R.U.S.E.

• GAME INFO

Developed by Eugen Systems, creators of the critically acclaimed strategy title Act of War: Direct Action™, R.U.S.E™ is a one-of-a-kind RTS game that allows players to bluff their enemies and lead their nation to victory, controlling the action from the heart of the battlefield to the full theatre of war.

Become the master of deception

o Fight a war of perception using recon units and your spying network to gather intelligence on your enemy and then strike at his Achilles heel!
o Use overturning deception skills to mislead your enemy: decoys, camouflage, radio silence, deciphering, intoxication…
o Combine military manoeuvres and cunning stratagems for victory: your brains are the ultimate weapon!
o From Captain to the Commander, live an epic campaign full of manipulation, jealousy & betrayal!

Experience War as a Strategist

o Command a huge spectrum of units : dozens of infantry, vehicles & aircraft units with specific abilities
o Wield executive power : secure revenues, plan units production & launch advanced research programs
o Undermine the enemy strategy by cutting its supply lines & weakening its logistics
o Use the exclusive IRISZOOM® engine as the most intuitive interface to easily identify the balance of power and zoom straight down to the action.
o Fight on immense & incredibly detailed maps, the biggest in a RTS.

Fool the enemy
o Test your strategic skills with fast-paced, addictive cooperative & adversarial skirmishes, up to 8 players
o Face unpredictable battle situations & reverse the balance of power by using bluffs and deception against your opponents
o Choose your nation between 6 Axis or Allied powers with specific units & abilities

Source: ubisoft

DICE Raises The Bar For Online Warfare With Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Console Demo And PC Beta

DICE, an EA Inc. studio, today announced that first-person shooter fans will get early access to the best-in-class online war experience in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Players can now download a free* console demo worldwide on Xbox LIVE Marketplace. A PC beta is also now available to players that pre-order** the game at participating retailers in North America, Europe and Asia, and through select community channels. On February 4^th, the demo will be accessible on the PlayStation Network in Europe and on February 11^th in North America. Defined by its increasingly intense vehicular warfare, destruction, variety of weapons and huge sandbox environments, Battlefield Bad Company 2 promises to be one of the finest online FPS games of 2010.

"After the success of the PS3 beta, we're excited to provide gamers -- especially our long-supporting, rabidly passionate PC fans -- with another opportunity to get into the game before release," says Patrick Bach, Senior Producer on Battlefield: Bad Company 2. "Our fans have been a huge part of the franchise's success and we can't wait for everyone to experience the amazing gameplay and unforgettable Battlefield moments in Battlefield: Bad Company 2."

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 console demo and PC beta will feature Port Valdez, a new vehicle focused map where up to 24 players (32 on PC) will compete against each other as either the US or Russian armies in the game's Rush multiplayer mode. Players will have access to five land and three air vehicles where the Russian side can use everything in their arsenal including Main Battle Tanks as well as the fast-moving Quad Bikes and Mobile Armored AA. The fight will also be packed with plenty of infantry combat fought alongside the waterline towards a great oil industrial landscape in the Alaskan mountains.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be in stores on March 2, 2010 in North America and March 4, 2010 in Europe for the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and the PC. The Limited Edition can be pre-ordered now on all platforms at no extra cost, with participating retailers worldwide (while supplies last).

For more information on DICE, please visit dice.se. For more information on the Battlefield franchise please visit the Official Website. Or follow us on Twitter at OfficialBFBC2.

* Internet connection and Xbox LIVE Gold membership required. Demo will end on February 25, 2010.
** Available at participating retailers in North America, Europe and Asia. Offer and codes expires February 25, 2010.

Source: EA

Creative Zen X-Fi2

Very good looks Both Audio and Video playback is very nice. Bright screen.

Touch screen misbehaves sometimes.

The Zen series is Creative’s offering in the personal media players market - consistent and decent little performers. We have their latest Touch screen model called the Zen X-Fi2, a sleek looking product which we hope will keep up to the expectations we have secretly summed up for it. Let’s check it out.

