B.A.Tech: October 2014

Friday, October 31, 2014

Target, Best Buy kick off big video game sales Nov. 9

Both Best Buy and Target are kicking off sweeping video game sales the week of Nov. 9, according to what appears to be leaked weekly ads.

Best Buy's ad features a buy one, get one half off deal for all 3DS games from Nintendo. It also includes a discounted 3DS XL, as well as some Xbox One deals. (The full ad is below.)

Meanwhile, Target is offering a buy two, get one free sale for all video games, all platforms all the week of Nov. 9.

Original Article at www.polygon.com

SUNSET OVERDRIVE REVIEW: AGENT ORANGE - POLYGON

SUNSET OVERDRIVE REVIEW: AGENT ORANGE

Sunset Overdrive feels like a game that someone wanted to make.

Emphasis on "wanted," there. Many games feel like well-assembled concepts that someone thought would be a good, successful idea, and several of those end up as good, successful games. But it's rare that I play a game that feels like it was driven by heart and a desire to make something specific, that only a specific collection of people could accomplish.

After almost a decade of making Ratchet and Clank games and three installments of the first-person shooter series Resistance, developer Insomniac's last chance at making something new resulted in 2013's compromised, muddled Fuse, an action game in search of a soul. But by mixing superhero acrobatics, a skateboard-inspired sense of environmental navigation and a unifying sense of humor and style, Sunset Overdrive demonstrates a surprising amount of inspiration and, well, heart.

SUNSET OVERDRIVE'S PREMISE IS GLEEFULLY STUPID

We'll start with the premise, which is gleefully stupid: In a rush to get a new energy drink named Overcharge to market, mega-corporation Fizzco skimps on the appropriate testing. At an early launch party thrown in Sunset City, revelers get more than they bargained for from the drink in the form of monstrous, unstable mutations, and it's all your janitor self can do to escape from the scene alive.

Meanwhile, Fizzco goes full damage control, walling off the city and trapping you and other survivors in place to be torn apart by the mutant Overcharge drinkers, or "OD," killed by opportunistic human survivors who want to steal your stuff, or wiped out by Fizzco's robotic cleanup solution. And somehow, Insomniac has made this catastrophe look like the most fun anyone has ever had.

Sunset Overdrive is a punk-rock rendition of the apocalypse. Instead of a dark game set against a backdrop of horror, Insomniac has created something fiercely bright and alive and, more often than not, pretty funny. In a fall season full of self-serious interactive narratives, Sunset Overdrive is unabashedly a Game.

There's third-person shooting that will be immediately recognizable to fans of Insomniac's previous work in the Ratchet and Clank series. Almost every weapon is a joke, and using it is the punchline — from the explosive teddy bear gun to a weapon that deploys Fizzco mascot-shaped sprinklers full of acid.

Looking at the game from a distance, the shooting might seem like the point, and if it were, it would be an exercise in competence, not excellence. The OD blast apart and disintegrate with comedic enthusiasm, and you can experiment with a fairly large complement of guns. But judged against other games that focus primarily on their bullet-to-bullet performance, Sunset Overdrive is only ever "fine." So it's a good thing that weapon combat is only a small part of something much larger, and everything starts to click once you leave the ground.

LEARNING WHAT YOU CAN DO AND WHEN TO DO IT TAKES TIME
Sunset Overdrive emphasizes constant, aggressive movement — in fact, I was double jumping and riding rails on my heels before I ever picked up a gun. At first, the game threw so many different means of interacting with the environment so quickly that I felt overwhelmed. And at least at first, I found it sometimes annoying learning how to get the camera to show me what I needed to see.

Don't get me wrong — it's not that the doing is hard. Grinding on rails is as simple as tapping X when you're close, and Sunset Overdrive will conveniently pull you just a little bit toward objects you can ride when you hit the button. Even the camera becomes much less of an issue with practice. Insomniac has smartly made the basics easy. But knowing when to do what, and where you can do it, takes time.

But once I got the hang of Sunset Overdrive's traversal, it revealed a quickly escalating sense of freedom and mobility. In fact, Sunset Overdrive might owe its biggest debts to the extreme sports games of the early '00s: Nearly every surface feels like an elaborate invitation to navigate it as aggressively as possible in an ongoing string of tricks and death-defying stunts. As I learned more and more of what I was capable of, and in turn unlocked a couple of additional ways to move, like an air dash and a sort of super bounce, the world of Sunset City felt more like a really, really cool playground.

CHAOS SQUAD AND BUGS
Sunset Overdrive has more to offer than a fairly large single-player component. Chaos Squad is a cooperative multiplayer mode that lets you join up to seven other players in achieving objectives in Sunset City's open world. Unfortunately, we haven't had much time to properly test Chaos Squad in the lead-up to launch, though it's reasonably straightforward, and, even better, allows you to use your custom character and earn new weapons, cosmetic items and Amps for use in the main game. We'll evaluate Chaos Squad and update this review if it materially affects our opinion of the game.

Meanwhile, it bears mentioning that several editors encountered minor (read: non-game-breaking) but noticeable bugs during their time with Sunset Overdrive. A few quest objectives failed to populate, and scripting broke at certain points. We've been told there's a day-one patch for Sunset Overdriveahead of its release, and will be monitoring the situation over the next week or so to ascertain if these problems persist after launch.

That playground is huge. Sunset City isn't the biggest space I've seen in an open-world game, but it definitely feels like the most navigationally sophisticated. There are so many different kinds of buildings and heights and environmental hooks that even after 20 hours I was barely scratching the surface. And I was scratching pretty hard — despite Sunset Overdrive's genre-required fast travel system, I used it literally once, and only because I was on deadline. As I received mission objectives and new side quests and optional tasks, I was always excited for another chance to see how far across the city I could make it without touching the ground.

Even the shooting becomes part of this. You can — and should — shoot while on the move, which adds to your combo meter in addition to your various tricks and stunts. This in turn activates your Amps — special upgrades you can buy and earn through missions that add new modifiers to your movement and attacks. As you perform more and more moves and kills in sequence, ideally without touching the ground, your combo meter will fill and reach progressively higher levels.

The earliest Amps give an electrical punch to your dodge move at level one, a fireball to your melee attack at level two, and an explosion that erupts from bounced-on objects at level three. Later, hitting level three on my combo meter could make lightning strike random enemies from overhead or cause lava to erupt from the ground. This all adds an overarching, immediate sense of reward to basic play that made it hugely satisfying to do well, which is icing on top of how great it all feels already.

