Tuesday 27 May 2014

Ubisoft's open-world hacking game struggles to establish a connection...



It's really not fair for a game to get the kind of hype that Watch Dogs has received over the last two years. Its publisher, Ubisoft, would never admit it, but the initial reception the game got back at E3 2012 was ridiculous. It immediately set unrealistic expectations for something that was so far away from being released, with so few people actually getting their hands on trying it.
It was one of those lightning in a bottle moments. There was an instant buzz reverberating through the show floor in Los Angeles -- and no one had a firm grasp on what the the game was really about. Interestingly enough, for a title that was able to generate such an organic groundswell for what appeared to be a fresh idea, Watch Dogs lifts influence from countless facets of modern culture, well beyond the obvious hat tip to Grand Theft Auto.
So how on Earth could anything live up to the emotional and monetary investment so many gamers have already pledged? I'm not entirely sure. Because while Watch Dogs has its moments of nirvana, there's some stuff that falls flat, and whole bunch of mediocrity jammed in the middle. In the end, the experience as a whole isn't regrettable, it's just more contrived than you might be willing to accept.
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Ubisoft Montreal
I think Watch Dogs' debut made such an insurmountable splash because people's imaginations ran wild with suggestions of what might be possible in the game. Those expectations can doom a title out of the gate. Watch Dogs doesn't feel as "open-world" as a game like Grand Theft Auto V, mostly because it fails to blur the boundaries of what's possible in the game. Once I was able to wrap my head around the rule set of the Watch Dogs world, everything suddenly felt small and unimportant.
Hacking, the very mechanic Watch Dogs is built upon, doesn't feel strong enough to carry an entire game.
You play as Aiden Pearce, an antihero who has inexplicable hacking abilities that he shares with an underground network of quasi-acquaintances. A few months back his nefarious actions cost him the loss of a loved one. Since that night, guilt has been eating away at him and it's chewed through his relationship with his family. Now it's time for Pearce to get to the bottom of a corrupt world of surveillance and control in order to make sense of who is responsible for his pain.
The game takes place in an alternate present-day Chicago where the entire city is accessible through an all-seeing, interconnected network known as CenTral Operating System, or ctOS. It's the intravenous lifeline of the city, with its tentacles dipped in every aspect of everyday urban life.
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Ubisoft Montreal
Pearce can jack into all of these utilities through his smartphone. He can piggyback into security cameras, trigger traffic lights to switch, cause drawbridges to rise, control trains, and more.
In close-quarters situations Pearce can force electrical boxes to explode, steam pipes to burst, activate forklifts, open gates and unlock doors. These assets form an diabolical sense of playing boobytrap puppetmaster, especially when you're conducting the chaos hidden behind a corner.
Aiden can enter a "profiling mode" at any time that sniffs out top-level information about anyone in the city. It's a neat trick, but it only allows you to steal their bank account balance, unlock a type of car, or eavesdrop on a random call or text. Occasionally they'll lead to a side-mission, but it's overlap that you can access other ways, sometimes contextually within a campaign mission.
Not every area is immediately available to Aiden's smartphone. A district's ctOS mainframe must first be exploited before he has unrestricted access. Think of these as the "viewpoint" locations from the Assassin's Creed series.
The lifeline of the game is centered around security cameras though, as they allow you to chain hacks together as you sort of "Spider-man" from viewpoint to viewpoint. Anything you can see through the lens of a camera is vulnerable.
Players are presented with an deceptively overwhelming amount to do from the start. You can dive right into the campaign to chase down the narrative of Aiden's shattered past and present, or you can spend some time looking for hidden items, compete in races or intercept convoys, among other objectives.
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Ubisoft Montreal
The campaign takes a few hours to gain some momentum, but it's not without the constant bombardment of HUD items distracting you from the game's other features. Some of the extra items are fun to investigate, but others aren't worth more than a first try. There's also a handful of activities that you're bound to have seen before. Can anyone really stomach another round of Texas Hold 'em? A lot of the extras in the game aren't worth the time spent completing them. After a while, earning more cash turns stale and collecting XP feels fruitless. Beyond completionists, most players will get tired of them quickly.
Watch Dogs doesn't do a great job of explaining the circumstances that I, playing as Aiden Pearce, found myself in. At first I thought I'd be maneuvering through the game mostly as a stealthy hacker, secretly infiltrating highly classified areas -- you know, controlling the show from behind the curtain. I was able to piece together that I've assumed the role of a vigilante of some sort, but overall I found my role conflicting. Eventually I was told I need to buy a gun, and all of a sudden I realized, "I need to start killing these people."



courtesy:www.cnet.com

Sunday 18 May 2014

Stepdown Samsung smartwatch is a better deal...



