Weekly Game Report – Watch_Dogs Mobile App, Battlefield Hardline, Evolve ...

Watch_Dogs is now out in the wild. Once I get my little mitts on a PC copy, subsequent editorial mutterings and opinions are likely to follow. Stay tuned for that. But overall it seems the gaming world has survived the release. The scope of review scores show promise if not sweeping adoration of the game. Don't get me wrong. Ubisoft has spent a pretty penny on this new IP, which is usually seen as risky business these days with game publishers. Yet a strong GTA vibe with questionable gameplay mechanics seems to be the pervading idea among trusted gaming press.

This past week in gaming was fille with more than just 'dog watching'. Would you believe EA has announced a brand new Battlefield game coming this year? That and more await your gaze.

1. Watch_Dogs Companion: ctOS Mobile App

Ubisoft has just released the barely-mentioned mobile app for Watch_Dogs. The Watch_Dogs Companion: ctOS App is a robust little freebie that allows you to grief friends online or play standalone features. You can play against live friends or others without having to own Watch_Dogs. Take control of the city and setup roadblocks, change traffic light and more. You need an internet connection and a Uplay account. Just make sure you type in the whole name when searching. That's the only way I was able to find the app on the Google Play store. It's available now for Android and iOS.

2. Battlefield Hardline Fall 2014

Visceral Games, the devs behind the impressive Dead Space series are the devs on tap for the this new Battlefield Hardline. Hardline reigns in the scope of war to depict a more familiar cops N' robbers tone. A trailer was live but has since has been yanked. But you can expect more on this one in just a few weeks at this year's E3. For now, expect all sorts of cool gadgets, some getaway vehicles and more.

3. Metro Redux

Wow this one was a surprise. Metro Last Light is not very old at all and here we have a HD-esque redux of both Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light in the works. The first game - Metro 2033 will see the bulk of remastering of sorts, with Last Light receiving what is being called a graphical facelift and gameplay improvements, including new melee animations. The games will be bundled together and sold as Redux pack for Windows PC, PS3, Xbox One and Linux. Here's are a few more details...

The original game has been rebuilt in the latest and greatest iteration of the 4A Engine, bringing all the graphical and gameplay improvements from Metro: Last Light to Metro 2033 Redux Experience radically improved gameplay: advanced enemy AI, improved combat and stealth mechanics, superior weapon handling and more responsive, intuitive controls plus signature features from Last Light such as the atmospheric 'mask wipe' mechanic, weapon customization, and silent kills and takedowns Enjoy completely re-mastered visuals: advanced lighting, dynamic weather, more detailed characters with improved animation, more dynamic destruction and improved smoke, fire and particle effects 4. Borderland Pre-Sequel Gameplay 5. The Witcher 2 on Linux and SteamOS

One of the greatest games ever made is now available for Linux and SteamOS. These versions of CD Projekt Red's The WItcher 2: Assassin of Kings Enhanced Edition can be found on Valve's Steam service. This version contains all the extra goodies that were doled out over the year following the initial release of The Witcher 2. BTW the game is on sale for 80% off. Amazing stuff!

6. Steam Machines Delayed

Speaking of SteamOS... Valve has officially announced a pretty major delay for Steam Machine launches. All we have to go on is an ominous 2015 release window. Yikes. But they lay blame on that crazy new controller they are cooking up. Tuning and balancing the thing still needs time to marinate.

We're now using wireless prototype controllers to conduct live playtests, with everyone from industry professionals to die-hard gamers to casual gamers. It's generating a ton of useful feedback, and it means we'll be able to make the controller a lot better. Of course, it's also keeping us pretty busy making all those improvements. Realistically, we're now looking at a release window of 2015, not 2014.

7. Evolve Delayed

Inbound from 2k Games! It's being called the best looking first-person shooter of 2014. Evolve does look interesting if asymmetrical multiplayer action is your thing. One player assumes the role of a hunted and feared behemoth of a monster-thingy, the other players work cooperatively in different classes to take the creature down. It's scheduled to launch this October and the trailer above reveals new Hunters, a new hazardous map and gameplay mechanics.

8. GRID Autosport

Discipline, Focus, Endurance... These are tenets a virtual GRID Autosport driver must make peace with. I love the GRID series and this one looks pretty darn interesting for car enthusiasts.

9. The Evil Within Delayed But Still Terrifying

Utter terror has been postponed. The Bethesda blog states The Evil Within has been pushed back to October from its August 2014 release. That's just in time for Halloween. The question is, do you want to feel fear like the poor unsuspecting players in the video above? Of course you do!

10. Bethesda's Free-2-Play Battlecry

I love the concept of free2play games. The concept, the $0 cost of entry and even the microtransactions. That doesn't mean all free2play are worth your time. But Bethesda has one on th ehorizon that looks good enough to download. It's BATTLECRY, a team-based multiplayer game devoid of the typical gunplay drudgery found in most games. This one is heavily based on melee and ranged combat using swords, archery and other ordinances. Official site is live with a few more details.

Samsung Reveals an Open Wearable Health Tracker

Samsung's wrist-worn Simband prototype could be the basis for a new wave of personal health tracking devices.

Samsung vice president of digital health Ram Fish shows off the company's Simband, a conceptual model for a health-tracking wristband, at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Creating wearable technology is tricky. It has to look and feel good, and be useful enough for you to want to keep it on your body all day. That's difficult enough if you're designing a simple activity monitor that tracks steps and calories burned. But it gets much harder if you want to do things like measure and display vital signs-something that's very challenging to do accurately with, say, a gadget on your wrist.

Still, that is the next logical step when it comes to fitness and health tracking and today Samsung showed off what it envisions this looking like on your wrist: a gadget called the Simband that can track biometrics like heart rate and temperature.

