'Goat Simulator' headbutting its way to PS4 and PS3 August 11th
Your wildest caprine fantasies are about to come true, PlayStation owners. How's that? On August 11th, Goat Simulator hits PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.
From the sounds of it all the irreverence from the PC and Xbox One versions will be present (wild glitches, taking to the skies, head-butting all the things) as well as something developer Coffee Stain Studios calls GoatVR. It's dubbed "the most authentic simulated GoatVR experience" and it apparently doesn't require Project Morpheus. A post on the PlayStation Blog notes that the team "still needs to do that part where it connects to an actual headset" but it isn't actually required for the version present in the game. We've reached out to Coffee Stain for some clarification and to see if it's just another example of their absurdist humor; we'll update this post should we hear back.
ZTE announces the Blade D6 with high-grade aluminum alloy body
ZTE apparently wasn't done announcing smartphones this week after yesterday's unveiling of the Axon. While that particular model is destined exclusively for the US market, at least for now, the new Blade D6 will get a more international launch. Traditionally ZTE has used the Blade sub-brand for mid-range offerings that are very good value for money. And while we can't comment on the latter in this case (since pricing information isn't available yet), the Blade D6 certainly fits the mid-range nicely.
It comes with a 5-inch 720p IPS touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, an 88-degree wide-angle 5 MP selfie snapper, 4G LTE, Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi, dual-SIM functionality, and a 2,200 mAh battery.
It's powered by MediaTek's 64-bit MT6735 SoC with a 1.3 GHz quad-core CPU and Mali-T720 GPU. You also get 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. The Blade D6 runs Android 5.0 Lollipop underneath ZTE's own MiFavor 3.2 UI.
The main attraction here seems to be the design. ZTE boasts that the handset has a high-grade 6013 aluminum alloy body, it's 6.95mm thin, and weighs 120g.
It will become available "over the next few months", and we'll see it first in Australia, Russia, and Japan. You'll get to choose from four color versions: pink, gold, gray, and silver.
Microsoft's HoloLens strategy is more complex and exciting than you think
Microsoft’s HoloLens often stirs the imagination as a potentially game changing device, but the company’s strategy is much more complex, and quite different, than many had predicted. Luckily, we now have a much clearer picture of where Microsoft is going, thanks to Mary Jo Foley’s wide-ranging interview with the company’s CEO, Satya Nadella.
In this interview, Nadella explained that HoloLens is much more than a gaming peripheral as some had seen it, and it’s actually even more than a consumer product. Nadella, and in turn Microsoft, see the HoloLens as an enterprise and developer device first, with gaming and consumers coming after.
In fact, Microsoft is positioning the first version of the HoloLens as a professional product destined for specific markets: designers, educators, healthcare, engineers and so on. The company hopes that this positioning will not only lead to the financial success of the product but also to its adoption by a wide range of developers. Microsoft wants the HoloLens to change the professional world first, with the rest of world coming afterwards. In this new light, many of the HoloLens’ quirks, and the way Microsoft is developing the device, start to make a lot more sense. A limited field of view, an untethered experience, a possibly high price-tag – all of these are acceptable or even necessary for professionals and enterprise customers. Of course, that’s not to say HoloLens isn’t destined for gamers or the wider entertainment industry. Microsoft bought Minecraft to create a super successful game that bridges between our normal gaming experience and this new holographic reality that the company wants to create. But it might not be the very first version of the HoloLens that finds success in these markets. It might be a future, more refined, more powerful HoloLens v2 that truly changes this market. And that’s not all, as Nadella’s words spoke volumes about the HoloLens’ position in the market, and the way Windows Holographic integrates with the company’s wider strategy. This may be surprising to many, but Microsoft doesn’t view the HoloLens as the be-all, do-all device that will dominate this new field. Instead, Nadella views the HoloLens, and its eventual successor, as simply a showcase device that highlights what’s possible with Windows 10. The company’s CEO is certain and open to the possibility that other OEMs will build their own Windows Holographic devices. And all of them will be running Windows Universal Apps. Think of the HoloLens as the Surface of holographs. And that’s the way Microsoft ties the strands together, and all of the company’s efforts come back to boost the success of Windows. The more success the HoloLens has, the better support Windows gets - a virtuous circle which could have important benefits for Windows Mobile, Xbox and other parts of Microsoft. Now whether the company can actually deliver on these plans and whether developers and professionals take to HoloLens remains to be seen. But seeing the company’s actual strategy gives us hope that Microsoft, finally, knows what it’s doing.