The Good Samsung's Gear 2 Neo comes with a more attractive price, a feature set that's nearly identical to the more expensive Gear 2, and a lot of bells and whistles including apps, offline music playback, and heart-rate monitoring.
The Bad Many of the extras don't work as smoothly as you'd expect. Fitness features aren't well thought out, need polishing. Works only with Samsung phones and tablets.
The Bottom Line The Gear 2 Neo offers the best balance of features and price among Samsung's three 2014 smartwatches, but it falls short of must-have status.

Samsung has three smartwatches in its early-2014 lineup. How many of them are good, and which one should you buy? It's not easy making a decision when most people aren't even sure if they want a smartwatch -- anysmartwatch -- in the first place. And honestly, it's not a good time to recommend buying anything, especially with the first wave of Google Android Wear smartwatches coming soon.
But if you're dead-set on getting one and want one made by Samsung, know this: there's the Gear Fit ($200 in the US, £170 in the UK), the Gear 2 ($300 in the US, £250 in the UK), and the Gear 2 Neo (priced identically to the Fit). The Fit is a fitness band with some extras, but doesn't track fitness very well. The Gear 2 has lots of features, but is expensive. And then there's the Gear 2 Neo, which has nearly everything the Gear 2 has but costs considerably less.
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Left to right: Gear 2 Neo, Gear Fit, Gear 2Sarah Tew/CNET
Keep in mind that you need a Samsung phone or tablet to use the Gears at all. Are you that person? Do you own one of the supported Samsung devices? Then maybe the Neo could be of interest. It's useful at times -- it's a pretty decent watch, too. But it's too fidgety and gimmicky to be a really good gadget.
The Gear 2 Neo is the ultimate hedge bet: it's the least-expensive way to own the most full-featured Gear. It runs the same apps as the Gear 2, has the same screen and processor, and does absolutely everything the Gear 2 does, including track heart rate and change the channels on your TV -- except it lacks a camera, and it's made entirely of plastic. (Given the similarities, this review will only focus on the differences that the Neo offers; see the Gear 2 review if you want my full, in-depth take.) It's more useful than the sexier-looking Gear Fit. If I were buying a Gear, I'd probably buy the Gear 2 Neo.
But, considering that the wearable world is still in flux, and how most of the Gear's features are novelties more than necessities, none of the Gears are "must-have" products, at least for me.
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Gear 2 Neo (left) and Gear 2 (right). Slight differences in design.Sarah Tew/CNET

Design

Black, gray, or orange: the Gear 2 Neo comes clad in one of these colors, from wristband to watch body, in basic plastic. The display, glass-covered, has a brilliantly bright AMOLED touchscreen. In plastic, the Neo feels more like a futuristic Swatch than the more metal-clad Gear 2.
The watchband can be replaced, either with another Gear band or most 22mm watchbands. It involves sliding a pin out and possibly removing links if the replacement is a metal band, but at least the Neo's own band has easy pop-out pins. It still feels like a project.
The Neo charges via Micro USB but needs a clip-on plastic dongle to attach to the Neo's rear contact points. It's annoying but a lot more compact than last year's Galaxy Gear charging cradle. A full charge, which take a couple of hours, lasts around three to four days while connected to your phone, longer if offline.
This year's Gears are all water- and dust-resistant, too, so you could wash your hands or even shower while wearing one. That's what all wearable tech needs to be, but not all are.
Samsung's new Gear 2 smartwatch will sell for $295.
CNET

