Portal 2 review

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Puzzle, Reviews, Xbox 360,

Innovation in video games is terrific—sometimes. But with certain ideas and series, particularly the simplest ones, the smartest thing to do can be to just expand and build on the concept but not change it very much. That's the choice Valve Software has made with Portal 2, the ravenously awaited sequel to the addictive and brain-twisting 2007 first-person puzzler. Judging from our initial half-day with the game, Valve has chosen wisely.

The original Portal, first released as part of the Orange Box collection, was maddening because it was so straightforward, and delightful because of its rampant dementedness. As a test subject trapped in the Aperture Science building, you were armed only with a gun that could create up two dimensional portals: shoot a blue one, shoot an orange one, then run through one to emerge from the other. Strategy and physics played key roles as you struggled to discover what happened to the all the office workers, evade turret fire and pits of foul-looking liquid, and determine what the nature was of the teasing and tormenting computer (the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, or GLaDOS) that made jokes at your expense every 30 seconds.

Portal succeeded because its formula was both hard to screw up but easy to love. It was both rigorously adult (some of the levels were hard, and many of the bonus boards all but impossible), and yet faultlessly cute (who can forget the baby-voiced android weapons, or the Weighted Companion Cube emblazoned on all six sides with hearts). This meant that anyone of any age could play it, and because it required just a handful of keys or buttons (far fewer than the average shooter), you didn't even need to be an experienced gamer. As if realizing this, Valve even structured the game to provide to provide its own fully integrated tutorial so you could master tricky concepts without being aware you were learning everything.

In fact, the most commonly cited problem with the game was that it was too short: Nineteen levels and it was done. For years, people have been crying out for more levels and more snappy wit—and with Portal 2, that is what Valve has almost exclusively provided.

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Netflix considering family plans for multiple Watch Instantly streams

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Movies,

Netflix is considering a plan that would allow subscribers to watch concurrent "Watch Instantly" streams on the same account.

Similar to how Netflix DVD customers can opt to have more than one DVD out at a time, Netflix streaming customers could add a customer to their account, allowing one person to stream a movie on a laptop while another person watches on a tablet, for example.

The move comes as Netflix starts to think of membership opportunities as it relates to individuals rather than households.

"As streaming has become central to our business, we believe there may be an opportunity to change our focus from a household relationship to an individual relationship, since streaming is viewed on personal devices, such as phones, tablets, and laptops, as well as on shared large screen televisions," Netflix said in a note to investors.

As a result, Netflix said it plans to start offering the concurrent streaming plan later this year, though "we are still thinking about how to best do it." It also thinking about a price point that might encourage multiple accounts in one household, like a Netflix family plan.

Click to continue reading Netflix considering family plans for multiple Watch Instantly streams

Deal of the Day: Zune HD selling at clearance prices

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hot Deals, Microsoft, Portable Audio / Video,

We've said plenty of times that the Zune HD was an absolutely fantastic music device, but we know that there are a bunch of people who never gave it a chance. Well, one of our readers pointed out the fact that you can get a brand new Zune HD at clearance prices from a few retailers, and we thought we'd pass that info on to you:

$349 Zune HD 64 GB: $269 on eBay - $269 at Buy.com - $277 on Amazon
$269 Zune HD 32 GB: $189 on eBay - $189 on Buy.com - $231 on Amazon
$199 Zune HD 16 GB: $159 on Buy.com - $159 on eBay

Those are awesome prices, and the eBay links also have auctions that are even cheaper, of course. Be sure to keep an eye on our Deal of the Day posts for more awesome stuff, and also check out our Newegg Promo Code thread for even more hotness.

BMW announced ActivE, their all-electric coupe

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Transportation,

BMW has announced that it plans to lease 700 demo units of its first completely electric vehicle, the BMW ActivE. They'll start the trial this fall in New York City, Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles, and parts of Connecticut, the company said in a statement. Consumers will have to pay $499 a month for a 24-month lease, plus a down payment of $2,250. Reservations start at the end of this summer.

"Based on the 1 Series Coupe, the BMW ActiveE will accelerate from 0-60 mph in under nine seconds, making it the first electric vehicle to combine the dynamic characteristics typical of a BMW with the zero-emissions benefits of driving an electric vehicle," BMW said in a press release.

When fully powered, the car's lithium-ion batteries last around 100 miles. The batteries also feature heating and cooling and can pre-condition your car to maximize power during various weather conditions.

Furthermore the dashboard features a set of instruments that track the amount of energy being consumed. Instead of a tachometer, for instance, you'll find indicators for battery consumption and charge time. And because the car is apparently very quiet, BMW has also installed a needle to let you know when a car at standstill is ready to drive again.

Click to continue reading BMW announced ActivE, their all-electric coupe

BlackBerry PlayBook goes on sale, iPad 2 not worried

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds,

The 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook tablet goes on sale today in the U.S. and Canada. The PlayBook has a 1024x600 touchscreen display, and a dual-core, 1-GHz Cortex A9 microprocessor backed by a full gigabyte of RAM. It's offered in 16GB for $499, 32GB for $599, and 64GB for $699 - for even better prices check out the PlayBook on eBay.

