Here are a few examples: The auto save and recovery features keep you from losing all your work if you suffer a crash; the new Content-Aware Move tool lets you scoot objects around the canvas; the new blur filters create shallow-depth-of-field and tilt-shift effects in no time flat; the new Adaptive Wide Angle filter fixes in-camera lens distortion; and a new Oil Paint filter lets you create a painting with nary a brushstroke. Whew! But that's just the beginning.Many items that have been parked on customers’ wish lists were incorporated into this version, too, such as duplicating and changing the blend mode of multiple layers at once; creating dashed and dotted lines; a Migrate Presets option that lets you easily share all your presets; and more. Video editing is also included in the Standard version of Photoshop CS6 (previously it was available only in the Extended version). All this adds up to one of the most feature-packed releases Photoshop has ever seen.
As in the past, Adobe offers two versions of the program—Photoshop for $699, and Photoshop Extended for $999. Photoshop Extended has all the features of the standard version, but adds extensive 3D capabilities, quantitative data extraction, and DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) file support.
Workspace updates
No matter which version of Photoshop you’re currently using, the CS6 workspace looks completely different thanks to a new charcoal-gray color theme with light-gray icons and text (four color schemes are accessible via preferences, including the lighter color of previous versions). While the darker color reduces eye-fatigue and can help you see more accurate color when correcting images, the text labels in the Options bar and panels are harder to read. Adobe also removed the Application bar in this version to give you more screen real estate; the controls that roosted in it are now sprinkled throughout the Tools panel and menu system. Settings for Adjustment layers, layer masks, and 3D items are now consolidated into a new Properties panel, plus you’ll find slightly more consistent wording through the interface.
Under the hood you’ll find a new Mercury Graphics Engine that relies heavily on your computer’s graphics processing unit (GPU), making Photoshop CS6 run noticeably faster. This also speeds up, among other things, the live previews of features like Free Transform, Warp Transform, Puppet Warp, Liquify, and Lighting Effects. And if Photoshop CS6 crashes, don’t panic: the new auto-save/auto-recovery feature means your documents are automatically saved every few minutes (you control the interval via preferences), and the last saved version pops open the minute you restart the program after a crash. Saving documents also takes place in the background in CS6—whether it’s an auto-save or you’ve chosen File -> Save—meaning you don’t have to wait until the program is finished saving your document before you perform other edits.
Several familiar items—such as the Move tool, Crop tool, and the Free Transform command—now display an incredibly handy info overlay next to your cursor when you use them that shows size, rotation angle, and other useful information (depending on what you’re doing). For example, if you’re trying to resize layer content using Free Transform, you can see the exact dimensions as you’re resizing the item without having to open the Info panel. You also see these new “rich cursors” when you resize a brush by Ctrl-Option-dragging, in which case you see brush size, hardness, and opacity.
The darker interface is easy on your eyes and makes your images pop onscreen, though you can use Photoshop’s Interface Preferences to make it one shade darker or two tints lighter. You can also customize the background to any other color combination you want.
Content-Aware Patch and Move tools
With each new version of the program, Adobe adds more tools that use Content-Aware technology, wherein Photoshop analyzes image content and prioritizes it according to importance (green and blue are low priority as they’re often grass or sky, whereas skin-tones are high priority). In Photoshop CS6, the Patch tool takes advantage of it, which makes removing objects from photos more realistic, especially when horizontal lines (like a horizon) are involved. Using the Adaptation menu in the Options bar, you can determine how much blending occurs inside the selected area to make the patch look real. That said, it’s tough to spot the difference between a regular patch and a Content-Aware patch; however, perhaps best of all, setting the Patch tool to use Content-Aware technology reveals a new Sample All Layers option that lets you perform the patch non-destructively on an empty layer.
Photoshop CS6 also includes a new tool called Content-Aware Move that lets you move an object from one spot to another, as well as extend objects beyond their original size (to make them taller, wider, and so on). In either case, start by selecting the object—either with the Content-Aware Tool itself, or any other selection tool, and then switch to the Content Aware Move tool—and then dragging the selection to a new position. When you do, Photoshop blends the object into place and removes it from its previous position. If you move or extend the object in very small amounts and you’ve got some free background space around the object, this tool does an amazing job, though you may need to use the Spot Healing Brush or Clone Stamp tools to perfect the change.
Once you’ve selected an object (left), you can use the new Content-Aware Move tool to drag it to another position in the frame. As you drag, you see an overlay that displays position information (right). While this tool does a great job on the right photo, you may have some cleanup to do; both the Spot Healing Brush and Clone Stamp tools were used around the right rear wheel of this now-winning soapbox (bottom).