Pulling up his shirt sleeve to reveal the Simband's black body and shiny, square face, Samsung vice president of digital health Ram Fish seemed excited as he stood before a crowd at an event for media and company partners in San Francisco. The display showed several of his vital signs being tracked live, such as temperature and heart rate (at 87 beats per minute, respectable under the circumstances). He flipped to other screens that showed that his heart rate variability and other data was also being logged.

The device looked pretty cool, but what's under the hood is even neater. The Simband is built using a modular, open sensor platform that Samsung plans to make available for other companies to customize and integrate with their own sensor technologies. Developed with Belgian microelectronics research center IMEC, it can do things like measure your pulse, blood oxygen levels, and hydration, and includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as well. Devices built on that platform will be able to feed data to other apps, gadgets and services via an online service called SAMI, for Samsung Architecture Multimodal Interactions.

Samsung has a partnership with the University of California at San Francisco to explore what this technology can offer. Michael Blum, UCSF's chief medical information officer and associate vice chancellor for informatics, said that a joint lab will be study the devices, the algorithms behind them, and their impacts. Hopefully this will lead to increasingly accurate biometrics. This open, wide-angle approach to wearable tech sounds promising. It could get more startups experimenting with wearable devices and apps, which may convince more users to try them.

Samsung also announced a new strategy for dealing with the problem of how to extend the limited battery life of small, wearable devices. Typically, users have to recharge activity tracking bands after several days or a week of use by plugging them in. Ideally, you'd never have to take your tracker off, so it could get as accurate a measure of your life as possible. Samsung figured out an interesting way to make this happen: it developed an extra battery pack that clips onto the Simband with magnets and allows you to charge its built in battery without taking the device off. Samsung figures you might do this while sleeping, which would make sense if it's not that heavy or bulky.

It's not clear when products containing the sensor board and/or using SAMI will come to market, but Samsung said it plans to offer beta versions of the Simband API and SAMI SDK later this year.

The Volvo XC90′s New Interior Is Luxurious

Volvo's reputation is largely built on putting out what amount to tanks. Most Volvos will roll until the wheels rust off, but they're not exactly noted for luxury beyond that, and their 4X4 the XC90 was no exception. Fortunately, though, Volvo has decided to try a little harder with an interior it debuted at the Geneva Auto Show.

Floating No More

First off, the floating dash has been done away with completely. Instead, you've got a nice center console, not unlike other high-end off-road vehicles, and a media center embedded in the dash that allows both passenger and driver to fiddle with radio stations and the like to their hearts' content. The console has actually been redesigned so that everything is touch-friendly; you won't have to look at the controls to tweak the air conditioning or find a radio station that isn't playing Katy Perry on repeat.

I'll also work with Apple's CarPlay software, so synching up your iPod will make sense at least if nothing else works. And there's four-zone climate control so you won't have to freeze while the backseat sweats.

The Right Materials

We must admit, the XC90 is going to be a handsome vehicle. The interior is all leather and wood trim, and it looks beautiful. It's even got a crystal glass gear selector, which is an unusually luxurious touch for Volvo and something you usually see on sports cars.

But The Exterior?

The funny thing is we've got no idea what the exterior of this vehicle looks like just yet. Volvo is slowly teasing the reveal, starting with the interior and slowly pulling out to reveal the full car for everyone's delectation. The real question, of course, is what changes we'll see once we have the full picture: That will become clearer later this year.

LG G3 Review. It's Finally Here and It's Good

Brandi McCants

A while back we talked about LG G3 rumors about release date and specs and now the phone is finally here and it seems we were about right. The smartphone was launched yesterday and today we have our hands on it and we're ready to give you a quick LG G3 review of this impressive smartphone.

LG G3 Review

The first thing we have to say in our LG G3 review is that LG's new flagship smartphone has an awesome display. While most phones are running 1080p screens (Full HD), the new LG G3 smartphone has a 5.5 inch display with a 2560×1440 resolution, which means a 538 PPI sharpness, which is quite impressive.

LG calls the back of phone as being metallic skin, which sounds good, looks pretty great but it still has a long way before it achieves the sleekness of other premium smartphones, such as the iPhone 5s.

The user interface is updated and it is probably one of the best things about the LG G3 smartphone. Even the icons look much better than they used to!

Our LG G3 review wouldn't be complete without a look at the phone's camera. It has the same 13 MP as the LG G2 did, but with some noteworthy upgrades.

The autofocus is able to do some great things, such as taking things from downright blurry to sharp in 0.27 seconds (the competition does that in 0.3 seconds).

The funny thing about this camera is that it uses a laser detection system that was developed by LG to stop vacuum cleaners from falling down the stairs. This allows the users to get a crisp image every time they press the shutter button. Well, it's not really a shutter button, because with the LG G3, as with the Moto G, you can press anywhere on the screen to take a picture.

The quality of the photos is good, but we need to mention two things: firstly, the macro is stunning, secondly the zoom reveals blurriness with anything that is not macro.

Us, the folks here at GadgetGesture have to say we're pretty impressed by the LG G3 smartphone. It's a strong phone with a good camera and a spectacular screen, but we really don't see it going the places it hopes it would. The design is really awesome and it looks better than it feels in your hand and the battery could stand for improvement. Are you happy with our LG G3 review? Are you going to give it a chance?

