Author: Sanket Vijay

Best Gaming Accessories of 2015

No console is perfect, but the right accessory can help bring it closer to perfection. And gamers need to have the absolute best of accessories if they want to beat other gamers from around the world. It’s a kind of religion that only serious gamers will understand. 2015 has produced not only some jaw dropping games, but also other equipments that provide for the ultimate gaming experience and that takes gaming to a whole new level, Let’s have a look at some of them.

Logitech’S G410 Mechanical Keyboard

Logitech launched the G410 Atlas Spectrum keyboard a couple of months ago. The G410, which has a tenkeyless design (i.e no number pad or macro keys), is small and light enough to carry around in your bag. The smaller board also makes it easier to identify keys for gaming and allows for a smoother, easier gameplay.

The keyboard is built around the custom-designed Romer-G mechanical switches. This means the keys have a shallow actuation point (1.5 mm of travel) and is designed to have a softer click as well. The company also says that the Romer-G switches register key presses up to 25 percent faster than its competitors.

Users who still prefer the old-school way of having a mechanical keyboard and who enjoy the loud clicks may find softer voice of the G410 a little too subtle. However, newcomers are sure to love the smaller, lighter board and the RGB (Red-Green-Blue) LED keys that light up the board beautifully when your fingers press on a key.

Razer DeathAdder Chroma Ergonomic Gaming Mouse

The DeathAdder is a mouse that’s been around for many years now.The mouse has been updated several times over the years and the newest one uses Razer’s Chroma technology, bringing 16.8 million colour options to the table.

The Razer DeathAdder Chroma is a right-handed, ergonomic Gaming mouse with a Optical sensor with a maximum DPI of 10,000 DPI. There’s 5 programmable buttons, a 1000Hz Polling Rate, a braided cable and obviously the 16.8 million colour Chroma lighting (mouse wheel and Razer logo).

The ergonomics of the mouse keeps the design to a minimal. The mouse looks clean and simple but has a firm grip and strong build. When it comes to performance, there’s really no going mouse that can top Razer. The mouse tracks well and has a great in-game performance, though the lack of some buttons can prove difficult when playing RPG, MMO or MOBA.

Add to this you get 16.8 million customizable colour options for the mouse. So whether you’re in the mood for electric blue, pastel pink or signature Razer green, you can take a pick and illuminate your Razer DeathAdder Chroma’s scroll wheel and Razer logo.

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VR Headgear

Consider VR headsets as future gaming accessories. Two names dominated this year’s VR headwear news – Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. You may have seen these wearables already in actions already. The Oculus Rift will officially launch early 2016. The virtual reality headset was initially demoed as an entertainment gear that could create virtual environments for you to see movies and shows. But the fact remains that he Oculus Rift is primarily for gaming.

It’ll still be a while before VR-centric games are developed for the headset. Oculus has stated that existing games with a first person or fixed-camera perspective can be ported to VR with some development effort, however the best virtual reality games are those that are designed for the Rift from the start.

The HTC Vive VR headset is the product of HTC and Valve Corporation. It is also part of Valve Corporation’s SteamVR project. HTC officially unveiled its device, Vive, during its Mobile World Congress keynote on March 1, 2015. The headset will officially launch in April next year.

Steam Controller

Those aware of the Steam controller will know how useful the new controller is the it comes to playing games on the PC. It’s much more than your standard controller, mostly because the Steam controller introduces touchpads and ditches the need to rely on thumbsticks, which makes gaming a lot more easier if you’re the kind who like to play at the comfort of your couch.

Touchpads allow a more natural movement, according to users. Guide your thumb across the touchpad and the movements correspond to the movements on the screen. Recently, a new Steam client beta update was released that allows you to do a lot more. With the new update, if you click the upper left portion of your trackpad, for example, the cursor leaps to a corresponding position on your PC’s monitor – potentially speeding up reaction times in top-down strategy and MOBA strategy games.

The touchpad has a lot more features that are still being discovered. One such feature is that the touch area can be reduced to specific zones, ensuring that touch input will go directly to on-screen hotkeys or a game’s mini-map for easy navigation. The Steam controller is a novel way of game playing, especially for those who want more than just the standard mouse, keyboard, and gamepad.

Kinect

Microsoft decided to keep Kinect as a separate entity rather than having it as a primary component in the Xbox One package. Kinect is a camera and motion controller that lets you command your Xbox and TV with your voice and gestures, play games where you become the controller and make Skype calls in HD. Scan your own face and embed them into some games, or engage in some serious gesture-based dance gaming. The Kinect is an add-on for those who want a little more out of their Xbox One console.

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June 20, 2016
Most Popular Mobile Games of All Time

If you were in Wordsworth’s time period, you would spend your free time by idealizing nature, composing romantic poetry to the smell of daffodils. If you lived during The Beatles era, you would be protesting against war in your denim bell bottoms and moccasins in a Kombi.

Today, however, we’re more responsible with time, chasing after high scores and collapsing structures on pigs. It’s a simpler time. Today, mobile games remain at the top of the ‘how to kill time’ list. And we’ve chosen a few games that we think are the all time favorites. These games range from ones that have been played since the time phones were invented to games that are still hugely popular, in no order whatsoever.

Angry Birds

This ‘bird hitting evil pigs’ game is a sheer stroke of brilliance created by Rovio. Who would have thought the amount of pleasure one would get to watch pigs get crushed by collapsing structures, or the joy of nailing that perfect shot that causes a huge chain reaction. It has been almost 6 years since the game came out and is still as addictive as ever.

