Amazon opens online wine shop in 12 states, 1000+ wines for sale

Love wine? Love online shopping? If so, you might be interested to learn that Amazon has just launched a new online wine shop.

Amazon is hoping lovers of fine wine will come flocking to its latest specialist store, Amazon Wine, which launched on Thursday.

Customers can choose from more than a thousand US wines, though due to the regulations of some states regarding the selling of alcohol across borders, the new new service is only available to those living in 12 states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming) plus Washington DC, though Amazon says it plans to expand its service to more states in the near future.

Bottles selling on the new online store cost from $10 up with delivery of up to six bottles priced at $9.99.

In the hope of attracting buyers, Amazon is working with the wineries to produce an information-rich online store, offering a bundle of information with each wine including tasting notes, recommended food pairings and details of total case production.

“People love to explore wine, but it is rare to have detailed information and opinions located all in one place,” Tom Hedges of Hedges Family Estate in Red Mountain, Washington said on the e-commerce giant’s website. “What Amazon has done with their new wine store is take the experience of hundreds of tasting rooms and put them online.”

A wide range of wineries are covered by the store, from the relatively small family-owned and run Roadhouse Winery in Sonoma County just north of San Francisco, which produces just 3,000 cases a year of its hand-crafted Pinot Noir, to the enormous 650-acre Flora Springs Winery located in the Napa Valley.

Amazon’s previous attempts at cracking the online wine market ended in failure when the companies it partnered with went bust. It’ll be hoping for better results this time around as it seeks to take on the likes of established online wine traders such as wine.com.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Sorry, Internet, SOPA had zero effect on election day results

Blockage of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) may have served as the Web's defining political moment of the year, but the anti-SOPA movement appears to have had little to no effect on Congressional elections, with 21 out of 23 SOPA supporters hanging on to their seats.

Defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was easily the most important political event of the year for the Internet. But it didn’t make much of a difference on election day. Of the 23 House Members up for reelection who co-sponsored or otherwise supported the highly contentious anti-piracy legislation, all but two won reelection on Tuesday. This includes Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, of Texas, SOPA’s author and chief co-sponsor who became the Internet’s Enemy No. 1 after disparaging the SOPA opposition movement late last year.

Even the two Representatives defeated on November 6 – Reps. Joe Baca and Mary Bono Mack, both of California – appear to have lost for much more mainstream reasons: things like gun control and budgets. In short, there is little reason to believe that SOPA had any effect whatsoever on the 2012 election – something that seemed unthinkable among the millions Internet activists who helped push SOPA off the table. The backlash against SOPA became so feared in Washington that “getting SOPA’d” became synonymous with a public revolt against particular legislation.

“Nobody wants another SOPA moment,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah told Politico in March. “The nerds are more powerful than anyone thought, and the tech industry flexed its muscle like never before.”

If Tuesday’s election was any indication, all that nerd power is gone. Below is a complete list of how SOPA supporters in Congress fared on election day: 

California

• Rep. Brad Sherman – Reelected
• Rep. Adam Schiff – Reelected
• Rep. Judy Chu – Reelected
• Rep. Karen Bass – Reelected
• Rep. Joe Baca – Defeated
• Rep. Mary Bono Mack – Defeated

Connecticut

• Rep. John Larson – Reelected

Florida

• Rep. Dennis Ross – Reelected
• Rep. Ted Deutch – Reelected
• Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz – Reelected

Georgia

• Rep. John Barrow – Reelected

Massachusetts

• Rep. Ed Markey – Reelected

Michigan

• Rep. John Conyers Jr. – Reelected

Mississippi

• Rep. Alan Nunnelee – Reelected

North Carolina

• Rep. Mel Watt – Reelected

Nevada

• Rep. Mark Amodei – Reelected

New York

• Rep. Pete King – Reelected
• Rep. Bill Owens – Reelected

Ohio

• Rep. Steve Chabot – Reelected

Pennsylvania

• Rep. Tom Marino – Reelected

Tennessee

• Rep. Jim Cooper – Reelected

Texas

• Rep. Lamar Smith – Reelected

Virginia

• Rep. Bob Goodlatte – Reelected

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

How To Keep your Online Accounts Safe and Secure

If you’ve just started an Internet business, or love being online for long hours, you’ll have to keep track of lots of different accounts on many websites. They might be social networking sites, instant messengers, forums, membership sites, or resources sites. Managing all these online accounts can be very difficult unless you possess a very sharp memory. You should never register all your online accounts with the same username or password. This is one of the best ways to keep your online accounts safe because if anybody finds out your login or password, they can hijack most of your online accounts. You should use different login and password for each of your account.

