iPhone Turns 5, Now Available Prepaid at Virgin Mobile

Who would have thought the iPhone would be a $150 billion goliath five years after its introduction, with more than 250 million handsets sold around the world?

Certainly not the competition, which in 2007 included heavyweights like Nokia, Research in Motion and the now defunct Palm. These smartphone rivals had six months to prepare for the iPhone after its debut at Macworld Expo, finally hitting retail stores on June 29 - five years ago today.

The competitors left standing are feeling the pain of their inaction today as Apple remarkably continues to sell three out of the five models, with a sixth generation handset likely on the way this fall.

Apple is also leaving no stone unturned, with the iPhone 4S and previous generation iPhone 4 finally available at prepaid carriers across the United States.

The second in what's sure to be a long list of pay-as-you-go carriers to land the iconic handset is Virgin Mobile, the Sprint subsidiary who rolls out the iPhone on Friday, perhaps not so coincidentally timed with the handset's fifth anniversary.

In addition to being available wherever Virgin Mobile products are sold -- which includes Target, RadioShack and Best Buy, among others -- the company has opened 10 of its own branded retail stores across Chicago today. If successful, Virgin plans to roll out the red carpet at retail nationwide in the months ahead.

"This month marks Virgin Mobile USA's tenth birthday," said Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group. "And what better way to thank our fans for ten years of loyalty than by giving them exactly what they want: the perfect plan for the perfect phone. That is the essence of 'A Higher Calling.'"

Virgin Mobile now offers the 16GB iPhone 4S for $649 or the 8GB iPhone 4 for $549, with three unlimited text and data plans ranging from $30 to $50 per month, depending on how many voice minutes are required.

Source : ign[dot]com

London 2012 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games PS3 Review

To describe London 2012 as one of the best Olympic-themed videogames ever is to damn it with faint praise - let’s face it, there’s not an awful lot of competition. It speaks volumes that hoary old titles like Daley Thompson’s Decathlon and California Games are often still considered the yardstick by which other Olympic sports games are judged – discounting, of course, Mario and Sonic’s attempts to reinvigorate the event. Although it’s flawed, a rare amount of thought and effort has gone into this edition, for which we can only applaud the development team at Sega Studios Australia.

Its necessarily broad remit is problematic in the sense that no event can possibly receive the same level of attention and care as a game based on a single sport, and so it’s only natural that some events come off better than others. Still, it’s refreshing to find that track events are not the kind of puddle-deep button-mashers we’ve grown used to. Instead, races require you to keep a gauge in the green to maintain top speed – hammer away as fast as you possibly can, and you’ll overfill the meter, causing your athlete to slow up. The idea works particularly well in the 200m and is further complicated by an additional energy bar in the tricky 400m races. Then again, such an approach is not quite so fitting for the sprint, where stamina conservation is hardly the first thing on an athlete’s mind. It’s hard to criticise the developer for trying something a little different, but it would have made more sense for this one event to be focused entirely on speed.

Elsewhere, field events make smart use of the analogue stick to determine the trajectory of your leaps and throws.  The triple jump is particularly testing, asking you to flick the left stick three times at 45 degree angles to gain the optimum distance, while the high jump requires a sharper angle still, then a timed button-press when airborne to lift your legs over the bar. The javelin and shot put, meanwhile, require you to flick the stick upwards as an angle meter descends, with around 35 degrees resulting in a perfect throw. This isn’t just a case of identical mechanics with slightly different clothing: each game has its own systems, which are clearly and concisely explained by the pleasingly brisk tutorials. However, there’s no way to practice an event, and given that you don’t always get a proper test run in the tutorial, this proves problematic in events where you have a single shot at glory.

Away from the stadium, things are a little more hit and miss. Swimming events involve a rare bit of rapid tapping as you power through the water before surfacing to a more rhythmic form of play, as you time downward strokes of the two analogue sticks when your swimmer’s arms are fully extended. Mastering the timing isn’t as simple as it sounds, and rather than patronising you with repeated prompts, the game leaves it up to you to figure out the right tempo for each event. Either way, it’s much more involving than the diving and gymnastic events, which play out as nothing more than extended QTEs where you select a routine and attempt to pull it off with timed button presses.

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Away from the stadium, things are a little more hit and miss.

With momentum handled automatically, your involvement feels limited, and the weak feedback can make the judge’s scoring seem capricious. At least they’re an improvement on the awful beach volleyball event, ironically enough the ugliest event of the lot. It’s particularly disappointing when you consider Sega also published Beach Spikers, arguably the finest beach volleyball game ever made.