For the uninitiated, the game basically features a bunch of birds with various mood swings, depending on which some can split in to three, drop egg bombs, and even explode. These birds are flung from a slingshot at evil pigs who have stolen their eggs, or at structures that collapse on the pigs. Either way, the pigs must die.

Angry Birds’ success is unparalleled with around 12 games in the series ranging from Rio to Star Wars, to having its own televised cartoon show and an upcoming movie. With over three billion downloads across all platforms, Angry Birds is the most downloaded freemium game series of all time.

Snake

Now for some retro stuff. We all know it, we all love it. Snake was for feature phones what Angry Birds is for smartphones. We all started off playing Snake on our Nokia handsets when we were kids. In fact, one of Nokia’s biggest selling points for handsets like the 1100 or 3210 was pre-installed Snake. The game was a hit with users and proved that phones could be used for more than just making calls.

We’re confident everyone must know about the game, but we’ll tell you anyway. You’re a snake and you have to eat. You must guide your snake around a box finding little square food to eat. But here’s the kicker, the more you eat the longer the snake gets, which makes maneuvering the snake all the more difficult. Not only does reaching the food becomes more complex, you must also be wary of biting your own tail, cause it’s ‘Game Over’ if you do. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.

Also, it’s not enough to stay on gear one. If you play Snake, you need to try all the 9 levels of speed settings cause that’s where the fun lies and you need to have a stomach as big as the snake for it. The game is such an important part in the history of mobile gaming that on November 29, 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City announced that the Nokia port of Snake was one of 40 games that the curators wished to add to the museum’s collection in the future.

Grand Theft Auto

From Snake we jump to GTA, so take a while to readjust your time stream. Grand Theft Auto, one of the most popular series on gaming consoles like PlayStation and Xbox, also made its way to the phones. Needless to say, the experience of playing GTA on your mobile is quite something.

What developers did best was to bring the same feel of the game from the original consoles onto the phones. By the time San Andreas hit the Android and iOS market, phones could handle really cool graphics and had the processors to back it up. So if you were to download San Andreas today, you would find that Rocksteady has worked hard on updating the games texture and lighting for the smartphones to provide you every bit of what you remember if you played the PlayStation, Xbox, or PC version.

You’ll find dozens of hours of entertainment crammed into its two gigabytes of precious mobile device storage space that let you experience everything from working out at the gym to grabbing burgers in a fictionalized take on Las Vegas.

Tetris

We’re taking you back yet again. This time we look at the classic Russian tile-matching puzzle game that first made its appearance with Nintendo, and later hit the phones. If you ever owned a GameBoy and used it for games other than Pokemon (hard to imagine), then chances are you would have been familiar with Tetris even before it made it to the phone.

This phenomenally addictive game is quite simple to understand. You have seven types of blocks (called ‘tetrominoes’) that fall from the ceiling, and your job is to stack them neatly by moving and rotating them before they hit the deck. Creating a horizontal line will eliminate every block in that row, which is good since the blocks keep falling, and continue to do so till it stacks up till the ceiling, after which the game is over.

A game like this doesn’t require much change over the years and is just as addictive today as it was back then. Despite all the graphical progressions we’ve made, sometimes its fun to go back to the old school ways of gaming. And Tetris is as old as it gets. Electronic Gaming Monthly’s 100th issue had Tetris in first place as “Greatest Game of All Time”. In 2007, Tetris came in second place in IGN‘s “100 Greatest Video Games of All Time”. Yes, its that good.

Flappy Bird

If you want to see how older 8-bit games continue to inspire this generation, you need only download Flappy Bird or Crossy Road to know. These new age games rely on old age gameplay and graphics and are ridiculously addictive. Games like Crossy Road, Flappy Bird, and Frogger have a simple manner of progression. There are obstacles to cross using mostly your thumbs to tap on the screen. With no tricky controls, these games can actually be played with one hand tied behind your back.

In Flappy Bird, the player controls a bird, attempting to fly between rows of green pipes without coming into contact with them, and that’s pretty much all you have to do. But don’t be fooled. Flying a bird between pipes has never been this difficult. Very, very few have gone on to achieve Gold medals in Flappy Bird, and you only needed 40 points to get that.

The game was regarded so addictive that makers removed it completely from the App Store and Google Play Store. Today, all you’ll find are Flappy Bird knock-offs. The sudden removal of the game in 2014 caused phones with it pre-installed to be put up for sale for high prices over the Internet. Even though its not available now, this short-lived game is still worth to go down in history as one of the (annoyingly) addictive games of all time.

Space Impact

Honestly, who doesn’t remember this side-scrolling space shooter game that was the bomb back when people were on their Nokia 3310’s? Today the game might feel hilarious to play, but back then it blew our minds away.

Space Impact sees you piloting a tiny spaceship through a hellish field of alien creatures that looked like fish. Hammering away at your phone’s buttons, you’ll be blasting those freaks with missiles, bombs, and energy beams through each level.

While Space Impact was never a great game, it was, however, something truly brilliant for the time. It pushed the boundaries in terms of what was possible on a mobile, and anything like that deserves some recognition.

June 20, 2016
Best Console Games of 2015

2015 has seen some spectacular games for the PlayStation 4. Games that have been hotly anticipated and some games that have just taken the gamers in us all by surprise. So we take a look back at some of the best games for the PlayStation 4 and why they are what they are.