There's also an experience system tied into your actions — using weapons levels them up, making them more powerful and allowing you to equip them with weapon Amps, while the traversal techniques you use unlock badges that you can redeem for perks and bonuses applicable to the things you do the most.

These experience systems allow you to tailor your character to you and the way you play. But the superficial elements of character customization are just as vital. In a world hell-bent on making the best out of the energy-drink mutant apocalypse, Sunset Overdrivesmartly emphasizes a great, flexible character creation system. There's a significant variety of ethnicities on display, and a surprisingly forward-thinking non-gendered clothing system as well. There's not men's clothing or women's clothing, there's just stuff to wear, and even the body types available aren't labeled male or female. You'll probably be able to make a character you like and identify with regardless of how you self-classify.

YOU'LL PROBABLY BE ABLE TO MAKE A CHARACTER YOU LIKE AND IDENTIFY WITH REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU SELF-CLASSIFY

Insomniac's confidence in your ability to make a you you'll like is present throughout the game — you're the star of the show all the time. There are no pre-rendered cutscenes, and the avatar you've made (which you can change at almost any time) is in full view, cracking wise and interacting with a surprisingly broad cast of characters. Sunset Overdrive also shatters the fourth wall, basking in its status of a video game, making fun of itself and contextualizing video game mechanics and conventions within the joke.

My favorite example: Every time you die, you'll respawn in the world courtesy of an involved gag and pop culture reference. I don't want to spoil them, but I enjoyed every one — they always took the mild sting out of death, along with some incredibly charitable checkpoints.

And that's the thing that holds Sunset Overdrive together beyond the look and the humor that the game does so well. Insomniac doesn't avoid bucking hardcore penalty in favor of ... fun. Sunset Overdrive has a difficulty curve early on, but only in its seeming interest in giving you all the tools you need to have fun in the amazing space Insomniac has created. It's not about fighting, it's about moving — and even the boss fights present are primarily traversal puzzles asking you to use all your abilities to get the job done in the most over-the-top way possible. And that mindset and move set take tired aspects of other games, like tower defense or escort missions, and make them feel different and fun once again.

WRAP UP:
SUNSET OVERDRIVE IS CONTAGIOUSLY ENTHUSIASTIC
As a collection of mechanics and ideas, Sunset Overdrive is an impressive evolution of things Insomniac has been doing for a long time. Every part of Sunset Overdrive hooks into every other part somehow, and often in multiple ways, and it makes the whole shooting, grinding, wall-running package better for it. But the best thing about Sunset Overdrive is how it's unabashedly enthusiastic about what it is, in just about every way. That enthusiasm, and the freedom behind it, is contagious.

Original Article at www.polygon.com

LIVE 15 REVIEW: THE REBOUND - POLYGON

LIVE 15 REVIEW: THE REBOUND

Finding a fair standard by which NBA Live 15 can be judged is difficult. Holding this game to the standard of NBA 2K15 — which left it behind years ago — seems just as unfair as setting for it the low bar of NBA Live 14, which finally succeeded at simply getting something on shelves, but not by much.

The series has been so badly mismanaged and EA Sports has broken so much trust that it makes calling NBA Live 15 a good game an uncomfortable statement. I went out on that limb two years ago after getting an early look at something that did appear intriguing; then we learned it was supposed to be a half-price downloadable title, and then it never even launched.

NBA Live 15 is an understandable game with every mode of play I expect in a sports title, and nothing is broken. NBA Live 14 was a glitch-filled mess at its launch, so that may sound like faint praise, but considering how even NBA 2K15 has problems plaguing its online modes, this is more of an achievement than it appears to be. NBA Live 15's gameplay isn't as rigorous or realistic as NBA 2K15's, but newcomers and casually interested fans can experience more of basketball's free-flowing variety, even if it serves up a razzle-dazzle pass with the occasional jerky or weird-looking animation. NOTHING IS BROKEN

There is no genius to NBA Live 15, though; nothing truly sets it apart from other basketball games or the sports genre at large. Player models do look more lifelike and even expressive, thanks to head-scanning most of the league's starting players. They move more realistically than in last year's game, thanks to a lot of work done on animations (that greatly improves passing on a fast break, too). But it's still rather standard fare for a sports title. A lot of repetitive animations remain, plus a tendency to warp or "roller skate" (move faster than the player is appearing to run) that often frustrates NBA Live's tentative attempts at immersion.

Even NBA Live 15's improved gameplay is rooted in two reconditioned features that hearken back to EA's better days in basketball. Freestyle passing has returned. That's where the player holds down the R1 button/right bumper and then whips the right stick in the direction of a teammate. It's easy and enjoyable and surprisingly more accurate than hitting X/A for a standard pass, given the jittery way the AI auto-selects the nearest teammate (especially if two or more are running in a line on the fast break). Another command, stolen from the old NCAA Basketball series EA once published, sends all of your teammates in motion with the press of L1/left bumper. This can get them free for catch-and-release jump shots and even alley-oop dunks, which is a single button press (circle/B).

Unfortunately, you see the need for the quick-action button when you play as a point guard — the guy who runs the offense — in Rising Star, the career mode when you control one player and everyone else is run by the CPU. AI teammates are dreadfully slow to act, which robs you not only of statistical contributions you need to advance, but also points that are ripe for the taking. For example, I hit my center with a perfect freestyle pass, finding him wide open 12 feet from the basket. He hesitated for a long second, then moved closer to a defender, and clanged the shot off the rim.

That also calls out the often inscrutable accuracy (or inaccuracy) of shooting, which carries a huge spike at more advanced difficulty settings. NBA Live 15 judges a shot by the usual standards of ratings (the player being controlled) and user accuracy (their timing in releasing the shot). But it also adds in a very, very liberal measure of whether the shot is contested, to the point that even a shooter like 6-9 Kevin Durant is going to frequently miss if a defender is within two steps of him.

NBA Live 15 provides feedback on the timing of your shot, but only after you take it. Even then, there appears to be little difference between the success of a "slightly late" or "slightly early" shot and one with perfect timing that is defended. NBA Live 15 does not feature a meter or any other indicator to tell you when to release in the act of shooting. There's no meter to watch to the exclusion of everything else around the player. That would be a defensible choice, if it were supported better.

