Electricpig.co.uk - tech news fast! |
- US Update: LiveView, Atrix 4G video, Venue Pro release date
- Dell Venue Pro UK release date: lands in five days!
- Image ads coming to all Gmail users?
- Angry Birds Rio: New Angry Birds game out March 2011
- BlackBerry 2011 line up: Bold Touch, Curve Touch, Monaco Touch
- Motorola Atrix 4G: promo video, pricing, 1080P video recording
- Sony Ericsson LiveView update ready for download
- Teatime Tech: Office App Store rumours, Kindle books selling like hotcakes and Dungeon Siege 3 preview
- Dungeon Siege 3 review: First impressions
- Battlestar Galactica MMOG open beta incoming: screenshots aplenty!
| US Update: LiveView, Atrix 4G video, Venue Pro release date Posted: 28 Jan 2011 07:00 PM PST 
First up, the Sony Ericsson LiveView micro display has finally received the long-awaited updated. Highlighting the update are bug fixes and improved compatibility with non-SE branded Android handsets. Next up, we've got the scoop on the Motorola Atrix 4G. We've spotted the handset on Amazon and Motorola has given us a new promo video — this is a must see! The BlackBerry 2011 handset line up has been leaked. Following last week's images, today we have new details and more specs on the BlackBerry Curve Touch, Bold Touch and Monaco Touch. If you're a BlackBerry fan you won't want to miss this. Gmail users are reporting that image ads are appearing in their inbox. According to Google, the company began rolling out image ads as an "experiment" on January 21st. Does this mean we'll see a site-wide launch soon? Last up this morning is huge news for soon-to-be Dell Venue Pro owners. Expansys has updated the release date of our favorite Windows Phone 7 handset — it will launch in the UK in five days! That's right, head to the post for the full scoop. That wraps up the morning tech news from this side of the pond. As always, this is Nick saying over and out. I'll see you again on Monday, enjoy your weekend. Related posts:
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| Dell Venue Pro UK release date: lands in five days! Posted: 28 Jan 2011 06:00 PM PST 
Hopefully by now you've read our review. It's only fitting since the Venue Pro now tops our Windows Phone 7 handset list. The big news buzzing this afternoon comes by way of online smartphone retailer Expansys. The eagle-eyed folks over at unwiredview.com spotted the handset with one distinct piece of information — a new release date!
After a series of unfortunate set backs, the Dell Venue Pro should land in the UK in five days. However, the price tag still tips the scales at £439.99 ($697 USD) — but beggars can't be choosers, am I right? Now that we are less than a week from launch, who else is counting the hours until they can have this sexy Windows Phone 7 handset Coming Soon | Expansys | £439.99 Related posts:
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| Image ads coming to all Gmail users? Posted: 28 Jan 2011 05:09 PM PST 
Ever since I can remember, my Gmail account has shown contextual-based ads — tiny, text advertisements that somehow relate to the content of the emails. In a move that will likely boost revenue (and possibly click-through ratio), Google is experimenting with display ads in people's e-mail in-boxes. Unlike the unobtrusive text ads, display ads are immediately noticed. This has both a positive and negative effect. On the plus side, advertisers can present a more enticing proposition. Let's be honest, an image is worth a thousand words. On the downside, image ads do not generate the same volume of accidental clicks a text-based ad might. At the end of the day, Google's the decision to take image ads site-wide depends on ad revenue. Google will factor in the number of Gmail users who leave the service based on the ads, compared to the new revenue image ads create. In the end, the earnings report will dictate their move.