Design
This PMP is easily in the higher echelons of superlatives. It's subdued finish and confident geometry of the exterior all add up to a brilliant aesthetic scheme. Color wise we have a glossy black front panel, and a gunmetal colored back plate. The surfaces are very clean, as the only button on the front panel is absolutely flush, with just a square outline contour. The on and reset button are on the sides, tiny little round push buttons that are mostly inconspicuous.

The screen also is glossy, and does attract fingerprints, so it’s not perfect. It’s a 3 " TFT touch screen with a resolution of 400 x 240. The videos playable are SD, with a max res of 640 x 480. Formats available for video are vanilla options: WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4/5 and XviD. For audio there is regular MP3, wma and also AAC and Flac, so at least in audio we have some options. Picture again is only JPEG and BMP. All this works on drag and drop, plus there is also a bundled software that allows video format conversion.

This model too has the X-Fi DSP inbuilt. Basically it's Creative’s proprietary technology that enhances the audio experience. I quite like it from previous use. It has an “expand” function that does well with movie soundtracks. Last but not least, there is a TV out function.

Full Review: tech2

Netizens Dub the Apple iPad as 'iFail'

Contrary to the fanboyish reactions that every Apple conference gets, the iPad seems to have unanimously gotten a negative reaction on all fronts.

First off, Steve Jobs hardly seemed enthusiastic about the iPad being revolutionary, as is quite evident in his presentation (check out the embedded video below).

Compare this presentation to a more successful product launch like the iPhone (video below), or the Macbook Air, and you can’t help but feel that Jobs didn’t have much conviction in his latest offering.

Moreover, the reaction from the community seems hardly positive. Gaurav Gupta, a blogger and a loyal Apple user writes, “The launch of the Apple tablet was possibly the biggest marketing hype I have seen in a long time. However, when I saw Steve Jobs holding the “iPad” for the first time, I could immediately sense that something has gone horribly wrong.” (Source )

The YouTube video of the keynote has comments like:

“ummm this isn't the first tablet ever invented. I had a tablet about 7 years ago... and I know some of yall had tablets way before that. it's cool, but it's not as "incredible" and revolutionary as he's making it sound. This piece of shit is just a big iTouch. There's NO POINT having this and an iphone because they share 95% of the same features. so just get an iPhone.” - TheWiseCommenter

“iPod jumbo
iPod mega
iChopping board” - geronba

Twitter too has received some interesting criticisms on the iPad:

"Man, even something as simple as putting an iSight web camera in the iPad would have made it more appealing." - @letunaman

"I have to say, the overwhelming response is a "no" on getting the iPad. Definitely a fight for Apple to show us why we need it." - @joshuatopolsky

Of course a name like iPad also attracted some Feminine hygiene product-related jokes:

"The ipad is cool, but I think I'll hold out for the itampon." - @samantharonson

“Maxipad??? Do they even think before they name things?? Lmao!
Anyway, really why would you want that? Harder to carry than a lap top, harder to type on if your typing with your hands, more apt to getting the screen scratched, really it's just a huge fail.” - NYDrummer16

Lastly, even our own iPad launch story got quite a bit of fan hate as comments:

“As expected all hype and no big revolution. Looks like Apple knows how to drag the attention of the tech reviewers every time. Features like multitasking is important for a device like this. I cant imagine even my tiny WM phone without the convenience of reading emails while my GPS app is busy navigating me. To me this device has a long way to go. Feel free to disagree” – Manoj

Though a lot of the iHate may seem unreasonable, there's no denying that a good number of fans seem a bit disappointed with the launch. How much of this reflects on the products sales? Only time will tell.

What's New in HDMI 1.4?

It's no doubt that HDMI changed the lives of videophiles, home theaterenthusiasts, gamers, basically everyone who needs to send a AV signal between a source and a display. Simply defined, it carries both audio and video in a single cable, digitally. Over the years HDMI has been improving, widening its bandwidth, allowing more types of data to be encoded and transferred etc. Sometime mid 2009, HDMI 1.4 was officially announced, and by now a couple of products are sporting it. It's a real solid upgrade, with some really nice features added to it, thus if you are one who enjoys your audio video gear read on to see what’s new in HDMI 1.4.

Image source

Ethernet Channel
Yes, it's possible now in HDMI 1.4 to avail the network via your HDMI cable. The HDMI 1.4 specification adds a data channel to the HDMI connection, enabling high-speed, bi-directional communication. Connected devices that include this feature can send and receive data via 100 Mb/sec Ethernet, making them instantly ready for any IP-based application.