Apple's iPod Touch gets the same chip as the iPhone 6
The iPod may not be Apple's golden goose anymore, hell, it's not even an option on the company's site anymore, but that doesn't mean that the firm is ignoring it. The company is giving the iPods a seasonal refresh with the junior devices getting some new colors and the iPod Touch getting more of the features we're used to seeing on the iPhone. Whereas the existing Touch came with just a 5-megapixel camera, the new version gets an 8-megapixel shooter with burst and slo-mo -- just as you'd find on the iPad Air 2. Internals-wise, the new iPod comes with the 64-bit A8 CPU that you find in the iPhone 6, paired with the M8 motion co-processor that'll please the fitness enthusiast in your life.
If you were looking to grab the new iPod Touch, then the 16GB edition will set you back $199. In addition, you can grab a 32GB option for $249, a 64GB variant priced at $299 and, for the first time, a 128GB model that'll sell for $399. At the same time, Apple also added the same space gray, silver and gold color options to the iPod nano and iPod shuffle ranges, should you prefer something smaller to take with you on your morning jog. Source : Apple
Introduction It's not every day we have a true record holder in our hands, and that's exactly what we were getting ready for waiting for the vivo X5Max to arrive. The slimmest smartphone in the world for more than six months now, the 4.75-mm X5Max snatched a crown that had been tossed between the Gionee Elife S5.1 and the Oppo R5, each of them holding it for a fleeting month or so. You can then imagine our disappointment when it turned out we have the global version, which is "only" the third-slimmest phone in the world. A fraction of a millimeter thicker than the China model, the vivo X5Max is an extraordinarily slim device nonetheless, most certain to impress with a profile you wouldn't normally attribute to a smartphone. It really looks almost like a planar object, its two dimensions much greater that the third, so to speak, in math terms. In terms of hardware, the X5Max is less exciting, relying on the now ubiquitous midrange Snapdragon 615, coupled with the equally commonplace 2GB of RAM. It doesn't skimp on features though sporting a 13MP primary camera behind a fast f/2.0 lens, as well as a 5MP front-facer. A 5.5-inch FullHD display helps keep thickness in check thanks to the Super AMOLED tech, while providing the signature colors and contrast. The extra 0.33mm thickness have allowed designers to fit a larger-capacity battery, though it still looks underpowered on paper for its screen size. Key features
Dual-SIM dual-standby capability, microSD slot shared with second SIM
5.5" 1080p Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 401ppi
Octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU (4x 1.5GHz plus 4x 1.0GHz), 2GB of RAM, Adreno 405 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset
13MP autofocus camera, f/2.0 lens, single-LED flash; HDR, Panorama, Night, Pro mode with long exposure (up to 32s)
1080@30fps, 1/4x slow motion video recording, 10x speed timelapse
5MP front camera, f/2.4, 720p video recording
16GB of built-in storage
Cat. 4 LTE (150/50Mbps); dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.0; GPS with A-GPS; microUSB
2,300mAh battery
Standard 3.5mm headphone jack
Main disadvantages
Dated Android KitKat 4.4.4
No FM radio or NFC
Another in a long line of designer Chinese smartphones, the vivo X5Max relies on the proven formula of striking looks and all-round capable hardware. We don't expect it to outperform flagships, but its priorities lie elsewhere and the X5Max scores high on style. While it will certainly be on the short list of anyone looking to stand out, the smartphone needs to prove it has enough substance to match its upmarket exterior. We're here to examine it in detail and we kick off with the unboxing and hardware overview. Luxury packaging, usual contents The vivo X5Max ships in a square retail box with a few luxury touches. All the accessories come individually wrapped. One small box houses the AC adaptor rated at 5V/2A and a USB cable. The in-ear headphones are packed in another box complete with a model number and detailed specs - a nice touch for an otherwise regular piece. They have a single-button remote, but no flat cords. Additionally, there's a frosted plastic bumper cover for the back of the smartphones, which wraps around the corners as well. Why you'd want to put it on a device you bought for its slim profile is a question we're not prepared to answer. vivo X5Max 360° spin The vivo X5Max is crazy thin, we've already established that. It measures 153.9 x 78 x 5.1mm (or 5.08mm if you want to split hairs) and slimness aside, is a pretty large device for its 5.5-inch display. The engineers simply needed room to fit all the innards somewhere and the phone inevitably had to grow in footprint. here's a good 5mm worth of bezels on either side of the display, and the overall dimensions of the X5Max are more or less the same as the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 4. That said, the X5Max is still shorter than the iPhone 6 Plus, though equally wide, so it's not massive after all. At 156g, the X5Max feels a bit heavier than you'd expect from such a thin phone, but the metal build has had its say and it's a very solid slab. Body