With that being said, Google's move to image ads within Gmail is not a total surprise. I mean, nearly 97 percent of Google's revenue comes from advertising. Google sells ads to fund their projects — Gmail just happens to be one such project. For now I'm on the fence as to how I feel about the "experiment", which is why we want to hear from you. Tell us what you think about image ads within Gmail — will this impact your decision to switch email providers? Related posts:
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| Angry Birds Rio: New Angry Birds game out March 2011 Posted: 28 Jan 2011 04:28 PM PST  Had enough Angry Birds action? Of course not. Rovio mobile has just outed the latest game in the series. It’s called Angry Birds Rio, and will be released in app stores across the world in March 2011. Trailer this way. Angry Birds Rio will feature 45 new Brazilian-themed stages of bird-flinging action when it arrives in March 2011. It will be tied in with Rio – an upcoming Twentieth Century Fox movie that Angry Birds Rio, the game, will be promoted alongside, say the studio: “ In Angry Birds Rio, the original Angry Birds are kidnapped and taken to the magical city of Rio, where they eventually escape their captors and set out to to save their friends, Blu and Jewel – two rare macaws and the stars of the upcoming Fox motion picture, Rio.” If Angry Birds needed to announce its arrival as both a cultural and gaming phenomenon, it just has. Recently there was the Angry Birds Board game, and real-life Angry Birds Catapult, now this! Check out the Angry Birds Rio trailer below:
Out March 2011 £TBC | Rovio Related posts:
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| BlackBerry 2011 line up: Bold Touch, Curve Touch, Monaco Touch Posted: 28 Jan 2011 04:24 PM PST 
If RIM is trying to keep their 2011 handset line up a secret, they certainly have an odd way of showing it. In a BlackBerry bonanza this afternoon, crackberry.com pulled out all the stops to showcase three new BlackBerry handsets. Let's start with the BlackBerry Bold Touch. The BlackBerry Bold Touch (codenamed Montana) is the thinnest BlackBerry ever made, measuring just 10.5 mm. This device appears to be the BlackBerry Dakota we leaked last week. Like the Storm 3, it will feature a 1.2 GHz processor and be available in both CDMA and GSM varieties. There's also a five megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording, 8GB of internal memory, microSD card slot, NFC, Bluetooth and all the sensors we've grown to expect.
The BlackBerry Curve Touch is the BlackBerry Apollo, also leaked last week. We now know the Curve Touch packs a 3.5 inch HVGA display, five megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording, WiFi, 1GB Flash memory and 512MB RAM, also a "hot swap" microSD card slot. The phone is powered by Qualcomm's MSM 8655 800 MHz processor and runs on CDMA networks.
The last device, the BlackBerry Monaco Touch appears to be the Storm 3. Measuring 11.5 mm thick, the Monaco Touch is powered by a 1.2 GHz processor and features dual band CDMA, quadband EDGE and single band UMTS support. The 3.7 inch display is WVGA resolution, a first for a BlackBerry smartphone. There's 4GB of internal storage, WiFi, Bluetooth and a five megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording.
All three BlackBerry smartphones feature BlackBerry 6 OS and Webkit browser. Whichever code name you use, the Curve Touch should land late Fall 2011 and the Bold Touch and Monaco Touch during this summer. Anyone BlackBerry users in the room planning out their next smartphone purchase? via Crackberry Related posts:
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| Motorola Atrix 4G: promo video, pricing, 1080P video recording Posted: 28 Jan 2011 03:50 PM PST 