The window for successfully releasing the shot isn't even tied to the player's shooting animation (that window narrows as the difficulty level is increased). That does directly address one of the biggest problems NBA Live 14 had, in which superstars had signature release times (Stephen Curry: very early; teammate Klay Thompson: much later) and users had to blunder their way through finding them. Still, Live 14 would also flash the player indicator when you did time your shot perfectly; that visual cue is gone this year. And if a player animation isn't tied to the accuracy of a shot, then the one piece of visual information NBA Live 15 does provide, in the act of shooting, can lead you astray.

This puts a premium on creating and taking open shots, by running set plays or calling for a teammate to set a screen to scrape off a defender. It's harder to break down defenders with special ballhandling moves, but this is a good thing. Last year's AI would fall for anything, even the same move three straight times.

NBA Live 15 returns its Rewind (replay an entire game that took place in real life) and Big Moments (a quicker mode that has you repeating some amazing feat) along with an Ultimate Team mode and Live Season, which is essentially a play-now mode using any of the games on this year's real-life NBA schedule. Online play saw no connectivity problems, but realize this was sampled before the game's launch, and its population will still be a lot smaller than the competition's. The bread and butter are the two no-frills career modes controlling an entire team or a single player. You'll have to make up most of the story of the season for yourself. Neither the in-game commentary nor the mode's menus provide much context beyond what you did in your most recent game.

Rising Star is the more enjoyable of the two, provided you choose the right player. A power forward or a shooting guard (particularly with automatic playcalling turned on) is going to have a better time than a point guard, and when you're a lower-rated player early in your career, you're more able to step outside of the pure-scorer role than in NBA 2K15's MyCareer. Both your teammates and the opposition still have a tendency to wait until very late in the 24-second shot clock to initiate a play. But unlike last year's Rising Star, they do act independently, and don't require the user to call set plays, even if he is in a role that doesn't call them (like a center).

Also, Rising Star is smarter about handling your requests to be passed the ball. Last year, any time you pressed X/A they threw it to you, even the length of the court. I still saw some of that in Big Moments (where the focus is entirely on one player) but in Rising Star, I've had teammates rightly ignore my call for a pass as they drove to the basket, and you wouldn't believe what a difference that makes.

WRAP UP:
NBA LIVE 15 ISN'T BAD, BUT IT'S HARD TO LOVE
Like an obstreperous child, NBA Live 15 is not bad, but it can be hard to love. Its real impact will have to be measured later, in the bar it sets for successive editions and whether they clear that. With no truly fair comparison to make, this is the last time NBA Live can claim credit for fulfilling basic obligations. But at least it no longer plays or looks like an experiment gone wrong.

Original Article at www.polygon.com

Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade's free-to-play option gives character to the Orks

The problem is as old as massively multiplayer games themselves: How do you properly balance a game for competitive multiplayer when every character is, in effect, a super hero? The team at Behavior Interactive thinks that it has come up with a solution in their next title, Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade.

According to Games Workshop's lore, in the dark future of the 41st millenium there is only war. And since the early days of the franchise, that war has traditionally been fought between the Emperor's finest, known as the Space Marines, and the green-skinned menace known as the Orks.

The Space Marines are the 40K universe's Jedis — all-powerful, god-like warriors armed to the teeth with weapons they consider to be holy relics. They are few in number, but they're also one of the most popular factions in the universe. Any multiplayer game can expect to have a bumper crop dropping in from orbit.

But it's the Orks who, in the 40k lore at least, should be more numerous. They're supposed to be a plague on the galaxy, reproducing quickly and overwhelming the planets that they invade by sheer numbers alone. In effect they're the exact opposite of the Space Marines, and any battle where the two factions fight against one another will be an asymmetrical affair with three, four, or five times as many Orks for every Adeptus Astartes in the field.

Miguel Caron, executive producer on Eternal Crusade, says that the numbers his team is seeing tell him that more than 40 percent of his players will want to be Space Marines. With three other factions in the game, including Orks, that makes things a bit uneven.

But by folding the 40K universe's lore into their business model, Caron says the team found a solution.

Right now, fans of Eternal Crusade can pre-order the game and reserve themselves a few character slots in the employment of the Emperor (or as a Chaos Space Marine, or as an Eldar). The point of entry is about $40, a package that comes with many perks including around $40 of in-game currency.

But, starting today, fans can pre-order at a lower level — $15. This Ork Pioneer Pack gives them a single character slot and reserves them a billet on the side of the Orks with special cosmetic items, as well as some in-game currency and other perks.

Then, once the game goes live sometime in 2015, the rank and file Orks will be a free-to-play faction, with premium players in the roles of Ork leaders. The experience of playing on the side of the Orks will be so unique that even premium players will want in on the action, helping to thin the herd of over-eager Space Marines at any given moment.

"The primary goal that the designer had in mind," Caron said, "is that we want to give our current premium players a reason to keep one extra slot for the Boyz — for their free character. We want to create such a different experience for that free character.

"Sometimes, if our premium players only have 15 minutes to play and they don’t want to play with their main character ... they’re just going to start the game, use their Boyz, go kill some stuff for 15 or 20 minutes and then go to a movie with their wife after. But we’re also trying to create an experience that is fun without prodding people to need to be a premium player.

"The objective is to really create a mini-experience within the whole Eternal Crusadeexperience."

In any free-to-play game there are those players that are willing to spend money, and those that are not. The spenders — like the Space Marines themselves — will always be fewer in number. That natural consumer process will help to balance the game's factions, filling the ranks of the Orks with free-to-play players.

The side effect will be a kind of organic role playing on each side of the battle lines. Paying players will feel more privileged, while the horde of free-to-play players will feel obliged to knock them down a peg or two.

"Games Workshop told me that the Ork Boyz were inspired by the Manchester United soccer hooligans," Caron said. "So the Boyz themselves have a very peculiar culture; they only follow their boss because they don’t want to get eaten or killed by their boss.

"THE BOYZ WILL ALWAYS TRY TO GANK ON THE SPACE MARINE. THEY’RE ALWAYS TRYING TO EXPLOIT THE SYSTEM."
"The Boyz themselves, to follow the lore, will always try to have an unfair fight. They will always try to gank on the Space Marine, and make sure that they will win. ... They’re always trying to exploit the system."

Caron hopes that by leveraging the 40K lore his free-to-play concept will take care of many of the customer service issues as well.

"If a premium player called customer support once the game is live and says, 'You know, I have five Boyz ganking on my spawn point, and I have an issue with that. Can you advise them please?' My customer support rep is going to say, 'Uh, sir? It’s because they’re Boyz. They’re just doing what Boyz do. Talk to your other Space Marines and have them remove the Boyz from your spawn point. That's how they are.'"