Bloodborne

Bloodborne has to be one of the best games this year hands down. A PlayStation 4 exclusive, Bloodborne was released back in March and has since then earned critical acclaim, as well as selling over 2 million copies as of September 30, making it one of the biggest selling titles ever.

Bloodborne is an incredibly detailed fantasy landscape where even a single misstep can destroy you. The storytelling is as grand as the environment it’s in, with a narrative delivered through things as subtle as the name of an enemy or the description of an item.

The game is played from a third-person perspective, players control a fully customizable protagonist, and gameplay is focused on weapons-based combat and exploration. Players battle beastly and varied enemies, including bosses, using items such as swords and firearms, and journey through the story, exploring the game’s different locations, interacting with non-player characters, collecting key items involved in the story, and discovering and unraveling the world’s many mysteries.

What critics have lauded is the game’s atmosphere, detailed environments, and the overall visuals, the interconnected world design, the design of the characters, particularly that of the enemies, the challenging, fast-paced gameplay, the storyline and lore, and the soundtrack, which some touted as “glorious”.

</p> <h3>Batman: Arkham Knight</h3> <p>Let’s be honest, we all wanted to see Batman: Arkham Knight in this list. Perhaps the most anticipated game this year is the fourth and final chapter to the Batman: Arkham series. A lot was expected from Arkham Knight. How was Rocksteady going to better Arkam City, which is considered the greatest superhero game ever?</p> <p>However, the developers didn’t want to surpass Arkham City, but rather create a game that was worthy of a finale. And they delivered. Arkham Knight received critical acclaim for narrative, visuals, gameplay, combat, and world designs. The game also introduced the much anticipated Batmobile, which is playable this time around. Although the Batmobile was also the most criticised aspect of the game, pointing at the difficulty of managing the vehicle’s default control and being the only activity that was un-Batman-like in the game world.</p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" title="Official Batman: Arkham Knight Announce Trailer - "Father to Son"" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wsf78BS9VE0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen>

Yes, you do miss the Joker in this one, brilliantly voiced by Mark Hamill, but all your other voice actors are here. Kevin Conroy (voice of Batman) and John Noble (voice of Scarecrow) give a terrific performance here. The combat and predator system also gets an improvement. Finally, the world of Gotham City never looked more beautiful as it does in Arkham Knight. The city being a natural extension to the characters, deserves praise and the game overall is a fitting end to the Arkham series.

Halo 5: Guardians

Halo 5: Guardians is the fifth title in the Halo series which was released on October 27 for the Xbox One. Producer Josh Holmes stated that the game’s engine employs a “new progressive resolution system that allows us to dynamically scale the resolution at which we render the game” to guarantee it maintains a frame rate of 60 FPS.

Halo 5: Guardians takes place in the year 2558, and is set eight months after the events of Halo 4. The game follows the human fireteams Blue Team and Osiris. The game also sees returning fan-favorite Nathan Fillion as Edward Buck from Halo 3: ODST. You can spot him in the opening scene below.

Halo 5 also has one of the best arsenal in the series, thanks to returning classics and design facelifts for guns that were otherwise ignored. Old favorites like the battle rifle, Spartan laser, and trusty assault rifle look and feel great.

Halo 5 is a looker. The gameplay takes you through an eerie abandoned research station, a backwater planet ripe with odd, gorgeous life and vegetation, ruins with ancient and worn-looking monuments, and several other beautiful locations.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Another game that had extremely high expectations was the fifth instalment to the Metal Gear Solid franchise. The Phantom Pain serves as a sequel to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, and a continuation of the narrative established there, and a prequel to the original Metal Gear game.

In The Phantom Pain, players take the role of Big Boss, under the nickname Punished “Venom” Snake, in an open world environment. The gameplay elements were largely unchanged from Ground Zeroes, meaning that players will have to sneak from several points in the game world, avoiding enemy guards, and remaining undetected.

The Phantom Pain achieves sheer excellence as an espionage game. The graphics are top notch and the environment is simply spectacular. It’s a game that is deserving of the current-gen console. Check out the launch trailer of The Phantom Pain below to see how the franchise has evolved through the years.

The Phantom Pain was critically acclaimed upon release, with its gameplay drawing praise for featuring a variety of mechanics and interconnected systems which allow a high degree of player freedom in approaching objectives.

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Call of Duty

We can never get tired of Call of Duty, can we? The Black Ops segment of the franchise introduced a science fiction turn in Black Ops II that features a future warfare setting with robots and futuristic technology with a separate zombie story line as well. Black Ops III, much like its predecessor, is set in a “dark, twisted future”. The game was released on November 6th on Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Pspqx0XGs

The six-hour story is set in the not-too-distant future. Black Ops 3’s story works on “Direct Neural Interface,” or DNI for short. This technology allows humans to mentally interact with computers, weapons, and other people. What these does is introduce terrific new ways of playing a game that was beginning to fall under the ‘been there, done that’ category. For example, you can’t use enemies’ dropped weapons because they’re registered to someone else’s brain.

The game has been praised for its length and the introduction of new elements that keeps the game fresh.

May 20, 2016
AlphaGo AI Beats Lee Se-dol 3-0 to Win Google DeepMind Challenge Series

The age old question whether Artificial Intelligence will one day take over the world has perhaps been answered. If you’ve been following the internet past few days, you will have heard that Google’s AI AlphaGo has been going one-on-one with 18-time world Go champion Lee Se-dol in a five match DeepMind Challenge Series. Today, in what is a historic victory for AI, AlphaGo beat Lee Se-dol 3-0 to clinch the series. Lee conceded the game after 176 moves.

