Nokia Lumia 525 with Windows Phone 8 (hands-on)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6ay2VW89Y4mkONiaq3eKjYYWdjPC5SnBemyvkRrq8w36rUxbhmeX4UJGsErQ4fWGZAJFfI61igrynMb301ukOPAu_-NOH_LJrG5WklhRViKKOLlIl7YiHVWJBITo2goswTQMF7MFuz_r/s1600/Nokia_Lumia_525_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6ay2VW89Y4mkONiaq3eKjYYWdjPC5SnBemyvkRrq8w36rUxbhmeX4UJGsErQ4fWGZAJFfI61igrynMb301ukOPAu_-NOH_LJrG5WklhRViKKOLlIl7YiHVWJBITo2goswTQMF7MFuz_r/s1600/Nokia_Lumia_525_front.jpg" /></span></a></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Design</b><br />The Lumia 525 shares the same design aesthetic as other Lumia handsets. If you like how theLumia 1020 looks, the 525 is a smaller version, with the same bright yellow rear. Unlike the 1020, though, the 525's rear cover and 1,430mAh battery are replaceable. If you don't like yellow, there's a choice of four other cover colors you can swap in: blue, red, white, and black.</span></div><div class="cnet-image-div image-REGULAR float-none" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; float: none; line-height: 19.984375px; margin: 10px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Nokia Lumia 525" class="cnet-image" height="450" src="http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/11/27/Nokia_Lumia_525_side.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="600" /></span><div class="image-caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.133em; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The volume rocker, power, and camera buttons are located on the left side; the Micro-USB jack is located at the bottom. It packs a 5-megapixel camera, but take note that the budget handset lacks a flash.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wasn't too impressed with the screen, which is a 4-inch IPS display with a resolution of 800x480 pixels. I especially wasn't impressed when it was placed next to the Lumia 1520. The display appeared sunken in, and not as vibrant. That said, you can use the display with your nails or when wearing gloves.</span></div><div class="cnet-image-div image-REGULAR float-none" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; float: none; line-height: 19.984375px; margin: 10px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Nokia Lumia 525" class="cnet-image" height="450" src="http://asset3.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/11/27/Nokia_Lumia_525_controls.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="600" /></span><div class="image-caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.133em; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Features</b><br />While the Lumia 525 has the same specs as the Lumia 520, Nokia has upgraded it with twice the RAM. It now has 1GB, which should help with multitasking. The smartphone comes with 8GB of onboard storage, and has a microSD card slot for expandability.</span></div><div class="cnet-image-div image-REGULAR float-none" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; float: none; line-height: 19.984375px; margin: 10px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Nokia Lumia 525" class="cnet-image" height="450" src="http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/11/27/Nokia_Lumia_525_back.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="600" /></span><div class="image-caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.133em; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Lumia 525 is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and will launch with the Nokia Lumia Black update package, which includes the <a class="cnet-product" href="http://reviews.cnet.com/windows-phone-8-update/4505-3672_7-35829186.html" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">latest version</a> of Windows Phone 8.</span></div><div id="myBrandFullAdWrapper" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin: 20px 0px 20px -1000px !important; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 2940px;"><div id="myBrandMantarayWrapper" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other free apps include Here Maps, Here Drive, and Here Transit; Nokia says Transit now works for public transportation in Singapore, though real-time bus times are still being worked on.</span></div><div class="cnet-image-div image-REGULAR float-none" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; float: none; line-height: 19.984375px; margin: 10px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 600px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Nokia Lumia 525" class="cnet-image" height="450" src="http://asset3.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/11/27/Nokia_Lumia_525_and_1520.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="600" /></span><div class="image-caption" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.133em; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't expect the stellar imaging prowess of the higher-end Lumia handsets, but the 5-megapixel camera of the 525 should be able to do well in bright daylight. As mentioned earlier, there's no flash, so if you need to light up your subject, you're out of luck.</span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 13.59375px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/nokia-lumia-525/4505-6452_7-35832723.html">CNET</a></span></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 13.59375px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Image Credit: Aloysius Low/CNET</span></span></div><div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13.59375px;"><br /></span></div>

Nokia Lumia 525 with Windows Phone 8 (hands-on)

Design The Lumia 525 shares the same design aesthetic as other Lumia handsets. If you like how theLumia 1020 looks, the 525 is a smaller ver...

