Microsoft wants to reboot the franchise with new characters but are hoping to include cameo appearances from fan-favourite characters from the original series – such as Sylar (Zachary Quinto) and Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg).

Microsoft recently set up its own television entertainment studio and the Xbox TV service is planned to run across a number of Microsoft’s platforms including consoles, phones and Windows OS.

SOURCE: TV Line

ORIGINAL POST:

While the gaming world is still fresh from Sony’s Playstation 4 announcement last week, it’s very easy to forget that we still have current generation hardware out there… and people who love to save money.

Fear not though, Microsoft hasn’t forgotten and, with that in mind, has decided to host a sale on Xbox 360 Games On Demand titles. The full list of titles was posted by Xbox spokesman Larry Hryb (better known by his gamertag Major Nelson) on Friday.

The sale starts today, February 26th, and runs until March 4th with different titles getting reduced everyday by as much as 75-85% off their regular price on some games. While the list the Major posted concerns the North American region, we can still expect some similar savings on top titles here. Just check prices before purchasing.

You’ll obviously need to be connected to Xbox Live to avail of the savings and take note that most Xbox 360 games are between 4GB and 7.5GB in size. So yeah, don’t get carried away!

UPDATE DAY 1:

Halo titles are getting the sale treatment first with Halo 3, Halo Wars and Halo: Reach on sale for €9.99 while Halo 4 can be downloaded for a reasonable €29.99. The Halo games are on sale for today only.

Other non-Halo games on sale include:

• Call of Juarez (€2.99)
• Bioshock (€4.99)
• GRID (€4.99)
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 1 (€2.99)
• Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (€2.99)
• Tom Clancy’s HAWX (€2.99)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas (€2.99)
• Rayman Raving Rabbids (€2.99)
• The Darkness (€4.99)
• Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (€4.99)
• Virtua Fighter 5 (€4.99)
• Tomb Raider: Legend (€4.99)

It would seem that these non-Halo games are on sale for the duration of the Games On Demand Sale week.

UPDATE DAY 2:

Assassin’s Creed titles are on sale today, Wednesday 27th. You can download Assassin’s Creed 1 and 2 for €9.99 each and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations for €14.99. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood should be on sale for €9.99 as well but, as of writing, that price hasn’t changed. Keep an eye out though, those assassins are a sneaky bunch. As usual, check prices before downloading.

UPDATE DAY 3:

Thursday 28th, Day 3 of the Xbox Live Ultimate Game Sale is featuring Resident Evil titles. For one scary day only, you can get Resident Evil Code Veronica X for €4.99, Resident Evil Operation Racoon City for €14.99,  Resident Evil 4 for €9.99, Resident Evil 5 also for €9.99, and you can pick up Resident Evil 6 for €14.99. All those games are half price except Code Veronica, which is 75% off of it’s normal price. Remember that these are daily deals that last for one day only. The list of games on sale for the duration of the Ultimate Game Sale can be found above in the Day 1 update.

UPDATE DAY 4:

Today’s Xbox Live Ultimate Game Sale daily deal is on Call of Duty titles. From Call of Duty 2 up to Modern Warfare 2 will cost you €9.99 each, though some prices have yet to update as I write this so please do check before purchasing.

Modern Warfare 3 will be reduced to €29.99 for the day and Black Ops will cost €24.99. Black Ops 2 is also listed in the sale but I couldn’t find it at the cutdown price when I checked.

As usual, a reminder that these are daily deals so are only for today. The list of week-long deals can be found above.

UPDATE DAY 5:

Day 5 brings a bit of variety to the Ultimate Game Sale on Xbox Live. You can get Batman: Arkham City for €14.99, Borderlands for €9.99, Borderlands 2 for €19.99, Dead Island for €9.99, Fallout: New Vegas for €9.99, Portal 2 for €14.99, Red Dead Redemption for €14.99 and Dishonored for €19.99. Fable III should also be on sale but wasn’t when I checked the Irish store. That’s a whole lot of games and they’re all extremely good ones!

UPDATE DAY 6:

Sunday is indeed a day of rest and so Xbox Live hasn’t officially released a list of “daily deals”. However, of the remaining games on the original list, the following highlights appear to be reduced*: Fallout 3 for €14.99, Batman: Arkham Asylum for €9.99, Street Fighter IV is €19.99 and Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker HD is €14.99.

(*They seem to be lower priced than you would expect of GoD triple-A titles. We little you know if we get a more official list.)

Major Nelson tweeted this at about 9pm (Irish time) this evening:

“Re: Deals for Today…the team ran into a little snag, and they’re working on getting the right content on sale for the right regions.”

The other games remaining in the sale that haven’t been reduced yet are The Orange Box, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Left 4 Dead 2, Max Payne 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Tekken 6 and Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

Latest: Major Nelson tweeted the list of titles on sale for Day 6 

UPDATE DAY 7:

It’s the final day of the Xbox Ultimate Game Sale and it’s going down fighting. You’ll find the following daily sale savings:

• Mortal Kombat is €19.99
• Mortal Kombat vs DC is €4.99
• Street Fighter IV is €9.99
• Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition is €9.99
• Street Fight X Tekken is €19.99
• Tekken 6 is €9.99
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is €9.99
• The King Of Fighters XII is €4.99

Day 6 of the sale started late so the games that were due to be on sale yesterday have been extended for 24 hours. So the following are also on sale today:

• Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is €9.99
• Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker HD is €4.99
• Fallout 3 is €4.99
• Max Payne 3 is €4.99
• Left 4 Dead 2 is €9.99
• The Orange Box is €9.99
• Sid Meier’s Civilisation Revolution is €9.99

It’s also the last day for the weekly sale, which you’ll find details on above in the UPDATE DAY 1 section.

Remember to check prices before confirming your purchase.

Source: @MajorNelson

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag has been announced as the next title in the Assassin’s Creed series. Judging from the artwork, I think it’s a safe bet to assume that pirates will somehow feature. So we’re dubbing this installment of the franchise “Assassin’s Creed Fouarrrrgh”.

The game has been slated for release on Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The PS3 version will get “exclusive content”, as is the norm these days. More details will be announced on Monday.

Sources: Joystiq, MCV UK

Bad news for fans of Nexuiz on Xbox Live, the online-only multiplayer game had it servers shutdown a few days ago. The move came in the wake of  THQ’s recent demise. THQ published and had control over the Xbox 360 servers but the game’s developer, IllFonic, will continue to run the servers on the PC version of the game. The company announced the shutdown on the game’s Facebook page:

“As some of you know, the Xbox Servers are now offline.  It was fun while it lasted on there and we are glad you guys enjoyed the game! Unfortunately, the Xbox Servers were controlled by THQ and in the current state, cannot be maintained anymore.  Since the PC servers are different and can be controlled 100% by IllFonic, they will remain online and functional.  Thanks!”

The game had only been running on the Xbox Live service for a year. The IP is on the list of THQ assets to be sold off at auction in April.

Source: Facebook

Yesterday we posted an interview with Jim Brown about the new Gears of War:Judgement and how the game has progressed from the last games, and now we post part two of the interview where Jim tells us what to expect in the latest addition to the GOW series and also in multiplayer.

Q. What can you reveal about the story of the campaign?

A. Gears of War: Judgment takes you back before the events of the original Gears of War trilogy to

the immediate aftermath of Emergence Day. Judgment is set 30 days after the events of E-Day.

E-Day is the time when the Locusts emerged from underground and started ravaging the planet

Sera. The game follows Kilo Squad led by Damon Baird and Augustus “The Cole Train” Cole. At

the opening of the game, Baird is facing a military tribunal, and players get to experience the

individual squad members’ story in a series of “flashbacks”. As each character gives testimony

to the tribunal, players will get to live that story in real time. And let’s face it – the story

wouldn’t be much fun if there weren’t at least a few surprises in there!

