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StarCraft II Wings of Liberty

The long wait is here!!! The first PC game that caught my attention way back in 1998 and caused endless hours of playing and sleepless nights of trying to finish episodes has released its second installment. Today, July 27, 2010 is the official release date of one of the world’s greatest real-time strategy game, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. This game as we all know was developed by Blizzard Entertainment as the sequel of one of the most successful video game, StarCraft. Together with its expansion pack, StarCraft: Brood War, it captured a big niche for gamers that are in dire need of a superb strategy game. The storyline is well-written and the campaign episodes are exciting to play, as well as the network game.

Blizzard’s other renowned games that proved to be worth playing are WarCraft, a real-time strategy game and Diablo, an action role-playing game. The former has several installments already and the latter has a second installment; Diablo II with expansion pack; Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and is now finalizing the third installment, Diablo III. WarCraft has indeed evolved to be one of the well-played games of all time because of its franchise set from WarCraft: Orcs and Humans, WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness, WarCraft III: Rein of Chaos and to the most successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), the World Of WarCraft.

I remembered the times when I almost skip classes because I was not aware that I played for so long that it is past my bedtime already. But I studied diligently in school to prevent my parents from grounding me for being addicted to this magnificent game. I together with millions of other people across other countries and continents are waiting for this new game to be released. Teasers are produced by the developers and several characters were introduced and the game itself is upgraded. The graphics are so crisp that it is really a joy to simply watch the characters do their thing! It is also so nice to see that some of the old characters and buildings were retained. But of course, as a new chapter or new episodes of our favorite games are developed, we are expecting more innovations and new introductions. As for my favorite race; the Terran, several new units were introduced, such as the Thor, Marauder, Reaper, Hellion, Viking, Medivac, Raven and Banshee. I will not explain their attributes as this can be seen on their official homepage. As for the next race; the Protoss, new units such as Stalker, Sentry, Immortal, Collosus, Phoenix, Void Ray and Mothership graced the game. For the ravaging Zerg, the Baneling, Overseer, Roach, Infestor, Corruptor, Nydus Worm and Brood Lord are good additions to the voracious swarm. The heroes and characters also make a return from the last expansion set like Jim Raynor and Arcturus Mengsk for the Terran, Zeratul for the Protoss and Sarah Kerrigan for the Zerg.

These new units have their own advantages and there are units that can counter this. New maps are drawn and the entire playing field is restructured to be almost 3D like. It is so much overwhelming to see the new episode to be entirely.

Even if there are pirated copies spawned everywhere of the beta version, there is no doubt that I will prefer to purchase the original game. Let us support the fight against pirate syndicates. If this heinous crime will be tolerated, there will be no room for companies to produce and develop more games and the doom for the gaming industry altogether.

I don’t know if we are on the right year or if we are lagging behind in technology where we should already have achieve; but if we are on the right track and everything is in the right order, then well this is a huge leap in technology. After watching this video, it made me stare in a blank wall. It clearly shows that everything that we watched before in sci-fi films can happen and probably be knocking already in our front door, waiting to be let in.

I rarely admire Indians unless he or she is an extraordinary individual with a capacity to change the world. But Pranav Mistry is not just any normal individual. Genius is what I can describe of him with an extreme appetite for innovation.

I thought this would happen in the next 20 or 50 years, but watch how this genius showed the world that everything is possible. He already holds the key in probably the greatest invention of the millennium.

Please watch the entire video…

Just as Google made public its new smartphone, the Nexus One, here comes Apple with its latest innovation… the iPad.

Yeah you see it right and I am not dumb to misspell it. The new Apple tablet has just been unveiled by no other than Mr. Steve Jobs and it is like an oversized iPhone in size and in its features.

The 9.7 inch display and half an inch thick and just weighs one and a half pound comes with the same 16 and 32 GB of flash memory storage. It boasts of 10 hours of battery life and a month for standby time.

It has a built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities for Internet usage and a nearly full-size keypad. Basically it can load and run any application that you can run on your iPhone.

It is a tablet PC which is just larger than the iPhone but smaller than the normal laptop.

The price is the real attention grabber. You can purchase one for only $499! Yes you see it right, only $499 for the 16GB model and $599 for the 32GB model. Also a 64GB model is expected to cost $699.

3G models are also expected to be released which is much pricier than the basic models.

