Get Rid Of Malware And Viruses With Avast Free Antivirus

Have I ever mentioned how important a good Antivirus program is? Well, it is! For the last 2 years or so, Norton Antivirus was my main choice of protection and one of the few software I actually thought that a subscription was worth buying. But this year, with the state of economy being as it is, I decided to avoid renewing my subscription and instead search for a good free alternative to do the dirty job.

After some researched, i stopped and though to myself "Why not try Avast? Since i have their app on my tablet and it works great, it is worth a try". 

Avast Free Antivirus

Upon installing Avast Free Antivirus, the first thing that came to mind was how lightweight the program was. As soon as it finished installing, it got to work enabling and configuring its firewall and Network Shield,  as well as scanning my system for malware. A thing worth mentioning is the easy-to-navigate menu which is prettier than all its competitors, more simple to use and doesn't get your lost like the Norton one. The two things that i really loved with Avast was the Software Updater and a new marketing trick of theirs called Recommend.

The Software Updater
I have tried many programs that scan and download automatically any software updates and i must say that the one Avast uses works flawlessly and with minimum resources with no lag whatsoever. Apparently, i had 7 programs that needed updating and it found the files for me automatically so i didn't have to lift a finger, just install them (cant ask for more automation than that right?).

Recommend system
Basically, Avast has this system that provides you with the initiative to tell your friends through Facebook, Twitter, G+ and email that you are using their program and in return, they reward you based on how many friends of yours installed Avast and started using it. Getting 7 friends of yours to install and use it will net you a free year of Avast Internet Security, not bad at all.

  • 7 Friends, Internet Security (1 PC, 1 year)
  • 14 Friends, Internet Security (1 PC, 2 years)
  • 21 Friends, Internet Security(1 PC, 3 years)

Avast Antivirus is a must if you are looking for reliable protection as well as a software that will make your life easier. If you are interested for the free edition, Avast.com is the answer.

More Humble Bundle Goodies, 6 Great Titles Worth Checking!

Who doesn't like getting more for less? Its like winning the system and everyone loves that. Well rejoice, a new Humble Bundle is in town!

The New Humble Bundle For Mobiles is here to stay for the next 13 days and it has already sold around 6000 bundles so far. By paying what you want, you can rock 4 great games on your device and if you decide to pay the average price of what everyone else is paying, you get another 2 games leading to a total of 6 games. 

Don't be intimidated by the word "Average price" because it's usually around $6-7, which is a great price for 6 games if you ask me.

6 Awesome Games + Bonus soundtracks
  • Contre Jour
  • Anomaly Korea
  • Bladeslinger
  • Plants vs Zombies
  • The Room (If you pay more than the average price)
  • Metal Slug 3 (If you pay more than the average price)
A small tip
Humble Bundle usually adds more games as the days come to an end so waiting a few days may be beneficial to you but the average price may go up as well. Go support the companies or charities by getting these 6 awesome games which cost as much as a starbucks frappuccino and an Apple Fritter.

At Last, Magic The Gathering Coming To Android To Fire Things Up

Recently, it was announced that Magic the Gathering will be paying us Android users a trip to spice up our boring gaming life's and add a little magic to it (feel the pun?). Anyone else super excited with Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014? I for one, have been waiting for this game to land on the Google Play for a year now and its finally happening this summer.

The great thing about Magic has always been its features of customization and many people complain about the lack of that in the mobile version of the game. Nevertheless, this is great news for us Android gamers. Time to dig up my blue deck and fool around!

Project Shield, Riptide GP 2 And Tegra 4



When it comes to Tegra optimized games, many companies don't fully take advantage or actually know how to take advantage of Nvidia's processors and end up with a badly optimized game which brings bad rep to Tegra chips.

In a previous rant of mine, i talked about Tegra processors and how they falsely mislead you to expect great graphics and performance but the actually thing is that many games aren't truly optimized and the fault is not on Nvidia.

Riptide GP is one of the few games that play great on Tegra devices and its due to proper optimization and configuration. Nvidia's YouTube channel has a video of Riptide GP 2 running Tegra 4 on Project Shield and it looks amazing. 



The fluid gameplay and colorful graphics stand out in the video above, the animations are great and with no lag what so ever. According to Nvidia, Riptide GP 2 will have"enhanced water and particle effects, HDR lighting and full controller support". Could Project Shield be the only actual handheld console to threaten the gameboy with games like this?