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TeamViewer 9 review: New features

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bcBR9LZPAn-fLpl8dSqjYI564tXWRxZB1WP9yOhVEq6sFn2LkJ4ovJRYgIjMA-5ydWvI8jXVgZn9LvVs6-yYVvkPuB10EPAOvxHcNOXg2fcsdeqj8PuqVCG9rmTfajpDcmqwRVsgw0du/s1600/teamviewer-9-screenshot-3-100069378-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bcBR9LZPAn-fLpl8dSqjYI564tXWRxZB1WP9yOhVEq6sFn2LkJ4ovJRYgIjMA-5ydWvI8jXVgZn9LvVs6-yYVvkPuB10EPAOvxHcNOXg2fcsdeqj8PuqVCG9rmTfajpDcmqwRVsgw0du/s640/teamviewer-9-screenshot-3-100069378-large.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TeamViewer has saved my family and friends a lot of grief, and saved me a lot of gasoline. I just tell them to download and run (or install it), give me the code and password and voilà! Their desktop pops up in a window on mine so I can fix what ails it.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TeamViewer 9 offers some very welcome improvements. My personal favorite is the ability to cut-and-paste or drag-and-drop files from the host desktop (the computer doing the controlling) to the client (the computer being controlled) and cut-and-paste from the client. It's much handier than opening the file transfer dialog as was required formerly, though that function still exists for working with older TeamViewer clients.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Multiple sessions now show in tabs instead of in separate windows, making things much neater. If a session needs your attention, the tab will light up. Also, you have the option of using secondary authentication (with an authenticator such as Google's) when you're connecting from a mobile device. Another improvement is the ability to send the Wake-on-LAN signal to remote computers so they don't have to be left on all the time. That can save a huge amount of power over time.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TeamViewer 9's appearance is now flattened to match Windows 8, though it maintains TeamViewer's signature color scheme.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2062436/teamviewer-9-review-remote-control-software-adds-several-very-handy-new-features.html">PCWorld</a></span></i></div>

TeamViewer 9 review: New features

TeamViewer has saved my family and friends a lot of grief, and saved me a lot of gasoline. I just tell them to download and run (or install ...

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Motorola Moto G vs. HTC Desire 601: Budget Android Phone Shootout