3D
The 1.4 version of the specification defines common 3D formats and resolutions for HDMI-enabled devices, enabling 3D gaming and other 3D video applications. The specification standardizes the input/output portion of the home 3D system, facilitating 3D resolutions up to dual-stream 1080p.

4K Resolution Support
Now HDMI 1.4 devices can support extremely high HD resolutions, effectively four times the resolution of a 1080p device. The 4K res support now enables HDMI to transmit video data at the same resolution as the state-of-the-art Digital Cinema systems used in many movie theaters. Nice!

Expanded Support For Color Spaces
By supporting sYCC601, AdobeRGB, and AdobeYCC601, HDMI display devices are capable of displaying more accurate, life-like colors when connected to a digital camera. HDMI now supports color spaces designed specifically for digital still cameras, enabling more accurate color rendering when viewing digital photos.

HDMI Micro Connector (Type D)
The HDMI Micro Connector is a significantly smaller 19-pin HDMI connector supporting up to 1080p resolutions for portable devices such as cell phones, portable media players, and digital cameras. This new connector is approximately 50% smaller than the size of the existing HDMI Mini connector.

Automotive Connection System (Type E)
The HDMI 1.4 specification provides a solution designed to meet the rigors and environmental issues commonly found in automobiles, such as heat, vibration and noise. Using the Automotive Connection System, car manufacturers now have a viable solution for HD distribution within a vehicle.

Some important Notes: Are HDMI 1.4 devices going to be backwards-compatible with older HDMI (v.1.0 - 1.3) devices? Yes. Also, can older HDMI (v.1.0 - 1.3) devices be firmware-upgraded to take advantage of the new features introduced in HDMI 1.4? No.

Info sourced from the HDMI official website.

Airfone Inks Musical Deal with T-Series

Emerging low cost handset manufacturer Airfone has signed a deal with T-Series, the popular music label to bring its content on to Airfone cellphones.

Airfone is launching quite a few new phones in the near future that will integrate these content from T-Series. Airfone has also launched its latest device, the AF-27 that boats of content from the latest hit flick 3 idiots, Tare Zameen Par and Delhi 6. It also includes animations wallpapers and ringtones that come preloaded on the phone.

Here are the specs of the handset:

• 2.6-inch color screen.
• Dual Sim Dual Standby
• Stereo Fm Radio
• Upto 8 gb Micro Sd support
• Bluetooth
• Voice Recorder
• Music Player
• GPRS Support
• 1.3 megapixel Camera
• Speakerphone
• 3.5 mm adapter jack
• JAVA
• Free 2 GB content loaded Micro SD card

The AF-27 is priced at Rs. 3,599 and should be available for purchase at a dealer near you.

Transcend Ultimate Class 10 SDHC Cards Launched

Transcend has launched its Ultimate Class 10 SDHC cards. A part of Transcend s Ultimate line of powerful high-speed memory cards, the new Class 10 SDHC cards claim to outperform the current Class 6 cards, with transfer speeds of 20 MB/s and massive storage capacity of up to 16GB.

Compared to Class 2 cards that guarantee write speeds of 2MB/s, or Class 6 versions that start at 6MB/s, the new Class 10 SDHC cards boast 16MB/s write and 20MB/s read speeds that help process data quickly.

Transcend Ultimate SDHC cards are available in high-capacity sizes including 4GB, 8GB and 16GB.

Transcend Ultimate SDHC cards are backed by a lifetime warranty and are priced as:

• TS4GSDHC10 (4GB) - Rs. 1,100,
• TS8GSDHC10 (8GB) - Rs 2,200,
• TS16GSDHC10 (16GB) - Rs. 4,500

Kingston Technology Launches 24GB HyperX Kits

Kingston has announced the release of its HyperX DDR3 memory kits in India. The new memory kits, Kingston's largest ever, will enable users the Intel Core i7 and X58 platforms to increase their system memory to 24GB with the help of six 4GB sticks. For Core i5, P55 chipset enthusiasts, Kingston has released a 1600MHz kit 16GB kit of four 4GB modules to take full advantage of dual-channel performance.