Q. Why was Emergence Day chosen as the setting for Judgment?

A. Again this came from the fans. It was natural for us to go back so far in the timeline prior to the

original Gears of War. We already had explored the timelines of the first three Gears titles, so

we just wanted to go someplace different. Earlier made a lot more sense than later, but one of

the most noticeable things that it allowed us to do was show the planet in a much different

state. It allowed us to convey different emotions. The first three titles were all visually based

around a theme of Destroyed Beauty. You saw everything just ravaged and war torn, now that

the conflict is so fresh it feels much more alive. There is a feeling of life, people living and

moving around the city when all of a sudden that sense of security was ripped away because of

the Locust invasion. You will see this throughout the game, places where suitcases are strewn

around as people didn’t have time to grab them in the midst of a rapid evacuation. Buildings are

still burning and crumbling down, the battle rages throughout the city. It is a really interesting

visual and emotional change for the series.

Q. How does this campaign differ to previous Gears campaigns?

A. It really has been streamlined and plays a lot more intense. We really wanted to get back to our

roots and focus on core gameplay rather than elaborate storytelling. We still tell a story, but we

rely a bit more on the player and the events of the game to convey that story rather than

creating two hours’ worth of movies that play throughout the game. We didn’t want to turn

focus on a million different things, instead we wanted to make a really intense experience, one

that will challenge gamers, make them think a bit about the best way to progress through the

game. We built some new gameplay systems to support that. We have introduced a little bit of

Horde Mode into the Campaign too with sections that are built to be defensive scenarios. All of

that was crafted to give gamers an intense, challenging game and something to make your

palms sweat a bit as you play.

Q. Why was Baird chosen as the lead character for Judgment?

A. We ended up focusing on Baird as the main character pretty easily. For us, he is a really

interesting character who never got his moment in the sun. We obviously explored Marcus and

Dom, Cole even got a moment in Gears of War 3 with his own mission. But players did not know

a lot about Baird. We then also received some survey data that showed Baird is actually the

most popular character in the series. After every game release, Microsoft puts out a customer

satisfaction survey and they did one for Gears 3. One of the questions was “Who is your

favourite character?” You had a choice between everyone who was in Delta Squad, as well as

some other supporting characters and Baird was number 1. Marcus was like four or five. So

when we settled on going to a prequel, we knew Baird had this interesting backstory. After that,

we were set on using Baird as the main driver for the story, telling his story on how he was once

an officer and what happened in his life to set him back to being a Private in the army.

Fans will notice a slightly different Baird. He is still the wisecracker that everyone loves, but as

an officer, he is just a little bit more serious sometimes too. The writers did a great job of

making some subtle changes so we could be sure that he was interesting enough to carry the

story on his shoulders, yet not to change him too much so that he would not be recognizable to

our fans.

Q. Can you reveal any information about the support characters, Garron Paduk and Sofia

Hendrick?

A. Let’s start with Sofia Hendrick, out of the four members in Kilo Squad she’s the only one who is a

real COG soldier and firmly believes in the cause. Sofia’s been to the Onyx Guard Academy and

was trained as a media, in contrast, squad leader Baird’s a rich kid and Cole is a celebrity

thrashball player.

Kilo Squad’s fourth member, Paduk was fighting for the other side Union of Independent

Republics up until a month ago when the Locust attacked. He has a totally gloomy Soviet

perspective on everything and gives us some insight into what the UIR was like.

 Q. What can you tell us about the new enemy, Karn?

A. Karn is the unstoppable locust general who’s leading the invasion of Halvo bay. Although Paduk

has experience with Karn from his years as a UIR solider, this locust general is new to the COG

military leaders who underestimate his lethality. Karn rides his mount, Shibboleth, and has a

number of weapons available in his arsenal in addition to being able to both burrow and climb.

 Q. Can you reveal any details of other new enemies in Judgment?

A. The Rager is a new locust enemy who at first sight, appears to be a locust foot soldier, but

damage him and get him mad, and he’ll drop his weapon and transform into melee rage mode.

Take him out with a headshot before he rages, or be prepared for some close quarters combat.

Q. Why did you introduce Declassified Testimony? What will this add to the Gears experience?

A. Those came about as a way for us to add replayability. We wanted people to be able to go “Oh, I played through this one this way, how can I play through it a little bit differently?” We actually tried several different things and settled on this as being the most fun. You can try it with different weapons, environmental conditions and time limits – just different variances that make it a little bit more challenging for you.

The important thing is, it’s your choice. You don’t

have to do it if you don’t think it sounds like fun. However, if you want that extra challenge then

go for it and we’ll even give you some benefits for doing so, you’ll earn stars faster which in-turn

unlocks stuff. We also tied it into the fiction with the marshal’s testimony. People never tell the full story

when they’re in court and testifying, so thought wouldn’t it actually be cool if you could play

through the things they didn’t say?

 Q. Can you provide further detail on any new weapons?

A. One of the new characters we talked about earlier, Paduk is a UIR soldier so that gave us the

opportunity to create some UIR-based weaponry. The two that you will see the most are the

Markza and the Booshka. The Markza is a long range precision weapon, comes with a scope and

features a single-shot, semi-automatic rate of fire. It’s very useful for targets that are a little

farther away. The Booshka is a grenade launcher, it fires a projectile that is almost like a pipe

bomb that will bounce around the environment until its timed fuse runs out and it explodes.

Q. Can you tell me a little more about the Smart Spawn System?

A. Our AI has been improved even further for Gears of War Judgment, and specifically tuned to

support all our new game modes. The AI knows how to use all the new weapons, and the tactics

necessary to defeat the new Locust enemies. Our new Smart Spawn System (S3) responds to

the way you play, and readjusts the number, types, and tactics of enemies you encounter to

ensure that every replay is a unique experience.

 MULTIPLAYER

Q. What aspects of Judgment multiplayer make it the most exciting version over any previous

Gears title?

A. When you look at the trilogy and take what was there, it was a little too clunky. We simplified

that down and a lot through a new control scheme, which made things more streamlined.

Changing the control scheme was probably the biggest, boldest move we’ve made while

developing this game.

At its core, Gears has always been a game about co-operative gameplay. You rely on your squad

mates in the campaign, and your teammates in multiplayer. And with Judgment’s new Overrun

game mode, co-operation is even more important as the entire gametype is built around class

based systems. Everyone (on both the COG and Locust teams) will need to work together and

find the right combinations of weapons and abilities to tackle the unique situations that evolve

through the course of the game and from session to session. Our goals were to simplify things

and make them fast paced.

Q. What key changes were made to multiplayer following feedback from fans and why?

A. The multiplayer in Judgment has been given a real overhaul: it’s faster, sleeker, and more

approachable than ever before. We pulled back the curtain and went to the fans to see what

improvements they wanted and really took feedback to heart. We’ve streamlined the controls,

and opened up freedom of movement across all modes so players have more exciting and

interesting options in every encounter. We’ve added some fan requested game types, like our

new Free-for-all mode, and an all new class-based mode called Overrun which takes the best of

both Beast and Horde and pits the COG army (soldiers, medics, scouts, and engineers) against

the full brunt of the Locust Horde in objective-based gameplay. The response so far has been

overwhelmingly positive and we can’t wait to play online with our fans!

Q. What new multiplayer modes are there?

A. OverRun is brand new to Gears. It started off with us saying “how do we make a Horde vs. Beast

mode?” That was something the fans wanted in Gears of War 3 and something that we would

have loved to have done, we just didn’t have the resources at the time. Judgment gave us the

opportunity to explore it. In OverRun, you have two teams that compete against each

other. You start out with one team playing as the human COG, and one playing as the

Locust.