Gear 2 Neo as smartwatch

The Gear 2 Neo has a ton of baked-in features: a stopwatch and timer, a weather app, an IR-based WatchOn TV remote control, notifications for all apps that ping your Samsung phone regularly, an onboard offline music player, a heart-rate monitor and pedometer, and a microphone and speaker for making phone calls, recording voice memos, using S-Voice voice recognition, and playing back music loudly to annoy everyone around you. That's lots more than the Pebble watch offers, on paper.
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Sarah Tew
Most of these features are at least competent, and some are really good. Voice memo is helpful; the offline music player can load tracks, albeit slowly, and play back up to 4GB of music via Bluetooth headphones while on the go. It's a clever trick to be able to change TV channels using your watch, and being able to quickly answer phone calls can be handy.
Getting notifications is the real killer app, and the Gear 2 Neo does it nearly as well as the Pebble. You need to tap a notification once it appears on the Neo's screen, however, so your latest Twitter reply or Facebook update isn't quite as instantly glanceable.


courtesy:www.cnet.com

Thursday 15 May 2014

A plastic iPad Mini clone with oodles of Android power (hands-on)...


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Aloysius Low/CNET
BEIJING -- Xiaomi has been causing a stir in the smartphone world with its low-cost, high-quality handsets and the Chinese company is hoping to do the same with its Mi Pad tablet. But it might be its rather familiar design that ruffles the most feathers.
With a design closely resembling the Apple iPad Mini, albeit with the iPhone 5C's candy-colored glossy plastic shell, the Mi Pad potentially has the power and price to give Apple a run for its money. That is, if it doesn't get sued by the Californian company first.

The tablet will be available as an "open beta" in China in June -- that is to say, the company will be handing out pre-production samples to its dedicated fans. When it will go on general sale has not yet been announced, nor whether it will head to other countries. The 16GB Wi-Fi only model will cost 1,499 Chinese yuan (roughly $240, £145, AU$260), whereas the 64GB version will go for 1,699 Chinese yuan (around $270, £160, AU$290), which is a commendably small price increase for the extra storage.

Design and display

The Mi Pad liberally borrows from Apple's design. The tablet is clad in shiny plastic that's very similar to the iPhone 5C, and comes in five vibrant hues. The appearance and shape, however, is similar to the iPad Mini -- in fact, the company made several comparisons to the Mini's features during its presentation.

To be fair, Xiaomi's other products don't really resemble Apple's stuff, though the same can't be said about the company's marketing efforts.
Like the Mini, the Mi Pad has a 7.9-inch display, and the same resolution of 2,048x1,536 pixels, for a retina-quality density of 326ppi. Xiaomi claims the Mi Pad has better color accuracy than the Mini, and it uses the same hardy Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
The rounded corners of the Mi Pad are very similar to Apple's iPads, and the tablet has a very thin bezel as well. Like Apple, Xiaomi includes palm detection, which means you won't accidentally tap or swipe on the screen when you're holding the tablet.
There's a drawback to using plastic for its rear though -- it is quite slippery to hold, and frankly, I didn't like the oily feel. Xiaomi has shown it can use premium materials such as aluminum, though doing so would mean the company's slate would be even more closely resemble the iPads, or Huawei's MediaPad X1.
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Aloysius Low/CNET

Specs and software

Xiaomi's Mi Pad is the first device to use Nvidia's Tegra K1 quad-core processor, and from my brief time with the tablet, I found the interface to be as smooth as butter. I can't tell you now that the K1 would do better than Qualcomm's chips, but leaked benchmarks do indicate blazing fast performance.
Apart from the processor, the tablet comes with 2GB RAM and either 16GB or 64GB of onboard storage. A microSD card with support for 128GB cards will let you store all the movies you want without fear of running out of space any time soon.
The Mi Pad has two cameras, an 8-megapixel effort on the back and 5 megapixels on the front for video calls. It trumps the iPad on one last spec -- its 6,700mAh battery, which is 500mAh more than Apple's effort.
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Aloysius Low/CNET
MIUI, the company's customised Android software, will be the OS of choice for the Mi Pad. It will run the latest version, which is based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. My initial impression of this new tablet version is that it greatly resembles Apple's iOS 7, but that's likely no surprise by now.
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Aloysius Low/CNET

Outlook

Xiaomi's CEO Lei Jun said on stage today that he hopes the low price of the Xiaomi Mi Pad will prompt Apple to lower its prices, but I think that's highly unlikely. The company is likely betting that its Apple-ish tablet will attract people who want the design of the iPad without getting a second mortgage. That seems like a great idea, but what makes the iPad so good is its ecosystem. While Android has millions of apps, few are properly optimized for tablets (unlike iOS).
The Mi Pad is currently only slated for sale in China and there's no word yet on whether countries such as Singapore, where Xiaomi is currently selling its products, will be getting the slate. Given Xiaomi's careful pace of expansion, don't expect to see the Mi Pad in Europe or the US anytime soon -- unless you're willing to pay a premium via an online importer, of course.



courtesy: www.cnet.com

Gorgeous metal design that cuts back on size and specs (hands-on)...