Shooting events are equally mixed. Skeet shooting initially suffers from sluggish controls, but after a while becomes too easy.  The pistol-based alternative, however, is great, with the increasingly tight time limits often forcing wayward shots as you attempt to hit the bullseye of five targets. Talking of bullseyes, archery is another highlight, using both analogue sticks to engaging effect as you battle the wind to outscore your rivals.

It’s in the more unique events that London 2012 is at its best. At first, table tennis can feel clumsy, but its right stick shot controls prove surprisingly flexible, and against a similarly skilled opponent, it’s possible to wow the crowd with extended rallies. Kayaking is made to sound dauntingly complex by the uncommonly wordy tutorial, but in practice is straightforward yet challenging. The sole rowing event, meanwhile, benefits from a terrific control scheme that has you squeezing and releasing both triggers to glide through the water at Eton Dornay. Getting into a perfect rhythm is enormously satisfying and it’s exhilarating to pull past an opponent just as you both cross the line.

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You’re better off creating your own playlist of events so you have a wider choice.

The main single-player game gives you a series of events to compete in over several days, with qualifying and finals for each. You have a limited number of restart tokens to play if you perform poorly, but otherwise it’s a fairly basic framework for the roster of activities. There’s no RPG-style levelling system, and no opportunity to train or manage your athletes. You can customise their appearance or rename them, but this is no career mode. In fact, you’re better off creating your own playlist of events so you have a wider choice compared with the game’s limited selection.

For the multiplayer element, you’re first asked to select a country to represent, with your achievements adding to a global score: a neat idea that adds an extra frisson to online encounters. Again, you can create a playlist of events to take part in if you fancy something more substantial than a quick race. In events that are naturally asynchronous, players take their turn simultaneously, with scores or times shown between rounds. It’s a pity you’re not able to witness any of your opponents’ feats of skill (or ineptitude) but the applause and mockery can be saved for the local multiplayer games.

Of these, the Motion Party Play option offers just 13 events, only a handful of which offer any kind of variation on the norm. Throwing javelins at targets is fleetingly amusing, but while removing the gates for kayaking makes for a chaotic sprint to the finish, it’s not a particularly inspiring or inventive twist on the regular event. While the events themselves might not be anything new, the Move controls give some of them a fresh feel. Cycling uses tilt controls to fine effect, while the shooting elements naturally benefit from the ability to aim directly at the screen, including archery, which features support for two controllers. Gesture-based events, however, don’t really show the wand in its best light: during kayaking you may regularly be alerted to the fact that the Eye camera can’t see the controller, while the sprint suffers from a similar kind of imprecision to the Kinect controls. If you have a choice of both console versions, the PS3 just about has the edge, though in both games most players will likely revert to the standard pad setup.

For an Olympic game, the presentation is surprisingly strong. Sure, the character models won’t give Naughty Dog sleepless nights, but for the most part they’re well-drawn and decently animated. It’s as vibrantly colourful as sports games get – as if Sega Studios Australia has raided AM2’s primary-coloured palette for the skies and arenas, making London seem like the brightest, happiest place in the world. The hearty cheers from the crowd roaring a good performance helps create a sense of excitement, as does some enthusiastic contextual commentary from broadcaster Seth Bennett and former 400m athlete Allison Curbishley. There’s even a typically cheesy Sega announcer for Party Play mode.

Source : ign[dot]com

Samsung Galaxy S3 review

We all held our breath, expecting the revolution. In part, it was Samsung’s fault, surrounding their announcement with shallow digs at the competition and promising to set the bar so high we’d have to squint to see it.  But as they revealed the pebble-shaped Galaxy S3, I was left in doubt. This can’t be a revolutionary phone - it’s ugly.

No two ways about it, the Samsung Galaxy S3 is just not a photogenic phone. No matter how many official photos you look through, it always looks a little shiny, a little uninspired. A smudge-magnet with a weird camera and speaker setup that mars its back. Fortunately, looks can be deceiving.

While the phone certainly picks up more smudges than we’d prefer, the pebble-blue color is incredibly striking (white is, well, white). After we’d grown accustomed to the shape, we not only liked the way it looked, but the way it felt.

“ the Samsung S3 is simply not the prettiest phone on the market.

The pebble shape helps distribute the phone’s weight, and even at 133g (or .29 pounds), the phone felt as light or lighter than the HTC One X (130 grams), and loads lighter than the compact iPhone 4S (140 grams).

If we had to describe this phone in a single word: sleek. The feel, the color, even the weird water drop overlay and gushy sound effects all scream of its sleekness.

But even after growing accustomed to it, the Samsung S3 is simply not the prettiest phone on the market. Could Samsung seize the throne through sheer power?