The COG’s goal is to defend a series of objectives, each time they lose an objective, they

fall back to defend the next one. The Locust role is to attack those objectives and destroy them

as quickly as possible. Once the Locust have destroyed all three objectives, they switch sides and

do it all over again. The team that destroys the objectives the fastest wins the match.

We’ve added in some additional layers of depth; the COG side is all class-based. You have an

Engineer who repairs and deploys sentries, a Soldier who can feed ammo to teammates, a

Medic who can heal, and a Scout who can deploy a beacon that spots the enemies for their

team. Each one of these classes has a unique setup and ability to use against the Locust. When

you are on the Locust side, there are eight different Locust to choose from, each one with their

own unique abilities. All the way from the Ticker, who is the size of a medium dog, up to a

massive Corpser. It takes a lot of teamwork to figure out the right combinations of COG and

Locust to take into battle. It sounds really simple, but ends up with a ton of depth and it’s

definitely a ton of fun to play.

Q. Can you tell us a little more about Free-For-All?

A. Classically, Gears has always been a team-based game and we always liked that aspect of it. You

can get tied to doing certain things when you’re dealing with a trilogy, like certain ideals and you

want to stay true to that. When Gears 3 was over, we wanted to do something new with Gears

Judgment, we were like let’s really dig down deep and look at what can we do to make it cooler

– what can we do to provide something that the fans would want.

Free-for-All is something that fans have always asked for and with Judgment being a totally

different game, we thought it made sense to introduce it and created some maps that would

work for free-for-all. People no longer have to worry about finding teams to go up against and

they just go in all by themselves and hold their own. Free-for-All wasn’t something we were

used to and the old control scheme was just slow and clunky, so changing it helped to give this

mode the right feeling too.

Q. How many maps will there be for multiplayer? How do they differ in size and style?

We have eight multiplayer maps in Judgment at launch: four maps that are shared between

Team Deathmatch, Free for All, and Domination. An additional four maps are unique to OverRun

and Survival, our class-based multiplayer modes. The maps have a wide variety of sizes and

styles, but all share a fast pace, increased density, focus on verticality and the ability to climb

and drop down, and many have interactive elements for you to discover.

Q. How do you go about creating a multiplayer map?

A. Epic uses a very iterative design process: we start with a basic gameplay idea and build it in

rough form to test (or fail!) as quickly as possible. These rough designs or “gameplay shells” are

never pretty or meant to be final in any way, they are meant to be flexible and easily

updated. We test them thoroughly, running through test after test, and gather feedback and

opinions on the gameplay after every trial. Once we’ve repeated the process enough times so

that we feel the gameplay design is as fun as it can possibly be, we begin the process of adding

the layers of visual detail and polish. When the visuals are as strong as the gameplay, we make more gameplay passes to ensure that everything is still fun and engaging. A final pass is made to ensure that the map meets all memory, performance, and gameplay requirements, and then it goes off for yet another round of testing. At this point, if people are generally having more fun than “working” while testing, then we’re confident the map is nearing completion.

Q. What are some of the best weapons for multiplayer?

A. Gears of War: Judgment introduces some great new weapons as part of the player’s standard

load-out. They can choose to play a more aggressive short-ranged game with the all new Sawn-

off Shotgun, or focus their skills with the longer ranged and more accurate Markza scoped

rifle. More powerful weapons, like the Booshka grenade launcher have to be earned on the

battlefield, and their locations are sure to be hotly contested points in combat. The tried and

tested Lancer assault rifle still comes equipped with a chainsaw bayonet, of course, and it just

doesn’t get much better than that.

Q. How have you made each environment different? How interactive are they? I hear you can

climb buildings?

A. Each individual multiplayer map represents a different environment, ranging through different

times of day, multiple weather conditions, and unique locales. Some, like the Library, take place

indoors, while the Estate map sends you running through a muddy riverbed while the tide is

out. Each map also features its own special form of interactivity: ride a Raven helicopter in Rig,

crush enemies in a giant trash compactor in Junkyard, and kick out windows to create all new

paths (or jump off of buildings) in Streets. Every map has a special surprise to keep things fresh

and encourage some player-driven emergent gameplay.

With GOW:Judgement being released on March 22nd, we caught up with Jim Brown – Lead Level Designer at Epic Games, to talk about how the game has progressed from the last game and how the team approached the latest in the GOW franchise.

Jim is an industry veteran with over a decade of experience in the computer and video game industry and has directed Epic’s development teams as Lead Level Designer over most of the multimillion-selling, award-winning Unreal series and the blockbuster Gears of War franchise. Prior to joining Epic, Jim was a level designer for America’s Army, the computer game developed by the U.S. Army. He also helped ship the first three expansion packs in Sony’s renowned EverQuest massively multiplayer online game.

Q. How long has Judgment has been in development?
A. Gears of War: Judgment commenced preproduction shortly after Gears of War 3 was
completed.

Q. How has the development of Judgment been split between Epic and People Can Fly?
A. People Can Fly’s involvement has been huge. We wanted to get their entire studio involved and
we wanted them to bring their fresh ideas to the franchise. Our two studios work together
closely on Judgment and the distribution of duties and responsibilities is relatively fluid.
It is very much a collaborative process — where you have our people here and their people
there both playing campaign and multiplayer grouping all of that feedback together. Then the
producers go through and prioritize it all, and we just keep evolving it and iterating on it.

Q. How has this been managed? Has the distance and time difference been a challenge for
development?
A. We have staff in their offices, they have staff in ours, and we have several video conferences a
day to ensure that the lines of communication are always open. Despite the difference in time
zones, we’re able to stay in sync and inspire each other all the time. They’ve had a fantastic
impact on the project, it’s been really successful.

Q. What has People Can Fly brought to the development table?
A. We personally wanted to get their entire studio involved; we wanted them to bring their ideas
to the franchise and they have done exactly that. The team at People Can Fly brings a totally
fresh perspective to the Gears of War franchise that is tempered with their previous experience
working on Gears of War for PC.

Q. How do you go about introducing new features to a franchise like Gears?
A. In the first instance, we speak to the fans. At the end of the day we think this all about reaching
a broad audience, connecting them and keeping them playing together. Some of the changes in
Judgment are more dramatic than others, but our overall goal is obviously to improve upon
what’s there and make the game deeper and more fun. Shooters like Judgment are also evolving
to include elements from other types of games (MOBA, RPG, even casual games) and the added
depth is a great thing.

Q. What role has the community had in the game’s development?
A. When we were looking for where to go next with the story, we went to the fans. What
character did they most want to hear more about? Baird! What period did they most want to
experience? Emergence Day! So Judgment’s story follows Damon Baird and his squad in some
of the formative moments surrounding Emergence Day in a city named Halvo Bay.

Q. What changes did you make to the control scheme and why?
A. With the new control scheme Y is a quick weapons switch. Left bumper is the off hand grenades.
Changing the control scheme was probably one of the biggest, boldest moves that we went with
when we were developing this game. It definitely lends itself to a more accessible experience
that is necessary for the frenetic pace of Judgment. Initially it was actually something we
designed to improve gameplay, allowing people to shoot and move at the same time. Having a
reticle on screen at all times means you’re able to move whilst shooting accurately.

Q. What is the most exciting aspect about Judgment?
A. We have some new multiplayer modes in Judgment that we’re really excited about. Perhaps the
most anticipated mode is OverRun: a 10 player (5v5), class-based MP mode where you attack
objectives as Locusts and defend them as COG. You also have an opportunity during a match to
play both sides to determine the victor. As a COG, select from Engineer, Scout, Medic, or
Soldier. As a Locust, select from a wide variety of attackers such as the Corpser, and the
Mauler.