Original Article at www.polygon.com

Surreal survival adventure Grave coming to PS4

Grave, the first-person survival horror title from Phoenix-based Broken Window Studios, is on its way to PlayStation 4, the company announced earlier this week.

The news brings the number of platforms for Grave up to five. Broken Window raised more than $37,000 on Kickstarter this past spring to fund the development of the game on Linux, Mac, Windows PC and Xbox One. Grave debuted during E3 2014 as an ID@Xbox title, but Broken Window confirmed to Polygon at the time that its agreement with Microsoft was not for a console exclusive, and that the company was already "in talks" with Sony about a PS4 version.

Grave takes place in a desert environment that is procedurally generated in segments. The game's day/night cycle is its driving force, with the player exploring the world and gathering tools during the daytime so they can prepare to survive the silvery creatures that attack once the sun sets. Light is the only thing that will keep them at bay.

Broken Window released a new trailer for Grave this week alongside the PS4 announcement; you can watch it below. For more on the game, which is set for release on the aforementioned platforms in 2015, check out our E3 preview.

Original Article at www.polygon.com

Microsoft working on smaller, cheaper Xbox One processor

There's a fascinating report over on Eurogamer today about Microsoft's potential plans for a smaller, cooler and cheaper Xbox One processor and how that could result in a thinner Xbox One "Lite" console.

The story is extrapolated from a LinkedIn update from Daniel McConnell, AMD's senior manager of System on Chip physical design, who talks about how he "successfully planned and executed the first APU for Microsoft's Xbox One Game Console in 28 nm technology and a cost-reduced derivative in 20 nm technology."

Although a LinkedIn update is pretty thin sourcing material, and most of the article is speculative, it's written by Richard Leadbetter, one of the most trustworthy and well-connected writers on technology and hardware.

Leadbetter points out that Xbox One's processor is fabricated at 28 nm, meaning each transistor measures 28 thousand-millionths of a meter. A 20 nm version would lower costs and power consumption, which would have a knock-on effect on cooling systems and therefore on casing design.

"This opens the door to a much smaller cooling assembly and a thinner chassis, which in turn leads to cost benefits throughout the whole manufacturing and distribution process," writes Leadbetter. "Smaller consoles mean less packaging, meaning cost savings in physically shipping the units out from China to retail markets worldwide."

Microsoft is also hiring for engineers to work on Xbox's overall design, according to Mosen on the Beyond3D forum, who also picked up on the LinkedIn update. "We are looking for a Console Memory Development Engineer on the Xbox game console development team," states the ad. "The position involves the development, test and qualification of DRAM memory products functioning within Microsoft products."

Leadbetter points out that 20 nm design is still prohibitively expensive, and that high demand from smart phone manufacturers is likely to keep prices high for the foreseeable future. But it's a glimpse into the likely future of an Xbox One Lite and, of course, a PlayStation 4 Lite as well.

Original Article at www.polygon.com

Roku Now Has Google Play, Is Pretty Much Unstoppable

Roku was already the best little streaming device money could buy. But now, Google has gone and given Roku access to all your Google Play goodies. Which, more than just being an unprecedented move on Google's part, makes Roku pretty much unstoppable.

Because Google didn't have to give Roku access to its cache of movies and tv shows—that's what Chromecast is for, after all. But in doing so, it's giving Roku users access to their kingdom—something we have yet to (and probably won't) see from Apple or Amazon.

The new addition also gives Roku users access to Google Play's Info cards, which will offer helpful little facts about whatever's on screen when you hit pause.

Original Article at www.gizmodo.com

How to Jailbreak Your iPhone: The Always Up-to-Date Guide [iOS 8.1]

Jailbreaking is a process that changes little by little with each iOS upgrade. Rather than always publishing new guides, we're simply going to keep this one up to date. If you want to jailbreak your iOS device, you've come to the right page.

Current iOS Version: iOS 8.1
iOS 8 and iOS 8.1 are both jailbroken. Currently, the jailbreak is for Windows only, but a Mac version is on the way. The jailbreak is compatible with all devices that can run iOS 8, including the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. You'll find the guide for doing so below.

How to Jailbreak

Just follow these steps to jailbreak your iDevice, or watch the video above for a demonstration.
Back up your iOS device. Head to Settings > iCloud > Backup and select "Back Up Now"
Disable the passcode on your device. Head to Settings > Touch ID & Passcode and disable the passcode if you're using one
Enable Airplane Mode, swipe up on your screen to open Control Center and tap the airplane icon
Download Pangu 1.1 here. This is your jailbreak tool.
Open the Pangu tool once it's downloads (Right-click to run as Administrator on Windows).
Plug in your iOS device.
When your device is recognized by Pangu, select the "Start Jailbreak" option.
Click "Already Did".
Wait for the tool to run. When it's complete, your iPhone will reboot. You can close Pangu now.
Tap the Cydia icon to prepare the file system. That's it!

Original Article at www.lifehacker.com

Ubisoft's Far Cry 4 Has Gone Gold

Ubisoft's senior communications manager Gary Steinman updated the official Ubisoft blog with news that Far Cry 4 has gone gold. That means the development process is complete and the gold master has been sent off for mass production. The game will arrive on November 18 for the PlayStation consoles, the Xbox consoles and Windows PC.

"Far Cry 4 is a major leap forward for the franchise," Steinman wrote. "The story is fully integrated into the overall experience, with your choices making a real difference in a civil war that's roiling Kyrat. The open-world is packed with surprises."

In addition to the standard edition for the PC, Ubisoft will also sell a Gold Edition version for $89.99 that combines the full game plus the season pass. Gamers will receive an exclusive day-one mission as well as unlock all upcoming Far Cry 4 add-on content, including additional missions, five new weapons and a Player Vs. Player (PVP) mode.

Ubisoft will also offer the Steelbook Edition for $69.99 that's only available in the Uplay Shop. This bundle includes the game, a map of Kryat, the Far Cry 4 Steelbook, and a propaganda poster. There's also the Kyrat Edition for $129.99 (shown above), which includes the game (Limited Edition), a travel journal, a map, an exclusive collector's box, three extra missions, a unique weapon, a propaganda poster and a 7.9-inch figurine of the main villain sitting on an elephant throne.

Gamers who pre-purchase Far Cry 4 for $59.99 will be upgraded to the Limited Edition. This includes three single-player missions in a campaign called Hurk's Redemption, and the exclusive Impaler harpoon gun.