New Crop tools
The Crop tool’s behavior and Options bar settings changed drastically in CS6. For example, a crop box automatically appears whenever the tool is active, and dragging to move the crop box moves the image underneath it. Adobe also removed the Resolution field in the Options bar so you can’t accidentally change pixel size when cropping (though if you really want to crop and change resolution at the same time, choose Size & Resolution from the Aspect Ratio presets pop-up menu to open a dialog box that lets you do so). While this is handy for beginners, seasoned users will undoubtedly experience frustration. On the upside, you can use the Crop tool to straighten your images, thanks to a new setting in the Options bar (instead of reaching for the Ruler tool).
Turning off the new Delete Cropped Pixels checkbox in the Options bar (labeled Hide in previous versions) makes the Crop tool non-destructive. To resurrect the cropped portion—even after you’ve saved and closed the document—activate the Crop tool and then immediately press Return (Enter on a PC). Photoshop displays the previously hidden edges of the image and places an active crop box around the previously cropped area. At that point you can resize the crop box, reposition it, and so on. CS6 also includes a bushel of new crop overlay options including Diagonal, Golden Ratio, and Golden Spiral. Last but not least, a new Perspective Crop tool lets you quickly straighten a photo shot at an angle.
These changes certainly take some getting used to, though if they drive you crazy you can revert to the behavior of the old Crop tool by clicking the gear icon in the Options bar and then turning on Use Classic Mode, though nothing brings back the Option bar’s missing Resolution field.
New and improved filters
One of the most practical new features in Photoshop CS6 is the new Field Blur, Iris Blur, and Tilt-Shift filters; they’re perfect for creating beautifully blurred backgrounds after the shot, and they’re a lot easier to use than the Lens Blur filter. These filters also use a brand-new workspace with a full-size image preview and clever on-image controls that let you determine blur placement, size, and strength (no selection required). Field and Iris blur are great for producing a shallow-depth of field effect, though the latter gives you more control over the shape and size of the blur to make it look more realistic. The Tilt-Shift filter mimics the effect of shooting with a Lens Baby, a popular and bendable tilt lens. Each filter also includes a Bokeh option that you can use to make specular highlights sparkle and shine.
The new Adaptive Wide Angle filter makes it easy to fix geometric distortion problems inherent in shooting with a wide-angle or fish-eye lens. Simply draw a line across the distorted area (like a curved horizon that ought to be straight) and Photoshop uses its lens profile database to straighten the image; though you can also straighten it manually if your lens profile can’t be found. Rounding out the new filters in CS6, you can use Oil Paint to create a shockingly nice painting from a photo with the flick of a few sliders.
Top: Wide-angle and fish-eye lenses are great for exaggerating depth and relative size of an object or scene, though you may end up with straight areas that look curved. Bottom: If Photoshop can find your lens profile, it can fix an image like this in just two quick clicks. (Credit: Horseshoe Bend by Karen Nace)
The Lighting Effects filter isn’t new, but it was redesigned and optimized for 64-bit so it’s faster. It uses the same interface as the new blur filters and includes on-image controls making it easier to use. The Liquify filter also got a speed boost due to the new graphics engine and changes now appear in real-time. You can also increase brush size inside the Liquify dialog box using keyboard shortcuts and brush size is now capped at 15,000 pixels (instead of 3,000).
Adobe pruned the Filter menu, too, by removing categories accessible inside the Filter Gallery. While this makes for a shorter Filter menu, it also makes it challenging to keep track of which filters you’ve used. For example, by choosing Filter -> Filter Gallery and then running a filter on a Smart Object, Photoshop generically names it Filter Gallery in the Layers panel (instead of naming it Gaussian Blur). Since you can’t double-click to rename the filter manually, the fix is to repopulate your Filter menu using preferences and then run the filter by choosing its name instead of choosing Filter Gallery.
By choosing the Tilt-Shift filter, you can reproduce the effect of using a tilt lens. The area between the two solid lines remains in focus—though you can change that by dragging in a circular motion atop the black and white blur ring shown here; the area between a solid line and a dashed line is partially blurred; the area beyond the dashed lines is completely blurred. Drag anywhere on a line to adjust that area’s size. To rotate the blur, grab one of two white resizing handles and drag (Photoshop displays the rotation’s angle, as shown here). Here you can see the original image (left) versus the Tilt-Shift effect with Bokeh applied (right).