How to create a safe password?

You should use random characters for your passwords, but if you are unable to remember them, you can use password manager. It is not a good idea to let your browser remember all your passwords because hackers can hack your OS and get your usernames and passwords. Aside from that, if something worse happens to your PC, you can lose them forever.

Use password managers 

You can use password managers as they are not only safe, but can also help you in coming up with random passwords for use, and will remember them for future use. Best of all, they are safe, as all your data is encrypted and even if some hacker is able to log into your computer, they won’t be able to access your confidential data. You can also make a file with all your passwords, and store it elsewhere for safety. Some password managers even allow users to synchronize their data with their secure online servers. This helps you in accessing your passwords even when you are working on a different computer. In any case, you should avoid writing your usernames and password somewhere on paper. This can be risky because anybody can read the information if you fail to keep it safely. One Password manager I can recommend is Roboform, there are several others that are equally as good

Beware of phishing scams!

There are many websites on the Internet that have been made to steal personal information and data stored on computers. This is done using cookies and viruses. Some sites are designed exactly like other famous websites where you have accounts. For instance, PayPal constantly reminds its users that it never asks for usernames and passwords from its users. Yet, you may sometimes get emails that appears to have been sent by PayPal, which says that your account may have been compromised and that you should immediately change your password by clicking on the link and log into your PayPal account. This is called phishing scam that is designed by a con to get your personal details.

You should never share any of your personal information on any site that you are not sure of. Although most of the websites are run by hardworking and honest people, but you are not sure of the ways they handle your personal information. Therefore, if you don’t know much about them, and how they will handle your personal details, you should not share any with them. When searching for some products, services or information, use only one search engine, such as Google. If Google finds any dubious website, it will warn you beforehand on its search result page. Lastly, you should never respond to strange emails that come from sources you do not know. You should never click on links in these emails.

Tags: Internet Account Safety, Internet Account Security, Online Account Safety, Online Account Security

Source : techtalkafrica[dot]com

Amazon server outages bring down Reddit, Airbnb, Flipboard, and Viber

Last night (in Europe) an outage in Amazon Web Services on the US East Coast caused disruption of some major online services that we all use and love. Websites and apps such as Reddit, Airbnb, Flipboard, and Viber have all been non-responsive. The outage has been felt the worst by users in Asia and the US, where the downtime was actually running through the day.

A member of the collective hacker group called Anonymous went public on Twitter to claim responsibility. Later on, an Amazon spokesperson stated this is not the case and Amazon servers had not been under attack.

Of course, it’s anyone’s guess what actually had happened. The good news is that by Tuesday morning in Europe most of the servers functionality was up again. Some services may be still experiencing slight hiccups, but that’s due to the high number of users trying to connect back and no longer due to a malfunction in Amazon’s cloud infrastructure.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Microsoft Surface RT pricing and availability surfaces, goes after the iPad

A slip-up at the Microsoft online store has finally lead to the unveiling of the Surface tablet’s pricing. Scheduled to hit store on October 26, the pricing of the Microsoft Surface starts from $500 without the cool Black Touch Cover with keyboard.

However, chances are that you’ll want the cool accessory, which basically transforms the Surface into a fully-fledged notebook replacement. In that case, you’ll need to shell out $600. Both prices apply for the 32GB version of the slate.

The 64GB variation is priced at $700 with the Black Touch Cover included. The Touch Cover is also available for purchase separately for $120 a pop and comes in red, black, white, blue or purple. There’s also the Type Cover retailing for $130, but that’s only available in black.

