The phone looks really promising to me, and I hope it will be a strong performer like the Galaxy S. The phone got a candy-bar design, like its tall and it looks thin to me. Well, as the time passes, hopefully well get more information related to the phone.
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We believe that the device is right now available somewhere in wild, and we are curious to see it. I hope someone will take out his camera and send someone a good blurry shot of the tablet. Stay tuned with us, well try our best to stay up to date with the Motorola tablet.
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Most of the people are thinking that the G2 is a weak phone because of the 800 MHz processor, but its not. You can check out this benchmark test in which the G2 beats the Samsung Captivate, and is almost equal to Nexus One which is running on Android 2.2. The processor overclock speed is less, but its a next generation thing. For example, if you buy a Pentium 4 with 3.0 GHz overclock speed, its still not faster than the Core 2 Solo with 3.0 GHz speed, so the thing I am trying to say is that the processor in G2 is somehow equal to the Nexus One, or may be better, you dont need to think that its an old 800 MHz processor. All I want to say is that the G2 is going to be my next phone. What about you?
via Best Buy
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"One of the advantages of an open platform is the opportunity for developers to create rich mobile experiences and seamlessly get those experiences into the hands of consumers," said Andy Rubin, vice president, engineering, Google. "From new services, such as Voice Actions, to mobile applications, developer-led Android innovation is flourishing. On Android Market alone, the number of applications available to consumers has grown from just 50 applications two years ago to more than 80,000 applications today."
I salute all the developers out there who are making apps for Android with love and passion. So developers, keep it coming, because you guys are the main power of Android.
via AndroidSpin
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ChuChu Rocket is a colorful J-style puzzle game where you must get a group of cats safely into their rocket ships while avoiding cats. The mice will brainlessly move forward on their own, and make a right turn when running into walls or barriers. You can place various up, down, left, and right arrows around the playfield in order to direct the mice towards the safety of their rockets. Cats behave similarly in how they march around the board, and if you happen to misdirect your mice into any of the cats youll fail the level. There are limited numbers of arrows per level to direct your mice with, meaning youll have to think ahead to find the best placement of each one to assure you get your mice to safety.
Thats the basic gist of ChuChu Rocket anyway, but there can be variations of this due to the different modes of play. The Puzzle Mode is the main part of the game, and offers 100 levels of trying to get your mice safely to their rockets. This mode isnt timed, and allows you to think through how to complete the level at your leisure. Then there is a Challenge Mode with 25 levels that each have a specific goal, like directing the mice into the cats rather than the rockets. This mode is timed, and youll need to get a certain amount of the mice to their goal before time runs out.
Finally theres Multiplayer Mode, which I think has the possibility to really shine on the iPhone. ChuChu Rocket was the first online capable game for the Dreamcast, back before it was a common feature in video games. Multiplayer is 1-4 players, and you can either join up in teams of two or play free for all style. The goal here is to get as many mice to your own rocket as possible, while using arrows to direct cats into players rockets in order to prevent them from gaining any mice. This mode can be played over WiFi, 3G, or Bluetooth, and if you cant find any friends to play with you can add bots to the game and play against the AI. There are 25 levels to battle on, and the game will be the first from Sega to utilize Apples new Game Center social network.
ChuChu Rocket was a total blast when I had a chance to play it today, and it makes me sad that I never tried out this title almost a decade ago. It seems like a perfect fit for the iPhone, with all of the original levels reworked to be touch screen friendly. Gamers have been begging Sega to bring ChuChu Rocket out on a current platform for years, and finally they will get their wish on the iPhone and iPad. Both versions will be exactly the same except for the iPad version which will contain a same-device 4 player multiplayer mode. Expect to see ChuChu Rocket sometime in late October.
The RTS part of the game has you building up a city by placing buildings and using resources much like you would set up a base camp in typical RTS fashion. Harnessing resources like stone, iron, and wood allow you to build up different structures with different purposes. Youll also need to amass an army to capture territories of opponents. The different types of units you can use in your army are portrayed in a card-battling style similar to games like Magic the Gathering. Each card has its own attributes and special abilities, and there will be ways to earn unique cards to add to your collection. Winning in battle will depend on the effectiveness of the cards that comprise your army.
The dungeon crawling comes in to play when you try to take control of special towers around the map. Once you attempt completing a tower, the game switches into a 3rd person hack n slash game controlled with an analog stick and buttons where you must complete 5 levels of a dungeon floor filled with enemies and a huge final boss. Beating a tower can net you special items and resources for use in your city, as well as new monster cards and experience points. There will be 3 types of characters to play as in this part of the game a barbarian, a swordsman, and a cleric. These characters can be outfitted with various weapons and equipment, and can be leveled up as you progress in the game.
If this all sounds complicated, a "messenger" character in the game will give you various quests to complete that help you learn the different facets of playing before engaging in online battle. Kingdom Conquest will be a freemium title, which will be free to play but contain a shop full of various in-app purchases. These purchases can do things like increase your production, attack, or defense, as well as other offensive boosts. It remains to be seen how this will affect the balance of the game, and if spending more money will allow you to conquer players unfairly over those that choose not to spend anything. At any rate, the game looks great so far, and youll be able to try out Kingdom Conquest for yourself sometime late this fall.