It is also announced that AT&T will offer units with data plan.

Experts says that there is nothing much to expect than getting a larger screen for an iPhone or iTouch. Also, some missing features are the built-in camera and Flash is still not supported for the Web browser.

The only thing that may lure consumers in this new innovation from Apple is the price; which for many may or may not be a big factor because features are better weighed than the price tag.

Nexus One might be the only smartphone in the market that could beat iPhone in the next couple of months or years. Search Engine giant Google released the Nexus One on January 5, 2010 and critics are anxious on how well it could fare with the iPhone.

There are many advantages and disadvantages this new rival phone has with iPhone. But the very prominent now is the Nexus One comes unlocked. Whereas in iPhone, it is locked with AT&T. Many would-be users will certainly be enticed in checking out this phone because they do not need to sign a contract with AT&T.

The Internet Search Engine giant’s Android operating system real advantage is being an open-source platform, application developers can simply write a program and see it run instantly; whereas in Apple, they needed approval for up to 15 days.

Nexus One also boasts improved speed. The camera capabilities are also enhanced by a 5-megapixel resolution with built-in flash. IPhone only has 3.2-megapixel camera.

The speed difference lies on the latest SnapDragon processor from Qualcomm runs on 1GHz. Apple only runs at 600MHz.

Other hardware features are as follows: 512 MB of RAM, 512 MB internal storage, 4 GB microSD card, light sensors, Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi capability and GPS receiver. Also noise cancellation is greatly improved by two microphones. It is also noted that the screen of Nexus One is much larger than that of the iPhone. It has a trackball that illuminates on different notifications.

It works on GSM network, so it might not have any issues on other carriers worldwide.

Initially, it was released on January 5, 2010 on Google’s new web store at $529. You may also sign for a two-year contract with T-Mobile for $179.

I’m very much excited with this new smartphone rivaling the undefeated lord of smartphones, the iPhone. I cannot wait for its release in my area.

Can you believe this? This is one great leap in the innovation on the camera technology. This is the world’s first camera with built-in projector. It is really unexpected in a camera. Usually, customers will start checking how many megapixel the resolution is, but what I did not expect is this fantastic feature that up to now I cannot imagine that it is possible to integrate.

Below are the awesome features:

• 12.1 megapixel
• 5X zoom
• 2.7-in. high-resolution LCD monitor with anti-reflection coated cover
• 16 handy scene modes for optimized shooting in various settings
• D-Lighting and Active Zoom
• Four movie modes with sound
• Approx. 36 MB of internal memory
• Faster shutter speeds when shooting in low light or capturing fast-moving subjects.
• Face-priority AF helps produce more satisfying portraits by adjusting focus and exposure for as many as 12 faces in the framed shot.
• Skin Softening function detects and analyzes a framed subject’s skin, and then adjusts smoothness to produce enhanced results.
• Smile Timer automatically releases the shutter when the subject smiles, while its Blink Proof function shoots two sequential frames, then saves the one in which the subject’s eyes are widest open.
• Blink Warning presents an alert when it suspects that someone in the shot has blinked. In-Camera Red-Eye Fix automatically corrects any perceived red-eye effect before saving the image to memory.

When you are using it as a projector for the images, image size can be up to 40 inches and the projection distance can be up to 2 meters.

Available color is black and warm silver.

What more can I say…I really want this baby!

I drive a car, a truck to be specific. It is not brand new and my father own it. There are several dents, scratches and other problems in the body as well in the engine itself. I wanted to buy a new sedan or may be an SUV, or probably a truck again. I also entertain the idea of purchasing a used one if I have the opportunity and money.

I heard ways on how to purchase one without exhausting all of your savings for the car of your dreams. One of which is by financing. I find Autropolis to be the one-stop location for all of my question in regards on owning a car.

You’ll be able to judge properly and check for the best options and rates for the car make and model that you want. You can browse through their wide selections of brand new and used sedan, SUV, trucks, wagon and vans.

We actually owned a Nissan Powerpickup and right now I’m in the process of rebuilding it. My uncle owned a Kia van. An accident due to overheating lead it to change its engine block. My uncle then looked for some Used Kia engine block to make it running again.