Top 3 RSS Reader Alternatives To Google Reader

Copyright Colleen AF Venable

To help smoothen out your transition and save you the trouble of looking, here are the top 3 free Google Reader alternatives for your Android device now that the G Reader is dead.

Pulse is a stylish and slick rss reader that takes your favorite websites and transforms them into an interactive mosaic where you touch a box to open up the news or just skim quickly through the news and find something of your interest. You can also view the latest news on your browser if your not feeling too keen on using your device.

Flipboard is a great rss reader that displays the latest news and posts in a style that resembles a magazine. With a beautiful and minimalistic design, Flipboard is the best option if you like reading magazines.

If you like staying informed but don't have any particular number of favorite websites which you like to visit, you can use News360 which pulls information from many major websites like Forbes, Gawker, PCGamer etc to provide the latest news in whatever you are looking for. Its also a smart app since it learns what you like reading and presents you with the most important news, saving you from searching for interesting news. News360 also has a tablet app which is optimized to take advantage of the extra space a tablet has to offer.

RU Golf's Tegra 4 Comparison, Bloom Effect And Why Its Magic

This post is part of a series surrounding the new Tegra 4 from Nvidia -a mobile processor of unmatching speed- and providing coverage on all the information regarding this new chip.


In the last post of this series, i covered the great shadow effects as well as dynamic lighting that Nvidia has implemented in their new mobile processor. The graphics in the Zombie Driver game were stunning so i searched for other game comparison videos to be able to spot the difference like spotting a fly in milk.

Can anyone say "Bloom"?
Other than the dynamic lighting, the Tegra 4 boasts a great feature that adds plenty concerning the depth of realism and it goes by one simple name, Bloom.

Bloom is an advanced shader effect that is used a lot in both computer and console games. It adds a great level of realism, makes surfaces more reflective and colors more vivid.

Hit the jump for a taste of some Bloom, starring the game RU Golf with its fantastic graphics in Tegra 4 magic!

Valve Backs Off From Xi3 Piston


Via Eurogamer


It all started with some rumors regarding Valve's involvement with a company that makes game consoles. After a while the news leaked, the Steam Box would be the new console on the block by the great Valve. Of course, everyone rejoiced since they could take their paid game collection and play on their big screen. The other great thing are the steam sales that offers great discounts to games, much more than PSN ever offers.

Then the inevitable happened, Valve stated that they don't have anything to do with Xi3's Piston, leaving the new $999 console on the hook. People tend to pay more when they know that big and respectable companies are behind products so in Piston's case, they would be just another product on the internet instead of "The Steam Box", the holy grail.

Would you pay $999 for a cube sized PC or would you rather make one yourself? Is the premium price worth it? Only time can tell!

Heroes Of Destiny, New Battleheart-Like RPG From Glu Mobile




Glu Mobile's latest game is Heroes of Destiny, an action RPG that lets you control up to 4 heroes at the same time to combat an evil entity called The Darkness which has invaded the Kingdom of Lerona.

Gameplay
The gameplay resembles Mika Mobile's "Battleheart", meaning that you have to control all the heroes in real-time,use their abilities while moving them in and out of battle to avoid damage and use several spells and abilities to do more damage while auto-attacking. So that means, moving the tank around the big monsters while keeping your ranged heroes away from monsters and trying to keep them all alive through abilities.

Killing monsters and bosses gets you loot, which you can equip to better yourself in the game or replay for the fun of it. Its always good to have loot in an RPG game so the gameplay doesn't become to linear and boring but as long as its obtainable within the game and not through the store.



Graphics
Well the graphics ain't exactly bad but they aren't perfect either. When talking about RPG's, gameplay is what makes a game interesting and intriguing instead of jaw dropping graphics on a linear game that feels like its bound on rails.

 Fallout 2, a game from 1998 is more interesting that any of the RPG's that i played these last years. Why? Well, linear games are plain boring because when you get used to a game with interactive choices and 100% customization, you can't settle for less.

Free or Pay to win?
Glu Mobile has a notorious reputation on the Play Store for its not-so-free games, meaning that the user must pay to actually enjoy the game or to even beat it so lets hope this game doesn't end up as a money-grabber.

Give it a try and let me know in the comment section if you enjoyed it, or if we should add it to the pay-to-win category. Not impressed? Check the video below!