In Far Cry 4, players take the role of Ajay Ghale. This protagonist spent most of his life in the United States but was born in the fictional Himalayan nation of Kyrat. For personal reasons, he returns to Kyrat only to become involved in the local civil war. Players can explore this fictional nation alone or with a friend in the co-op mode.

Unfortunately, Ubisoft has yet to reveal the system specifications for the PC version, so stay tuned.

Original Article at www.tomshardware.com

Rapoo's new V900 may just be a great gaming mouse.

Rapoo, a manufacturer of peripherals that are normally geared to office applications, has announced a gaming mouse called the V900, and aside from the browser navigation buttons, it has an ambidextrous design.

The V900 comes with a black body with rubber grips and has LED-lit accents on the body and the scroll wheel. The lighting can be customized with 16 million color options.

As far as specifications go, the mouse comes quite lavishly equipped. It packs an 8200 DPI VPro gaming sensor with a V-Power3 gaming chip and a 32-bit ARM processor. The sensor is capable of tracking with up to 30 Gs of acceleration and speeds of up to 3.8 meters per second for very twitchy gaming. The lift-off distance is also customizable and can range between 1 to 5 mm to suit your tracking style

Also built into the mouse is a bit of onboard memory for macros, although the mouse doesn't have that many switches. You'll find the standard left and right mouse buttons (which have Omron switches), two browser navigation buttons, a clickable scroll wheel and a DPI switcher.

Based on the specs, the Rapoo V900 looks like an excellent gaming mouse, and the appearance is subtle enough to appeal to a large audience. Priced at $62 on Amazon, Rapoo might just have a winner on its hands.

Original Article at www.tomshardware.com

Free Assassin's Creed Unity With Samsung 850 Pro And 4K Monitor

At select retailers, upon buying a new Samsung 850 Pro SSD or U28D590D 4K monitor you'll receive a free download key for Assassin's Creed Unity.

Here at Tom's Hardware we like high-end hardware and games, and certainly you do, too. The good news we come bearing today is that Samsung announced that it will be bundling a game with one of its 4K monitors and some of its SSDs.

The game in question is Assassin's Creed Unity, and you'll get a download key for it upon purchase of Samsung's U28D590D monitor or an 850 Pro SSD with a capacity of 256 GB or higher.

The Samsung UD28590D is a 4K monitor with a 28-inch diagonal. It is built with a TN panel and has viewing angles of 170 degrees horizontally and 160 degrees vertically. It has a brightness of 370 cd/m2 and a static contrast ratio of 1000:1.

Because of the TN panel, the response time is also very fast, with a gray-to-gray time of just 1 ms. Two HDMI ports and one DisplayPort interface handle I/O connectivity, with the DisplayPort interface allowing for a 60 Hz refresh rate. The monitor has a T-shaped stand, although unfortunately, it only supports tilting, and there are no VESA mounting holes. The biggest gripe we have with this deal is that you'll need a very powerful machine to be able to drive Assassin's Creed Unity at this resolution, because the game has some very high system requirements.

The Samsung 850 Pro SSD is the company's highest-end SATA SSD, and it has transfer speeds of up to 550 MB/s read and 520 MB/s write. They are built with the company's 32-layer V-NAND, which allowed the use of a larger lithographic process, making the drives very durable. So durable, in fact, that Samsung ships them with a very respectable 10-year warranty. You can read our review here.

Participating retailers include Best Buy, Amazon.com, Newegg.com, Microcenter, Fry's and Tiger Direct. Sam's Club, ABT, and Electronic Express are also participating, although they only have the deal on the UD28590D monitor.

Original Article at www.tomshardware.com

Microsoft Finally Announces the New Outlook for Mac and It Looks Great

Good news Microsoft Office power users! You'll soon be able to use the new and improved Outlook for Mac. That's good news, because the new Outlook for Mac looks pretty awesome. And since a lot of people use Outlook, this upgrade is going to improve a lot of email experiences.

New features on Outlook for Mac include things a completely revamped (and attractive!) interface, an improved threading model, real-time email delivery, better archive searching, and generally faster service. The new Outlook for Mac is available to commercial Office 365 subscribers, Office 365 Personal users, and Office 365 University users.

The bad news? "In the first half of 2015 we will release a public beta for the next version of Office for Mac, and in the second half of 2015 we will make the final release available," Microsoft said in a blog post. Patience is supposedly a virtue, but if you've been dying for an Outlook update, you're going to have to wait. [Microsoft]

Original Article at www.gizmodo.com

Starbucks' new app will let you skip the line and sort delivery

Love your morning coffee break, but hate having to wait in line amongst the masses? Well, Starbucks will allow you skip line entirely with its new app. Just place your order via that trusty smartphone, and you'll be able to walk in and pick it up. Of course, the company's mobile software sorts payments too, which certainly helps expedite the process. What's more, plans for a delivery option are in the works for folks who belong to its loyalty program -- but only in select markets. "Imagine the ability to create a standing order of Starbucks delivered hot to your desk daily," CEO Howard Schultz said. "That's our version of e-commerce on steroids." The new version of the bean-slinging mobile app is set to arrive in December, beginning with Portland, Oregon before a nation-wide rollout in 2015.

Original Article at www.engadget.com

If You Got The New PS4 Update, Don't Use Rest Mode

Earlier this week, Sony released a new patch for the PlayStation 4, and if you've downloaded it, here's my advice: be very, very careful.

See, the PS4's v2.00 patch, which adds features like SharePlay and a new app for YouTube, also brings with it some major technical issues. In addition to a host of random problems reported by a sprinkling of PS4 owners across the web—volume fluctuations, inconsistent connectivity, etc.—there's one issue that seems to be affecting a whole lot of people: Rest Mode doesn't work right.

Last night, I put my PS4 in Rest Mode, and when I woke up this morning, the console wouldn't turn on—I had to manually reset it, potentially risking damaging the system and its files. Same thing seems to be happening to a lot of other people, too.

A few of us here at Kotaku have had firsthand experience with this Rest Mode problem, and scans through Twitter and Reddit reveal that it's a widespread issue. Some Redditors have suggested potential ways to fix it, but none of them seem to be foolproof.

When I reached out to Sony yesterday, they said they're looking into these issues, but there's no word on an ETA for a fix. For now, I recommend just turning your PS4 off entirely when you're done with it. Better to be safe than sorry (and bricked).