About the author: Brandi McCants View all posts by Brandi McCants

Graduated from the University of Bradley, after pursuing her Journalism Degree Brandi has worked as a Reporter in a noted Tech Magazine. She will be working as a Director/Editor/Author at GadgetGestures.com. You can call her the backbone of Gadget Gestures. Email her at brandi@gadgetgestures.com

6 Things You Need To Know About Apple's “Smart Homes” (List)

The news has leaked; next week, Apple is going to make the jump into home automation that everybody who wasn't insisting they were going to make a magic television or a smart watch or something was predicting they were going to. It turns out studying a company's behavior instead of hoping and dreaming is an effective analysis tool. But what is it, and how will it work? Here's what we know.

1. It's Tied To Your iDevice

Not the biggest surprise ever, but it turns out that Apple's home automation systems are tied to the iPhone and iPad. The common example given is that the lights turn on when you walk through the door with a verified iPhone. Basically, it'll all be keyed to your iDevice, and will likely also be tied and controlled via an official iOS app. Did we mention a new iOS is coming next week? Big coincidence, huh?

2. It Won't All Be Apple Hardware

In a surprising step away from Apple's usual behavior, though, it's not all going to be Apple hardware. Instead, Apple will be working with a suite of companies to make their devices iOS-compliant. How this will work in the long-term is an open question, but it's an intriguing step away from the company's usual strategy.

3. In Fact, There's No Apple Hardware On The Horizon At All...Yet

If you were looking for the iLightbulb, forget about it; there are no rumors Apple will be introducing its own home hardware. That makes a kind of sense, in that it's hard to break into the home furnishings market, but it also means that Apple will have to fight hardware manufacturers who may have their own ideas about how you use their stuff. It's hard to see Apple compromising... well, at all.

That said, Apple does own companies like PrimeSense, which made the Kinect. So this won't be the case forever.

4. That Approach Makes It Modular

Of interest is that this means you can hack your home as much or as little as you want. If you just want to swap out the lightbulbs for something a little more futuristic, you can do that. But if you want to go whole-hog, with locks, climate control, blinds, you name it, that's available to you as well.

5. Expect Voice And Gesture Features

Nobody likes Siri. That's kind of a given, because, well, everybody uses Siri for about a week and then defaults to using their finger like a normal person. But Apple has poured a lot of money into Siri, gesture controls, and other 'frictionless' controls, so expect those features to be prominent in any software it reveals.

6. It'll Be Coming Fast

Considering that this is all software, most likely tied to the new version of iOS, and built on existing hardware you can buy, this isn't going to be some sort of abstract demonstration. When this debuts at the Worldwide Developer Conference next week, expect it to have a concrete release date, or even be available in some form. We'll find out June 2nd.

Lomography Goes Old School With A New Instant Camera

Instant cameras were once the biggest deal in casual photography. Sure, they weren't necessary the most sharp or brilliant photos, but they were able to capture instants for all time, and many of those types of cameras inspired social networks like Instagram. Leave it to Lomography to bring the technology back around... complete with Instagram-inspired filters.

Instant Results, Just Add Filters

In the basic mechanics, it's the instant camera that you know and love. You point, you shoot, the picture pops out and develops in front of you. It uses Fujifilm Instax Mini as a format, which is actually already on the market for some of Fuji's more lighthearted cameras. Being Lomography, you've got a few more options beyond just pointing and shooting, like shooting multiple exposures on a single frame of film, or even shooting a long exposure. There are even a few attachable lenses.

And then there are the filters.

Insta-Instagram

These are, in fact, the old-school kind of filters. They're color gels designed to be slotted in front of the flash to create Instagram-esque color effects. They're not going to do exactly the same to your photos as some photo editing will, of course, but it's a clever way to add color and style to your photos without adding complexity or ways for things to go wrong with your camera.

Instant Imaging

Yeah, we've all got a digital point-and-shoot in our pocket, thanks to the smartphone revolution, and there are some absolutely beautiful camera apps to go along with them. But there's something to be said for a tangible souvenir of the moment that belongs to you and only to you unless you choose to share it. And if nothing else, Lomography promises the most fun you can have with an instant snapshot, which, in the end, should be what casual photography is all about.

Tablo Wants To Be A New Kind Of DVR

The DVR has gone from luxury to necessity over the last few years. As more and better TV is put on the air, it becomes harder and harder to keep track of it. But it can be annoying to use a TiVo when they're not exactly up-to-date, technologically. Tablo hopes to fix that, although it's got a few concerns.

At The Tablo

Essentially, it's a dual-tuner DVR with streaming technology. And it's fairly impressive stuff on that score; you can stream to up to six different devices at once, all using the same Tablo. The dual tuner means you can record two shows at once, meaning you'll never have to decide between shows again. And in all, it's pretty impressive. But there are some technical drawbacks.

Incomplete Tablo

First of all, for this to work, you're going to need an HDTV-capable antenna and a USB hard drive, which you bring to the party. Considering the Tablo costs $220, and that hard drives aren't exactly pricey, it seems kind of odd that you're expected to bring your own HD to the party. Secondly, if you want the actual ease of use of a DVR, you're going to either have to pay $5 a month for a subscription, or $150 a month for a 'lifetime' subscription. Finally, you'll need a Roku, Chromecast, or Apple TV to stream to your television.

We get that guides don't assemble themselves, and it's not necessary to operate the Tablo. You can just enter the data manually. But by the same token, though, that drives the overall price of the Tablo from $210 or so to $500 or more, and that has to raise an eyebrow or two.

TV Watching Solved

That said, that is what you'd pay for if you got a DVR with similar features, and if you don't have Aereo in your area, this might be your best option. Just keep in mind what you've got to bring to the party to make the fun happen.

Gadget Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) Tablet

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) is the latest addition to the Samsung family. An update to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 from a few years ago, the Korean company has added a few new bells and whistles, and packed some serious power into this tablet.

