No, you didn’t read that wrong, Samsung HAS decided to throw an eight-core processor in their upcoming Galaxy release, the Galaxy S4. Announced today, the Galaxy S4 will be rocking some crazy specs, including 2GB of RAM, a 13 megapixel camera and come in a variety of sizes (16GB, 32GB & 64GB) with the option of an external SD card to be inserted.

The new Galaxy S4 will have a similar design to the current Galaxy S3, with the exception of a larger 5 inch screen compared to the current 4.8 inch. The phone will also come in two styles, one black and one white finish.

The Galaxy S4 is to be released in April this year, with no set date in Australia. Samsung has only confirmed it to be in Q2 (April – June).

For a full hands on review from the event, click here. [Engadget.com]

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You may have already heard from countless sources around the web, but the Playstation 4 has been announced at a Sony press conference yesterday afternoon. During this presentation, a number of things happened. It was confirmed that the Playstation 4 wasn’t a rumour and that it would be released this year. The hardware that the Playstation 4 will contain is a great deal more powerful than that of the PS3 and will match a decent gaming computer equal to about AUD $1300.

The confirmed specs of the PS4 are as follows;

• AMD 8-Core x86 Jaguar CPU
• AMD Radeon GPU
• 8GB GDDR5 RAM with 176GB/second bandwidth
• Blu-Ray, HDMI, USB 3.0, Wi-Fi

During the press conference, a number of developers made presentations of upcoming games built specifically for the Playstation 4 including The Witness, Watch Dogs, Killzone: Shadowfall, Infamous Second Son, Knack and Driveclub. Below are some of the demos from the conference said to be running on Playstation 4 hardware and let me just say, they look amazing. Now we just have to wait and see what the new Xbox has to offer.

Note: All videos are said to be in game graphics.

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Windows 8 has been in and out of the media’s eye the past year, with different previews being released for public use.  Opinions on Microsoft’s new OS have been extremely varied with many thinking it’s a huge risk that the company is undertaking, trying to change the standard ‘desktop environment’ into a more touch-friendly, interactive experience. Here’s my opinion on whether the risk was worth it.

This review is going to be broken up into two main areas; Installation and Performance. I will be covering the design in another post early next week (there’s a lot to say about the user interface of Windows 8, too much for one blog post). For now, let’s start off with Performance.

Installtion 10/10: “Better than Expected”

For anyone planning on upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8, the main thing you are going to be worried about is whether or not your programs and files will transfer smoothly through the update. The short answer is Yes, just make sure you do a backup first.

After unwrapping my package and inserting the brand new, shiny Windows 8 disk into my drive, I was greeted with a simple to follow wizard that walked me the whole way through the installation process. The only major decision during the process I had to make was, do I;

1. Install Windows 8 as a clean slate by removing all programs, settings, files and folders.
2. Install Windows 8 only keeping programs and files.
3. Install Windows 8 keeping everything.

I chose option C and then left my computer for 20 minutes while the installer carried out it’s purpose. When I returned, Windows 8 was installed perfectly, all my program files and folders were carried through the update without a hitch and every program worked fine on the new OS without any compatibility issues.

With any major OS update, there is bound to be some people who have issues, but from my experience, having it work brilliantly from the get-go, I’d recommend choosing option C to anyone.

Perfomance 8/10:

Let me just say that the first time I booted Windows 8 from a complete cold start (power completely off, not in hibernation mode) I was definitely surprised, in a great way. Boot-up only took 8 seconds compared to my time for Windows 7 boot-up of 18 seconds. This huge difference in boot time is an amazing thing, I no longer start up my computer and walk away, waiting for it to start. I simply, press the power button, sit down and by the time I’m comfortable, I am logging in already.

Programs and executables run just as you would expect on Windows 8, there is literally no difference in performance than Windows 7 (performance was already getting high marks). The only slight issue to do with performance in Windows 8 is when playing some 3D games there are a few lag spikes which last only a second before returning back to playable frame rates. Note: These spikes could be cause by a number of issues to do with drivers, etc, not necessarily the Operating System.

