October, 2010
Golden Joystick Awards 2010 Winners
October 31, 2010
As one of the biggest and most prestigious gaming awards out there, the Golden Joystick Awards are quickly becoming arguably the most important in the country (only exceeded perhaps by the BAFTA Games Awards) and provide a very good indication of what the gaming public really like due to the fact that they are awarded completely on the votes unlike the judging system seen in other awards.
Back in June we brought you the Golden Joystick Award 2010 nominations for the 16 slightly modified categories and 200 days, over 4000 games and a massive 1.54 million votes later the results are in as to which are the biggest games of 2010; if you voted did your nominations come out on top? And if not it certainly makes interesting reading for any game fan out there!
Continue reading »Apollo HQ Review (Project and Contact Management)
October 30, 2010
If you’ve ever had to manage lots of tasks at once, or do any team management, you’ll be able to appreciate how difficult it is to stay organised with so many things happening at the same time.
In the past, I’ve tried out project management tools such as Basecamp, but I never fully appreciated the features it had on offer, and found the interface frustrating at the best of times.
Given the chance to look at a brand new project management system on offer, called Apollo HQ, I jumped at the chance, and hoped that my problems were finally solved. After a quick look at some of the features and the interface, I had high expectations. Did it disappoint, or live up to everything it promised? Let’s take a look!
Continue reading »Playstation Loyalty Rewards Program Announced, But What About The European Launch?
October 29, 2010
Sony has announced that they will be introducing a new Loyalty Rewards scheme for Playstation 3 users which is set to be released in Spring 2011……for the US only!!!
At first it will be an invitation only beta which will then roll out to the rest of the US next year. On a European launch, Sony had this to say:
“We will be evaluating the success of the programme in that region, and based on the response of consumers, we will consider rolling it out to other markets in the future.”
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Sky Anytime+ Bringing HD TV On-Demand, But Only Over Sky Broadband Unlimited / Connect?
October 28, 2010
Ever since Sky launched its Anytime service on the Sky+ HD box, users have been calling for more content. What content there is there is great, for sure, but sometimes when you’re sat at home looking for something to watch and there is nothing on (usually during the day) it would be nice to have access to the whole caboodle.
Well, as you can probably guess, you now can. The Sky Anytime+ service has now been launched, allowing subscribers access to a comprehensive video-on-demand service. Of course, access requires internet access, which Sky states must be a Sky Broadband Unlimited internet connection.
This is presumably since Sky Broadband has unlimited downloads assuming you’re lucky enough to live within range of one of Sky-enabled telephone exchanges, unfortunately if you don’t, you’ll once again be missing out on another Sky service. But I’ll reserve judgement on that until I can test it for myself – Sky please enable more exchanges, there are people out there wanting to use your unlimited broadband service!
Continue reading »Sony Ericsson Playstation/PSP Phone Release Might Actually Be Real? Or Is It Fake?
October 27, 2010
Rumours have been circulating for a long time about the possibility of a Playstation/PSP mobile phone and now it seems like those rumours could be true.
In fact it’s nearly two years since we first wrote about the possibility of seeing a possible Sony PSP phone and that it could potentially mean Sony splitting from Ericsson over it, clearly that hasn’t happened!
Details have been leaked onto the Internet showing images of the new PS Phone which looks exactly like a PSP Go but with the added function of being used as a mobile phone. It’s possible that the PS Phone could run on Android 3.0 aka ‘Gingerbread’, as well as sporting a 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 1GB ROM and a screen measuring between 3.7 and 4.1 inches.
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Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light Review (DS)
October 26, 2010
Yet another Final Fantasy makes its way onto Nintendo’s handheld. The last one I played was Final Fantasy III which was a couple of years ago now and I really enjoyed it. It only took a few years to finally get released in Europe, but it was worth the wait. So with Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, I was expecting more or less the same kind of game with a few minor changes, and I was right.
The story sees the young hero Brandt who has just turned 14 and has to go and see the King before he is seen as an adult. When he arrives, the princess is missing and the King asks Brandt to save her from the Witch of the North. Of course saving the princess is just the start of Brandt’s journey, and he is joined by three other heroes who must find a way to get along and save the world.