These high performance modules are directed at users working with 64 Bit operating systems and will help them run memory intensive video or photo applications, or run numerous virtual machines wit relative ease.

The 1600MHz triple- and dual-channel kits are intended for use on the best motherboards on the market from top makers such as Asus and Gigabyte. Here's an amazing video of the 24GB kit working in tandem to power eight virtual machines.

Kingston HyperX DDR3 Kit Specifications:

Pricing information for India has not been revealed yet. We tried getting the pricing details but were told that the company hasn't released them as yet. The prices will be updated here as soon as we receive them.

Samsung Announces All-in-one PCs

Samsung has announced the launch of three All-in-One PCs in Korea. The new PCs are called the MU100, MU200 and MU250, and are powered by an Intel Atom N450, Intel Pentium T4400 and Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 processor, respectively.
The MU250 boasts of bundling a full HD 23-inch monitor, while the MU200 and MU250 have multi-touch displays with Windows 7 running on them.

Here are the specs of each of the three models:
MU100: Intel Atom N450, 2GB of RAM, 320GB of HDD, Intel GMA 3150, DVD Super Multi, Windows 7 Home Premium
MU200: Intel Pentium T4400, 2GB of RAM, 320GB of HDD, GeForce G310 with 512MB of VRAM, DVD Super Multi, Windows 7 Home Premium
MU250: Intel Core 2 Duo T6600, 3GB of RAM, 500GB of HDD, GeForce G310 with 512MB of VRAM, DVD Super Multi, Windows 7 Home Premium
Pricing details of all three devices are yet to be announced. Also, there is no word as to when would we be able to see one of these outside the Korean market.

XFX intros Radeon HD 5670 Graphics Card

XFX has introduced new ATI Radeon HD 5670 GPU based graphics card in 512MB GDDR5 and 1GB GDDR5 video memory options. XFX Radeon HD 5670 promises more fun with more realistic 3D gaming experience as it is capable of running latest DirectX 11 games. Also comes along full HD 1080p viewing experience with this new ATI Radeon HD 5000 series of graphics cards. XFX ATI Radeon HD 5670 will be offered in two versions: 512MB GDDR5 memory version for Rs. 6,500 and 1GB GDDR5 memory version for Rs. 7,500.

With due support for Microsoft Windows 7 operating system

, this new XFX Radeon HD 5670 features 800 stream processor. Based on 40nm technology made ATI Radeon HD 5000 series graphics core this card features ATI Stream Technology that includes support for DirectCompute 11, OpenCL and Accelerated Video Transcoding. Hence, one can game smoothly and also perform video transcoding tasks in lesser time.

XFX Radeon HD 5670 graphics card supports OpenGL 3.2 and is also compliant with DirectX 11 and previous versions. This graphics card is also ready to be used in multi-GPU CrossFireX configuration and supports ATI Eyefinity technology that allows adding more than two displays. One can add up to three displays using HDMI, DisplayPort and twin dual-link DVI ports.

PCI Express 2.1 support also arrives with this card and it also features ATI Avivo HD video and display technology. This graphics card will have GPU Core clocked 775MHz, memory clocked at 4000MHz and uses 128-bit memory interface. The HD displays can show up to 2560x1600 pixel resolution using this card. Also, the HDMI 1.3 support will ensure full Blu-ray and PVR experience. For the full high-definition audio experience, this graphics card supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.

Touted as best of both worlds, XFX Radeon HD can be chosen with difference GDDR5 video memory configurations. However, the difference of Rs. 1,000 is the decoy between both versions of the same card.

Sony PlayStation 3 Slim [Review]

The original PlayStation 3 did not have a great start in the market as anticipated. Following the phenomenal success of its predecessor, everybody expected the PlayStation 3 to follow suit, however that did not happen. Although announced much before its main rival, the Microsoft Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 made it to the market almost a year late. This late start ensured that several of the great titles went to the 360 and even before the PlayStation 3 was released it had the advantage of a bigger game library and a chunk of the market share.