Layers and text
Layers got a few upgrades, too. For example, you can filter your Layers panel based on criteria that you set using a new row of buttons at the top of the panel (layer content remains visible; only the layers themselves are hidden). You can filter layers by kind, name, effects, attributes (whether the layer is locked, linked, and so on), and color-coding. This makes it incredibly easy to locate, and thus activate, specific layers for editing.
Photoshop CS6 also lets you change the blend mode of multiple layers at once, duplicate several layers simultaneously by pressing Command-J, as well as see the Opacity, Fill, and blend mode settings of layers whose visibility eyes are turned off. And once you’ve highlighted a layer’s name to rename it, you can press Tab to highlight the next layer’s name or Shift-Tab to highlight the previous one instead.
Using the new Fill and Stroke options for Shape layers, designers can finally create dashed or dotted lines. Once you create a Shape layer in CS6, you’ll spot a slew of new settings in the Options bar that let you add a fill and/or stroke—even dashed and dotted lines—as well as align paths in a variety of ways. These new settings work like their counterparts in Adobe Illustrator.
When it comes to text, you can save frequently used formatting using the new Character Styles and Paragraph Styles panels (unfortunately the styles are document-specific and can’t be imported or exported from Adobe InDesign). You’ll also spot a new Type menu that includes handy commands to convert text into a shape or path, change font preview size, rasterize Type layers, and so on. This version also includes a Paste Lorem Ipsum command that automatically creates placeholder text.
Painting upgrades
Photoshop CS6 includes two new brush tips that make digital painting more realistic than ever before. The new Erodible brush tip wears down as you use it (like real chalk or a pencil), and the new Airbrush tip works less like a can of spray paint and more like a professional airbrush rig. You’ll also find new customization settings in the Brush panel that let you introduce color changes to individual brush marks within a brushstroke (look for the Apply Per Tip checkbox in the Color Dynamics settings), while Texture settings now include Brightness and Contrast sliders.
You can use CS6’s new layer filtering feature to view layers that match specific conditions that you set. This is extremely helpful when you’ve got a gazillion of layers (like the document shown at left) and you need to find, say, all the Type layers in order to change fonts.
Video editing
Photoshop Extended has included video-editing capabilities for years, but in CS6 you also get the full suite of video-editing controls in the Standard edition. Using the new Timeline panel (called Animation in previous versions), you can easily import, trim, split video clips, add transitions, text and other graphics, and apply special effects using familiar tools. Photoshop CS6 also lets you add and control audio.
Photoshop’s video layers are similar to image layers and can be converted into a Smart Object in order to apply filters non-destructively or to make the filter affect each frame in your clip (instead of just one). You can use Adjustment layers to correct your clip’s color or apply a creative color effect, like a black-and-white or sepia-tone, and add layer styles (an Inner Shadow makes for a striking, dark-edge vignette effect!). And adding transitions between clips is a simple, drag-and-drop affair.
You can add text to your video with the Type tool and by using keyframes—the way Photoshop marks a moment in of time in your video—you can animate layer content like text, graphics, and layer masks to make them appear to fade in or out or move from one location to another within your clip. You can even create an animation from scratch (a process called rotoscoping), by turning on the Onion Skin feature so Photoshop displays a ghosted image of the frames it creates to produce the desired motion. With enough patience, you could create an animated masterpiece, but the process is tedious.
When you’re finished, you can export the final piece in a slew of video file formats or a Photoshop Image Sequence. The program includes several handy new video document presets for iOS devices, too.
Top: Trimming a video clip is as easy as dragging its start point or end point. Photoshop also opens a preview window that shows exactly which frame you’re trimming the video down to. Bottom: To add a darkened-edge vignette effect to a video clip, apply an Inner Shadow layer style. Any layer styles you add apply to the entire length of the video clip.
3D Enhancements
If you work with Photoshop’s 3D tools (Extended edition only), you’ll be treated to faster performance as well as a more fully integrated 3D workspace thanks to the new 3D panel and a minimized toolset available in the Options bar. Instead of using a complicated dialog box to manipulate objects, you can click an object to rotate, reposition, and adjust its geometry (on-image tools let you extrude, twist, and so on). Repositioning light is as easy as shift-clicking the object and then dragging its shadow elsewhere. You can also use the Character panel to change the properties of 3D text, and you can render a portion of your project by selecting it first (a huge time-saver).