Unfortunately, the listing on the Microsoft online store isn’t available any longer.

With the Surface’s advertisements already showing on TV and all over the Internet, and rocking the same price as the iPad 3 (32GB), Microsoft’s slate is ready for a fight in the upcoming holiday season.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Christmas plans: Amazon to hire 50,000 extra workers for the holiday season

Online retail giant Amazon is set to take on 50,000 temporary workers this holiday season to cope with increased demand.

Amazon is already making plans for the holiday season, announcing its intention to hire 50,000 seasonal workers for its 40 fulfillment centers across the US.

With a year-round full-time staff count of 20,000 at its centers, the large number of extra workers indicate Amazon’s expectation of a bumper Christmas. Alongside orders for its large number of usual items, the e-commerce giant will also be looking forward to a flurry of requests for its new range of Kindle Fire HD tablets, as well as its e-readers, which include the new Paperwhite device.

Referring to the company’s hiring plans in a statement, Dave Clark, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, said, “We’re hiring at our sites across the US for talented individuals to help us deliver a great experience for our customers this holiday season.”

Clark said the temporary workers play a “critical role” helping with increased customer demand, adding that thousands end up staying on in full-time positions.

The precise nature of the available work isn’t specified, though being located at the fulfillment centers where online orders are dealt with likely means physical tasks – such as taking purchased products from wharehouse shelves, packing and labeling – will form the bulk of the work.

In March, the Seattle-based company purchased warehouse automation solution firm Kiva Systems in a bid to make its centers more efficient.

On its dedicated Fulfillment website, one Amazon employee says intriguingly of her job, “Amazon’s peculiar ways is what keeps this career exciting and rejuvenating.” So if you enjoy a bit of peculiarity and are free this holiday season, you know exactly what you should do.

[Image: Amazon]

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

FDA launches ‘BeSafeRx’ campaign against fake pharmacies

The Food and Drug Administration is striking back against "fake" online pharmacies with a new campaign designed to educate consumers as to where to buy medicine online safely.

If the very idea of an online pharmacy is something that makes you just a little bit suspicious – Not just in terms of “I have no idea where these drugs are coming from, what they are, or any sense of quality control over this entire operation,” but also a basic question of whether or not you’ll ever get what you’ve paid for – then help is on the way in the form of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA today announced a new national campaign called “BeSafeRx: Know Your Online Pharmacy,” which aims to “raise awareness of the dangers of buying prescription medicines from fake online pharmacies.” The campaign comes months after the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy looked into 10,000 websites and discovered that a staggering 97 percent were not in compliance with U.S. pharmacy laws, marking them as “Not Recommended” for fear of being sold drugs that are unsafe.

Talking about the campaign, FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg explained to CNN that “Buying medicines from rogue online pharmacies can be risky because they may sell fake, expired, contaminated, not approved by FDA, or otherwise unsafe products that are dangerous to patients. Fraudulent and illegal online pharmacies often offer deeply discounted products.  If the low prices seem too good to be true, they probably are. FDA’s BeSafeRx campaign is designed to help patients learn how to avoid these risks.”

The campaign is targeted at “consumers who have or who would consider purchasing prescription medicines from an online pharmacy that is not associated with a health insurance plan or local ‘brick and mortar’ pharmacy to save money or for convenience,” according to the FDA, noting that said customers “may not have health insurance, may have recently lost their health insurance coverage or may have reached their coverage limits for prescription medications,” in addition to potentially being responsible for loved ones dependent on medicine that they cannot afford. “Whatever the situation,” the campaign’s website explains, “BeSafeRx’s goal is to provide important information to consumers so that they can make informed decisions to safely purchase medicines online.”

According to FDA statistics, 1 in 4 consumers have bought prescription drugs online, with nearly 30 percent of those asked admitting that they were not confident about the safety of the practice. As part of the BeSafeRx campaign, consumers will be advised to only purchase from online pharmacies that follow the basic guidelines of being located within the United States, require a prescription from a doctor or healthcare professional before release of medication, are able to provide a licensed pharmacist for consultation if requested, and are licensed by the patient’s state board of pharmacy.