AlphaGo is a program that was developed by DeepMind, a British AI company acquired by Google two years ago. Go is an ancient Chinese game that has been considered one of the toughest ever for an AI to beat at a world-class level. Go has been one of the most sought after AI challenges for its simplicity and elaborate possibilities.

Lee Se-dol’s loss to the AI three times in a row proved what many had felt unimaginable. Google has proved that AlphaGo is the next level of artificial intelligence. The third game further established the AI’s superiority. It was able to navigate tricky situations known as ko that didn’t come up in the prior two matches.

Now that AlphaGo has beaten Lee in three games, we wait to see if Lee can manage one win in the two games still left to play. If AlphaGo bases its moves on how Lee plays, then this means that the AI has been improving in each game, which would make the next one even harder for Lee to beat.

“I don’t know what to say and I would like to say sorry because I couldn’t show you my better results,” he said. “I think even if I go back I probably cannot defeat AlphaGo, and I think the competition was already settled in the second match.”

He said, “Humans have psychological issues while AlphaGo does not. Nevertheless, I think I will be able to discover AlphaGo’s weak points in the fourth and fifth match.

March 12, 2016
Popslate 2 E-Ink iPhone Case is What Every Phone Needs

Last year, Popslate brought put its first E-Ink iPhone case that allowed the iPhone to sport a secondary E-ink display on the back. Users could use the secondary display for notifications. While the first Popslate iPhone case didn’t meet expectations, the Popslate 2 very much does. The company is at the forefront of pioneering e-paper screen on phone case, and Popslate 2 is what that case is.

The second iteration comes with a bigger 4.7-inch display at 200dpi, up from 4 inches and 115dpi. While the original Popslate case needed to be charged via Micro USB, the new one can be charged via the lightning cable, the same used to charge the iPhone. This means you’ll now be able to charge both the case and the iPhone simultaneously. Apart from this, the case has a backup battery that gives up to 9 hours talk time for your iPhone.

Popslate 2 was the answer to the question “What should the smart second screen really be?”. The Popslate 2 comes with new, always-on features like configurable Dashboards, richer news and information feeds. Other features include phone-sized clocks, a clutter-saving e-reader, a quick list maker, faster access to the digital wallet, and more.

Popslate’s smart iPhone case can be seen as a great piece of innovation in recent times. With smartphone makers looking to make slimmer phones with bigger and bigger display, the ideas seem to end there. There are some brands who have managed to feature small strips of secondary screens on the front like LG, but a secondary display as big as the main something new indeed. And this is all thanks to the use of E-ink technology (the same used in Kindles and other E-readers).

Currently, the company is only focusing on cases for iPhones but also states that with the right partner, they will move to cases for Android devices as well. The company also said that until it understands the state of emerging markets before making any adjustments to pricing and will only then be able to bring these cases to countries like India.

The Popslate 2 is available for pre-order on Indiegogo today starting at $69, and $129 and $149 for the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, respectively. Shipping of orders will begin from July.

March 12, 2016
Oppo R9 and R9 Plus to be Unveiled on March 17

Oppo is set to unveil the R9 and R9 Plus smartphones on March 17. The company has been teasing the device a lo in the recent weeks and while information about the R9 have been in plenty, very little was known about the R9 Plus. Today, we have details on both the handsets.

Both the Oppo R9 and R9 Plus will be powered by the mighty Snapdragon 820 SoC. The R9 is said to sport a 5.5-inch 1080p display while the R9 Plus will have a bigger 6-inch display. The phones are expected to come with 4GB RAM and 64GB of expandable internal memory.

The camera which is to be the centerpiece of the Oppo R9 and R9 Plus will feature 21MP rear unit and a 13MP front shooter. Meanwhile, the 5.5-inch model will pack a 3,700 mAh battery while the 6-inch model will carry a 4120mAh battery. Both the devices will be supported by VOOC flash charge. The VOOC Flash Charge promises 10 hours of talk time with only five minutes of charging and filling a 2500 mAh battery in only 15 minutes.

Another feature that Oppo was proud to reveal ahead of the launch is that the devices come with a front-facing fingerprint sensor that is capable of unlocking the phone in just 0.2 seconds. Pricing of the devices have also been leaked with the R9 Plus priced at 3499 yuan (approx Rs 36,000) and the smaller R9 at 2999 yuan (approx. Rs 31,000).

March 11, 2016
Redmi 3 with Fingerprint Scanner Spotted at TENAA

Xiaomi had announced the Redmi 3 a couple of months ago but it seems that the device was not the only variant in the works. According to the Chinese certification site TENAA, a new variant of the Redmi 3 is soon to come out, and this one will feature a fingerprint scanner whereas the original one did not.

Fingerprint scanners on smartphones have become an important feature and one wonders why Xiaomi did not add it in the Redmi 3. However, a $100 price tag justifies no fingerprint scanner. The new Redmi 3 is rumoured to feature a 5-inch display with 720p resolution, 1.5 GHz octa-core CPU and 2GB of RAM with 16GB of storage. The new variant, however, might come with a smaller 3000mAh battery pack as compared to the 4100mAh battery in the original.

With a fingerprint scanner, the device is likely to be priced at RMB 799 ($122), an RMB 100 more than the original Redmi 3. It is still unknown when Xiaomi plans to launch the new variant but it could happen some time this month.