Everything else
There are also a ton of little changes in Photoshop CS6, too, that are the direct result of Adobe’s customer feedback initiative called Just Do It (JDI). For example, the Contact Sheet II and PDF Presentation plug-ins are back (both were removed in CS4); you can apply custom scripts to introduce randomness into patterns made with the Edit -> Fill command; you can increase Brush tool size to 5000 pixels; record strokes made with the Brush or Pen tools in actions; the new Migrate Presets command lets you easily import and export actions, workspaces, and tool presets; the Eyedropper tool’s Sample menu lets you snatch color from the current layer and any layers below it (you can make it ignore Adjustment layers, too); Photoshop automatically chooses the best resampling (interpolation) method when you use Free Transform, the Crop tool, or the Image Size dialog box; holding the Shift key while you launch the program disables third-party plug-ins; the Auto button in a Levels and Curves adjustment uses new and improved math; the Color Range command includes a new option for helping you select skin tones; and more.
Improved Camera Raw and Bridge CS6
The newest version of the Camera Raw plug-in also got a substantial overhaul, but for unknown reasons it didn’t get a coat of dark gray paint. Take a peek in the Basic panel and you’ll find a re-ordered set of sliders with a wonderfully consistent starting point of 0. The Recovery, Fill Light, and Brightness sliders were replaced with Highlights, Shadows, and Whites sliders, respectively, which should let you do a much better job of correcting the color and lighting in images while preserving details in the shadows and highlights. You can also apply these new settings selectively using the Adjustment Brush, wherein you’ll also find new sliders for Noise and Moire Reduction (all the new sliders are available for use with Graduated Filters, too).
The newest version of Bridge—Adobe’s importing, organizational, and batch processing powerhouse—also sports a dark-gray interface and zips along more quickly now that it’s optimized for 64-bit. The Mini Bridge panel in CS6 also has a simplified interface and a new filmstrip mode that lets you view images in a single row at the bottom of your screen.
Adobe Camera Raw launches automatically when you open a Raw file in Photoshop, Bridge, or the Mini Bridge panel. Here you can see the new and reordered sliders in the Basic panel.
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First-person role playing games on the PC have problems nobody talks about, a surprise given how much gamers complain. For all the wonder and promise of titles like Skyrim, players spend most of their actual game time drunkenly steering horses around trees or aiming arrows at targets using mechanics virtually identical to those found in a space marine bro-dude combat shooter. FPS fans may be fine with this, but role playing game aficionados have been forced to look far afield, dabbling with consoles and handheld devices, to find the innovations and alternatives that were once commonplace in PC RPGs. In an effort to show modern gamers another way to slay a beast, Finnish developer Almost Human Ltd. has gone back to computer gaming's golden age, examined the work of the genre's progenitors, and emerged with their debut title, Legend of Grimrock.
Keep plenty of food around if you have a Minotaur in your Legend of Grimrock adventuring party.Using the traditional Dungeon Master interface, Grimrock reintroduces grid-based step movement and ninety-degree turns to first-person roleplay. After over a decade of Unreal-style mouse-look "walking simulators," this design decision feels less retro than revelation. Each click on the directional arrows or tap of the WASD/QE keys moves your party a square or turns them 90 degrees. Although you can examine areas in detail using the right mouse button, your party always remains at a fixed distance from the scenery. No more blurred textures because your nose is pressed against a wall. No getting 'stuck' on scenery geometry or wrestling with exacting positions to do something as simple as opening a door, either. Everything just works, and looks great doing so.
Legend of Grimrock's simplified motion controls allow for other mechanics to take center stage, so you spend less time thinking about avoiding door jambs and more time thinking about party tactics during combat or pondering the environmental puzzles, which are a fiendishly difficult mix of pressure plates, teleporters, switches, hidden buttons, spell attacks, pits and more. Things get tough in this regard, in particular after level 5 or so. You create spells by combining rune symbols into formulas you find or figure out on your own through trial and error, although the character must be still be sufficiently skilled in that school of magic to cast the spells they discover.
Character types are differentiated by both class and race, with humans, insectoids, minotaurs, and saurians each offering their own particular set of advantages and drawbacks, as well as fun portraits that provide personality and help get you attached to your rag-tag band of deep-dungeon survivors. Legend of Grimrock limits classes to a choice of fighter, rogue or mage, although unique skill sets allow for diversification. The game tends to reward specialists over generalists, so pick primary and secondary skills wisely and stick to them.
Mant's exoskeleton perk provides natural armor protection.Combat is real-time and cooldown-based; each member of the party attacks when you click the weapon or spell they have ready at hand and that character is then greyed out for a short time while the action is performed. Two rows of two characters each allow positional tactics to be meaningfully utilized. Characters in the back row are protected by those in front, so mages and rogues are largely shielded from the effects of combat while they cast spells and use missile weapons. This also permits injured fighters to retreat to the relative safety of the rear row if combat is going poorly, where they can be healed or attack from a distance with long weapons such as spears. Just keep in mind the same tactics can be used against you just as effectively. Once your party is cornered or surrounded, it's almost always the end of the road. Legend of Grimrock is unforgiving, so save often.
