Our friends over at Proporta were kind enough to send us over one of their aluminum skins for the Apple iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The skin works similarly to a screen protector - it has a sticky side that will allow it to cling to the device. It comes with both a front and back skin for the iPhone. This case will run you $19.95 and comes with a lifetime warranty. We've been using it for the past couple of days and now have a good idea of how the skin functions on a day-to-day basis.

Introduction

The skin was relatively easy to install, just a little difficult to align with the camera on the back and the camera and speaker on the front. The front skin arrived bent slightly on either side (visible in some pictures), making it literally impossible to install since each side of the skin was popping up when the other went down. We weren't able to test the front shield at all since we couldn't install it, so we're going to give it our fair judgement.

Build quality

Both the front and back skins are made out of aluminum. The back skin feels well put together, but as we mentioned earlier, the front wasn't as good. The front skin was easily bent and once that happened, it became increasingly difficult to install. The back skin wasn't as easily bendable (likely because it's more solid than the front).

We like the idea of aluminum, but wish it would be a little stronger.

Style / Design

The style and design of this skin definitely stands out. We actually love it, and it looks good on the iPhone. The aluminum has a brushed design to it, giving it a rugged look that complements the black glass surrounding the device. We weren't able to check out how the phone would have looked with the front skin installed, but judging by the back, it should look pretty nice.

Front Skin

Like we've already mentioned, we won't be able to give a fair review on the front skin this time around since we couldn't install it. If you're careful (especially went removing it from the packaging, hopefully all will be well and you'll be able to throw it onto the device. From the looks of it, the shield would protect the outer edge of the front of the iPhone, and does have openings for the speaker port, home button, and front-facing camera.

Back Skin

The back skin was significantly easier to install, and also includes holes for the rear-facing camera and accompanying flash. It includes a nice brushed aluminum finish and looks pretty good on the device. It has a "Proporta" logo on the back, but it's not easily noticeable if you're worried about that.

Protection

Don't expect this skin to save your phone if it falls for whatever reason. It's designed to provide scratch protection on the front and back of the iPhone and covers none of the aluminum that lines the device (top, sides and bottom). It's good at protecting scratches from the device, but not for fall protection.

Removal

Removal was relatively painless. There wasn't any sticky residue left on the iPhone after a couple of days of leaving the skin on. While it was a little difficult to start "peeling" it off, it came off well and a quick brush with a microfiber cloth and you're all set.

Notes

Pros

• Relatively easily installation
• Looks nice - brushed aluminum is a nice touch
• Comes in red, blue, black and gray color choices
• Good for protecting scratches
• Easy removal with no sticky residue

Cons

• Front shield could have better build quality
• Not useful if you're looking for fall protection
• Adds some bulk to the iPhone (to be expected, however)
• Don't expect to be able to use this skin with any non-silicon cases

It's All Tech gives the Proporta iPhone 4 / iPhone 4S Aluminum Skin a 7.5/10 rating (10 being the best).

As more and more media goes digital, more and more media plays continue to emerge. As people invest more money in digital content and streaming media, they want to be sure that they aren't stuck behind their PCs or clutching their smartphones in order to watch their favorite movies and television shows.

Western Digital was one of the first companies to respond to this growing need, and they continue to put out new products such as the Western Digital TV HD Live Media Player to meet this demand. WD seems to understand the particular needs of this segment greatly, as they were one of the first to streamline and simplify the process of linking up one’s television set with their PC.

The Western Digital TV HD Live Media Player is one of the solutions WD has put forth to help get locally stored and streaming digital content to user’s television sets. Feature-rich and sleek, many potential customers want to know if it is indeed as good as it looks?

The Pros

The Western Digital TV HD Live Media Player supports a wide variety of video, audio and photo formats, meaning that it is able to handle quite almost anything, locally stored anywhere on your home network and via the Internet. It features full-HD with 1080p video playback.

The player itself is small and sleek, so it won’t take up unnecessarily large amounts of space, and it won’t be unsightly, even when paired with an external hard drive. It’s easy to set up, as all the ports are labeled and the composite AV cables are included. Many won’t even need directions to set this up, and once it is connected, the on-screen menus will be quite helpful. The on-screen system is very functional and easy on the eyes. The additional information and search features along with other on-screen attributes give it a one-up on the preceding model.

This WD Media Player comes with an Ethernet port located on the back of the device. This allows users to utilize a media server or a shared drive on the home network. This ability for Internet connectivity is what lets users access many online services like Netflix, Pandora and more.

The Cons

The good news is there are not many downsides to this WD Media Player. As most of the local media users will play comes from a connected USB device like an external hard drive or flash drive, there will be a slight lag between connecting and accessing the files. This may annoy some, but other users won’t be bothered as the time lag is about the same as it would be waiting for a conventional external hard drive to get started.

The Ethernet port on the back of the device is another small strike against this Media Player. While this allows connectivity to the Internet and the home network, it allows for a wired connection. Most folks have their home computer and Internet connection in a completely different location than their television sets. This means a wireless adaptor will be necessary in order for most users to connect the media device to the home network or the web.

Conclusion

The Western Digital TV HD Live Media Player is another solid media player from WD. Aside from a small delay from connection to file availability and the lack of wireless capabilities, this media player is almost perfect. WD made a sure winner with this device, a good cost effective solution for anyone considering buying a media player any time soon.

More and more of the new laptops coming to market are Ultrabooks, a trend that many in the know in the computer world see culminating in a total proliferation of these ultra-sleek notebooks. It may be that the laptop as we know it will be completely replaced with these slim, lightweight, powerful portable computers.

The Toshiba Portege Z835 is just the newest of Toshiba’s releases in this growing new category of notebook computers. Not the first Ultrabook, Toshiba released, the Portege Z835 is still very much in the first wave of super skinny notebooks coming to the marketplace. This means that it is nearly impossible for any Ultrabook coming to market to be perfect, and this new Toshiba release is no exception.

Pros

The Toshiba Portege Z835 lives up to the Ultrabook name. It is 0.68 inches at its thickest and weighs less than 3 pounds. It features an SD slot, Ethernet jack, HDMI and RGB outputs, and Superspeed USB 3.0 support for one of its three USB ports. Its suggested retail price is also less than USD $900, making it a bit less pricy than some of the other Ultrabooks out there.

It is much more attractive than many competing models running Windows. It has an attractive brushed aluminum cover and a grey metal frame. The only downside to the aesthetics of the Portege Z835 is the plastic that is used in its construction. While the plastic is one of the major reasons this Ultrabook is so impressively light, you can unfortunately feel the plastic when you pick up this Machine.

The Portege Z835 doesn’t come too overstocked with bloatware, something that is a rare find in many of today’s computer releases. Some of the pre-installed software like some camera applications could be quite helpful, and others, that are not so handy, are easy enough to delete.

Cons

The Toshiba Portege Z835 comes with in Intel Core i3 processor, which is more than enough for many regular users. Power users will most likely find this processor a bit lacking, especially if desiring to do any sort of video or photo editing on this machine or any other advanced process.

The battery life is longer than that of standard laptops. Toshiba estimates that the Portege Z835 should last for about 8 hours, but this estimate however is based on low screen brightness and basic functions. If you are watching video or have the brightness up, expect five to six hours of battery life from this Ultrabook.

The main criticism for this machine ends up focused on the display. The angle of the display needs to be absolutely perfect to prevent washout. This can be a bit annoying if using this laptop actually on your lap; every slight move you make will cause you to have to tilt the screen so that the display is visible.

The other problem pointed to most is the amount of noise this skinny system produces. The culprit appears to be the very high-pitched fan that can be quite the distraction in quiet conference room or lecture hall.

Conclusion

If you need to get an Ultrabook now, the Toshiba Portege Z835 is an excellent choice, especially if you have your budget in mind. All of the downsides to this attractive notebook can easily be overlooked once you take the comparatively low price tag into account. Power users may need to pass on this one, however, waiting for one with a more powerful processor. Those who don’t need a new notebook immediately may be better off waiting. As with all new tech, prices are sure to come down in the future, as the next wave of Ultrabooks come to market and the technology advances.

Overview

The case's main two features are the ability to customize the backing and the fact that you can use it as a stand for the iPhone. The case comes with a clear back and is made from polycarbonate materials. It has a cut out for the camera hole on the rear side, a cut out for the mute switch (which appears to be cut for the GSM iPhone 4 model, not CDMA as the switch is not aligned properly, but still usable), and covers for the volume rocker switches on the iPhone. The case also has a slot for the headphone jack and a cover over the power button of the device. 

The Adaptive Design Case and Stand also has to cut outs on both sides of the shell, allowing the iPhone to be placed inside and use the case as a stand when you're watching a movie or reading something. 

Our thoughts

The case is a very tight fit (emphasis on the very). Right after I put it on, the screen protector that was installed on the iPhone began to peel up because the case wraps so snuggly around the device. Some people might like that, but if you use a screen protector on your iPhone, be cautious. Alongside the tight fit, the case isn't very flexible - it's made from polycarbonate materials, which means it won't be very flexible. Because of these reasons, the case is sometimes a pain to put on and take off. 

As a result of that, the stand feature isn't always practical. If the device is easier to remove, then I find myself using the stand much more because it is useful. However, it takes a few minutes just to take out the iPhone and at that point, I'd rather just hold the phone in my hand rather than putting it in the stand. 

The adaptive designs are very nice - they are elegant and allow you to customize your case. However, the designs are printed on a slightly thicker than normal piece of paper - they are very easy to bend and rip (I ripped one of the sheets within ten minutes of receiving the case just trying to remove it from the packaging). 

The case is a fingerprint and dust magnet on the back, which is why you may want to use one of the sheets to make it less noticeable. The volume rockers and power button are still easily accessible, as well as the headphone jack and 30-pin dock connector. The mute switch cut out, however, is clearly made for the GSM version of the iPhone 4 (like AT&T), not the CDMA variant (like Verizon Wireless). If you are on Verizon Wireless, you'll notice that the cut out is slightly higher than the switch itself - the rocker is still useable, but you're going to have to dig a little to get to it. 

The design of the case is elegant and comes with a grip in the top right-hand corner to make it less slippery. 

Pricing information and design choices

The Proporta Adaptive Design Case and Stand for iPhone 4 will cost you $24.95 and comes with three different sheet designs for the back of the case (seen in Pictures section below). The case also comes with a screen protector that we assume works, but couldn't install because we already have one on the iPhone. 

Other notes

• The case comes with a lifetime warranty from Proporta

It's All Tech gives the Proporta Adaptive Design Case and Stand for iPhone 4 a 6/10 rating (10 being the best).