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Norton AntiVirus 2011 Review
October 25, 2010
It was only June when I took a look at Norton’s 360 security suite for Windows, and I was amazed at how much things had changed since I’d last used a Norton product. I commented on how I “found it to be efficient, offer an abundance of great features and manage resources very well too”, especially when compared to my past experiences with Norton products.
Fast forward a few months, and here we are with Norton AntiVirus 2011! The latest version of Norton’s security suite has a few neat surprises up its sleeve, while making sure that the core functionality that I enjoyed in Norton 360 is still very much functional.
Continue reading »New Playstation 2 Console Bundle? Yes Really!
October 21, 2010
Yes folks! Your eyes are not deceiving you. It seems that Sony still thinks there’s some life left in the good old Playstation 2 console. So much so that they’re going to be releasing a brand new bundle with Toy Story 3.
The PS2 is 10 years old (that makes me feel old) and I still remember getting mine the night before it was released, and it was like Christmas had come early.
They were like gold dust at the time and I had to be watched out of the shop by the computer game store staff to make sure I wasn’t mugged as somebody had been earlier in the day. True story.
Continue reading »FaceTime Coming to Mac OS X, iPhone 4 Video Calling Now More Useful?
October 20, 2010
FaceTime has proven popular already since its implementation on iOS, and whilst video chat is nothing new in the slightest, it may be one of the best examples around at the moment.
However, for the Mac OS X desktop we have been almost forced to use Skype if we are after a decent experience, but Mac users are used to things more stylish in interface and simple in usability. Enter FaceTime.
Continue reading »Mac OS X App Store Details Announced
October 20, 2010
You may have already caught our news on the App Store coming in Mac OS X 10.7 ‘Lion’, but since the announcement Steve Jobs has brought us some more glorious details.
Firstly, there will be a 70/30 split on free and paid apps, meaning there is still something for those of us whose wallets are emptied by the initial purchase of the Mac, and also the apps will be licensed for use on all of your Macs. Although we may find out at a later date that this actually means up to 5, but really who has more than 5 macs?
Continue reading »New Apple MacBook Air Announced (‘Back to the Mac’ Event)
October 20, 2010
The all-important feature of the MacBook Air is its size. So, with a complete aluminium unibody construction, the 0.68 inch thick machine (at it’s thickets, 0.11 at its thinnest) is incredibly thin and extremely lightweight. So how do they do this?
Well, for a start there is no optical drive as per, and also they have gone for complete flash storage in the same way as the iPad, the iPhone etc. This means almost instant-boot, as well as almost 30 days standby time when it comes to the battery, in theory. Apple claims the new stringent tests on battery life have proven 7 hours of battery life when wirelessly web browsing.
Continue reading »Apple Mac OS X 10.7 ‘Lion’ Preview (‘Back to the Mac’ Event)
October 20, 2010
We all knew iOS would appear more in OS X at some point, but little did we know that the ‘Back to the Mac’ slogan would indicate features coming right back from iOS which took them all those years ago.
So what exactly is coming ‘Back to the Mac’? Steve Jobs out on stage at this point going over and over what the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad have taken from OS X, before elaborating on how they can play a big part in the next edition of OS X.
Firstly is the App Store. Over 7 billion have been downloaded from the App Store so why not bring it the Mac said Steve, and as part of OS X Lion the App Store will provide 1-click downloads and automatic installation on the Mac. Automatic app updates will be available from the app store and all of these apps will be available from a ‘Launchpad’, an iOS style app launcher for the Mac desktop.
Continue reading »Apple Garageband ’11 Announced (‘Back to the Mac’ Event)
October 20, 2010
So here is the musicians favourite, Garageband. What’s in store for us with this new edition then? Well first up is the new ability to control rhythm in your piece. It’s called group matching, and it allows you to almost synchronise each element of your track by analysing each instrument and individual tracks and altering the rhythm of each to match with the most rhythmic part of the track.
During the Keynote it was described as a spell-checker for bad rhythm, and of course that pretty much sums it up and it’s called ‘Groove Checker’.
Continue reading »Apple iMovie ’11 Announced (‘Back to the Mac’ Event)
October 20, 2010
First addition to iMovie this year is the increased simplicity of audio editing; unlike before you can take individual segments of the audio track and change the volume levels to create a more varied track perhaps if you are creating a mood setting movie.