and design The vivo X5Max is built inside an alloy chassis, a single solid piece of aluminum. Most of the back is made of stainless steel, vivo claims, with an anti-fingerprint treatment and it is smooth but not shiny. It doesn't tend to get particularly greasy and even when it does accumulate dirt it's easy to clean up. There are a couple of plastic strips, top and bottom, which are made of soft matte plastic and likely match the antenna placement, but also serve to house the camera module and loudspeaker. The camera module sticks out a good 2mm from the back panel, there was no way around it with such a slim profile. To vivo's credit, it is a fast f/2.0 lens and the designers did well to mask the bump by raising the white plastic halfway around the assembly. The speaker has a couple of raised dots to keep it from muffling, but they can't help with the sizeable camera bump, and the device will wobble on a table if you touch it anywhere along its left edge. The vivo logo is vertically centered, and we can't decide if the shiny letters have been aligned less than perfectly, or the offset is a design touch. Then again, we might have spent a touch too long staring at details. The front greets you with the 5.5-inch display surrounded by generous bezels, though we've seen worse, and here they're at least justified by the slimness. There's also a millimeter-wide black frame around the display, which you won't notice when the screen is off, but is a bit of an eye sore once you fire it up. At least vivo has utilized the bottom bezel with three capacitive buttons, relieving the screen of such duties. We've never been particular fans of extreme tests, but we couldn't resist subjecting the phone to a mild twist. You shouldn't expect military grade sturdiness out of a 5mm-thin device and it does deflect a bit, but does so without making a sound. Overall, it's surprisingly rigid, as long as you don't abuse it. Controls and handling The vivo X5Max relies on capacitive buttons in the bottom bezel for navigation in a Menu/Home/Back arrangement. Above the display there's the earpiece in the middle with the 5MP front camera to the left and the proximity/ambient light sensor on the other side. The back features the 13MP camera in the top left corner, joined by its single-LED flash and a secondary mic midway between the two. The speaker mesh is mostly a design element, as the actual speaker is no more than a quarter of its length and is situated in its right end. 5.5 inches of Super AMOLED goodness It you want thin, AMOLED is the way to go, and in the case of the vivo X5Max it's a 5.5-inch FullHD panel. That results in 401ppi, which is more than enough for sharp text. The panel is a fine representative of the MOLED tech and offers plenty of punch and wide viewing angles, though it does exhibit a greenish tint when viewed from the side. There are no color adjustments to be found in settings, nor is there a glove mode. Out microscope shot revealed the expected diamond pentile arrangement, with twice as many green subpixels as any other color.
The maximum brightness of the X5Max is good for an AMOLED, but more importantly it's higher than either of the Oppo models as well as the Samsung Galaxy A7. The 50% setting corresponds to about 30% of the maximum, nothing unseen before.
Connectivity For starters, the vivo X5Max is a dual-SIM dual-standby device. One of the cards gets the full 2G/3G/4G treatment with multiple bands each, while the other is limited to 2G. You can set which one is which in the settings and the micro/nano SIM slots mean you can use either form factor as your main card. You'd need to go microSIM though if you value the memory expansion, as the microSD slot is shared with the nanoSIM. The smartphone has dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n with DLNA, Wi-Fi direct and hotspot support. There's Bluetooth v4.0, but no NFC or FM radio. There's GPS with A-GPS for precise positioning over cellular, but for all we know, there's no GLONASS to utilize Russian satellites. The microUSB 2.0 port supports USB On-The-Go and lets you attach peripherals. A standard 3.5mm jack completes the wired connectivity package. Battery life Slim phones typically struggle in this very part of our test for very obvious reasons - less space means less battery capacity. The thinnest 4.75mm vivo X5Max comes with a modest 2,000mAh cell, but the version we have for review is a bit better equipped with a 2,300mAh unit. To put it simply, the X5Max amazed us in terms of its battery performance. It posted impressive scores across the board, not only considering its screen diagonal and battery size, but also in absolute values. Standby endurance, which is not included in the scorecard, is about 11 full days with a single SIM, and a day less with a second SIM inside. Call times on a 3G network are more than 17 hours, well above average. Moving on to on-screen activities, the smartphone is good for nearly 11 hours of video playback - it can easily last you a transatlantic flight with constant movie watching. Web browsing is the most taxing on the battery, but it also shows a marked difference between the stock browser and the also available Google Chrome. While the vivo offering manages a little over 6 hours, Chrome is substantially more efficient and with it the X5Max scored upwards of 9 hours of web browsing.
