Author: Shivaank Rana

Bing Maps Gets New Features Including 270TB Of Bird’s Eye Imagery

Bing Maps announced a number of new additions today, including a more expansive collection of Bird’s Eye Imagery locations, new Venue Maps and a Report a Problem feature.

Microsoft announced that it has added its largest-ever batch of Bird’s Eye imagery to Bing Maps — nearly 270 terabytes of data, or the equivalent of 100,000 DVDs, as the company tries to keep up with the 3D mapping capabilities offered by its competitors.

So far, Microsoft has published a total of 1,452,958 sq km, or half a petabyte of data, in Bird’s Eye scenes from around the world. The Bing Maps coverage for this release is shown in yellow (it’s mainly for the US, some Europe, plus a little Canada and Australia):

As for Venue Maps, these allow you to navigate your way around malls, airports, amusement parks, stadiums, and more on your computer or Windows 8 mobile device. Venue Maps automatically show up when you zoom in while using Bing Maps. Purple and green polygons will appear, and clicking on one will pop out a directory with a full list of points of interest that you can explore from a top-down view.

Bing Maps new ‘Report a Problem’ feature involves a link that appears in a box when a user clicks on a location. After clicking the link, a user is given the option to select whether a location is currently empty, if there is a new venue in the existing location, or submit comments to identify more specific issues.

[Via]

June 12, 2013
About Time! Google Glass Cracked Open In Teardown

It was bound to happen at some point, and condolences to whomever sacrificed their frames for the greater good aside, we’ve got our first look at the components from Google Glass and how they’re fitted together.

The internet owes a deep thanks to Scott Torborg and Star Simpson who did a detailed tear-down post on the Google Glass.

Some of the motivation for the tear down was purely technological while some of it was driven by the growing concerns about privacy and personal security in the US.

“Growing up on a rich diet of dystopian tech fiction, we were filled with both intrigue and concern about Glass and decided to take our model apart to bring you a detailed view into the electronics guts of the device.

It is not surprising that the camera is similar in quality and resolution to cameras found in your everyday smartphone:

“The Glass camera seems to be of typical smartphone-level size and format. It is not coaxially aligned with the wearer’s eye. The camera and display appear to talk to the CPU independently, with no direct connection between each other.

The main board, which is held in place with “lots of paste.” Removing said paste revealed a TI OMAP4430 chip and a 16GB SanDisk flash chip. Next was the battery, which also required tearing the plastic in order to get to it. Obviously, this means users cannot replace the battery on their own. The rest of the teardown is detailed in extensive pictures, which you can check out at the link at the bottom.

According to the Google Glass Tech specs page, Glass has a 5-megapixel camera that can shoot video in 720p. It supports 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Audio is provided by a bone conduction transducer, and the display is “the equivalent of a 25-inch high definition screen from eight feet away.” As for buttons and connectors, Glass has a Listen button, on/off button, capture button, touch sensitive area, and Micro USB port for charging. There’s also a status LED and rear-facing sensor array.

[Catwig]

June 12, 2013
Apple Debuts Game Controller APIs In iOS 7, Will Support Third Party Controllers

Physical controllers for iPhones and iPads have long been left to the ThinkGeeks and the Kickstarter projects, due to the lack of support. But that’s going to change with iOS 7.

Playing traditional console style games on a touchscreen has always been difficult, especially when the developer has not tailored their game enough to a touchscreen. Now gamers do not have to worry about that problem if their favorite games support Apple’s game controllers API.

A slide (pictured below) indicated that the iOS 7 SDK would support MFi game controllers, a reference to Apple’s licensing program for third-party hardware add-ons.

TouchArcade points to a vague guide that Apple posted to its developer site yesterday that has basic guidelines on how game controllers should be used.

The one on at the top looks like your typical iPhone game controller, with a large opening in the center that allows you to view your handset’s display. And the one right below is obviously more of your standard, standalone-type gamepad.