The only obvious problem here is length. Grimrock is so good that ten dungeon levels just aren't enough. Fortunately, the team at Almost Human Ltd is hard at work on several planned expansions, the first of which is a free level editor that's destined to create a world of user-generated content, and custom portrait packs made by fans are already popping up on modding sites. At just $15 DRM-free and direct from the developers, Legend of Grimrock is the most wholehearted recommendation to role playing fans since Diablo 2. The buzz you're hearing about these guys is only the start. Grimrock is going places.
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Setting up the Officejet Pro 8100 on a PC is simple: Insert the CD and follow the prompts. If you're using a Mac that runs Lion (OS X 10.7), however, you'll probably have to surf to HP's website for the latest drivers; the ones on our installation CD didn't support Apple's latest and greatest. You can use OS X's own Add Printer function to find the driver, but HP should bring its installation software up-to-date.
HP adds a nice touch to the Officejet Pro 8100's control panel in the form of a small front LCD for showing ink levels, Wi-Fi status, and when you're out of paper. Onboard buttons are limited to an eject button and toggle buttons for the ePrint cloud-printing feature and for Wi-Fi.
Paper handling on the Officejet Pro 8100 is sufficient for medium-volume printing, with a 250-sheet, bottom-mounted main tray, a 150-sheet output tray directly above it; and automatic duplexing. An optional, $80 250-sheet paper tray (CQ696A) is available for the Officejet Pro 8100; but at this writing, the tray is nearly impossible to find on HP’s website without help.
The Officejet Pro 8100 seems sturdily built, and it's more than likely to outlast its one-year warranty. In addition, HP will sell you a two-year extended service/warranty plan for only $25, which is reassuring. The extended plan supersedes the standard plan, but you can purchase it any time within the first year--so the longer you wait, the longer the total warranty.
Getting your documents printed promptly is no problem for the Officejet Pro 8100. Monochrome pages (mostly text, with a few simple grayscale graphics) exit at a rapid 12.5 pages per minute, while 4-by 6-inch photos print at 4.6 ppm (well above average) to plain paper and 1.2 ppm (average) to glossy photo paper. Full-page photos print to glossy paper at about 0.6 ppm, which is slightly above average.
Output from the Officejet Pro 8100 was generally very good. Text looked sharp, though it tended toward charcoal gray instead of black. Monochrome graphics were attractive and had smooth transitions, though of the same overall charcoal cast. The slightly oversaturated palette in color photos made for warm and friendly nonhuman subjects, but it gave fleshtones an unnaturally ruddy appearance.
The Officejet Pro 8100's ink costs are outstandingly low--especially for the high-yield supplies. The unit ships with special "setup" versions of its standard-capacity cartridges that have extra ink for the initialization process, so you still get basically a full set to use for printing. The standard-capacity cartridges cost you 2.6 cents per black page and 2.9 cents per page (cpp) per color. A four-color page costs a very affordable 11.3 cents. The high-yield XL supplies are even cheaper: 1.6 cents for monochrome pages and 7.3 cents for a four-color page.
Fast and competent, the Officejet Pro 8100 is a more economical choice than a color laser printer. But so are most business-class inkjets. Before committing to anything, you might want to check out the Epson Workforce Pro WP-4020, which is slightly faster than the HP and has a rear feed for thicker media such as photos and envelopes.
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Let’s take a quick look at the speeds and feeds for the GTX 670, and see just how it’s different from its pricier cousin. Note that clock frequencies are for the reference board. Shipping retail boards may differ in clock frequencies, depending on the design of the board and what the company shipping the board wants to support.
2 x Dual Link DVI, 2 x HDMI 1.4a (Fast), 2 x DisplayPort 1.2
2 x Dual Link DVI, 2 x HDMI 1.4a (Fast), 2 x DisplayPort 1.2
The chip used in the GTX 670 is the exact same GK104 GPU as the higher-end GTX 680, but with one entire functional block--what Nvidia calls an “SMX”--disabled. The clock frequency is a little lower for the GPU core itself, but the memory clock frequency and quantity are identical.
Those are the base specs in a nutshell. Now it’s time to check out how the reference board actually performs.
Performance
Performance data was collected using FutureMark’s 3DMark 2011 and five DirectX 11 games: Crysis 2, Shogun 2: Total War, DiRT3, Metro 2033, and Batman: Arkham City. Also, system power under idle and load was measured using a Watts Up Pro power meter. The system used for testing consisted of an Intel Core i7 3960X running at 3.3GHz with 12GB of DDR3 RAM running at 1600MHz. Power supply, motherboard, and other hardware remained the same during the entire run, as did the operating system, Windows 7 Ultimate x64.