Pictures

Overview

The case features a very nice design on the back, making it easier to grip the phone. Since silicone is slippery on cases sometimes, it's nice to have this grip on the back to make sure the phone doesn't fall out of your hands (not to mention it looks really nice). The case wraps around the phone snuggly and seems to be cut well. With that being said, it does appear as though this case was designed specifically for the GSM (or AT&T) version of the iPhone because the mute switch on the device doesn't lineup with the cutout for the switch. It's still accessible, but is a little difficult.  

The case covers the volume rockers and the power button, but both are still easy to click and use. There is a cutout at the top of the case for the headphone jack as well. 

Our thoughts

While it was cut well, there are some portions of the case that didn't seem to have the black color that it's supposed to have - during manufacturing, it seems, there was an abnormality and the entire case wasn't made black (you can see a portion of gray in the top right corner). We can't say if this happens for all of the cases shipped, but is certainly something to keep in mind. 

In addition, we'd love to see imprinted symbols of "+" and "-" on the volume rockers to make sure that customers know that they're clicking the volume up or down button. Also, it appears as though the power button (button on the top of the device) gets stuck to case at times because it is somewhat difficult to actually make a firm click on it. Sometimes, we couldn't tell if the power button was pushed in or not because of this. 

The case adds a bit of weight and bulk to the device (as any case will), but it's certainly still usable and not that noticeable. It adds a nice grip to the iPhone so you can make sure it won't fall out of your hand as easy. Again, it has a nice design on the back that fits in very nice with the rest of the case. 

Pricing information and color options

The Proporta Reception Case with SteriTouch for iPhone 4 will cost you $26.95 and is available in the following color options: Black/Pink or Black/Gray. We received the Black/Gray option and if you're interested in that one, be sure to check out the pictures to get a feel for it. The special colors apply around the volume rockers and around the rear-facing camera cutout on the back. 

Other Notes

• The case does come with a standard screen protector for the iPhone 4. We already had an invisibleSHIELD installed, so we weren't able to test out the protector at this time. 
• This case is also antimicrobial, meaning it protects against germs and bacteria (always nice if other people will be using your device). 
• The case also comes with a lifetime warranty from Proporta.
• The case, as you can see in the pictures, attracts a good amount of dust and dirt. With that being said, you can remove it fairly easily. 

It's All Tech gives the Proporta Reception Case with SteriTouch for iPhone 4 an 8/10 rating (10 being the best).

Pictures

Recently, I installed the ZAGG invisibleSHIELD on my Verizon iPhone 4 (both the front and back protectors). I've been using it on my phone for about a week and a half now, and am able to provide a good review of the shields after some usage. 

Installation

ZAGG invisibleSHIELD's allow for a "wet install," or one where you use a solution that you spray on the shield. This allows you to set the shield on the device, but still move it around for a bit to position it to your liking. From previous experiences, I can definitely say that this install was one of the easiest ones. Again, because of the wet install, you can move the shield around to position is perfectly, and air bubbles can be squeegeed out afterwards. 

With that being said, don't install the shields if you don't have a good hour and a half of free time, because it's going to take time to get all the solution out using the squeegee. After installation, ZAGG recommends you leave the device off for 24 hours, but this isn't needed. Also, we don't recommend putting any case on the device for at least 48 hours after installation of the shields. 

How's it cut?

Surprisingly, the shield was cut relatively well. The edges of the shield (both front and back) match up relatively well with the edge of the iPhone. There is some abnormality with the cut around the home button, even if you position the shield near perfect. Also, the cut around the earpiece on the iPhone is a little rough when you hold the phone to your face - be aware of this. 

The camera+flash cut out on the back is near perfect, but some dust does get underneath the shield after time - be aware of this too. 

How has the shield on the back of the iPhone lasted?

After a week and a half of usage, I began to notice small scratches on the shield that's installed on the back of the iPhone 4. These scratches appeared even though ZAGG claims that these shields are virtually un-scratchable - this claim isn't very accurate as you can see. Also after a week and a half, I noticed a lot of dust piling up on the edge of the iPhone, and it's pretty hard to clean it off because the dust is underneath the shield. 

Also, the protector is a fingerprint magnet - you're probably going to want to clean it off every few days. 

How has the shield on the front of the iPhone lasted?

After a week and a half of usage, the screen protector has a few small scratches on it (just like the one of the back). Also just like the back one, the screen protector is a fingerprint magnet - you're probably going to want to clean this one off every day or so to keep it clean. 

As you see in some of the pictures, the front shield has a very distinct texture and look to it. It isn't a "crystal," or clean, shield and doesn't have a very smooth texture to the touch. With that being said, the texture on the protector is nice for many things, just not something that involves a lot of scrolling. When the device's screen is on, you're not going to see that bubbly look on the protector. 

Also, as a few pictures show, in the top-left corner of the shield, a bubble appeared. It seems like I put my case on too soon and the shield didn't have enough time to fully dry, causing this to happen. Again, reiterating what I said before, wait at least 48 hours before putting a case back onto your phone. This assures that the shield has fully dried. 

Pricing information 

You can pick up a ZAGG invisibleSHIELD for iPhone 4 at ZAGG's official website here: http://www.zagg.com/invisibleshield/apple-iphone-4-cases-screen-protectors-covers-skins-shields.php. The full body protection is going to cost you $24.99, while individual front and back protectors are going to cost $14.99 each. 

Lifetime Warranty 

ZAGG offers a lifetime warranty on these invisibleSHIELD's, meaning you can replace it for free at any point in time if the shield every gets scratches or some other type of damage. If you purchased the protector(s) directly from ZAGG, you are automatically registered to the program. On the other hand, if you purchased them from a third-party retailer, like Best Buy, you're going to have to visit the following website to register your shield under warranty: http://zagg.com/register   

Do I recommend it?

While the invisibleSHIELD for the iPhone 4 does have its flaws, I would recommend the shield for anyone looking for easy-to-install protection on their phone. With that in mind, keep in mind that these shields aren't for everyone and many people don't like them. 

The circled area shows where the screen protector popped up

Back in January, It's All Tech switched from the DISQUS Commenting System to a new, startup company, called Livefyre. A commenting system is one of the most important features of a website - it's how users interact with each other and it's how to know if people like your content or not.

The Livefyre commenting system is different than most others because it is heavily focused on social integration and making commenting seem like an actual conversation with someone. On other commenting systems, users have to refresh the page every time a new comment is posted. Livefyre uses a live comment stream, allowing people to "follow" a conversation on an article.

Livefyre also allows users to sign in using Twitter or Facebook, which is a nice touch. I'd like to see more options (such as Google, Yahoo!, or OpenID) and Livefyre is working on those things. Livefyre allows users to "like" other comments, as well as flag them and share them on Facebook and/or Twitter. Users also have the ability to gain points by creating an account and they gain 1 point for every "like" they receive.

Livefyre is not only changing the way users comment on the Internet, but is doing it well.

Pro's

• Social integration is a very nice touch
• Sleek UI
• The ability to "follow" a conversation
• Ability to change email preferences
• Easily see who is currently "listening" to that conversation, as well as who is on the page
• Easy setup
• Friendly support that's quick to respond and a staff that is involved in your website

Con's

• Does not load sometimes (but since it's a beta, this is expected)
• Would like to see the ability to edit a comment if you're a moderator/admin
• Would like to see more platforms supported
• More login options: Google, OpenID, Yahoo!, etc.

Overall

While Livefyre is in beta for just a little longer, you can ask for an invitation here. I expect to see Livefyre continue to grow and show up on even more websites.

It's All Tech gives Livefyre Comments a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.

Tracks by Conceited Software is a Mac application that allows you to search through your entire iTunes music library from your menu bar and then select songs to play. You don't even have to have the iTunes window active to do so.

The Idea

I've been looking for an app similar to Tracks ever since I switched from Windows to Mac OS X in 2009 and Tracks is the first that I've used that's done what it does well. The idea is very simple: have a menu bar icon, click on it (or setup a keyboard shortcut for it), type the name of the song, artist, or album that you'd like to listen to and click enter. The song will automatically begin playing in iTunes and you can go along with your business. Additionally, Tracks will search the iTunes Store for content.

Pro's

• Allows you to play and choose music without interrupting what you're doing
• Last.fm integration is nice to have
• Searching iTunes Store from the menu bar
• Very sleek, Mac-like user interface
• Keyboard shortcuts to use Tracks become very useful
• Growl integration is nice if you'd like to see a notification every single time a new song plays

Con's

• Still has bugs that need to be addressed
• Would like to see issues with freezing resolved
• More social integration: Twitter and Facebook
• I'd like to see some type of equalizer integration as well

Overall

Tracks is most likely one of my favorite applications on Mac OS X, because it's easy to use and works well. I don't have to interrupt what I'm doing, switch to iTunes, pick a song, and then go back to what I was working on. I can just click on the Tracks icon, type what I want to listen to, and hit enter.

Tracks is available in the Mac App Store for €7.99 or for download/purchase here.

It's All Tech gives Tracks a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.

Chit Chat is a Facebook Chat client. It allows you to send chats, receive chats, update your status, write on people's walls, and send private messages.

Pros -

• The chat implementation is great. It keeps tabs of all of your open conversations.

Here is an open conversation -

• You don't even need to be on Facebook to update your status, or post on someone's wall, or send out a private message.
• It let's you know when people log in, and log out. (See More later)
• Emoticons work  (Sorta)
• Support for multiple languages.
• Support for changing shortcuts.

Con's -

• It takes a very long time to sign in.
• Messages and Wall Post's take awhile to send.
• When people log out, (Especially if you have a lot of friends) it shows them on the side, and it has taken up the right side of my screen. Luckily, you can turn them off.
• Emoticons are strange, it has different faces then what Facebook uses, and several of the emoticons in the list are the same thing.
• It's only on Windows.

Overall -

It's a great product, excluding a few con's. Chat implementation is a breeze to use, and it has a lot of features beside chatting. Unfortunately, like any product, it has a few problems. The biggest problem of them all is it doesn't support Mac. It's All Tech is giving it a rank of 7 out of 10.

Call of Duty: Black Ops hasn't even been out for one week yet, but it's already become the fastest selling video game ever. As with any other Call of Duty title, Black Ops has a campaign mode where you play solo and try to defeat enemies, while following a storyline. Black Ops take place during the Cold War era during the 1960's in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba and the U.S.S.R.

Campaign Mode

When you first start off in the campaign mode, it is as CIA agent Alex Mason. He's strapped to a chair surrounded by televisions, and someone speaking to him. Mason is tortured for answers to questions to help stop a terrorist attack. Throughout the campaign, you are brought back to Mason strapped in his chair and giving a preview of what will happen next in the battle. Between missions, there are nice splash screens that give you a taste of the history during that time period, as well as what's going to happen next.