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March 10, 2016
Are You on Facebook Lite Yet?

Facebook has always tried to reach out to the most, if not all, of the human population on earth. Facebook currently has around 1.6 billion monthly active users. Seeing as how Facebook also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, it is evident that the company doesn’t want to leave out a single human being. However, despite a world hungry for social media sites, there are still millions who are unable to jump in due to slow internet speed or limited amount of data. To solve this problem, a team of Facebook engineers worked on ways to make the site accessible to those who were left out.

What came out of it was Facebook Lite, a tiny Android-only app that is lighter and less cluttered compared to the original. The app was launched in June 2015 and recently crossed a 100 million mark. That is the magic number that tells us how fast users have accepted the lighter app in just a few months. The app is less than 1MB in size and practically takes no time at all to download.

There are certain design changes with the ‘Lite’ version but the core functionality is uniform in both the Facebook app and its lighter version. Features like News Feed, status updates, photos and notifications on Facebook Lite are almost identical to the original version.

Facebook Lite is the company’s push to make basic Facebook services available in developing countries at the lowest price possible. There are places in the world where buying internet data isn’t the easiest as it is expensive. The app works fast with any device, and is data efficient, providing the same features as you would find on the original app only with less data consumption. It’s like Facebook with an in-built Data Saver mode.

As it works even on slow mobile networks, the page loads comparatively faster. Users can upload, download and check photos instantly, for which users had to wait for more than a couple of minutes on 2G networks. Users can have a real-time conversation with friends – either one-on-one or in group – on the slimmer Facebook edition.

One of the best features about Facebook Lite is that the app helps conserve battery life. Facebook has been recently in the news for being one of the most battery draining apps out there, especially for iOS users. As is the case, we could be seeing a Facebook Lite for iOS in the near future, unless Facebook does something to reduce battery consumption in its original app.

Vijay Shankar, Product Head, Facebook Lite said that the app was made for developing countries like India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Philippines where slow internet speeds is still a major issue. One of the biggest chuggers of mobile data is videos. To solve this, the team behind Facebook Lite offered users the option to see how large a video so that they may decide whether to view the video or not. There is also the option to view a video later so that you may continue to browse the News Feed and come back to the video once it has been downloaded. Both the features are extremely helpful for users on 2G speeds as it means not having to wait around for a video to load.

It is still unknown as to when Facebook Lite will be available for iOS and Window phone users. As of now, Shankar and his team want to get the Android experience right before moving on to the next step. It is still early in the day but the fact that 9 months on the app has reached a 100 million users means that the app does what it was intended to do – provide a social media experience at an affordable price.

March 10, 2016
Samsung Gear VR: Know it Better

Virtual Reality is the next big thing to happen to technology and every big name out there is getting into the game. Samsung, Apple, Google and many more are all working on VR technology as we speak. When it comes to virtual reality, Oculus is the name that first comes to mind. While the Oculus Rift is one of the more premium VR headsets out there, there is also the Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR for the general masses that stands as a stepping stone into the realm of virtual reality. Here’s everything you need to know about the Samsung Gear VR.

Design, Features, and Compatibility

Samsung launched the Gear VR headset in India last month at a price of Rs 8,200. The headset is currently being offered for free on pre-orders for the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. The headset features a large touchpad for control. It weighs about 318 grams and measures 201.9×116.4×92.6mm. The Gear VR comes with an impressive field of view of 96 degrees and houses back, volume, and focus adjustment wheel button for controls.

The Gear VR also packs sensors such as gyro, accelerometer, and proximity, and the device will support Micro-USB charging. The Gear VR comes with soft, flexible cushioning material, and also features adjustable straps for ease use of use.The Gear VR Headset will also support 360-degree videos.

The Gear VR Headset features a wide interface, ergonomic design, and a large touchpad. Gear VR promises convenient and accurate control to enjoy games and videos. At the launch, the company stressed that Gear VR Headset works seamlessly with high-end Galaxy smartphones including the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and the new Galaxy S7 series.

Applications

The Gear VR got a major media boost few months ago with Netflix, Hulu and Twitch among the few new services made available for the headset. The Netflix app, for example, creates a virtual living room for the viewer to watch in. The virtual television in front of you will have the Netflix UI on the screen. You simply look to move the cursor and tap the touchpad on the side of the Gear VR to make your selection. And since Netflix is now in India, streaming movies never sounded this good!

The Netflix Experience

As the Gear VR is still a work in progress, applications and uses are still limited. As of February 2016, here are 185 Apps available for the Gear VR on the Oculus Store. Apart from media entertainment, the Gear VR also offers an entirely new gaming experience. After all, virtual reality is all about immersing the user completely in a virtual world for a 360-degree experience.

Notable games include Herobound: First Steps, Ikarus, Dreadhalls, Esper and Proton Pulse. “The new games include “Social Trivia” and “Herobound: Gladiators,” Oculus says. Social Trivia pits you against friends or strangers in a battle of knowledge while Herobound: Gladiators lets you band together in groups of four to battle goblins and demons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4vhtpa8JRA

Furthermore, Oculus is ready to get Gear VR owners a lot more social. Starting today, Gear VR owners will get to set up their own social profiles and connect with other Gear VR friends by searching their Oculus username or real name. You will then be able to kick back and watch movies together and engage with each other in social games.