Coming up next week: Windows 8: The Review Part 2

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Have you ever taken a photo and realised that the subject you wanted to frame is completely out of focus? Do you want a simple point and shoot style camera that allows you to accurately choose your focal point with a breeze?

Well, this camera can do that and much, much more!

Introducing to you, the Lytro.. an interesting and ingeniously designed camera that allows you to focus an image.. after you have taken it.

A Lytro camera would never be able to replace a DSLR, but as a quick point-and-shoot camera that fits in your pocket, it’s a brilliant piece of tech.

Here is a demo if what the Lytro can do;

Check out the Lytro website here for demos on what the images look like: https://www.lytro.com/

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Since Siri was implemented into iPhone, it has been the main selling point of the platform. Google’s Android operating system came with a similar ‘Voice Search’ ability which was never up to scratch compared to the iOS alternative. With the upcoming release of jelly Bean (Android VS. 4.1) Google has announced it’s new Voice Assistant, which from the demos already shown, looks like it is as good as or even better than Siri. You can decide for yourself.

At the end of this post, there is a video which shows Siri and Google Search in action side-by-side so you can see just how good each is.

One of the main things that Google Search now has going for it is the humanized voice it uses. If you watch the video below you will be able to hear how much nicer and less automated Google Search’s voice is compared to Siri. The other upside to the new Android Assistant is the speed at which it deciphers what you have said and presents you with a solution. Watching the demo will show you what I mean.

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This one is mainly for you Windows users out there. Do you love the physical design of the Apple iMacs but not the price? Have you ever thought about getting an Apple iMac but stopped yourself because you can’t stand to use the operating system? Here are a couple of possibilities for you that you might find useful.

If the iMac’s price tag is within your price range but the Macs operating system isn’t for you, then maybe Bootcamp is your solution. Bootcamp is a feature that comes with every version of OSX which gives you the ability to install and run Windows XP, Vista or 7 on the iMac. It’s very easy to setup and install and requires very little technical knowledge. The installation wizard gives you a detailed step-by-step walkthrough of how to install it. Here’s a tutorial on how to do it just in case. Once you have installed windows on the computer, you will then have the option at startup to choose which operating system you wan to boot into, OSX or Windows.

Now this part is for the people who love the design of Apple’s iMacs but find the price tag a little to hefty. The amount of All-in-One Windows desktops being released is getting increasingly frequent. Just recently, Vizio announced it’s new line of PC’s which include their iMac looking all-in-one desktop. With prices for the desktop starting at $900, it’s definitely more affordable than the iMac. With features such as a Ivy Bridge i3, i5 or i7 processor, a 1080p screen, 1TB HDD and a 32GB SSD it’s definitely a powerful computer with the looks to match.

For those looking for a stylish desktop that runs the Windows operating system, products like this are one of your solutions.

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“We think technology should work for you—to be there when you need it and get out of the way when you don’t.”

Project Glass is Google’s awesome new concept. Quick hint—it’s got to do with glasses. Within minutes of releasing this project on Google+, the post went viral and currently has over 10,000 shares. The concept behind Project Glass is intoxicating, something that got me interested in it immediately. Basically, Project Glass is a pair of glasses that rule your technology filled lives.

Want to know the temperature? Just look outside and the temperature pops up on your glasses. Want to get directions? Simply tell your glasses where you want to go, a map will appear and directions will be given to you. The possibilities behind something like Project Glass are endless. This video below showcases just some simple ways in which the glasses could be used;

• Make phone calls
• Find out the weather details
• Take photos
• Get directions
• Make appointments
• Find where your friends are and show friends where you are
• Update status on the go

If these glasses were to ever go into production a variety of issues could be brought along with them. Like mobile phones, they can be a huge distraction and when used at the wrong time could possibly cause accidents (e.g. while driving). Having the glasses on all the time would also cause a lot of cases where privacy is being invaded, where everyone could have almost instant access to a camera all the time.

