Friday 13 July 2012

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Update

Hey Guys!


As you will most likely know, Mojang recently released Minecraft for Xbox 360. The one time I had played it at a friends house, I really struggled. There was poor lighting, poor mob AI and default skins.

Well, an update has just come out for and it has many features and fixes listed below!
Features:-
- Added Pistons & Sticky Pistons.
- Added Stackable fences.
- Added Shears – required to get wool from sheep, and to collect leaf blocks.
- TNT needs Flint and Steel or Redstone to detonate.
- Redstone wire will now connect to a repeater.
- New textures for Cobblestone and Brick.
- Added Character Skin Selector to allow players to choose their skin from the default skins, or from Downloadable Content skin packs.
- Added lighting improvements (brought forward from 1.8.2 update) and snow & rain improvements.
- Added a save file cache to improve the speed of displaying the saves list.
- Added ban list functionality to allow players to self-ban from levels they feel contain offensive content.
- Added a ban list section to the How To Play menus.
- Added an option for the host to limit online games to only players in their friends list (no friends of friends).
- Added a seed display to the level load screen (requires existing levels to be saved out again to add the display).
- Changed the tooltip display setting to in-game tooltip display, so that tooltips always display in menus.
- Added the crosshair to the list of things affected by the opacity slider.
- On using the quickselect bar, the opacity of the quickselect, tooltips, splitscreen gamertag display, and crosshair will be set to 80,
and will fade back down to the user opacity setting after 6 seconds of no quickselect bar use.
- Added some more Tips & Trivia to the loading/saving screen display.
Tutorial World changes & additions:-
- Added optional tutorial for Pistons and Redstone.
- Added a self-building bridge to the castle using Pistons.
- Added some sugar cane, cactii and clay to the world.
- Added a few other things for players to discover.
Fixes:-
- Fix for only the host being shown the pop-up when any player attempts to place lava near the spawn point.
- Fixed tooltip for Flint and Steel.
- Fix for Note blocks not showing notes.
- Fix for Leaderboard reads taking too long.
- Fix to block players re-entering a level they have been kicked from, until the level is restarted.
- Fix to stop players being able to join a game when they are not a friend of any player in the game.
- Fix for Netherracks re-appearing after being mined.
- Fix for a rare crash on entering the Nether.
- Fix for attacking enemies at a different level not damaging them.
- Fixed a problem causing some save games not to load.
- Removed Herobrine.


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Thursday 12 July 2012

Starbucks app release on android devices, adds PayPal

Hey Guys,
Starbucks, the coffee shop of coffee shops, it finally has an android app. It requires android 2.2 which means no review :( but I can still copy and paste the Google Play description :P

It's the fastest way to pay, track your Stars, and reload your Starbucks Card!A Starbucks Card is the fastest, most convenient way to pay at Starbucks. And Starbucks
for Android™ is the perfect companion to your card. Your Android™ phone will
display a barcode that you use just like your card to make purchases at Starbucks.
With Starbucks for Android, you can check your balance, reload your card with any
major credit card, view your transactions and conveniently track your Stars in
the My Starbucks Rewards program.
Features
• Use a widget to pay, check balance, track you’re My Starbucks Rewards Stars, or find a location
• Check your Starbucks Card balance
• Reload your Starbucks Card with a major credit card or PayPal
• Transfer balances between Cards
• View your transaction history
• Pay with your Android™ phone at participating stores
• Locate a Starbucks near you
• Track your Stars in the My Starbucks Rewards program
Known Technical Limitations
• This application supports US, UK, & Canada Starbucks Cards only, including Gold cards
• Starbucks Store Credit Cards or Duetto Cards are not supported
• Starbucks for Android supports your personal Starbucks Cards. Cards may only
be loaded onto one device at a time. If you wish to reload a friend or family
members’ Starbucks Card, please visit Starbucks.com/card.
For more information, please visit http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/mobile-apps/If you are experiencing login or other technical issues, please email
Starbuckscardmobile@starbucks.com


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Ouya Android Console Unveiled

Hey Guys,


I have been taking a break from blogging recently but my friend told me about this android console so I did my research and here is the latest on it.


So as the title give away, news has been released on an android gaming console to be named "Ouya". I have no idea where the strange name came from but it's quite catchy and easy to remember.