Or, if all else fails, there’s always the possibility of just telling people to find out where their local Walgreens is, and go there, instead.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Lytro light-field camera coming to Amazon, Target, Best Buy

The Lytro light-field camera is moving into the big leagues of Amazon, Target, and Best Buy online stores next month.

 

The revolutionary Lytro light-field camera is about to get easier to buy. The company announced today that it is expanding its retail reach in the U.S. and around the world starting next month.

On October 9, photography enthusiasts in the U.S. will be able to purchase a Lytro camera through Amazon.com, Target.com, and BestBuy.com. In November, CityTarget stores in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Westwood, California, will also begin carrying the Lytro. Brick-and-mortar stores in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and Singapore will offer Lytro cameras, as of October.

“Since our first shipments of the Lytro camera only six months ago, we’ve been inundated with requests to bring the Lytro camera to countries near and far and to stores near you,” said Charles Chi, CEO of Lytro in a statement.

Currently, the Lytro has only been available through Lytro.com. The camera costs $400 for the 8GB version, or $500 for the 16GB model.

For those of you unfamiliar with Lytro, the device is anything but ordinary. The first thing you’ll notice is its look — a rectangular block, with none of the buttons or detachable lenses that you’d find on an traditional camera. But this isn’t just an aesthetic choice; the Lytro uses light-field technology, which captures 11 million different rays of light, “megarays,” rather than traditional megapixels, a difference that dictates the camera’s shape. By capturing all this light, Lytro removes the need to focus when taking the picture.

Lytro pictures — which are digital-only — are then ported to a computer and processed by Lytro’s software. From there, users can choose the focus of their picture with a click of the mouse. Don’t like the way it looks? Refocus again and again. These pictures can also be embedded onto Web pages, where anyone can manipulated the focus to their heart’s content.

Check out some examples below. (Just click on the point in the picture where you want to focus.) And be sure to peruse our full Lytro review here.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Apple accuses Polish online food store A.pl for trademark infringement, takes the matter to court

Apple has decided to sue Polish online supermarket A.pl over trademark issues. According to Polish website Telepolis, Apple has issued a request for the cancellation of the online food store’s trademark rights from Poland’s Patent Office.

The reason for Apple’s discontent is that A.pl’s brand and its sister company’s name logo (fresh24.pl) create a likelihood of confusion and may use Apple’s fame to its advantage. Naturally, A.pl is standing to defend its trademark and according to the report, the legal battle may take as long as two or three years.

We’ll continue to follow the case, but, as Thenextweb points out, its certain that whoever wins the case, there will be appeals from both sides to the Regional Administrative Court in Warsaw.

Do you think Apple is right to sue A.pl for owning a company with an apple logo?

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Twitter beats Facebook on mobile ad revenue, says eMarketer

Online market research firm eMarketer estimates that Twitter's mobile ad revenue will surpass Facebook's mobile ad revenue in 2012. But 2013 will be a different story.

The latest report on mobile revenue from online marketing research firm eMarketer won’t console Facebook investors, at least not until next year. According to its report, Twitter will beat Facebook in mobile ad revenues through this year.

EMarketer estimates that Twitter will earn $129.7 million in mobile advertising revenues this year, while Facebook will earn just $72.7 million.

Strategizing an effective mobile business model is becoming increasingly imperative for companies, as the volume of mobile phones on the market skyrocket alongside the number of mobile devices owned by households. By 2015, tablet sales are estimated to reach 248.6 million units and smartphone sales are expected to reach 1.048 billion units, according to Transparency Market Research.

Twitter has already found its footing in mobile advertising. Dick Costolo, Twitter CEO, boasts that Twitter was developed with mobile in mind. As the company began selling mobile ads earlier this year, just weeks into its mobile ad program, the company garnered more ad revenue from its Promoted Tweets program on its mobile platform than on its desktop app.

Likewise, Facebook’s mobile ads have seen higher click-through rates than its desktop application. From a study conducted by SocialCode, the click-through rate for Facebook mobile ads was found to be 0.79 percent, while desktop, News Feed-based ads garnered just 0.327 percent of click-throughs. With a click-through rate on mobile over two times higher than on its desktop app, Facebook charges higher CPMs for mobile, which on average is $7.51.