The HTC One M8 stormed its way to an "outstanding" verdict in our review thanks to its gorgeous metal body, truck loads of power, brilliant screen, cutting-edge Android software and powerful speakers. If 5 inches is just too much of a stretch for your hands, however, you might want to cast your eyes over the new One Mini 2.
The Mini 2 takes the same classy aluminium design and Android software of the flagship, but shrinks it down to a more manageable 4.5 inches. Is it the perfect smartphone? Well, not quite. In typical fashion, HTC has also shrunk down the specs -- you'll find a 1.2GHz rather than 2.3GHz processor inside the phone, and the display is 720p, down from 1080p.
What will be crucial, then, is the price. HTC has yet to officially say how much the phone will cost, but I'd expect it to sit around the £300 mark (around $500 or AU$540, based on a direct conversion). Even then, its specs put it alongside the new 4G LTE-packing Motorola Moto G, which costs half that.
Worryingly, an early leak from a phone shop pegged the phone at around £425 ($710, AU$760) -- that's one hell of a premium to pay just for a metal back. It's due to go on sale globally from 29 May, so keep your eyes peeled over the coming days for more concrete prices.

Design

It might not have the M8 moniker, but there's absolutely no ignoring the family resemblance between the Mini 2 and the One M8. In fact, there's almost no outward difference -- aside from its smaller size of course -- that separates the two.
Like its big brother, its body is made from aluminium with an attractive brushed metal finish and the black lines crossing the top and bottom on the back. It looks every bit as slick as it does on the full-size model and feels great to hold -- the curved back fits snugly into your palm.
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Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Like the M8, the metal curves around the edges, meeting a thin sliver of black plastic next to the screen. It's a much more premium-looking design than the thick plastic band HTC wrapped around last year's One Mini. It'll come in dark grey, silver and gold colours, although whether we'll see blue and red versions down the line remains to be seen.
The front of the phone is home to the dual "BoomSound" speakers. The One phones' speakers have always been a major feature as their larger size produces an impressive amount of noise. Their position on the front, too, means the sound is fired directly towards you when you're holding it -- which, when you think about it, makes a whole load of sense. It also means the sound isn't muffled when you lie it flat on its back, which you typically would for a speakerphone call.
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Andrew Hoyle/CNET
The sound from the M8's speakers was particularly impressive. The Mini 2's speakers are physically smaller, however, so I don't expect they'll give the same sort of volume. So long as I can hear my favourite podcasts in the kitchen over the sound of my bacon hissing in the pan, I'll be happy.
The phone comes with 16GB of built-in storage, but you can expand that using the microSD card slot, which is tucked into the side of the phone. On the other side is the SIM card slot. It takes the tiny nano-SIM cards, so you'll need to get yourself a smaller card if you currently have a micro SIM in your phone.

Display

The One Mini 2's 4.5-inch display has a 1,280x720-pixel resolution. While that's a step down from the 1080p resolution of the M8, the smaller screen size means it doesn't need as many pixels to remain sharp. Its 326 pixel-per-inch density is very similar to the iPhone.
Indeed, in my hands-on time, I found the screen to be perfectly crisp enough for most tasks and even small text in Web pages looked easily readable. It seemed bright too and had decent viewing angles, but I'll have to leave the final verdict for the review when I can look at my test videos side-by-side against its big brother.

