The mobile gaming industry was worth $33 Billion in 2010. Statistics show that you are more likely to leave home without your wallet than your phone. While most people would rather play a game on a console or computer, the mobile market is rising. Check out the info-graphic below for more facts on mobile gaming:
Computer games have come a long way since the days of Pacman and Mario. In today’s day, all the cool 3D graphics that you see are made up of polygons. Polygons are nothing but flat images that are joined together to create an object in 3D. The higher the number of polygons, the greater the viewing detail.
Game developers have been trying very hard for a number of years to increase the polygon count in the games they make. However, computers face a problem when it comes to increased polygon counts. The higher the number of polygons, the greater processing power it takes to render all those polygons. Its because of this limitation that you will find games that have superb detail on one side of an object, while the other side is just a plain texturized image. Putting a cap on the number of polygons leads to a lot of compromises: You want a super detailed character? No problem, but then your world will look bland.
An Australian company called Euclideon has developed a game engine that does away with polygons and instead replaces them with point clouds that are made up of individual ‘atoms’. So doesn’t increasing the number of objects on screen slow down everything? Well you’d think so but the company says that it has made it work and your computer will make it work too. The company has developed a 1 sq km island using their game engine and each speck of dirt on that island is made up of millions of these ‘atoms’ per cubic inch.
The plus side to this is that the graphics are amazing. Simply put, polygons just cant cope with the kind of quality that the Euclideon ‘atoms’ can create. The curves that are generated with the ‘atoms’ are amazingly smooth and the level of detail is through the roof. You can quite literally see each individual grain of sand. In the next few years, computer games are going to make a huge leap forward in terms of graphics and we’re very exited about this technology and can’t wait for the company to deliver this game engine into the hands of game developers. Watch the video below for a demo of the engine in action:
Information of the Playstation Vita’s launch has been around for a couple of days now, but without official word from Sony India we thought it would be fruitless to talk about it.
We were able to get in touch with Sony’s Regional Manager for North India, According to him the official Vita for India may not come until December or January next year. The device is expected to hit the international markets in October, and may also be almost instantly available from unofficial channels.
Taking about the slow Gaming market in India, Mr. Barua said
We have seen a huge decline in sales of Gaming Consoles and products in India in 2011, we will Introduce the Vita around the end year holiday season or early next year with a revamped marketing strategy to boost sales”
PlayStation Vita will also be the first dedicated portable gaming console with 3G networking capabilities to hit the Indian market. Sony plans to price the Vita at a similar price when compared to the US variant, The WiFi only Vita will sell for Rs. 11,499/- whereas the 3G version will be priced at Rs. 14,999/- with a one year warranty (US$ 249/- and 299/- respectively)
Features include :
Titles
Sony has single handedly held the portable gaming market in India, with the most selling handheld gaming console the PSP. Sony feels that with a revamped strategy and pricing approach the market will be revived with vita.
Sony partnered with Ericsson to sell the Android based Xperia Play, which was a mobile phone version of the PSP, The phone was an amazing failure in the Indian market.
A iPhone 5 replica has emerged for sale in the deep underground ripoff markets of China. The device pictured above and below, is quite a representation of recent rumors, with the tapered back and front glass on the device, it also seems to have a different and well spaced camera module. The device in the pictures is only 7mm thick, identical to claims of an even thinner iPhone from Apple. The replica device couldn’t possibly stuck a edge to edge display within the confines of their budget hence it looks like they stuck to their standard low res variant.
You can source this device for about US $108 or just under 4500 Indian. Check out the video below.
This could be an exact replica of the Apple design or just something the Chinese designers cooked up using their imagination mixed with iPhone 5 rumors. The device is anything but pleasing on the eyes and because one can see its made from sub standard materials, it really makes us hope that there is a major difference between this and the actual iPhone 5.
