HTC Titan II Review

HTC Titan II

The HTC Titan II has already gone through the Fly or Die ringer, but the real determining factor for these phones is the level of competition surrounding them. In the case of the Titan II, the HTC/Microsoft partnership is most threatened by more HTC and Windows-powered phones, namely the Lumia 900 and the HTC One X.

So what do these phones have that the Titan lacks? How does the Titan wipe up the floor with them?

Well, that’s why I’m here, and why we’ve made this lovely graphic for you.

Truth be told, specs really don’t matter anymore, especially specs like processor clock speed and (I’m sorry to say it) megapixel count on cameras. What really matters is your preferred operating system, display size/resolution, and comfort with design.

When weighing these three phones against each other, the similarities are abundant, as are the subtle differences. For example, the Lumia 900 will net you $100 less than either of the other two phones. At the same time, it’s a touch smaller than the Titan and the One X, and if you prefer HTC hardware to Nokia’s then that doesn’t really matter.

I happen to be a pretty huge fan of the Lumia 900 simply because Windows Phone can pull off its stupid 480×800 resolution requirement on a 4.3-inch screen much better than it can on the Titan’s 4.7-inch display. Past that, the phones are quite similar. The Lumia feels a bit more premium in the hand, yet HTC does an excellent job of making even their plastic phones feel high-end.

If Windows Phone is your flavor, this is definitely a tough call. Good luck.

If it’s HTC that tickles your fancy, it all comes down to the OS. Do you prefer Sense 4 on top of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, or would you prefer to play with Microsoft. The One X specs slap down the Titan II like Daniel LaRusso at the beginning of The Karate Kid, but as I mentioned earlier, specs matter less and less these days. Where you’ll really win with the One X is the 4.7-inch 720p display. If you can tote it around comfortably, it really doesn’t get much better than that.

The ball is in your court, my dear readers. Choose wisely.

Macintosh iPhone Case

iPhone cases available in subway stations, convenience stores, and probably in those claw games where you try and pick up the stuffed animals, there would really have to be something cool about one for me to want to post it.

Ok, maybe this one will only seem entertaining for the amount of time it will take me to finish this, click a few category boxes, enter a few “tags” and hit submit, but dammit I’m going to revel in these next 5-7 minutes. The Retro iPhone case reminds us gen X-ers where the whole Apple craze started, giving it that old school look that has become oh so ironic in this day and age, while teaching the 25 and under crowd that they’ll never be true OG’s like us old people. The case takes on the 1987 Mac look, complete with Rainbow logo, ADB, SCSI and stereo earphone ports. Like most licensed Apple products things associated with Apple, this case carries a pricetag that could probably be lower, but if you have a bit of an infatuation with the most mobile of all your Apple products like I do, (*ducks* ) then you’ll buy it anything that makes it look cooler, even if it’s only to you. Compatible with the 4 and 4s, you can grab one of these here for $44.95 plus shipping and handling. PS- I still think it’s cool right now.

“NEW” HTC EVO 4G LTE

The original HTC Evo 4G had a 4.3-inch screen, which would need a kickstand for support. Now the kickstand is coming back for the HTC Evo One 4G LTE on Sprint, which will have a 4.7-inch display.

The Evo was the fastest selling device when it was released. The past versions of the Evo brought 3D display capabilities and a 4G connection to Sprint customers before other carries. The HTC Evo One will be available for presale on May 7th for a price of $199.

The Evo One screen has 720p resolution, Android 4.0.3, and the HTC Sense 4.0 interface. It also has a rear 8-megapixel camera with an f/2.0 lens, front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, and Beats by Dre audio.

The phone also has HD Voice, which has multiple microphones and software to cut out background noise.

The phone will run on Sprint’s upcoming LTE 4G network, which will launch in the middle of the year in 6 markets…Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Kansas City and Baltimore.

So if you’re one of the first to buy this phone and you live outside those areas, your HTC Evo 4G LTE will be stuck using a slower 3G network until Sprint finishes building out the network elsewhere.

Google Project Glass

Google has revealed details of its research into augmented reality glasses by posting a brief introduction to Project Glass, photos and a concept video at its Google+ social network on Wednesday.

According to reports published in international media, the images show a minimalist design with a microphone and partly-transparent video screen that places information over the view from the users’ right eye.

The product’s developers say the report wanted feedback on the idea, but they did not give any indication about when the device might go on sale or what it would cost.

The members of project team said in a Google+ post, “We think technology should work for you, be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don’t.”

Stressing that the glasses were a concept far from being brought to market, Google wrote in a post, “We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input.”

“Images showed people wearing eyeglasses with silver frames that featured tiny cameras and on-lens displays to show information such as walking directions, weather forecasts or messages from friends,” the report said, adding that a built-in microphone lets wearers instruct the internet-linked glasses by speaking.