Nvidia’s new $399 card easily bests last year’s high-end GTX 580 in 3DMark 2011, as well as both current high-end GPUs from AMD, the Radeon HD 7950 and Radeon HD 7970.
It’s worth noting that the GTX 670 easily beats last year’s model, as well as the similarly priced Radeon HD 7950. The average game performance is essentially a dead heat with the pricier Radeon HD 7970.
It’s impressive how idle power has improved on all the current-generation cards. However, it’s also worth noting that the GTX 670 used here consumed just a little more power than a GTX 680 reference board. The actual difference was only a couple of watts, so it’s probably just variation in manufacturing.
Under full load, measured when running 3DMark 2011 at very high resolutions and all features maxed out, the GTX 670 proves to be the most efficient card, though the Radeon HD 7950 is just a step behind.
Availability
Cards are shipping now, from a variety of manufacturers, including Asus, eVGA, Gainward, and more. While the target price is $399, prices will likely vary, depending on the level of factory overclocking and other included features. The eVGA card, for example, will ship with a base clock of 967MHz, as well as pushing the memory clock to an impressive 1552MHz. Most companies building cards based on the GTX 670 will ship factory-overclocked versions. Some even take up more than two slots.
Actual availability is an open question. The original GTX 680 has been difficult to find, with waiting lists for cards from most online retailers. It’s possible that GTX 670 cards will be built from GPU dies that weren’t able to pass full GTX 680 certification. If so, more of them should hit retail shelves.
Final Thoughts
At $399, the GTX 670 is still aimed more at the subset of high-end gamers who are likely playing on a single, HD resolution display. At $100 less, you still get performance better than last year’s high-end GPU from Nvidia, and equaling more expensive cards based on AMD’s Radeon HD 7970.
The card is surprisingly compact for its performance, and should fit in most midtower cases--even those lacking the depth to handle some higher-end cards. Power-supply requirements should be modest--a good 500W PSU should do the trick.
If you’re a serious PC gamer thinking about upgrading, and already have a GTX 580 or similar high-end card, it’s probably not worth moving to a GTX 670. But if you have an older GTX 200 series or 400 series card, it may be well worth the investment.
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There are three things I looked for in a backgammon app, starting with an attractive interface. This isn’t as common as you might think, as some backgammon offerings in the App Store have garish colors or horrid cartoonish boards and pieces. If you’re better than a casual player, you’ll want an app with strong artificial intelligence: If you can beat the app all the time, it’s not much fun. And, if you like to play different people, you’ll want multi-player options, preferably using iOS’s built-in Game Center feature.
Best Face Forward: FaceMe Backgammon sports an attractive interface that lets you select one of a half-dozen different boards.
FaceMe Backgammon is a $4 universal app that runs on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad). Developed by Quatrian, the game features an attractive interface, with a selection of a half-dozen different boards. Its AI is decent, and is strong enough for most backgammon players. FaceMe Backgammon allows you to play against the app, with “Pass the device” mode (in which two human players can play each other), and online with Game Center.
Backgammon NJ from Jimmy Hu comes in a $5 iPhone version or a $7 iPad offering. Its interface offers fewer choices—only three boards—but I find it a bit more attractive, and its animations are smoother. It offers Game Center play and Two Player mode as well. But the real advantage to this app is the quality of its AI.
While I’m not a great backgammon player, I’ve been playing for a while. When I play FaceMe Backgammon, at the strongest level (“Expert”), I can generally win in a multi-point match. In addition, FaceMe Backgammon is very poor at using the doubling cube. It rarely offers to double, and almost always accepts when I double.
With Backgammon NJ, however, at the “Medium” skill level (the second of four levels), I win many matches, but not all. If I go to Hard, however, I don’t stand a chance. One weakness with this app is that there is a difference of 300 ELO points—from 1500 to 1800—between these two levels. More levels with smaller differences would make it better for those stuck in between two levels.
Gamesmanship: If you’re looking for ways to improve your game, Backgammon NJ lets you ask for hints and use a doubling tutor.
Backgammon NJ also offers a number of features to help you improve your game. You can ask for hints, and use a doubling tutor that will highlight the doubling cube when it recommends that you double, and recommend whether you should accept or decline when the app doubles. Diligent use of these features can greatly improve your game.
