Asphalt 7: Heat’ for iOS and Android game review 

The Asphalt series of games are widely regarded as the best arcade racing games on mobile. They are often compared to the Need for Speed series on the consoles, which is a good thing as it is one of the best and most popular series of arcade racing games on any platform. 

Visually Asphalt 7 is very impressive, a much better version of its predecessor. The environments are more richly detailed and the car models also look more real. The lighting in the game is also impressive and lens flare has been used to good effect. The car models are all very shiny and reflect the surroundings, such as the buildings on the side, the banners above and even the fireworks in a particular night level. The game also gives a great sense of speed, which is particularly impressive on the large screens of tablets. 

Asphalt 7 has 15 tracks, 10 of which are carried over from the previous games.The five new tracks are great as well. 

Overall, Asphalt 7 is a treat on the senses and is definitely one of the best games around on mobile in this aspect. 

Asphalt 7 Heat is a fantastic racing game that will have you playing till the battery runs dry. It’s exciting to play, great to look at and at $0.99 is price just right. There are some minor annoyances here and there. Also, the Android version is not as polished as the iOS version, but despite these niggles Asphalt 7.

EA updates Dead Space for Android, adds support for Google Nexus 7 

The highly popular survival third-person shooter game for Android Dead Space has been updated and is now fully compatible with the hot-on-the-shelves Google Nexus 7.

The game will set you back $6.99, its great graphics taking advantage of the Tegra 3 powerhouse inside the Nexus 7 should make shelling this kind of cash more than worthwhile.

Motorola XOOM Android 4.1.1 update changelog leaked 

 Android 4.1, Jelly Bean update is coming for the Motorola XOOM

We don’t have news on when exactly you will be getting Jelly Bean on your XOOM.

This is the changelog for the Android 4.1.1 update (JRO03H) for the Wi-Fi model of the XOOM. Whether the 3G/4G variants of the XOOM will be getting this update is unknown. Some of the key features in the changelog are below.

Improved User Interface and Response - Android 4.1.1, Jelly Bean, is the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet. Moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book. Jelly Bean makes your Android device even more responsive by boosting your device’s CPU instantly when you touch the screen, and turns it down when you don’t need it to improve battery life.

Expandable, Actionable Notifications - Now you can take action directly from the notifications shade. And because the notifications are expandable, you can get an even deeper look into the things that matter most, like multiple emails or photos on Google+.

Widgets work like magic - With Jelly Bean it’s now even easier to personalize your home screen. As you place widgets on the screen, everything else automatically moves to make room. When they’re too big, widgets resize on their own. Interacting with your favorite apps and customizing your home screen has never been easier. Seamlessly view and share photos – Just swipe over from camera to filmstrip view to instantly view the photos you just took, and quickly swipe away the ones you don’t like. Now sharing–and bragging–are a breeze.

A Smarter Keyboard - Android’s dictionaries are now more accurate, more relevant. The language model in Jelly Bean adapts over time, and the keyboard even guesses what the next word will be before you’ve started typing it.

Improved Text-to-Speech Capability - With improved text-to-speech capabilities, voice typing on Android is even better; it works even when you don’t have a data connection.

Google Nexus Q

The Nexus Q is a media streaming player comes with built in WiFi, NFC, Bluetooth, Ethernet port, 1GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. It is powered by Android 4.x OS. The device cannot be used on its own though, it can be used with Google Android smartphones and tablets through the Nexus Q app from Google Play Store

Hardware Info :

CPU : Texas Instruments OMAP4460

CPU Clock Speed : Mhz

Core : 2

Ram : 1000 MB

Internal Storage : 16 GB

Front Facing Camera : X MP

Camera Resolution : NA

External Storage :
• NA

Camera Features :
• NA

Sensors :
• NA

QWERTY : X

Cellular Network

Device Connectivity

Wi-Fi:
• 802.11b
• 802.11g
• 802.11n

Bluetooth:
• Bluetooth 3.0
• A2DP

Local Connectivity:
• MicroUSB
• MicroHDMI

NFC :  

FM Radio :X

Device Info :

Carrier : NA

Announced Date : June 27, 2012

Release Date : June 27, 2012

MSRP : $299

Also Known As : NA

Display

• Screen Size :
• Resolution :
• Screen Type :

Dimension & Weight

• Height : 4.6 Inch
• Width : 4.6 Inch
• Depth : 4.6 Inch
• Weight : 923 Grams

Battery & Power

Battery Type:
• NA

• Battery Capacity : mAh
• Talk Time : NA
• Stand By Time : NA

Software

Android OS:
• 4.0.x

Audio Playback:
• AAC
• AAC+
• AMR
• MID
• MP3
• WAV
• WMA

Video Playback:
• h.263
• h.264 / AVC
• 3GP
• MPEG-4 (MP4)
• WMV

Messaging:
• NA

Where Are the Terraspan 4000mph Vacuum Tube Trains?

 The transport technology is fundamentally based on the pneumatic tubes that once shot telegrams around buildings. I’m sure you’ve seen them on TV and in movies. You put a canister in the tube and it goes shooting off to its destination. This was a future view we had at one point for human transport and we still see in sci-fi programming today.

The real world application of this idea to transporting people around is two-fold: first, you need a vacuum tube. This eliminates all the air in the transport tube and, thus, all of the air resistance. This is easily one of the biggest forces that is preventing us from going faster, as demonstrated by our cars, trains, and planes. The second part of it would make use of existing magnetic levitation (mag-lev) technology, virtually eliminating all friction. Combined, Terraspan’s theoretical vacuum tube train could reach speeds of up to 4,000 mph. Better still, the tubes would double as a superconducting power lines, making for an transcontinent power grid that could redistribute power across the country.