It feels like there is a lot of bullets flying all over the place during the entire campaign, with some over-dramatized explosions. The game is very point A to point B, as well, not allowing you to take some time off course to explore like in Modern Warfare 2.

Glitches in Campaign Mode

Call of Duty: Black Ops almost seems like it was rushed in the fact that it has tons of graphical glitches and bugs. I found myself in a car that was supposed to be driven by another character, but he never showed up, and it forced me to restart from the last checkpoint.

Characters also seem to randomly disappear when you're shooting at them and the same thing happens when you run into them. When you kill characters, some of them will land in an awkward stance, and some will even float in mid-air.

While this may not be a glitch, there are some lengthy videos that you're forced to watch (and can't skip over) at some points in the game. It can get very annoying if you keep dying at a certain point.

Gameplay

Players have the ability to drive cars, fly helicopters, and ride motorcycles. You can finally swim in water during one of the missions, instead of magically standing on it like in previous Call of Duty's.

In my opinion, the most fun missions are the last two were the objective is very clear and you can do a lot more things to win the game.

Graphics / Audio

This is definitely were Treyarch excelled in Call of Duty: Black Ops - graphics are certainly the best they have ever been and one of the best compared to other titles currently on the market. Voice-overs were also wonderful - it definitely made the game experience better.

The soundtrack of Black Ops was also pretty good - The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil and Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son. The music fits in with the time period.

Pros:

• Excellent graphics
• Interesting story line
• New abilities and fun objectives

Cons:

• Way too many bugs
• Seems like most of the campaign is bullets flying everywhere and over-dramatized explosions
• Can't really explore during campaign

So, what do you think about Call of Duty: Black Ops? Do you agree with our opinion? Anything else to add?

Hardware -

It's a huge phone, it has a 4.3 inch display, and it's very slim. When your looking directly at the phone, you have four hard buttons, Menu, Home, Back, and Search. Myself, coming from a Droid Incredible it's a big difference. On the right you have a volume rocker, and a camera button, on the left you have a microUSB port, and a HDMI port. On the top you have a 3.5mm headset jack and the power/lock button. The camera boasts 8 megapixels, but we will discuss that in another section. Strangely, Motorola decided to put a lanyard port on the bottom left. I'm not quite sure why they did that, but I guess that's why I'm not a designer. The case is not as elegant as the iPhone 4 or the Evo, but as ugly as it may be, it's still a good phone.

Software -

Motorola has made it real clear that this phone is not running MotoBlur, and I can't say whether or it is or it isn't. There are multiple things that haven't really been edited by Motorola. The majority of the Android widgets are still available, and many people will complain, but the music player has been untouched too. I think that stock Android music player is great. Motorola has drastically changed the gallery, and the camera/camcorder. Verizon has included what most people will consider bloatware. They have added Blockbuster, City ID, Need For Speed Shift, Skype Mobile, Amazon MP3, and Backup Assistant. Blockbuster, City ID, NFS Shift all require you pay. The software can lag every once in awhile. Motorola has included their widgets, which you can resize.

Camera -

Sadly, the 8 megapixel camera isn't great. If I had to choose the phone that takes the best pictures, I would have to give it to the Incredible. The camera shows a grainy texture over the picture when you take a picture in normal lighting conditions. When you snap a picture in the direct sun, it takes wonderful pictures. The camcorder records 720p, and it isn't very good either. It takes an extremely long time to adjust to the different lighting conditions. If your trying to record quickly, your probably going to be disappointed.

Here is a sample picture in direct sunlight (Note - It was sized down) -

Battery -

The battery is 1500 mAh, and I must give Motorola credit. I have never had any battery problems with any of my Motorola phones. I am easily able to get a full 8-9 hours out of this phone.

Overall -

If you can deal with the extremely large screen, you wont have any problems with this phone. The overall hardware is good, coming from the Droid Incredible, the screen control buttons, and the volume rocker are completely different, so you have to learn the new locations. I would have no problems recommending this phone to anyone. I would defiantly say that this phone is the Verizon King of Android.

[Evo and Standard Droid X Image Credit]

We did our overall review on the HTC Droid Incredible a few months ago, and we recently updated the phone to the currently rolling out software update. Android 2.2 or Froyo. We installed the RUU, which is the exact same thing as the official update.

Added Features
----------------------------------------

• 3G Mobile Hotspot
• 720p Video Recording. See our sample video here
• Bloat-ware - VZ Navigator, QuickOffice, Amazon MP3, and Flashlight
• Adobe Flash Player 10.1
• More we didn't get to here

3G Mobile Hotspot is a welcomed addition. We first saw Verizon mobile hotspot on the Pre and Pixi Plus. The first Verizon Android device to receive it was the Motorola Droid X. It allows you to connect five devices to a Wi-Fi signal given off from your 3G network. I would not recommend using this as a regular Internet source, but for traveling, this would be a good thing.

720p Video recording is decent. It's not going to replace a regular camcorder, but for some quick video recording of your dog doing something hilarious, it's good. I wasn't expecting this to be excellent. It takes a little while to adjust to different lighting conditions, especially in sunlight.

Bloat-Ware is never a welcomed feature. I am still dumbfounded as to why Verizon includes VZ Navigator in their Android devices. Google Maps Navigation is just as good, and it's free. The flashlight app they added is wonderful. It uses the dual LED flashes on the Camera/Camcorder as the light, and it will provide some bright light in a needed situation.  Amazon MP3 is just a simple MP3 downloader.

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 is pre-loaded in this update, but if you try to search it in the market, you're not going to find it. I don't understand why it isn't available in the Market.

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Everything is extremely quick and snappy. We showed you our benchmark scores in another post, which you can find here.

This update is not without it's bugs though. I have noticed that it takes a little while to load text messages, which is something I've never had problems with. If you are in an app, then you try to go back home, you are occasionally greeted by the white and green HTC page, where Sense is attempting to turn on. This could be caused by the built in Task Manager within Froyo.

Price: FREE!

TweetDeck for Android has been in development for awhile now, and just a few days ago, they released it in beta, invite only form. I've used it for awhile, and I am ready to form a full review

The User Interface is very simple, and easy to use. It is just a simple as it is on the desktop, iPhone, and iPad. In the beginning, you get three columns. (TweetDeck puts your information into "columns") The pre-loaded columns are "Home", where it displays all of your tweets. Then, the second column is "Me" where it displays all of your mentions. Last, you get the "Direct Messages" column, and just as the name describes, it's personal messages. To move throughout the columns you simply slide across, easy right?

At the bottom of the app, you have a gray bar which has four buttons. The first one is a "Tweet" button, then you have another button, which is similar to the 2.1 launcher on the Nexus One, but it displays all of your favorite people, you can add them by clicking on one of the empty slots, then the third button is a "search" button, the fourth button is a "Maps." I'm not quite sure why they put that on there though.

You can add people to your columns by going to their profile then to their tweets and clicking the "Add Column" button.

When you click the menu button on your phone, you have the options to "Refresh", "Manage Columns", which in that section, you can control all the notifications. Then the last two are "Accounts", and "Quit".
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You can add many accounts. You have the options to incorporate Twitter, Facebook, Buzz, and Foursquare. You can have multiple of each. Then you have the option to sign into TweetDeck for "sync across platforms"

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Overall,
I have read many reviews which say this app "fails to impress," but I think it brings a welcome change to the average Twitter Clients. I have had no bugs in the software, and I personally think the app is great. Especially for Free. Many Twitter Clients make you pay to have multiple accounts, but TweetDeck doesn't. There might be some un-useful features, such as the incorporation of Maps, but I guess they think there is a reason for it.  I would have no problem recommending this client to anyone. You can sign up for an invite here.

Today I was stumbling on stumbleupon.com and came acros this site, iSendr.com, and it was incredible.  Basically it is P2P (Peer to Peer) file sharing service that is quick and easy.  Any file size can be transfered between two people with a couple clicks!

iSendr.com is a  very simple file transfer service and I highly recommend it to anyone who is planning on or uses file transfer sites.  When I completed a test transfer of a music file, the actual transaction took about 2 minutes.  To make a file transfer, all you have to do is click send a file, choose your desired item and thats it, then all you have to do is copy the url and send it to your friend! You can even password protect your file for extra security.  One thing that I am not sure about is if you have to be online when your friend is receiving the file, because it is a direct file transfer so it does not get sent to a server first, which can be a very big negative if you are sending a file to someone in a different time zone, or if you and your friend arnt always on the computer at the same time.  Other than that, I think its a great site that has a lot of potential, you also have to keep in mind that it is a beta so its not 100% as of now.

So go to iSendr.com and check out this new service!

Cost: FREE

iTunes Rating: 2 1/2 stars

My Rating: 3 Stars

So, I'm sure MANY of us have either played or heard about FarmVille on their FaceBook accounts, well that insanely addictive game is now available for iPhone and iPod Touch.So right when I opened this it reminded me of the times when I was glued to the computer screen waiting for my grapes to harvest, same music,  and same set up.  What was great, but also expected, was that I was able to link my account on FaceBook to my iPhone so I was able to start with my level 27 farm instead of starting at level 1.  This app is pretty much the exact same app as the FaceBook one, but its on a touch screen device, and the screen is way smaller. Speaking of touch screen, the touch screen experience isn't amazing, I found it slow and un-reliable, and often having to try to click  something multiple times to get it to register.  Now another thing that was weird to me, was that where there should be grass, there is what looks like snow, I'm not sure why it would be snowing but I tried reloading the app many times and still was getting this white snow.  You are still able to visit your friends farms and fertilize their crops, like I said, its pretty much the exact same, but mobile.  This is an overall fun app, if you played FarmVille before, or want to try it out, I suggest you pick up this free app to take your experience to the next level.

If anyone else has that weird snow, comment below.

I was able to get my hands on a 16 GB WiFi model. Personally, I won't ever use anything close to 16 GB, so I have no need for anything else.
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External

You may think that the iPad is just an iPod Touch with a larger screen, and yeah it might be.

The majority of the iPad is the 9.7 inch 1024 x 768, capacitive, multitouch LED-backlit display. Apple also added the standard "Home" button.

It has a Screen Position Lock switch, which locks the screen in landscape or portrait mode, and a volume rocker on one side. In the upper right hand corner of the top, you have a power/sleep button. On the left of the top, you have a 3.5 mm headset jack, and a mic. On the bottom, you have Apple's 30 Pin connector port, and the speakers.

Holding the iPad, in your lap, has a strange feel. It doesn't seem ergonomically correct, if that makes any sense.

