TechLounge

4th April 2012

New game from Minecraft creator?

Science fiction game enthusiasts will be delighted to hear that the creator of hit game Minecraft has revealed the first details of his follow-up project. The new game is provisionally titled 0x10c and is a space themed game set in the distant future. Unlike Minecraft the new game is believed to have a monthly fee to take part in multiplayer games. Close to five-and-a-half million copies of Minecraft have been sold despite it lacking a third-party publisher and marketing campaign.

The creator Markus “Notch” Persson has said that the storyline involved a group of humans who were accidentally put into extended deep sleep in 1988, and woke up more than 281 trillion years later. The universe is described as being on “the brink of extinction” and users take part in space battles, looting, trading and planet mining operations. Sounds interesting don’t you think?

+ Gaming

26th March 2012

What is so special about an Android phone?

Choosing the right mobile phone really is a matter of deciding what you want out of your mobile phone. There are many different types of Android phones on the market today and all have varying features that suit different users.

An Android phone is essentially one that runs on the Google operating system called ‘Android’, hence the origin of the term ‘Android phone’. These phones offer a great deal when it comes to mobile phones. They have an endless list of features and a variety of phone designs and styles to suit each individual. They have the all important email functionality and if you use Gmail, you are in luck because the Android operating system cleverly integrates all of your existing email contacts into your phone, a feature that inevitably saves a lot of time and effort. You can access the internet and view your pages on different screen sizes depending on the type of Android phone you have.

The majority of Android phones, like the Samsung Galaxy Y, have cameras and video recorders that take fairly decent photographs. The Galaxy Y has an eight megapixel camera but there are many different quality Android cameras out there. Androids normally offer a decent internal memory in the event you want to store anything on your phone, such as photos or music. However, the amount of memory available on each phone varies. For example, the Samsung Galaxy Y has 16GB of internal memory whereas the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc has 32GB of internal memory, and the amount of memory you need depends on each user’s preference. And the list of features goes on and on.

There are some great deals out there on Android phones. It is simply a matter of shopping around to find the best phone and best deal for you.

+ Android OS, Mobile Phones, Samsung

17th March 2012

Free apps will drain your battery

Free mobile apps which use third-party services to display advertising consume considerably more battery life, a new study suggests. Everyone likes to have a “freebee” but do we have to suffer because of them. Some research has been done and in this the researchers used a special tool to monitor use by several of the apps on both Android and Windows Mobile handsets.

In one case, 75% of an app’s energy consumption was spent on powering advertisements. This is apparently because they typically have built-in advertisements so developers can make money to pay for the initial app download, as they say there is no such thing as a free lunch. The tests were carried out by running the app over a 3G connection. The results noted that many apps leave connections open for up to 10 seconds after downloading information. So it is as well to remember that if you do have a number of free apps on your mobile, just watch your battery, and either have a spare or a mobile recharger with you.

+ Android OS, Mobile Phones

13th March 2012

Apple iPad initial pre-orders sold out

The latest Apple iPad is launched here in the UK on Friday and reports suggest that it is already sold out before it actually arrives! If you were to order an iPad today it is going to take three weeks before it arrives with you and as things are at the moment, this delay could well extend beyond the three weeks.

From reports that we are receiving from America, customers in Canada and America are being told iPad pre-orders will ship on March 19th; this is three days after the new iPad goes on sale. Apple’s online stores in France, Germany, Switzerland and Japan are also reporting delays of up to three weeks. This is the first time that Apple has launched a new iPad in Britain on the same day that it goes on sale in the US. Although the company has restricted orders to two iPads per person, shortages are going to be inevitable. The delays are of course for online orders so you can expect to see the usual long queues outside Apple stores on Friday.

+ Apple, Gadgets, iPad

7th March 2012

BT and TalkTalk lose internet piracy appeal

BT and TalkTalk have lost their High Court appeal against legislation designed to curb online piracy, preparing the ground for unlawful down loaders to be cut off from the internet. The two major UK broadband providers were challenging an earlier decision on the Digital Economy Act that said the legislation’s enforcement regime was in line with European law. This was an act that was passed in the last days of the previous Labour government, but the complicated system of warning letters and sanctions for unlawful down loaders has not yet been introduced. What this all meant was that persistent people who infringed would receive a number of warnings, and then they would be subject to restriction on their account which could end up with suspension of access to the net.

The move means that copyright holders, who had lobbied for the Digital Economy Act to be introduced and welcomed the ruling. This is just one of a series of victories that have included the closure of Megaupload.com and a High Court ruling that makes it very likely that broadband providers will be forced to block access to the Pirate Bay.

+ General Information, Internet

5th March 2012

Google and Facebook does not tell all

When you log into Facebook or to Google to ask for information your enquiry may and most likely will, yield totally different results to your brother, husband or mum. Did you know that? We all have our own personal “filter bubble” which is unique to you and the world that you live in. Of course this means that your filter bubble is your own personal, unique universe of information that you live in online. What’s in your filter bubble depends on who you are, your interests and it depends on what you do.