Google Pulls The Plug On Google Reader

According to the official Google Reader Blog, Google has decided to pull the plug to its once-famous RSS program because of declined usage of their service. Google stated that they, as a company, will pour their energy into fewer products because they "think that kind of focus will make for a better user experience".

Google Reader will cease to operate in three months, meaning on July 1st, 2013, so people can have enough time to find themselves new RSS-reading products. This news is something that was expected from a lot of people since many other great products exist that outplay Google's product (or should i say, ex-product) by providing better features and design, either paid or free of charge without hidden costs.

From this action, Google will probably focus more on their other products instead of wasting energy on a dead one trying to bring it back to life. Maybe focus more on Android? Or maybe on their Google Glasses.





4.2 Jelly Bean On Transformer, First Strong Impressions

Not long ago, the Android 4.2 was released for the TF300 of the ASUS Transformer series but only for citizens of the United States of America. The rest of us here in Europe are always second when it comes to releases, hardware, games, movies you name it, but late is better than never right?

Today, as I got up for work I pressed the button of my tablet to see if I had any notifications or emails before hitting the road and I saw the small triangle in the corner, the great sign that comes up when an update is available, so I got excited because I knew that it was the Jelly Bean 4.2 update. 


As soon as i got back from work, i installed it and after playing around i noticed a significant difference regarding frame lag. I know that the upgrade from Jelly Bean 4.1 to 4.2 doesn't involve any lag fixes but for some reason i felt that the navigation was overall smoother and more responsive to my touch! 

It took me a while to figure out the new changes but i noticed that the User Interface was still the same from the previous Android version which confused me, until i finally figured out that switching the Launcher had to be done manually from Settings>Launcher and not automatically.

What i loved the most from the latest Jelly Bean update is:

The UI
I must admit, i was pretty biased on this matter because of all the fuss that was made regarding the "new and improved" UI  in several forums that i read but for some reason i actually prefer it to the previous one. This actually feels slick, minimalistic and stylish, three things that the iOS always has and Android always lacked. 

The new UI makes Android tablets feel like computers and the iPad like a big phone. Don't get me wrong, i like Apples philosophy but the iOS looks and feels ridiculous on the iPad whereas Android's productivity and functionality are great and seem to fit great on a 10inch tablet.

The Multitasking Interface
I remember how my device sometimes lagged when i deleted background apps and made my experience feel sluggish and disappointed but with this latest update, it doesn't lag anymore. I tested this by launching around 10 apps and then closing them as fast as possible to stress the system out and guess what, no lag what so ever. It actually feels great when fixes like this happen because even the small details matter.

The quick launch bar
The best feature for a tablet, hands down. The ability to have 8 of your favorite apps ready to launch without searching for them within the 5 homescreens that Android has? No need to say anything else because it speaks for itself.


At last, it feels that Google is actually working on improving their OS and with this latest update, i'm a happy and satisfied Android user. Keep up the good work, Google!



Easy Uninstaller, Best Way To Easily Uninstall Apps



Who said that uninstalling should be cumbersome, slow and time consuming? The harsh truth is that most of us can't stand the process of deleting apps one at a time because frankly, it's a hassle. We all know that Android can't uninstall many apps at the same time (neither can iOS) but what if i told you that there is an app for that? (yes, that was an Apple pun!)

Android users, meet Easy Uninstaller, the answer to your problems. If you read my blog, then you know how much i like automation in my life. Well, Easy Uninstaller lets you delete multiple apps* just by selecting them and hitting the green Uninstall button at the bottom, simple as that and it saves you from all the hassle of doing it manually.

How to
Step 1: Open the application.
Step 2: Scroll through the lists of apps and select the ones you wish to delete.
Step 3: Press the green "Uninstall" button and let it do its magic.


*Keep in mind that Easy Uninstaller can't remove Bloatware from your device, only apps that you have personally installed.

Humble Bundle Android 5 Offers Another 3 Games, A Total of 9 Games


The Humble Bundle team just announced that whoever pays higher than the average price, which is $6,65 at the moment, gets 9 games instead of the 6 that were first available when the Humble Bundle for Android 5 began about six days ago.

New Games
The 3 new bonus games that were added to the list are:

  • Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (including soundtrack)
  • Splice (including soundtrack)
  • Crayon Physics Deluxe (including soundtrack)
Unfortunately for me, i got those in the last Humble Bundle For Android but still, 9 great games for just $6,65 is totally worth it! Don't forget that you are actually helping indie developers and/or charity by purchasing this games so go ahead and get yourself some more games for your device!