While reviews for the new tablet have been generally positive (see our BlackBerry Playbook review,) the PlayBook had a tough time actually getting off the ground. It's been criticized for its lack of native email, calendar, and organizing apps. Furthermore, the tablet was delayed, which could be attributed to high demand for Apple's iPad. The release date, originally slated for the first quarter of 2011, was reportedly pushed back due to a shortage of touch screen panels, which Apple had already allegedly obtained for the iPad 2.

When the iPad 2 went on sale in the U.S. March 11, eager Apple fanboys were camped out in long lines in hope of snagging one of the popular tablets. In the first sales weekend, analysts estimate Apple sold nearly half a million iPad 2s. The tablet sold out within a matter of days, and the wait time went up to five weeks.

Click to continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook goes on sale, iPad 2 not worried

Ancestry app surpasses 1 million downloads

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Reference, App Store News, Free Apps,

Ancestry.com on Tuesday announced that its mobile app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch has received over one million downloads.

One-third of those one million downloads occurred in the last two months alone, and over half of the app users are new to Ancestry.com.

"We've been pleased with the early adoption of our iPhone and iPad apps and believe we are just getting started," Eric Shoup, senior vice president of product for Ancestry.com, said in a statement. "It's a natural extension of the Ancestry.com service and another way to help our members discover, preserve and share their family history."

Ancestry.com Inc., the world's largest online family history resource, has nearly 1.4 million paying subscribers, who have created more than 20 million family trees with over 2 billion profiles. In the past 14 years, more than 6 billion records have been added to the site.

Click to continue reading Ancestry app surpasses 1 million downloads

Comic Book Jobs: Toxic Magazine

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Independent,

Toxic, the British humor magazine for boys 7-12-years-old is looking for a designer.

Toxic's subjects "range from games to movies to sports to loads of other random stuff in features, facts & stats, puzzles, jokes, comics, competitions etc. In short, anything and everything that’s in a boy’s life." And the comics can be really funny.

They're looking for a "creative and experienced magazine designer with the vision to help take Toxic to the next level of its development," whatever that means for a British boy's humor mag.

You'll be working "in close collaboration" with the Art Editor and the Toxic team.

All the usual computer design skills are needed, as is magazine experience. And if you have experience in children's entertainment, even better.

Egmont is a huge Scandanavian publisher with lots of opportunities inside so if you get in and impress, there's always the chance to move forward. Or you could just stay at Toxic and design pages of boogers and farts and Justin Biebers.

But do hurry. The job listing closes on April 26.

You can read a bit more about Toxic at Lew Stringer's excellent British comics-related blog.

[Artwork: Toxic, © Egmont]

Deal of the Day: iPod touch 8 GB for $184 shipped

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Hot Deals, Portable Audio / Video,

If you're in the market for a 4th gen iPod touch, you'll wanna run over to eBay with the quickness right now - for the next 20 minutes, they are selling them for $184, shipping included. That's $45 off the normal price, and these are brand new units. 1 per customer!

Be sure to keep an eye on our Deal of the Day posts for more awesome stuff, and also check out our Newegg Promo Code thread for even more hotness.

Read More | eBay iPod touch deal

The Blank Screen: How Apple Outsmarts Competitors

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, Features, Home Entertainment, Software,

When the iPhone was launched in 2007, I met with Phil Schiller, SVP of World Wide marketing for Apple, and Greg Joswiak, the Apple VP in charge of marketing the iPods and iPhones. During the meeting they showed me the iPhone's many features and shared their goals for the device, which has now become a major business for Apple.

During that meeting, they made a comment that I believe is really the heart of Apple's secret sauce and the cornerstone of how it continues to outsmart its competitors. They laid the iPhone on the table, with it turned off, and asked me what I saw. I told them I saw a 3.5 inch blank screen. They said that from Apples point of view, the "magic" of the iPhone is strictly in the software. And, they de-emphasized the hardware.

Yes, the iPhone was a slick smartphone with a great screen and, at the time, it broke new ground in smartphone design, and Apple was very proud of that. However, with the iPhone turned off, it had very little value. But once it was turned on, the iPhone's OS and apps turned it into a completely different device. While it was a phone, the software made it much more—it became a vehicle for applications. It also had another component that really made it sing and dance; it was also an iPod and was tied directly to iTunes. Now it morphed into a much broader multi-purpose device. It was a phone, a vehicle for apps, and an iPod, which made it a great personal mobile entertainment system.

Click to continue reading The Blank Screen: How Apple Outsmarts Competitors

Samsung planning dual-core 2 GHz smartphones for 2012

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Rumors,

Samsung may be developing phones that run so fast, they'll leave today's most cutting-edge dual-core phones in the dust. The company apparently has dual-core 2GHz smartphones in the works, which would theoretically be capable of 4GHz speeds, says Korea's Maeli Business Newspaper.

"We are planning to release a 2GHz dual-core CPU-equipped smartphone by next year," the paper reports a "high-ranking official" from Samsung said. "This product will have the data processing capacities of a regular PC."

The report comes as dual-core 1GHz phones such as the Motorola Atrix and LG Optimus 2X, which was the world's first dual-core phone, are just beginning to become available. A phone running with two 2GHz chips would technically be capable of running at speeds up to 4GHz, though real-world tests almost never match specs.

Click to continue reading Samsung planning dual-core 2 GHz smartphones for 2012