Internal

Inside the iPad is Apple's own A4 1 GHz Processor, when scrolling through the browser, you can see that the iPad could really use some extra power. The checker-board pattern appears often. I'm not sure if that is the network, or the processor. Also onboard is 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, a digital compass, an accelerometer, microphone, and ambient light sensor. The 3G model adds UMTS / HSDPA data along with an AGPS chip.

The battery is a 25 watt-hour lithium-polymer, is non-removable. Apple claims it will get 10 hours, and let me tell you, it will not leave you disappointed.

OS

The iPad is running iOS 3.2, and will be updated to iOS 4 later in the year.

The iPad was the first to receive iBooks, and app is very simple to use, but the store lacks compared to the Kindle's.

iPhone apps run on the iPad too, but when you scale up the apps, it really makes it grainy.

Keyboarding.

Keyboarding receives a lot of hype, on any device. Originally, I thought the iPad would be terrible to type on. It isn't. The keys are large, even for people who have large fingers.

Overall,

To me, the iPad is great. It has almost completely replaced my laptop. The iPad got a lot of harsh comments, when it was announced, but was it really that bad. I don't think so. The iPad is pretty good. For someone who is traveling a lot, this might be great for you. For somebody who doesn't, this still might be good for you!

The idea of a maze game on the iDevice family certainly isn't new, but this app turns a twist on traditional finger-based maze games.

In the game, you try and take a small blue block and use your finger to maneuver through a maze without touching the sides of the maze. However, at first, this can be a bit confusing.

There aren't any instructions on what to do or how to do it. I'd think a short tutorial or animation would be nice.

Also, the blue block is very hard to "grab" with your finger and it took me literally 10 minutes to be able to just grab onto the blue block to try and move it. Yes, the app tests how steady your hands are and makes you not touch the sides of the maze, but allowing the user to "pick up" the block to move is not involved in that.

I'd also like to see some type of integration with OpenFeint integration to be able to track and share my results with others. Also, a type of leader board would be nice to have to see how good I do compared with other players.

The graphics of the app are also pretty plain - got boring very quickly. There's a black background, with a blue block, white maze and red block at the end. I think it would be pretty cool if the colors change level - just to keep it more interesting.

What's the scary part? Apparently there's something at the end of level 3, but we never got there because we couldn't grab onto the block at the beginning of level 3.

The in-app music was pretty annoying after a while, especially since the same thing kept repeating over and over again. Some better "maze game" music is available.

Finally, the question is, right now at least, is this app worth $0.99? Our answer - nope. If the developer improves some things mentioned, as well as fixes some bugs, I think this app would be worth $0.99.

The Scary Maze Game certainly has some potential with its idea, but it needs more work.

Hardware -

When HTC's designers designed the Droid Incredible, they apparently got their inspiration from a jet black Italian sports car. The back cover has ridges that surprisingly don't make the phone uneven when it is sitting on a table. The only thing that makes it a little uneven is the camera lens that sticks out from the back. The internals and camera lens sport bright red colors.

On the top of the phone, you have a sleep/power button on the left, and a 3.5mm headset jack on the right side. On the left side of the phone you have a volume rocker, and a microUSB connector, from a first glance of the microUSB connector you would not think it is compatible with microUSB, but it is.

On the front of the phone, you have a large, gorgeous WVGA screen, four touch-sensitive buttons, (home, menu, back, and search), and a optical trackpad. When the Nexus One launched, the touch-sensitive buttons had sensitivity problems, and the Droid Incredible doesn't have those problems.

It has a 3.7 inch 480x840 display, and a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor. It has 8GB on-board memory, and an expandable microSD card slot.

HTC followed Motorola by launching a muscular phone, similar to the original Droid.

Software -

The Droid Incredible is running Android 2.1 with HTC Sense, and a Froyo update is supposed to be coming soon. Sense is a very elegant skin on the stock version of Android. It improves on many of the problems that Android has, such as the virtual keyboard, camera, and the stock music player. For those who don't like Sense UI, this isn't the phone for you because you cannot turn Sense off like you can with the Desire, and the EVO 4G. The browser is equipped with Flash Lite, and trust me, it's not good at all.

HTC even improves on some of the iPhone's faults, in example, cut, copy, and paste.

Verizon and HTC improved Google Maps Navigation, and putting the Visual Voicemail into the Messages app loaded on the phone. Apps that come pre-loaded on the phone are HTC's Teeter, Footprints, Friendstream, and HTC's own Twitter client, Peep, but if you don't Peep, you can always download Twitter for Android.

Overall, the experience is a great one. Sense is great, and with the 1 GHz processor, its quite fast too!

Battery Life -

When I do phone reviews, I usually don't put this section in, but I feel it should be added. The battery is a 1300 mAh battery, and HTC and Verizon promise 312 minutes of usage time, and up too 146 hours of standby time. The battery life is good, but not outstanding. Compared to other super-phones out there, the battery is below par.

Overall -

The phone is great. Its fast, and is running some great software. Sense improves on a lot of problems on the Android software, and it also has a lot of Social Networking features. It you don't like not having a physical keyboard then this is not the phone for you, but if it doesn't matter too you, then it's great choice. Sadly, due to Samsung screen delays, the Droid Incredible is also delayed. If you order one today, you won't get it until July 14th.

I live in Shreveport, LA, and ever since November of 2009, as I said up above, I have had extremely poor coverage. I have been unable to place a clear call, if it is clear, it gets dropped, and I could not open up a website. Every time I would call Verizon, they would tell me I had great coverage where I lived, and I was having no problems.

Now, I am in Kansas City, Kansas for a visit, it is a pretty large city, and you would expect to get good coverage... Nope. So I decided to call Verizon again to report it, because now I couldn't place a clear call or if it was clear, it would be dropped, I couldn't open a website, and now it took me an hour to download three apps. Once again, they told me I get great coverage where I am at, and am having no problems. That is the third or fourth time I have been called a liar from their Customer Service team.

Now, I got tired of messing with Customer Service, so I emailed Lowell McAdam, the Verizon Wireless CEO on June 3rd or 4th. This morning, June 7th I received a call from one of the Executives in New Jersey, and he preceded to tell me I wasn't having problems with my phone. He said I could take my phone to the store, and get it replace. Yeah, I could do that, but why? I've had 3 phones since the start of this, and they all didn't work. What makes him think the next one is going to work.

The moral of this is, if your looking to switch carriers, Verizon probably isn't right for you! For America's most reliable 3G network, I sure haven't seen it.

At first, Sense UI, or Sense can be a little confusing, because it is a whole bunch of stuff piled on top of Android. The Droid Incredible is running the newest version of Sense, which is placed upon Android 2.1. Many phones that run the newest version of Sense, have the option to completely turn off Sense, sadly you are unable to do that on the Incredible, but then again, why would you want too?

Sense improves some of the worst things about Android, it provides a wonderful, spaced out virtual keyboard, a better music player, and a better camera.

Sense also adds more widgets, plus the stock Google widgets, it adds more live wallpapers, but removes the Nexus One wallpaper. It comes with a several apps already included like Peep, FriendStream, Footprints, Quickoffice, and Teeter.

The display is produced by Samsung, and that is the reason for the Droid Incredible delays. Samsung is taking those great displays and integrating them into their phones, in example, the Galaxy S.

It has three brightness settings,

• Screen Brightness Off
• Medium
• High

In the sunlight, the best screen setting for the phone is probably the Highest setting.

Notice the ridges on the back cover, and the red internals.

The back cover has nice ridges or levels, and at first glance you might think that the phone would wobble around when sitting on a table, or desk. When sitting on a table, it has a little wobble, but not anything unbearable.   Most of the wobble probably comes from the camera lens which sticks out. Behind the back cover reveals red internals, and I must admit, it's quite nice.

It is physical QWERTY board-less, so it is very thin, and has round edges. The phone is very similar to the Nexus One, but one major difference is the Nexus One has a trackball, and the Droid Incredible has an optical track-pad, which works just as good, if not better then the trackball.

I recently purchased a Palm Pre Plus from Verizon Wireless, and I have used it for a few weeks.

Hardware

The hardware is very sleek. The phone has a 3.1" 320x480 AMOLED screen. It has a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The slide is much improved over the Sprint Palm Pre, when you slide the phone up you don't have the "pop off the hinges" problem. The keys are tiny, and raised. I was worried about typing on the phone, but had no problems. The battery is very poor. You don't get a lot out of that battery. It has a 600 MHz ARM Cortex A8 Processor. Overall, the hardware is a little "last generation," and doesn't compare to the "Super-phones" we are used too.

Software

webOS was said to be some revolutionary software, and I couldn't agree more. It is probably the easiest software I have ever used, but it isn't free of lags. It comes with a YouTube Player, Google Maps, a photo viewer, capable webkit web browser, memos, music and video players. Tethering is available on the phone, and it is pretty quick for a mobile phone that provides internet access. Tethering is available for free from Verizon, and you are capped to 5GB of data. It has Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, a 3MP camera which is a little last generation too. Even though it has a 3MP camera, it takes very very good pictures. It also does video recording.

Overall, I used the phone for less then a month, and was very happy with it. I would recommend it to someone who doesn't care if they have a "last-generation" phone. For those out there who like to have the best phone, you will be disappointed with this. I returned the phone before the 30 return guarantee was up, and I only did it because I wanted my upgrade date back.

HTC Droid Incredible Browser Speed with 3G data connection:

Using Verizon Wireless' 3G data connection, the HTC Droid Incredible loaded the mobile version homepage of It's All Tech in 3.4 seconds. Using the same setup, the phone loaded the desktop version homepage of YouTube in 9.6 seconds (with full flash advertisements and content). Again using the same setup, the Droid Incredible loaded the mobile version homepage of CNN in 7.2 seconds. Finally, using the same setup, the phone loaded the mobile version homepage of The New York Times in 10.7 seconds. Please note that these times may vary depending on your location and signal strength.

HTC Droid Incredible Browser Speed with Wi-Fi connection:

Using a 802.11n wireless network, the HTC Droid Incredible loaded the mobile version homepage of It's All Tech in 2.9 seconds. Using the same setup, the phone loaded the desktop version homepage of YouTube in 5.6 seconds (with full flash advertisements and content). Again using the same setup, the Droid Incredible loaded the mobile version homepage of CNN in 3.3 seconds. Finally, using the same setup, the phone loaded the mobile version homepage of The New York Times in 2.3 seconds. Please note that these times may vary depending on your signal strength.