[GizChina]
Apple’s iCloud goes into a beta test mode , with the official site iCloud.com now a host to the beta signup page for a developer only preview of the cloud madness. For those on iOS5 and Lion 10.7.2 in the test phases can login with their dev account ID and ease the cloud sweetness.
If you exhaust the free 5Gb of data and need more, then the following pricing applies
10Gb : US $ 20
20GB: US $ 40
50Gb: US $ 100
A screenshot below shows the iWork icon already included in the beta.
Taiwanese based original equipment manufacturer, Foxconn has announced that it is going to supplant its workforce with close to a million robots. The two things that Foxconn is most famous for are the spate of suicides that plagued the factory or for the fact that it manufactures most of the gizmo’s around you (including the iPad and iPhone).
At the moment the company currently employs 1.2 million workers and has around 10,000 robots as well. The number of robots will be increased to 300,000 by the end of 2012 and by 2014, it will be increased even further to 1 million. The number of workers that will be displaced by the robots is uncertain at this time. However, it would be very unlikely that Foxconn would be looking to hire over the next three years.
The Foxconn chairman Terry Gou informed workers of the plan at the company Dance Party. Not the occasion we’d have picked…
Nokia has launched the new Nokia 500, the first 1 GHZ symbian smartphone. The device is based on the existing C5-03 and offers little improvements over the existing device
Specs Include
The most anticipated update for Skype has been finally released. Skype for iPad is now official and brings voice and video chatting with others on Macs, PCs or other Skype clients. The app is not an add-on in the Skype for iPhone app but a separate iPad app available to download now from the App-Store. The app will let you enjoy the Skype goodness over Wifi or your data connection.
[toggle title_open=”Collapse” title_closed=”Read the Press Release” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Skype for iPad
Bring your Skype contacts closer with full screen video at your fingertips.
Beautiful and simple, this is Skype built especially for the iPad. Call, video call, or instant message anyone on Skype. Plus, if you add a little Skype Credit, call landlines and mobiles at really low rates.
Simple to use:
• Join Skype on your iPad in a few moments or just sign straight in to your account.
• If you already have a Skype account, your Skype contacts will automatically be there on your iPad.
• We’ve made adding new Skype contacts really easy.
• Once they’re in your Contact list, call, video or instant message them in one touch.
• Flick through recent calls and instant messages in your Skype for iPad history.
• Skype for iPad works over Wi-Fi or 3G (operator data charges may apply). Call Skype contacts on their iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, PC, Mac and even Skype enabled TVs.
Access free Skype features:
• Talk face-to-face or show what you’re seeing with front and back-facing cameras.
• Use Skype for iPad to call anyone else on Skype – and enjoy near CD quality (SILK) sound.
• Instant message and add emoticons to personalize your messages.
Then unlock even more features when you pay a little:
• Make cheap calls to landlines or mobiles from your iPad.
• Get an Online Number from Skype so people can call you on your iPad.
If you want to unlock these extra features, you can pay in a way that suits you.
• Pay As You Go with Skype Credit – great for when you’re using Skype every now and again.
• Pay monthly with a subscription – best if you use Skype a lot.
System requirements:
• Skype video calling requires iOS 4.0 or above.
• Send and receive video using front or back camera on iPhone 4, iPad 2nd Generation, and iPod touch 4th Generation.
• Send and receive video using rear camera on iPhone 3GS.
• Receive video only on iPad 1st Generation and iPod touch 3rd Generation.