You also may be aware that Facebook started 360-degree videos a while ago that lets users navigate the video for a complete 360-degree view. With the Samsung Gear VR, you’ll now be able to connect your Facebook account to “Like” and share 360-degree videos from inside it. From next week, Oculus will let users sign into Facebook and get a personalised news feed based on people and pages they follow.

With this, Facebook-owned Oculus is taking the first big step in bringing virtual reality and social media together.

Is There a Downside?

Perhaps the few main problems about a VR headset is that it can make you look silly, which is why users usually prefer to wear it in the confines of their homes, away from the eyes of passersby. VR headsets tend to cause headaches or nausea if worn for too long. But the Gear VR, being on the lighter side, hasn’t caused these symptoms as much as the heavier Oculus Rift has.

Nevertheless, the Gear VR is a great new product from Samsung that promises a good virtual reality experience at an affordable cost.

Samsung is looking to expand its consumer base and is looking to make the Gear VR not just a device for niche audience. It may take a while before people take to the virtual reality experience, but the future of media and gaming technology looks pretty clear. So, for those who want to experience the next season of Daredevil (which begins March 18) in virtual reality can get their hands on the Gear VR today.

March 10, 2016
HTC 10 Colour Options, Specifications Leaked

There is very little left to know about HTC’s upcoming flagship smartphone, HTC 10. Courtesy popular leakster Evan Blass, we now what the device is going to look like as well as the fact that it will drop the ‘One M’ from the title for a simpler ‘HTC 10’. We’re still not sure about what the new name signifies, but what we do know is the various colors the device will be offered in.

Blass today tweeted four colour options for the HTC 10: carbon gray, glacier silver (white face), glacier silver (black face), topaz gold. Apart from showing us the colours, the image also confirms that this is what the HTC 10 will look like and much like the One A9 and the One M9, the HTC 10 looks rather underwhelming. The most obvious disappointment comes from the disappearance of BoomSound front speakers and from the (still) large bezels on he top and bottom.

The HTC 10 will instead have a single speaker grille at the bottom and a USB Type-C port. Over at the back we see the camera placed at the center and chamfered edges. Another popular leakster, @onleaks, started a leaking spree of the actual handset and Antutu benchmark scores that pin the device at 109,936 points on the famous benchmark app.

This all leaked along with the following information : 5.15? QHD / SD820 / Adreno 530 / 4GB RAM / 12MP / USB Type-C. Which means that HTC might finally be on the right track as far as specs are concerned, and we also see a home button fingerprint scanner like last year.

HTC has also stated that it’s working hard to bring a “very compelling camera experience” with the HTC 10. HTC’s Chief Financial Officer Chialin Chang is confident about the HTC 10’s camera “after seeing what’s going on in the market.”

The rear camera is rumoured to sport a 12UP (Ultra Pixel) module with OIS and autofocus while the front still is unknown. If HTC wants to be a contender in the camera department, knowing that Samsung has upped its camera specs in the Galaxy S7, then nothing short of 5UP for the front and some absolutely spectacular images that compliment a Quad HD AMOLED display will be accepted by fans. HTC needs to get the pricing right if it wants to compete in a market that has already seen the new Samsung Galaxy S7 series, LG G5, and Xiaomi Mi 5 flagships.

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March 10, 2016

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge: 7 Best Features

Samsung launched its flagship Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge in India yesterday. The devices are priced at Rs 48, 900 and 56, 900, respectively. The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge successors come packed with top-of-the-line specifications and next-gen technology, along with a beautifully crafted design that is carried forward from the S6. We take a look at some of the best new features the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have to offer and whether the devices are worth your money.

Powerful Hardware

The new flagship devices have improved on specifications wherever it could. The pair is powered by newly powerful Exynos 8890 Octa, Mali-T880 MP12 and 4GB of RAM. Check out the detailed spec table below.

Specs	Galaxy S7	Galaxy S7 Edge
Display	5.1-inch Super AMOLED Quad HD display	5.5-inch curved AMOLED Quad HD display
Resolution	2560 x 1440 pixels	2560 x 1440 pixels
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Processor In India : Exynos 8890 Octa	Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Processor In India : Exynos 8890 Octa
GPU	Adreno 530	Adreno 530
RAM	4GB	4GB
Storage	32GB/ 64GB	32GB/ 64GB
Rear Camera	Dual Pixel 12MP with f/1.7 aperture	Dual Pixel 12MP
Front Camera	Dual Pixel 5MP	Dual Pixel 5MP
Expandability	via MicroSD	via MicroSD
Battery	3000mAh battery	3600mAh battery
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth v4.1, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth v4.1, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC
OS	Android 6.0 Marshmallow	Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Dual Pixel Camera Technology

Among the bumped up specs inside the new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, one new technology that grabbed everyone’s attention at the MWC last month was the new Dual Pixel technology employed in the rear camera.

The Dual Pixel, essentially, is an improvement or a natural evolution from the Phase-Detection Auto-Focus technology used by many other smartphones. Firstly, Samsung downgraded from 16MP found in the S6 to 12MP in the S7. The decision to do this was to focus more on quality rather than quantity. The 12MP sensor brings 56% bigger individual pixels with1.4um pixels as compared to the S6.

The S7 comes with a wider f/1.7 aperture (the S6 had a f/1.9 aperture) that allows for a lot more light to come in, 25% more to be more accurate. This results in great low-light captures that are sharp and colourful. Much like the human eye, the Dual Pixel technology sends light from the lens to two image sensors separately to adjust the focus.