HTC Droid Incredible Browser Speed with 3G data connection versus iPod touch (2nd Generation) with Wi-Fi connection:

In the next series of tests, we decided to put the power of the HTC Droid Incredible's 3G connection against the 2nd Generation iPod touch Wi-Fi connection. The HTC Droid Incredible is on the right and the iPod touch is on the left. Take a look at the video below:

HTC Droid Incredible Browser Speed with Wi-Fi connection versus iPod touch (2nd Generation) with Wi-Fi connection:

Well, I was looking for an iPod to replace my old iPod Nano 2nd Generation. I thought about it for a few weeks trying to decide on an iPod Touch or another Nano. I chose the Orange iPod Nano 16 GB. You can pick this up at your local Apple Store, Apple's Online store, or an Apple reseller such as Best Buy for $179.99 (16GB) $149.99 (8GB)

The iPod has some excellent features for it's very tiny exterior body

• Video Camera
• FM Radio
• 24 Hours battery for music, 5 Hours for video
• VoiceOver Kit
• Coverflow
• Built in Speaker
• 2.2" Screen
• 3.6 inches (90.7 mm) (Height)
• 1.5 inches (38.7 mm) (Width)
• 1.28 ounces (36.4 grams) (Weight)
• 0.24 inch (6.2 mm) (Depth)

The User Interface is very very simple to use. Just the standard menu options. Apple seems to make the software very easy for the user to figure out, and this is absolutely no exception.

• Music
• Videos
• Photos
• Podcasts
• Radio
• Video Camera
• Extras (Games)
• Settings
• Shuffle Songs

The device has a glossy aluminum finish. It is a finger print magnet! I am constantly cleaning the exterior of the iPod to reduce the finger prints. It comes in several colors, and they are Silver, Gray, Blue, Purple, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red (Product Red), and Pink. I got the orange one.

The camera is surprising very good, and I wasn't expecting the best camera. Although it really isn't the best, but it isn't the worst. VGA video, 640 x 480 pixels, up to 30 frames per second with AAC audio are the features of the camera. It has 15 special features on the camera including Sepia, Black and White, X-Ray, Film Grain, Thermal, Security Cam, Cyborg, Bulge, Kaleido, Motion Blur, Mirror, Light Tunnel, Dent, Stretch, and Twirl.

Overall, this is one great iPod. It offers tons of features for a low price. I have found no problems yet, but rarely do I find problems in an Apple product. I would highly recommend this version of iPod to anyone. I give it a full 9/10. The reason I didn't give it a full 10 is because of the finger prints, but I can expect that from just about anything, but I really don't like it.

Twitter recently told us that they were working on an app for the Android platform, and today it was released. Unfortunately it was only launched for Android 2.1+ devices.

The User Interface is very similar to the one seen on Facebook for Android. The first screen you will come to is the "Home" Screen, and you have several options within this page.

• Tweets
• Mentions
• Direct Messages
• Lists
• Retweets
• My Profile

At the bottom of the screen, it shows all of the trending tweets during that certain time. The "Home Screen" options are pretty self explanatory. At the top of every section of the app you have a logo bar with a few buttons at the top, I am going to use the first Home Screen option which is "Tweets" as an example. The buttons you have available are just the usual stuff. You have a Refresh, Post a Tweet, and Search button. When you are in the home screen you can click "My Profile" and change your profile picture. Some of the backgrounds are animated as well. Overall the UI is very simple, and very easy to use.

Notifications are sent to the user when a direct message, or mention is sent. When you are on the "Home Screen" you can press the menu button on your phone to access the settings of the app where you can add more notifications, or you can disable them, and you can control how it notifies you. Also, you can manage contact syncing, and you can choose the URL shortening service, and photo upload service.

Overall, I enjoy using the app more then any other Twitter Client because of the animated backgrounds. I don't know why I like that, I just think it offers a little more. I think the application offers a lot of useful features, but I also think that they really ripped off Facebook's User Interface.

Would I recommend you dumping your other Twitter app for this?
It's really up to your personal preference. If you like the simple UI, and the animated backgrounds, then this is the Twitter app for you. If you really don't mind all of that, then it's up too you.

Developer: ngmoco, inc

Price: FREE!

Link

Were can I start with we rule, other than that it in a way, is like MW2, its a love-hate relationship.  We Rule is pretty much farmville, but more, basically, you create a kingdom and build stores and farms and try to make a living.  You can add friends an

d buy and sell stuff to them to make money and mojo, mojo is a special kind of money that can speed up the productions of goods and crops to earn money faster.  This game is great, it keeps you coming back and i find my self checking it a hundred times a day!  You start off at level one were you can make and sell a limited amount of goods, but as you buy and sell, you get experience and level up, at certa

in levels you are able to expand your kingdom to make room for more buildings, farms and decorations.  Now if you remember I said at the beginni

ng of the article that it is a love hate relationship, this is because We Rule may have the worst connection, or server issues I have EVER scene, almost 50% of the time I go on We Rule, it has connection issues or it just wont work. I don't know if this is Rogers fault or the game but it sure gets on my nerves when I have a patch of pumpkins that I need to harvest and they get spoiled.  Im believe that they are trying to fix

this by having having updates but hopefully we see much better improvement soon!  The game also has pretty good graphics and a lo

t of cool features like the "+" witch is a account that you can use with any game that is made by ngmoco witch is great if you like to play their other games (reviews on them will come!)  My suggestion to you is that you go and download this game because one, its free, and two, its a kick ass game that will keep you occupied through those boring classes!

When I first heard of Splinter Cell: Conviction I didn't know much about the story of the other Splinter Cells. I have never played any of them because I really was not a huge fan of stealth games at the time of their releases. Now, after playing many stealth games I started to get more and more interested in learning more about the latest Splinter Cell game. After researching it out, I decided to order the Limited Edition because of the stuff that it came with.

In Splinter Cell: Conviction you play as Sam Fischer, who is seeking out revenge from the death of his daughter. With many twists and turns throughout the game, it always makes the story interesting to see what was going to happen next. The story was short but apparently there will be some new DLC for the game which will make it a longer and more interesting game. I look forward to seeing how Ubisoft will expand the storyline and will make the game more interesting.

The graphics in the game look amazing. The game is created with the Unreal Engine, which when I heard this, I wasn't wild about it. After playing the game for a while though the graphics were downright beautiful. Everything lined up great and all the effects that were thrown in with the gameplay mechanisms fit in perfectly. There were two lighting scenarios for the game. If your character was in the dark where you couldn't be seen, then the entire screen turned to black and white. If you were in light, then all the colors of the games would show up and you could see what everything really looked like. This mechanism in the game was well done and really enjoyable.

Controls were a little different then most games. It did take a little bit of getting used to, but was not a major inconvenience. I can not complain about the slight learning curve considering it doesn't take to long to learn. My favorite part of the game was the mark and execute feature. This was a feature that allowed you to mark a certain amount of enemies and after getting a melee kill would allow you to press a button and your character would kill any enemy marked with a red arrow. This really made you want to get up and personal with the enemies and gave you a reason to do melee kills.

The sound in the game was amazing. The voice acting was spot on and all the effect sounds were in place. I never once heard a noise that shouldn't have been there or seen the lip movements messed up with the voices. The sound department did an amazing job with this section of the game, and really added to experience when playing the game.

Overall, Splinter Cell: Conviction is a welcomed game to my collection. I am glad that I purchased it, and I enjoy seeing what will become of the game in the future. Everything in the game worked perfectly and I never once got frustrated with different aspects. I have to give this game a solid 9.75 out of 10 and will continue to play this and any future games due to the fun factor of Splinter Cell: Conviction

The UI is very nice, and very simple to use. You have columns that have your Social Network information within them. If you are on several Social Networking site, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace, you can have a column for each of the sites.

With Twitter you get several column options: All Friends, Mentions, Direct Messages, New Followers, and Favorites.
With Facebook you also get several column options: Full News Feeds, Status Updates, Wall Posts, Photos, Videos, and Other
Myspace offers a variety of column choices as well: Friends Activity Stream, My Comments, and Friends Status and Moods

It also offers LinkedIn support, but I am not on that site, so I have no idea what the column choices are.

To update your status, you have a text box directly above the columns, and you easily type your status there. Above the text box it has a "From" section where you can choose which site you want to receive the status. Say you want to only update Twitter, not Facebook or Myspace, then you would un-highlight your Myspace and Facebook buttons, and highlight you Twitter.

A popup in the right hand corner of your screen will come up when someone from any of your registered accounts updates their status.

It, of course, requires an internet connection.

This picture shows where you choose your Status Update's location, and where you would post it

Overall, the Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn client works very well. The popup is a little disturbing when you are listening to music or watching a video, but it can be disabled in the settings menu. The popup is a little laggy, it takes a few minutes to popup after the status has been updated. Other then that, I haven't noticed any problems with the software, no bugs or glitches. It works very well with Windows Vista, and I would recommend it to anyone who uses several Social Networking sites, like myself.

I give it a 9/10

Developer: Gameloft S.A.

Price:  $4.99 (Free version available!)

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/n-o-v-a-near-orbit-vanguard/id343596730?mt=8

N.O.V.A is one of those apps where you just want to play all the time! Its refreshing to see a GOOD game in the app store that's not a pick up for five minutes and then regret paying the $5 like most of them out there.  It seems as though many developers have had trouble mastering first person shooters for the iPhone and iPod touch, they just don't really work..... until now!

This app has defiantly raised the bar in my mind for all first person shooters, this is what they all should be like! You do not have to worry about getting your monies worth, this game has so much to do, from its great story mode to online play, you will get more than your monies worth!  Lets talk about the story mode, I haven't really gotten too much into it but it seems as though you are a commander of an outer space army that has to go and defeat a evil army, not too original but it still is enjoyable and addicting! The beginning of the single player adventure is very informative on how to control your master chief look a like and use all the features inducing your gun, grenades and how navigate through the levels.

No lets talk about what I think is this apps major pro, the multiplayer, not only can you play with your friends through bluetooth or wifi, you can create or use a existing gameloft gammer I.D and play with other iPhone user across the world! Now I was about to say that the online play was reliable but the game I was playing just froze on me....... However even though the online has a few kinks in it, its still a great game that will supply you with countless hours of fun! (how many times have you had a host migration on COD...... ya) Graphics for this game are pretty descent, I don't really like to judge a game on graphics normally because as long as I can see whats going on with some detail, i'm fine, so thats why I am not going into too much detail about the graphics. But for people who do care and wont buy a game unless the graphics are good, I would say this has maybe a 6 or 7 out of 10.

Overall this game is the best first person shooters I have played on the iPhone, the controls are smooth and easy to use, the game is fun with awesome story and online play, and it doesn't burn too big of a hole in your pocket!  Also, it reminds me a lot of halo so all you x-box fan boys, grab this game!

If you do get this game for the iPhone or iPod touch be sure to send me a email or a tweet with your gammer name and we will play!

