DIABLO 3: GAME REVIEW
The same impressive look continues on to the actual gameplay. Characters were big and richly detailed (especially when wearing more elaborate armor) but nicely scaled to the environments. In other words, the characters are big, but they can still be easily dwarfed by some of the bigger creatures in the game, as the demo proved with that massive spike-wielding demon at the end. While we thought at first that this was a boss, due to its sheer bulk and the complexity of its attacks, it was later confirmed this was just a run-of-the-mill mob, the likes of which you can expect to see on a fairly regular basis. In addition to monsters of various sizes, the enemies in the game will demonstrate a variety of behaviors. During the demo, we saw the Berserker, a large, mace-wielding monster that’s equal parts strength and bad attitude. During a post-announcement game design panel on Diablo III, we also saw the skeletal shield bearer, a slow-moving skeleton wielding a huge shield. Often accompanying larger enemies as support, the shield bearer will be a tough enemy to deal with, as you’ll first have to take out the monster’s shield before attacking it properly. As a result, shield bearers will be ideal support for enemies who are strictly focused on dealing damage.
With different types of monsters on hand, it's fortunate that the character classes in Diablo III will be just as epically powerful as you remember. The Barbarian is still a melee specialist (though not without his specialized ranged attacks). The Barbarian's skills will be familiar to Diablo II fans--we saw the whirlwind in effect, sweeping through scores of enemies--but he’ll have some other tricks up his sleeves (that is, if he wore sleeves), including the sweep, which can blast multiple enemies around him. During the on-stage demo, the Barbarian managed to take down a stone wall on a group of zombies, pointing to more interactive environments throughout the gameplay. While environments won't be fully destructible, you can look forward to many instances, such as this one, where you can use the environment to your advantage, with a certain amount of real physics involved in the destruction.
If the Barbarian is all about wading into the fray with both weapons blazing, the newly announced Witch Doctor is all about variety. He (or she--Diablo III will let you play as a male or female version of your chosen class but will not offer more advanced customization options) will have more straightforward attacks, like the firebomb, which drops fiery death onto the enemy, as well as more interesting attacks that seem more in keeping with the class.
The Witch Doctor will have control over disease, can summon pets, and can even control the minds of his or her enemies. We saw a few examples of these different approaches in the game demo: Locust swarm is a spell that summons a nasty horde of flying locusts that can overwhelm an opponent. Better yet, the locusts will automatically spawn to attack additional enemies in the area. We saw one pet in use too; the mongrel. This pet can attack enemies and can be buffed with other Witch Doctor spells; during the demo, the player cast locust swarm on his mongrel, giving the pet an attack bonus. We also briefly saw the horrify spell, which causes enemies to temporarily flee in terror. By far, his coolest ability was the wall of zombie, which was truly terrifying. If you've seen a wall of fire or ice in a game before, you probably have a pretty good idea of what this skill involves.
At first glance, the Witch Doctor resembles the Necromancer from Diablo II, both in his relatively skinny appearance (at least, when compared to the Barbarian) and through the class abilities (pet summoning, disease control). When asked about it during the gameplay design seminar, Blizzard developers were quick to point out that the Witch Doctor is very much its own class and that its presence in the game wouldn't necessarily require the removal of the Necromancer in Diablo III. In other words, it's conceivable that both classes could end up in Diablo III, even if it looks unlikely to us at this point.
Using new skills will be easier than ever in Diablo III, thanks to a new combat system and user interface that seems to put a premium on skill usage over potions. As explained during the gameplay seminar, Blizzard developers felt that potion use was too prevalent in the previous game, resulting in combat encounters that were rarely more than wars of attrition because the user kept pounding health potions en masse. In another seminar, Jay Wilson, the lead designer, confirmed that the interface would not be customizable with mods; while this is nigh-on essential for World of Warcraft, Wilson said that it would be detrimental in Diablo III and was not on the table.