According to a range of sources it runs on Android and only cost $99 or in people speak, £60!! This is some cheap ass console and the company insists it will be a next level console. I have high douubs on how many hardcore gamers will ditch their Xbox's or PS3's for a droid console. My thoughts are that the games will consist of small casual games such as Minecraft.

The Ouya has specs that are on par with high-end Android phones and tablets, including a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage. It outputs 1080p video through an HDMI slot, uses Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 2.0 for connecting external devices and includes a wireless controller. All sounds very nice, but for £60 it can't be as amazing as the features suggest.


To raise money for a March 13 launch, Ouya has turned to crowd-funding site Kickstarter, where the company is taking pre-orders and other donations. Ouya hopes to raise $950,000 through the site and I give them full support. I'd love to see Google software made for my TV screen at a low price!

Unfortunately, not all games that you play on your phone will be compatible on the big screen. There will be different resolutions and the controller will have a joystick!

Ouya wants to lower the barrier for game development compared to traditional game consoles, so there are no licensing fees, and every console will include a software development kit. There's just one big rule that all developers must follow: All games must have a free-to-play element, whether it's a timed trial, a feature-locked demo or a complete experience filled with microtransactions, so no expensive games to have to waste too much money on.

We don't have any knowledge on when it will be released or a list of games but I really am looking forward to it, for once there will be tech I can afford. It's just a shame getting a TV for that price may be a different story.

So guys, what do you think? Is it worth a buy? Will you be making games? Do you think it will sell? Will Apple, Microsoft and Sony make their console's cheaper and more available to casual; gamers? Leave a comment below!

Sunday 8 July 2012

Full Android History!

Hey Guys,


Since Jelly Bean was confirmed I have decided to create a full list of the android history just to show the technological Evolution of our lovely green robots. Enjoy!!


Android 1.0 and 1.1


Android was born in 2008 on the fuck ugly but nevertheless powerful and fun T-Mobile G1. Made by HTC and sold by T-Mobile, this early version of Android was full of potential, but we deemed it best suited to early adopters and gadget hounds.

Although the G1 couldn't beat the iPhone in when it came to style but it offers most of the major Android features that we've come to know and love. Like the awesome notification bar.



What you get:
  • The Android Market served up apps without the stringent entry rules of the Apple App Store, leading to a vibrant selection of apps, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.
  • The Android browser made surfing the Web on your phone a pleasure rather than a pain, thanks to the ability to render pages quickly and accurately.
  • Google Maps used the phone's GPS and Wi-Fi to pinpoint your location on an infinite map, so you need never be lost again.
  • Syncing with our contacts, email and calendar online initially made us wary of sharing all our data with Google, but our privacy concerns were soon vanquished by the sheer convenience of accessing everything, from anywhere.
Android 1.5 Cupcake

The dessert themed code-names started with Cupcake, the first major update to Android, which dropped in May 2009. Cupcake was packed with new features, but perhaps the most significant was the virtual keyboard, which paved the way for buttonless blowers such as the HTC Magic.
What you get:
  • Shortcuts and widgets on the home screen meant our mobiles could now be obsessively tweaked and personalised.
  • An on-screen keyboard meant tapping virtually could replace typing on the real thing, making phones lighter and leaner.
  • Video recording was added to the camera, and the ability to upload videos straight to YouTube
  • Stereo Bluetooth
  • The Web browser gets a speed boost and the copy and paste function.

Android 1.6 Donut

In October 2009, we got Donut. It offered fewer major improvements, now that most of the key features were in place. But it brought Android to a new crowd, thanks to the addition of support for CDMA -- the technology used by some American mobile networks.

What you get:
  • The universal search function helped us pinpoint our apps and contacts on the phone, or jump to searching the Web.
  • Support for more screen resolutions opened the door to Android phones of different sizes.
  • Google Maps Navigation added free turn-by-turn sat-nav and an alternative to the stand alone Sat-Navs


Android 2.0 and 2.1 Eclair


We didn't have to wait long before Android 2.0 arrived, 1 month after Donut! in November 2009. Eclair reached out to the suits with support for Microsoft Exchange server, which most businesses use for email.

Android 2.1 Eclair arrived in January 2010. It fixed some bugs and let app developers play with more features, but it didn't add any features for users.