The internet giant in a statement said, “We took a few design photos to show what this technology could look like and created a video to demonstrate what it might enable you to do,” adding that “We took a few design photos to show what this technology could look like and created a video to demonstrate what it might enable you to do.”

The film reportedly showed one user being reminded he has a date that evening when he looks up at a blank wall, and then warns him that there is a 10 per cent chance it will rain when he looks out of the window.

Google glasses warn the subway service is suspended. The video suggests that the device would involve a GPS chip to help deliver location specific alerts

An alert pops up when a friend sends a text asking if he wants to meet up later in the day. When the user dictates a reply a microphone symbol is superimposed over much of his view.

Other functions include Google Maps showing a route to the wearer’s destination with small arrows keeping him on track, the ability to take a photo of what he is looking at with an option to share it with friends, and a video conference service.

There had been lots of speculation about the project with some reports describing it as an “open secret”, but this is the first time Google has confirmed details of what it was working on.

The New York Times newspaper had previously suggested that the first set of glasses would go on sale before the end of the year for somewhere between $250-$600.

The report said that one Google insider said it was unclear when the glasses might be commercially available, but noted that the philosophy of Google was to develop technologies that could be used in a relatively short period of time, rather than dreaming up creations that won’t be possible for 10 or more years.

Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe, told the BBC that other tech firms such as Brother had attempted to pioneer the concept – but became unstuck because their versions had required users to carry separate processing and battery equipment that plugged into their glasses.

“There are huge opportunities for tailored advertising with augmented reality systems – especially if they have in-built GPS location tracking,” Green said.

The glasses, under development for two years, will be tested in public by members of the Google team, according to the Google insider.

Instagram for Android is now available

After 18 months as an iPhone exclusive, photo-sharing app Instagram arrived for AndroidTuesday. Instagram allows you to take photos, apply a variety of filters, and easily share your work to many different places, including Instagram’s own home-built social network.

I’m a frequent—okay, obsessive—user of Instagram on my iPhone, so I was curious to see how the Android version measured up.

I downloaded the Instagram for Android app from Google Play onto the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich) and the Samsung Galaxy Blaze 4G (running Android 2.3 Gingerbread) and gave it a spin on both phones.

First things first: This app took up nearly 17MB of space on my Galaxy Nexus, so if your phone is running short of storage space, be aware. Also, before you get too excited, check to see what version of Android you’re running. If it’s below 2.2, you won’t be able to use Instagram–and you should probably check to see if there’s an update available for your phone!

Once I logged into the Instagram account I use on my iPhone, I felt right at home using Instagram for Android. The same feed I see on my iPhone was right there on my Galaxy Nexus, complete with all my friends’ most recent photos featuring Instagram’s well-known image filters.

Fragmentation Bites

The process of capturing, editing, and sharing a photo in Instagram for Android isn’t always what it’s like on the iPhone. On the Galaxy Nexus, things were pretty similar, though: Clicking the Camera/Share button in the center of the Android app’s toolbar brought me directly to a picture-taking screen. Just as on my iPhone, I had the option to either view the existing gallery of photos on my phone (represented on Android by a box with a mountain in it, rather than the interlocking squares on the iOS app). I also had the option to switch to the front-facing camera, turn the flash on or off, or cancel out of camera mode entirely.

But the camera mode experience on the Galaxy Blaze 4G didn’t match up to what I experienced on the Galaxy Nexus. Yes, this is Android fragmentation at its finest! On the Galaxy Blaze 4G, when I tried to take a photo, a dialog box asked me to pick a source: Camera or Photo Gallery. When I picked Camera, I was switched to the Galaxy Blaze’s native photo app. That familiar Instagram camera interface I’ve come to know and love was gone.

You can tweak these settings to force the app to take pictures itself by going to the app’s settings on the homescreen. This only seems to work on certain phones, however. On the LG Marquee, the app crashed when I tried to open the Instagram camera. Instead, I had to take my photo in the native camera app and crop it, and only then was I switched back to the Instagram user interface.

Then again, maybe it doesn’t matter much where you shoot your Instagram photos on Android right now. That’s because, unfortunately, Instagram app for Android is missing a feature recently added to the iOS app: The ability to view a live preview of a filter before you shoot. You can still add one after you shoot, but I’ve gotten used to being able to mess around with filters before I take my shot.

Also missing from the Android app is the Tilt Shift/Blur feature, which lets you selectively blur out certain areas of your photos. This function is really cool, as you can fake a shallow depth of field in your photos or blur out the background of your photo to focus on a single object.