In Diablo III, potions will still play a part of the action but their importance has been downplayed, thanks to a couple of changes. The first are health globes, which drop off defeated enemies and will serve to boost the health of your character, as well as those around you if you're playing co-operatively. As the developers put it, the idea of enemies dropping health is one that will keep the player moving forward in the game, as opposed to trying to avoid combat. In addition, a new skill toolbar, similar in location to the old potion belt in Diablo II, will make your skills that much more accessible, easily allowing you to switch between skills on the fly. You’ll even be able to swap skills quickly using the roller on your mouse for even more ease of use. The result is a game you’ll likely be able to play almost completely with your mouse; no more hunting for skills using the F key on your keyboard. Here's one more important addition regarding cooperative play: When a character picks up a health globe, any surrounding allies also benefit from that health globe, which seems like it will encourage players to stick together when hacking and slashing their way throughout the game. To our ears, it also makes it sound like practically any class will be able to tank effectively (as long as someone is picking up the health globes and standing nearby), but we'll have to see how it plays out as the game develops.
Random dungeons will still be a big part of Diablo III. In fact, randomness will prevail throughout the game (and we mean that in a good way). In addition to having randomly created dungeons to explore, the developers have introduced random monsters, random loot droops, and new random scripted events into the game to make each play-through a new experience. In terms of monsters and loot, the stage demo alone was proof of that concept--we saw loads of different types of beasts to fight, from snakelike monsters to hulking brutes, like the final big bad beastie. Blizzard didn't go into much detail regarding loot, but we do know that it's hard at work creating custom-designed armor and weapons that will look great, as well as get the job done in the field of combat. More tie-ins with lore with higher-level drops have been promised than was the case in Diablo II, with items being one of the development teams key focuses in increasing your feeling of involvement with the story as you progress. During the demo, we saw the Barbarian decked out in a suit of golden armor with an imposing-looking helmet and wielding a pair of axes: one enchanted with frost; the other with electricity. We also saw him wielding a fire-enchanted two-handed mace, trailing fire impressively as he spun through a crowd of skeletons.
The random scripted events sound like one of the coolest additions to the game. Each play-through, players will encounter scenarios that are quite different from their previous trip through the game. In one area, you might see a house filled with undead enemies--along with a story about the home's former residents. The second time you play through, that same area might contain a caravan that you'll be prompted to escort to safety. The next time that area might simply be filled with monsters just begging for the opportunity to be killed by you. Scripted events look to greatly increase the level of immersion into the world of Diablo III while keeping the player coming back for more at the same time. There will also be a conversation system in the game, which will give voice to your character in the game; more so than the handful of exclamations your character had in the previous game. We hope to learn more about the conversation system for Diablo III over the weekend and will report back with more details.
The New Ipod Shuffle: It can Talk
1.8" tall by 0.3" thin to be exact.
To create the world’s smallest music player, we moved the controls from iPod shuffle to the earbud cord. This allowed us to make the new iPod shuffle dramatically smaller, but not just for dramatically smaller’s sake. It’s also easier to use, with the controls located where you can access them quickly.
Easy-access controls.
The controls of the new iPod shuffle are located on the right earbud cord. With command central now strategically placed in this more convenient location, you can navigate your music — and activate the VoiceOver feature — without taking your eyes off your run, your ride, or whatever you’re doing.Your music library. To go.
There was a time when limited storage meant you had to leave a lot of your songs on the sync-room floor. But now that iPod shuffle has 4GB of storage, you have plenty of room to store hours and hours of music — up to 1,000 songs.* With room for multiple playlists, too.
Fashion tech-cessory.
Even the iPod shuffle clip gets the rock star treatment. Now forged in stainless steel, the clip attaches securely to your shirt, jacket, workout gear, even your backpack. And the sleek, durable anodized aluminum case — available in silver or black — makes iPod shuffle a wardrobe essential. And yes, there’s still room for personalized engraving.
This is huge.
Introducing VoiceOver.