• Works with any H264 compatible devices, including TVs.[/toggle]
Adobe has just announced the launch of their new tool called HTML5 Web Motion and Interaction Design Tool. The software currently in its beta form is available to download free of charge and will allow web designers to bring animation, similar to that created in Flash Professional, to websites.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Intuitive user Interface | The user interface is based on a stage, timeline, and panels for elements and properties. It’s influenced by our customers’ favorite features and functionality in class-leading tools like After Effects and Flash Professional, but innovates in its ease of use. Animations and timing can be controlled on a WebKit-based stage, or via precise property adjustments directly on the timeline. You can also make quick edits on individual or multiple objects. |
| Visually author animated content | Create new compositions from scratch using basic HTML building blocks, text, and imported web graphics. Manipulate objects with an array of transformation and styling options which Edge natively applies to our jQuery-based animation framework. |
| Add motion to existing HTML content | Add motion elements to existing HTML web documents. Edge stores all of its animation in a separate JavaScript file that cleanly distinguishes the original HTML from Edge’s animation code. Edge makes minimal, non-intrusive changes to the HTML code to reference the JavaScript and CSS files it creates. |
| Import web graphics files | Import existing web graphics such as SVG, JPG, PNG, and GIF files. |
| Standards-based output | Edge reads and writes HTML, CSS and JavaScript files natively. Animated content produced in Edge is expressed in a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data structure that preserves the CSS-based layout. JSON is a formatting style for JavaScript that is easily readable, and allows more flexibility to work with the document and animated content independently. |
| Reliable content on desktops and devices | Animated content created with Edge is designed and tested to work reliably on the iOS and Android platforms, WebKit-enabled devices, and popular desktop browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer 9. |
[toggle title_open=”Collapse” title_closed=”Read The Press Release” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Adobe Releases Early Preview of New HTML5 Web Motion and Interaction Design Tool
SAN JOSE, Calif.–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the first public preview release of Adobe® Edge, a new HTML5 web motion and interaction design tool that allows web designers to bring animation, similar to that created in Flash® Professional, to websites using standards likes HTML, JavaScript and CSS. Because of rapid changes around HTML5, the company is adopting an open development methodology for Adobe Edge and is releasing the software on the Adobe Labs site much earlier than normal in the development process – before it even reaches beta – in order to allow user feedback to help shape the final product.
“Over the last year Adobe has delivered on several significant HTML5 milestones including contributions to jQuery, submitting code to WebKit, and enhanced HTML5 output in Creative Suite® 5.5”
While in public preview, Adobe Edge will be a no-charge download that web designers are encouraged to explore and provide feedback on, to help shape future preview releases. To download the software, visit www.labs.adobe.com.
Adobe Edge, first shown at Adobe MAX 2010, is ideal for designers who want an efficient way to leverage Web standards like HTML to create Web content with motion and transitions. Adobe Edge is being designed as a fast and lightweight professional-grade tool that complements Adobe’s existing Web tools, such as Adobe Dreamweaver® CS5.5, Adobe Flash Professional CS5.5 and Adobe Flash Builder® 4.5 software.
“Over the last year Adobe has delivered on several significant HTML5 milestones including contributions to jQuery, submitting code to WebKit, and enhanced HTML5 output in Creative Suite® 5.5,” said Paul Gubbay, vice president of Design and Web Engineering, Adobe. “Now, with Adobe Edge, we’re taking our HTML5 tooling to a whole new level and look forward to getting some really useful feedback from the community over the next few months, as we refine the product.”
The Adobe Edge preview works natively with HTML. It enables users to add motion to existing HTML documents without hampering design integrity of CSS-based layouts, and it also enables users to easily create visually rich content from scratch, using familiar drawing tools that produce HTML elements styled with CSS3. Users can import standard Web graphics assets such as SVG, PNG, JPG and GIF files and style them using CSS3. The design stage utilizes WebKit to enable design, preview and manipulation of content with incredible fidelity. The innovative timeline feature is both familiar for creative professionals and breaks new ground in animation productivity to enable users to define and customize motion applied to HTML elements with extreme precision. Content created with Edge is designed to work on modern browsers including those on Android, BlackBerry Playbook™, iOS , HP webOS and other smartphone mobile devices as well as Firefox™, Google Chrome™, Safari™ and Internet Explorer 9™.