As for online play, both apps use Game Center. With two different versions, Backgammon NJ suffers because if you have the iPhone version, you can’t play owners of the iPad app; each one is considered to be a different game. So if you have two iOS devices, you may want to buy both versions, depending on when and where you play. The iPhone version currently lists 5,700 players in Game Center, and the HD version 4,900. FaceMe Backgammon lists a little more than 6,000 players. At times, I find it easier to get a game with one app or the other, and sometimes there are no players available for either. Unfortunately, neither of these offer they type of interface you get on backgammon servers, where you can invite someone to a match after seeing their level and experience. With Game Center, all this is automatic. (As an aside, it’s a shame that Game Center doesn’t allow all users apps for games like backgammon, chess, go, and others to play each other.)
All in all, Backgammon NJ—whether in iPad or iPhone form—is by far the better player, but it is more expensive. If you’re just a casual player, especially if you have two iOS devices, FaceMe Backgammon is a better choice, given the price. But if you’re a serious backgammon player, Backgammon NJ is the way to go.
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Case-Mate's rPet Collection
Case-Mate: The rPet Collection (iPhone 4 and 4S; $30) features snap-on hardshell cases made entirely of recycled PET—the stuff that plastic bottles are made of. In addition to helping the environment, the rPet is ultrathin and lightweight while still offering excellent protection. It's available in five translucent glossy hues—blue, pink, orange, green, or black—or a completely transparent version.
Calypso Case's Calypso Crystal
CalypsoCase: The Calypso Crystal (iPhone 4 and 4S; €99) is made from a combination of fine leather, a titanium frame for strength, a microfiber-cloth lining to provide a cushion for your iPhone, and silver trim for a luxurious touch. The Summer 2012 collection comes in Zurich Night (black with a red interior), Bilbao by Storm (lime green with a black interior), Austin Chill (tan with a black interior), or Bubbly Sydney (yellow with a black interior).
CM4's Q-Card Case
CM4: The Q-Card Case (iPhone 4 and 4S; $40) features a construction of soft-touch rubber and premium fabric for elegance and a great grip, and it sports a pocket that fits three credit or ID cards, as well as some paper money. The case comes in black or white, and also includes a lay-flat protector that keeps your screen safe from scratches.
Element Case's customized Vapor Comp
Element Case: The company's Vapor Comp and Vapor Pro models (iPhone 4 and 4S; $100 and up) can now be customized based on your personal preferences. Each portion of the case, including the sides, back, and even the screws, can be had in any of over a dozen hues and finishes to match the color combination you like best.
Griffin Technology's Elan Form Chilewick collection
Griffin Technology: The Elan Form Chilewick (iPhone 4 and 4S; $40) brings together Griffin's popular Elan case, with its sturdy construction and tough protection, with designer Sandy Chilewick's trademark vowen vinyl textile for a unique look that comes in five different patterns, resulting in a unique combination of sturdiness and soft feel.
InCase's Hammered Snap
InCase: The Hammered Snap (iPhone 4 and 4S; $35) is a hardshell case that features a unique appearance combining the look of hammered metal with a special soft-touch coating that feels great in your hand. The Hammered Snap comes in silver, red copper, gold, or iron.
Otterbox's Reflex Series
Otterbox: The Reflex Series (iPhone 4 and 4S; $35) brings a cool new look to Otterbox's well-known protective accessory. This two-piece case can be easily installed and removed, and is available in nine different color combinations.
PureGear's Utilitarian
PureGear: The Utilitarian (iPhone 4 and 4S; $40) includes a comfortable and durable Grip Case, a clip-on holster, and two kickstands, perfect for for viewing your phone in either landscape or portrait orientation. The case is available in black or white, and is meant to work as a complete transport solution for your iPhone that keeps your hands clean at all times.
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When you break out your iPhone 4S and ask Siri what the ‘best smartphone ever’ is, your humble virtual assistant will recommend you to buy Nokia’s Lumia 900.
Which is, of course, a decent phone indeed.
But really, an iPhone 4S-only service prompting you to check out a rival device when you ask it what the best handset is?
Siri’s amusing recommendation is drawing comments from hosts of Nokia and Microsoft fans worldwide (yes, there are still many of them), which in itself is rather amusing. It’s kinda like watching people cheer because the magical mirror told the queen that Snow White is actually the fairest of them all.
Hopefully needless to say, the reason why Siri is making the above recommendation isn’t because Apple thinks the iPhone 4S is subpar (as if).
It’s simply because Siri bases its answer to that particular question on results from Wolfram Alpha, which itself draws from users reviews Web-wide.
User satisfaction rates for the Lumia 900 in the United States happen to be very high, hence why WA will tell you that it’s the ‘best smartphone ever’.
