With Overwatch, Blizzard might take on Marvel someday

No, Overwatch is not an upcoming movie, if some of you may wonder seeing the title of this article. Overwatch is an upcoming FPS game from the makers of World of Warcraft , Blizzard Entertainment. Its a team based game like Counter Strike, Rainbow 6 , but instead of soldiers and all, we have ACTUAL heroes here ( I am soooooo excited!!! Ahem... *controlling myself*) which fight against some equally powerful villains (the history of both the groups can be seen in the trailer) , each character having specific powers and roles.

Combined with amazing graphics, unique locations and ingenious gameplay, Overwatch will try to make sure you get hooked onto it the more you play it. The gameplay trailer is at the end of this article, which gives you an idea of the level this 6v6 game reaches .

But first thing you should see is this cinematic trailer of the game....



And this is what I was referring to in the article title... I mean, after watching this trailer, 3 things that came to my mind were
1. DAMN!!! Ain't Tracer just simply gorgeous??!!!!! (xD)... seriously, I can't have enough of her "Cheers love! the cavalry's here!!!
2. When the hell is the movie for this coming out!!!
3. I wanna play this game!!!!!!!!

PS : I actually became a fan of Reaper too , apart from Tracer.... simply coz' he's just E-P-I-C!!!!

There are 12 characters in the game that have been showcased till now, but seeing the cinematic trailer, we can assume the rest will be playable too in the beta or maybe the full version of the game. The characters announced till now are

The game is set to release in 2015, even the Beta version will be released in early 2015, so will have to wait quite some time for this one (too). But , in the meanwhile, have a look at the gameplay trailer here . Also are available gameplay trailers for each individual character which can give you an idea about the specific battle styles and abilities of each characters, and make you more and more impatient for the game's release





Official Website - Overwatch

Mortal Kombat X Announced.. with an epic trailer

So all the waiting fans can rejoice, as the successor to the superb Mortal Kombat IX : The Komplete Edition, is here in the form of Mortal Kombat X, officially announced with an epic trailer, promising an amazing 'kombat' gameplay with the next-gen technology involved... check it out below and leave your views and comments....

LG launches G Flex in India... and you can laugh if you want at the price

Ok so jawdropping is a term i have used a couple of times , i admit at places where it wasn't literally intended... but i can safely guarantee that the LG's latest launch , the GFlex surely made my jaw drop.. Ooookayyyy it has a curved OLED display and a self healing back , which is preeeettty impressive, but what struck me was the price... Rs 69999 in India!!!!!! I mean this ain't even remotely funny, this race all tech giants are currently running in, the who-prices-his-smartphone-the-highest... but seriously guys, at 70k , i would be instead buying a gaming ultrabook rather than a curved sparkly smartphone with a self healing bum...

Coming on to the device with a sigh, read this first
*The flexibility of this product is limited. This phone may be bent flat up to 180 degrees for a limited period of time only.Do not bend inward or twist.

Well this is the cautionary line in the first pic we see in the slideshow at the site page , and its obviously expected..but lets not get into that..

Sporting a 2.26 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB internal storage, a 6 inch 'curved' HD display with 3 subpixels in each pixel which makes it pretty good all right, a 3500 mAh battery, bluetooth 4.0 , 13 MP rear and a 2.1 MP front shooter.... specs which are pretty 'smartphonish' as we might say , but no way in hell worth the money they are asking for it.. though i fully appreciate the innovative display and self healing back cover, i really feel that this phone is taking the term overpriced to new heights....

In short, a really classy and unique looking smartphone with the best of the current times, but just way beyond the normal reach

This is ‘slam off’ season in the tech world, as new releases get competitors thumbs down

It hasn’t been long since the launch of the most hyped Android Smartphone till date – the Samsung Galaxy S4 , and we have been seeing mixed reviews about what I personally believe is a magnificent device , from reviewers , and some pretty negative comments from direct competitors. As HTC’s PR sends word from the Chief Marketing Officer, Ben Ho, that the S4 “pales in comparison with the HTC One”.

