Tower of London with a series of lasers and haze. The spectacle was captured on the Huawei P30 Pro, showcasing its unparalleled photography capabilities, even in low level light.

At the event, guests drank specially curated cocktails to reflect the new Huawei P30 series colour palette, including the new Aurora, Breathing Crystal and Amber Sunrise and snapped photos of the spectacle on the new Huawei P30 Pro handset, which features unparalleled photography capabilities that can capture stunning detail and vibrant colour, even in low-level light.

According to research carried out on behalf of Huawei, witnessing this natural phenomenon is top of UK millennials’ ‘experiences’ bucket list, with 34% citing this as something they want to see before they hit 40.  This was followed by Niagara Falls (24%), going on safari (23%) and walking along the Great Wall of China (20%).

“Featuring the Leica Quad Camera System, the Huawei P30 series is rewriting the rules of photography,’’ said Anson Zhang, Managing Director, Consumer Business Group, Huawei UK.

‘’What better way to showcase the unparalleled photography capabilities of our flagship smartphone than to recreate the breath-taking natural phenomenon of the Northern Lights in London. Featuring technology that allows you to capture every detail and vibrant colours, even in the darkest of conditions, you’ll be sure to capture our London Lights in all their glory with the Huawei P30 Pro handset. ’’

Open to the public on Friday 5 and Saturday 6 April between 8pm and 10.30pm, the Huawei P30 Pro handset will also be available for attendees to try out in order to photograph the faux aurora.

The best vantage point is in front of the Tower of London ticket office, where visitors are encouraged to share their images with the hashtag #Huaweilondonlights, tagging @Huaweimobileuk.

Huawei adds benefits for P30 series owners with exclusive services

Chris Hare
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0
Huawei adds benefits for P30 series owners with exclusive services

To celebrate the launch of the P30 series, HUAWEI will bring a range of mobile services benefits to every HUAWEI P30 device including increased cloud storage, elegant mobile themes, and exclusive AppGallery gifts.

The all-new HUAWEI P30 device will be equipped with up to 50GB of free Cloud storage enabling users to have enough space to synchronise, backup and restore their data. Users can easily transfer data across all HUAWEI devices, as well as store and access files safely anywhere, anytime.

HUAWEI Themes enables users to customise the display on their smartphones through a selection of beautiful and wide ranging artistic images. HUAWEI P30 users have first-hand access to ten new art masterpieces themes. These themes will be free exclusively for P30 users and include representations of works from acclaimed art masters worldwide.

In addition, HUAWEI P30 users will be able to access welcome gifts worth €150 from the Huawei AppGallery including special in-game events, prize draws, rewards and travel coupons.​

To sign up for all added benefits, P30 users simply need to log into their Huawei ID in their device settings.

The Future of Huawei and Honor on becoming No 1

Chris Hare
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0
The Future of Huawei and Honor on becoming No 1

Yesterday Mr. Richard Yu, Executive Director, CEO of Huawei Consumer BG has announced the company’s new strategic goals.

  1. Huawei will become the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer
  2. HONOR will become the 2nd largest smartphone manufacturer in China, and 4th in the world
  3. The company will support HONOR in the development of cutting-edge products and continue its investments in technology innovation, channel distribution and retail strategies while maintaining a firm dual-brand strategy between HONOR and Huawei. Both brands will maintain a forward-thinking mindset and help create an intelligent, fully-connected world.

According to Mr. Richard Yu, he believes that “Huawei Consumer BG has arrived at a brand new stage,” and that “Huawei and HONOR are likely to become the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer this year.”

These new goals come after the company has achieved all seven strategic goals set by Mr. Richard Yu in 2012, including:

  1. Transform from ODM non-branded operator customization to an independent OEM brand
  2. Upgrade from low-end to mid- to high-end smart terminals
  3. Stop selling ultra-low-end feature phones with high sales volume but low profit
  4. Incorporate the HiSilicon quad-core processor and Balong chip
  5. Develop an e-commerce business
  6. Design an Emotion UI user experience
  7. Become the top performer in the global hardware industry

Huawei’s consumer business leads the company’s revenue with an increase of 48.4%, outperforming Huawei’s carrier network business. Last year, Huawei’s consumer business achieved sales of RMB 348.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 45.1%, making it the largest contributor to the company’s revenue.

Honor View 20

HONOR has cemented its leading position with strong growth, despite a global industry downturn. According to IDC, the global smartphone market recorded a 3.1% year-over-year decline in shipments in the first three quarters of 2018, but HONOR bucked that trend and achieved a 27.1% increase. Also, HONOR achieved a year-on-year (YoY) increase of over 170% in international sales in 2018. HONOR ranked No.2 in global online sales volume with a 29.4% increase YoY in 2018 [Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, 2018].

HONOR has launched a number of new technologies this year that showcase the brand’s pioneer position in the industry, including:

  • 3D TOF: The HONOR View20 includes a TOF (Time of Flight) 3D sensor in its rear camera system. With the added depth sensing, skeletal tracking, and real-time motion capturing capabilities enabled by this new sensor, the HONOR View20 is a remarkably slim-bodied 3D transformer with functions like 3D Motion-Controlled Gaming, 3D Shaping, and Magic AR.
  • All-View Display: The HONOR View20 uses a 6.4-inch 2310p x 1080p display with 398 PPI. The new All-View display adopts an innovative in-screen camera design; it abandons the widely used notch design which occupies a relatively large area of the front panel and creates a very small hole with a diameter of only 4.5mm for the front camera. As a result, the HONOR View20 provides a striking viewing experience with an extraordinary 91.8% body-to-screen ratio. The 19.5:9 widescreen of the HONOR View20 is also close to the aspect ratio used in cinemas, providing an immersive movie-watching experience.
  • 5G: Huawei and HONOR have been deeply involved in all three levels of network progress, from 3G to 4G, and now 5G: the first involves standard and core patent initiators; the second are those who provide and verify solutions that promote network development; the third are smartphone brands based on 5G solution providers as well as manufacturers of 5G application services who create all kinds of apps. HONOR has a head start in the tactical planning of 5G devices and plans to launch its first 5G mobile phone this year, according to Mr. George Zhao, President of HONOR, at Mobile World Congress 2019.

“HONOR is on the brink of yet another breakthrough and there is no slowing down for us. As the going gets tough, the tough get going. We’ll treat each day as an opportunity to deliver greater value to our fans. For HONOR, the best is yet to come,” said Mr. George Zhao.

Do you think Huawei and Honor can get to Number 1 by this time next year?

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