While the previous emulated titles offered by Sega have sold really well, there has been an underlying feeling of disappointment from many gamers due to the poor performance of both the controls and actual game emulation. Recently, Sega has updated this emulator after working hard to optimize the performance and tighten up the controls. Virtual buttons may not be ideal for fast-paced arcade style games like these, but after playing both titles today I can safely say that they perform much more admirably than previous games have in the past.
Altered Beast is a classic to be sure, but time has not treated the gameplay very well. After the evolution that the beat em up genre went through during the 90s, Altered Beast feels pretty dated. Its still quite a bit of fun, and has a strong nostalgia factor. It plays surprisingly well in Segas updated version of their iPhone emulator, and I was amazed that I could actually make it to the first levels end boss and defeat him. Its a shame that this port isnt the superior arcade version of Altered Beast, but if you enjoyed the Genesis version then you will likely enjoy this one as well.
Also similar to Contra, Gunstar Heroes requires precision controls and quick reflexes in order to not meet your end. The lack of tactile feedback with virtual touch screen controls usually makes games like this nearly impossible to play, but after trying out the game today I was actually really impressed with how well it works. Im not going to say that its perfect, but certainly as close to perfect as a touch screen will allow for this type of game. Gunstar Heroes is tough as nails, and virtual controls wont make it any easier. But its still very playable, and more importantly quite a bit of fun, especially if you enjoyed the original game. Controls aside, there are likely many players that will be grabbing the game just based on the fact that its Gunstar Heroes, and Ill admit that it will be very cool to have such a classic available in my pocket to play at any time.
No more leaks folks.�T-Mobiles G2 will be officially available for pre-orders by the end of this month. I must say that we didnt get to see plenty of drama before the official release timing of G2. Looks like it is now the time when we will see more speculations as the exact date isnt out yet. The G2 QWERTY slider is much awaited amongst various critics and customers and now that time isnt far away.
"One of the advantages of an open platform is the opportunity for developers to create rich mobile experiences and seamlessly get those experiences into the hands of consumers," said Andy Rubin, vice president, engineering, Google. "From new services, such as Voice Actions, to mobile applications, developer-led Android innovation is flourishing. On Android Market alone, the number of applications available to consumers has grown from just 50 applications two years ago to more than 80,000 applications today."
The G2 will run on Android OS 2.2 Froyo with MSM 7239 snapdragon silicon which has been optimised especially for T-Mobiles HSPA+ network. The mobile phone comes with 2nd generation application co-processor and with a 800 MHz CPU. Youll get 4 gigs of internal memory and the included 8 GB microSD card will store the rest. Memory can be extended up to 32 gigs.
[via Engadget]
BestBoyz has posted leaked image of what looks like the upcoming HTC Desire HD . As you can see in the image , it is running on something similar to� Windows Mobile 6.5� and the Desire HD might be a HD2 successor if this is true.Specs we have heard earlier include a 8MP Camera , 4.3 inch Display and 8GB inbuilt memory . We really hope this device runs on Android as expected before.
Do you want Android or Windows Mobile or Windows Phone 7 on the� Desire HD ?
We would have to wait till Sept 15th to find out the truth. FoneArena will be at the HTC Event next week
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Amongst all the hoopla that has been created by Android, the low end Symbian phones seem to have lost space in every form of media around the planet. Drifting away from the regular Android world let us bring to your attention something related to Symbian S60 phones. AT&T has recently announced that it will be offering the Sony Ericsson Vivaz for $79.99 when bought under a two year contract. Well, the Vivaz might not have created that huge buzz like any other regular Android phone but it can easily be a great buy for those looking for affordable phones with good features.
The 107 x 51.7 x 12.5 mm phone weighs just 97 grams. The phone includes an accelerometer sensor for auto rotating the UI with a scratch resistant surface. Vivaz also boasts handwriting recognition software which is surely an added advantage. Vivaz comes packed with an 8 Gb storage which is expandable to 32 Gb.
With a maximum resolution of 3264�2448 pixels the eight mega pixel camera is quite capable of some impressive mobile phone photography. Face and smile detection makes this phone as strong as a standard point and shoot camera. The stereo FM radio feature is surely the best possible feature for music lovers.
[via Ubergizmo]
Nokia is gearing up to launch the Nokia N8 around the world and all of you are going to hear a lot about it from Nokia World which is starting next week . Here is a cool TV ad for the N8 titled -- Its not technology, its what you do with it.The Ad features a Hamster, skateboards ,� a Nokia N8 mounted on a Remote-controlled helicopter and� a Dancing Robot powered by a Nokia N82. Totally worth watching
And if you have not watched it already here is the story behind the Hamster powered Nokia Charger
We are really looking forward to playing with the N8 Review unit
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Recently we were talking about the never ending�processor war and here we have Samsung pushing in a totally new processor which will leave every geek jumping once the specifications are read out loud The 3D graphics functionality of the new Orion is supposed to be five times that of other processors previously launched by Samsung. Well, I am not sure if having Samsung as the benchmark is the best possible way to compare the strength of this processor but this is what the company seems to be doing pretty confidently.