Check back again tomorrow where we will be finding out about the Campaign of the game and what to expect when GOW:Judgement hits the shelves!

With the PlayStation 4 having been unveiled during a Sony press conference in New York last week, the world now awaits in anticipation for Microsoft’s response. When will we see the next Xbox?

According to CVG, we can expect our first look this April.

A number of developers and industry professionals have allegedly told CVG that microsoft will hold a conference to reveal the company’s next-generation console this April.

In addition, an interesting domain name registered by Microsoft partner Eventcore, formerly Ustechs, a company who has worked with MS on past media briefings and press conferences such as last year’s E3, was spotted by the NeoGAF community. It reads “XboxEvent.com.”

A senior Sony official also told CVG he was informed that the PlayStation meeting last week had “at first caught Microsoft off-guard.” He added, “we definitely ruffled their feathers.”

While we can look forward to an official look at the next Xbox this April, should the rumors prove true, this year’s GDC in March is also likely to reveal Microsoft’s future-tech, should the company’s engineers and developers attend.

Source: http://mp1st.com/2013/02/24/microsoft-expected-to-reveal-next-generation-xbox-in-april/

Microsoft Corp. has recently announced that it will expand the availability of Surface Windows RT to 13 additional markets in Europe including Ireland, more than doubling the number of markets in which Surface is currently available. Surface Windows RT can be purchased from 14^th February in the Microsoft Store online and will be available through retail outlets in Ireland in the coming weeks.

“The response to Surface has been very exciting,” said Patrick Ward, Windows Business Group Lead, “We’re delighted that customers will soon be able to purchase and experience Surface Windows RT here in Ireland.”

Surface Windows RT combines the portability of a tablet with many of the functionalities of a laptop. From the Touch Cover that provides a super-thin, spill-resistant keyboard in a variety of colours, to the integrated kickstand that enables hands-free entertainment, Surface stands out while delivering value and performance like nothing else on the market. With Windows apps, SkyDrive cloud connectivity, HD video, Xbox Music, games, a full-size USB port, a micro SD card slot and the productivity of Office Home & Student 2013 RT, Surface with Windows RT brings work and play together in style.

Surface Windows RT will be available in 32 GB and 64GB versions bundled with a black Touch Cover for an estimated retail price of Euro 579.00 for 32 GB and Euro 679.00 for 64 GB, or as a standalone for an estimated retail price of Euro 479.00 for 32GB and Euro 579.00 for 64 GB.  This enables customers to purchase a Touch Cover separately.

As an additional accessory, customers will have the option of purchasing a Wedge Touch Mouse Surface edition.  This Wedge Touch Mouse will be available in all markets in which Surface is currently sold and will be coming soon to the 13 European markets in which Surface Windows RT will launch.

In addition to the market expansion, Microsoft is growing the Surface family of PCs. Its newest model — Surface Windows 8 Pro — will be available for purchase on Feb. 9, 2013, in the United States and Canada. Powered by an Intel Core i5 processor, Surface Windows 8 Pro provides the power and performance of a laptop in a tablet package.  Perfect as your one device – at home, in the office, or on the road – it can run Windows 8 applications, as well as current Windows 7 desktop applications. Starting at an estimated retail price of US$899, Surface Windows 8 Pro will be available in 64GB and 128GB models.  A Surface pen with Palm Block technology, designed specifically to work with Surface to let customers edit, collaborate and get things done, is included with Surface Windows 8 Pro.

Additional details on Surface are available at http://www.Surface.com and Surface on Facebook.  Those interested can follow Surface on Twitter for additional updates.

Recently at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, Microsoft, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix unveiled the Xbox 360 TOMB RAIDER™ Limited Edition Wireless Controller – the perfect commemorative companion marking Lara Croft’s return to the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Developed in collaboration with artists at Crystal Dynamics, the design of the controller features a two-layer color finish with laser etching to create a realistic and tactile worn appearance inspired by Lara’s iconic climbing axe and the tourniquets that result from the adventure in her intense origin story, as told in this latest title. The controller also features a customizable D-pad that switches from a “plus” design to a “disc” pattern for better control, and a wireless range of up to 30-feet that allows for more freedom in your home environment as you explore and play the game.

In addition, those who purchase the Xbox 360 TOMB RAIDER Limited Edition Wireless Controller will receive a download token for an Xbox 360 exclusive playable character known as the devious Scavenger Archer.  The controller will be available timed to the launch of the game worldwide.

About TOMB RAIDER

Available beginning March 5, 2013, built from the ground up for the Xbox 360 and featuring add-on content which will be available first on the platform, TOMB RAIDER explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor.  Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Lara must fight to unravel the dark history of a forgotten island to escape its relentless hold.  In the all-new TOMB RAIDER a survivor is born.

Am I a Halo fan? No, no i’m not. I did love the original, but all the ‘sequels’ just felt more of the same to me with little to no improvements on the graphics. When there were games out there like Gears of War wowing us with such mind blowing graphics, Halo just felt dated to me. Thankfully, not so with Halo 4. This is a BEAUTIFUL looking game. One of the best looking I’ve played in a while. The landscapes and just the general size of the locations are awe inspiring. You really have to play it to see what I’m talking about. It just feels epic. I was alway looking about at all the details. Even up close the textures held up amazingly well.
The cut scenes is another area where massive improvements have been made. There are basically 2 types, one that uses in the ingame graphics engine. These are stunning. The lip sync, eyes and facial expressions are all incredible. It’s the best in game cut-scenes i’ve seen since LA Noire.
Then there’s the pre-rendered scenes. These are movie quality scenes that are really engaging and just draw you further into the game in my opinion.

As for the story in the campaign. Lets just put it like this. I picked up the game and got home at 3pm. Next thing I remember it was 8pm and I needed dinner. After dinner, the next thing I remember it was 1.30am and bed was needed. Basicially, the story just makes you want to keep going. I just wanted to see what was next. It’s an incredibly engaging story and my hat is off to 343 Industries for doing such a brilliant job!

Just touching on sound for a moment, it as well got a complete overhaul from 343 Industries. The weapons just sound more real, more beefier and just better. The sounds of the world are also amazing. It really needs a decent 5.1 system to experience the world of Halo 4 to it’s full potential.

So, the multiplayer. If I’m being honest, I’m not a massive online gamer. I did dip my toe in the multiplayer aspect of Halo 4, but we will definitely be coming back to this in the next couple of days to detail this a bit more. Given that I’m not a huge online gamer, the fact I enjoyed my time online with Halo 4 is a good thing. My experience, and one of the reasons I don’t play online more often, was hampered by the fact the way I have my TV set up gives me a 152ms delay, and well, leads me to being killed more ofen than I’d like (thats my excuse and I’m sticking to it! ).  It’s not just your ‘generic’ online multiplayer, there’s also the episodic co-op ‘Spartan Ops’ missions. These are weekly missions that 343 will be releasing for the next 10 weeks to extend the life of the game. There’s also “War Games’ mode which I had fun in!

I’m not sure what else I can say about Halo 4 without ruining the story or some other element on you. Do come back in a week or so to see our updated review where we’ll be talking much more about specific story elements and more on the multiplayer. If there’s anything you’d like us to cover in particular, just get in touch and we’ll be sure to include it.

To summarise:
Should you get this game? Yes, if you have an Xbox 360, this is a must own title
Is it good? It’s not just good, its absolutely fantastic.

Go get Halo 4 now if you haven’t already, you won’t be disappointed!

“Who would have thought that in 2012 Microsoft would be the company with the boldest phone and software design?”

