Tech Terrain

We've heard a lot about the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 over the past week as the Xbox One was finally officially announced, but it's mostly been over topics like hardware, software, smartphone second glass capabilities, and most importantly hot button issues like privacy, used games, backwards compatibility, Thus far, 14 titles have been announced for the Xbox One and 34 titles for the PlayStation 4 (which has been officially announced for a longer period of time). Of these titles, only three are exclusives for the Xbox One - Forza Motorsport 5 , Quantum Break and Ryse . Forza Motorsport 5 will be the follow-up to the excellent Forza 4 driving game, which was one of the best available on the Xbox 360, and the less lauded Forza Horizons. Quantum Break is an intriguing game that will mix live actions sequences with gameplay, but we don't know much about it otherwise. Ryse is another lesser known game that reportedly will be a Roman-based hack-and-slash devel...

Google I/O last year was amazing - skydivers introduced Google Glass , we saw the reimagined 7" tablet that became the Nexus 7, and a new buttery-smooth version of Android was released. This year, things were a little more low-key, with few new hardware announcements and no new version of Android. Despite this, I'm as excited this year as I was last year. In this article, I'll be sharing three of the coolest things for Android users to come out of the keynote this year. Google Play Game Services Finally, Google's got game. Game Services is a new backend for developers, allowing them to integrate features like multiplayer and cooperative matchmaking, leaderboards, achievements and cloud saves into their games. A number of launch titles like World of Goo and Modern Combat 4 have already been released with the new features, and we should see the same ones adopted by more Android game makers in the near future. Google Play Music All Access Google's seco...

The rumors that were flying high about the launch of the iPad5 seem to have some substance after all. The rumors claim that the iPad5 will weigh a lot less and will certainly be thinner, and have a lot in common with the iPad Mini . In other words, it is going to be a lot different from the iPad4 which is heavier and thicker. The iPad Mini is to have the very same 7.9-inch display, but will be different in that it will sport the famed Retina resolution of 2048 X 1536 and have the A6X SoC processor that is now found in the iPad4. The iPad5 is expected to hit the shelves sometime in September, and not March, or April or May as rumored earlier. It will be a good 4mm shorter and narrower by 16mm. The thickness is expected to be reduced by at least 2mm, when compared to the iPad4, which brings it a lot closer to the iPad Mini. Ultimately the iPad5 will end up being just 7.4mm long , which will automatically reduce the weight, and consequently the battery life as well. The iPad Mini...

Many companies around the globe are creating apps for the Apple devices . However, only few apps get high user rating and reviews on the iStore. What separates the high rated apps from the low rated apps on iStore ? The secret behind the successful app launch is the proper validation and verification of the application and checking it from all aspects. It is extremely important to contact the automation testing service providers to ensure the smooth and safe deployment of your application. Blink , Convo and Draw Something got 4+ rating on the iStore and were developed by various app developing companies. Let’s review the features of these apps and the enigmas behind their success. With the Blink application , users can now locate the charger for their electric vehicles. It allows the users to find the nearest electric charge and doesn't require any registration or sign in procedure. Whether you are a blink member or not, you can find the public blink chargers and view st...

Yes, I have heard of Content Management Systems, but what’s API or Contrib. in Drupal? This is how any newbie developer would respond if you ask him about the Drupal CMS . The world of content management systems is vast and being aware of all tit-bits during initial days of development can prove to be a long haul for any programmer. In order to comprehend the working of CMS you must get acquainted with the related terminologies. This article enlists some of the major terms used in reference to content management systems, Drupal in particular. This isn’t an exhaustive resource but can prove to be a great kick-start accessory for those dealing in Drupal development services. Have a look. 1. API:  This is an acronym for Application Programming Interface . Software programs use this protocol to establish a communication amongst each other. API lets a developer incorporate additional features and expand the functionality of an existing program. Industry giants like Twitter, Faceb...

The Consumer Electronics Show seems like a world away, but in truth it was only four months ago. In all that time, we haven't seen an official device intended for a retail release that used AMD 's new Temash APU that they announced at the show. This week, we may have gotten the first of many - the Acer Aspire V5 . The specific model is the V5-122P-0643 (as you might guess, there are a lot of different Aspire V5s so proper nomenclature is important). According to the Acer product page, the computer comes with the AMD A6-1450 APU . That includes a quad-core 1 GHz processor (which can 'turbo' boost 1.4 GHz) and a Radeon HD 8280 GPU. The APU has an unusually low power requirement - less than 5W - that allows for passive cooling in tablets. That'd be equally useful in a laptop. I actually reviewed the current generation Aspire V5 and found it to be pretty lacking, with one of the biggest issues to be the terrible battery life, with the machine's 2500 mAh...

Navigation systems in vehicles are an essential tool for drivers. Long gone are the days of a paper map, which is hard to fold and can become a hazard if trying to read and drive at the same time. Over the years, many drivers have become unimpressed by the on-board navigational systems and opt to use their  smartphone apps  for accuracy and clarity. Smartphone usage while driving can be a dangerous mix because it may require as much attention as a paper map. What many drivers need and want are apps that are installed into their vehicle’s navigational system, as fumbling around with a smartphone, while driving, can cause a car accident. Fortunately, for many luxury car owners, there are car apps already on-board for easier navigation . For the rest of us, we might have to wait awhile. Mercedes Benz’s mbrace According to the official Mercedes Benz website, “ mbrace brings the internet to your dashboard…it connects you to your car from your smartphone...