Familiar Effects

After you take your photo, the options are pretty much what iOS users have come to expect: Instagram gives you access to a series of image filters that let you stylize your photo. You can add or remove a frame that’s added to your image by some of the filters, and you can rotate or brighten your image. The filters are almost identical to the iOS version, though I noticed one funny difference: There’s an X-pro II filter on the iPhone and an X-Pro filter on Android. The Android filter looked a little darker.

Once you’ve applied an effect, you can share your photo from your Android phone to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Foursquare. You can share to all these networks on the iOS version, but additionally to Flickr, Posterous, or via e-mail. And given that this is Android, I would have also loved to see some Google+ integration here.

Viewing the feed containing your friends’ photos is basically the same on both platforms. You have the option to Like a photo, comment on it, share it, or delete it. When you click Share on the Android app, you have the option to share it via Bluetooth, Gmail, Message, and—hey, look at that, now you can share it to Google+.

It is worth mentioning that quite a few photography apps are available for Android that offer more filters and better effects than Instagram, including Camera360 and MagicHour. Instagram also isn’t the first photo-sharing site for Android. The Lightbox photo community has been around for a few years and was specifically designed for the Android platform by a former Google employee. And I like its interface for Android better than Instagram, though the user community is a lot smaller.

Even so, it is exciting to see a longstanding iOS-only app finally make its way to Android. Instagram on Android is faithful to the original iOS version, but the company really needs to work on improving the consistency across various Android phones. It’s no good to have an app behave differently on different phones with the same operating system…but, then, that may say more about Android than about Instagram.

Fragmentation aside, I hope that Instagram will bring the Tilt Shift/Blur and live filter preview features to Android in a later update. Both features are a joy to use on iOS, and Android users deserve to have them, too.

Mass Effect 3 Review

LOVED IT: Truly gripping story that’s influenced by your decisions past and present, levels have grown in scope, more varied enemies enhance combat

HATED IT: Unresponsive cover system, graphical glitches

GRAB IT IF: There are no ifs . . . a must-own

Earth has been decimated, and the rest of the Milky Way is crumbling. The human military is fractured and other alien races are squabbling as the near-omnipotent robo-beings known as the Reapers erase the galaxy.

But for a moment, none of it matters. A crewmember is talking to Commander Shepard about the loss of a gay partner. And Shepard listens.

And in this instant, you understand the true depth of Mass Effect 3. The epic coda to Bioware’s space video game trilogy aspires to be more than a mere game. With galactic war as its backdrop, ME3 aims to be equal parts game and film and social commentary. The result is a thoroughly immersive experience, one of the most transcendent games in recent memory.

The story picks up several months after the events of Mass Effect 2, when Shepard led a suicide mission against the near-omnipotent Reapers.

It begins as The Reapers finally arrive — and the Milky Way is thrown into chaos.

The tale differs greatly from the stories in the trilogy’s first two games. The previous two games set a narrative in motion and then afforded you great freedom, but ME3 maintains more focus and momentum.

Cutscenes and cinematic camera angles are more prevalent, lending context and drama to every mission. Conversations contain fewer explanations of lore; series newbies (who are better off playing MEs 1 and 2 first) should spend plenty of time reading up on history in the game’s handy Codexes.

For newbies and vets alike, the tension is palpable. Gone is the leisurely (and mundane) task of “scanning” planets for resources, replaced by a scan of a solar system that could easily attract Reaper attention. You’ll keep track of “war assets” and “galactic readiness” in your spaceship, the Normandy, as you desperately prep the Milky Way for a last stand.

A series of combat tweaks also make battles feel more daunting. At default difficulty, enemies move swiftly and aggressively, flushing you from cover and setting up dangerous turrets and shields. For two games, bad guys were fodder for your biotic attacks; now, they are formidable.

That strength makes ME3′s battle weaknesses more evident. The camera routinely loses perspective and is utterly useless in close-quarters combat, neutering your new heavy melee attack. And cover glitches abound; at times, Shepard simply won’t crouch behind seemingly flawless cover. Gears of War 3 this is not.

At least you and your team are better prepared for battle. ME3 revives the weapon customization aspects of the original game, allowing for more powerful guns, and it improves character progression, adding greater detail to level-ups.

Even more impressive is the Kinect integration on the Xbox 360 (choose 360 over PC and PlayStation 3 if you can). Instead of choosing powers from a rotary wheel (and halting the action), you can call out commands to your allies, yelling such things as “Warp!” or “Incinerate!” There’s a momentary lag between yell and action, but it’s as much flaw as touch of realism; if you yelled to a friend to chuck a grenade do you REALLY think he’d do it instantly?

Overall, ME3′s mechanics make the battle for survival inch closer to reality, and the familiar cast of characters finishes the immersion. Some make careful cameos and others stick around throughout, but overall, Bioware uses your comfort level with the galaxy’s personalities to great effect, forcing you to team with an old political enemy and take sides for (or against) a brazen friend as you try to broker a galactic alliance.