Read more : User interface, Performance, Phonebook, telephony, messaging and text input, Gallery, video and music players, audio quality, Camera, image quality, video recording, Web browsers, other apps, Conclusion : Continue
Introduction Flagships get better with every generation but some of last year's are as good as reborn. The LG G4 improves on the three best features of its predecessor: design, screen, the camera - and does so decisively. It adopts a G Flex curve, but makes it its own with an optional stitched leather back, and has what may as well be the most advanced camera module on a phone yet.
The camera really is the new phone's key feature. LG picked a new 16MP sensor, improved the optical stabilization, gave it a wider aperture lens, added a handful of new software features (including manual mode) and placed a top-notch selfie camera on the front. A complete overhaul of the imaging department. LG designers were hard at work too. They gave the LG G4 a subtle arc that complements the spacious screen and sourced high-quality materials for the back covers. The premium option is made of genuine full grain leather with threads imported from Germany used on the decorative stitching. Even the basic backs are far from plain - the white one has ceramic coating. The LG G4 strikes a great balance between tangible quality and intangible class. Here's how the hardware capabilities and the premium exterior balance out, plus what the G4 offers over its predecessor. Key features
32GB of built-in storage, expandable via a microSD card slot
Active noise cancellation with a secondary microphone
Dolby mobile sound enhancement
3,000mAh user-replaceable battery
microUSB 2.0 with SlimPort 4K
IR-port and NFC
Main disadvantages
Chipset isn't top of the range
No IP-certification for dust or water resistance
No Quick Charge charger in the box
Compared to LG G3
Much improved imaging (both front and rear cameras)
Noticeably faster chipset
Screen has higher contrast and brightness
Slightly bigger
The screen is LG's own creation as none of the top display manufacturers had what the G4 needed. The company calls it a "Quantum Display," not be confused with Sony's quantum dot screens. LG says it's actually better. The new components reduce power usage, while improving brightness and contrast. Better color accuracy is promised as well. So, should other smartphone makers pack up and go home? Users campaigning for removable batteries and expandable storage are nodding in agreement, but a chipset that's only second-best may be raising a few eyebrows. The thing is, early benchmarks showed that Snapdragon 808 is quite capable of competing with the 810. Either way, the performance of the latest Snapdragons is a sore issue so we'll pay special attention to that. Before we delve into the hardware, a quick preview of how the LG G3 compares to its replacement. LG's new screen resolves our complaints about contrast from last year the camera comparison is a cakewalk for the newcomer. The performance gains are not as readily visible though. But benchmark-topper or not, the LG G4 won't have to ask for anyone's attention.
HTC outs a quartet of affordable Desire smartphones in the United States
HTC launched a quartet of affordable Desire smartphones in the United States. HTC Desire 626, Desire 626s, Desire 526, and Desire 520 will hit a number of wireless carriers in prepaid and postpaid guise.
All four smartphones feature an entry-level Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 chipset with 1.1GHz quad-core CPU and 4G LTE connectivity. Each device boots Android 5.1 Lollipop with HTC Sense 7 UI on top. HTC Desire 626 is the most capable device from the bunch and will be available for AT&T and Verizon. It features 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable memory, 5” 720p display, 8MP main camera, 5MP front-facing unit, and 2,000mAh battery. Both cameras can record 720p video.
The Desire 626s is a slightly less capable version of the Desire 626 with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable memory, 5” 720p display, 8MP main camera, 2MP front-facing unit, and 2,000mAh battery. Both HTC Desire 626 variants offer full connectivity suite. The latter includes Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi b/g/n, and microUSB 2.0 port. The Desire 626 packs NFC, while the 626s doesn’t. HTC Desire 526 has 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable memory, 4.7” qHD display, 8MP main camera, 2MP front-facing unit, and 2,000mAh battery. Connectivity options of the handset include Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi b/g/n, and microUSB 2.0.
HTC Desire 520 is the most affordable device in the group. Its specs include 4.5” FWVGA display, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable memory, 8MP main camera, 2MP front-facing unit, and 2,000mAh battery. Like the rest of its siblings, the 520 has Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi b/g/n, and microUSB 2.0
HTC and its wireless carrier partners will announce pricing and availability of each smartphone in the weeks ahead.