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWrjFQ_Tb3B3amO9hgNVbXc8qWsNfEHMVdwEO7UcudpO5Q397U9o_dXg7D94h_NtUlwhNHP283jHr6kNRcxPpOGyi_5unWWyuzc4HHIi15pqHfnxlwbRIoV_4uixh133iKS9xOtwW3AZc5/s1600/131119-motog-copy-640x347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWrjFQ_Tb3B3amO9hgNVbXc8qWsNfEHMVdwEO7UcudpO5Q397U9o_dXg7D94h_NtUlwhNHP283jHr6kNRcxPpOGyi_5unWWyuzc4HHIi15pqHfnxlwbRIoV_4uixh133iKS9xOtwW3AZc5/s640/131119-motog-copy-640x347.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As gadget geeks who love to live on the bleeding edge of technology, we focus most of our energy on flagship devices like the Galaxy Note 3 and the Sony Xperia Z1, but what if you have a tighter budget? Two of the better budget offerings to show up in the Android world recently are the Motorola Moto G and the HTC Desire 601, the latter of which is marketed simply as the HTC Desire by some carriers. Which one is the better bargain? Which one offers the better bang for the buck?</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Display</b></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both phones feature a 4.5-inch touchscreen display, but the Moto G has the higher 1280 x 720 resolution (326ppi) compared to the 540 x 960 resolution (245ppi) found on the Desire. The Moto G also gets the newer Gorilla Glass 3, whereas the Desire gets Gorilla Glass 2.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Moto G</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Connectivity</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unsurprisingly, both phones will play friendly with the usual GSM radios and they’ll do the 3G dance via HSDPA, but only the HTC Desire gets LTE support too. If you want to have the higher speeds, assuming the phone can handle it, the Desire is the way to go.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: HTC Desire</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEsLQNxMGXNRO4OSbKbd5iycY_R0HhqLPLWiLCh3GvSyZeXL3UCpfeAoEe4i-Oml4t3ChSeO7_3v1j-vKhd7_xkbxgwdFuLX91sU8fJ0XOYzylt-p2FXWErZCFgNT5qYtULOgZW6Dg8A3H/s1600/131119-motog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEsLQNxMGXNRO4OSbKbd5iycY_R0HhqLPLWiLCh3GvSyZeXL3UCpfeAoEe4i-Oml4t3ChSeO7_3v1j-vKhd7_xkbxgwdFuLX91sU8fJ0XOYzylt-p2FXWErZCFgNT5qYtULOgZW6Dg8A3H/s1600/131119-motog1.jpg" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Performance</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Neither phone is going to hang with the big boys in terms of performance, but they are priced accordingly and should be able to handle your regular daily tasks. Both phones utilize Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 technology, but the HTC Desire 601 has only a 1.4GHz dual core CPU whereas the Moto G gets a 1.2GHz quad core chip. I think the slight sacrifice in clock speed is worth the extra cores.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Moto G</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Memory and Storage</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both phones come with 8GB of standard internal storage, but you can bump that to 16GB on the Moto G for an extra $20. On the flip side, only the HTC Desire has a microSD expansion slot and that supports up to 64GB of additional space for photos, videos and music. There’s a definite tradeoff, as internal storage is generally more desirable than a memory card, but the Desire wins here.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Winner: HTC Desire</i></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Camera</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Moto G and HTC Desire both get a 5MP main shooter with autofocus and LED flash, but the Desire gets 1080p video capabilities compared to the 720p on the Motorola. On the flip side, literally, the Moto G gets a higher resolution 1.3MP camera on the front versus the VGA unit on the HTC. So, you’ll have to decide whether you want better video or a better front camera.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Tie</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Operating System</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s obvious enough that Android is under the hood, but the HTC Desire ships with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with no official announcement in terms of upgrading. The Moto G ships with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and the 4.4 KitKat update should arrive early next year. The G also ships with closer to a vanilla build of Android, whereas the Desire gets HTC Sense UI 5.0.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Moto G</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Battery</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Moto G is equipped with a 2070mAh lithium-ion battery, while the HTC Desire 601 has a 2100mAh lithium-polymer battery. That should make them pretty comparable, though the higher resolution screen and extra cores on the Moto G could have a negative impact on battery life. Realistically, though, they shouldn’t be all that different from one another.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Tie</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Verdict?</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you were to go through a carrier like Fido or Virgin Mobile in Canada, you’d be able to pick up the HTC Desire for free on a qualifying two-year contract, but the $300 outright purchase price does make it more expensive than the $179/$199 Moto G (for 8GB/16GB). When you’re looking at pricing in this range, the outright purchase is probably the better buy and the G gets the advantage there.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tallying up the score from the above factors, we get three points for the Moto G, two points for the HTC Desire 601, and two ties. With the price point as an extra tipping point (we are talking about a 50% difference), the Moto G sounds like the better deal overall on paper, though you may favor the front-facing speakers on the Desire too. How that of this parlays in practice remains to be seen… and then there’s the Google Nexus 5 for just a smidgen more money, but that’s another discussion altogether.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><br />

Motorola Moto G vs. HTC Desire 601: Budget Android Phone Shootout

As gadget geeks who love to live on the bleeding edge of technology, we focus most of our energy on flagship devices like the Galaxy Note 3 ...