Musically speaking, the new iPod shuffle is brilliant, thanks to an exciting new feature called VoiceOver. Say you’re listening to a song and want to know the title or the artist. With the press of a button, VoiceOver tells you as the music dips down. It even announces the names of your playlists. And when your battery needs charging, VoiceOver tells you that, too.
Multiple playlists.
You’ve probably made multiple playlists in iTunes. One for your commute. One for the gym. One for just chilling out. With the new iPod shuffle, you can sync your playlists and always find the perfect mix for your activity or mood. VoiceOver tells you the name of each playlist, so it’s easy to switch between them and find the one you want without looking.Multi-music-lingual.
A French love song. A Spanish bolero. An Italian cantata. Your music library has songs from all over the world. That’s why VoiceOver speaks 20 different languages. So it can tell you song titles and artists in the correct languages.Shuffle. Straight. Stop.
The shuffle switch has three positions. Flip it to the left, and your music shuffles for a “whatever happens, happens” flow. Flip it to the middle, and your songs play in order. Or flip to the right to turn it off.- *Song capacity is based on 4 minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; in 256-Kbps AAC format, song capacity is up to 500 songs; actual capacity varies by encoding method and bit rate.
Mafia 2 : Game review and Story
Born the son of a poor immigrant, Vito is a beaten down Italian American who is trying to secure his piece of the American Dream. Looking to escape the life of poverty that consumed his childhood, Vito is soon swayed by the lure of power and wealth that a life of Organized Crime can bring.
A petty criminal his whole life, Vito, along with his childhood friend, Joe, will descend into the world of Organized Crime. Together, they will work to prove themselves to the Mob as they try to make their names on the streets of a cold and unforgiving city. Mafia 2 immerses players in the mob underworld of a fictitious late 1940's / early 1950's scenarioThe game engages you in a cinematic Hollywood movie experience in a living, breathing city, fusing high octane gunplay with white knuckle driving and an engaging narrative.
APPLE SNOW LEOPARD OPERATING SYSTEM
SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple's upcoming Mac operating system, Snow Leopard, is an important release for the Cupertino company. Much of that has to do with Microsoft.
Software giant Microsoft is revving its engines in anticipation for its critical follow-up to Vista, called Windows 7, in October. But Apple stuck a branch through Microsoft's spokes at the Worldwide Developers Conference Monday with the announcement of a $29 upgrade price and a September release.
Microsoft, which doesn't have much of a hardware presence to recoup its costs compared with Apple, is unlikely to match that price.
As if that and all of the Windows Vista-bashing that Apple has done in its ad campaigns weren't enough, Bertrand Serlet, Apple senior vice president of OS X software development, took some direct jabs at Windows during his speech.
Serlet started by highlighting the low corporate adoption of Vista. Then, he pointed out how ...
... some of the biggest headaches for developers inherent in Windows will still be there in the upcoming version. Windows 7, Serlet argued, would be just another Vista.
"We come from another place," Serlet said. "We love Leopard."
So Apple went behind the scenes and focused much of its efforts on crafting a sturdier, faster version of its nearly 2-year-old operating system.
Snow Leopard adds some new features, such as an improved version of QuickTime and a feature that integrates the dock with Exposé to simplify switching between windows. It also integrates Microsoft Exchange across key applications, which is designed to sway business users away from Windows.
But there's not much in the way of new bright, flashy features.
Developers, however, get a ton of new kits and gizmos to play around with. And everything is supposed to be a lot more finely tuned. For example, when you install Snow Leopard on top of the current operating system, you actually save hard drive space -- about six gigabytes. Huh?
Retailing as a $29 upgrade for Leopard users, compared with Leopard's $129 price tag at launch in 2007, or $49 for a family pack that's good for five installs, it probably won't be a major revenue driver for Apple.
But the fact that Apple devoted a major chunk of its two-hour keynote to touting the features and technical capabilities of Snow Leopard is telling. True, this was Apple's developers conference, and it's in the company's best interest to get coders excited about the platform.