Game Center will also get a visual overhaul with the latest update to Apple’s iconic mobile operating system, iOS 7, it was revealed during WWDC today. Apple aims to curb cheating through more secure game scores and support for ranking-style leaderboards. It’s also added a new Sprite Kit tool to help developers create games

[Via, Via]

June 12, 2013
Nokia, Microsoft Working Even Closer, Collaborative Effort Coming Soon

During a Lumia 925 briefing in the UK, Nokia revealed that they’ve tightened its ever-growing bond with Redmond-based Microsoft, makers of the Windows 8 (mobile and desktop) platform. Nokia UK’s Ray Haddow stated that the Finnish company has been “working even closer” with Microsoft and we can expect to see new collaborative efforts in the near future. Engadget reports that Nokia and Microsoft will work to raise Nokia’s profile.

Nokia and Microsoft first entered into a “broad strategic partnership” that made Windows Phone OS its “primary smartphone strategy,” but there have been rumours of Nokia coming to market with a tablet for years now.

The company went on to discuss marketing opportunities it’s seizing upon as a result of its Microsoft affiliation, so we very well might just be talking about plans for a new promotional blitz. What was less clear is if all that might be focused on a particular product (and we certainly expect the EOS to be a big win for both Nokia and Microsoft) or if it could be more broadly Lumia- or WP-focused in general.

Could this mean that Nokia might be ready to enter the Windows-powered tablet space? No telling what these two have in store but we should know in the next few weeks.

[Engadget]

June 12, 2013
Grand Theft Auto V PS3 Bundle, Custom Headset Announced At E3

A special Grand Theft Auto 5 package exclusive to PlayStation 3 has been announced at Sony’s E3 press conference.

Making the bundle all the more enticing, this gaming collection will come wrapped in a special box adorned with exclusive GTA 5 themed artwork.

The GTA V PS3 bundle includes a 500GB PlayStation 3, a Blu-ray copy of Grand Theft Auto V and a 30-day PlayStation Plus trial membership. Like Assassin’s Creed 3 and Uncharted 3bundles, this package is priced at $299.99.

“The custom Grand Theft Auto V audio mode for Pulse – Elite Edition takes full advantage of the BassImpact technology embedded in the Pulse – Elite Edition headset to provide the ultimate Grand Theft Auto V experience,” an official Sony spokesperson stated. “This exclusive mode enhances the game’s most epic moments like car crashes, explosions and more.”

A custom-designed ‘Grand Theft Auto V Pulse – Elite Edition’ headset has also been produced in collaboration with Rockstar Games, and will go on sale for $179 in the US. UK and European pricing was not set out at E3.

The PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto V will also have a special ‘Pulse Elite Edition’ mode, using the technology in the headset to enhance sound quality during key moments in the game such as crashes and explosions. The software to activate the audio mode can be downloaded for free via the Pulse – Elite Manager app.

Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5 will be released on Sept. 17, 2013 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

June 11, 2013
E3 : Batman : Arkham Origins Trailer Revealed

Warner Bros. has posted the E3 gameplay trailer for the upcoming prequel, Batman: Arkham Origins, and it delivers the hits… literally. Black Mask puts a bounty on Batman’s head, which brings the combined might of Bane, Deadshot, Deathstroke, and other villains to Gotham City.

Unlike the CGI Batman: Arkham Origins teaser trailer that was released a few weeks ago, the new gameplay reveal trailer is made up entirely of in-game footage. We get out first look at Bane, and also get to hear Roger Craig Smith as Batman and Troy Baker as Joker for the first time.

Taking place before the rise of Gotham City’s most dangerous villains and assassins, the game showcases a young, raw, unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight. As the story unfolds, witness identities being formed and key relationships being forged.

Batman: Arkham Origins will be available for the Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on October 25, 2013.

June 11, 2013
E3 2013 : inFamous: Second Son Revealed

A new trailer for InFamous Second Son was unveiled at Sony’s E3 conference, along with the news that it won’t be a launch title.