Water Cooled Systems to Rival Desktop Machines

Phones running high-end multi-core CPUs are notorious for running a bit too hot under stress, and as we know, heat is the ultimate enemy of any gaming machine. No matter the exalted processing capabilities of a phone, or beefy battery packs that they come with, if it runs hot, you game not.

Samsung in its bid to fight this menace has come up with a system that’s not new to bigger desktop machines but is groundbreaking for mobile devices. The Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are equipped with a very thin sealed copper liquid based cooling system, enabling these phones to run cool and fast without facing any CPU or GPU throttling. The system keeping the internals of the phone cool will also result in better battery life.

Vulkan API

Mobile phones benefiting from the great advancements in silicon technology over the years have become smaller, thinner and at the same time grown more powerful. The latest generation of mobile phones bring with them specs which boast of computing power at times even surpassing that of the last generation consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PS3.

MicroSD is Back

Samsung heard the cries of thousands of fans who were disappointed that the Galaxy S6 did not come with a MicroSD card slot. The Galaxy S7 series brings the slot back that allows up to 200GB of expandable storage. With read and write speeds having improved over the years, Samsung felt it was the right time to bring back the option.

It’s Dust and Waterproof

The Galaxy S7 series come with IP68 rating which means the devices are dust proof and can handle a rainy day as well. The devices can be submerged underwater up to 3 meters. With premium devices such as these, an IP68 rating is what consumers would love to hear.

Design

We keep design at the end as it is the one thing that isn’t all that new with the new Galaxy S7 devices. And that is not a bad thing at all. Last year’s Galaxy S6 series were praised for its brilliant design language that brought together glass and metal to form a beautiful piece of machinery.

It’s not surprising, then, that Samsung decided to stick to the same design language with the successor, Galaxy S7. The new flagship retains the looks, adds a MicroSD card slot, and packs next-gen specifications. But what the S7 also adds is a curved edge at the back that exquisitely blends into the metal frame and gives a great looking shape as well as improves the grip.

Meanwhile, The S7 Edge features the same dual edge design as its S6 counterpart but on a bigger 5.5-inch form factor and comes with a QHD Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 534 ppi compared to the 5.1-inch QHD 577 ppi screen that we saw on the S6 Edge.

March 9, 2016

LeEco Le 2 Shows up in Leaked Images

LeEco (formerly known as LeTV) has been making headlines ever since the year began. At CES in January, the company unveiled the first smartphone ever to sport the Snapdragon 820 chipset with the Le Max Pro. The company also set records in India with its Le 1s flash sales. Now, it looks like LeEco is working on the successor to the Le 1s, allegedly called the Le 2.

Some leaked images of an alleged Le 2 smartphone have surfaced online. The images reveal the device from a few angles. We get a good look at the surface, the back and the bottom. Talking about the top, the Le 2 has a pretty large display compared to the body size, and since the company has released phones with almost bezel-less sides, the Le 2 looks to follow the same.

The bottom reveals two speaker grilles on either side of a USB Type-C port. Over to the right you see the volume controls and the power button. The rear panel could be either metal or glass (it’s hard to tell from the images), but some reflection of light on top seems to point towards the later. Meanwhile, the square fingerprint sensor is placed in the middle while the camera module is pushed to the top left.

Rumours so far suggest that the LeEco Le 2 will sport either the Snapdragon 820 or the MediaTek Helio X20 chipset (there will be two variants), along with 4GB of RAM and a 21 MP rear camera. Nothing else is known about the device as yet. LeEco has not confirmed the same and there is no word yet on when the company plans to launch the device.

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March 9, 2016
HTC to Make Future Nexus Smartphones: What You Can Expect

We all knew that there a lot was riding on HTC to deliver with its upcoming flagship, the HTC 10. It seems that HTC has its hands full a lot more now that Google has returned to it to manufacture the next set of Nexus devices until 2019, at least. According to rumours, HTC has signed a 3-year contract to build Google’s Nexus phones for 3 years. Given that HTC was responsible for the first Nexus device way back in 2010, it’s not an entirely strange decision for Google to come a full circle.

Last year, LG and Huawei were in charge of building the Nexus phones. The LG 5X and Huawei 6P Nexus phones were received with mixed reactions. The devices came with impressive specifications for 2015 but the designing was less inspiring than most other smartphones out there. This could be why HTC is now donning the thinking cap. But is this the right time for HTC?

HTC Nexus One (2010)

We’ve seen that HTC has recently been receiving very underwhelming responses towards its latest devices. The One M9 and One A9 were both criticised for its lack of creativity in terms of design. Meanwhile, the upcoming HTC 10 flagship also seems to be influenced by the One A9 while fans were really hoping for a great new design by the company, more in line with the One M7.

However, Google seems to feel that HTC has what it takes to make great looking devices. The Nexus 5X made by LG came with a very flimsy looking plastic body and didn’t give too much aesthetically. The one made by Huawei, on the other, came with a premium feel to it with a metal unibody though the long, black rear camera bar on top gave it a slight unattractive quality.

Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X

It has been rumoured that Google plans on launching, at least, two Nexus devices this year. While we’re still not sure whether HTC will be in charge for both (Huawei could still be in the game), the company will still be responsible for at least 4-6 Nexus models until 2019.