Original Article at www.kotaku.com

Xbox Live Gold members get vikings, piñatas and more free in November

Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be treated to three free games next month, starting with the Xbox One debut of the indie title Volgarr the Viking, Microsoft announced today.

Xbox One-owning Gold members will be able to get Crazy Viking Studios' brutally difficult action game free from Nov. 1-30. Volgarr the Viking launched on Windows PC via Steam in September 2013. Non-Gold subscribers will be able to buy the Xbox One version for $9.99.

Microsoft noted that Volgarr the Viking is the free Xbox One game for November in certain regions only, including the U.K. and North America. Customers in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Russia and Taiwan will instead receive the full version of the Xbox One launch title Powerstar Golf.

Xbox Live Gold subscribers on Xbox 360 will be able to download two well-regarded games for free in November: Rare's Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (screenshot above), the 2008 sequel to the original Viva Piñata, and Volition's Red Faction: Guerrilla, the destruction-tastic open-world shooter from 2009. Trouble in Paradise (regularly $14.99) will be available free from Nov. 1-15, and Red Faction: Guerrilla (reg. $19.99) will take its place from Nov. 16-30.

Original Article at www.polygon.com

Prey 2 is officially dead

Prey 2, sequel to the 2006 first-person shooter from Human Head Studios, has officially been cancelled according to a statement from Bethesda's Pete Hines delivered to CNET.

This death knell is the end of an extremely rocky road that included being leaked in 2011, switching publishers from Radar Group to Bethesda and a rumored transfer of the entire project from Human Head to Dishonored developer Arkane Studios.

"It was a game we believed in, but we never felt that it got to where it needed to be — we never saw a path to success if we finished it," Hines told CNET at PAX Australia. "It wasn't up to our quality standard and we decided to cancel it. It's no longer in development. That wasn't an easy decision, but it's one that won't surprise many folks given that we hadn't been talking about it."

Polygon has reached out to Bethesda and Human Head for more details.

Original Article at www.polygon.com

Zombies are coming to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

It appears that legions of the undead will return in this year's Call of Duty game, based on a leaked trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare that's positively teeming with zombies.

While the leaked trailer has since been pulled from sites like YouTube and DailyMotion, the unannounced mode for Sledgehammer Games' futuristic take on Call of Duty appears to feature a powerful strain of zombie that's equipped to take on Advanced Warfare's super soldiers.

Unlike Treyarch's Call of Duty games, the zombies in Advanced Warfare are fast-moving, high-leaping creatures that travel in huge packs. The swarms of undead pile upon each other like the great zombie floods of World War Z... and they may even have the powered exoskeletons that players will wear throughout Advanced Warfare.

Last year's Call of Duty: Ghosts swapped in alien creatures for zombies in its episodic fantasy mode, and included the Predator and Halloween's Michael Myers as guest characters. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare developer Sledgehammer Games hasn't said anything yet about a zombies mode for its game, but it sure looks like they're coming.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare officially releases next Tuesday, Nov. 4, but the game will go on sale a day early at select retailers.

Original Article at www.polygon.com

Blizzard is planning on World of Warcraft still being around in 2024

This year is the 10th anniversary of era-defining MMO World of Warcraft. And according to publisher Blizzard, the game has at least another decade in the tank.

"I definitely can't tell you what our 20th anniversary is going to be. I can tell you there is definitely going to be one," said lead designer Ion Hazzikostas in an interview with CNET. "I have no doubt saying that. We're definitely planning into the future, talking about what the next expansion is going to be, and what the one after that is going to be, just in terms of big picture storylines, how can we start setting things up now, where do we want the game to go. Ultimately it's all one step at a time."

World of Warcraft's fifth expansion, Warlords of Draenor is released on Nov. 13. Although the game's subscriber numbers have seen an overall decline since its 12 million height in 2010, the company recently said it had seen a jump in players, in anticipation of the expansion's arrival, to around 7.4 million.

Original Article at www.polygon.com

'Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare' Reveals Four Player Co-Op Mode

Activision and Sledgehammer games have revealed a new four-player co-op survival mode for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

As with each release in the Call of Duty franchise, there are always three pillars of play: competitive multiplayer, single-player campaign, and cooperative mode or modes.

In Black Ops games, co-op mode is zombie themed. Black Ops II’s zombie mode was super challenging and a lot of fun to play with friends.

Call of Duty: Ghosts had a pretty fun Extinction mode, pitting players against bug-like aliens in cooperative survival.

Advanced Warfare will have four-player “Exo-Survival” mode.

This mode pits 1-4 players (including 2-player split-screen) against waves of enemies with special objectives thrown into the mix. Complete these special objectives and you earn a reward; fail and you suffer a penalty.

Meanwhile, upgrades occur between each round and are persistent between sessions.

It sounds like an interesting new addition to the Call of Duty co-op tradition.

Meanwhile, the new ”Power is Everything” trailer really shows off the game’s upgraded graphics engine, including the motion-capture technology used by James Cameron in Avatar.

I’ve been playing Call of Duty for years, and it’s been years since I’ve been truly excited about an entry in the series. Black Ops II was a good game, but Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare with its exo-suits and new movement abilities continues to look like a remarkably innovative shooter, with fast-paced, high-tech action and graphics that are truly (finally) new-gen.

I hope it lives up to the hype. The series is in desperate need of some big changes, and it would be nice to see those changes pay off.

My bet? Whether or not Advanced Warfare is as good as it looks, the game will set new sales records for the franchise and quickly become the best-selling title of 2014.

Original Article at www.forbes.com

How Sonic Helped Sega Win the Early 90s Console Wars

In the early 1990s, Sega had a 6% market share in the US whilst Nintendo had 94% – but by the middle of the decade, the Mega Drive had become one of gaming's great success stories, with 65% market share. How did it happen?

The following is an extract from Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works, a documentary art book written by the Guardian's Games Editor Keith Stuart and produced in collaboration with Sega of Japan. It's published by Read Only Memory, and is out now.