That tweet from Joshua Topolsky from The Verge pretty much sums up the entire tech worlds’ thoughts on Microsoft right now, the once stuffy and old corporation synonymous with boring PowerPoint presentations finally doing something cool.

A lot of folks would say that this bold new design direction was also needed for HTC to turn things around, they’ve been suffering lately – losing market share to the Samsung Galaxy range on the Android front and being beaten in the (relatively small) Windows Phone market by Nokia with their Lumia range.

Whether it was by choice or necessity that drove Microsoft and HTC closer together doesn’t really matter anymore, (although you can be sure that Nokia aren’t exactly pleased) as it’s from the ashes that the oddly named Windows Phone 8X by HTC and 8S rise.

As the name would and should imply, the 8X and 8S are the signature Windows Phone 8 devices, the 8X in particular which is supposed to be the physical embodiment of a Live Tile and of what Windows Phone is all about.

Hardware & Design

The 8X is absolutely stunning, let’s get that clear.

It was criticised for ripping off the Lumia design when it was announced and although at first glance it does look similar, it’s a different beast altogether.

The matte polycarbonate wraps around a curved shape that tapers at each side of the phone, giving it a strange but extremely nice and indeed clever feel in the hand.
The edges are actually slightly sharp straight lines, which make it feel good to hold and that it won’t accidentally fall from your hands, yet the tapers that begin immediately after those sharp edges make the phone feel smaller and easier to hold than it actually is.

It’s a similar trick to how Nokia tried to make the Lumia 800 feel thinner than it actually was, yet the 8X pulls it off much better.
The 8X also feels very light, again especially compared to almost any Lumia device.
At 130 grams, it’s still a tad heavier than the ridiculously-light iPhone 5 at 112 grams, but the 8X is by no means heavy.

It’s really hard to appreciate the beauty of the 8X until you see one in person, almost everywhere I’ve wet with mine I’ve been asked within seconds of taking it out of my pocket, “What phone is that?!”.

And once I’ve shown them, the praise has been quite high, the look and feel being top of the compliment list – make no mistake, if you have an 8X people will notice.

The machine-drilled speaker is on the bottom rear of the device, the 8MP camera and LED flash up above it while the 2.1MP front facing camera is in the top left corner on the front, naturally.
The earpiece speaker is also the same colour as the rest of the device which is a small touch but makes a big difference, while underneath the screen is the usual staple of Windows Phone capacitive touch keys – Back, Start and Search.

The volume keys and camera shutter are on the right side of the device, they’re also the same colour as the phone which again is a good thing, although they’re very flush which when combined with their colour blending into the phone can make them hard to find sometimes.

This brings us to one of the biggest flaws with the 8X – the power/lock button.

It might seem like a minor thing to find flaw with, but the button is extremely flush with the phone, very sticky and unresponsive and in a bad position to begin with.
With a phone this tall, or any phone over 4 inches the lock button really should be on the side of the device.
Think about how many times a day that you lock and unlock your phone, a button that you have to use this often really needs to be perfect, and the 8X’s isn’t.

Overall though, the 8X is a superb design that will definitely turn heads and make it a delight to use anytime – we recommend avoiding the black and white versions if possible as they don’t have the same….pizzaz.

Display

The 4.3” inch Super LCD display has a beefy resolution of 720 x 1280 which gives the 8X a PPI (Pixel per Inch Density) of 342 which actually beats the iPhone 5 which has a PPI of 326.
Not that most people would be able to tell the difference between the two, the 8X screen is crisp and clear.

Images and colours pop off the screen almost too vividly and 720p HD video looks great, plus the screen is covered by Gorilla Glass 2 so you don’t have to worry about scratches or falls.
The blacks aren’t as deep as AMOLED screens but personally we prefer the LCD, the whites actually look white and the colours don’t give off that strange hue that most AMOLED screens emit.

Camera

8X meet 8MP, that’s what you’ll find as your primary shooter here, with a 2.1MP front facing camera.
Pictures are clear and overall the camera does a great job at taking the average kind of photos that you’re likely to take during a normal day.

It suffers quite a bit in low light situations and with glare and uneven lighting, but it’s no worse than most current smartphones.

The front facing camera is interesting in that HTC have made the lens wide angled, which they claim can capture up to four faces in one shot, rather than squeezing your friends faces together when you just have to show Facebook your night out.

It’s definitely possible to fit more in, simply holding an iPhone 5 in the same spot showed far more detail fit in on the 8X.

Both cameras are capable of 1080p video recording.

Software & Performance

The 8X is the first phone on the market to run Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8 OS, the latest in their line of Windows Phone releases, which began at 7 back in 2010.

This means that it’s the first Windows Phone device to come to market with a dual core processor, NFC, HD screens and the new and improved Start Screen to name just a few features.

The 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset combined with 1GB of RAM really let the 8X zip along, we didn’t find one second of lag or stutter – although we never have with any Windows Phone 7 or 7.5 device before, that’s always been one of Windows Phone’s strong points.
The new Start Screen really is amazing, before there was Live Tiles but they weren’t fully live.
They would show updates and recent messages etc. but not when you needed them to, or lacked enough details.

With Windows Phone 8 comes the ability to resize your Live Tiles, they can be made smaller, medium sized or the entire width of the screen. That empty black space on the right is also gone, now the tiles take up the whole screen.
It’s a relatively small change but it makes a big difference, for a start stuff that you might like to be pinned to your start screen but don’t want to take up too much space can now be there, but smaller.

We’ll go into more details on the Start Screen and other Windows Phone goodness in a full Windows Phone 8 review.

We did run into a few hiccups while using the device, most notably the speaker had a mind of its’ own.
Sometimes the sound would be extremely quiet, enough to convince yourself that it might be on silent – and this was while playing music.
Another problem was that if we answered a call during a song, when the call was finished the music would begin to play through the phone’s speakers, even while our headphone were still connected.

These are minor bugs that should be easily fixed through updates.

A special shout out has to go to Xbox Music which is a no brainer if you do get an 8X, or indeed any Windows Phone 8 device.
The service costs €9.99 per month and has over 30 million songs available for streaming, is free on all Windows 8 and Windows RT devices and links all your playlists and songs across all your devices.
It works in conjunction with Xbox SmartGlass too, which allows you to ‘send’ music, videos and even webpages back and forth between your Xbox, Windows 8/RT machine and Windows Phone 8 phone.
Both are invaluable if you’re even halfway linked into the Microsoft ecosystem.

Battery Life

Packing an 1800mAh battery, you can expect to average around a day of average to heavy use, with NFC and audio streaming naturally draining the battery faster.
In our reality test, we used the 8X as we would our own phone on a daily basis until it runs dry and managed to get around a day and a half.

Verdict

It’s clear to see that HTC have really put their all behind the 8X, unlike their somewhat generic HTC Titan and Radar of Windows Phone 7.5 fame.
It’s also nice to see OEMs doing something bold and different for a change, the current wave of black and white slabs is getting really tiring – Samsung take note.

It’s also great to see a serious competitor to the Lumia in terms of design and hardware.
We can’t stress enough how gorgeous the 8X is and how you need to see and hold one in person to really grasp this, photos can only do it so much justice.

It does have its fair share of bugs, and Windows Phone’s biggest problem being the severe lack of apps still remains.
There’s not one Irish banking app, no Instagram, no DropBox and no Hailo, but the apps that are there definitely look much nicer than their iOS or Android counterparts.

You will be making a sacrifice when you buy into the Windows Phone 8 ecosystem – get used to not having all the apps that you friends have.
But you’ll have arguably the nicest software and in the case of the Windows Phone 8X by HTC, the nicest hardware available on the market.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

Microsoft have finally made their Surface tablet available for pre-order and unveiled the pricing, almost four months after announcing it to the world.