Our recommendation is: give both the iPhone 4S and the Nokia Lumia 900 a whirl and decide for your damn self instead of asking Siri.
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The Bulavkas is actually not a novel idea. Many companies toyed with the idea and created similar products, but with cheap plastic clips. But Art. Lebedev is not your usual gadget maker, it creates pieces that you really want to bring home at a huge price. The OLED keyboard, for instance, costs $2,000–almost the same price since its debut in 2007.
No word on when the Bulavkas becomes available for purchase.
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The Fuel Cell USB Charger is being introduced in the market by Lilliputian Systems. This portable charging system is unique because it makes use of fuel cells to generate the power needed to charge devices. It is a plug-less charger capable of recharging portable USB charged devices. It makes use of recycled fuel cartridges to charge devices. It provides several weeks of available power for multiple devices without the need of cables and adapters, making it a convenient option for travelers. The Fuel Cell USB Charger is expected to be available at Brookstone. No details yet have been provided about its pricing.
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Created by Ari Krupnik & Associates, this officially-sanctioned Etcher iPad case comes with working knobs that you can rotate to draw. And just like the actual toy, you can shake it to erase the art and start over. It also comes with a “Made for iPad” certification
The creators have recently put up a Kickstarter project page in hopes that it would be funded to jumpstart production. Of course, the larger pledge you give, the more perks you receive. For instance, you can get an Etcher in nostalgic red for a $45 pledge; pay up to $100 for more colors options, even a special backer-only shade. For those who pay much more than that, there are also access to SDK, a package of five or 10 Etcher cases, and even a say on what open-source license the device’s source code will use.
So far, it has received a little under $7,500, barely 10 percent of its goal. Care to make this Etcher iPad cover a reality?
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Where’s My Water game app is a fun puzzle game that has Swampy the Alligator as the main character. Swampy lives in the sewers under the city and likes to take showers after a hard day at work or at play. But the problem is that the plumbing to Swampy’s shower has been damaged by the other alligators. The objective of the game is for players to help solve the problems presented by the damaged plumbing and let the water reach Swampy’s shower in order for him to get a much needed bath.
Where’s My Water app comes with eight themed chapters with 160 levels. Players may need to guide the water supply by creating different ways to lead it to Swampy’s shower pipes. The puzzles range from simple to the most challenging. But there are also certain obstacles that players need to get over. Players can also collect Swampy’s rubber duckies along the way to unlock new puzzles. Where’s My Water features intuitive controls and vibrant graphics to keep players engaged with the games for hours and hours. Where’s My Water for Android comes with both a free and paid download ($1) at Google Play.
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What could Instagram do with $1 billion it got from Facebook’s acquisition? Perhaps a camera that combines the goodness of the photo sharing app with the retro, hipster-ish, use of Polaroid cameras.
The Instagram Socialmatic Camera concept from Italy-based ADR Studios is quite a large device. Modeled after Instagram’s logo, which is actually a play on Polaroid, the back of the camera has a printer capable of producing photos from sticky strips for fast and easy sharing. The device comes will come with 16GB of storage, a large 4.3-inch touch screen, interchangeable lens, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.
We can see great potential on this device. All it need is Instagram’s and Facebook’s permission. If not, ADR Studios can turn it into a Kickstarter project.
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While questions about whether Nokia would venture into tablets remain unanswered, the Finnish smartphone maker has released something close to turning the handsets into tablets.
Nokia rolls out the Reading, a Windows Phone app used for reading e-books on Lumia devices. This app works with all four Lumia models: the 610, 710, 800, and 900.
The Nokia Reading features some discoverability elements, wherein Nokia provides users information about top-selling e-books and new releases. It also comes with predictive search function, text re-sizing, audio book functionality, news feed aggregation, and fonts that are friendly to small screens.
According to Nokia, the countries that will get the first taste of Nokia Reading include France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, and United Kingdom, with others following later this year. The Nokia Reading will be launched with a selection of book titles in local languages (French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and English), compared to Amazon that took its sweet time rolling out the Kindle and its Kindle bookstore in languages other than English.
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GE has recently announced that it has come up with a new LED bulb able to create bright light equivalent to that of 100-watt incandescent. But what makes it even better is that it has been able to cram up all that new technology in a LED bulb that is also as big as an A19 incandescent. The new LED bulbs come with better cooling systems developed by Nuventix to make it more efficient. The new GE Energy Smart LED bulbs come with a 25,000-hour service life as well. The new LED bulbs are expected to be available by June of next year. No word has yet been provided on how much a LED bulb will cost.
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