If only he bought it as a brand new vehicle, then he might get Kia Rebates. But because he only needed a Used Kia engine block, then at this point in time, he will not purchase a new one..just not yet. But if in the near future he will need a new one, I will surely recommend Autotropolis to make his decision making easier. It featured a buying guide and very wide selection for all that is interested in purchasing a brand new vehicle or a used one. Also, good thing is that it also provided list of car dealers in your location, what more can you ask for?!

Palm is back in the game!

Palm has unveiled the latest smartphone that it will launch in the first half of 2009, the Palm Pre. It will be available initially with Sprint but the release date was not yet announced.

The new phone was introduced last Thursday, January 8 at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It featured the new operating system, Palm webOS. This is a new OS built by Palm to fully support internet connectivity and the applications are inter-related.

The specification of the Palm Pre will kept you on the edge. Listed below are what you gonna be getting with this phone:

• High-speed wireless (EV-DO Rev. A or HSDPA, depending on version)
• 802.11b / g WiFi
• Integrated GPS
• 3.1-inch 24-bit color 480 x 320 display
• Dedicated gesture area below display
• Slide-out portrait QWERTY keyboard
• Exchange email support in addition to POP and IMAP
• IM, MMS, and SMS messaging
• High-performance browser
• 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and “extended depth of field”
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP
• 8GB of internal storage
• USB mass storage mode
• MicroUSB connectivity with USB 2.0
• Proximity sensor for detecting when phone is near face
• Light sensor to automatically dim display
• Ringer mute switch
• Removable rechargeable battery
• 59.57 x 100.53 x 16.95mm closed
• 4.76 ounces

As much as I would like to get my hands on this, but there are still no announcement if a GSM version will be released in the near feature.

As the name implies, this is a prelude for bigger things to come from Palm! There is so much to write about this new smartphone from Palm and I couldn’t explain more. Just check out their website for update and information.

One breakthrough in science that I am excited to witness is the announcement of Carbon Sciences on transforming CO2 or Carbon Dioxide into Fuel.

This is one discovery that can really help ease our problem with global warming, not to mention the problem of every nation in regards to the ever rising prices of fossil fuel.

According to reports, 28 billion metric tons of CO2 is being released into the atmosphere each year, and this development can greatly help in our drive to help conserve our depleting natural resources, preventing ridiculous price hike for fossil fuel because of increased demand and low supply and of course to prevent further damage to our atmosphere and global warming.

This new technology will make use of inexpensive, renewable biomolecules to act as catalyst in the transformation of CO2 into basic hydrocarbon building blocks, and in turn can be used as basic fuel for different kinds of machines that uses it.

It is great to know that this process will close the carbon loop and recycling emissions.

What do you think will be the opinion of the big oil players about this discovery? If this will be implemented, this will surely fire a big blow in the oil industry.

You may check out Carbon Sciences website for more information about the process.

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Sony has announced at the Liepzig Games Convention that it will release its updated version of the PSP, which is the PSP 3000. Actually, this gadget is now available in Europe and was launched last October 15 for $291.

The main feature of this unit was the improved screen with no glare and it has a built-in mic.

There is no much difference between the PSP 2000 and 3000 except for the improvement in the screen which is much brighter and more vivid than before. However, both units weren’t playable under direct sunlight, but you can see the significant improvement in the 3000.

The side was also more rounder and the UMD cover at the back was redesigned.

Well, for me it’s a good improvement on the old one, but only minor details were added and if you still have the old and preferred the newer version, I guess you should wait a little while and Sony might release a much better unit.

Information from some sources that the price tag is $199.99 in the US for the PSP 4GB Memory Entertainment Pack. It comes with PSP-3000, 4G Memory Stick PRO Duo and a PLAYSTATION Network Voucher.

There is also no information yet if this version will be released in the Philippines in the near future.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

During their Fall Press Conference, the Japanese gaming company Nintendo will be releasing the new DS that has a digital camera where player can mix photos and create new faces. The Nintendo Dsi will officially launch in Japan on November 1, 2008 for $180 and will be available overseas next year.

Now, one in every six Japanese already owned a DS, but Nintendo’s goal now is to make this toy a must-have for every Japanese.

The newly improved Dsi is much thinner and has a bigger screen. It also came with an audio player and able to store sound in memory card.

Nintendo has already sold 77.5 million DS worldwide, and nearly 23 million in Japan alone outselling its rival Sony PlayStation Portable or PSP with 10 million in Japan and 41 million worldwide.