Features

Powering the phone is a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor -- another reduction from the M8, which packs a 2.3GHz quad-core chip. Still, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor it uses has given some decent results in other phones I've tested so I don't expect it to be noticeably sluggish. I'm confident it will handle most of your everyday tasks -- Twitter, Facebook, Netflix -- without much trouble and should be able to manage some light gaming too.
It's running on the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat software, with HTC's Sense 6 interface slapped over the top. Sense 6 is my favourite of the manufacturers' customised versions of Android, as its minimalist interface not only looks sleek, it's simple to use. The BlinkFeed news aggregator sits to the left of the home screens, but mercifully can be removed completely if you're not fussed about keeping it around.
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Andrew Hoyle/CNET
The back of the phone is home to a 13-megapixel camera, rather than the "Ultrapixel" camera in the M8. HTC says its ultrapixels are physically larger than standard pixels and are therefore able to take in more light, resulting in better quality photos. I wasn't particularly blown away by the M8's camera skills, so I'm looking forward to seeing how a regular camera sensor compares.
The camera interface looks much the same though, with its easy-to-navigate icons and host of image effects, HDR mode and panorama mode. What's missing, however, is the depth sensor on the back, meaning you won't be able to take 3D-effect photos or refocus your pictures after you've taken them. The 360-degree panorama function also isn't available on the Mini -- which I think I'll miss much more than the depth sensor.
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Andrew Hoyle/CNET
The phone has a 2,100mAh battery stuffed inside it which, with moderate use, should be able to make it through a whole day without conking out. I'll be putting it through its paces in the full review, of course. The sealed metal body means it's not removable, so you'll need to carry an external battery pack, rather than a backup internal battery, if you're going away from a plug for a while.

Outlook

As with its previous mini flagship, HTC has taken the design of its top model but watered down the internal specs. Luckily though, that design is so sharp that it goes a long way to making up for the slower processor. Fingers crossed HTC pairs the Mini 2 with a similarly cut-down price tag.



courtesy:www.cnet.com

Wednesday 14 May 2014

Why the death of Microsoft's Xbox One vision means we all lose...


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Xbox One.Sarah Tew/CNET
When defending the drastic decision to strip the Kinect from the Xbox One and sell the console on its own for $399, Microsoft executives Phil Spencer and Yusef Mehdi repeated the same whitewashed line: it's about consumer choice.
"If consumers choose that they don't want Kinect, or they want to add it later, we're going to make that available...in the end, I hope everyone sees that the experience with Kinect is the best Xbox Oneexperience," Spencer told CNET following the announcement. Hopes aside, Microsoft sent a strong signal with complex implications.
Microsoft knew that spinning the unbundling as a wake-up moment -- they're finally listening to consumers! -- was the most positive way to admit that pricing its console $100 more than Sony's better-selling PlayStation 4 had pushed the company into yet another corner it had to compromise its way out of.
Admittedly, the Kinect separation is a pro-consumer move and one of Microsoft's only strategic options left to gain ground, having shipped to retailers 2 million fewer units than Sony confirms it has sold to consumers. Introducing the option of a cheaper console will undoubtedly boost sales while giving the gaming community, namely the forum posters and Internet commenters who wield sizable influence in crafting industry narratives, exactly what it had asked for all along. A win-win, it would seem.
Not quite. A pro-consumer decision doesn't always equate to the best outcome for the industry, especially considering that we got here by caricaturing Microsoft until it began tossing everything remotely controversial under the bus. In this case, stripping the Xbox One of its last remaining stand-out feature -- the last step in a gradual, painful reversal of everything Microsoft once tried to build a next-gen foundation out of -- had become inevitable and will leave gamers worse off in the long run.

Microsoft fumbles its narrative

Blame for Microsoft's trailing position in the console market clearly rests not just with those who skewered the Xbox One at every turn, but with the company's utter failure to stick to its guns, properly communicate its vision, and justify its higher price tag.
Microsoft tremendously botched the messaging around the Xbox One's launch, failing to initially disclose integral stipulations like whether the effort to enforce digital rights management policies would require the console to be connected to the Internet at all times, or whether the Kinect needed to be plugged in for the Xbox One to function.
Those mistakes, punctuated by the departure of top-level Xbox executive Don Mattrick for Zynga, has haunted the Xbox One ever since. The company knew, however, that it was boldly wading into uncharted territory, though perhaps too soon.
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Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox OneSarah Tew/CNET
"For us, we probably said it was going to happen sooner than people were ready for it to happen. And I'm glad we've gone back to the disc model. People have to accept it," Albert Penello, a senior director of product at Microsoft, told Gamespot last fall. "The Internet bandwidth caps have to support it globally. Internet infrastructure has to support it globally. So it's going to happen, it's just a matter of time."
Penello's logic was emblematic of Microsoft's stance following the always-on walk back and one of a confident prophet moving a bit too fast to usher in a bright-yet-untested future. It was a position Microsoft wielded gleefully into the November launch of the Xbox One, yet one that has since been radically eroded to passivity and pandering thanks to incessant community push-back and subsequent sluggish sales.
So Penello, who called the Kinect "as fundamental to the platform as the controller is in many ways," has now eaten his words while Spencer, who once said "the all-in-one system that we built is really aboutbuilding a box that can play a role in all forms of entertainment in the home," had to sound the death knell for more than just the Kinect on Tuesday. The unbundling represents the last vestige of the Xbox One vision getting the ax. It has further flattened the game landscape and has halted the progress of next-gen gaming that goes beyond incremental graphics upgrades.