Samsung’s First Tizen device will have a Super AMOLED HD Plus display

Samsung is one the companies who is working on the development of the Tizen operating system and most likely is that we will see the first devices that are running on the OS later this year.

Samsung (as expected ) will release a Tizen based device with a Super AMOLED HD Plus display. Its unclear if its going about the first Tizen based device but its most likely. The advantages of the Super AMOLED HD Plus panels over the regular Super AMOLED panels are that the Plus version have more sub pixels which results in a sharper and clearer image quality and the latest generation is also thinner, brighter, consumes less battery and the sensitivity is improved.

 Samsung will follow the same strategy that they used with their first bada device which was the Wave. The Wave was the first device with a Super AMOLED display. The reason why Samsung made this decision was to attract consumers and developers and that’s why we wouldn’t surprised if Samsung would use the same strategy for their first Tizen based device.

Google posts complete Android 4.1 Jelly Bean change log 

Google announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at Google I/O, the Android website was only updated with some of the key feature in the update. But now, Google has released the complete change log detailing all 141 new feature. 

Things such as new and improved calendar animations, new focus animation in the camera, ability to dismiss a data usage warning without changing the data threshold, ability to use different accessories such as glasses and hats to improve Face Unlock accuracy, full SMS text in notifications, ability to share screenshots from notifications, orientation lock mode in notification view in 7-inch tablets, support for WPS push button setup, new layout for People’s app for 7-inch tablets, smoother dial pad, and much, much more.

The Asus-made Google Nexus pre-orders are now shipping in the US 

The Google Nexus tablet is running the latest version of Android – 4.1 Jelly Bean – sports a 7″ 1280 x 800 display, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and is made by Asus.

HTC Vertex tablet with quad-core Tegra 3 chipset spotted in benchmark results 

The tablet is apparently going to be called the HTC Vertex and it’s going to be powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 chipset. The screen of the Android ICS-running slate is of yet unknown size, but we know it’s going to have a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels.

HTC Vortex will have two cameras whenever it comes out.

There will be a 2 megapixel main unit at the back and a 1.3 megapixel snapper at the front.

 

 

CyanogenMod 10 gets first demo video, runs nicely smooth on the LG Optimus 4X HD 

CyanogenMod’s Ricardo Cerquiera has decided to show an early alpha version running on the LG Optimus 4X HD.

Samsung shows off Series 5 Hybrid PC Windows8 transforming tablet concept

Samsung shows off Series 5 Hybrid PC Windows 8 transforming tablet concept at Computex Taipei.
The Samsung Series 5 Hybrid PC uses a stylus slot and got a back + front camera.
Samsung isn’t revealing much in the way of specs at the moment.
According to our inside information this is because Microsoft and Samsung will introduce things together when Microsoft releases Windows8 officially.
Microsoft will release Windows8 in the second half of 2012.
Samsung will support Windows8 by releasing cellphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops and Hybrid Pc’s.

Samsung invests in new chips

Samsung will invest 2.25 trillion South Korean won (about 1.5 billion euros) into a new production line for microprocessors used in mobile phones.
The South Korean technology company has announced this today. Samsung says there is an explosive increase in demand for such chips, because of the rising production of mobile phones and tablet computers. Samsung also provides the processors for the Apple iPad and iPhone.

Samsung has made 200 million AMOLED panels

Samsung Mobile Display, our display solution affiliate, announced today that it has produced 200 million AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) panels in just over five years since mass production began in January 2007.

More than 100,000 panels a day on average. And piling all of the 200 million AMOLED panels would equal to more than 45 times the height of Mt. Everest!

It is also worth noting that while it took Samsung Mobile Display four years and five months to reach the initial 100 million mark in the accumulated number of AMOLED panels produced, the next 100 million units were produced in just 11 months.

Samsung has plans to release their own social network

Samsung has plans to release in 2013 their own social network.

This network combines all Samsung devices with each other.
The service will leverage the in-house Family Story app, which allows users to share thoughts, pics and videos, chat and set schedule reminders.
If the new social network will be a success is not sure.  Apple tried the same with Ping without success.
Beating a social network like Facebook is even hard.
But as you all know almost everyone own a Samsung device.

LG Optimus 4X HD now available in Germany, to hit UK in mid-July

LG Optimus 4X HD is already available for purchase in Europe. Germany is the only country to have received it so far.The white version of the quad-core LG Optimus 4X HD is currently retailing for €505 over at Amazon.de and doesn't require any commitment. That's a pretty attractive price given the package you are getting and even more so considering that it will drop a bit when availability extends. Sadly, if you are after the black version of the Optimus 4X, you are in no luck.

 

The World’s Tallest Tower Of Books

The world’s tallest tower of books is the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership. These books were placed on custom-built shelve.

Amazing Strange Restaurant in Chicago Offer Balloons To Eat

This restaurant serve helium-filled dessert balloons at Alinea in Chicago.

These balloons come in a variety of flavors as well.

Orbotix pits Sphero as advanced 3D controller, details upcoming Augmented Reality Engine 

During the wind down of E3, we were able to spend a few fleeting moments with the folks from Orbotix to talk about its latest batch of upcoming software for Sphero.