Still, Apple is doing everything in its power to make users want to upgrade -- and better yet, stay away from Windows.
Toshiba Satellite U500: Weight Matters
Satellite® U500 — Discover a whole new dimension of mobility
* Lightweight design making it easy to carry
* Full-range of multimedia features
* Excellent battery life
some models include:
A Beautiful Textured Finish
The Satellite® U500 laptop is designed with a compact and lightweight case. The stylish textured finish with Matrix pattern comes in different color options – Luxe Brown, Luxe White and Luxe Pink.
Matrix Texture in Luxe Brown
Simplified DVD Play
The slot-loading DVD drive on the Satellite® U500 Series not only simplifies playing your music, movie and gaming discs. It also works great in cramped quarters, and adds to the clean, streamlined looks of this notebook. CDs and DVDs? Just pop them in, sit back and enjoy!
Satellite® U500 Slot-loading Drive
Satellite® U500 Open View
Dazzling Energy-Efficient Viewing
The ideally sized 13.3” TruBrite® HD diagonal display on this laptop is very compact. Yet it brings out color and detail you never thought existed—in movies, photos, websites and more. Plus, its LED design (select models) uses less battery power. So start looking at life in brilliant high definition.
Whether you're a student, traveler or one who wants to stay connected and entertained on the move, look at our lightweight 13.3” Satellite® U500 series. Starting at only 4.5lbs; these laptops offer exceptional style, solid performance and excellent battery life.
Seamless Home Theater Connectivity
Want to go big with your entertainment? Offering support for full 1080p high-definition video* and sound, the HDMI-CEC connection on select models lets you scale up your movies, music and games by tapping into a home theater—and run the show with just a single remote control.
Extra Protection for Your Data
Accidents do happen. So, the Satellite® U500 comes with a hard drive impact sensor that helps safeguard your files and multimedia by “parking” the hard drive heads in the event of drops, jolts or sudden movement.
Additional Features
DVD SuperMulti Optical Drive with Labelflash™
Play your music and watch movies, plus keep your disc collection looking smart and organized with designs and IDs you create.
DVD SuperMulti Optical Drive with Labelflash™
USB Sleep-and-Charge
Power your smart phone and other portables — even when your laptop is off.
learn more »
USB Sleep-and-Charge
Backlit Keyboard
The unique LED backlit keyboard allows you to keep typing when the lights go down.
Backlit Keyboard
Wireless With 802.11a/g/n
Wi-Fi® on this laptop, you’ll enjoy more solid connections at wireless hotspots, and faster downloads too.
Wireless With 802.11a/g/n
The ultra-slim Sony Cybershot DSC-T77
Cyber-shot DSC-T77 Highlights
10.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD image sensor
A powerful 10.1-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch Super HAD CCD image sensor helps you capture gorgeous images with superb contrast and clarity down to the finest detail. With 10.1 megapixels, you can create stunning, photo-quality prints up to A3 size, or crop your images and still come away with high-resolution shots.
Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 4x optical zoom lens
The newly-developed Carl Zeiss Vario- Tessar lens enables close-up shooting up to just 0.4-inch (1cm) from the subject (in Magnifying Glass Mode), while the optical 4x telescopic zoom offers superior visual acuity for a compact digital camera.
3.0-inch Clear Photo LCD Plus touch-screen display
Compose and review images on a 3.0-inch widescreen Clear Photo LCD Plus (230K) display, and use the touch screen to navigate menus, specify where you want the camera to focus, or zoom in on the pictures you've taken for a closer look at details.
BIONZ imaging processor
The BIONZ Imaging Processor delivers the high resolution and fast performance you expect from a Sony digital camera.
Ultra-slim design
The DSC-T77 packs a lot of performance into an ultra-slim design. Measuring less than 5/8-inch (15.0mm), the DSC-T77 is slim enough to slip into a pocket, so you can take it with you wherever you go.