It was the first week of September 1990 when the commercials hit American TV. The Sega Genesis had been out in the country for a year, quietly building a fan base with slick arcade conversions like Altered Beast and Golden Axe. With its 16-bit credentials stamped on its casing like a muscle-car badge, it was the most powerful console on the market, and had the potential to reshape gaming in its own, sleek image. But first it would have to defeat the competition. And that meant having to take out Nintendo.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Original Article at www.kotaku.com

Google wants more companies to highlight actionable content on Inbox app

Google has been making it easier for more and more third-party companies to take advantage of its products' features recently. For instance, it's now taking airlines, restos and event venues (among others) by the hand, showing them how to use the new Inbox app's Highlights feature to their advantage. Like its name implies, "Highlights" finds pertinent info or actionable items within an email and shows them right within the email list. So, if you're eating out or prepping for a flight, you can confirm your reservation or check in without having to access the email itself. Devs simply need to mark up the parts they want to surface to make that happen -- we doubt they'll have a tough time doing so, since Google even offers full sets of instructions and sample codes they can look at. Just recently, the tech giant also made it simpler for devs to add the "OK Google" voice command to their creations, letting you do queries within an app without lifting a finger.

Original Article at www.engadget.com

Google Wallet can now auto-withdraw from banks and send low balance alerts

You can't exactly use Google Wallet everywhere you go just yet, but if you do use it often enough to warrant semi-regular transfers from your bank, then you'll love its latest update. Now, you can activate recurring bank transfers, even pick the amount and the schedule (say, once a month or so) you want, to automatically replenish your digital dollars. That's especially useful if you depend on the physical Wallet card, which spends that balance every time it's charged. But in case Wallet balance doesn't matter as much -- say, you have an NFC-enabled Android phone and prefer to tap and pay mostly using credit -- then, you can also just program the app to let you know if it's almost out of cash. These features are available for both iOS and Android, as you can see after the break, but you can only use the tap-and-pay option if your NFC phone runs KitKat or higher.

Original Article at www.engadget.com

You can try Sony's VR headset at the 'PlayStation Experience'

Tickets for Sony's PlayStation Experience in December go on sale today, but aside from a few coy teases, what you'll do there hasn't been clear. Well, now that's changing. For starters, Project Morpheus -- the catch-up king's VR headset -- is making its consumer show debut (as opposed to, say, appearing at E3). As far as games go, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, The Order: 1866 and Bloodborne are making appearances too. And what would PlayStation be without indies? The Journey and Grim Fandango remasters for PS4, Helldivers, The Witness will be there, and something "super special" is planed for No Man's Sky come the show's Saturday night. There's too much to list here, and more still to come apparently, so head over to the PlayStation Blog for the full line-up that'll be in Las Vegas a little over a month from now.

Original Article at www.engadget.com

Sony loses a little less money thanks to the PlayStation 4

If you're rooting for Sony to pull through recent tough times, it's still a cliffhanger, according to its latest earnings report. On the plus side, PS4 sales have been stellar, up 83 percent over last year at 310 billion yen ($2.8 billion). The good news drops off sharply from there, however, especially with mobile. Though sales in that division were up slightly from last year, it managed to lose 172 billion yen ($1.5 billion). Since most of Sony's other divisions fared okay, that means its 86 billion yen ($770 million) operating loss can be directly chalked up to its mobile division. Though it warned investors that smartphone sales would be dismal, Sony decided nevertheless decided to fire its mobile division's CEO, Kunimasa Suzuki, and replace him with VP Hiroki Totoki.

Update: Additional figures from Sony have shown us just how well the PlayStation 4 is doing: the company says it's sold 3.3 million over the past quarter. For contrast, Microsoft announced combined Xbox 360 and Xbox One shipments of 2.4 million in its latest financial results.

Original Article at www.engadget.com

Google Calendar for the web now lets you plan a schedule more quickly

The holidays are fast approaching, and chances are you're already busy planning your schedule for the next couple of months. Knowing how important it is to stick to a schedule for seasons like this, Google has introduced a handful of changes to its calendar interface for the web. Now, you don't have to refresh it to see new items and changes (such as invitations or rescheduled events) anymore, since Google Cal shows them immediately. The Other calendars list on the left-hand menu now moves active calendar profiles to the top of the pile and buries inactive ones at the bottom, as well. Finally, your back button now works within the interface (it previously didn't), and clicking it brings you to the previous page you're viewing. While these are obviously pretty minor, they make using Google Calendar on the web faster and a lot less painful than before.

Original Article at www.engadget.com

Amazon will develop Fire phone sequels despite the first one's failure

Amazon's Fire phone has been doing so badly on the market, that the company took a $170 million hit in the third quarter of 2014 and is currently sitting on $83 million worth of unsold devices. But even all those millions aren't enough to make the retailer throw in the towel -- Amazon SVP of Devices David Limp told Fortune that the execs are moving forward with their plans to develop and release more phones in the future. According to Limp, the company blames the Fire phone's originally steep pricing for its failure to sell. In fact, the 32GB model used to cost $200 on contract until Amazon was forced to drop its price to just 99 cents in September.

Limp said:
We didn't get the price right. I think people come to expect a great value, and we sort of mismatched expectations. We thought we had it right. But we're also willing to say, 'we missed.' And so we corrected.

He also pointed out that the first Kindle was just as critically panned when it came out, but that the product evolved into something a lot of people love -- a scenario Amazon wants to replicate with the Fire phone. While Limp didn't get into specifics about future models, he said that the company will continue releasing new software features for the current handset. Amazon hopes to learn from people's reactions to these software updates and to get their devices "better and better" in the process.

Original Article at www.engadget.com

Could your washer really charge your smartphone from across the room?

Wireless charging is a little bit more convenient than plugging your device in, but was picking up a microUSB lead ever that much of a chore in the first place? White goods and TV supremos Haier believe so, which is why it's signed a development pact with wireless charging outfit Energous. The latter company's WattUp technology promises to deliver power over the same radio bands as a WiFi router and is apparently able to charge a smartphone from distances of up to 15 feet. The idea, at this early stage, is to cram these power transmitters into Haier's refrigerators, washing machines and microwaves, so that you can re-juice your phone while you wait for your dinner and do your laundry.

Of course, there's still a few questions about how it'll work in practice. For instance, won't needlessly pumping this stuff out be really energy intensive and wasteful? Then there's the question of if it wouldn't be damaging to health in the same way that people have raised concerns about living next to electrical substations? Oh, and what about the fact that constantly powering your phone will eventually cause the battery to stop storing a charge? Hopefully Energous will have answers to all of these questions soon enough, since we'll be keeping a watchful eye on how this project develops.

Original Article at www.engadget.com

Microsoft Cross Enterprise Software On Each Other’s Clouds

IBM and Microsoft have announced a new partnership designed to run several enterprise software offerings from their respective companies on each other's public and hybrid cloud offerings. This will give customers, partners and developers more options ranging from what cloud provider will offer the infrastructure needed to additional choices for development platforms within that selected provider.