Sweeping CES 2011 was just the start for the Motorola Atrix 4G. Whether you call it a smartphone, a laptop, a desktop or all of the above — this is an impressive gadget. This afternoon an Engadget tipster spotted the Atrix 4G on AmazonWireless, listed with a retail price of $599 and $149.99 on contract. The phone was later pulled from the website. Then a few hours later a Costco employee submitted a photo of the inventory system, also confirming the $150 price. As if the hype for the handset was not at an all-time high, Motorola released a new promotional video on their YouTube channel. The video (seen above), highlights the TV and laptop docking capabilities as well as some of the device highlights: first dual-core smartphone, 1GB RAM, 16GB on-board storage, full web browsing with Flash, first qHD display and fingerprint recognition. The Atrix 4G buzz culminated with news on the 1080P video recording capabilities. The Tegra2 processor is certainly capable of this feat, but the feature will not be enabled at launch. According to Motorola, a software update will enable encoding of 1080P video. This software update will also enabled 1080P HDMI output, a very useful feature when using the Atrix 4G with your HDTV. Overall, the Motorola Atrix 4G looks to be the hottest Android handset of 2011 — at least for now. We had our fair share of hands-on time with the device in Las Vegas at CES, but we can't wait to see the Orange UK launch. Anyone else counting the days? Coming Soon | Motorola Related posts:
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| Sony Ericsson LiveView update ready for download Posted: 28 Jan 2011 03:24 PM PST 
The LiveView micro display is a handy little gadget. We've had plenty of hands-on time and even put together an extensive review. Today the promised update is live, with an update available through Sony's update service application, sonyericsson.com or in the Android Market. Whichever method you use to download the update, here's the scoop. The first issue addressed is improved stability in the phone application. The plug-in handling and limit of number of installed plug-ins has been raised to 30. Random disconnects are now fixed as are the random reboots. For "competitor phones", compatibility has been improved in both stability and battery life. This improvement can be seen best when the LiveView automatically reconnects when coming back in range. If you own the Sony LiveView micro display, give the update a go and be sure to let us know how things are going for you. via Sony Ericsson Related posts:
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| Posted: 28 Jan 2011 09:54 AM PST 
Let’s tackle computing first: Microsoft has started tongues wagging by hinting at a possible release of Microsoft Office for Mac on the Mac App Store. Online, a new report revealed that Amazon’s Kindle ebooks are selling so well, they’re beating paperback sales for the online retail giant. Finally, there’s lots to talk about in gaming: Bethesda has been teasing more details about the visual of the upcoming Elder Scrolls 5, while the Battlestar Galactica MMO is hitting open beta. We also got a sneak peek at Dungeon Siege 3 – see what we make of Obsidian’s game in our preview! Still want more news? Roll on over to the homepage and help yourself to it all as it breaks! Related posts:
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| Dungeon Siege 3 review: First impressions Posted: 28 Jan 2011 09:00 AM PST  Dungeon Siege 3 is an RPG game that sees players attempt to rebuild a once powerful Legion and attempt to stop the Kingdom of Ehb falling into evil hands. This third outing is the first time that Dungeon Siege will be heading to consoles, having previously found a home exclusively on PC. Developer Obsidian Entertainment (You know, the folks behind Fallout New Vegas) hopes that it will deliver the RPG experience console fans want. Does it? We got a good, hard, early look: read on for our Dungeon Siege 3 hands-on first impressions. We caught our first live glimpse of Dungeon Siege 3, during a one-on-one demo with the developer, last August. Obsidian told us that Dungeon Siege 3 will replicate the same type of RPG gaming experience PC users have become used to, but on consoles. The overhauled control system necessary for the new formats Dungeon Siege 3 will be appearing on (Xbox 360 and PS3) means that, for some Dungeon Siege fans, playing Dungeon Siege 3 will be a completely different experience from the previous two games in the series.