Oh Yeah, For OUYA! What To Expect And Why Its A Great Idea



Living in the 21st century certainly has its perks, specifically the (relatively) easy way of life, the automation of everything around us and the internet.

In the past, if you had a dream and you just needed the money, the bank would be the only logical solution but with Kickstarter, many users have made their dreams come true by accepting help from millions of other people around the globe. Who knew that Julie Uhrman would manage to gather $8,596,475 and manage to launch her dream console? No one. People saw a great product and decided to fund the development of it.

Whats OUYA?
In a few words as possible, OUYA is an open source console that has the ability to run games on your television. The console is approximately the size of a rubik's cube so it can fit anywhere and its easy to carry around. Also, setting it up is so easy that even a toddler can do it since all you have to do is just connect the cube-shaped console to the Television.

OUYA Specs
OUYA sports a quadcore Nvidia Tegra 3 processor so you can enjoy your games to the full, 1GB of RAM, has 8GB of flash memory to store your games on and it operates under Android.

It also has a USB 2.0 adapter as well as Bluetooth 4.0 for the ability to transfer games with ease, HDMI support so you can enjoy your games on HD TV's, Wi-Fi connectivity and it was recently announced that Ethernet connection will be possible due to community feedback.

Too long, didn't read? Here is the list straight from their website!
  • NVIDIA Tegra3 quad-core processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 8GB of internal flash storage, expandable via USB 2.0 port
  • Up to 1080p HD (via HDMI)
  • 5.1 surround sound
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, and Ethernet port
  • Bluetooth
  • Micro USB port
  • Wireless Bluetooth controller with standard game controls and touchpad
Any neat Games?
You can't have a console without cool games now, can you? According to OUYA's website, they have "already lined up some great content from AAA game publishers such as Square Enix and NAMCO Bandai and independent developers like Tripwire Interactive, creators of The Ball, and Adam Saltsman, creator of Canabalt."

A great thing will be the ability to test out a game before purchasing it, something that is very hard to find even in the best consoles of the market. Game developers can make the game free with the ability to unlock the rest of it when purchased, ask for a monthly payment of a game or service, sell in-game items or power-ups in their games or sell downloadable content.

Cost
The OUYA will be available at store for $99 USD and they have stated that they will follow the mobile business model, meaning that a new console will be released every year with updated hardware. Potentially, next year we may see OUYA 2 with Nvidia Tegra 4 but that's a pretty far fetched idea since OUYA hasn't even released their first console yet.

So, whats your opinion?
OUYA seems like a very good idea, even for a PC-only gamer as myself. I never really wrapped around the xbox or PS4, or maybe i never had the time to do so due to me being completely absorbed by the world around PC gaming. 

One thing is for sure, if you are interested in getting OUYA do make sure that you buy an additional controller since it comes with only just one. Check out below for some gameplay videos of OUYA in action or visit Amazon to preorder now!

Gameplay videos

Sonic 4


Rayman Jungle Run

CCleaner is Coming To Google Play To Clean House



Piriform, the company that came out with CCleaner, has decided to make an Android version of their famous program for Google Play. According to Piriform, they heard the many requests of the users and decided to show some love by coming out with an Android app version of their CCleaner.

Since the app is still in production, the company hasn't announced a release date yet. Personally, i have been using CCleaner on my computer for the last 3 years and i'm not planning on changing any time soon. Its easy to use interface combined with free updates and fast cleaning pretty much seals the deal for me (plus its free, at least the Basic version).

Piriform has produced other great applications that are worth mentioning but the second best after CCleaner is Defragler, a free program that deals with Fragmentation on the disk. Its in many ways better than the one that Microsoft has on their Operating System, plus its free as well so you can try it and see for yourself.

If you can't wait for this application because your device needs cleaning or you are confused on the matter, you could download Clean Master for now which is very simple and user friendly, and use that until CCleaner is officially out and about but i suggest you try both (when the latter is out) and keep the one that fits your needs the best.

2 Ways to Reduce Your Data Plan

Copyright Mubashir

Ever since the internet became the great and awesome thing it is today, we all want to have a constant connection to it, either on our computer or phone. I remember in the past that whoever had internet access on their phones, had extra money to spend.

Now with all the data plans that are available, the programs are more flexible and quite more cheap than the past but who doesn't like to save cash when it comes to bills? Well i have 2 neat tricks for you that will reduce your data plan bill.