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The winner is … : PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY47WOFxMAb718c63nGnu3gccuTn17yGIIR4ifZApK_qVpe5NS6s4UTD1LYA-xxX5T8FptKDgt00iPIeFDOR5cXk8BMFHKlPKtDu2-8cY5jEJZPHqD_7YeYN2IhNE_pHyUN_7CA4ubyvX5/s1600/ps4-vs-xbox-one.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY47WOFxMAb718c63nGnu3gccuTn17yGIIR4ifZApK_qVpe5NS6s4UTD1LYA-xxX5T8FptKDgt00iPIeFDOR5cXk8BMFHKlPKtDu2-8cY5jEJZPHqD_7YeYN2IhNE_pHyUN_7CA4ubyvX5/s320/ps4-vs-xbox-one.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="post-content" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #464646; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hitting retail a mere one week apart, Sony’s PlayStation 4 (out now) and Microsoft’s Xbox One (due out Friday) simply offer too many things for me to play right now. They’re giving me more entertainment options than I can reasonably consume in my waking hours. Heck, I even put 45 minutes into Zoo Tycoon, a game that was completely off my radar until a shiny new Xbox One slammed it in there. I know — poor me, right?</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I only have two hands and can only play on one system at a time. So where am I going to spend my hours? And which console would I end up recommending to a friend? I decided to break the two down and compare them in a few categories that matter the most to me.</span></div><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; color: #ef3320; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 9px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 3px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The games</span></b></h3><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much of the launch libraries is coming from third-party publishers; you’ll see Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Madden NFL 25, Assassin’s Creed IV, etc. lining up on both sides. Of course, each console also has some exclusives now (PS4: Killzone: Shadow Fall, XBO: Dead Rising 3), some hyped ones to look forward to (PS4: Uncharted, XBO: Titanfall), plus some you probably wouldn’t give a damn about if they weren’t “next-gen” (PS4: Knack, XBO: Ryse).</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So comparing the software lineups is almost futile since they almost mirror each other in quality. It doesn’t help that a lot of extra features for each game are similar, supported on second-screen applications (like Xbox’s SmartGlass or companion apps for PlayStation), further muddying things.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But no one wants to see a tie, so I’ll give the slight, slight edge to the PlayStation 4 here. I give Sony’s machine a little extra credit because, very generally speaking, indie developers seem to prefer making games for that company — citing a more supportive, friendlier infrastructure — despite Microsoft’s big, recent push in this arena. As a result, we have a better variety of indie games on the PS4 now, and that should continue into the near future. (Tiny Brains, Doki-Doki Universe, Hohokum — just a sampling of some cool stuff that you can find on PlayStation platforms either exclusively or before others.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: PlayStation 4</span></em></div><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; color: #ef3320; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 9px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 3px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The controllers/input devices</span></b></h3><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the moment, I might be more intimately familiar with both next-gen controllers than anyone outside of Sony and Microsoft (thanks to <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/21/the-playstation-4-controller-what-couldve-been-part-1-exclusive/" style="color: #ef3320; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">these articles</a>and also <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/18/the-xbox-one-controller-projectors-smells-and-other-stuff-that-didnt-make-it-in-part-1-exclusive/" style="color: #ef3320; outline: none medium; text-decoration: none;">these over here</a>). I’ve studied both — a lot. And combining that with my own hands-on experience, my professional expert conclusion would be: They both kick ass.</span></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_626022" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 558px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 - top view" class="size-large wp-image-626022" height="302" src="http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/playstation-4-dualshock-4-top-view1.jpg?w=558&h=302" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" width="558" /></span><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: -6px; outline: none medium; padding: 10px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The PS4′s DualShock 4 controller.</span></div></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The PS4 controller is more revolutionary, simply because its touchpad and the light bar change the way you interact with games. I’m excited to see what developers do with both of them. And the controller as a whole is just a huge leap over its PS3 predecessor, feeling and functioning better in every conceivable way.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the other hand, the Xbox One joypad is simply state of the art. The analog sticks and triggers feel so high quality and high end. It’s because of this controller that I decided that the Xbox One will be my shooter platform of choice (even though the PS4′s DualShock 4 is also excellent for that genre).</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As far as the Xbox One’s voice-activated Kinect camera goes — when it works, you feel like you’re commanding a futuristic control panel. I still get a kick out of saying “Xbox, watch Food Network” — or “Xbox, turn off” to power down not just the console but my television, cable box, and audio/visual receiver as well. I did this just last night, in fact, as I hit a new low in laziness and didn’t want to get out of bed to grab the remote control.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The new Kinect is a show-off-to-your-friends piece of cool tech. But it, like the Xbox 360 version, fails to recognize what I’m saying one out of 10 or 15 times, and that one time is enough to taint the experience for me. Why not just use the controller, which works <em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">100 percent</em> of the time?</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Note that the PlayStation Camera for the PS4 also offers some voice-recognition and face-recognition features, but it generally doesn’t do them as well, and that’s a separate purchase. Since I’m comparing the $400 PS4 to the $500 Xbox One, I’m not taking the PS Camera into consideration here.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like both controllers for different reasons, but the Kinect pushes this category over the edge for me. Outside of the games Battlefield 4 and Resogun, it’s next big thing between the two consoles that feels truly “next generation.”</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Xbox One</span></em></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_862702" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 558px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="Kinect (Xbox One)" class="size-large wp-image-862702" height="193" src="http://venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/kinect-xbox-one.jpg?w=558&h=193" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 536px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;" width="558" /></span><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-top: -6px; outline: none medium; padding: 10px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One’s Kinect</span></div></div><h3 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; clear: both; color: #ef3320; font-size: 19px; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 9px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px 0px 3px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The dashboards</span></b></h3><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don’t know why I’m seemingly in the minority there, but I actually like Sony’s cross media bar (XMB). This linear menu of PlayStation 3 options (games, video, settings, etc.) is easy to understand and navigate.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, at least for now, this has taken a step back on the PlayStation 4: All of your games and apps are thrown into one long, unorganized list, and you can’t create folders or group any of them in any meaningful way — a nightmare for OCD neat freaks like me. (Sony tells me that folder functionality will come with an upcoming update.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Xbox One is barely better: Games and apps all go into one big pile in a messy, Windows 8-like fashion. But at least on Microsoft’s system, you can “pin” items to a separate section, so you can access your favorites more quickly. Now, the pins area will also end up looking rather disheveled when you fill it up, but it’s better than nothing.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also helping out Microsoft’s cause: A voice-activated Bing search can find anything you need in an instant. I particularly like it for hunting down movies. A quick ”movies with car chases” or ”movies starring Jim Varney” pulls up results that let you know what purchasing or rental options you have on your machine, whether that’s through Xbox Video or a service like Redbox, Netflix, or Hulu Plus.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 18px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Winner: Xbox One</span></em></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></em></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Source : <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/20/ps4-vs-xbox-one-i-pick-a-winner-and-make-crazy-predictions/">VentureBeat</a></em></div><div style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Image : VentureBeat</em></div><div class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled" id="jp-post-flair" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 0px !important; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px !important; border-top-left-radius: 0px !important; border-top-right-radius: 0px !important; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none medium; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;"></div></div>