What you get:
  • Exchange support, so you can finally get your Outlook email. There's also a unified email inbox. However, it's still kept with POP and IMAP email in a separate app to Gmail.
  • Support for multiple Google accounts lets you stock up on all your Gmail.
  • Camera settings including support for a flash, digital zoom, white balance and colour effects.
  • Searching within text messages and MMS messages.
  • Multi-touch support in the on-screen keyboard helps it figure out what you're trying to say if you accidentally type two letters at once. The dictionary incorporates your contacts so you get people's names right, too.
  • The Web brower gets a refresh with a new address bar and thumbnails for a sneak peek at your bookmarks.
  • Kian gets a phone!!


Android 2.2 Froyo

Arriving in May 2010, Froyo spiced up the little green robot again. It introduced Flash, which has become one of the defining differences between Android and its main competitor, the iPhone.

What you get:
  • Flash Player 10.1 came to Android, which filled in the holes in the Web. Videos, photo slideshows and streaming audio, not to mention plain old site navigation, suddenly became visible on your mobile.
  • Your settings joined your contacts and email in backing up to Google's servers, so theoretically they should be automatically restored if you switch to a new Android phone.
  • Yet more features for connecting to your Microsoft Exchange account, including access to your Outlook address book and the ability for your IT department to remotely wipe your phone.
  • If your phone has a flash, it can be used to light up your videos, too.
  • The portable Wi-Fi hotspot lets you share your phone's 3G Internet connection with your other gadgets, over Wi-Fi.
  • Speedier Web surfing thanks to changes to the browser.
  • Better Bluetooth compatibility with docks and in-car speakers, and the addition of voice dialling over Bluetooth.
  • Kian gets pissed off because his phone doesn't get updated


Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Gingerbread was cooked up in December 2010, but its main features didn't make much of a splash. NFC, for contactless payment, and SIP, for Internet calling, both lay the foundations for future developments, and aren't much fun at the moment.
Android 2.3.3 took some time, but when it did arrive on phones in April 2011, it only added one new feature, the ability for single-core phones to run apps designed for dual-core processors. Android 2.3.4 added yet more bug fixes.
What you get:
  • User interface elements, such as the notification bar, go from grey to black, in a bid to avoid screen burn-in and increase battery life.
  • The on-screen keyboard gains number shortcuts across the top, and a cursor helps to select and copy text.
  • NFC theoretically lets you wave your phone in front of an NFC-enabled emitter to make things happen, whether it's buy a train ticket or check out a website. But, until more NFC systems are in place in the UK, this perk of Gingerbread won't affect us much. 
  • Apps are juggled more adeptly in the background, saving battery and processing power.
  • Support for a front-facing camera for video calling and your emo self-portrait.
  • A download manager so you can keep your eye on everything you've downloaded.
  • Kian is even more pissed off because Sony Ericsson make a new Mini Pro with Gingerbread and Kian's X10 Mini Pro gets left behind.

Android 3.0 and 3.1 Honeycomb

Honeycomb expanded Android to fit the big screens of tablet computers. This version of Android is a separate branch that's only for tablets, and will never come to phones.

Android 3.1 was announced in May 2011, and adds a peck of user interface refinements to Honeycomb. We haven't tested this version yet, but Google writes that the tweaks will make "UI elements easier to see, understand and use". Widgets will also gain the ability to be dragged bigger or smaller, to suit your screen. Android 3.1 also adds support for plugging USB flash drives into your tablet to transfer files without connecting to a computer, as well as USB keyboards, mice and joysticks.


What you get:
  • A blue wireframe design gives Honeycomb a Tron-inspired look.
  • Home screens appear to rotate on a 3D carousel as you swipe through them.
  • Widgets are bigger and bolder to suit the tablet-size screen.
  • The hardware buttons -- home and back -- have been moved on to the screen as virtual buttons that move with you as you rotate your tablet. Meanwhile, the app menu is repositioned to the upper right-hand corner. There's also a new button that fires up a list of currently running apps, visible as thumbnail images.
  • Key apps, such as Gmail and YouTube, are heavily redesigned to take advantage of the space available.
  • The Web browser introduces tabbed browsing, a feature familiar from desktop browsers such as Chrome. There's also an incognito mode to browse on the quiet.
  • A larger, multi-touch keyboard lets you hold down multiple keys to temporarily switch between letters and numbers, for example.


Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich


Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) was announced at the Google I/O conference in May 2011. We had to wait until the Samsung Galaxy Nexus landed in our laps in December before we could see it first-hand. ICS was designed to merge Gingerbread -- Android for phones -- together with Honeycomb, which was designed for tablets.

What you get: 
  • A speedier, smoother browser
  • A data traffic monitor to help you avoid busting your network data limit.
  • More storage space for apps.
  • A new user-friendly action bar replacing the Menu button.
  • Face recognition for unlocking your phone.
  • The ability to decline calls with pre-penned text messages.
  • And most fun of all, live video effects for making your mates look grotesquely disfigured.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Jelly Bean, announced in 2 weeks ago, 2012, may not be a big jump in version number, but adds a host of important updates to Android. Here are the features you can expect to see in Android 4.1.


What you get: 
  • Google Now, an assistant tool that displays relevant information based on your search history and location data.
  • A higher frame rate makes swooping through menus and homescreens feel buttery smooth.
  • View photos you've taken quickly by swiping from the camera to filmstrip view.
  • Widgets and apps politely move out of the way when you add new ones.
  • Notifications now include more information, such as photos or subject lines in emails.
  • Search results can now display answers to questions, rather than simply a list of Google web links.
  • A new gestures mode to improve accessibility for blind users, letting you navigate the UI using touch and swipe gestures, in combination with speech output.

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Android Jelly Bean Confirmed by Google



Hey Guys!


Google has let it slip that the new version of android, just like the rumours, will be called Jelly Bean!!


A listing for the Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ showed up briefly on the the Play Store, before Google realised it was there, but not before Droid-Life managed to get a screenshot! According to the one-line update, the Nexus phone with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean software on board will cost $400 or £225 for thou British. Knowing all companies ever, the price is more likely to be different to this. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!

That's basically all the relevant information I could find, but I will definately keep you updated :)

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Monday 18 June 2012

Logitech G600 MMO Mouse has 20 GAMING BUTTONS




Hey Guy's

I am probably the worst person to ask about a gaming mouse or an MMO game, but I do know one thing.. 20 BUTTONS IS QUITE ALOT OF BUTTONS. But according to The Gadget Show, "It’s an arrangement that actually appears to make sense – with the majority of the buttons situated on the side for wrist-ache-free-convenience.

"
There are 12 buttons where the thumb would usually sit, these are divided into 6 sections which are customizable to the game. The buttons can also light up and can be doubled up for an even quicker response time.

Although the mouse is called MMO, it can also be used as a general gaming mouse and set different settings for different games. This is all kept in the mouse's internal memory.

And if you have lag problems then Logitech state "It's 8200dpi laser sensor eliminates any lag issues" The weird and wonderful mouse is due to come out in early July for about £69.99. LOL 69! And it will hopefully have a left handed version for left handed people.

So what do you think? Is 20 buttons too much? Too amazing? Or just plain stupid?


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Friday 15 June 2012

Adobe Confirms No More Flash Player for Mobile Devices

Hey Guys!
Flash Player for mobile browsers was released by Adobe about two years ago now and since then more and more mobile devices have been able to access rich media content online. Also, Flash has been available for desktop users for almost 10 years now. 
Although Flash has had great success, HTML 5 has been installed on the most recent mobile phones and some phones are exclusive the HTML 5. This makes a perfect solution for deploying and creating content in the browser irrespective of the mobile platform. 
In a statement released by Adobe, they have stated that following the release of the upcoming Flash Player 11.1, Adobe would finish developing Flash Player in the browser and will focus on ensuring that all the major app stores allow developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR. However they added that they would  allow those who have the licensed source code to continue developing and release their own implementations of the software. All existing device configurations will continue to receive security updates and also critical bug fixes.

Adobe has stated that it will continue to collaborate with some of the biggest names in the mobile software industry, RIM, Microsoft, Apple and Google to help the HTML5 innovation in the future on their mobile web browsers.

So what do you think. Do you think HTML 5 can replace the Flash Player? Will people develop their own implementations? Or just leave it? Leave your answers in the commets!