Selective Cache cleaning
If you want to enjoy the good sides of cache cleaning while skipping the bad side (meaning the pilling of junk files), then you are in luck because its easily achieved. When using a Cleaner application such as the Master cleaner which i reviewed not long ago, you can select to clean specific cache's of apps and skip others.

By doing so, you will keep data that is important to your favorite applications so that it doesn't re-download them again and eat away the life of your data plan. Apps like Google Maps shouldn't be cleaned because once you use it, it will re-download the map of your area leading to more data used.


Going Turbo with Opera 
Opera is a very fast browser with an intuitive and smart interface, has a great way of managing opened tabs much better than Chrome and offers some great tools under the hood, one of which is Turbo Mode. 

Basically, what Turbo does is compress the images of the websites you are visiting so you don't overburden your data plan. According to their ad, Opera Turbo can compress a website up to 80%, saving your a lot of money in the long run, money you can spend on other things.

How Opera achieves that is fairly simple, Turbo basically just compresses images so their size drops along with their quality. That's the catch, all image data on the website lose quality and you get to spend less of your data plan while Turbo is enabled. And if you decide that you want to view quality images, just disable Turbo and you are good to go!








Pixel Kingdom, Defense Game With Epic Battles And Pixel Art!




Many times i sit and think about the big difference that Kickstarter brought to the independent gaming industry. I mean, if it didn't exist, how would Double Fine get the money for their adventure game? Well, good thing it exists because a great game like Pixel Kingdom needed funding and after the small wait, it is out!

Pixel Kingdom is a RPG/Defense game from SmashGames that embraces lovely and colorful pixel art. If you were to combine Plants vs Zombies and Pixel art, you would get this game. Basically, hordes of monsters appear from the right side of your screen and you have to summon units on the left part of your screen and place them on the correct places to kill off the invaders.

Pixel Kingdom boasts:
  • Infinite Levels (yes, crazy!),
  • 9 classes to choose from (so far),
  • Many unlockables such as gear, items and units (by using gold),
  • Chance to get ultra epic gear from monsters (Items that provide permanent buff),
  • Great Art style (Can you say "awesome pixel art"?),
  • 50+ unique enemy units ranging from Dragons to skeletons ,
  • Achievements,
  • And its FREE! 
Classes

  • Warrior
  • Archer
  • Rogue
  • Wizard
  • Knight
  • Cleric
  • Berserker
  • Necromancer
  • Paladin
Pixel art brings a feeling of nostalgia to old gamer's such as myself so it goes without saying that i downloaded the game. I love it when a game lets you customize and unlock stuff with gold because it actually makes you work hard for it, or just pay real life money but there isn't any fun in that is there?


Why The Last Worms Game Left The Play Store




You can't talk about competitiveness if you haven't played Worms, a wonderful game that combines huge weapons, terrain destruction and funny deaths by lasers, bazookas, grenades, flying explosive sheep or just prodding one into his demise. But, why did the last Worms game leave the Play Store? Did they violate the terms or did Team 17 demand it to be removed? Actually, it was the latter.

The new owner of the Worms franchise is the one that demanded its removal from the Play Store. Before we call him crazy and point fingers, the reasons for this was because he was afraid that the brand would get hurt due to EA's behavior, a perfectly logical explanation.

According to Team 17 Digital, one of the world's longest surviving independent video game developer, EA "was not supporting OS updates" so the company obviously demanded its removal because they "didn't want to damage the brand." 

I can't blame them for their action, the majority of EA games i play are plagued by bugs that are never resolved. When you pay money for a game, you expect it to be playable, bug-ridden and in top notch condition. Worms is the game that build Team 17 and it is obvious that they will protect it with any means necessary.

Team 17 is currently working on bring their Worms 2: Armageddon to the Play Store. The game is already out for iOS and it has scored 4.5 stars out of 5 on iTunes, a very respectable ratting.

 Worms 2: Armageddon will be making its way to the Android store in the spring so stay tuned and lets hope it will be as good as the iOS version. If it is, i guess productivity will take a plunge for a while since we will all be too busy blowing each other up.

Why Cleaning Your Android Device is Important

Copyright florian_aut

The other day i wrote an article on the importance of cleaning your device because when browsing and watching videos, it tends to gather a lot of junk files that are literally useless and all they do is take up space and burden your disk. After having written the article, i decided to purposely avoid cleaning my own tablet as a part of experiment so i could demonstrate with pictures the results of my actions.