The Note 10.1 vital stats sit at 243.1 x 171.4 x 7.9mm, and it weighs in at 535g (WI-Fi version), so it's small and light enough for you to carry around and use quite freely without the ache in your hands.

A good sized 10.1 inch screen sits on the front with a beautiful 2560 x 1600 display. Around the edge of the screen on the thin grooved metal edge that sits around the device are the volume and power buttons, dual speakers, S-Pen, Micro SD and Micro USB slots. The S-Pen is a unique function that stems from the days when the Note line was more phablet than tablet, but still comes in handy as the accessory is far more precise than our digits. How much you use the S-Pen will come down to personal choice, and how you use the device as a whole.

The back of the Note 10.1 is a faux leather stitched effect that you will either love or hate. We can't decide if we're honest; it's good for keeping a grip on the tablet, but it's a bit plasticky . Again, it's personal choice.

One thing we are sure of is the power sitting underneath the crisp white veneer. Under the hood there is a 1.9GHz Quad-core Exynos 5, and 3GB of RAM. The tablet responds to all tasks in a speedy manner. Nothing is too much for it, and it takes all requests head on. We like it.

The OS for this device is Android Jellybean, and not the more recent 4.4 Kitkat. On top of Jellybean you have Touchwiz, which is the layer Samsung adds to Android. We've used 'standard' Android devices before and had no problem, but there's something about Touchwiz we just can't get to grips with. We also noticed a couple of issues of lag around the specific Samsung portals.

This additional layering is becoming more prevalent on Android devices, meaning that no two companies like HTC or Samsung have the same set up. While it's good for brand identity, it does make getting an Android device slightly daunting in that a certain amount of time has to be spent learning how each device works, rather than the pick-up-and-use style of the 'i ' devices.

The Google Play store is only matched by the App Store for the wealth of apps that you have access to; if it's an app then you'll likely find it here. The Note comes pre-loaded with a heap of Samsung apps, as well as access to the Samsung Hub which contains another cache of specific Samsung apps like media players.

In our time with the 10.1 we downloaded quite a few apps and games - all ran well. The new BBC Media Player was a bit buggy, but we put that down to it being new rather than the device it was on. Some of the apps like the How to Draw series and games like Scribble Racer made use of the S-Pen which made the accessory feel a bit more useful than just a gimmick. Games like Plague Inc., Reaper, and the epic Galaxy on Fire 2 all ran very well, and the overall experience of them was greatly improved by playing them on a large crisp screen.

The Note also comes with an 8 megapixel camera on the back, and a 2 megapixel camera on the front. Both work well, and take decent shots, but let's be honest, no one buys a tablet for the camera.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is a good, strong, capable tablet. Its weaknesses are balanced out by what it does well. Overall, the device has a slightly more 'business' feel to it than a typical tablet, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but there are features that perhaps a basic consumer just wouldn't use.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) is available now from the Samsung Store.

6 Reasons It's Time To Dump Your iPhone For Good (List)

Apple is the biggest tech company in the world, and it can be the biggest company in the world period depending on its stock price this week. And there's a lot to love about Apple. But recently, some bloom has come off the rose, and it might be time to consider what for many used to be the impossible; jumping the Apple ship for good.

1. The iMessage Disaster

If you're not familiar, users who decide to go to Android inevitably start losing text messages. It's because of Apple's proprietary iMessage system; sure, you don't use up your texts, but that also stores all your messages on Apple's servers... and if you don't have iMessage, it means you lose any text messages coming from iPhone.

How do you disenroll? You call Apple. Yes, you read that correctly.

2. The Lightning Connector

Every phone aside from the iPhone uses a standard connector, namely USB. It's not the best solution, necessarily, but it does standardize everything. Apple, however, has not only stubbornly refused to use USB, for reasons that are unclear, they also introduced a new connector. To be fair, Lightning has its merits, and some of those are coming in the new USB standard, but it's still a proprietary connector in an industry that has left those behind.

3. There's Little Innovation

Nobody says it, but it's true: Apple has been resting on its laurels pretty hard, technologically speaking. Aside from standard upgrades, there really hasn't been a lot of difference between the last few iPhones. Processing power and RAM upgrades are important, of course, but it's clear that Apple has lost interest in the iPhone and views it more as a way to raise money for its next innovation, than a place where its next innovation will go.

4. Android Has Caught Up To iOS

This is admittedly something of an opinion, and it's not like iOS is somehow unusable. It's an excellent mobile OS. The problem is that stock Android can have a better feel and is less of a pain in the butt to use in some respects. There's also the problem of ease of use; ever try to swap out an operating system on an iPhone?

5. Apple Is Stuck In The Past...

Honestly, if I told you I had a phone with a proprietary connector, software I couldn't change in any meaningful way, that doesn't see a lot of change, and that I have to call the company to get any real support on... what does that sound like I'm describing, a modern-day smartphone or a phone from ten years ago? That Apple has refused to change with the times is becoming faintly ridiculous, especially in light of the biggest problem.

6. ...And Its History Is Repeating.

Apple has been here before: It introduces an innovative new product, pioneers a new market... and then stubbornly refuses to accept market realities as it gets crushed by those who come after. It happened with the PC and it's happening with the smartphone: Apple's market share is declining every quarter in both tablets and smartphones.

True, it's still making money. But it's only a matter of time before something goes wrong and it begins to flail. Apple no doubt has something amazing coming up...but it's not going to be for the iPhone.

Nissan 370Z Nismo Is A More Mature Sports Car

The original Z was one of the first, and best, arguments for Japanese sports cars. A country better known for cost-effectiveness than style finally got a chance to show off just how great it was, and a lot of car enthusiasts were never the same. Nissan is trying to recapture that feeling, a bit, with the new 370Z Nismo.