The winner is … : PlayStation 4 vs. Xbox One

Hitting retail a mere one week apart, Sony’s PlayStation 4 (out now) and Microsoft’s Xbox One (due out Friday) simply offer too many things ...

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Review : Compelling console with a strong lineup of games Xbox One

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlYjm_jL-I8uCap7wwc9zmsRP2ndMx_7rYsCGMLu3qi842Kxt-W57MnY8JIucug7DsclwgtWRg1hwAa447azf4aU0h01kUB2oHdB3QCy-SHSyHUcKqRx275y-FdsTp1nfaimVCzSPOb0_/s1600/2D9733855-xbone.blocks_desktop_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZlYjm_jL-I8uCap7wwc9zmsRP2ndMx_7rYsCGMLu3qi842Kxt-W57MnY8JIucug7DsclwgtWRg1hwAa447azf4aU0h01kUB2oHdB3QCy-SHSyHUcKqRx275y-FdsTp1nfaimVCzSPOb0_/s640/2D9733855-xbone.blocks_desktop_large.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The six months since Microsoft unveiled its next-generation game console haven't been kind to the tech giant. Gamers were enraged at how the company seemed to be emphasizing the Xbox One's role as a smart TV box over its potential as a gaming powerhouse.</span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And a number of high-level executive shifts — including the departure of Don Mattrick, host of the Xbox One unveiling and president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment arm — gave some people the impression of a company in disarray.</span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Yet after spending the last two weeks tinkering with the Xbox One, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by just how much fun it was to play. There were a predictable number of technical pre-launch glitches that Microsoft assured me would be ironed out come launch day on Friday. But the Xbox One really is a compelling piece of hardware, complete with a strong lineup of launch games. And that's more than I could say for </span>Sony's PlayStation 4<span style="line-height: 24px;">, which arrived last Friday.</span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If gaming is your No. 1 priority, I would still recommend waiting to see how the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One evolve to suit your particular wants. But if you're really craving a new system now — or need something to bring home to the kids — the Xbox One is your best bet. It offers a wealth of solid entertainment options right out of the box ... or, at least, after several hours of software updates and installations.</span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><div style="line-height: 1.5em; padding-right: 45px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>The hardware: Silent but bulky</strong>When it was introduced in May, the Xbox One was maligned for its <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/microsoft-defends-xbox-ones-maligned-design-6C10145582" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out;" target="_blank">sheer monstrosity</a>. For a machine meant to herald a new generation of interactive entertainment, it looked an awful lot like a 1980s-era VCR. Compared to the nimble design of its predecessor, the slimmed-down Xbox 360 — one of the most beautiful pieces of hardware to come out of Microsoft, let alone the video game industry — the Xbox One seemed particularly unsightly.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; padding-right: 45px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No doubt, the Xbox One is a monstrosity. It's significantly larger than the PS4 in size as well as price — at $499, it costs $100 more at launch. I had to reorganize my console and TV layout just to find a place to comfortably fit it and the new larger Kinect camera.</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; padding-right: 45px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/xbox-one-review-compelling-console-strong-lineup-games-2D11622598">NBC News.com</a></span></i></div>

Review : Compelling console with a strong lineup of games Xbox One

The six months since Microsoft unveiled its next-generation game console haven't been kind to the tech giant. Gamers were enraged at how...

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