In his words, Samsung has wasted resources on the marketing, rather than innovation side of the S4, and just increasing the size of the device doesn’t make it live up to HTC One’s standard . In pretty harsh words, he downplayed Samsung Galaxy S4’s plastic design, reminding them that the consumers wanted best features within a premium design, at both points of which, HTC One is ‘the One’ to look out for, while the S4 just tends to be worth a snicker.
One can enjoy (if it is ‘in taste’ for you) the takes that HTC has taken on the S4 in the official twitter feed of HTC.

And you thought that’s the end to it?

In another galaxy of the ‘techverse’ , we are seeing another interplanetary war around the corner, with some serious reality previewing being done by Nvidia, as to who is the leader in the gaming domain, blasting off the PS4 vs Xbox 720 debate , which he terms to be a fight for the second spot. As he commented to Techradar, he feels that the PS4 specs released lately are totally outdated, and are comparable to low end CPU and a  ‘low to mid end GPU’, comparing it to Nvidia GTX680, which was launched in March 2012.

                    

Though , it is true, he believes, that consoles, not having the option to get upgraded, always stay behind PC’s, which can always stack on a GPU power boost, and the next gen consoles like PS4 and Xbox 720, are going to only increase the gap. Interestingly, Nvidia has been powering PS3 with its GPU, though it backed out, as the Vice president says, with Sony then going for AMD’s Octa core GPU’s for the PS4.
Nvidia is clearly looking to assert itself as an independent console developer, with the Project Shield gaining quite some appraisal, as well as Nvidia eying the smartphone processor market, with its break-all-records-aiming Tegra 4 processor, combined with its own brand GPU’s. 

 

Overall, the gadget world is turning a hot place , as competition is increasing with newer, market hungry players are entering the arena, with eyes on dethroning the reigning champs. Quite a gladiator’s battle-to-extinction this is going to be, where the winner takes all the laurels,  while the loser fades out of the battleview in a flash , a super interesting fight out clearly.  I just hope we don’t get a reality show made out of this theme now.. you never know really! xD

The “4G” Curse, as consumers unwilling to cough up

Suk-Chae Lee, of the KT Corp, which is FYI the largest telecom provider in South Korea, is not someone you would want to meet if you want a positive feedback on the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution). He, and other telecom firms are quite bitter in South Korea, for 4G has been far from a decent business. Speaking to Reuters, he said, with 4G Auctions in UK last week, that in the “data crazy” Korea, the consumers aren’t willing to pay up for the 4G services, which is turning things pretty sour for the mobile networks. And so he warns the operators in UK to prevent themselves from overestimating the 4G bandwagon, and ultimately leading to remorse, with consumers not valuing the services enough.

Well tough luck all right, but the fact is true that the 4G costs are so exorbitant, that it is obviously a matter that won’t make the consumer very comfortable. Keeping the infrastructure and maintenance costs in mind, its  understandable that the price can’t be rock bottom at least now, but the fact is to be kept in mind that in today’s world, the rate at which value of technologies is depreciating, the modern consumer does indeed feel services to be better priced. So that’s a balance that Telecom firms will be looking forward to maintain if they wish to turn 4G into a profitable venture

Source : Techradar

Original Samsung galaxy note to get sweet Jelly Bean upgrade

Great news for all galaxy Note owners, you have samsung being santa , offering OS upgrade to jelly bean , as a part of a premium upgrade suite it will offer on its Note microsite.The move to Android 4.1 will bring owners of the pioneering and surprisingly popular 5.3-inch phablet access to features like the Google Now personal assistant and Project butter.  However there is no confirmation as to the date of availability of the upgrade, but its being offered for unlocked devices only, thats sure.

Along with this, a number of features which are part of the galaxy note 2 will be available too as a part of the premium upgrade suite!!Those additions are undoubtedly headlined by the neat Multi Window feature, which will allow two open apps to be running on the screen at the same time.The Popup window multi-tasking feature for Notes, Video and Browser is also coming to the device, while handwriting will also be enabled within the email app.