The Same Inside, With One Key Difference

First of all, the updates to the internals are pretty minimal in most cases. The engine, for example, is the same as last year's model, a 3.7 liter V6. Not that it's not zippy, but it's not an overhaul either.

More intriguing is the fact that for the first time, there's an automatic transmission. Don't worry, purists, the six-speed manual is still standard, but the automatic has downshift rev matching and a manual mode with paddle shifters for those who sometimes want an automatic.

Far Different Outside

The big changes are to the visible parts of the car. The new body was inspired quite a bit by the GT-R, and it has a deeper fascia, LED lights, a chin spoiler, and a much more restrained rear spoiler than last years model. The interior is red and black leather and the exterior has plenty of red accents, just in case you thought Nissan doesn't commit to a color scheme.

Zoom Zoom Zoom

In all, the changes are mostly cosmetic in nature, but they do make a pretty big difference when added up. The new model will probably only slightly outperform last year's, but in terms of looks, you're a lot less likely to be mistaken for a spoiled teenager when people see you on the road. Essentially, Nissan made a sports car from the grown-ups, and it'll be interesting to see how fans of the Z react.

This iPhone Ringtone Epic Remix Is An EDM Masterpiece

We all know the iPhone's standard ringtone. One could argue it's one of the single most ubiquitous song in human history, considering how many people have it on their phones. But it could stand to be a little more... epic, at least if you're the artist known as MetroGnome.

Remixing And Rebuilding

It's pretty straightforward, as techno remixes go; MetroGnome starts with just the ringtone, and you might actually think your phone is ringing at first. But soon he begins expanding it, layering in swooping synths, drum machine beats, before using the alerts to kick off a breakdown.

In other words, it's pretty much what you'd expect from the phrase 'iPhone remix.' But it's impressive how much music he squeezes out of a fairly simple melody designed more to get your attention and be otherwise just pleasant.

Remixing The Ring

iPhone remixes are actually fairly common, in the sense that people keep trying them, but MetroGnome actually avoids a few common pitfalls of this particular online stunt. First of all, he does actually build out the melody into a full song. And secondly, he actually brings in quite a few more styles and instrumentation, even bringing in a guitar at one point.

iPhone Remix

Of course, this won't be the last iPhone remix we see. An item of such cultural prominence and cultural awareness is always going to be toyed with, remixed, played with as our feelings towards it change, grow and move in new directions.

And, hey, if nothing else, it's got a beat you can dance to.

Microsoft Announced The 12

Earlier today, Microsoft announced the all new, bigger and better Surface Pro 3 at a press event in NYC. The new Surface Pro 3 comes with a bigger 12-inch ClearType Full HD display sporting a resolution of 2160 x 1440 pixels with a 3:2 aspect ratio. The display on the Surface Pro 3 is 38 percent bigger than its predecessor, and offers more options to choose from.

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 comes with 4th generation Intel processor, with an option to choose from i3, i5 and i7 chipsets. It's not just the processor, customers also get several storage options, starting from 64GB and goes as high as 512GB. As far as the RAM is concerned, you can get 4GB or 8GB of it depending on the configuration you choose. On the connectivity side, it features a USB 3.0 port, Mini DisplayPort for projecting to an external display, and a microSD card reader for expandable storage.

Another interesting feature introduced in the new tablet is a continuous kickstand, which can give users the ability to position it in different angles between zero to 150 degrees. The tablet measures 11.5 x 7.93 x .36 in, and weighs only 1.76 lbs. On the software side, it comes with Windows 8.1 Pro.

The tablet will be available for pre-order at Microsoftstore.com in most launch markets, and in Microsoft retail stores and Best Buy from May 21st. The tablet is set to hit the retail stores on June 20th in the US and Canada. It will also land on 26 other markets in August, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom. As far as the pricing is concerned, the 64GB base model starts at $799, and goes as high as $1,949.

'Transformers: Age Of Extinction' Trailer Brings The Property Damage

There's really only one reason to watch a movie, beyond nostalgia, and that's to see things blow up real good. Fortunately, Michael Bay has remembered this in the new trailer for Transformers: Age Of Extinction.

Like Clockwork

Hard to believe they've been turning out one of these movies every two years, but they have, and we're up to the fourth one. The plot this time is that a government agency run by Stanley Tucci, subbing for John Turturro, has found out that Transformers are made of invaluable Plotdeviceium. As a result, they're on a Transformers hunt. Mark Wahlberg, meanwhile, has found Optimus Prime, who is less than enthused to discover humans want to scrap his people to build tanks. No time to worry about that, though, because even more robots are invading, with guns for faces.

Facegun Status

If it seems like they're digging rather deeply into the franchise for new Transformers to blow things up with at this point, well, you're not entirely wrong. Most of the series is littered with the bodies of various Transformers killed in the line of duty and/or while trying to destroy the world. On the other hand, they haven't featured the Dinobots yet, so it's Grimlock's time to shine. Admittedly, it's not clear whether he'll show the tendency towards Hulk Speak the original Grimlock had, and also we don't remember Optimus Prime riding him with a sword. But hey, the original cartoon had a romance between a Transformer and a mermaid, so we can't blame them for picking and choosing.

Dinobots, Roll Out

We'll be able to get a sense of what we'll be enjoying in theaters and some nerds will be whining about outside them come June 27th, when the movie debuts to get ahead of the Fourth of July movie season. Personally, we think it should open during Oscar season, since we all get sick of sensitive dramas, but hey, we're not the ones scheduling the movies.

