Google have finally launched the Android Market web store, which should mean a much better browsing experience for Android phone owners hungry for new apps on their phone. Until now the only way to browse for apps was through a very fiddly phone interface or by using a third party website called AppBrain. One of the best features on the site is once you have picked out an app you simply click install and as long as your phone is connected to the internet it will start installing – no need for cables or long syncing processes. This was the best feature of AppBrain till a naughty OS update killed remote installs from that site, bit evil Google. Non English speaking countries have complaints about very poor localisation, though Google promises more languages to be supported in the coming weeks. If you from a country with no Market support you are left with a blank screen with banner ads – very pretty. Hopefully later iterations of the site will provide more punctuality, but it looks a good – if extremely late start – and gets kudos for not needing to install any software clients on the computer.
Nintendo and Sony are preparing to face off once again in a mighty battle this year with the releases of the 3Ds and the NGP. Both machines have unique features and will pack an expensive price tag, but will either take your fancy or have mobile phone games taken over from dedicated consoles?
This video mysteriously popped up on YouTube over the weekend showing Mr Jonathan Post’s concept for watching 3D TV without glasses. Debate has raged on whether the video is real or fake but everyone agrees on one thing – it is terrifying. Instead of wearing active shutter glasses that alternately darken each eye , Mr Post’s invention physically moves eyelids and looks like an accident waiting to happen. Hopefully this ends up being a viral advert to show that 3D glasses are maybe not as bad we think.
F.E.A.R. 3 has already won this years most annoying title to type out, and is now the proud owner of weirdest limited edition. The usual suspects of steelbook and DLC are included alongside a comic book and most disturbing of all – a pregnant Alma figurine. Not only does it look very creepy but the spawn in the tummy glows in the dark. You gotta love marketing departments. As of yet there is no news on how much the package is or who will be stocking it when it releases in May, but I would love to see the face of shop managers when they are told to encourage customers to pre-order the set – ‘Sir, have you ever wanted a glow in the dark pregnant figurine’. As if that would happen, imagine ever being called Sir in a game store. Can you see yourself picking this up? What would you like to see in a limited edition apart from plastic models which seem to be all the rage?
Chrome OS hardware is finally coming this summer and it looks like it will offer a great experience for those who only want to surf the web on their laptops. The new OS is run through the browser and applications are not installed locally onto the computer but are accessed through opening a new browser window or tab. Will it work? The initial offering of apps that are newly available on the current Chrome browser work rather well. Tweetdeck works a treat and the New York Times is very easy to read in Chrome form. The YouTube app is simply a link to the website but this shows how Google want people to rethink the web experience – why can’t all websites be termed as apps? Apple have a lot to answer for.
All Chrome computers have 3G built in so you will always be able to use the OS when away from ethernet and WiFi connections and there is no cap locks key. A brilliant idea which could make messageboards a safer place to visit and will make emails from your mother readable again.
Are you ready to go totally cloud based or are there too many programs that you actually need on your hard drive? I mainly use my laptop for web browsing but would be lost without programs to do image and video editing – Google would need some damn impressive apps to replace those!