Speed

Opera based Opera Mini off of speed, saying that the browser loads web pages 6 times faster than Apple's Safari web browser. Server-side compression and loading allows the speeding times to improve dramatically, according to Opera.

In our own tests, Opera Mini loaded the It's All Tech standard homepage (non-mobile) web page in 6 seconds. Safari took 14 seconds to load the It's All Tech homepage in standard mode.

Loading mobile Google took 2.3 seconds on Opera Mini, but took 3 seconds on Safari.

The final speed test we ran was loading the desktop version of YouTube. Opera Mini took 5.65 seconds to load YouTube and Safari took 10.69 seconds to load the desktop version of YouTube.

However, we did notice that Opera Mini took longer to start up and to be usable, compared to Safari. This is most likely due to the fact that Opera Mini needs to connect to the server before loading any web pages.

Clearly Opera Mini for the iPhone beats out Safari in speed, but what about user interface?

Speed: 10/10 stars (10 being the best)

Stability

We loaded 10 websites at the same time (10 different tabs) in Opera Mini and the browser did not crash once. In fact, there was not even any slow down with 10 pages open. Opera certainly got the stability down with Opera Mini, and it appears nothing will crash this web browser, but we'll keep trying.

Stability:  10/10 stars (10 being the best)

User Interface

The user interface of Opera Mini is where the web browser begins to fall apart. The interface looks very rough, like it was not completed and things were just thrown into places where they don't even fit. Switching tabs is a pain, especially with multiple ones open, since you have to scroll through each one to find the one you are looking for. Accessing bookmarks is difficult because it is hidden under the Settings pane. The Google search box is very small and does not really need the Google logo in there.

It almost seems like the address box at the top was not finished because it justs cuts off at the top.

User Interface: 5/10 stars (10 being the best) - the user interface certainly needs a lot of work, but hopefully will improve with future releases.

Multi-touch gestures

Opera Mini for the iPhone includes all of the multi-touch gestures that Safari includes, except for pinch to zoom. However, the question is, does Opera do a good job implementing these features? A short answer would be "no."

Opera Mini has, to say the least, horrible momentum scrolling, a feature everyone is accustom to in Safari. Momentum scrolling, the ability to choose how fast the page scrolls up or down using the power of your finger flick, was implemented horribly in Opera Mini. It works, but it works very basically. In our tests, it seems like it only recognizes up to a certain power of flick and after that, just goes as fast as it can.

There is a the ability to hold down anywhere on the web page and a small dialogue box opens up that allows the user to copy the text, open the link in a new tab or save an image.

Opera also needs to implement pinch to zoom into Opera Mini for the iPhone, however, most web pages seem to be zoomed in enough so that text can be read, something that Safari is not that good at.

Multi-touch gestures: 7/10 stars (10 being the best) - Opera needs to fix momentum scrolling and add pinch to zoom if they want this rating to increase.

Overall Thoughts

Opera built a solid and very speedy web browse with Opera Mini for the iPhone, but it is lacking in features such as multi-touch gestures and user interface elements. If Opera fixes these, Opera Mini will certainly become my main web browser on my iPod touch.

Overall Score: 33/40 (40 being the best)

The Black Air Jacket is a incredibly sleek and light weight case for the iPhone 3GS that goes for around $40.00 (with 2 screen protectors included!).  The jacket is composed of a rubber coated plastic that is virtually weightless, and measuring at a max thickness of 1mm!  The case will cover the back side of the phone excluding the silver bezel and the very top and bottom, like a sleeve of

sorts.  It of course has holes for the volume rockers, vibrate switch and camera.

Now on to my opinion, I love this case and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a nice lightweight case that will not add too much to the thickness of the phone, however with this lightweight pro comes a con.  For those people who want complete coverage of almost everything, this might not be for you, it does not cover the bezel and parts of the top and bottom, there will be photos of the areas were the case does not cover.  The jacket definitely does the job well though, it covers just enough for a good overall protection and will help prevent scratches and drops very well and will with out a doubt protect your precious phone.  The case has no logo or words that are actually on the jacket, which really makes it look sleek and clean.  Very easy to remove and to attach, however I have not yet tested dropping my iPhone with the case on it and seeing how it holds up after a drop (because even though I trust it, my phone is barely 48 hours old so I do not want to take ANY chances).  This case is also a package deal, for 40 dollars you get the jacket, and two screen protectors, one anti glare and one crystal (I am going to do a review on those as well!) currently I have the crystal one on but I have not yet tried the anti glare so I don't have a strong opinion in the two.

Overall this case is great, sure it wont cover the WHOLE phone, but for me, thats all I need, a little insurance for if I happen to drop my phone.  As for price, i'm not really too savvy on the whole case market but I would say that it is a quality buy and was well worth the money.  If you are in the market for a new case or just like many cases I highly suggest you take a look at the Power Support!

Black Air Jacket: http://www.powersupportusa.com/product/show/black-air-jacket-for-iphone-3g

Immediately after receiving the update to Android 2.1 I downloaded Google Earth from the Marketplace.

User Interface

The UI for the application is very simple. All you see is the Earth, a compass in the upper right hand corner, and some copyright information at the bottom.

Features

The app has several features

• You can explore in 3D
• It knows your location
• Multi-touch
• Local search
• Voice Search
• Maps Layers

The features found on the mobile version of the software are very similar to the desktop version.

Navigation

Navigation is very simple. You can simply use your finger to pan around and double tap or pinch and zoom to zoom in or out. To get to the search option you press the menu capacitive button (Droid, some users may have hard buttons).

When you are in menu's you have several options which include

• Search
• My Location
• Settings
• Layers
• Help
• More (Clear Search Results, and Terms of Service)

Speed

When you are using the application, the speed is snappy and quick, but if you leave it open and go to say another application, it slows your phone down to a crawl.

Miscellaneous

The app does not offer Street View. It is only available on Android 2.1 devices

Overall

This app still has a few bugs, like speed, but it offers a lot to counter act that problem  It is only available on Android 2.1 devices, which leaves several Android users out in the rain. I would not recommend this application to anyone, and I give it a 4/10

Im not going to go in great detail about this game but I will cover a couple of features and whether or not I like it and suggest it to you!

So im not sure if you guys know this but Nitnendo has made yet another pokemon game! This time its Soul Silver and Heart Gold.

These new games are remakes of the Gold and Silver versions for GamBoy colour that came out 10 years ago.

With these new games came quite a lot of new features.... some useless but none the less new.  First off, you can now have any poekmon follow you around the game,  this is kind of cool but I have yet to find a way to turn off which is sometimes anoying.... I dont always want my Scizor following me around wherever I go, however Scizor looks sick but I need a break! Another novelty perk is the pokewalker, this little pocket size pokeball is able to download your pokemon's information, and as you walk around with it, it trains your pokemon.  Sounds cool..... but it hasn't even made it out of my box.

What I like about this game is how it brings back the silver and gold story line, I loved silver and gold back in the day and I think that Nintendo has done an incredible job with these two new games.  I highly recomend it to any pokemon player, veteran or newbie and it will make a great addition into the pokemon series

One of the most interesting things to me with the iPad was the iBook application. I was really looking forward to seeing how it worked and just how many books they had. As far as I can tell there are a lot of books to choose from. When you download the app from the app store you do get a copy of Winnie the Pooh, but honestly I have no intentions of reading this book soI bought a book to see how the download process went. It downloaded very fast and I have not ran into any problem with anything.

The interface is extremely user friendly. It is probably one of the most simple apps that I have seen on the iPad so far. All you have to do is just click on the book you want to read, and it opens right up. What is really cool is that the iPad remembers what page you were on for every book. So if you are like me and want to read more than one books at a time, you never have to remember what page you are on. The iPad remembers it for you. This really makes the app much better.

The store on the iBooks app is just as easy. They show some of the new releases, the best selling, and recommendations. It is very easy and fun to use and it looks great. It is a very great way to use technology to read books. I have used a Kindle before but I really do have to prefer the iPad more. The amount of detail put into the app is just amazing. I highly recommend you download the iBook app if you have an iPad and try a few books and see if you like the app. I can't imagine someone would hate it, but if you aren't a reader, you might now enjoy it that much. I would give it a try and see if you like it. I loved it, and I give the app a 10/10.

The first thing I did when I opened up my iPad today is downloaded a Twitter app. Usually I go through 4 or 5 apps before I decide on one. I decided to give TweetDeck a try and I have to say that it is amazing. It uses all the features of the iPad and really makes Twitter easy. There was very little learning that needed to be done when using TweetDeck.

What I liked about TweetDeck was that you can see all your mentions, updates, and messages all on one screen. I never needed to go to a different section to see any of them. Another thing that I love about TweetDeck is when you open up a link for a picture or website, it does not close the app. It simply opens the website in a space above the tweets. It is a very simplistic app.
All the features that come with TweetDeck are just amazing. Here is a list of the features:

-multiple columns
-multiple Twitter accounts
-reply, retweet, direct message and favorite from a tweet
-view user profiles
-see recent updates and who a person is following and being followed by
-follow or unfollow and block or unblock a user
-add All Friends, Mentions and DM columns
-add Search columns
-add Trending Topic columns
-add Twitter list columns
-geotag your tweets
-shorten URLs
-access Twitter contact list
-upload photos
-rearrange columns however you like
-view geocoded tweets on a full-screen map

A few of the features that I know I will be using is the shorten URL and photo uploads. As you can see there are a ton of features. The best part of this app is that it is FREE. I would have had no problem paying something for this app, but when it's free it makes it all even better.

Overall I have to give this app a 10/10. If you are looking for a Twitter app on your new iPad, I highly recommend you try out TweetDeck.