Motorola Moto E Review: Fresh Competition in the Budget Segment

Motorola has been bullish so far this year with its pricing and strategy for India. After a long absence, it came back with the Moto G and Moto X, and now continues with the Moto E, making other manufacturers sit up and take notice.

At Rs. 6,999, the Motorola Moto E is priced to ruffle feathers. Motorola is clearly sending a message to buyers that they can get a whole lot more for their money than they have before, and competitors had better adapt to this new reality. However, it is rather unfortunate that Motorola has chosen to stick to online sales only in India. Even though it managed to run through its first stock of Moto E within two days on Flipkart, Motorola could have done a lot better with a more traditional retail presence - at least competitors have that advantage for now. There has been lots of buzz around the Moto E even before its official launch, but that's nothing compared to the actual potential of the Indian smartphone market.

We try to find out if the Moto E lives up to the hype surrounding it.

Look and feelThe Moto E follows the same design language of its elder siblings, the Moto X ( Review) and Moto G. This is evident in the dimpled chin on the curved back which features the Motorola logo. There are a few subtle differences, though.

At its thickest point, the Moto E measures 12.3mm, making it a bit fatter than the Moto G. Also, at 142g it weighs slightly more, and definitely feels heavier in the hand. Fortunately the heft is reassuring considering its compact size. The body feels sturdy, and we get the impression that it will be able to withstand years of use.

Despite being predominantly plastic, the Moto E feels premium, almost making us wonder how Motorola could afford to price it so low. Our only complaint is that the rear has a rubbery feel to it which could get oily after prolonged use. The rear cover is interchangeable, and nine colours will be available, all of which look pretty good.

Above the distinctive dimple is the recessed rear camera module. This protects the lens from scratches - a small example of attention to detail from Motorola that we appreciate. Prying open the rear cover is a rather tedious process. Once opened, there are two slots on the right edge for the Micro-SIM cards and a slot for the memory card. The battery is non-removable.

The right edge of the Moto E houses the volume rocker and power button. Motorola has decided to leave the left edge blank. The ambient light, proximity sensors and a hidden status/charging indicator LED are above the screen. A front-facing mono speaker is masked by a metallic strip below the screen.

The Moto E uses on-screen buttons for navigation. The bottom of the phone has a Micro-USB port for data transfer and charging, and the top features the 3.5mm jack for headphones. Inside the box, apart from the phone, you'll find a charger and a headset. The absence of a data cable is a downer.

Features and specificationsThe Moto E is powered by a low-end Snapdragon 200 dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, with an integrated Adreno 302 graphics processor. There is 1GB of RAM, which is a good sign that the phone will be able to run without stuttering (more on that later). The Moto E has 4GB of internal storage with 2.2GB available for use. Surprisingly, the phone recognizes it as external storage and installs apps to this partition. Unlike the Moto G, Motorola allows expansion of storage by up to 32GB using a microSD card. It supports two Micro-SIM cards in dual-standby mode, each of which can connect to a 3G network.

The phone has a 5-megapixel rear camera with no flash or auto-focus, and there is no front camera. We can already hear selfie lovers grumbling about this exclusion.

The Moto E's 4.3-inch display is protected by a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 - a first for a phone in this price range. The display has a qHD resolution of 960x540, which translates to a relatively sharp density of 256ppi. We couldn't really discern individual pixels. The colours displayed are quite vibrant, though viewing angles and sunlight legibility are not up to the mark.

SoftwareA major complaint among detractors of Android is the fragmentation of software versions across different devices. In that regard, it is extremely heartening to note that Motorola is constantly striving to bring the latest and the best version of Android to its smartphones. The Moto E runs Android 4.4.2 (KitKat), and Motorola has promised that it will get at least one future upgrade. This is another first for any Android smartphone in the sub-Rs. 10k segment.

Motorola leaves the Android software largely untouched, and so we are treated to the taste of unadulterated KitKat (pun intended): clean home screens, a lock screen with a camera shortcut, a whole collection of Google apps, Google Now, and on-screen navigation buttons which hide when you play games and watch videos.

Motorola adds a Moto Assist app that lets users determine which ringing mode the phone should be in at certain times. For example, it syncs with your calendar to check for meetings and enters the meeting mode at the appropriate time. The app offers two presets - meeting and sleep. We don't consider this bloatware because it is actually useful, and owners of other Android devices can also download it from the Play Store. Motorola also preinstalls an app called Moto Migrate that makes transferring important data from an old phone to the Moto E an easy process. Setting it up is quite effortless, and it functions as advertised.

CameraThe less we talk about the Moto E's 5-megapixel camera, the better. Before we get into the performance details, we want to remind users about the HTC Desire 310's abysmal camera performance. The Moto E is only slightly better. We don't expect anyone to buy this phone if they need a device that can take decent photos.

The default camera app on the Moto E is the same as the one on the Moto G. It is extremely basic with very few available settings. There is an HDR mode and a panorama mode. Motorola allows for selective exposure (with a very intuitive interface) but no autofocus. This baffles us, although without an autofocus lag, you can take shots really quickly.

Captured images have a lot of noise even in broad daylight, and low-light performance is a whole lot worse. Colour reproduction is average, which is the only saving grace of the camera. Video performance is dismal too. Then again, we can't expect much more from a phone priced this low.

PerformanceObviously, this phone isn't meant to be a performance beast. The best we can expect of it is to function without lags during everyday use. Thankfully, we found that the Moto E is extremely responsive while browsing through apps and websites . It is a really capable budget smartphone, and really does stand out amongst its competition. The performance benchmark scores are surprisingly good too.