Same tired squabbles

Ultimately, the end result of the widespread pressure for uniformity in the industry will be a perpetuation of the more malignant undercurrents entrenching console gaming in its bloated, risk-adverse traditions. Instead of fresh takes that incorporate new technologies and take bold chances, we're now likely to get more of the same: more cycles of selling sequels and turning riffs on established game genres into franchises, all for what have become overly marketed PCs that just happen to be plugged into our TVs.
The fight for the living room, for fully realized next-generation entertainment that transcends gaming, has been reduced to the same tired squabbles that render console war discussions vapid and self-defeating. More choice for consumers has become Microsoft's forced doublespeak for an offering that closely resembles that of its competitor, a decision made solely to boost sales and keep fanboys from foaming at the mouth.
Because by unbundling the Kinect from the Xbox One -- a splintering of the peripheral's install base that may kill Kinect's future and, at best, will undoubtedly hamper game development that incorporates motion control -- we're left with two video game consoles that are essentially identical. Granted, the PS4 has a graphical edge, and the Xbox One cable-box functionality, though the former is entirely negligible to the everyday consumer and the latter now jeopardized given the One's reliance on the Kinect's IR blasting functionality to control your television.
After months of adamant defense of the Kinect's role in the Xbox One experience, Microsoft has yet again reversed its stance, bringing full circle a thorough stripping of nearly every interesting element from its console -- it's daring yet poorly handled promise of a disc-less future and digital resale program; its forward-thinking family-sharing plan; the motion and voice-controlled centerpiece of its entertainment vision. That means that the Xbox One and PS4 are not only barely differentiable from each other, but also at their core offer nothing substantially different than what their predecessors did nine years ago.
The central issue lies in the original promise of the Xbox One, the reality of where we are roughly one year later, and what was accomplished in the collective crusade. We did not need two separate consoles that do the exact same things, play pretty much the same games, and stream the same services you get with a $99 Roku. What we needed were real choices that represented not which console you wanted to play Destiny or Watch Dogs or Call of Duty on, but different systems that cater to wider audiences, provide different use cases, look forward, and aren't chained down to the status quo.
Microsoft tried to escape those confines of the console war and it failed, caving to nearly every demand put forth by the gaming audience with a shoulder shrug and a "maybe one day." Now, the Xbox is back to fighting a battle in which everyone loses.



courtesy:www.cnet.com

Nintendo set to launch first app, but don't expect gaming...


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Nintendo
Nintendo's troubles with the Nintendo 3DS at the hands of mobile gaming might make you think that the company's first mobile app would deliver gaming to smartphones and tablets. Well, you'd be wrong.
Nintendo and Japan-based wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo will launch an app on Thursday that will allow users to tether their Nintendo 3DS systems to their smartphones to get on the Web on the gaming device. The feature will initially only be available in the US, and Nintendo hasn't said whether tethering might come to other markets in the future.
The move to tethering appears to be little more than an obligatory step on Nintendo's part to acknowledge the mobile space is hurting its operation. Nintendo recently announced that sales of its hardware and software are way down and part of that is due to the popularity of casual gaming on mobile devices.
Despite Nintendo's troubles at the hands of mobile, the company seems content to simply dip its toes in the water and not go all-in. Indeed, the tethering app just makes it easier for Nintendo 3DS owners to connect to the Web; not play games on other devices.
Since Nintendo's recent downfall, many critics have argued that the company should explore the possibility of bringing its first-party titles, including Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, to iOS andAndroid. Nintendo has so far rebuffed those calls, believing that keeping its games on its own consoles is the best move.
Still, Nintendo hasn't totally sworn off mobile. The company will launch its first wholly owned mobile app by the end of the year to integrate mobile devices with its playing experience. It's not clear just yet what that app might offer.
CNET has contacted Nintendo for comment on the new app. We will update this story when we have more information.



courtesy:www.cnet.com

Sunday 11 May 2014

Top five external hard drives: Backup is like insurance...



