Xperia Z2 - The best ever smartphone, only from Sony

This is an amazing looking piece of hardware - very tempting indeed given the recording qualities and the fitness hardware links...Sony look back to their best with this...

A right Smart Glass...

As an avid Xbox user, I have been playing about with Smart Glass for a few months. Smart Glass is an app that Microsoft released to allow your smartphone or tablet to act as a companion device to your gaming console. It can act as a remote control complete with swiping the screen control for moving around the Xbox interface, as an adjunct to your gaming experience, as another screen for playing back your Xbox media or a browser controller that is more familiar than using the gaming controller.

It is undoubtedly a very cool move by Microsoft, especially since they took the bold decision to create an app for a number of platforms. Old-thinking Microsoft would have only made it available on Windows Phone, giving it zero traction, but it can thankfully run on pretty much anything, ensuring a broad appeal amongst the Xbox user base.

The current usage options are a great start but I believe the system is only now scratching the surface. Only a few games have integrated in to it in any way but at simplistic levels (e.g. stats whilst playing Halo 4) and once the Smart Glass becomes more integral to the gaming experience it should be an even bigger boost to the platform. I could imagine a scenario where the gamer is fighting his/her way through a level in a first-person shooter and reaches a locked door that requires the lock to be picked. This might take the form of a puzzle that runs on the Smart Glass that needs to be completed before proceeding, bringing a focus to this narrow element of the gameplay that takes the gamer out of the big screen action and down to a macro level. Another example might be to have Halo’s Cortana (if she’s still alive of course!) solely depicted and talking from out of the Smart Glass device in the next game, mirroring many of the interactions Master Chief has with her throughout the various Halo games. It could also easily mimic many of the uses seen in the tablet controller that comes with the rival Wii U but without the heft.

The possibilities for Smart Glass are limitless really, especially as second screen devices such as tablets and phones get more powerful and it will be a platform that is worth watching closely, especially as we near the unveiling of the next Xbox. I also have little doubt that a similar approach will be used in the rumoured Android-based gaming platform Google are working on....

Geeksphone Peak - The First Firefox Phone - Unboxing & Hands-On

Good video showcasing the rather tasty Geeksphone Peak Firefox OS mobile phone....looking forward to getting one of these and switching to it as my main phone....

Firefox OS....beyond the browser and in your pocket

Not content with ruling the mobile operating system space under the guise of Android and the upcoming (and awesome) Ubuntu for Mobile, Linux has another trick up its sleeve with the impending release of Firefox OS, an operating system based on the popular browser.

The approach is not entirely brand new as the failed Palm (then HP) WebOS attempted to deliver web-based mobile services but couldn't get traction in an emerging market but Firefox already has a strong market presence and loyal user base familiar with its HTML5 code base. Cleverly their target market is not mature ones like North America or Europe but rather emerging ones where the web is still taking root and the smartphone is not the norm. By making the OS run well on less than cutting edge spec hardware and giving the software away, they are positioning their ecosystem to take a strong run at global popularity.

The first devices hit the shelves next week via the Spain-based Geeksphone and the hardware looks robust as well as colourful. There are certainly no quad-core processors on show here but do you really need it if the software runs smoothly? In addition the Firefox browser extension gives an attractive look at the UI before the launch and interface for app creators to test their design.

It will be interesting to see how Firefox OS is received by consumers but the Linux community is already embracing it and that can only help....competition in this space is good for us end users and I do hope it proves successful.

Chromebooks in the real world...

This is an excellent article on the real world deployment of Google Apps and Chromebooks by recruitment firm reed.co.uk. It gives great perspective from the corporate IT side of things and illustrates how effective Google's offering  an be...

How Microsoft totally blew it and lost this contract to Google Apps | CITEworld

Full Steam Ahead...

Valve has released Steam for Linux - the open-source version of its increasingly popular gaming platform - no doubt sending shivers and tremors through Microsoft as a result.

The gaming company has previously announced its intention to launch a gaming rig based on Linux - dubbed the Steambox - in to living rooms around the world, challenging the Xbox, Playstation and Wii head-on. However, this early software-led open source play via Linux significantly reduces the barrier to entry for anyone looking to get their gaming freak on...no more need to buy a Windows licence.

The integration of Steam in to the Ubuntu Software Centre is unsurprising given the popularity of both and with it gamers can now download a free, stable operating system that will allow them to get down to business for nothing, outside the cost of your hardware.

I personally cannot wait to see the Steambox and what Valve do next...they clearly have a plan.

Film of The Year 2012

Well it’s that time of the year when I pick my favourite movie of the past 12 months. The qualifying criteria is only that the film is one I have seen in this timeframe and not necessarily related to the date of release. 

It has to be said that 2012 saw some amazing movies released over the course of the year. Big ticket blockbusters were commonplace with films such as The Avengers, The Expendables 2, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises and Men In Black 3 all heading up the earnings charts. Indeed, there were so many good films I have yet to even see Looper, The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall!

A number notables to me included This Means War, Act of Valor and Iron Sky - all very enjoyable in their own ways, especially Iron Sky given it’s small budget and fan-sourced funding approach to deliver a suitably daft but enjoyable movie about Nazis from the Moon! Also, Jason Statham’s Safe was also a terrific film.

However, my choice for the main awards came down to a difficult decision from five movies. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Battleship, Prometheus, Bourne Legacy and Total Recall all were in the running...

Ghost Protocol was a welcome return to form for the M:I franchise with a great story, terrific pace and booming audio. Battleship was an audio/visual treat despite a nonsense storyline whilst Prometheus was a deep contemplative film that kept me thinking for weeks after watching it despite my feeling that the storyline was ripped off from the Halo videogames. The Bourne Legacy was a very enjoyable movie that has set up the storyline nicely for a run of sequels and quelled my fears that the memories of the original trilogy were set to be ruined by a money-milking side-sequel. Total Recall was the biggest surprise of the year for me. The original was dumb but this remake was a far smarter affair, beautifully shot, amazing audio (with hefty drops of Hybrid goodness mixed in which helps), a better storyline and terrific action.

However, there can be only one and the choice for my 2012 Film of the Year went to Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol with Total Recall and Bourne Legacy coming in very close in the runners-up spots but to be honest, any one of them could have won it - it was that close. 2013 has a high target to achieve the same level of greatness, it really does!!