While the UK received a 1.4GHz quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM, the US version received a 1.5GHz dual-core processor with an extra gig of RAM. While it’s a bit of a bummer to lose the quad-core, the phone pretty much outperformed any phones we’ve tested recently and felt unsurprisingly snappy. Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay rarely feels bloated or over encumbers Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

But it’s not all great, royal sleekness and our first major complaint is the phone’s humdrum camera. It’s not just that the S3 stuck with an 8MPs years after they released the 8MP S2, but rather that nothing seems to have improved since then. The lens still seems mediocre, and the phone still struggles with low-light. Even the iPhone 4’s camera mops the floor with this phone’s, and that’s a problem.

The camera software is a good deal better than it has been in the past, delightfully stripped of ridiculous or redundant options and, obviously, with the increased power of the phone, pictures can be snapped, saved, and snapped again in fractions of the time it used to take – meaning you’ll get better pictures in the long run.

There’s no dedicated camera button. In fact, there’s not many dedicated hardware buttons at all. Samsung has foregone all hardware buttons except a volume rocker, lock button, and home button in favor of a smooth chassis. The two buttons on either side of the home button are touch capacitive, and disappear into the body when not in use, lighting up only when activated. Interestingly, the S3 has opted for a back button and a menu button, as opposed to Ice Cream Sandwich’s preferred back and recent app buttons – but this works in the phone’s favor.

Without the hardware buttons, all the focus is on the S3’s 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD at a 1280 x 720 resolution. While the display is bright and crisp, it’s just not in the same league as the HTC One X’s LCD screen or Apple’s Retina Displays. Further exacerbating our display woes was the S3’s tendency to leave the phone a bit too dark, especially indoors.

There’s a handful of features that add to the newness of the device, but ultimately feel more like gimmicks than actual fully-developed features. Take, for instance, Direct Call, which allows you to call whomever you’re texting by lifting your ear to call them automatically. None of these anemic features are detrimental to the product, because none fall as flat as S Voice does.

S Voice is Samsung’s answer to Apple’s Siri, and it’s really not much of an answer at all.

While Siri suffers from near-constant hiccups, S Voice still sucks a good deal worse. The difference is Siri is at least covered under the pretense of being in Beta. No such excuse exists for S Voice. To be honest, I’m not even sure I completely like this talk to your phone fad. When it works it seems novel, and when it doesn't it leaves you feeling embarrassed, not just that you're talking to your phone, but that your phone doesn't even understand you.

The phone froze up a few more times than we were comfortable with and a vast majority of these freezes were during S Voice. Hopefully, like Siri, S Voice will keep improving, but for now it feels more like a “me too” than a meaningful addition.

That might seem like a lot of negativity, but rest assured, none of these half-baked features are directly harmful to the S3 if you just don’t use them. The S3 has more than enough gems in its crown without them.

While LTE is a notorious battery killer, the Samsung Galaxy S3 faired well even after a day of intermittent internet surfing. Even better, the 2100mAH battery is replaceable, so after a year or so of use, you can swap your slightly burned out battery for a little extra juice.

Except for T-Mobile’s weird $279 price tag, all major carriers are offering a 16GB version for $199. That makes it comparable to the HTC One X and iPhone 4S, and well worth the price.

This is easily one of the best phones on the market, and is currently only rivaled by the HTC One X and EVO 4G LTE. While we prefer the EVO’s design, and HTC’s overlay (Sense 4.0) is certainly prettier than TouchWiz, the Samsung Galaxy S3 and TouchWiz beats the competitors at just about every other turn.

Of course, Samsung’s been notoriously bad with software updates, and with Jelly Bean right around the corner, it’s up to Samsung to make sure the S3 feels as fresh as it should in a month.

Until then, the S3 gets its rightful place at the throne.



Source : ign[dot]com

Game Against Kate Upton… For a Good Cause

As gamers, we live for that moment of triumph: edging an opponent in a close online match, scoring the winning goal, passing the competition seconds from the finish line. But how much better would that feel if your win also helped to save lives? Gamers will get a chance to find out June 1st, when the first-ever (RED)RUSH Games tournament kicks off, and they can join in the fight against AIDS by doing what comes naturally: competing to win.

“Gaming is a passion for millions of people around the world, and (RED) is going to tap into that passion to get people focused and engaged in our efforts to help deliver an AIDS Free Generation by 2015,” said Deborah Dugan, (RED) CEO.  “We’re giving gamers an incredibly fun way to compete in a world-class tournament while doing good at the same time."

Not only will gamers get the opportunity to help (RED)RUSH TO ZERO (going on June 1-10) build on the staggering $190 million the organization has already raised, but participants will have the opportunity to win prizes, including tickets to the upcoming MTV Movie Awards  and the opportunity to game against celebrities like Kate Upton, Jorge Garcia, Michelle Rodriguez and Kris Allen.