Backup to digital storage is like insurance to driving, you need it even though you hope that you'll never have to resort to it. Unfortunately, backing up is not required by law and I've seen a lot of accidents when folks lose their precious data. You can buy a new car but you just can't buy back your lost memories, no matter how much money you have.
In short, I just can't stress enough how important backing up is. The good news is it's very easy, and cheap, to have a backup drive for your computer. Following is the top five external hard drive that I've reviewed recently that will make excellent home backup solutions. They are all affordable, easily to use, and works with both Windows and Macs. They also comes with helpful backup software for home users.
Note that these drives are listed based on review order with the latest review on top. They are equally great backup drives so pick one that fit your need - generally you want to get a drive that has the same or larger capacity than that of your computer.. And do that today!

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Dong Ngo/CNET

Seagate Backup Plus Desktop

The Backup Plus Desktop external drive is one of the first on the market that offers up to 5TB of storage space. This is the top capacity for a single drive and is an excellent drive for those with lots of data. This is the only drive on this list that's for desktops (it requires a separate power adapter to work) and is ideal for using at home.
The Backup Plus Desktop is very fast and come with automatic and user-friendly backup software called Seagate Dashboard for home users. The software works very well and, after the initial setup, takes care of backing up by itself without users' having to get involved. At the current cost of less than $220 for 5TB (there are also 2TB, 3TB, and 4TB versions that are accordingly cheaper), it's a steal.

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Dong Ngo/CNET

Seagate Backup Plus Slim

The Backup Plus Slim is the portable version of the Backup Plus Desktop. Like the rest of the drives on this list, it's bus-powered, meaning it requires only one USB cable (included) to work. With up to 2TB in a portable design, this is an excellent backup drive to use both at home and while you are on the road.

Seagate Backup Plus Fast (4GB)
Dong Ngo/CNET

Seagate Backup Plus Fast

The Backup Plus Fast doubles the capacity, the physical thickness, and the performance of the Slim drive above. This is currently the only USB 3.0 portable drive on the market that has 4TB of storage space and the performance faster than 200MBps. The Fast achieves this by using two internal hard drives (2TB each) on the inside in a RAID 0 configuration. Since RAID 0 generally heightens the risk of data loss, this drive should be used for backup only. And when you do, it takes very short time to back up a large amount of storage space. Other than that, it comes with the same Seagate Dashboard backup software same as other Seagate drives above. 

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Dong Ngo/CNET

WD My Passport Slim

The My Passport Slim is an excellent portable storage device. The drive is fast with the USB 3.0 speed of more than 100MBps and is very compact while offering up to 2TB of storage space. Like other WD drives, the Slim comes with WD SmartWare backup software that not only does the job automatically, but also allows for saving versions of files, a great way to protect yourself from accidental editing. The drive also comes with a security feature that protects its content with a password. This way in case of thief, your data is also safe from prying eyes. All this makes it a great choice for backup while you're on the go. 

WD My Passport Ultra (500GB, Black)
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WD My Passport Ultra

The My Passport Ultra is very similar to the My Passport Slim above but just about 10MBps faster. It also comes in four different colors including titanium, red, blue, and black, and is slightly larger than its brother. Other than that it shares the same WD SmartWare backup software and security features. It also costs about the same with the 2TB version currently costing just about $110. 
CapcitiesWeightDimensionsBus-poweredTop speed
Seagate Backup Plus Desktop2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB2.38 lbs6.22 x 4.88 x 1.73 inchesNo180MBps
Seagate Backup Slim500GB, 1TB, 2TB5.6 ounces4.5 x 3 x 0.4 inchYes120MBps
Seagate Backup Fast4TB.68 lb4.6 x 3.2 x 0.8 inchYes230MBps
WD My Passport Slim1TB, 2TB5.6 ounces4.33 x 3.14 x 0.48 inchYes108MBps
WD My Passport Ultra500GB, 1TB, 2TB9 ounces4.34 x 3.21 x 0.5 inchYes119MBps
Finally, note that the essence of backups is having multiple copies of your data at multiple places, the more copies you have, the more frequently backups are done, the safer your data is.



courtesy:www.cnet.com
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