Unfortunately Ireland isn’t on the list of 8 countries that Microsofts first ever tablet will be shipping to on October 26^th, the full list being the US and Canada, and online in Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong and the UK.

Visit www.Surface.com to pre order yours if you’re in one of the listed countries.

Surface is Microsofts first big hardware device aside from the Xbox 360 and represents a shift from a purely software company to a “services and devices” company as put by CEO Steve Ballmer.

This version of Surface available for pre order now is Surface RT which runs Windows RT, the version of Windows 8 built specifically for tablets.
Surface Pro running Windows 8 Pro won’t be available until around 90 days after Surface RT launches but it will be as capable as a high-end Intel Ultrabook – with a higher price tag to match.
The German prices are €479 for 32GB no cover, €579 with Touch Cover, €679 for 64GB with a Touch Cover.

The touch cover in that deal is a black one, there are other colours but they’ll have to be purchased separately. The type cover is also only available separately and costs more than the touch cover.
These German prices can only be taken as a guideline for Ireland, we still don’t know if/when Surface will be available here, let alone the price.

With Windows 8 only a couple of weeks away and Apple expected to unveil an iPad Mini next week, Microsoft has their work cut out for them if they want to really disrupt the tablet market, a reported 1.5 billion dollar marketing budget will certainly help and the Surface RT pricing sounds good to us so far.

Be sure to read our preview of Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface for a full rundown of what to expect come October 26^th.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft Ireland for Irish Surface availability and pricing and will update this post when we receive a response.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

Since Apple released iOS6 and ditched Google Maps for their new in-house Maps service, they’ve been getting nothing but flak for its below average quality.

Now Apple CEO Tim Cook has broken the silence on the matter by issuing an apology letter, something which is extremely rare to see from Apple – usually they remain very tight lipped or even tell you that you’re using their product wrong.

The justification behind the change of map service is that Apple wanted to ”provide customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps” and in order to do this, they had to make their own maps as Google wouldn’t allow those features on their own iOS maps app.

Tim says that the service will get better over time and that they “are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”
He then goes onto suggest alternative mapping solutions in the meantime, such as Bing, MapQuest or by using the web versions of Nokia Maps or Google Maps – something which no doubt really bothers him.

Here’s the apology in full:

To our customers,
At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook Apple’s CEO

Source | Via 

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or by Following him on Twitter.

HTC have just announced their newest Windows Phone Smartphones, the Windows Phone 8S and the Windows Phone 8X in New York.

The Windows Phone 8S has a dual-core processor, 4inch SLCD display, Beats Audio, 5MP camera and a 1700mAh battery and the Windows Phone 8X has a 4.3 inch SLCD2 screen, dual-core processor, the same 8MP camera as found in the HTC One X and One S and 16GB of storage.

The Windows Phone 8X also has an impressive new front facing camera which sports an ultra-wide angle lens which can capture up to 4 people in a single shot. It is a 2.1MP camera with F2.0 and capable of 1080p video recording. This is all powered by HTC’s very own ImageChip.

Both are really nice phones and will be available starting at the beginning of November.

Here’s the official press release.

NEW YORK, 19th September, 2012 — HTC, a global leader in mobile innovation and design, and Microsoft today unveiled the first signature Windows Phones, the stunning Windows^® Phone 8X and 8S by HTC^®. The smartphones feature the new Windows Phone 8 operating system and boast iconic design, studio-quality sound with Beats Audio™ and incredible camera capabilities.

“Pairing HTC’s beautiful new Windows Phone 8X and 8S with our brand is a big milestone for both companies,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. “Together we are offering customers a clear choice and a truly unique experience. I’m thrilled to take our longstanding partnership to the next level.”

“We’ve been inspired by Windows Phone 8 to create new smartphones that give the platform the iconic design and personality it deserves,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation.  “Windows Phone has clearly emerged as one of the top mobile ecosystems and is competitive against any other smartphone platform in the world.”

 Iconic Design

The only phone with Live Tiles, Windows Phone has a clear, differentiated vision and the consumer experience has been widely recognized as being groundbreaking, innovative and fresh. HTC created the Windows Phone 8X and 8S to blend the virtual and the physical utilizing a three dimensional, pure uni-body design based on the Windows Phone Live Tiles.  The Windows Phone 8X and 8S by HTC are perfectly sculpted with a dramatic taper making them feel magically thin in your hand.

Because color is such an integral part of the Windows Phone experience, HTC is bringing bold, sophisticated and adventurous colors in a premium matte finish to these devices. The Windows Phone 8X will come in a variety of colors including California Blue, Graphite Black, Flame Red and Limelight Yellow.   The Windows Phone 8S by HTC will be available in Domino, Fiesta Red, Atlantic Blue and High-Rise Grey.

Capture and share your world

For the first time, HTC is introducing a 2.1mp, f/2.0 aperture, 88° ultra-wide angle front-facing camera that allows up to four people and more to be captured at once. It also supports 1080p video capture.  The rear camera sports an 8mp CMOS sensor with backside-illumination (BSI) for improved low-light performance, along with an f/2.0 aperture, 28mm lens and a dedicated imaging chip.  A physical shutter button makes it quick and easy to capture spontaneous action, even if the phone is locked.

Spectacular Sound with Beats Audio

Exclusively available on HTC smartphones, Beats Audio provides authentic, studio-quality sound that delivers the spirit of the original recording. The Windows Phone 8X by HTC featuring Beats Audio also offers a unique audio amplifier powering the 3.5mm audio jack and the speaker, boosting the audio signal for even better sound no matter if you’re listening to music, playing a game or watching a video.

Brilliant Display

The Windows Phone 8X by HTC features a beautiful, 4.3” HD-resolution super LCD 2 screen protected from everyday bumps and scrapes by lightweight Gorilla^® Glass 2, while optical lamination reduces reflections and glare, ensuring you see every detail.  The Windows Phone 8S by HTC boasts a bright super LCD 4” screen with Gorilla^® Glass, allowing users to see the Windows Phone Live Tiles, and every message and photo, with crystal clarity and sparkling color.

Entertainment

With the Windows Phone 8X and 8S by HTC people can carry their favorite music, movies and photos with them wherever they go. With the Windows Phone Store and Xbox Live, it is easier than ever to enjoy the latest video, music and games on the move.

 Availability

The Windows Phone 8X and 8S by HTC will be available beginning in November. Available through more than 150 carriers in 50+ countries, the Windows Phone 8X or 8S by HTC will be available from the world’s top carriers including: United States: AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. Europe: Orange, O2, MTS, Three UK, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Turkcell and Avea. Asia-Pacific: Chunghwa Telecom, Optus, Singapore Telecommunications Group, Smartone, Telstra and Vodafone Australia.

The Lumia 900 is still fresh on Irish shelves and already the Lumia 920 has just been announced by Nokia at a press event held in New York City today, alongside the Lumia 820.
All of the rumours and leaks in the last couple of days were right on the money, the both new Lumia devices will feature wireless charging –albeit the 820 will require a special case to do so.

The Lumia 920 has a 4.5-inch LCD screen with PureMotion HD+, Super Sensitive Touch, ClearBlack display and Sunlight Readability Enhancements.

Nokia are calling this screen the brightest and fastest screen on any smartphone currently available, while the Super Sensitive Touch tech allows users to use the phone with or without gloves, as the screen can detect when you’re using a glove and activates.
The PureMotion HD+ part of the screen is what accounts for the “faster” part of their claim, the refresh rate is said to be so fast that it gives the smoothest scrolling possible.