Along with any new device/piece of technology there are going to be downsides, here at Zise though, we like to look at the upsides. Here are some cool ideas we came up with that these glasses could be used for:

• Virtual Reality gaming
• Conference calls on the go
• Used as action camera

After the release of this video, people started to come up with their own quirky ideas for the glasses. Here was our favourite:

The post Project Glass – Google’s latest idea to rule the technological world appeared first on Zise Creative Design.

The new iPad was released on the 16th of March this year with record sales. Millions of people lined up outside stores to pick up their very own iPad 3, so lets have a look at some of the new features.

The Pros:

Retina Display – While most people could probably have gone by happily without this upgrade, having it has greatly improved the pixel clarity of the iPad display, removing all noticeable pixellation.

10 hours of battery life and much faster processing power compared to the previous versions. The new iPad uses a dual-core processor and a quad-core GPU which is why it can handle the new display upgrades.

The Camera – This time, Apple has upgraded the camera to 5 megapixels with auto-exposure, auto-focus and LED backlighting.

The Cons:

4G – Unfortunately this isn’t available yet however you can still use 3G until the upgrades are ready.. Until then, this remains in the cons list.

There have been reports that the iPad heats up a lot more than its predecessors, while not enough to cause any alarm (like spontaneous combustion) if your iPad is heating up to the point where it is uncomfortable to hold, it is probably best to put it down for a little while.

It is slightly larger than the iPad2… I don’t really view this as a negative because it is still pretty thin and easily portable (as a tablet should be). The new features need space which makes the iPad 3 slightly heavier.

The Conclusion:

If you are happy with what you are getting out of your iPad or iPad 2 and you can live without the added features then you can save money and wait for the next upgrade.

If on the other hand, you use your tablet for more than just browsing then the iPad is an extremely well designed tablet with very few negatives (unless you are really really picky). You can see a full list of features and prices from the apple store, we’ve just outlined a few so go check it out and decide how much you want to spend!

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In the busy world of computer tablets, many of the leading manufacturers are continuously fighting for control over the consumer population, with most tablet users heading for the extremely well known and popular iPad’s. In recent months however, tablets running different versions of Android (an OS created and run by Google) have become increasingly popular taking back some of Apples market.

The most popular Android based tablet to date has been the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which has a fairly decent price tag of around AUD$579. This is where Asus’ new 7-inch tablet will take podium. The tablet will be running the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 and will sport Nvidia’s Tegra 3 chipset, which is a quad-core processor. At 7-inches it won’t be too bulky or heavy and at the same time, will still feel like a tablet. It will have a resolution of 1200x800px, will contain and 8MP rear camera and will have micro USB and micro HDMI ports.

Considering how powerful this tablet is, you would expect it to have a hefty price, but no. At US$259 it should arrive in Australia with a price tag just under $400 in the second half of 2012.

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If you have been on the internet today and gone to Wikipedia you would have noticed something a little different to normal. The 24 hour ‘Blackout’ is underway to protest against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act). Hundred’s of major websites have protested in different ways against these two acts including Wikipedia, Wired, Reddit, WordPress, Twitter, Facebook and Google.

The most notable of the blackouts would have to be Wikipedia, one of the most visited sites on the internet being completely blacked out. Most sites used interesting methods in which their content was still able to be viewed (see the Wired.com screenshot below) but Wikipedia was completely shut down.

SOPA is a massive issue in America, but it is also going to effect anyone who uses the internet regularly. PIPA, if passed, will give corporations the right to get other website showing their material shutdown permanently and have their domain blocked. This means social networking sites, in particular Google+ and Facebook, will become liable for any content that their users’ post. If they fail to remove infringing content, they can become subject to shutdown.

Even though these acts are in America, if passed, will effect Australia too. If you are interested in discussing SOPA further, check out the Zise Facebook Page. Also, if you are interested in learning more about SOPA and PIPA check out Stop Online Piracy Act | Wikipedia

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