For 15 dollars, you can actually get a decent game or movie. But for me, I decided to get the Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package. The Stimulus Package is the first pack of DLC for the best selling game, Modern Warfare 2. As of right now the only console that has the pack available is the X-box 360. Luckily that is just what I have. The pack comes with 5, that's right, 5 multiplayer maps. There are 3 new maps and 2 maps from Call of Duty 4. The 3 new maps are Storm, Bailout, and Salvage; and the 2 returning maps are Overgrown and Crash. So is the map pack something you should download or is it something can wait?
I have looked forward to playing the maps from Call of Duty 4 again, and the three new maps looked like a lot of fun.
Storm is a large map with a lot of different hiding spots and places to go. It is a very rainy map, hence the name "Storm", which really does not help the fact of having a headset. But it is actually a lot of fun. The fact that you can actually run all over the map and find different spots all the time to snipe, camp, or do just about anything is really fun. I am not a camper myself but I had to find people that were camping and it was pretty cool seeing all the different sections. This is a perfect map for objective games as well. I played headquarters on the map a lot and that has to be one of my favorite maps to play Headquarters on. My favorite thing about the map is how wide open it really is. If you are in the open there is a good chance that someone has seen you, and you better be ready to protect yourself. I love the map Storm and I give this map a solid 10/10
When I heard about the map Salvage, I really did think it would be a cool map. No camping, always fighting, and close range; which means I get to use the Shotgun!!! Well after playing the map, I have to take back everything that I thought about it. There are very few maps that are worse than Salvage. I did like that there is absolutely no where to go. When I take two steps, I get killed. I can not find any place to even reload on Salvage. I can not see myself looking forward to this map with any of the game variants that are playable on it. I give this map a 5/10 because I think with the right playlists it could have some potential, but every game I played it was not fun.
Bailout is a lot of fun. There are a ton of buildings that the battle could be going on at, and this is a map that I think the perk Scrambler could actually be useful. I did notice that a lot of the fighting takes place in one part of the map, but if the teams split up, then it really could happen anywhere. I did enjoy the look of the map, and it was a lot of fun finding all the different places to find people. This map deserves a 9/10 due to some of the playlists that are played on it.
I never liked the map Overgrown on Call of Duty 4. I did not enjoy the fact that all there were was snippers. They really did good with redoing this map though. There are still the famous snipping places, but with the all the new Kill Streaks in the game, it really made it a lot more fun. The only time I had a problem with this map was when we were playing Demolition because the turrets in the buildings look right over the zones to plant the bombs. This could make the game a little frustrating. Other than that though, Overgrown has got to be my favorite map from the Stimulus Package. I have to give this map a 10/10
The last map was Crash. I don't really know what people liked about this map that much. I didn't hate it, but there were a few maps that I liked more. Crash is a lot more balanced now though as well. I do not like the Capture the Flag mode on the map, but the rest of the playlists are a lot of fun. I still find myself going to the spots that I went to in Call of Duty 4. I really enjoy this map. This has to be one of the best maps in the pack. There is a spot on the map though where you can get out of the map. This did make it a little more frustrating, but I still have to give this map a 9/10
Overall 15 dollars for a map pack is a little pricey. I didn't think I would pay it right away, but I am glad that I did. The maps are a great addition to the game, and it's a lot of fun to play something new. I look forward to seeing what else the game has in store. With the average of the different map ranks, it gives the map pack a solid 8.6. If you want to play some new maps then I highly recommend you try this pack out. It does add a lot of different aspects to the games, and it's fun to play something new. I like this pack and am looking forward to seeing what the next map pack is going to be.

Hello, as many of you know I am using a Motorola Droid, one of the devices that supports Verizon's exclusive Skype Mobile app.

Skype Mobile was released to Verizon Smartphone users to download for no charge from their application store. It was released on March 25, 2010.

I downloaded the application immediately after it was released to the public, and have used it several times since then. It is very easy to use, and is very similar to the desktop version.

It comes with Instant Messanger, and VoIP calling. It is not functional with WiFi, which is kind of disappointing. When someone tries to call you from their Skype Mobile phone or desktop it simply comes through to your phone and you answer it.

Phone call quality Skype-Skype users was excellent, no background noise was heard from me or the person I was talking to. Call quality Skype-Landline was also very good. No background noise was heard either. Most people thought I was talking from a landline.

Instant messaging works very well also, one problem I have found when using it is, the app alerts you when you send someone an IM. Now this may not be a problem, it might be something Skype planned on doing, but it does get very annoying. When you receive an IM is will alert you with a crazy sound.

Overall, this app is very functional and works very well. If it supported WiFi calling, the app would be even better. If it stopped alerting you when you send an IM, it would also have received a better rating. I give it a 7/10

This is an example of the access you would give to someone accessing your computer

I had a friend from twitter help me with a laptop problem, and he ran into a few problems. He asked me to download a program called "CrossLoop" which is a remote sharing program. It allows others to get access to your computer remotely, or it allows you to get access to someone else's computer remotely.

CrossLoop offers three models of their software

-----

CrossLoop Pro $99.50/ year

CrossLoop Home $29.50/year

• Connect to up to 5 remote computers using unattended access.
• Experience screen sharing without advertising.
• Transfer files between your computers.
• Reboot any unattended computer and log back in.
• Secured with 128 bit encryption

CrossLoop Free

• Connect to 1 computer
• Remote reboot and reconnect
• One click screen sharing
• Secured with 128 bit encryption

The program is very easy to use. All you do is either give the access code to the person wanting to remotely connect your desktop or laptop, or you get the access code from the person you want to remotely connect to. You or the other person will be asked to accept the invitation, and Boom your connected.

This program also supports Windows and Mac together connections.

I used the program for about two hours and had absolutely no problems with it at all. It was very quick, and easy-to-use program. It moves as fast as you do.

They also let geniuses use their skills to help people repair something for a fee, which they collect from the users and split the revenue. If the user who received the help is not happy, their money is refunded.

Overall,

I, of course downloaded the free version of the software, because I wasn't planning on using it very often, but after I got it, I really liked it, and now use it to remotely repair my other computers. I saw no advertising throughout the two hours that I used the program.

I would have absolutely No problem recommending this program to anyone.

I give it a full 10/10

God of War III is the final installment in the God of War franchise. It is one of the only games that I know of that has been created in a full 1080p resolution. It is one of the best games that I have ever seen to date. The amount of detail put on this game is well worth the money just for that. Everything looked amazing and perfectly done. I never ran into a problem where something was wrong with the different elements of the game. Sound, controls, camera angles, graphics, effects, facial expressions, everything lined up. I never once noticed any problem with the game.

Let's start off with the controls. There are a ton of weapons and different objects that you have to use throughout the game, so my biggest concern was how would they make it possible to create all the great gameplay with the simplistic controls that I was used to in the first two. How they did it is completely beyond my knowledge. They created a button layout on the controller that just felt right. Never once did I forget what button I needed to push to control the different elements of the game. I did notice though that the double jump in the game was a little hard to get used to. It didn't take long to get used to because you had to use the double jump feature a lot throughout the whole game.

The sound in the game was just amazing. Everything had a very unique sound to each individual character or item. They had every single sound effect maxed to a 10. I never once noticed when a sound was out of place. The amount of effort that was put into the sound department is shown, and it sounds fantastic. What really made me enjoy the sounds was the fact that all the environmental sounds and weapons were spot on. That is what made me like the sound the most. The fact that even the little things in the way background are still noticeable by sound.

The voice acting is a whole other story. The cast for this game could not have been better. I have never seen such a great cast for a video game. Every character sounded just like they looked. If the character was violent, like Kratos, they sounded violent, and manifested in power. There were a few characters in the game that were very innocent sounding. They didn't just sound it but they looked it as well. I really felt attached to the different characters. I could tell how they felt and what their real personalities were. This along with everything else made this game even more enjoyable.

The graphics in this game was the biggest selling point to me out of everything. The game looked amazing. I have never seen a game that looked this good. As I stated before the game was running at a full 1080p resolution, and all I can say is they pulled this off with a fantastic outcome. It was a very smooth and pleasurable play through. It was never choppy or pixelated. Everything looked great.

Overall if you have not played the first two God of Wars then I suggest you play those and then pick up God of War III. The biggest reason for me buying a Playstation 3 was because of the God of War series, and all I can say is I am proud I bought it. Very rarely do I find a game that is a perfect 10 AND well worth the money. Never once did I ever regret buying the game and I will never have any regrets for buying it. I can play this game over and over and I will never get tired of it, I guarantee it. I highly recommend you pick this game up and play it through the entire game. I have to give this game a complete 10/10 and I look forward to seeing if they do anything else with Kratos.

Hey guys and gals. This is an review of the Motorola Backflip from AT&T.

This device is an exclusive AT&T device, but it is also a revolutionary phone for the AT&T network. Why you may ask, this device is the first of many Android powered devices on AT&T's network.

This device is somewhat a wallet friendly phone with an online price tag of $99.99 (2 Year Contract Price). It is running a significantly older version of the Android software... Android 1.5 with Motorola's skin, Motoblur.

Form factor,

This device has an interesting form factor, which you may or may not like. Hence the name Backflip, all you do to get access to the QWERTY keyboard is just flip the keyboard out which is on the back of the device, the Back-flipping keyboard. On the back of the screen there is a track-pad similar to the touch-pad on your laptop.

Device features,

This device has a 3.1 inch touch-screen with a 320 x 480 pixel screen. The device has a 528 MHz Processor. It has a 1380 mAh battery. It has a 5 MP front-facing camera when the keyboard is back-flipped. Compared to some of the other Motorola Camera's, this camera take great pictures.

Software,

The device is software Android 1.5 which is the first software version to run an on-screen keyboard. It doesn't run Google Maps Navigation which is a disappointment for some.  AT&T has said this device is upgradeable, and will eventually get upgraded to Android 2.1. Motorola has placed their own skin over the phone which is being called MotoBlur. MotoBlur is aimed at the teenage social networking customer.

Overall,

This device was not designed for a power user like myself. I believe when Motorola designed this phone they didn't want it to be for power users. I think they designed it and aimed it at the teenage market.

For a device with very old software, and some good features to backup the somewhat low price tag, it is a good device. If your a user who is constantly on the browser, or sending emails, I don't recommend this device. If your a teenager who enjoys text messaging, talking, and using a Social Network,  I highly recommend this phone.

On a 1 to 10 scale, 10 being the highest, I rate this phone a 6

Microsoft has begun the rollout of the brand-new, redesigned MSN homepage. We were able to get a hand of it and would like to take you through all the changes and give our opinion of it. So, without further ado, let's begin!

The Logo

MSN has been known by their butterfly logo and now, they are sporting a brand new, lighter logo. The new logo  looks better than the old one. It just adds to the new feel of MSN.

The new, white background

The new MSN homepage features a new, white background. Coming from the previous blue, the white certainly adds a new feel and is certainly the most noticeable change in the redesign. From my opinion, it looks a lot cleaner and easier on the eye.

The navigation bar

The navigation bar replaces the large box with different links on the old MSN and certainly adds a cleaner feel. Each link is a different color, adding more to the visual appearance of the new MSN. The navigation bar has links to: MSN News, Entertainment, Sports, Money, Lifestyle, More, a Local Edition of MSN and Settings. Underneath the navigation bar is the date, which doubles as a link to a Bing Search of the date.

Content Slider

The new content slider is much more visually appealing, showing just the title and a picture representing the article. Also, on some articles, there are related links. You can pause the slider and skip ahead.