It is in these instances that Mass Effect 3 truly challenges the gamer’s own ideas. As with the previous two games, you will make several large decisions that obviously loom over the final story, but things have evolved, too. In smaller moments, ME3 forces you to react to homosexuality, to ponder whether youth should be sent to battle, to figure out how far is too far to gain a powerful ally.

Such small decisions allow Bioware to broach real social issues in an indirect way that never feels forced. In one breath, you touch on something in today’s society; in the next, you ponder something inherently more sci-fi: A.I.-human romance. This is the galaxy, and these are just the gray calls that Shepard must make.

All these calls – both the large and obvious and the small and seemingly insignificant – have a bearing on the way the game plays out. The Mass Effect series has long been about decisions, and this third game is a culmination of all the calls you’ve made, whether romantic or diplomatic or murderous.

It is the culmination of a storied interstellar war. And it comes to a fitting end: The ending that you have created.

Apple iPad 3 Event Announced

Apple has sent out invites to an event that will be held on March 7 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco. The invite has the line “We have something you really have to see. And touch.”. Behind that message appears to be a higher resolution iPad 3.

Looking at the image closely, it appears that the new iPad will have a retina display as expected. What is also curious about this image is that there appears to be no home button. The idea of no button on the iPhone or iPad rumour started up the year that multi-touch gestures arrived. Some expected that the home button would be dropped in favour of the 4/5 finger pinch which essentially does the same as a single push of the home button. A double tap is replaced by sliding 4 fingers up the screen. Of course, we might be just looking at an iPad in landscape mode, or on one of the edges, but we think that Apple could be headed in the direction of getting rid of that home button.

Expect to find out more next Wednesday. We’ll have all the details for you.

How to Remove Your Google Search History

On March 1st, Google will implement its new, unified privacy policy, which will affect data Google has collected on you prior to March 1st as well as data it collects on you in the future. Until now, your Google Web History (your Google searches and sites visited) was cordoned off from Google’s other products. This protection was especially important because search data can reveal particularly sensitive information about you, including facts about your location, interests, age, sexual orientation, religion, health concerns, and more.

If you want to keep Google from combining your Web History with the data they have gathered about you in their other products, such as YouTube or Google Plus, you may want to remove all items from your Web History and stop your Web History from being recorded in the future.

Here’s how you can do that:

1. Sign into your Google account.

2. Go to https://www.google.com/history

3. Click “remove all Web History.”

4. Click “ok.”

Note that removing your Web History also pauses it. Web History will remain off until you enable it again.

Alienware X51 launched

Dell’s Alienware brand is one that targets gamers, and I for one, am extremely glad that Dell did not water down the Alienware brand after they acquired it many years back. Alienware continued to maintain their own range of high powered, high quality gaming PCs, although those tend to veer towards the bulky side. It would be very rare for someone to lug their Alienware machines to another’s house for a LAN party – but all of that might eventually change as of today, thanks to the release of the Alienware X51.

This is the company’s smallest gaming desktop to date, but do not let its small size fool you. Capable of high performance capability, the Alienware X51 was specially designed to deliver an exhilarating 1080p high definition and 3D gaming experience, cramming in high class performance in a smaller chassis design that will be able to look perfect in just about any room (except maybe for being in the kitchen).

The Alienware X51 boasts a dual-orientation chassis that supports 7.1 surround-sound audio, in addition to an optional Blu-Ray disc drive just in case you want to enjoy your collection of Blu-ray discs on this instead of on your PS3 or dedicated Blu-ray player. Running on Intel’s second generation Core i processors, the X51 will also be equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GT or optional GTX class graphics cards, Wireless-N technology for easy Internet access, HDMI 1.4 for connecting to 3D TVs and watching 3D Blu-ray movies, a couple of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports, High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio and GDDR5 graphics memory.

Even the entry-level configuration is something that will drop your jaws – we are looking at a Core i3 processor, 4GB RAM, 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 graphics, and a 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive, enabling it to yield an average 34 frames per second in Battlefield 3 – at high settings, and in a resolution of 1080p. Is that jaw dropping or what? To top it all off, the starting price of $699 is definitely a deal clincher for many, I believe. Will you be getting the Alienware X51 as your primary gaming rig now?

Ubuntu TV making its debut at CES

Canonical’s Mark Shuttleworth promised that Ubuntu would come to TVs eventually, but we never expected it would arrive so quickly. A concept preview is here at CES for convention goers to get their eyeballs on and we’ll be swinging through the company’s booth to get some hands-on. For now it’s largely a technical demo and concept, but there are already some neat features on display like a 3D dash, searchable guide and streaming video apps. The goal, the company says, is to “uncomplicate television” by removing as much of the paraphernalia that accompanies it — primarily the boxes and cables.

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