Facebook has been slower to capitalize on its mobile strategy compared to Twitter, with even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg attmitting that mobile is Facebook’s toughest challenge yet. Unlike Twitter, Facebook was designed for the desktop, and as we already know, translating a desktop app into a mobile app requires dramatic structural changes to compensate for the different screen size. Adding to the complication, a study by Trademob found that up to 40 percent of clicks on mobile ads have been found to be accidental clicks, in part due to the small screen size of mobile devices in comparison to the width of your fingers.

Fortunately, according to eMarketer, Facebook is forecasted to surpass Twitter in mobile advertising revenue by next year when Twitter’s mobile advertising revenue is expected to amount to $272.6 million, and Facebook’s mobile ad revenue will reach an estimated $387 million. At the moment, however, Facebook even trails Pandora, which is currently bringing in $226.4 million in mobile ad revenue. But Facebook is expected to surpass the music streaming service in 2013 to become the second-highest mobile revenue generating company in the study, next to Google, which brings in a chart-topping $750 million.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Audi gives your ears a treat, launches new V8-powered RS5 Cabriolet

Audi has launched its new RS5 Cabriolet during a live online event, and it's as much a treat for your ears as it is for your eyes.

Audi has taken the covers off its fastest convertible RS model yet, the Audi RS5 Cabriolet, during a live online event yesterday. Its debut comes just a few weeks before the 2012 Paris Motor Show, where the general public will get their first look at the new car in the metal.

Chopping the roof off the RS5 will inevitably lead to a slightly less focused driving experience over the coupe, but as the convertible has retained the stunning 4.2 liter V8, the pace isn’t too badly affected. Audi claims a 4.9-second 0-60 miles-per-hour time, with the 444 horsepower motor charging to an electronically limited top speed of 155. If you fancy stretching the car a little more, then Audi will lift this limit for a fee, and you can speed on to 174 miles-per-hour.

The V8 is mated to a seven-speed S Tronic dual clutch transmission, and Audi’s Quattro four-wheel drive system, and there is the option to add a sporty rear differential too. Surprisingly, given this is a heavier convertible, the economy is almost identical to its hardtop brother at 25.9 miles-per-gallon.

Audi has worked hard to keep the weight as low as possible, with aluminum front wings and a set of clever “petal” shaped brake discs, which save 3kgs of unsprung weight on their own. Car Magazine estimates that the coupe is 200kg lighter than the new convertible, but Audi hasn’t released any official figures yet.

Buyers will get to choose between a black, grey, brown or red canvas roof, and eight different body colors, while the Cabriolet has also been given LED rear lights, xenon front lights, new 20-inch rims and a carbon fiber rear spoiler. The RS styling at the front and rear, plus those sizable oval exhausts help separate it from the basic A5 Cabriolet, and inside are seats and a steering wheel which are unique to the cabrio too.

As you’ll hear in the launch video below, with the roof down you get the full effect of that glorious V8, and it sounds incredible. Such aural bliss won’t come cheap though, and an 88,500 Euro base price in Germany could mean a £60,000 to £70,000 price tag in the UK. Convert that over into dollars, and you’ve got $111,000.

The RS5 Cabriolet goes on sale early next year in Europe, but despite rumors, Audi has yet to confirm whether it’ll make it to the USA or not.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Kobo pushes out new Mini and Glo e-readers, plus the Arc Android tablet

Online e-book retailer Kobo has announced the Kobo Arc Android tablet, plus the Kobo Glo and Kobo Mini e-readers.

Kobo, the online e-book retailer, has swooped in to steal some of Amazon’s thunder by announcing three new products — the Kobo Mini and Kobo Glo e-readers and the Kobo Arc Android tablet.

Let’s start with the Kobo Arc tablet. This isn’t the first tablet that Kobo has released, as the Kobo Vox came out late last year, but was eclipsed by the better specced, more exciting Kindle Fire. Not being Google Certified didn’t help the Vox either, but it appears Kobo has learned from its mistakes with the Arc.