IBM middleware including products such as WebSphere Liberty, MQ and DB2 will become available on Microsoft Azure, while Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server will be available on the IBM cloud. In addition to operating systems and middleware, IBM and Microsoft are also working on bringing the Microsoft .Net runtimes with relevant tooling to the IBM Bluemix (cloud platform as a service) offering. IBM and Microsoft are also expanding their support of hybrid cloud deployments by enabling expanding support for more IBM software on Hyper-V and enabling IBM Pure Application Service available on Microsoft Azure.

“Together we are creating new opportunities to drive innovation in hybrid cloud,” said Robert LeBlanc, Senior Vice President, Software and Cloud Solutions Group, IBM. “This agreement reinforces IBM’s strategy in providing open cloud technology for the enterprise. Clients will now gain unprecedented access to IBM’s leading middleware and will have an even greater level of choice over the tools that they use to build and deploy their cloud environments.”

“Microsoft is committed to helping enterprise customers realize the tremendous benefits of cloud computing across their own systems, partner clouds and Microsoft Azure,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Cloud and Enterprise, Microsoft. “With this agreement more customers will be able to take advantage of the hyper-scale, enterprise performance and hybrid capabilities of Azure.”

In addition to customers being able to bring their existing licenses to the IBM and Microsoft clouds, Microsoft will also offer IBM middleware software licenses for key products such as WebSphere Liberty, MQ and DB2 with a pay-per-use license model. By simplifying license and support concerns, both companies benefit with IBM gaining expanded platforms for its middleware offerings and Microsoft continuing to expand the reach of Azure into more enterprise software partnerships.

The cloud consumer is ultimately the true winner, having vendor-specific enterprise software offerings now available, supported and licensed through multiple cloud vendors. Although neither vendor has released pricing information, we presume that the two companies will keep costs similar to one another. However, the ancillary services offered could be the deciding factor for the customer.

Original Article at www.tomsitpro.com

BlackBerry CEO Teases 'Classic' Phone In Open Letter

John Chen, Executive Chair and CEO of BlackBerry, provided an open letter to current and former customers on Wednesday, revealing that the company is getting ready to launch a smartphone called BlackBerry Classic. The device seems to be an updated version of the BlackBerry Bold, featuring a built-in QWERTY keyboard, media keys and a trackpad.

According to the post, the phone will have a bigger, sharper screen, the BlackBerry 10 operating system, BlackBerry Hub, BlackBerry Blend, and a huge, growing application catalog. Unfortunately, that's it in regards to hardware and software details. The phone is supposedly set to go retail before the end of the year.

"Sure, we've got new BlackBerry devices that break the mold, including the BlackBerry Passport. But we also recognize that a lot of you continue to hang on to your Bold devices because they get the job done, day in and day out – just like you," he wrote in the letter.

Chen said that it's tempting to change for the sake of change in a "rapidly changing, rapidly growing" mobile market. It's also tempting to match what is trendy, and to produce a device that addresses everyone. He said that the BlackBerry Classic phone reflects the popular adage of "if it ain't broke don't fix it."

"When we lose sight of what you want and you need, we lose you," he wrote. "We are committed to earning your business – or earning it back, if that's the case."

BlackBerry brought in John Chen a year ago to take advantage of his experience in turning around database service company Sybase Inc. According to Reuters, the company has sold off some real estate and other assets while streamlining its manufacturing and supply chain. The company also stepped out of the norm and introduced the BlackBerry Passport on September 24.

Inspired by actual passports, BlackBerry Passport is a square-ish device packing a large touchscreen and the industry's first touch-enabled QWERTY keyboard. The device reeled in mixed reviews, some of which indicated that its unusual shape made it hard to hold with one hand. The BlackBerry Classic should solve that problem.

Chen said that the company will share more details about the BlackBerry Classic phone in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Original Article at www.tomshardware.com

Microsoft Tackles Health with $199 Fitness Band

On the heels of companies like Fitbit and Lenovo that recently came out with new fitness trackers, Microsoft has solidified the rumors of its own new wearable device. Soon after mysterious Microsoft Health apps appeared in the Apple App Store, Google Play Store and Windows Store last night, news of the Microsoft Band, the company's first fitness tracker, broke to usher Satya Nadella's empire into the world of digital health.

At a glance, the $199 Microsoft Band is your standard fitness tracker. It looks like a hybrid of the Samsung Galaxy Gear Fit, with its horizontal screen, and the Nike Fuelband with its matte black, sporty design. It will track the typical fitness metrics, including steps, calories, heart rate and sleep quality, and will support 24-hour heart rate monitoring and automatic activity counting. It's also got a built-in GPS, so you can see the route, pace and distance of your run. Microsoft Band will connect to your smartphone too, providing email and calendar alerts on its screen, and Windows Phone users will be able to take notes and set reminders on the band using Cortana integration.

While details on each store's app pages are sparse, it appears that the wristband is built for continuous monitoring, and according to a report from The Verge, data collection is the "big idea" behind the Microsoft Band. Unlike the health monitoring systems recently released from Apple and Google, Microsoft's Health cross-platform cloud service is open to any operating system and is working on supporting as many digital health products as possible.

Microsoft has reportedly already made Health compatible with Android Wear smartwatches, Android phones, and the motion processor in the iPhone 6 - that way it can automatically collect data from those devices. The company is also working with companies like Jawbone, RunKeeper and MyFitnessPall to gather their data and store it as well.

Microsoft wants to be everywhere and anywhere fitness information is being tracked, and it's hoping that Health can eventually be the hub where all of this valuable data lives. This could potentially give Microsoft the intelligence and ability to provide users with insights and advice on how to improve their health.

Currently, this is where most fitness trackers fall short: they are all capable of tracking fitness and health metrics, relaying them back to you, and maybe even analyzing the data - to a point. Very few consumer health devices, especially wristband fitness trackers, succeed at giving users actionable advice on how to change and improve their health. With an open platform and the will to invest in and create better trackers, Microsoft has the potential to do this.

It will be a while before we know if any of these big ideas become a reality. Even if Microsoft's Health functions perfectly, people have to be willing to try it and use it continuously in order for the company to accumulate the vast amount of health data it wants. In addition to seeing how the Microsoft Band can stand up to its competition, we're also interested to see how well it integrates with Health (and how third-party devices and apps integrate with Health as well), and how much Health can really do for us now. The Microsoft Band comes in three sizes and is available online and in stores starting today for $199.

Original Article at www.tomsguide.com