In AnTuTu and Quadrant, the phone registered scores of 12,546 and 5,324 respectively. The Moto E rendered the GFXbench animation at an impressive 10.7 fps. To give users some perspective, this is close to the performance of the Sony Xperia T2 Ultra. We tried Dead Trigger 2, a graphically intense first-person shooter for Android, and it was mostly smooth, with only very few lags.

The default video app doesn't play 1080p videos, but we were completely surprised when third-party apps managed to do so just fine, without any hiccups or dropped frames. The mono speaker's sound quality is just about average, but it is adequately loud. The bundled earphones are uncomfortable to use and just sound bad. The situation did get better with the use of our reference headphones.

We were slightly disappointed with the battery life, considering the phone has a powerful 1,980mAh battery inside. It lasted only 5 hours, 41 minutes in our continuous loop test. This means that users will have to charge it at the end of each day, if not more often. On the flipside, call quality was phenomenally good.

VerdictWhat Motorola has done with the Moto E is let loose a performance beast in the sub-10k range of smartphones. It might have a bad camera, but in every other respect the Moto E trumps its competition by a large margin. The only other smartphone that comes close is the Nokia Lumia 525 ( review) which runs Windows Phone 8, is more expensive, and has a limited number of applications in the app store.

Motorola is now the Goliath in the budget smartphone battle. We admire this phone immensely, and we're also excited to see how the competition in this extremely important market segment will respond now that the bar has been raised.

Motorola Moto E in pictures

Nokia Lumia 630 Dual SIM Review: A New Age for Windows Phone

It's a time of change: The Nokia we've known ever since mobile phones first appeared has finally been acquired by Microsoft and is now officially a subsidiary of Microsoft's Devices Group, which handles the Xbox and Surface product lines. The Lumia 630 is the first new phone out the door since the deal went through, but it's obviously been under development for quite a while. Still, it's obvious that things have changed - subtly but surely, this is the start of something new.

The dual-SIM version of the Lumia 630 has launched in India, and it's the first device to run the new Windows Phone 8.1 update. Interestingly, it isn't a clear replacement for the Lumia 620 - it's a bit cheaper than the 620 was at launch, but is also in a lower segment.

With new hardware and new software to boast of, the Lumia 630 could be quite potent package. Let's take a closer look.

Look and FeelNokia seems to have been able to come up with dozens of variations on the same theme: colourful polycarb shell, black front face, buttons all on one side, and simple lines, but different shapes and curves. The 630 is no exception, although this time the shape is more flat and blocky than usual. It's a clean rectangle with sides that taper towards the back, making it fairly easy to grip. The rear bulges only very slightly.

Our review sample had a matte-textured white shell. It's definitely nothing like the high-gloss finishes we've seen on some other Lumias, and unfortunately it began picking up dirt and scuffs from almost the first time we set it down on a table.

The front face is blank apart from a Nokia logo up top, since navigation is taken care of by on-screen soft keys now. The power button and volume rocker are on the right edge, but there's no camera shortcut key now. The left edge is totally blank, and the top and bottom have only the headset jack and Micro-USB port each. The back is almost completely blank, with only the camera lens and a round speaker hole to be seen, apart from a faint Nokia logo in the middle.

We don't usually concern ourselves with the boxes that phones come in, but we have to note that Nokia (rather, Microsoft Devices), has switched to a flat, white design, ditching the blocky blue rectangles we've seen with every Lumia release so far. More to the point, the Lumia 630 does not come with a headset or even a USB cable. The charger has a fixed wire with a Micro-USB plug, and we really have to wonder how much money the company will save by not shipping a standard charger head with a removable USB cord.

Features and specificationsThe Lumia 630 has a powerful enough processor, the trusty Qualcomm Snapdragon 400. It's a 1.2GHz quad-core system-on-a-chip with integrated Adreno 305 graphics. There's only 512MB of RAM which is a significant step down from the 1GB found in the 620 and even the cheaper Lumia 525.

As other manufacturers have done recently, Nokia has used a dedicated processor for sensor input which allows the main SoC to power down and save battery life. The SensorCore, as it's called, ties in to the Bing Health and Fitness app which can act as a pedometer and activity tracker. This won't be a big feature for the Lumia 630 considering it lacks advanced sensors, but higher end devices such as the upcoming Lumia 930 will take better advantage of it.

You get 8GB of built-in storage space, which is somewhat offset since Nokia says up to 128GB microSD cards are supported. The screen is 4.5 inches diagonally, but has a lowly resolution of 480x854 pixels. This is by far the lowest pixel density we've seen in a long time, and it's very evident at first glance that this is not a premium quality display at all. It's duller than we've come to expect from Nokia, with less-than-impressive colour accuracy and poor viewing angles. The Windows Phone interface isn't terribly grainy, but text in apps and on websites reminds us of what used to be considered high-quality a decade ago.

The screen is proportionately a bit taller than the one on the Lumia 525, and its resolution is very slightly greater than 16:9 which is a good thing because a bit of vertical space is lost to the on-screen buttons (which are almost permanently visible).

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support is up to date, and there's also GPS. The only sensor seems to be an accelerometer - there isn't even an ambient light sensor to help adjust screen brightness automatically. All in all, the Lumia 630 has a somewhat unbalanced list of features - it's outclassed in some areas by other phones in its price range.

SoftwareThe biggest story of course is Windows Phone 8.1. Microsoft's update is fairly significant, with plenty of improvements both major and minor. The one thing Microsoft can boast about abroad is Cortana, its version of a voice-based intelligent assistant, but that it doesn't work in India. Tweaks to get it running do exist, but for all practical purposes, this isn't a feature to take into consideration yet.