Article category chooser and popular searches

The article category chooser didn't change that much, but got a color change. The popular searches box moved up and also got its colors changed around. Then again, so did everything else. Bing Search Microsoft is now featuring two Bing Search bars, one at the top of the page and one at the bottom. Awfully similar to another search engine, that will remain un-named. Stocks, Social Networking and Local News The stocks widget has not changed that much. The local news and weather information hasn't changed either, just getting a color overhaul. However, social networking is now a major feature of the new MSN homepage. You can now view your Hotmail Inbox directly on MSN. Also, You can sign into your Windows Live account, see your Facebook news feed and log into Twitter to see your tweets. While it is not full integration, it is clear Microsoft is trying to make MSN a social networking portal, as well as news. Finally, you can all of Twitter's recent Trending Topics. Overall, the new MSN is welcome and a very nice upgrade to the previous design. It is elegant, visually appealing and clean. The white background definitely adds something to the new design that just wasn't there with the old blue, and when everyone gets the new MSN homepage, almost all will be enjoying it. It's All Tech gives it a 98/100 (100 being the best). Nice job, Microsoft!

Rickai

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TechTool Deluxe is an extensive testing application for Macs that tests hardware like your Hard Disk, RAM, Video Graphics etc. It comes with every AppleCare purchase and can be purchased and you can purchase TechTool Pro from Micromat's website.

What does TechTool Deluxe scan/test?

• Processor
• RAM
• Video RAM
• USB Ports
• Video Card
• Drive Hardware
• Format Check
• Directory Scan
• Surface Scan
• Random Read
• Random Write
• Linear Read
• Linear Write
• Seek
• Read Buffer
• Write Buffer
• Volume Structure

If you test all of the above, the test will run roughly three minutes. Please note that that when testing your Video Card, the screen will change colors - this is normal!

How good is TechTool Deluxe?:

Considering the extensiveness of the tests run, TechTool Deluxe checks almost every component that can fail inside a computer. While we can't really tell how accurate the tests are, since they are included with AppleCare, Apple believes it is a useful application.

Is it worth installing?:

If you are having issues with your Mac and you have AppleCare, I recommend installing it and running all the tests. It does not take that much space, installation is simple and it might be worth it if it finds an issue with a hardware component.

If you lost your TechTool Deluxe Install DVD, Apple allows you to download it online if you have AppleCare by logging in to the following web address: http://www.apple.com/support/applecare/overview

Overall Rating of TechTool Deluxe: 9/10

If Micromat decides to expand from just hardware testing, to hardware and software, the application would have even more use and that's why it is not receiving a full 10/10.

The categories are,

• Games
• Multimedia
• News And Weather
• Shopping
• Social
• Sports
• Other

All of the apps that I test and review will be Demo, Free, or Lite. (No Paid, sorry)

No more then 10 applications will be reviewed for each category

Lets start with the best Game Applications
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• Block Jam Lite - This app is very simple and very fun when bored. The purpose of this game is to move the blue blocks around to make room for the red block with the Android robot to slide down.
• Solo Lite - Simple guitar app. Play the guitar on you Android powered smartphone
• Musical Lite - Piano application with metronome, and pitch pipe.  Play the piano on your Android powered smartphone
• Texas HoldEm - If your into poker, this is the application for you. Very simple Texas Holdem game.
• Fishin' 2 Go Lite - Fun fishing game. Only complaint, very noisy
• Raging Thunder Lite - Racing game in which you use the phones accelerometer to control the car.
• Splat!: Bugs - Free - Bugs have attacked you devices motherboard and you must destroy them. Smash bugs with your finger, very fun and good to end boredom.
• USA Capitals - If you think you know all the United States Capitals, test your skills on this game.
• Snake - Does anyone remember the Snake game found on the old Nokia devices. This is the exact same thing, a little thing (a "snake") slides around the screen and you must get it to the food without hitting a wall. The Snake gets larger with every bite.
• BreakTheBlocks Lite - Blackberry owners, do you know the Brick Breaker on your Blackberry, this is the same thing Android owners, A little ball bounces up and destroys the bricks and when the ball comes back down you must hit it on the pad to shoot it back up.

Stay tuned for the best Multimedia apps for Android.
and of course the Comment Question
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1. What is your favorite game for your Android powered smartphone? (Free or paid)

User Interface:

The first thing users will notice when launching Google Chrome for Mac is its simple, easy-to-navigate window. The tab bar at the top is elegant, yet simple to use. To open a new tab, simply click the   button next to the open tab. Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut: CMD+T to open a new tab. To close a tab, simply click the   button on the tab you wish to close. Moving down the window, the next thing users will notice are the buttons on either side of the address bar, which doubles as a search bar. The buttons on the left are the Back/Forward page buttons, Refresh, Home and Favorite this page: . The buttons on the right show any extensions you have installed, Page Options and Tools: . The buttons and toolbar are customizable to your liking. The buttons are large, easy to click and placed logically around the address bar. The next thing users will see when using Chrome for Mac is the address bar: . Users will notice that the "http://" is faded out, to avoid confusion with the actual URL of the web page. The other function of the address bar is a search engine. When you type something into the address bar, popular searches containing the keywords that you typed in show up in the address bar and you can then click them to be redirected to the Google search page. Additionally, the address bar searches your history and bookmarks. Moving further down the window is the bookmarks bar: (Please note that some bookmarks have been blocked out). The bookmarks bar resided under the address bar. It shows the title of the webpage, along with the icon of the web page. Further to the right is an "Other Bookmarks" folder, which is for bookmarks that do not get placed in the bookmarks bar. You can also have folders containing bookmarks to a certain category of web pages if you wish. Finally, you have your web page. The final important thing about the user interface is that it can be customized to a theme of your liking. Google provides over 30 unique themes for Chrome and they can be applied within seconds (Preferences>Personal Stuff>Get Themes).

Rating of User Interface (10 being best): 9/10

Speed and Stability:

Google Chrome loads pages in seconds, and with some web pages, considerably faster than Safari 4.0 and Firefox 3.6. In a speed test, Google Chrome renders flash content much faster than Safari 4.0. The same can be said with JavaScript rendering. Google Chrome is also a much stabler web browser than Safari or Firefox on Mac OS X. Google Chrome for Mac runs each tab in a different process, meaning, if one tab crashes, the rest of your browsing is unaffected. While Chrome still does crash when rendering Flash content and randomly at times as well, it is still a beta and Google has said that they are working on improving Google Chrome stability. Google does put it in simple terms for users if a web page does crash:

Rating of Speed and Stability (10 being best): 7/10

Security:

Google Chrome for Mac comes with malware and phishing protection built-in. When you attempt to view a possibly malicious page, Google Chrome notifies you, and allows you to redirect back to the previous page. Overall, Google Chrome is probably one of the best browsers for security. When downloading a .DMG file to your Mac, Google Chrome will notify you if this was a mistake or if you actually want to download the file.

Rating of Security (10 being best): 10/10

Features and Extras:

1. New Tab Page: Every single time you open a new tab, the "New Tab" page opens up, showing thumbnails of the most viewed web pages in your history.

2. Omnibox: The address bar doubles as a normal address bar and a Google search bar. This saves a lot of time and allows you to complete tasks faster.

3. Themes: As discussed earlier, themes allow you to customize Google Chrome from the ground, up. Everything from the background of the tab bar, to the new tab page can be customized to a artist them, or simple colors from Google

4. Incognito Windows: The Incognito window allows users to browse the Internet without leaving any traces. No history, cookies, or search history will be preserved after you close the window. Files downloaded and bookmarks created will remain however. To activate Incognito, go to: File>New Incognito Window in the Chrome menu bar.

5. Bookmark Manager: Easily manage bookmarks through a separate window:

6. Extensions: Google Chrome can be customized with over 100,00 different extensions that allow you to perform tasks inside Google Chrome easily. To download Extensions, visit: https://chrome.google.com/extensions

7. Synchronizing Bookmarks: Another feature added in Google Chrome for Mac recently is the ability to sync bookmarks from Google Chrome to any Gmail account, and then view them in any Google Chrome web browser, in any operating system, anywhere in the world.

7. Forms Auto-Filling: Chrome allows the option to users to save information typed into forms to allow quick login later.

Rating of Features and Extras (10 being the best): 9/10

Issues/Missing Features:

1. When downloading a .ZIP file, the .ZIP is not automatically extracted like in Safari 4.0

2. I would like to see a History Manager, similar to the Bookmark Manager. At this time, you are redirected to another page to view your history

3. There are many miscellaneous issues with Google Chrome as well.

Overall Thoughts:

Overall, Google Chrome for Mac (Beta) is an elegant, simple-to-use web browser that has extensive features and perks. Speed and stability are both something Google tried to accomplish with Chrome for Mac, and I have to say that they succeeded well. Yes, there are still crashes and issues, but it is only a beta. Google will continue to iron out the issues with Chrome and hopefully, Chrome can become a very nice web browser. Please keep in mind that Chrome for Mac is only compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 and Mac OS X 10.6.

Overall rating of Google Chrome for Mac (Beta): 33/40

Visceral Games startes off this year with a brand new IP for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PS3. Dante's Inferno is based off of the first poem in the book "The Divine Comedy," which was written in the 14th Century by Dante Alighieri. The poem is about a man during the crusades who has his love of his life, Beatrice, taken away from him by the powers of Hell. He then travels to Hell to exact his revenge and kill everyone or thing that got in his way. There are nine circles of Hell that you fight through in the game, all having their own unique style and characters to kill.

The controls in this game were amazing. If you have ever played a hack-n-slash game before the controls shouldn't seem to different. The controls are most similar to God of War on the PS3, so if you have ever played one of those games then you should be no stranger to the way to play the game.

The graphics are amazing. I am playing the game on the PS3 with a 1080p HDTV. Now although the game is only running at a 720p setting, it looks crystal clear. I was able to see every single thing through the game, and never felt like I missed a part. The red and black are very vibrant through the game, and make the different items just look fascinating.

The sound is a great experience to listen to. Every sound lines up with the movements and motions. The background noise is amazing. You can hear people screaming in agony, demons yelling, and just about anything else. I can not complain about the sound at all. It is one of the best sounding games that I have played to date.

The storyline is another great thing about this game. It is a perfect match for the poem that is hundreds of years old. It has held my interest the entire time and I look forward to seeing how it ends.

Overall this a great game. I would highly recommend it if you are a God of War fan. If you are new to hack-n-slash games, then this a great game to pick up the love on. Another great thing about this game was that it is available on the X-box 360, so you don't have to own a Playstation product in order to play it. I recommend everyone to try this game at some point because it is a great storyline and the gameplay mechanics are amazing. I can't think of a better hack-n-slash other than God of War that is like it. Play the game and let me know how you liked it in the comments. I can't imagine anyone would really hate it.