Playstation 4 ups the interconnectivity
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he PlayStation 4 will arrive on shelves “Holiday 2013,” Sony’s Andrew House announced on February 20. The gaming system boasts new interconnectivity, creating an “ecosystem” of mobile and non-mobile devices like tablets, phones and televisions. Basically, you’ll be able to access your PlayStation Network on most of the electronics you own. Streaming and downloading from the web will be an integral part of the gaming experience. The “DualShock 4” controller will feature a touchpad and three-colour LED lights for identifying players.
Affordable virtual reality on the horizon
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s technology improves, video games become more and more immersive. But the dream of true immersion – virtual reality – hadn’t really come true yet, and not for a lack of trying. But now, California-based start-up company Oculus VR might be bringing that dream to the hands of gamers across the world. The Oculus Rift headset, a contraption not until a bulky, black set of protective goggles, allows users to experience a 3D computerised world the way they see their own. If the user turns their head left, for example, the screen inside the headset will move with them, showing more of the virtual reality. Oculus VR estimates that its product will cost between QR730 and QR1090, putting it in the same price range as popular home gaming consoles. Around April Oculus begins shipping its first test products to game developers, but no one knows for sure when it’ll be available in stores.
Tablet aimed solely at women launched from Dubai
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urostar recently unveiled the first tablet computer made only for women: the ePad Femme Tablet. It’s pink and it comes pre-loaded with yoga, weight-loss, pregnancy and cooking applications, in addition to Google, Skype, Twitter and others. “It makes a perfect gadget for a woman who might find difficulties in terms of downloading these applications, and it is a quick reference,” Mani Nair, Associate Vice-President for Marketing with Eurostar, told The Media Line. Priced at around QR690, the tablet has a 23-centimetre screen, and comes with an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and 16 GB of ROM. It has received mixed feedback from women in the Gulf, according to The Media Line.
Microsoft launches “scroogle” campaign
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fraid you’re getting “scroogled” by using Gmail, Google’s free e-mail service? Probably not, but Microsoft is convinced you are, according to its new US-wide campaign against a well-known Google issue – the scanning of users’ e-mails in order to place more personalised ads on their
screens. “Don’t get scroogled by Gmail,” Microsoft declares, utilising a weird-sounding combination of “Google” and an indelicate term for getting taken advantage of in the hope that the word will either catch on or at least garner some interest in its argument. Microsoft cites a study it commissioned, that says that of polled consumers, 30% knew that their e-mails were read for advertisement purposes, and 88% did not approve of it. Outlook.com, Microsoft’s own e-mail provider, launched a website called Scroogled.com to promote the concept.
MARCH 2013
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