If we go by rumours and HTC’s design philosophy in the past (which is in a dubious state as of now), we can expect that the upcoming Nexus device will feature 3D Touch functionality, a metal construction, solid build with minimalistic design, and powerful specs. HTC has usually tried to keep things simple when it comes to looks and you can perhaps expect slimmer bezels as compared to the Nexus 5X and 6P. And how about throwing in some BoomSound speakers as well?

HTC has a lot on its plate this year. After launching the HTC 10, the company will shift its focus on the Nexus. Add to this, it also looks like HTC is going to focus on virtual reality a lot more, given that its Vive VR headset is among the best in the nascent VR game. The company is looking at ways to incorporate VR in its flagship which we may get a taste of in the upcoming Nexus device, and you can bet Google is very interested in that as well. After all, Google has the Carboard for it and has been reportedly working on a new virtual reality headset much like the Gear VR.

Google will also likely release an Android VR software along with the VR headset that will look to enhance the VR experience by making the software native to the Android operating system. This will not only help Google’s own VR product but HTC’s as well. From where we see it, the timing for the two company’s could not have been better. We wait and see what HTC and Google have in store for us this.

March 9, 2016
Huawei P9: Where Does it Stand?

For the past few weeks, we’ve been hearing quite a few rumours and have been witness to leaked images of Huawei’s upcoming flagship P9 smartphone. The successor to the P8 will look to create a space between big flagship devices like the Galaxy S7 and the Mi 5. It was earlier rumoured that the Huawei P9 will be launched on March 9, but it seems that the launch date is more in line with popular tipster Evan Blass’s speculated April launch.

Huawei has created a niche audience with its devices. Sure, it may not produce devices that can match the best of Samsung, but it does manage to come with impressive flagships that are more affordable than many others. Last year’s Huawei P8 was well-received thanks to its sleek design language and an impressive camera at 12MP with f/2.0 aperture and OIS that took decent low-light captures.

If one has been paying attention this year, one will notice that flagship devices already launched like Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and Xiaomi’s Mi 5 come with new camera technologies. It seems that 2016 will see phone makers focusing a lot more on camera and other such areas that haven’t seen much development in recent times. And from what we’ve heard so far, Huawei looks to bring out an improved new camera with the P9.

The Huawei P9 is rumoured to feature a dual rear camera setup that will see a pair of 12-megapixel sensors with Leica lenses. Huawei also plans to incorporate some unique photography features in the phone though it’s not exactly clear right now what the plan is.

Images of the flagship posted by Blass also reveal a slim metal design. Huawei has included a fingerprint scanner on the back, a dual cameras setup and USB-C. Now, while the images show a slim frame, one can’t ignore the large bezels at the bottom. In today’s competitive smartphone market where new devices come with a great screen to body ratio, the P9 may just fall short here.

According to Evan Blass, the regular P9 will sport a 5.2-inch 1080p display, an in-house Kirin 950 chip, a 3900mAh battery, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The premium model could offer 4GB of RAM and a brand new Kirin 955 chip. These specs at least on paper make for impressive reading and quite frankly this is where Huawei will try to score as many brownie points as possible.

Huawei with the upcoming P9 range of smartphones will come to the ring as a solid competitor to this battle for market supremacy. It has the features, the camera and even the specs, to do well in what will be a close fight, but such is the nature of the battle it will step into that impressive internals might not matter much in defining the P9’s future. What happens next for the P9 might just be defined by the price it retails at which if reports are to be believed should be known in the coming days.

March 8, 2016
Apple iPhone 7 Could Feature Dual-Lens Camera Setup

With Samsung and LG having unveiled their flagship devices at the MWC last month, we now turn our attention back to Apple and its much-rumoured iPhone 7. According to recent reports, Apple submitted a patent application published in January which tells us that the Cupertino giant is working on a dual-lens camera setup for the high-end version of the iPhone 7, possibly the iPhone 7 Plus.

iPhone 7 Dual-Lens Concept

According to the patent, the UI of the camera will show a split-screen view, in which one screen will show a wide-angle shot, and the other will be a zoomed in shot of the subject. The patent shows a dual-camera system that consists of one standard wide-angle lens and one telephoto lens to capture zoomed-in photos and videos.

The lenses can be used simultaneously to take separate photos and videos while Apple software merges the images together in unique ways. Using a lens with a large focal length would also mean that the zoomed in shots will not lose detail and will remain crisp and clear.

MacRumors videographer Matt Gonzalez created a video based on the information from the patent to show an animated concept of what the iPhone 7’s dual lens camera could look likeand how best Apple can utilize this feature.

This of course, is merely a speculation and there is no confirmation that the patent will ever see light of day. However, this rumour is among the most possible features that you can expect from the iPhone 7. With smartphone camera becoming one of the most important features today, and phone makers like Samsung introducing next-gen camera technology, Apple will need to up its game and bring something unique to its camera with the iPhone 7 or suffer the consequence.

We have just come off the recent Mobile World Congress where names like Samsung, LG, and Xiaomi unveiled their flagship devices. Those who followed the unveiling closely will have noticed that the one common trait between the three flagship devices – Galaxy S7, LG G5 and Mi 5 – are that they all featured new and improved camera technology.

Apple has been among the top when it comes to having an exceptional camera in its smartphone. The iPhone 6s that was launched in September, 2015, came with a 12MP f/2.2 rear sensor. But Samsung, with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, intorduced a new Dual Pixel Technology inside its flagship. Apple has more than enough means to make the above patent a reality. We’ll just have to wait and see how it pans out as we approach closer to September.

March 8, 2016