Now you may think that you control your own bubble, but you don’t decide what gets in and more importantly, you don’t see what gets edited out! But is this a bad thing? Let’s face it can be really useful to have some personalisation of some content, if you support a particular football team, naturally you would want to see the latest news about your side first via a search engine or news feed. However, it could be that the majority of the information you don’t know can often the most interesting and mind-opening. Keep using the internet and Facebook you are after all widening your horizons!

+ General Information, Google, Internet

2nd March 2012

Budget phones for 2012

Whilst the iPhone may have captured the headlines in 2012, it’s not generally a handset aimed at the budget end of the market.

However, users looking to pay less than £100 for a handset off the shelf in 2012 will be spoiled for choice anyway. For example, the Nokia Lumia 710 uses the user-friendly Windows Phone operating system and comes in an unusually wide range of colours. The T-Mobile Vivacity runs on Android and echoes the stylish look of the iPhone, and offers a 3.5 inch touchscreen and 5 megapixel camera.

For those looking for something at a super low budget price point, supermarket Asda has just launched a range of £12.50 pay as you go phones, including the T-Mobile Zest 2, perfect for younger users needed a basic communication tool or even to keep in the car for emergencies.

Whenever buying a new phone regardless of price, it always pays to spend some time online looking for the latest mobile phone reviews on sites such as Recombu to double check you are making the right choice.

+ Gadgets, Mobile Phones

25th February 2012

A Review of the Sony Xperia S

The Sony Xperia S is Sony’s most recent phone to bear the Xperia name (and the first to be branded just Sony, rather than Sony Ericsson), and the Android handset doesn’t disappoint. An intuitive design complete with autorotate, the handset comes in black or white, and offers around 8 hours talk time with over 400 hours stand by. When used for listening to music, the Xperia S will run for some 25 hours. Shipped with Android 2.3, the phone will also get the upgrade to 4.0 when it comes.

Offering a 4.3” HD back lit touch screen, images are crisp and clear, and the scratch and splash proof screen means they should stay that way throughout the life of the handset. Reduced light reflection ensures that the screen stays visible both indoors and out.

No Sony Xperia S review would be complete without commenting on the built in cameras. This handset boasts a very impressive 12.1 megapixel back facing camera that can also record video in 1080 HD, as well as a front facing camera that can record 720p HD video – ideal for video calling using the preinstalled Google Talk. The phone includes Sony’s Exmor R low light sensor, which adjusts to poor light meaning great pictures even in low light situations, as well as a 16x digital zoom, an LED flash and red-eye reduction. Photos and videos can be geo-tagged and easily uploaded to Facebook or YouTube. Internal memory of 32 GB should provide plenty of space for most users.

For gamers, the Sony Xperia S is PlayStation certified, which means console-quality games can be bought and downloaded straight to the device, and owners also have access to the 12 million songs and millions of movies available on the Sony Entertainment Network services Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited.

+ Mobile Phones, Sony Ericsson

22nd February 2012

Sony PlayStation Vita

The new Sony PlayStation Vita is due to hit the streets on February 22nd and early reports suggest that the new hand held gaming device is going to be a hit. Portable gaming was thought to be a thing of the past, but this is far from the truth when you consider how easy it now is to download decent games to the Smartphone for the next to nothing. This being so you might be forgiven asking what future does a dedicated handheld gaming console offer?

From Sony the future looks great with the introduction of the Playstation Vita which is the most powerful and versatile handheld console the market has yet seen. Coming with a 5 inch OLED touch screen, rear touch panel, dual analogue sticks, in-built gyroscopes for motion control, front and rear facing cameras, GPS, wi-fi, that is the answer from, Sony! It can be said that the Vita has all you need and although many believe that the dedicated handheld consoles may be a thing of the past, not if Sony has anything to do with it.

+ Gadgets, Gaming, Online Gaming, Sony

19th February 2012

Apple to announce iPad3

For all those people who cannot get enough from the Apple stable, news is on the wires that the company is to announce a new iPad on Wednesday March 7th, all according to the Apple blog iMore. This blog site has been pretty accurate in the past and so we have to believe that, unless we hear otherwise, then it is true.

Also coming out of the blog is the revelation that the new tablet will feature a quad-core processor, but his has been denied in other sources, we shall have to wait and see on that score. Another source, The Wall Street Journal, is reported to have stated that the forthcoming iPad will have LTE capability. It would seem that this would have limited effect although LTE, which offers faster data speeds than 3G, is not available in the UK and even within the US coverage is limited.

Apple has not yet announced any plans for a launch event and never comments on new devices before they are officially unveiled. Significantly though, they usually update their products yearly and the iPad 2 was announced on March 2 last year and went on sale a week or so later.