The body of the Lumia 920 seems quite similar to the current 900 with a few changes, the buttons are completely flush now and the curved screen that’s found on the Lumia 800 has now made its way to the 920.
Both the 820 and 920 are made of the same Polycarbonate plastic that you find in the 800 and 900 now.

The Lumia 920 will contain a 2000 mAh battery (the largest ever put into a Nokia phone) which supports integrated wireless charging from the box and Nokia have partnered with FatBoy to bring teeny tiny beanbag chargers specifically designed for the new Lumias – very cool.

Nokia also have their own wireless charging dock, while the market is open for third party options as the phones use the popular QI wireless charging standard.

Both devices will be powered by a 1.5GHz Dual Core Snapdragon S4 processor and 1GB of RAM. The 920 will have 32GB internal storage and the 820 will have 8GB internal with microSD support to expand that.

An 8MP camera will be present on both phones but while the camera in the 820 will have Carl Zeiss optics, it will be more of a standard affair. On the other hand, the 920’s camera will contain Nokia PureView advanced optical imaging stabilization and Carl Zeiss optics.

Nokia showed some side-by-side image and video comparisons of the 920 PureView with a Galaxy SIII and although it’s hard to say without trying it for ourselves, the camera does look extremely impressive.
We’re itching to take one out around Dublin for some snaps of our own!

The front facing cameras are 1.2MP on the 920 and VGA on the 820.

The 920 comes in yellow, red, grey, white and black  and the 820 in red, yellow, grey, cyan, purple, white and black.
Personally we would have preferred Nokia to stick with a matte finish on the Lumia range instead of the glossy look they’ve gone for with these new devices, but they both look really attractive nonetheless.

When asked about pricing and availability at the event, Nokia CEO: Steven Elop said: Q4, but they’re not announcing pricing.

If we had to guess, that would be a November/December launch.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

Almost a year since the Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 were announced in London at Nokia World, the next generation of Windows Phone devices from the Finnish mobile giant have leaked for the world to see.

Leaking a mere couple of days before Nokia’s massive press event in New York on Wednesday, September 5^th, a flood of info on what appears to be the Lumia 820 and 920 has appeared.

The Lumia 820 is set to be the mid to high-end device and will purportedly feature changeable covers, a 4.3” screen, 8GB of internal storage (complimented by microSD card support for further storage) and will be powered by 1.5GHZ dual core processor and 1GB of RAM.

Also leaked this week was that both phones will boast wireless charging. Although the Lumia 820 will require the use of a special cover for this, the 920 will not.

The Lumia 920 is rumoured to have a 4.5” HD screen, 32GB of internal storage, also with microSD card support and be powered by the same 1.5GHZ dual core processor and 1GB of RAM as the 820.

Interestingly however is that the Lumia 920 which was pegged as the first PureView Windows Phone is slated as only having an 8MP camera. For those of you unaware, the Nokia 808 PureView is a 41MP Symbian device that Nokia released earlier this year.

Naturally the news that the Lumia 920 wouldn’t have the same amount of pixels stirred some controversy among fans, despite the fact that the Snapdragon chipset in the Lumias can only handle 20MP.

Damian Dinning, the company’s chief of photography took to Twitter to defend the critics saying that “it’s not about the number of pixels but what you do with them”.

He argues that PureView isn’t a single specification or feature (such as a high number of mega pixels) but rather a mixture of everything that a good camera needs.

But the most interesting addition is the aforementioned wireless charging. Industry sources are claiming that the Lumia 920 will have a wireless charging strip built into the phone which will allow charging that is compatible with the QI Power Charging standard, meaning that most wireless charging solutions already on the market should work with the new Lumia devices.

Further leaked images show a Nokia-made charging station with both a Lumia 820 and 920 sitting on it. Nokia’s latest teaser video (it has been releasing a number of these over the last few days) makes a clear hint at wireless charging also.
These new devices are rumoured to launch in late October or November, close enough to the release of Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface.

The Lumia 820 is the device with the horizontal camera placement while the 920 is the vertical placement.

Nokia/Microsoft’s announcement shouldn’t be just about Nokia, although it will be predominately Lumia orientated, we can expect to see some new software features from Windows Phone 8 in general.

The event starts at 3pm GMT and while it is being broadcast live via Nokia’s webcast, be sure to follow us on Twitter if you’re unable to watch as we’ll be giving you a live blow-by-blow of the event.

Source: The Verge

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

New Limited Edition details revealed; “Halo 4” War Games Map Pass provides three post-launch War Games map packs discounted at more than 15 percent; GameStop Pre-order exclusive

The UNSC Infinity– the largest starship in the UNSC fleet– is your gateway to the “Halo” Infinity Multiplayer experience in “Halo 4” and serves as the center of your Spartan career.  Here you’ll build your custom Spartan-IV super soldier, and progress your multiplayer career across the brand-new, episodic Spartan Ops campaign, and the multitude of competitive War Games modes.¹ 

Earn experience and unlock all-new Specializations in both War Games and Spartan Ops as you earn new ranks, and in addition, the “Halo 4” Limited Edition and “Halo 4” War Games Map Pass will provide even more opportunities to establish your legacy on the battlefield.

Activate Specializations to Earn New Ranks and Deadly Equipment

With eight Specializations in “Halo 4,” you can achieve higher ranks in your Spartan career beyond level 50.  As you level up through these dedicated paths, you will earn a bristling arsenal of combat-enhancing armor mods that provide even more options to customize your Spartan-IV to fit your preferred role on the battlefield.  In addition, armor sets, emblems, visor colors, weapon and armor skins unique to each Specialization distinguish your Spartan-IV from other players in “Halo” Infinity Multiplayer.

For detailed descriptions of the eight Specializations and their unique armor mods, visit Halo Waypoint: http://halowaypoint.com

Two Specializations – Wetwork and Pioneer – will be available to all players when “Halo 4” launches on November 6. The remaining six Specializations are available by pre-ordering exclusively at GameStop stores and online. Visit www.gamestop.com for full details. The “Halo 4” Limited Edition (€79.99 ERP) also includes access to all eight Specializations.

All Specializations will gradually be made available to download through Xbox LIVE in the months following launch, giving fans a continuous supply of new multiplayer content to look forward to as they progress through their Spartan career. Stay tuned for additional announcements.

Full “Halo 4” Limited Edition Contents Revealed*

Following the initial announcement of the “Halo 4” Limited Edition, 343 Industries and Microsoft today announced the LE’s full suite of exclusive digital content.

The “Halo 4” Limited Edition maximizes your multiplayer experience and puts you in the boots of a Spartan-IV aboard the UNSC Infinity – the hub of your “Halo” multiplayer career.  Available for €79.99 EMEA. ², the “Halo 4” Limited Edition includes:

• ·         War Games Map Pack Access – The Limited Edition includes access to nine maps – three future competitive multiplayer map packs, each including three locations, available for download post-launch on Xbox LIVE.  (A detailed release schedule for the map packs will be announced at a later time)
  
• ·         Specializations – Receive early access to six Specializations, available at launch on Xbox LIVE, to achieve higher ranks in your Spartan career. Purchasers of the “Halo 4” Limited Edition will get access on launch day, while others will have to wait as Specializations are released over time.
• ·         UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet – Includes an armor customization schematic, a blueprint of the massive ship itself, and insight into what it means to be one of humanity’s finest warriors: the Spartan-IVs.