More on the controls later, but what of the game itself? What we played of Dungeon Siege 3 earlier was pre-alpha code. It wasn’t the finished version, but Dungeon Siege 3 is now already looking polished. Obsidian seemed to make a lot of the fact that Dungeon Siege 3 will look great on high-definition TV sets. We agree. The world of Dungeon Siege 3 is almost Fable 3-like in its colour scheme. The kingdom of Ehb is a lush setting with that same orangey glow, paired with the bright green hues of vegetation around it. Even the underground cavern levels give off a nice blue hue. The first thing we noticed is how great this game looks. Dungeon Siege 3 is the first game from Obsidian to use what it’s calling the Onyx engine for its graphics. Consider this first test passed. Our short gameplay time saw us attempting to build up our legion by locating fellow members by heading to a small village and questioning its inhabitants. Like most RPG titles the gameplay involves chatting to folk in search of clues to help you on your quest. Initiating conversation brings up a dialogue tree. The direction you take conversations in is entirely up to the player. Players can choose to take part in new sub-quests given by villagers, or ignore them. One quest saw us volunteering to locate a mysterious creature said to be living in a nearby lake, with the aim of retrieving a tooth, as proof of its existence. Doing this successfully will grant you a reward should you choose to accept it. Decline said rewards and you’ll be honoured for your generosity. Your reputation stays with you throughout. Perform negative actions, and villagers are less likely to help you out in future. See our best PS3 games Top 5 now Another, more exciting mission required us to head to some caves, take on a witch and her enemy cohorts, and set free a caged busty beauty. Obsidian obviously has a thing for the ladies – none we came across seemed dressed for a cold snap. Having integrated joypad controls into the Dungeon Experience it was interesting to see how they would hold up. They do so very well. We played as one of the already announced characters classes, as a Guardian class character, named Lucas, who uses a sword and shield as his primary weapon. The bulk of combat is mapped onto three buttons for blocking with your shield, swiping with your sword and changing your weapon stance. Each character class has two stances. Here, one stance enabled quick sword swipes, the other, more fierce strikes with a longer range for when surrounded by enemies. It’s a very easy system to get to grips with. Taking on said witch was a matter of knowing when to block and swipe. Some enemies will blast magic at you. Pressing L1 causes your character to roll out of harms way. Most of the enemies you’ll encounter in Dungeon Siege 3 require different tactics, keeping the combat fresh. If you’ve got friends, Dungeon Siege 3 features co-op multiplayer. All a buddy has to do is press start to instantly join in. Check out our Best Xbox games Top 5 now Killing enemies lets you earn XP points letting you level up in order to upgrade your weapons and powers. We only got to see a couple of these new powers. One, called Shield Bash enabled our character to rebound enemies with a shield thrust. Another, Blade Dash, gives your player the ability to perform a speed dash in enemy direction. It comes in most useful for dealing with archers and their long-range arrow attacks. The quicker you get to them, the less chance you have of getting hit. Accessing all these goodies at a glance is easy. Pressing select brings up a screen displaying items you can equip, your current and available quests, unlocked abilities, armour and any new stuff you unlock. Again, Obsidian looks to have made a real effort to ensure console owners aren’t bogged down with too many commands by making everything you need to access, as easy as possible to do so. All the above: the approachable gameplay, easy to access menus, top-notch graphics and, we’re told, the sort of depth of story fans have come to expect from publisher Square Enix, and developer Obsidian Entertainment make Dungeon Siege 3 one to look out for – as if a legion of Dungeon Siege fans weren’t already. Console gamers new to the franchise would do well to keep an eye on Dungeon Siege 3 when it comes out later this year. Out 2011 | £TBC | Dungeon Siege 3 Related posts:
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| Battlestar Galactica MMOG open beta incoming: screenshots aplenty! Posted: 28 Jan 2011 08:56 AM PST  The beta launch of the Battlestar Galactica MMOG is just around the corner. Developer Bigpoint say it is “readying the open beta launch” as we speak.
The MMOG is called Battlestar Galactica Online. It will be free to play, and is a space combat MMOG with 3D graphics based on the Battlestar Galactica TV series. The Battlestar Galactica MMOG incorporates non-player characters (NPCs) based on Number Six, Boomer, Starbuck, Admiral Adama, Chief Tyrol, John Cavil, and Leoben Conoy from the TV show. You can also customise your human or Cylon avatars, engage in PvE and PvP space combat, complete missions, conduct mining operations, and explore capital ships, outposts, and bases. Heiko Hubertz, CEO and Founder of Bigpoint said: "The team behind this revolutionary title has poured a tremendous amount of energy and passion into its development. We're eager to begin collecting feedback directly from the worldwide fan community, which is vital to the game's optimisation during the open beta phase." Registration is open now here. Have you signed up to the Battlestar Galactica MMOG beta? Shout out in the comments! Related posts:
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