The sequel to 2011’s InFamous 2 is scheduled for a Q1 2014 release, it was announced during the conference.

“The new trailer introduces Delsin Rowe’s older brother, Reggie, who will accompany Delsin on his journey in Seattle,” said Sucker Punch’s Brian Fleming on the PlayStation Blog. “Reggie is voiced by Travis Willingham, who interestingly is close friends in real life with Troy Baker, the voice actor for Delsin. You’ll get a glimpse into Delsin and Reggie’s relationship, and also see how much fun Delsin has being a superhuman, especially when using his awesome Orbital Drop maneuver shown at the end of the trailer.”

You now have fire powers instead of electric, flying instead of gliding around or grinding power lines. It’s all good for the next evolution of this super-powered franchise.

Sucker Punch will be demoing the game, which launches in Q1 2014, at Sony’s E3 booth starting tomorrow.

June 11, 2013
E3 2013 : Mad Max Debut Trailer Showcased

It’s a film trilogy that’s considered to be one of the best cult classics by many (even with Beyond Thunderdome), and it’s certainly influenced a whole heap of games already, but now Mad Max is set to return in a new game from Warner Bros. Entertainment.

During its E3 press conference today, Sony announced that Mad Max is coming to PlayStation 4. The third-person, open world adventure is set in The Wasteland, which is the setting of George Miller’s Mad Max movies.

There wasn’t much revealed about the upcoming game, but it does feature the Road Warrior himself. In the brief trailer, Max decides to kill a starving bandit by running him over, rather than shoot him with his final shotgun bullet.

Watch the full trailer above, which confirms that Mad Max be released on Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One and PS4 in 2014.

June 11, 2013
E3 2013 : Bungie Debuts Destiny Gameplay, Will Launch In 2014

Destiny made its gameplay world premiere today during Sony’s pre-E3 2013 press conference.

The demo began just outside of the massive city walls that house the last great human civilization. Bungie luminaries Jason Jones and Joe Staten quickly moved underground, showing off the game’s impressive lighting tech, as well as multiple new weapons including a futuristic assault rifle and pistol. The duo also weren’t shy about showing off Halo-style melee attacks.

After a brief firefight, a quick dive into Destiny’s menus revealed a weapon skill tree and an elaborate weapon upgrading/socketing system.

In addition to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Destiny is also set to launch on Xbox One and Xbox 360. Speaking with IGN, senior writer Eric Osborne said that a PC version was not out of the question.

Bungie’s Destiny will be released in 2014. You can watch gameplay footage in the official video below.

June 11, 2013
‘Final Fantasy 15’ And ‘Kingdom Hearts 3’ Announced For Playstation 4

We’ve already seen plenty from the Playstation 4’s initial unveil in February, but today we got a closer look at games from all developers, including Indie titles, as well as the actual PS4 hardware. Sony shared a quick look at two titles we’re sure many will be extremely exited to play.

Sony dropped a bombshell at their E3 2013 press briefing by announcing that Kingdom Hearts III is currently in development for the PlayStation 4. This came directly on the heels of the company’s announcement that Final Fantasy Versus XIII is also coming to Playstation 4, under its new moniker: Final Fantasy XV.

[youtube id=”Q6jLw1iDCwI” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

In a wild gameplay trailer that saw lead character Noctis work his way through a crumbling building, fighting masked, sword-wielding soldiers and flying monsters, Square confirmed that it would continue the series on PlayStation 4 as Final Fantasy XV. This was actually the first major gameplay trailer released of the game in some three years, and the first ever officially shown to the public. It’s no surprise that after seven years of reportedly tortured development, the game has become a PlayStation 4 title rather than another game for the aging PlayStation 3.

[youtube id=”npjBHFb0fZM” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

More surprising, though, was the announcement of Kingdom Hearts 3. It’s also been seven years since the last major Kingdom Hearts game, with the beautifully strange Kingdom Hearts 2 on PlayStation 2. Sony showed only the briefest trailer of a teenage Sora battling Heartless enemies known from the series and ended with the statement that the game is “now in development.” Meaning it’s far from actually coming out any time soon. Still, after nearly five handheld releases in the series, it’s hugely exciting to see Kingdom Hearts 3.