• ·         *NEW* Exclusive digital content through Xbox LIVE:

o   Spartan-IV “Recruit” In-Game Armor

o   Spartan-IV “Prime” In-Game Armor Skin

o   Assault Rifle “Prime” In-Game Weapon Skin

o   “Prime” In-Game Emblem

o   Xbox LIVE Avatar “Recruit” Armor

o   Cryo-Tube Xbox LIVE Avatar Prop

• ·         “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn” Special Edition – An extended 90-minute version of the live-action digital series that will bring the “Halo” universe to life as you’ve never seen it, and provide an enthralling backstory leading up to the events of “Halo 4.”

o   “Halo 4” Limited Edition also includes the following bonus videos:

§  Bonus in-fiction content expanding the characters and stories of “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn”

§  Special Featurette: Bringing Gaming into Reality

§  Making of “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn”

Wage War on New, Exotic Battlefields and Save Money with the “Halo 4” War Games Map Pass*

Available for 2000 Microsoft Points on Nov. 6, the “Halo 4” War Games Map Pass is a standalone option that includes access to nine competitive multiplayer maps – three future War Games map packs, each including three maps – giving you a variety of new exotic battlegrounds post-launch.(A detailed release schedule for the map packs will be announced at a later time)

The “Halo 4” War Games Map Pass represents a discount of more than 15 percent versus purchasing the add-ons individually, and includes three in-game exclusives³  – the Spartan-IV “Scanner” and “Strider” helmets, and the “Falcon” in-game emblem.

Launching on Nov. 6, 2012 exclusively on Xbox 360, “Halo 4” is the next blockbuster installment of the iconic franchise that has shaped entertainment history and defined a generation of gamers. Developed by 343 Industries, “Halo 4” continues the story of the series’ iconic hero the Master Chief as he returns to confront his destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe. “Halo 4” takes the series in a bold new direction by delivering its most epic and explorative campaign yet, alongside an emotionally resonant story and a groundbreaking multiplayer offering unlike anything before it – setting the stage for an epic new sci-fi saga.

You may be thinking, another Nokia Lumia device?!

What is this, some kind of cruel game to melt my memory?!

Not exactly, the Lumia 610 was introduced as the ultimate budget-friendly Windows Phone for the masses – yes we said that about the Lumia 710 but this is even cheaper again.

What is it exactly?

The Nokia Lumia 610 is identical to the Lumia 710 on the inside save for one major difference, it only has 256MB of RAM compared to 512MB on all of the other Lumia devices.

What that boils down to is that certain apps and games won’t work with the 610, specifically the more graphically intense/power hungry apps.

However it’s not all bad news as Microsoft have stated that as of May 2012 the percentage of apps that are not compatible with the Lumia 610 (or similar Windows Phones with only 256MB RAM) was a mere 6.4% of the total apps, so for the most part you shouldn’t run into the problem – even Angry Birds is getting a specially modified version just for low-end devices.
Here’s the full list of apps that won’t work with the 610.

The 610 is aimed squarely at first time smartphone buyers or people on a budget and for the price, this is definitely not to be scoffed at.

Hardware

The 610 will again draw comparisons to the 710 on outside, it has a similarly curved design, much conflicting with the sharper edges found on the Lumia 800 and 900.

The similarities with design don’t go much farther though as the 610 looks and feels a lot more expensive and higher end than the 710 – that’s not to say it feels as high end as the 800 or an iPhone 4s, but it definitely trumps the 710 in looks.

The metallic band around the phone is a really nice touch, it helps to cement the solid, expensive feel to the device. The rear has a removable cover that can be replaced with many different colours and the overall feel of the device is sturdy and smooth.

The power/lock button, camera shutter key and two volume buttons are all on the right side and just like all in the Lumia portfolio, the left side is left completely bare. On the back is the 5mp camera with flash and the speakers.
Up on top we have the 3.5mm headphone jack and micro usb port, all very standard and expected.

The 3.7” TFT screen feels quite solid also and apart from only having a 480 x 800 resolution – which is our usual (but soon to be resolved) Windows Phone resolution limit gripe, it does the job.

Colours look nice on the display, the blacks aren’t as deep as what can be expected on a ClearBlack AMOLED or Super AMOLED display but that’s another expected change from more expensive devices.

Software

There’s not much to say about Windows Phone software that we haven’t already mentioned in our previous Windows Phone reviews, it’s a very consistent experience across multiple devices.

The main place where OEMs innovate is with exclusive apps or features, but Samsung, HTC and Nokia have fairly similar equivalents to each other by now.
That said, Nokia are Microsoft’s primary hardware partner for Windows Phone and as such they’re given a lot more freedom with the OS.

Expect apps to be exclusive to the Lumia range or at least be a timed exclusive, also Lumia devices are pegged to get updates sooner than their counterparts (most notably the Windows Phone 7.8 update coming soon).

The Lumia 610 comes out of the box with access to Nokia Drive which is a free turn by turn satnav application that allows downloading of maps for offline use, Nokia Maps, Nokia Play To (a DLNA client) among many others.

We’ve heard from a few friends using Lumia devices that Nokia Drive was worth the phone alone as it’s that good.

Multitasking, over 100,000 apps in the marketplace and an amazing and beautiful interface are all present and accounted for also.

For a more detailed look at the software and interface of Windows Phone, check out our other reviews and features.

Bottom Line

The Lumia 610 is a solid device for anyone looking to take their first step into the smartphone market, again we know we said this about the 710 but given the significant decrease in price and the type of buyer wouldn’t mind losing 6.5% of apps, the cheaper but still more than capable 610 is the way to go.

It may be annoying to see your friends and family members using apps on their iPhones or Android devices that aren’t available on Windows Phone, or not having a screen as crystal clear as theirs but again, at the low asking price, it really is a no brainer for anyone who wants a solid smartphone that simply – works.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

We hope you been keeping up to date with your Dance Central dance techniques lately.

If you have well then well done (seriously, we couldn’t get past medium difficulty) and if you haven’t, you’ve got time to freshen up before Dance Central 3 launches on October 19^th.

You might remember that Microsoft brought Usher to E3 this year to celebrate the announcement of Dance Central 3, but they shied away from giving a concrete release date until now.

Dance Central 3 is set to have all new moves created by professional choreographers, a new party mode for up to eight players, the ability to carry over songs from the previous Dance Central titles and of course a bounty of new songs to shake your thang too.

Below is a list of new titles that have been confirmed so far, with a sizeable portion of 90s and disco content promised alongside some more current tunes.

·         2NE1 – “I Am The Best (Original Version)”

·         Alice Deejay – “Better Off Alone”

·         Backstreet Boys – “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”

·         J.J. Fad – “Supersonic”

·         Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz ft. Ying Yang Twins – “Get Low”

·         LMFAO – “Sexy And I Know It”

·         Los Del Rio – “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)”

·         Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera – “Moves Like Jagger”

·         Vanilla Ice – “Ice Ice Baby”

·         Vicki Sue Robinson – “Turn The Beat Around”

·         Village People – “Y.M.C.A.”

Dance Central 3 will be exclusive to Xbox and if you’re just emerging from your underground bunker that you’ve been hiding in since 2006, it will also require a Kinect sensor to play.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.

If you’ve been feeling cramped or claustrophobic in the smaller-than-usual Battlefield 3 maps in the Close Quarters DLC, then fear no more as Armoured Kill is released in September and you can check out its debut trailer right here.

The trailer shows us Bandar Desert which is the largest map in Battlefield history as well as Alborz Mountain.
Armoured Kill will introduce new elements to EAs biggest shooter including an air gunship and rocket artillery (the latter is new to Battlefield 3 but these were in Battlefield 1942).

This DLC will also include a new mode called Tank Superiority where tanks will be the main focus of the fighting to control the map, as the name implies.

Battlefield 3: Armoured Kill will release in September and two weeks early for Premium Members (Whom it will also be free for).

If you have to bail from your vehicle in the middle of these maps, prepare for a long walk.

You can contact the author of this post, Luke Hoare Greene at Luke@TechTV101.com or Follow him on Twitter.