Jimmy Fallon gets first Playstation 4 hands-on [Video!]

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: First Person Shooters, PlayStation 4, Sony,

Jimmy Fallon was the first to go be able to actually play the Playstation 4, live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Fallon got first impressions of the DualShock 4 controller that includes the touchpad and share button functionality, and got to play some Killzone: Shadow Fall with Hermen Hulst, Managing Director of Guerilla Games. As you can see, neither Jimmy, nor guest Anthony Anderson, were that impressive, but they make up for it with some laughs.

Sony introduced the world to the Playstation 4 the other day, but didn't allow anyone to go hands-on with the console. Instead, we were treated to a bunch of video packages and demos showing just how great everything would be. Heck, Sony didn't even show the actual console itself, citing that it's "just a box" and in the grand scheme of things, isn't as important as the experience itself.

Check out the video below for a look at the segment.

Click to continue reading Jimmy Fallon gets first Playstation 4 hands-on [Video!]

Vertical videos are bad. Stop it.

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cameras, Smartphones, Videos,

We're sure you've witnessed it in the past. You may have even done it yourself. Even worse, you may still do it. Vertical Video Syndrome, or VVS. Shooting videos on your smartphone vertically used to be a common annoyance that has, thankfully, been on the decline as people realize just how absolutely ridiculous the end result looks when trying to view the content on anything other than the smartphone itself. There are still some stragglers out there though, and if you know any, point them to the video that we've embedded after the break. It should drive the point home. Please, rotate your smartphone.

Click to continue reading Vertical videos are bad. Stop it.

3 reasons why you shouldn’t buy Google’s Chromebook Pixel

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Google, PC / Laptop,

Today Google announced the Chromebook Pixel, an often-leaked touchscreen notebook computer that runs Chrome OS and is optimized for web browsing and cloud storage. The problem is that there is nothing that really sets the Chromebook Pixel apart from just about any other notebook computer to make it a compelling buy. In fact, it looks like a pretty stupid buy.

PRICE
Let's talk about the price of the Pixel for a moment. You can buy a fantastic Windows 8 PC or MacBook Air for the same price, both of which would blow away the Pixel in terms of usability. The Chromebook requires you to be connected to the Internet to be useful in any way, since it relies on cloud-based apps. A Mac or PC allows you to actually install apps on them, which you can launch when you are away from Wi-Fi, and get work done in.

Click to continue reading 3 reasons why you shouldn’t buy Google’s Chromebook Pixel

Google Chromebook Pixel: 1.8GHz, 2560 x 1700 touchscreen display, $1,299

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, PC / Laptop,

Today Google announced the Chromebook Pixel, a touchscreen notebook that seems to be Google's most confusing product offering. What's so weird about the Chromebook Pixel? We'll get to that shortly--first, let's go through a rundown of the specs.

Google is touting the Chromebook Pixel as the perfect notebook computer for anyone who spends the majority of their computing time in the browser and using cloud services. It's got a 12.85-inch display with a 3x2 aspect ratio, offering 18% more vertical space than a 16x9 display offers. Google is proud of this display, what with its 2,560 x 1,700 pixel resolution with 239 ppi density and 400nit brightness. Oh, and it's also a touchscreen, so you can interact with it directly with your fingertips.

Click to continue reading Google Chromebook Pixel: 1.8GHz, 2560 x 1700 touchscreen display, $1,299

Sonos Playbar starts shipping on March 5th

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Music,

The Sonos Playbar is an exciting piece of gadgetry coming from one of our favorite companies, and it's now been announced that it ships on March 5. The Playbar connects to your television using a digital optical cable, offering massive sound through its nine drivers. Since it's a Sonos device, you can also play all your music through it as well. Throw in a Sonos SUB and a pair of Play:3 units, and you've got yourself a 5.1 surround sound system. March 5th is the date, and you can pre-order it now for $699.

Google holds Glass Explorer Edition competition, offers early access

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Wearables, Google, Internet,

Google wants early adopters to usher in the future of Google Glass. You know, those high tech Internet-connected glasses? The company is offering the opportunity for anyone to join in. A new competition outlined today by Google will give a lucky few the opportunity to have Google's Project Glass Explorer Edition before everyone else. That's a "neener neener" you can't pay for. Er, actually, you still have to pay for it. It'll cost $1500 if you win the priviledge of early access.

Google posted on its Glass site that it is looking for "bold, creative individuals who want to join us and be a part of shaping the future of Glass." In order to apply you need to use Google+ or Twitter to tell Google what you would do if you had glass, using the hashtag #ifihadglass.

Here are the details straight from Google:

Click to continue reading Google holds Glass Explorer Edition competition, offers early access

Read More | Google

Yahoo rolls out redesigned homepage

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Corporate News, Design, Internet,

Yahoo is rolling out its redesigned homepage today, as promised by CEO Marissa Mayer in a blog post last Wednesday. In it, Mayer wrote that the newly designed landing page will be more "intuitive and personal." The redesign was tested in January, and now will start rolling out to everyone "over the next few days." The new page is more streamlined than ever, giving more prominence to Yahoo's most notable services: email, news, finance and sports. What's more, Yahoo now has a stream in the vein of Twitter. The stream has an infinite stream of news, as well as social features such as the ability to see content recommended by Facebook friends.

Read More | Yahoo

Tweetbot for Mac 1.2 update brings Vine, Flickr thumbnail support

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,

Tweebot for iOS was updated about two weeks ago to include in-line viewing of Flickr and Vine content, and the same treatment is now available for the Mac version.

In version 1.2, Tweetbot for Mac allows for six-second films, as well as several new upgrades and bug fixes, such as being able to opt-in for notifications for specific Twitter accounts, as well as a new ability to begin messages by dragging videos or images to the app icon. The Mac app of Tweetbot also now features MP4 support and account reordering in the preferences section. Also, the software used is version 1.1 of the Twitter API, which supports a new Costolo and Co. approved UI.

Read More | Tweetbot for Mac

Twitter t.co shortener adds two more characters, shortens tweets

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: News, Social Networks,

If you thought that 140 characters was just not enough to thoroughly get your point across on Twitter, get ready, because any URLs you add to your tweet out are going to make them even shorter.

Starting today, including a URL in your tweet will leave you with 118 characters, or 117 for https links. This tweet reduction was announced in December due to a change in Twitter's t.co link wrapper, which extends the maximum length of links from the previous 20 characters to 22, and 21 to 23 for https. 

What does this mean for you? You'll have two less characters to annoy people with your updates.

Read More | Twitter

Apple iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S are the two best-selling smartphones in the world

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds,

Strategy Analytics already reported that the iPhone 5 was the best-selling smartphone in the US, but now it's saying that Apple extends its dominance worldwide as well. As such, the iPhone 5 sold an estimated 27.4 million units during the fourth quarter of 2012, as compared to Samsung's Galaxy S III selling 15.4 million units. What's more, the iPhone 4S also outsold the S3 with 17.4 million units moved. This gives Apple the two most popular smartphones on the market, with a little over a 20 percent share in the global market.

We reported earlier on how Samsung will be announcing its Galaxy S IV in March, so the tides may change very soon. Until Apple releases the iPhone 5S, that is.