[DigitalTrends]

June 11, 2013
E3 : New Line-Up Of Alienware Gaming Notebooks Showcased

This week, Alienwar is taking the wraps off of its overhauled gaming laptops, codenamed “Epic.”

Alienware is launching three new laptops (14″, 17″ and 18″) along with a refresh of the Alienware X51 compact gaming PC.

The company has completely overhauled its portable machines with new, magnesium alloy and aluminum casing in a charcoal finish and sleek, angled and rounded edges. Each includes a HD matte display with a reimagined keyboard and LED illuminated trackpad.

While manufacturers like Razer and Gigabyte are slimming down their hardware, Alienware is content to keep the chassis beefy at 1.6-inches up to 2.2-inches depending on the model.

For all models, the displays can optionally be upgraded 1080p at order-time if that’s not already the default option. While this is not surprising on the 17? and 18?, the 14? also gets the full HD option, with a little bonus in the form of an IPS panel which should provide wide view angle and great color rendering for that form-factor.

Inside, the laptops are powered by various versions of Intel’s latest Core i7 processor backed by 8GB to 32GB of RAM, depending on the model. The differences between those CPU options are frequency (3.4GHz to 4.0GHz and cache size which go from 6MB to 8MB). This time, Alienware has selected the NVIDIA 700-Series graphics processors and options vary from the GT 750M to the dual-GPU GTX 780 (dual-gpu is only available on the 18?). This type of graphics performance blows away your average $900 Ultrabook by miles.

In terms of storage, Alienware has showed us that for the first time, they are supporting up to 3 drives on all three laptops, and the high-end configuration would be something like 512GB of SSD and 2X750GB of HDD (+ optical drive), which is kind of crazy for a laptop.

June 11, 2013
Smartphones With SK Hynix 4GB DDR3 Memory Will Be Available By Year End

Do you worry that the 2GB of RAM inside your Nexus 4 or HTC One just isn’t enough? Want to be the person who says his phone has more memory than his 2006-era desktop PC? Your time will come, perhaps sooner than you think.

SK Hynix, one of the world’s largest memory manufacturers and direct competitor to Samsung, has announced that it will begin manufacture of 8Gb (1GB) LPDDR3 RAM modules, which can be stacked together to tally 4GB, by the end of the year.

The SK Hynix chips will be some 25% faster than current-generation LPDDR3 chips such as those inside the Galaxy S4, but the main thing here is the density: these chips will work nicely with Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 800 SoC and improved camera modules in next year’s crop of smartphones.

SK Hynix is moving to a 20nm manufacturing process for these modules, which will be thinner, lighter and more energy-efficient than their current counterparts. The first recipients of the 4GB combination will begin this year, but will be far more common by Q2 2014.

[Mobile Syrup]

June 11, 2013
Sony Set To Launch The Playstation 4 For $399 “This Holiday Season”

Sony today announced the PlayStation 4 and the next generation gaming console has been price at $399/€399/£349 (~Rs 23,250/-), $100 cheaper than the Xbox One.

For the £350 asking price you’ll get the Playstation 4 console complete with a 500GB hard drive, built-in Blu-ray drive and the brand new Sony PS4 controller effectively pricing Xbox One’s Kinect sensor at $100.

The console, according to SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton, the console will not contain any authentication requirements; no “always online” and no “stopping” if you have not authenticated in 24 hours.

PlayStation Plus carries over PS4 and while you can still play all your single-player games, you will need a Plus membership to play online multiplayer games.

The new console, shown off at the company’s press conference at E3 in Los Angeles looks to be slim and thin, a vast contrast to Microsoft’s large and bulky Xbox One console.