IGN is the official media sponsor of the (RED)RUSH Games, and will be bringing you full coverage of the event from E3, where the tournament will have a huge presence. The (RED)RUSH Games are being powered by STiKS GAMING, a new platform that allows gamers to register their Gamer IDs, sign up for teams, and game for charity to "battle for a better world."

“(RED) is one of the most respected, and innovative causes in the world, and we are honored to launch the STiKSGAMING platform with The (RED)RUSH Games,” stated STiKS GAMING partner Brett Claywell.  “We are excited to unite gamers in support of a global cause, and look forward to building a strong community in an effort to better the world while having some fun.”

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We’re giving gamers an incredibly fun way to compete in a world-class tournament while doing good at the same time. --Deborah Dugan. (RED) CEO

Gamers can get involved immediately in the (RED)RUSH Games effort by visiting STIKSGAMING.com. The tournament will pit two teams against one another: TEAM INSPI(RED) and TEAM POWE(RED). After signing up on STIKSGAMING.com, gamers will get to choose which team they'd like to represent, and after making a small donation (as little as $10 USD), they will get to select a platform (PS3 or Xbox 360), and choose from a variety of games to compete in. Games in the tournament include EA Sports FIFA Soccer 12, EA Sports NHL 12, 2K Sports' NBA 2K12, KINECT SPORTS Season 2, and Forza Motorsport 4.

STiKS GAMING partner Michael Wasserman explains. "Once you make the donation and enter the system, that $10 is turned into a certain amount of points… As you accumulate points, you can then use those points to have the opportunity to play against your favorite celebrity who is part of the campaign."

After playing in a match against another (RED)RUSH gamer, wins and losses will be recorded on the STiKS GAMING website, each player's accomplishments will count toward the team score, and their donations will count toward the team's efforts to raise money for the cause.

"We narrowed the issue from just AIDS in general to one Millennium Goal which is quantifiable," said Dugan. The virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is the ultimate goal, and will be instrumental in halting the spread of HIV/AIDS by the target date of 2015.

During E3, the (RED)RUSH Games will be in full swing, and celebrities will be in attendance to play their games against each other and online against contest winners. Show goers will get the opportunity to visit the (RED)RUSH booth on the E3 floor and get a taste of the Games live. The booth will feature huge video screens to capture the celebrity gaming action, a live DJ and private gaming rooms.

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We are excited to unite gamers in support of a global cause --Brett Claywell, STiKS GAMING partner

"The booth is designed for two main purposes. It's designed to give celebrities the opportunity to play from our booth against donors around the world, and for us to put on big exhibitions to create awareness at E3, with a huge jumbotron screen where people can watch celebrities battle each other," said Wasserman.

In addition to those already mentioned, celebrities involved include Wayne Brady,  Chingy , Samantha Ronson, Michael B. Jordan, Scott Porter, Ryan Cabrera, DJ Colleen Shannon, Aldis Hodge, Al Shearer, Kerli, Brian White, Cobi Jones, Stephen "tWitch" Boss, iLuminate, Chad "Madd Chadd" Smith and Fatal1ty. And the list keeps growing. "Every day, we're getting more and more people in," said Dugan.

Gamers can track who will be at E3 gaming at various times. Donors to (RED) who register through the STIKSGAMING.com site can have the opportunity to play celebrities two ways: by gaining points or by entering into a sweepstakes where they will enter a code to play a particular celebrity.

Players who participate will have a stake in a global effort to halt the spread of HIV. Once the goal is met, Dugan says, "There's culturally a victory lap at the end. You can actually check a box and say, 'We did this.' All these gamers came together for the first time in such a huge way, and we'd like to do it every year."

Stay tuned to IGN throughout E3 for updates on the (RED)RUSH Games, including celebrity gaming interviews and more.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/30/game-against-kate-upton-for-a-good-cause

AU: Crack the Code and Win with Xbox!

IGN AU and Xbox Australia have teamed up to bring you the latest clue in the epic Xbox Crack the Code competition! 'The Code' is a combination of 16 digits, made up of the X,Y, A or B buttons on an Xbox 360 controller. Crack the Code first and win a year’s supply of Xbox 360 games. There are billions of possible combinations, so you’ll need to find the clues scattered across the web and decide whether to work with the community, or against it, in your pursuit of glory. Here's your clue:

‘‘The first half is split evenly between the two ends of the alphabet’’

If you think you've figured it out, head to xbox.com.au/crackthecode and give it a crack!

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/21/au-crack-the-code-and-win-with-xbox