RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook Will Launch On April 19 For $499

Research In Motion, also known as RIM, announced on Tuesday March 22nd that its iPad-competing tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook, will launch for a $499.00 starting price on April 19, 2011 which matches Apple’s iPad.  The BlackBerry PlayBook with Wi-Fi will be available starting at $499.00 for the 16 GB model, same as the Wi-Fi only iPad. This could become quite competitive for Apple, but the PlayBook will only sport a 7-inch touchscreen display, compared to the iPad’s 9.7-inch display. The remaining PlayBook prices will also match Apple’s, where the 32 GB will cost $599.00, & the 64 GB will cost $699.00. The BlackBerry Playbook will be available in all Best Buy & Future Shop stores across Canada & the United States on April 19th. Both RIM & Apple will start accepting pre-orders on Tuesday, March 22nd.

The BlackBerry PlayBook is said to be one of the biggest iPad competitors on the tablet market. It certainly does have a few features that the iPad definitely lacks. For example, the rear facing camera on the PlayBook is 5 MP, compared to the iPad’s .92 MP rear facing camera. RIM’s definitely trying to make gaming a big part of the PlayBook, but that’s a little hard since the iPad dominates in the section. In conclusion the iPad is more about gaming, whereas the PlayBook focuses on business. It will be exciting to see what will happen to each of the tablets.

The official BlackBerry PlayBook specifications are as following:

• 7″ 1024×600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen
• Ultra-portable at less than a pound and less than one-half inch thick: 0.9 lbs (425g) and 5.1” x 7.6” x 0.4” (130mm x 194mm x 10mm)
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• MP3, AAC and WMA audio playback
• Support for high-resolution video playback (H.264, MPEG4, WMV)
• 1080p HDMI output
• Dual 1080p HD cameras for video conferencing and video capture (3MP front and 5MP rear)
• 1 GB RAM memory
• Up to 64 GB internal storage (16, 32 and 64 GB models)
• GPS, Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), 6-Axis Motion Sensor (Gyroscope), Digital Compass (Magnetometer)
• Stereo speakers and stereo microphones
• Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n) connectivity
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR support

 

 

 

 

 

 

The BlackBerry PlayBook & tablets like it were mocked by Steve Jobs last year, when he made fun of competitors having 7-inch displays on their device. He called them inadequate for most users. Steve Jobs even quipped that makers of tablets with smaller form factors would need to ship sandpaper with their devices, so users could file down their fingers to the point where they could hit smaller targets on the screen.

Let’s see what the PlayBook will have to offer. Remember, you can pre-order as soon as Tuesday, & purchase the device on April 19, 2011.

Firemint To Release Real Racing HD For iPad iOS 4.2 With Multi-Player

To celebrate the upcoming release of Game Center on iPad with iOS 4.2, Firemint is delighted to announce that Real Racing HD will be updated with Online Multiplayer via Game Center.

 

Real Racing HD has been a massive success since it was launched earlier this year, holding the #1 game position in numerous App Stores around the world at iPad launch. Commended for incredibly detailed graphics, realistic controls and gameplay all optimized for iPad and the larger screen, Real Racing HD has become one of the most talked about games for iPad and the app of choice for showing off the immersive power of the device.

 

Firemint hope’s the free online multiplayer update will be available when iOS4.2 is released. Players will be able to log in to Game Center to compete in real-time against friends and rivals in 4-person online multiplayer races. They can invite people to race, or be matched against others automatically. The current version of Real Racing HD already offers local multiplayer races for up to 6 over WiFi, or head-to-head over Bluetooth.

The new features will join the line-up of existing Real Racing HD features including:

• 6 game modes: Career Mode, Time Trial, Quick Race, local multiplayer, online multiplayer and online Leagues.
• Massive career mode with 76 events. Players can unlock 48 cars in four classes by winning races.
• 12 stunning unique tracks set in city, forest or desert environments.
• Game Center achievements and leaderboards (achievements and leaderboards also available without Game Center).
• Touch or tilt to steer, manual or automatic acceleration and braking.
• iPad exclusive “car-skins” – wrap an image from your photo library around your car
• iPad exclusive “ghost racing”

Are you going to purchase Real Racing HD for your iPad once Apple releases iOS 4.2? Do you think Firemint did the right thing by adding Multi-Player? Let us know in the comments!