If you don;t know much about the subject, reading how the cache works and affects us as well as how we can speed up our devices by cleaning them will clear things up. 

  • Preparation
Before starting the experiment, i completely wiped out all the junk files on my Tablet so the results would be precise. Personally, on my tablet i usually stick to checking out Facebook, extending out to others on Twitter, reading news on Pulse, checking out apps on Google Play, trying out games and watching my favorite YouTube channels. 


  • Results
After a week of using the above apps on a daily bases, the result was quite big. I had accumulated 221.56 MB in my internet cache with the majority coming from the system cache which had 120.93 MB worth of junk files. Don't mind the Google Maps application since it needs those files to work locally without internet.

  • Other ways to look at it
Many could say that Android takes care of the cache or that you actually need the caches (which is actually true regarding specific apps) so cleaner apps are a waste but keep in mind that 221.56 MB was gathered on my tablet in a week. 

To get to the point, 221.56 x 4(number of weeks in a month) leads to a whopping 884 MB of junk files a month. To have a more precise number we could reduce the sum by a 20% which takes into account some days of less usage or other factors regarding web data, leaving us with around 707mb of junk files, equal to a movie or 141 songs (max file size of 5mb each), quite a lot right?

Be organized, download Clean Master or some other Cleaner app and start cleaning your devices on a monthly bases. Who knows, it could save you enough space to store more stuff and skip the need to buy an SD card.

Humble Bundle Android Madness

Copyright Original Gamer
The last Humble Bundle for Android was 6 months ago and now comes a fresh new one with 4 great games, or 6 if you decide to pay the average price, along with their soundtracks and steam keys.

Pay what you want and get:

for Android, Mac, Linux and Windows

You also get to choose if your money will go to the developers, the humble bundle organization or to charity by adjusting a percentage to each one. I usually divide it equally so that all people involved get a cut from my money paid.

A small tip, Humble Bundle usually adds more games to the pack as the days go by so if you don't mind paying a bit more, since the average price will increase, wait it out and get the pack with more goodies in.

Internet Cache, Good or Necessary Evil?

Copyright William Hook

Many people often find themselves with a surprisingly big cache when they first attempt to clean their device, and they often end up on Google trying to find an answer to it. I decided to write this article explaining both the good and bad side of the Cache folder since i got many emails regarding this subject.

Don't know whats a cache? Do you use Tumblr/Instagram/Maps/Facebook/Youtube a lot? If yes, read on and find out more about it!


  • The Good

When you visit a website, your browser stores any files it finds on it into a folder called the Cache. This is done so that your browser can load the website faster if you decide to revisit in the near future. It is a convenience that browsers provide so that the website loads faster the next time the user decides to visit it. 

Without this function, your data plan would end up much bigger because the browser would have to re-download the same files it needs to display your favorite website, leading to a bigger bill.


  • The Bad

Websites are usually loaded with images and other multimedia which lead to a very big cache folder and if the user doesn't clean it out once in a while, it could eat up many gigabytes of space and clutter the device.


  • The Ugly

Leaving the cache folder to fill up may lead to heavy loss of space and even slower response time in some browsers. I was once called to help a friend out with his computer and i witnessed a cache that held data worth of 6 GB. which is a lot no matter how you look at it.

Taking action is beneficial for your device and i suggest you do that at least once a month for optimal performance. Personally, i try to clean it 2 times a month, every 2 weeks to be more precise.

Breaking News: Android 4.2 Roles Out for Asus Transformer Tablets In the US



Today, Asus will be pushing the new 4.2 android update over-the-air to all United States citizens that have a transformer tablet. It is the first non-nexus tablet to receive the fresh new 4.2 android update which contains many long awaited features.

Asus lives up to its name as one of the very few companies that actually works hard to bring fixes and updates to its users instead of forcing them to upgrade devices. 

When i got my transformer, the thought of having a company that won't forget me because my device is 2 years old sealed the deal for me.



Features of 4.2



  • Multi user support

Tablet owners can now share their device with friends and family without the fear of having their settings and apps reconfigured, their photos and videos accessed and their apps deleted. This features gives the ability to make an account for each user, or just a guest account, to keep them out of your own personal space.


  • Wireless display

 A great feature that allows the device display videos on a HDTV thought the use of a HDMI cable so you can watch videos on the big screen or stream through Miracast. The YouTube application works well with this because you can now watch your favorite channels on your TV sitting on a comfy couch.