Face Detection technology
Face Detection technology detects up to eight individual faces and controls flash, focus, exposure, and white balance to deliver accurate, natural skin tones with reduced red-eye for beautiful images of family and friends. Face Detection can even distinguish between children and adults, so you can prioritize the camera’s focus on children in the scene for clear images of their memorable moments.
Smile Shutter technology
The popular Smile Shutter technology automatically detects and captures a smiling face. Simply choose the Smiley Face feature and the camera will capture a smile the moment it happens. You can also select subject priority (Adult or Child Priority or touch subject on screen) and indicate the degree of Smile Detection Sensitivity to high (small smile), medium (laugh) or low (grin).
Double Anti-blur solution
The combination of Optical SteadyShot image stabilization and High ISO sensitivity helps compensate for shaky hands, minimizes blur and allows flash-free shooting to preserve the mood.
Optical SteadyShot image stabilization
Optical SteadyShot image stabilization uses a built-in gyro sensor to detect camera shake and automatically shifts the lens to help prevent blur without sacrificing image quality.
High Sensitivity ISO 3200
High ISO allows for faster shutter speed, so you can take pictures indoors or in low light without the need for a flash. In addition to High Sensitivity Mode (ISO), you can select up to eight ISO settings (Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200) when shooting in Program Auto Mode to adjust sensitivity to your shooting conditions.
Intelligent Scene Recognition
Intelligent Scene Recognition (iSCN) Mode automatically detects eight different types of scenes and selects the appropriate camera settings: Backlight, Backlight Portrait, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Twilight using a Tripod, Portrait, Landscape and Macro. iSCN has two modes: Advanced and Auto. In Auto Mode, the camera takes a single shot using the optimal settings. In Advance Mode, the camera takes a picture with the current settings and only if necessary takes a second picture with optimized setting.
Additional Features
* Dynamic Range Optimizer Standard and Plus
* Anti-blink Function
* Red-eye Correction
* Convenient Photo Modes
* MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode
* Semi-manual focus
* 9-Point Auto Focus
* Burst Mode
* Function Guide
* Easy Shooting Mode
* 16:9 High Resolution Mode
* 15MB internal memory
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 :an ultra-slim digital camera
The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 is an ultra-slim digital camera that combines Optical SteadyShot image stabilization and Smile Shutter technology with the convenience of a portable photo album. Take your entire photo library with you and share your pictures on the dazzling, ultra bright 3.5-inch high resolution touch-screen LCD display.
Cyber-shot DSC-T700 Highlights
10.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD image sensor
A powerful 10.1-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch Super HAD CCD image sensor helps you capture gorgeous images with superb contrast and clarity down to the finest detail. With 10.1 megapixels, you can create stunning, photo-quality prints up to A3 size, or crop your images and still come away with high-resolution shots.
3.5-inch Xtra Fine LCD touch-screen display
Compose images on a dazzling 3.5-inch LCD display and use the touch screen to navigate menus, specify focus points, and more. When you've finished shooting, show off your images with spectacular clarity. Featuring 921K pixels, the ultra-bright, high-contrast LCD screen with a wide viewing angle is among the highest resolution screens available on a compact digital camera, and displays your images with astonishing visual clarity.
Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 4x optical zoom lens
The newly-developed Carl Zeiss Vario- Tessar lens enables close-up shooting up to just under 1/2-inch (1cm) from the subject (in Magnifying Glass Mode), while the optical 4x telescopic zoom offers superior visual acuity for a compact digital camera.
BIONZ imaging processor
The BIONZ Imaging Processor delivers the high resolution and fast performance you expect from a Sony digital camera.
Ultra-slim design
The DSC-T700 packs a lot of performance into an ultra-slim design. Measuring just over 5/8-inch (16.4mm), the DSC-T700 is slim enough to slip into a pocket, so you can take it with you wherever you go.