This Adobe Edge public preview is available today on Adobe Labs as a no-charge download for anyone wanting to explore adding motion and animation to their HTML workflow or HTML animation to their skill set. Creative professionals are encouraged to dive into the public preview and provide their feedback at www.labs.adobe.com. The Adobe Edge preview is expected to be updated regularly as new functionality is added.
This summer Adobe is sponsoring the Expressive Web Tour HTML5 Camps in cities that include San Francisco, Tokyo, New York City and London to continue providing further support to people interested in HTML5.
In addition, Adobe has launched a new online resource showcasing some of the newest and most expressive HTML5 and CSS3 features being added to the modern Web. The new site, which was released today in beta, was created using new HTML5 and CSS3 features.[/toggle]
[Adobe]
German scientists have discovered a way to transmit WiFi networks in a Building infrastructure using Light Bulbs. Earlier this year researchers hit 500Mbps with white LEDs now, using a combination of white, green, blue, and red, the team was able to bring that up to 800Mbps.
The only drawback of this technology is the fact that there always needs to be a line of sight between the device and the bulb, so we don’t see it eliminating true WiFi just as yet.
Now thats a way to make the students happy, University of Southern Mississippi handed out Galaxy Tab 10.1 devices to Honor students for the year 2011-2012. The devices are also preloaded with text and syllabus for the academic year, including the ability to purchase books and check grades.
Initially only a 1000 tabs were given away to students in the Honors College, McNair Scholars, Southern Style, and Gulf Coast programs.
Now thats a way to motivate the students, maybe the Indian universities should take some inspiration from this. Although it appears that the devices were sponsored by Samsung , look at the video below.
[Engadget]
UK based mobile operator Orange has developed a new T-Shirt that can charge your mobile phone. It uses a piezoelectric film which is stitched on the t-shirt, to capture sound waves, convert them into electricity and store it in a battery. A variety of mobile devices can then be plugged into the battery to charge.
The Sound Charge uses an existing technology in a revolutionary way; by reversing the use of a product called Piezoelectric film within a specially designed t-shirt, allowing people to charge their mobile phones whilst enjoying their favourite act at Glastonbury.
Adding more details to the amazing T-Shirt, Andrew Pearcey Head of Sponsorship at Orange UK said:
We envisage that this pioneering technology could really change the face of mobile charging in environments where eco charging solutions need to be found. It could even influence trends in fashion, with designers looking to integrate this passive charging solution into clothing.
Nendo, a Japanese company has designed a USB pen drive in the shape of a paper clip for Elecom. The design is supposed to define a new relationship between physical and digital media. It can be used as a standard paper clip to keep papers and files organized.
Looks like someone managed to snap the images of a test iPhone 5 in the US. Images from a man claiming to have spotted an Apple employee field testing the iPhone 5 have surfaced. Although the images are really blurry, one can easily make out the Apple logo at the back along with the curvaceous back rumored for the iPhone 5.
9 to 5 Mac reported this incident, and their tipster claimed to have seen the device upclose.
Almost EVO-like in screen size, this iPhone also appears thinner than the current iPhone 4 but also wider. The edges are rounded metal like the edges of a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 but could still function as an antenna. The back is a curved/tapered glass or plastic, if I had to to guess I’d say glass.” Said the Tipster
If this is indeed the next gen iPhone 5 in testing, then you can bet your money on the fact that its going to be released end August this year. The above images also match the render images iGyaan found sometime back.
According to the latest financial reports, it appears that Apple has actually more cash reserves than the US govt. itself.
Here is what Business Insider said :
the world’s largest tech company has more cash than the world’s largest sovereign government”
At the end of June 2011, Apple had a total of US$ 76.2 Billion, while the US govt still fighting the crunch of last years financial downfall, stay at a figure of US$73.8 billion in reserves. Whats more Apple has no market debt or bank loans, and it does not hand out dividends. Apple’s reserve is now nearly 16 percent higher than three months ago, the amount added last quarter is higher than the amount on hand 4.5 years ago and the cash added is higher than Google’s overall revenues in the quarter”