Apple is making a big deal out of the new homemade movie trailers feature, making it easy to make your own previews for movies, with functionality including the ability to add cast members, titles, studios, logos, credits etc. and compiling it all into a professional looking movie trailer via a neat, very Apple-esque, interface.
Continue reading »Apple iPhoto ’11 Announced (‘Back to the Mac’ Event)
October 20, 2010
The first big feature to be announced in the new edition of iPhoto is the full-screen view, which may be pretty self-explanatory, but actually adds some pretty neat functionality. Whilst the general interface remains consistent with its predecessor, the full-screen alternative pretty much just expands the view so you can focus on any of the main views, including faces and albums. Projects is a great new view as well, allowing you to collect your current photography projects in an almost iBook style shelf view.
Second, and perhaps more interestingly, is the places feature. Places allows you to simply ‘push a pin’ on a location on the map where a photo was taken and instantly shares them with other users as you as they as well as you can browse a gallery of photos within iPhoto pinned to that area on the map. It’s pretty neat for photo collectors professional or beginner.
Continue reading »LoveFilm Movie Streaming Coming Soon To Your Playstation 3
October 19, 2010
It was announced last week that the film rental company LoveFilm, will be heading on to the Sony Playstation 3 console from next month.
A video was published on the PS3 YouTube channel and just as quickly taken off, but enough was seen to show people that Lovefilm will be heading this way in autumn and will allow users to download films straight to their PS3.
I signed up for Lovefilm a good 18 months since, and think it’s definitely money well spent, especially since there are no late fees allowing you to watch your films at your leisure. But of course you have to return your current discs to receive a new film through your letterbox. The deliver service is incredibly fast so you only wait a couple of days to receive your film.
Continue reading »Gran Turismo 5 Release Date Delayed….Again! But Still Expect Racing This Christmas!
October 19, 2010
Just got word of more disappointing news coming out of Sony, the long-awaited follow up to the hugely successful Gran Turismo 4, Gran Turismo 5, has been delayed again from its supposed release date of November 2nd.
The title has gone through a lot over the past couple of years, in fact, I remember getting excited about it back when it was first announced as being one of the launch titles for the Playstation 3 console and this delay has just taken the biscuit for me.
I mean much more of this and we’re going to be heading into Duke Nukem Forever territory…although I suppose even that has been resurrected from the dead once more, so there’s always hope!
Continue reading »Free ‘Angry Birds’ Android Game App At GetJar App Store First!
October 18, 2010
The immensely popular iPhone game, Angry Birds, has been made available on Android powered mobile phones and absolutely free through the ‘GetJar’ app store website.
I’m one of the few people who don’t have an iPhone and have to admit, I was quite looking forward to playing this on my HTC Tattoo, but alas…..I couldn’t. I downloaded the game but all I got was a blue screen and nothing else.
Continue reading »New Apple iLife Release Date Listed As 20th October On Amazon – To Be Announced At ‘Back To The Mac’ Event?
October 18, 2010
Like we needed to be convinced anymore about what will be introduced at the Apple “Back to the Mac” event this Wednesday alongside what I hope is a very detailed look at Mac OS X 10.7, Amazon Germany has listed a release date of October 20th for iLife on its website before the big event (which, yes, we will be covering)!
Although Amazon has been known to get ahead of itself a little when it comes to publishing the release dates of some upcoming products, the rumour mill has been working overtime lately, speculating over an overdue iLife update for the year alongside something a little bigger (Mac OS X + Macbook Air anyone?).
Continue reading »Google Android 4.0 Update Named ‘Ice Cream’ Already?
October 16, 2010
It’s no secret that Google are a lot less secretive when it comes to detailing future plans than its biggest rival in the mobile market, Apple, and today even more potential details have been revealed about the coming versions of the ever-increasingly popular mobile phone and tablet platform; Android.
In keeping with its rather novelty naming scheme from every version of Android so far, with it progressing alphabetically throughout the versions and always after some sort of dessert, for instance the most recent update was Android 2.2 named Froyo (Frozen Yoghurt), Android 4.0 which is to be the successor of version 3.0 ‘Honeycomb’ will, according the president of ARM, Tudor Brown, be unimaginatively named ‘Ice Cream’.
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