Face Detection technology
Face Detection technology detects up to eight individual faces and controls flash, focus, exposure, and white balance to deliver accurate, natural skin tones with reduced red-eye for beautiful images of family and friends. Face Detection can even distinguish between children and adults, so you can prioritize the camera’s focus on children in the scene for clear images of their memorable moments.
Smile Shutter technology
The popular Smile Shutter technology automatically detects and captures smiling faces. Simply choose the Smiley Face feature and the camera will capture a smile the moment it happens. You can also select subject priority (Adult or Child Priority or touch subject on screen) and indicate the degree of Smile Detection Sensitivity to high (small smile), medium (laugh) or low (grin).
Double Anti-blur Solution
The combination of Optical SteadyShot image stabilization and High ISO sensitivity helps compensate for shaky hands, minimizes blur and allows flash-free shooting to preserve the mood.
Optical SteadyShot image stabilization
Optical SteadyShot image stabilization uses a built-in gyro sensor to detect camera shake and automatically shifts the lens to help prevent blur without sacrificing image quality.
High Sensitivity ISO 3200
High ISO allows for faster shutter speed, so you can take pictures indoors or in low light without the need for a flash. In addition to High Sensitivity Mode (ISO), you can select up to eight ISO settings (Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200) when shooting in Program Auto Mode to adjust sensitivity to your shooting conditions.
Intelligent Scene Recognition
Intelligent Scene Recognition (iSCN) Mode automatically detects eight different types of scenes and selects the appropriate camera settings: Backlight, Backlight Portrait, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Twilight using a Tripod, Portrait, Landscape and Macro. iSCN has 2 modes: Advanced and Auto. In Auto Mode, the camera takes a single shot using the optimal settings. In Advance Mode, the camera takes a picture with the current settings and only if necessary takes a second picture with optimized setting.
Dynamic Range Optimizer Standard and Plus
Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO) Standard and Plus uses a sophisticated algorithm to determine the best exposure and contrast settings for almost any shooting environment. The result is more natural images with clearer details that more closely match what your naked eye sees. DRO is particularly effective when shooting backlit portraits or any scene with a dramatic contrast between background and foreground lighting. DRO Plus allows for even greater optimization by analyzing each region of an image and performing additional image processing.
Additional Features
* Anti-blink Function
* Red-eye Correction
* Convenient photo modes
* MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode
* Semi-manual focus
* 9-Point Auto Focus
* Burst Mode
* Function Guide
* Easy Shooting Mode
* 16:9 High Resolution Mode
Smile Shutter technology Optical SteadyShot(R) image stabilization High Sensitivity ISO 3200 Intelligent Scene Recognition Dynamic Range Optimizer Standard and Plus - determines the best exposure and contrast settings for almost any shooting environment Anti-blink Function - captures two images, recording only the photo with less squinting Red-eye Correction 16 - 9 HD 1920x1080 images MPEG Movie Mode - Capture VGA (640 x 480) audio/video clips at a frame rate of up to 30 frames per second and a maximum time of approximately 10 minutes Semi-manual focus - specify the camera's approximate focus distance 4GB internal memory Memory Stick Duo or PRO Duo Media slot HD output adapter cable Password Lock Sharemark and Picture Motion Browser (PMB) Portable - pre-select images and videos in the camera to later upload them from the camera to popular Internet sharing sites Dimensions - 3 3/4 x 2 3/8 x 21/32 in. (95.0 x 58.4 x 16.4 mm)
Technical Details
* 10.1-megapixel Super HAD CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 8 x 10-inch prints
* Carl Zeiss 4x optical zoom lens; Optical SteadyShot image stabilization
* 3.5-inch Xtra Fine LCD touch-screen display; Face Detection and Smile Shutter technologies
* Intelligent Scene Recognition; Dynamic Range Optimizer Standard and Plus
* 15 MB internal memory; capture images to Memory Stick Duo/Pro Duo media