  • Daydream

Daydream is the best feature in my honest opinion. The ability to have a useful lock-screen that displays information such as weather, stock, news and more is great because it makes it more useful and informative.


  • Improved notification system

Users can now interact better with their notification instead of just sliding them away to hell. It gives you the ability to perform other actions through the notification pad that are were only achievable by opening the app.


  • Improved photo editing

You can now edit your photos more efficiently and view the original image with great ease in case you forgot how it looked before you got your hands on it


  • Photosphere

 Photo Sphere is a great new feature in Android 4.2 that allows users to take 360-degree panoramic photos of their surroundings. Also, they can upload those pictures to Google Maps with ease in case you were wondering.


Would love to hear your thoughts about Asus and the new update coming out!

Google Speeds Up the Internet By Compressing More Efficiently




Google decided to launch and adopt the Zopfli Compression Algorithm, a new open source data compression library which can compress webpage content 3% to 8% more densely than the standard zlib library used. Funny enough, the name Zopfli comes from a specific kind of Swedish bread and we know how Google likes to name their projects with names of different foods and desserts.


Benefits

By using this new algorithm, Google can improve the speed of the internet, load pages much faster and make the user experience a lot better for its users. 
More specifically, with the Zopfli Compression Algorithm Google can achieve:
  • better space utilization
  • faster data transmission
  • lower web pages load latencies
  • lower data transfer fees for mobiles
  • reduced battery use

How this works?

According to Lode Vandevenne, Software Engineer of the Compression Team, by using more exhaustive compression techniques they can achieve higher data density but at the cost of slower compression (the decompression speed is unaffected). 

Lode Vendevenne also stated that "The exhaustive method is based on iterating entropy modeling and a shortest path search algorithm to find a low bit cost path through the graph of all possible deflate representations." 

All things come with a price and so does the Zopfli Compression Algorithm since it requires longer to compress files because of the amount of CPU time required. It requires 2 to 3 orders of magnitude more than what zlib required so Google stated that "Zopfli is best suited for applications where data is compressed once and sent over a network many times, for example, static content for the web".

Charity or Profit?

Anyone excited for the free service that Google will provide us by compressing with Zopfli? I am sure that Google will get something in return for this act, either that means less workload for their servers or gaining users from other search engines like Yahoo and Bing, since the benefits are great. More wireless data plan sounds great to my ears and i'm sure for all of you who tend to browse the internet on the road.

League of Legends is Officially Out on Mac

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League of Legends, a well-known Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game inspired by DotA and produced by Riot Games, has just been released on Apple's Mac. The game boasts over 32 million registrations and its one of the most well known and successful free-to-play games out at the moment.


Is that Mundo?.

Riot Games made a very clever trailer for the games release on Mac which involves a lab with different items and weapons that belong to heroes, and players of this game will recognize them immediately.  A small spoiler, Corporate Mundo (a legendary skin for Dr. Mundo) stars in this. I'm sure the game and the trailer will look even better on a retina display macbook pro than on a regural screen. Watch the awesome trailer below for some nifty references!



Sony Designs Great New User Interface, Boasts Social Media Feel

Cnet
Some images have started popping on the internet regarding the completely new User Interface that Sony will implement on their upcoming console and there is a lot that we can tell from these pictures. After the last years of the PS3 it seems that Sony felt the need to completely redesign the User Interface instead of just removing and adding features, a wise choise.

Social Media PSN Integration

Image shows profile in PSN
Cnet

From the several pictures of the new UI, we can see that Sony has decided to integrate social networks and make them play an important part. PSN Profiles will pull information from existing social networks (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc) such as photos, name, birthday and other information allowing you to find your friends with ease and to have a fast way to communicate and play with them through the Play Station Network.

LiveStream, Pic/Video Sharing and Commenting

Image shows a livestream
Cnet

Apart from playing, users will be able to take snapshots and in-game videos, manipulate them and then share them for fun with friends. Users will also be able to livestream their gameplay so friends and other people can watch and comment on, and maybe even buy (the game) using that little buy button on the right.

Newsfeeds

Image shows UI
Cnet
A great feature added in the new PSN is the Newsfeed where users can see what games their friends have recently bought, what achievements they have unlocked, what they were watching some hours ago and what pictures did they comment on. It bears a close resemblance to the way the Facebook Newsfeed works, meaning that it will show anything new regarding your friends and their actions (what they comment on, what they view etc).