The other visible change is - finally - the addition of a notification shade, which Microsoft has named Action Centre. Just like in Android and iOS, you can swipe downwards from the very top of the screen to pull down an overlay which displays notifications you haven't dealt with yet. When you pull down the Action Centre shade, you'll see expanded information about your notification bar icons, such as the battery level in percent. There are also four handy shortcuts: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Camera and Brightness, and you can swap these out for other choices, but can't have more than four.

The brightness control is handy since the Lumia 630 doesn't adjust it automatically, and the camera shortcut somewhat makes up for the loss of the dedicated physical button. We would have liked to have had more shortcuts, but have to make do with clicking through to the Settings app.

The much-publicised background photo option only works well with some photos, and if you arrange your Start screen tiles carefully. Simple patterns work better than actual photos. You can also fit a third column of large tiles, but this looked terrible on our Lumia 630 thanks to the low-res screen.

The Lumia 630 is the first dual-SIM Windows Phone, so there are a few unique touches in this regard. For starters, there are two distinct phone and messaging apps, which is a very odd and potentially confusing way to handle things. The icons for each SIM card are only slightly different in colour (and the first set goes transparent if you use the new background photo option). You'll have to deal with fragmented call history lists and inboxes, although the contact list is shared and you can choose to send a message or make a call from a different SIM even from the other SIM's apps. This could help keep work and personal communications separate, but not everyone will like this approach.

There are a new few apps and tweaks too - Battery Saver does exactly what it sounds like and lets you check which apps have been draining your battery the most. Data Sense allows users to define cellular data usage limits, and Wi-Fi Sense is a unique tool that can automatically sign you in to password-protected Wi-Fi hotspots that your friends have used in the past. Yet another tool called Storage Sense lets you manage apps, clear caches and swap things around between the internal storage and microSD card.

Less visible are tweaks to the keyboard, which now lets you drag a finger between letters, Swype-style. Skype and OneDrive are more deeply integrated, and Internet Explorer has received a few improvements under the hood. While a lot of common complaints have been addressed, the Windows Phone experience is still not without its own unique problems. The on-screen buttons are visible even when playing video full-screen, the Back button still behaves illogically, and the Marketplace is still highly lacking, compared to the Google Play store and iOS App Store.

Nokia had a proud tradition of improving upon Microsoft's work even further. The Lumia 630 comes with a set of additional features collectively known as Lumia Cyan, which includes an extended set of photography apps. Also present are Nokia's other trademark features, Here Maps, Here Drive+, and Nokia MixRadio. Surprisingly, the highly useful Glance screen, which in other Lumia models lets you see notifications while the screen is off, has been cut out.

The Lumia 630 comes with a lot of third-party apps too: BoxTV, Evernote, Facebook, Flipkart Ebooks, Gameloft Gamehub, Line, PayTM, and Zomato.

CameraNokia always throws in a lot of camera apps, and this time we have Cinemagraph, Creative Studio, and Glam Me for a variety of effects ranging from animation to face enhancement. Options in the Nokia Camera app include shutter speed and manual focus, and you have quick access to ISO and white balance settings.

We were very impressed with the photos we took in daylight. The details and clarity were good enough to make us think our test shots had been taken with phones which cost twice as much. Things weren't as great indoors, and we saw noise increase drastically even in pictures of our well-lit office floor. Photos taken at night were full of noise and lacked detail. Video was blocky and compressed, with an artificial quality to it.

We would have been grateful for a flash, but we didn't miss having a front camera as much. At this price point, a front camera would be so low quality that we'd rarely use it anyway.

(Click to see full size)

PerformanceAs expected, Nokia and Microsoft's curious decisions regarding the Lumia 630's configuration made a big impact on the device's performance. The biggest issue we ran into was that some tests, such as GFXbench, simply could not be installed thanks to the low amount of RAM. Users will face this problem with other apps as well. The two companies might have decided that 512MB was enough for WP8.1, but again, we wonder how much it would have hurt to stay with 1GB.

Benchmark scores in other tests, such as SunSpider and the Windows Phone version of AnTuTu were slightly higher than or at par with those for comparable WP8.0 phones, such as the Lumia 525, but well below those of the mid-range Lumia 1320.

The interface feels smooth enough, but Web browsing was a bit laborious and even non-HD video clips often felt jittery. We aren't confident that the Lumia 630 will hold up for more than a year or two, especially if you load it up with apps, and if future OS updates require beefier specifications.

The screen's low quality was very apparent when watching videos. It isn't completely terrible, but we're now used to at least 720x1280, and there is a perceptible difference.

Battery life was impressive at just a shade over 11 hours in our video loop test. We're confident that we could use this phone intensively through a full day of work and not be left scrambling to find a power outlet.

VerdictWe're happy with most of the improvements we've seen in Windows Phone 8.1, but there is still work to be done. We hope minor issues such as the always-on soft buttons are taken care of soon, and we look forward to spending more time with the Sense tools. That said, we have a few reservations when it comes to the Lumia 630 itself.

It's a solid workhorse phone with good construction quality and phenomenal battery life, and of course the assurance of Nokia's brand name and dealer/service network are big plusses. It's also stylish, and some people do respond very well to Windows Phone's unique look. What it comes down to is the Lumia 630's fairly unique combination of capabilities - if you like Windows Phone and need a dual-SIM device with a large screen, you'll be happy with it. If you care about gaming, movies or longevity, you should seriously think of spending just a little more money for a better device.

The step down to 512MB RAM and the absence of a flash are inconvenient, not dealbreakers, but customers who choose Android phones in the same price band won't have to make similar compromises. Moreover, there are also far better phones such as the Moto G which cost only very little more. We feel as though the Lumia 630 will be more competitive once its price drops by around Rs. 1,000 - 2,000.

Nokia Lumia 630 Dual SIM in pictures