"Consumers are demanding the full web experience without compromise while on the go," said Dojun Rhee, vice president of Marketing, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. "Given this trend, mobile device designers need an application processor platform that delivers superb multimedia performance, fast CPU processing speed, and abundant memory bandwidth. Samsungs newest dual core application processor chip is designed specifically to fulfill such stringent performance requirements while maintaining long battery life."
The 1 GHz dual core ARM Cortex A9 will do video encoding at 1080p while decoding will be done at 30 fps. The chip also boasts of HDMI 1.3a interface with embedded GPS. The native triple display controller just heats up the specifications a bit too much.
[via Engadget]
Chinatown Wars worked fine on the iPad, but like so many games with controls designed and optimized for play on the iPhone, it definitely needed some tweaking. Also, pixel doubling wasnt very kind on the games graphics. Rockstar responded by releasing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD [$9.99] which is the same game from a content perspective, with completely redone controls and graphics for the larger screen of the iPad. The in-game lighting has been improved, polygon counts have been increased, and explosions even look better.
If you own an iPad, and youve ever been remotely interested in Grand Theft Auto games, Chinatown Wars HD is a game you need on your device. There just isnt anything else like it on the App Store, the higher resolution graphics look great, the controls work well, and overall its really hard to find anything to complain about other than this it its own app instead of a universal update to the existing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the iPhone. However, with any luck, Rockstar might just roll these high resolution graphical assets in to a Retina Display update for the new iPod Touch and iPhone 4.
We had an opportunity to attend Nokia Music Connects 2010 on September 2, 2010 and to discuss Nokia OVI Music Services in India with Adam Mirabella Global Director of OVI Music Services, Nokia. Its his 4th visit to India in a year, Adam Mirabella was pretty excited about the opportunities in Indian Market. It was not just related to Nokia Ovi Music Services but also bringing together all the Music industry giants� which includes Sony Music India, EMI, BMG, RPG SAREGAMA and many others at Nokia Music Connects 2010. The opening of the ceremony was done with a beautiful song named Shanti Aye performed by Australian Band Old Man River with Hamsika Iyer.
Nokia has transformed itself from a Mobile handset company to now provide a much more wider range of services which are bundled� to Nokia Mobile Phones & provided to the consumer. There are various services which includes Maps, Email, Contacts,� Applications and also Music and all these are branded as OVI.
India is a country with various languages & with different religions. To tap such diverse economy & various challenges Nokia India has dedicated editorial team who can bring up the regional expertise & provide quality content to its diverse audience. We also got to know that Nokia has significantly invested in this editorial team so that content they offer in Nokia Ovi Music will be unique & special.
One of biggest challenges in India are piracy which hampers the paid digital music significantly. Nokia has provided the very unique solution to this problem as well. Adam has conveyed us that their solution works for the entire Music Ecosystem, not only the artist / labels but also to the operators carriers. The solution is Nokia Ovi Music Unlimited Service. During his talk at Nokia Music Connects, Adam also revealed "that given the unlimited model, users have taken the liberty to try out more than twice as many different genres of music."
If we check their all services which comes under OVI Brand, we will know that OVI Music is the only paid service. All other services which includes Nokia OVI Maps, Nokia OVI Email, Nokia OVI Contacts, Nokia OVI Calendar are free, only exception is the Nokia OVI Store where some content is free & some content is paid. During his keynote to Nokia Music Connects, he mentioned that Nokia OVI Music is going to be no. 1 revenue driver for digital music content. That shows how much Nokia is concerned & interested about its OVI Music services in India.
During the interview with Adam Mirabella we asked no of questions; you can listen the interview in audio format below
Audio Interview Part 1/2
Audio Interview Part 2/2
Some of the questions did not get recorded due to technical glitch. These are as follows with its replies provided by Adam Mirabella & Gitanjali Sharma Nokia India.
1. Will Nokia launch DRM free services in India?
Adam: No plans on the cards at this moments but we have launch such services in China.
2. Whats the definition of a Song or a Track in Ovi Music? For example, if a classical track is for 45 minutes, then will it be considered as single track or it will be break up in multiple parts?
Adam: Its all Label dependent but In India we have no such issues as these definitions are as per the various markets. In India we dont have such breakup of songs.
3. Why preview of a song in Ovi Music India is just for 30 sec? How will I get the idea of a song in just 30 sec? Dont you think so that the preview of song should be more than 30 sec? Like 1 minute or 1.5 minutes?
Adam: Yes its a good feedback. I will check into this.
Gitanjali: Yes, we can increase the preview for more than 30 sec.
You can check no of pictures which are captured during Nokia Music Connects 2010. Overall we had wonderful evening with Nokia Music Connects 2010 in Taj Lands End, Mumbai, India.
Gaurav Hasabnis contributed� this report
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