Microsoft joins the VR contenders with HoloLens

As Many of the worlds biggest tech giants join the VR market (excluding Apple) Microsoft made an announcement today that implies that they too would be joining the train.

In this vision of a future shared experience enabled by Windows Holographic, one user is wearing HoloLens within a room scanner/communicator (left), another joins via a VR headset (middle) and the third initiates the session from a HoloLens at a remote location (right).

At the Computex trade show in Taipei, Terry Myerson (Executive Vice President, Windows and Devices group) was joined by Nick Parker and Alex Kipman (HoloLens Architect) to announce that Microsoft would be widening the scope of their mixed reality headset by incorporating VR.

 

At the announcement, Terry Myerson stated :

"The market for virtual reality devices is expected to be 80 million devices per year by 2020. However, many of today’s devices and experiences do not work with each other, provide different user interfaces, interaction models, input methods, peripherals, and content. And most virtual reality experiences can’t mix real people, objects, and environments into the virtual world, making creation and collaboration difficult. This is because they lack the human, environmental and object understanding that is already built into Windows 10."

On the unveiling of HoloLens, Microsoft had also released Windows Holographic, which is a platform to allow Windows 10 developers design apps for the device.

 

Googles new app, Science Journal, for conducting scientific experiments on your smartphone.

Google has just released its new app, "Science Journal" that is basically a clipboard for scientific field experiments. The app can be used to record data in real time and then convert them to easily readable graphs and charts. 

 The app is equipped with helpful tools like an accelerometer, and light and sound meters, that can be used to gather information during tests. Project progress and data can also be saved on the app to be previewed later or continued in cases of incomplete projects.

Google is also making hands-on learning kits to accompany the app. These would contain external sensors, microcontrollers and craft supplies that would help kids perform more detailed experiments. The app is now available on Google play.

YouTube in-app messenger coming soon!!

The most popular video sharing app in the world, YouTube is blurring the line between video sharing and messenger apps by adding an in-app messenger that allows users to share videos with friends directly on YouTube. In an announcement made this week, YouTube announced that they are currently testing the in-app messenger, which would allow users to send videos directly on YouTube without having to copy a link or share on other social network platforms. Shared videos can be replied to by sending a video as well, typing up a message or sending an emoji.

With this move, YouTube is possibly hoping to capitalize on the tendency of its users to want to share videos and increase the general usage of its app especially on mobile. This would definitely be considered a wise move from YouTube, as it is now known for a fact that other social media networks such as Facebook and Snapchat are chasing after YouTube's audience. Even Amazon is now on board as it yesterday announced it's own online video posting service

Gboard: search for information, GIFs and emojis straight form your keypad

Google today released an app for iOS devices called "GBoard" that allows you to perform Google searches directly from your keypad. It allows users to send information like weather forecasts, business listings, locations, and more, as well as GIFs, and of course emojis straight from your keypad saving you the trouble of exiting your screen to open a browser or the google app before performing the same operations.

source: Techcrunch

It even allows you to search for emojis rather than scrolling through the sea of available ones to find the one you're looking for. It also has glide typing, which allows you to type by sliding your finger from letter to letter.

source: google blog

The functionalities of this app definitely come in handy, considering stats from eMarketer that states that mobile device users this year will spend 3 hours 15 minutes per day using apps and just 51 minutes using browsers.

This app is currently available for download at the App store but is only available in English 

Review: Red Crucible Firestorm

Specs:
Name: Red Crucible Firestorm
Reviewed on: PC (facebook)
Game type: MMORPG, FPS 
Price: Free

 Red Crucible Firestorm is a fast paced FPS, MMORPG game by Rocketeer Games Studio, which is available for free on facebook. It was released on the 15th April, 2015 (yesterday :D) as an improvement on the previous title, Red Crucible 2.

Improvements from Red Crucible 2:
•New UI System: New Store, Inventory, Social, Settings, Tier Tree Unlocks, and HUD.
•New Consumable System: Choose your own input number for your consumables
•New Daily rewards System: Earn honors, xp, consumables, and even coins for logging in consistently.
•New Vehicle Spawn System: Spawn your vehicles from the proper spawn point. There is a vehicle limit.
•New Vehicles
•New Loadout System: 1 primary. 1 secondary, 1 melee
•New Boot Camp: Check out the new base camp
•New Match Types: Survivor, Search and Destroy, TDM: Resources, TDR: Vehicles, Territories, Conquer
•New 3rd Person Feature: The Scroll wheel on the mouse will switch shoulders.
•New In-Game Lobby: Get your loadouts prepared as you wait for the match to begin. •Matches will now balance the teams and have a minimum requirement of players to begin.
•New and Updated Maps!
•New Consumables: Molotovs, Smoke Grenades, Sticky Grenades, Claymore, Proximity Mines, Spawn Point, Minigun Turret.
•Destructible environments
•Interactive Objects
•Updated Vehicle Controls.

Screen shots:

game-play

loading screen

inventory

inventory

                                          Red crucible firestorm gameplay by Apple Army

Review: Assasins Creed Unity

Specs:
Assassin's Creed Unity
on Xbox One, PS4, PC
Reviewed on PS4
$99.95
Classification: MA15+
Reviewer's rating: 6/10

The Assassins creed IV: Black Flag, met an interesting mix of response, for being more about pirates than Assassins, even though it served as a make up for the "terrible" Assassins creed III. 

In the light of this, the next title in the series, "Assassins Creed Unity", the first game in the series to be built especially for the new generation of consoles, was supposed to be a great return to form for the series, dropping the extraneous rubbish and focusing on that core experience -  locating a target, assessing the area, executing a clean assassination.

However, this hasn't exactly been the case, the problem being that this style of gameplay, which was great when it debuted in the original game in 2007, simply has not evolved. While the fine details have changed over the years, the main experience feels exactly as it did seven years and eight games ago.

Gamers who have never played any of the preceding series may enjoy it, but anyone who has taken on the roles of Altair, Ezio, Connor or Edward will find Arno's adventure all too familiar coupled with the fact that the new character, Arno is quite dull.

The true star of the game is its setting, late 18th century Paris at the height of the revolution. The power of the new game's machines has been put to excellent use, as Parisian landmarks such as the Louvre, Hotel de Ville and Notre-Dame Cathedral are re-created in exquisite detail.

Unity compounds the problem by feeling extremely rushed and unfinished. It also has bugs.

Basically, the "Assassins Creed Unity" seems not to be the revolution we were expecting.

Google Chromecast Users can now play "Family Friendly" multiplayer Games

"Just in time for the Holidays", Google on Tuesday added a number of "Family Friendly games" that can be controlled via smartphones and tablets, and Showtime Anytime, and Starz for a wider range of shows.

Chromcast dongle

Categories have also been added to the chromecast app page to make it easier for users to find what they are looking for. Users can choose from TV & Movies, Music & Audio, Games, Sports, Photos & Video, or More.

The new 'family-friendly games' for Chromecast include Wheel of Fortune, Hasbro's Monopoly Dash, Scrabble Blitz, Connect Four Quads and Simon Swipe. As with other Chromecast apps, users can use their Android or iOS smartphones and tablets as game controllers.

Google has also added the mobile version of the Kinect-based dancing game 'Just Dance Now', which uses the motion sensors on a mobile device to translate body movements - with no need for extra controllers. Users with Android and iOS devices can also download these applications from their respective app stores.