Via UberGizmo ,Techradar

Flickr Pro goes free for three months, to tempt upset Instagram users

Photo-sharing service Flickr is hoping to capitalise on theInstagram terms of service controversy, by offering free access to its Pro service.

The Yahoo-owned company is giving new and existing users three months of free Flickr Pro, the unlimited subscription service that usually costs $25 (UK£15, AUD$24) a year.

Existing users will get three free months added to their subscription.

The free offering also follows the launch of a brand new Flickr iOS app, which introduces Instagram-style filters, a brand new and attractive interface and the integration of Flickr Groups.

Sniffing the opportunity

The timing of the promotion is not insignificant, with users threatening to walk away from Instagram following a PR disaster for the Facebook-owned sharing service over the course of the last week.

Instagram issued and subsequently reneged on a new Terms of Service document, which gave it the right to use members' photos in advertisements without paying the photographer or asking for permission.

On Friday the company announced it was returning to its existing terms, but one feels that the damage has already been done.

Flicker, once the most popular photo-sharing site on the web, now sees an opportunity to regain the ground it lost to the likes of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Via Business Insider , Techradar

Google report: government surveillance is on the rise

Google has increasingly been pressed to hand over user data and remove content by governments and courts from around the world, according to its latest transparency report.
There was a total of 20,938 user data inquiries from governments in the first half of 2012, and those requests were for information regarding 34,614 accounts.
"Government demands for user data have increased steadily since we first launched the transparency report," said Google in a blog post announcing the new statistics.
The governmental contact with the search engine doesn't stop there.

Removal requests also spike

Google also received 1,791 removal requests from government officials around the world regarding 17,746 pieces of content.
By comparison, government requests to remove content from Google's services were flat from 2009 to 2011.
"It's spiked in this reporting period," said Google's blog post. "One trend has become clear: government surveillance is on the rise."

Serious spike in content removal requests

Main user data probers

Google's transparency report not only aggregates the number of user data and content removal requests, it breaks the statistics down by country and includes detailed annotations.
The United States leads the user data inquiries with 7,969 requests, more than three times as many as India, the next country on the list.
Google noted that this number includes requests issued by the U.S. on behalf of other governments due to treaties and other diplomatic mechanisms, but it doesn't detail the percentage.
The United Kingdom is No. 6 on the list, having 1,425 user data requests with Google fully or partially complying with 64 percent of those inquiries.

China on content removal

China doesn't appear on the list of countries probing for user data, but Google does call it out for requesting that content be removed from the search engine.
"We received a request from [China] to remove a search result for linking to a site that allegedly defames a government official," Google said in its country-by-country breakdown.
"We did not remove content in response to this request."
However, Google did note that China made at least two of its products, Google Sites and YouTube, inaccessible for a period of time.

Content removal in the UK, US

Content removal in the United Kingdom and United States rose 98 percent and 46 percent, respectively.
The local law enforcement in the United Kingdom was denied a request to remove 14 search results that linked to sites critical of the police and claimed individuals were obscuring crimes.
Courts in the United States had a similar outcome for YouTube videos critical of local and state government agencies, law enforcement and public officials.

Successful takedown requests

Google, standing its ground, only removed defamatory speech about individuals and small groups, or trademark violations.
"We received a court order to remove 1,754 posts from Google Groups relating to a case of continuous defamation against a man and his family," Google said.
"We removed 1,664 of the posts, which fell within the scope of the order."
Similar cases involving defamation of organizations and individuals resulted in the removal of 233 of 641 search results.
When it came to trademarks, Google said it removed 156 search results because web pages used a trademark in violation of an earlier order.

A new report every six months

Google's latest transparency report accounts for January to June 2012. The next set of statistics are due in six months.
"When we first launched the transparency report in early 2010, there wasn't much data out there about how governments sometimes hamper the free flow of information on the web," Google said.
"We're heartened that in the past year, more companies like Dropbox, LinkedIn, Sonic.net and Twitter have begun to share their statistics, too.
"We think it's important to shine a light on how government actions could affect our users."

source : techradar