 

Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus For iPhone & iPod Touch Now Available! Best FPS On App Store!

Finish What You Started. That’s the new slogan for Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus. Modern Combat 2 contains so many new features, that it clearly resembles the best FPS on the Apple App Store yet. The game was developed & produced by Gameloft, an American company that specializes in developing games for devices such as the iPhone, the iPod Touch, mobile Phones, & many more. Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus was released by the App Store on October 7th, 2010 with already more than 1000’s of downloads. Modern Combat 2 is also featured as Apple’s “App Of the Week”, which is truly remarkable considering it was only just released several days ago. Let’s get down to the details…

Two of the main new features is the Ranking System, consisting of 72 Ranks, & the new Online player capacity. Modern Combat 2 now allows a maximum of 10 players (Modern Combat only allowed a max. of 4 players) , which gives the game a good Multi-Player reputation. With the new game modes, a max. of 10 Players/Online game, makes the game “that” much more enjoyable.  Coming to my next point… Game Modes! There are 4 Game Modes for Modern Combat 2, consisting of 2 new Modes. With “Battle” & “Team Battle” already being in the last series of Modern Combat, Modern Combat to now offers two new Modes… “Capture the Flag” & “Defuse the Bomb”. These additional modes should be quite self-explanatory to you. Having a max. of 10 Players, makes each of the Modes so much more remarkable, especially with all the action going on.

Now that I got the Online Multi-Player Specs out of the way, let’s concentrate on the offline specs. The new Campaign is truly the best one yet. The detail & graphics are great! With the Campaign being longer than usual, you’ll won’t be finding yourself bored for quite some time! 😀 With all the new guns & knifes, Modern Combat 2 really is a success!

Need I say anymore? Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus is the way to go for FPS addicts. Unfortunately the game itself costs $6.99 at the moment, but HEY! it’s better than paying $50-$60 for a Console Game. I predict that once the right time comes, Gameloft will lower the price… maybe $4.99, like several of their other games.

Pros:

• Ranking System (Consisting of 72 Ranks; XP Points)
• Better Selection of weapons, including Knives
• More opponents (Max. of 10 in an Online Match)
• More Maps
• More Game Modes
• Awesome Campaign (Very Long)

Cons:

• Some Lag (Depends on Your Internet Connection)
• Re-Spawing Issues
• Price of $6.99

Download Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus Here!

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Have you bought the Game? If so, how do you like it? Pros/Cons? Tell us in the Comments down below! 🙂

Modern Combat: Sandstorm Re-defines FPS Gaming on the iPhone

Modern Combat: Sandstorm is one of the best First-Person-Shooters on the iPhone & iPod Touch. It re-defines FPS gaming on the iPhone & iTouch. Sandstorm was created & published by Gameloft, an American gaming company. Lets look at what Sandstorm has to offer…

• 10 missions featuring varied and highly polished Middle Eastern environments (city, hospital, sewers, port, lab, training camp etc…)
• Local multiplayer (through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and online multiplayer (through Wi-Fi connection): Up to 4 players competing in Deathmatch or Team Deathmatch in 3 Multiplayer maps
• Intuitive iPhone controls offer unprecedented game fluidity. Choose among 3 different control systems: Default Controls, Screen Tap and Virtual Sticks
• Use a wide range of authentic, advanced weapons (2 assault rifles, sniper rifle, RPG, shotgun, submachine gun, light machine gun, heavy machine gun mounted on a moving 4X4, explosive grenades, flashbang grenades, radiation detector) enriched with a leveling system that allows the player to progressively unlock weapons and use munitions from fallen foes
• Aim and shoot with extra precision in Sniper and Ironsight mode
• Highly polished 3D graphics provide full immersion into the military experience and high intensity combat
• Cinematic snippets, military voice-overs and true-to-life situations increase game realism
• Gameloft LIVE!