Even after it was released, Sony's console was plagued with problems. The PlayStation 3 was quite expensive, especially compared to the 360. Even though it had a much superior hardware, not many people found it worth investing Rs. 40,000 in what they thought was essentially only a game console. Pricing aside there were other issues as well. Developers complained about the difficulty in coding games for the PlayStation 3, whereas they had no problem at all doing it for the 360, due to its similarity to a regular Windows machine.

The games that came out initially weren't that great as well and the cross platform games often worked better on the 360, while the PlayStation 3 version was riddled with poor graphics and slower frame rates. The fact that the games themselves (being on Blu-ray discs) were much more expensive than the 360's didn't bode well with the consumers.

Further, continuing the list of woes on the PlayStation 3 was the differences between the model that was originally unveiled and the model that was launched to the public. The original model had a cooler, boomerang shaped controller, but the actual PlayStation 3 came with a controller that looked the same as the Dual Shock 2 on the PlayStation 2 and also lacked the vibration feedback, which was a major omission.

The original model also had memory card slots and two extra USB ports, along with SACD playback, but the production model didn't. Sony had also promised full PlayStation 2 games compatibility for the PlayStation 3 but the actual model came with half-baked support for just a few games. It was then reduced to software-level support as the Emotion Engine chip was removed to save costs and finally the PlayStation 2 games support was removed completely. This was once again a major drawback as the PlayStation 2 has some of the best games ever made for any platform till date and they could have all been available for the PlayStation 3.

It was only after Sony made some severe price cuts to the PlayStation 3 did it start getting the attention of the average gamer. By then Blu-ray had also started establishing itself as the format of the future and the PlayStation 3 was officially the cheapest Blu-ray player that one could buy, making it an even more attractive buy. The PlayStation 3 didn't just play them but was very good at it, with several videophiles actually recommending it as their Blu-ray player of choice over standalone Blu-ray players.

The PlayStation 3 also proved itself to be a reliable performer and unlike the 360, which soon started falling apart, with RRoDs (Red Ring of Death) being a common sight for many gamers worldwide. The PlayStation 3 continued to work flawlessly, with silent operation and rock solid reliability, thanks to the use of superior quality hardware and craftsmanship.

Things only got better when price cuts started getting more aggressive and the PlayStation 3 was finally within what could be called affordable. By then HD-DVD had died as well and Blu-ray had taken its place on the throne as the king of HD-format. So those who have been on the fence now had a clear choice ahead of them. The PlayStation 3 could play Blu-ray movies in their full splendour, play games in high definition, had an impressive multimedia playback capability, could browse the internet - thanks to its built-in Wi-Fi connection - and even had the option to let you install Linux operating system over it, which converted it into a mini computer. It truly had it all.

Now, games too had started coming in thick and fast and developers finally began to get the hang of the PlayStation 3's hardware and exploiting it to its full potential. The PlayStation network also came in place where people could buy full games and demos online. Although it couldn't stand up to the Xbox Live, it was still pretty good. Sony even changed the controller to the Dual Shock 3 variant, which finally gained the vibration feature. The PlayStation 3 was now enjoying the success that it always deserved.

So you may ask, why the long history lesson? Well, before we head over to the actual matter on our hands, I thought it was necessary to show where it has come from. The PlayStation 3 might be successful now and has become the de facto choice for any serious console gamer, but it wasn't always so. The new models enter the market in a very strong position and hence have it much easier than its predecessor, which has done all the hard work for it. So now that we know about the previous PlayStation 3, let us get on with the new kid on the block, the PlayStation 3 Slim.

Full Review: techtree

Sony Ericsson Satio [Review]

After the Xperia X1, Sony Ericsson did not come out with a new touchscreen phone for quite some time. Last year, however, they announced two new phones, the Aino and the Satio (back then called the Idou), both of which had impressive spec sheets (especially the latter) and were poised to bring the company back on track in the ever growing touchscreen phone market.

The Satio is pretty loaded phone and represents a couple of firsts for Sony Ericsson. It is the first phone from the company with a 12.2 megapixel camera and also the first to run the S60 operating system. But will this phone be able to stand up to the tough competition? We review the phone to find out.

Bundle

• Sony Ericsson Satio
• Battery
• Charger
• Stereo Headset
• USB data cable
• 8 GB microSD card
• Stylus
• Software CD
• User Guide

Full Review: techtree