“It is sleek and visually impactful wherever you put it.” Anthony House, head of Sony Computer Entertainment said as he revealed the new console to the packed stadium.

Keeping with the black and blue colour scheme the console will be able to be sat vertically and horizontally on your shelf.

Sony began by talking about its existing hardware: The PlayStation 3 and the handheld PS Vita. However, no hardware refresh was announced for either device.

“Vita is just beginning its life cycle,” Sony Computer Entertainment President and CEO Jack Tretton said, noting that the Vita will be the “ultimate companion device” to the PlayStation 4.

Despite the lack of new hardware, Sony did show off a slew of big-ticket new games that will work on the PS3, including Batman: Arkham Origins and Grand Theft Auto V.

[All Things D]

June 11, 2013
WWDC : iWork Introduced For iCloud

At its WWDC event today, Apple introduced iWork for iClouds.

Roger Rosner came up on stage to show off the new service. iWork is Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Most powerful productivity apps ever created for a mobile device. Awesome new releases of Mac and iOS iWork suites coming later this year.

iWork for iCloud lets you create beautiful documents right in the browser on Mac or PC. iCloud homepage now has new iWork app icons. Work on Pages right in the browser.

He showed off editing a spreadsheet in Numbers, full Keynote editing and animations right in a browser window.

IE, Chrome and Safari. iWork on all your devices — create a document on the Mac, edit on a PC, and present from the iPhone.

You can check out the beta version at beta.icloud.com. Public beta coming with general release later this year.

June 10, 2013
WWDC : OS X Mavericks Announced

At its WWDC event today, Apple announced the next edition of its Mac OS, the OS X Mavericks.

The previous edition, the Mountain Lion, launched last year, shipped 28 million copies. 35% of Mac users are using Mountain Lion. In comparison, 8% of Windows users are using Windows 8.

Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President Software Engineering, came on stage to talk about the OS X Mavericks : ” We want names that will carry us for the next ten years. The answer was really obvious. It’s those places that inspire us here in California. For our first California themed release, we went to OS X Mavericks.”

OS X Mavericks is released a with deep technology focus on extending battery life and responsiveness.

The first big feature of OS X Mavericks is the new tabs feature in the Finder – Safari-esque tabs that can drag content across tabs. Finder now goes full screen as well.

The next new feature is ‘Tags’ — As the name states, it brings tagging to the Mac. In addition to its location and name, you can tag a file. It’ll appear right in the Finder sidebar. You can tag things wherever they are. This is a really great feature for Power Searches.

Federighi then showcased the Multiple Displays feature – you can get your menus across multiple displays. Your dock is accessed across multiple displays and when you take an app full screen, it doesn’t mess with your desktop on the other display. If you have an AirPlay connected HDTV, it can act as a full-powered HD display with individual control spaces and Mission control on each display.

OS X Mavericks features Timer Coalescing: When you look at battery life, the real factor that software has the most influence over is CPU activity. “Intelligently align work reducing transitions between idle and work mode.” It reduces CPU utilization up to 72%.

New Safari

Clean new homepage in Safari, new sidebar, browser right from bookmarks, Reading List. It also features Shared Links: See links posted by people you’re following on Twitter or LinkedIn. It also features 60fps scrolling.

App Nap shuts off CPU work when a window is unseen in the background. If a window is covered, the CPU stops processing as much, saving battery life.

Calendar on the Mac has been redesigned with a flat redesign. “No virtual cows were harmed in the making of this UI. We’ll be adding that to our environmental checklist.”

Improvements to notifications: Can reply within notifications for emails and messages, can delete emails from notifications.

New Maps – Maps team has been making great improvements and Mac users are going to benefit. Fantastic new Maps app. Street maps, 3D, flyover data, POI, info cards, turn by turn directions.

“Mavericks makes your digital life follow you from device to device.” Remembers what page you’re reading, remembers your passwords across devices. Bookmark location and travel routes. Fantastic release full of some great features for power users.

Final release coming this fall.

More features coming up!

June 10, 2013