The thing that makes Sandstorm such a wonderful game, is that enables the player to play online with up to 4 players (1 Vs. 1, 1 Vs. 2, or 2 Vs. 2) through Wi-Fi connection. If you don’t have a Wi-Fi connection, don’t worry, you’re still able to beat your friends via bluetooth (If friend own the game too). When the game was first released into the App Store, it didn’t have the feature of Online Play… unfortunately. To be honest, I don’t think nobody liked the game either, but that was before Gameloft took action & gave the players what they wanted. Now Sandstorm has been featured on the Top 25: Most Paid on the App Store.

To make the game the best that it could possibly be, Gameloft would need to fix some bugs. One of the biggest bugs is the re-spawning issue. Once you re-spawn, another play could kill you as many times as he wants, since you’ll keep re-spawning in the same place… over & over again. But other than that, Sandstorm is a wonderful game for FPS-lovers! Gameloft is definitley going to release another update so that the re-spawning issue will be fixed, I wouldn’t worry about that. If you enjoy First-person-shooter games, you should definitely check out Modern Combat: Sandstorm!

To learn more about Sandstorm & Gameloft, visit the Sandstorm web-page & Gameloft.com. Click here to follow Gameloft on Twitter, or click here to become a fan of them on Facebook.

Download Modern Combat: Sandstorm: HERE

Carcassone Board Game for the iPhone & iPod Touch Now Available!

Carcassone is one of a type! It’s the perfect game for the whole family. It’s a bit challenging for the newcomers, but don’t worry, it has a superb Tutorial which you can decide to read or listen to. For the people that know the rules of this classic game, it’ll be no problem playing the game. The main aim of the classic game is to expand the “board” by appropriately placing tiles next to each other. The game also allows the player to place Farmers, Thief’s, & Knights in order to collect as many points as possible. You will be able to play with up to 5 players in the “Normal Game” mode, under “Local”. Carcassonne also allows you to play Online against anyone in the world via WI-FI or Local Multiplayer via WI-FI & Bluetooth. While playing Online Multiplayer, it’s only possible to play with 1 other person (2 in Total), but in Local Multiplayer you can choose to play with up to 4 other people (Computer or Human). A new feature added into Carcassone is called the “Solitaire” mode. This mode allows the player to complete a certain challenge with limited amount of Carcassone cards. For every card you place next to another, you will lose a certain number of points. The Points start at 1000 & will decrease every time you place a card until you completed the challenge. The aim of this mode is to finish the challenge with the highest possible points. Carcassone also features a High-Score Leaderboard. The High-Scores consist of the Solitaire mode, Local Multiplayer mode, & Internet mode, although I haven’t quite figured out what Internet mode is supposed to display. Unfortunately Online Leader boards haven’t been added into the game yet, but will soon. The downsides of Carcassone are that the turn timer while playing online takes to long, & that Multiplayer High-Scores haven’t been added into the High-Scores section yet. One more thing I like about this application is that it’s possible to play more than 1 game at a time. It’s extremely simple to play at least 5 games simultaneously, but the Pop-Ups telling you that it’s you’re turn in your other games do get quite annoying! Here are a list of other features Carcassonne has:

• Official Carcassonne game with original artwork
• 8 different AI players
• Internet multiplayer with Push Notifications
• Local network play with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
• Unique Solitaire mode
• Available in English and German
• Online and offline ranking
• Comprehensive in-game manual
• Tutorials with voice acting
• Compete for the best score in Solitaire Game of the Week
• Chat function for Internet and local network games
• Invite friends to play in-game or via email

I’ll leave it at that.

Carcassonne is definitely a great game, which could do with a few more updates, but other than that, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys puzzle games & doesn’t mind giving up a bit of time. I admit that it’s price ($4.99) is a bit too much for the game at the moment, but when the developers updates that game, Carcassonne will definitely be worth your money!