Powering the 7-inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display is a 1.5Ghz, dual-core Texas Instruments processor, along with 1GB of RAM, while the operating system is built around Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Kobo has included the Google Play store this time around too, but has also added its own user interface over the top of the Android OS, along with a new feature called Tapestries.

At first it sounds like a customizable homescreen really, as you can “pin” favorite books, pictures, videos and web links to your Tapestry, but it gets a little more interesting as the Arc will then offer content suggestions based on what you’ve pinned to the screen.

Kobo has also added features such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera, and a battery that should provide 10 hours of continuous reading. Two models will be made available, one with 8GB and the other with 16GB of internal memory, and they’ll be priced at $199/£169 and $249/£199 respectively when it’s released in November.

On to the Kobo Glo, then, which is a 6-inch e-reader. The E Ink touchscreen boasts an impressive 1024 x 768 resolution with 210 dots-per-inch, which at the moment, trumps the competition.

The clue as to what makes the Glo standout is in its name, as the screen has an adjustable front light, so it can be read in the dark. Naturally, this affects battery life, and with the light on you can expect 55 hours of reading time, but more than a month with both it and the built-in Wi-Fi switched off.

There’s 2GB of internal memory with a microSD card slot to boost this by 32GB, plus the Glo will accept .ePub books protected by Adobe DRM too. This is especially helpful, as unlike the Kindle, you won’t be restricted to a single store from which to buy your books. It’s set for release on October 1 for $129/£99.

Finally, we come to the Kobo Mini, the company’s basic e-reader. It features a stock 5-inch E Ink screen, 2GB of internal memory, Wi-Fi and a lightweight 134 gram chassis. It too will be out on October 1 at the bargain price of $79/£59.

Kobo’s new hardware range looks great, and is priced competitively, however it will still need to contend with whatever Amazon, Barnes & Noble and potentially even Apple have in store for us before the all-important Holiday season. Will these devices help put Kobo’s name on the map?

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Nokia issues apology for faked PureView video ad

Busted within 24 hours of posting the promotional ad online, Nokia backpedals regarding a misleading video featuring PureView technology.

Detailed on the Conversation by Nokia blog, editor-in-chief Heidi Lemmetyinen released an apology for misleading consumers with a video that was meant to show off how optical image stabilization helps when shooting high definition video on smartphones like the Lumia 920. The concept of the video in question was designed to show the difference between shooting with OIS turned on compared to shooting when it’s unavailable. In the video, the side-by-side-comparison video stream shows a couple riding bicycles and the twenty-something man is filming a young girl with a Nokia smartphone using PureView and OIS as they speed down the street. 

Noted by many people on YouTube and other news organizations, a van can be seen filming the girl with a high-end dSLR or video camera in a reflection off the window of a nearby trailer around the 27 second mark of the video. Not only was the video taken while someone rode in a stable car compared to a less stable bicycle, the type of camera used was completely different from the PureView camera in the Lumia 920.

In the apology, Lemmetyinen stated “In an effort to demonstrate the benefits of optical image stabilization (which eliminates blurry images and improves pictures shot in low light conditions), we produced a video that simulates what we will be able to deliver with OIS. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but we should have posted a disclaimer stating this was a representation of OIS only. This was not shot with a Lumia 920. At least, not yet. We apologize for the confusion we created.”

In addition to the written apology, Lemmetyinen posted a video shown at the press conference that displayed the difference between shooting with a smartphone without OIS and a Lumia 920 prototype with OIS turned on. While Nokia didn’t identify the other smartphone in the video, the side displaying the OIS feature clearly shows a significantly smoother video stream while someone is walking and filming toward a fixed spot.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

What’s old is new again; Hands-on with Phantasy Star Online 2

One of the most influential online console games of all time returns with Phantasy Star Online 2.

I will go ahead and admit this: I was addicted to the original  for the Dreamcast. And addicted in the way people are addicted to caffeine; more like it got to the point that if my friends wanted to stop by, they would call and if they heard a busy signal they would assume I was home playing Phantasy Star Online using my dial-up, then just come over. I played it fanatically. By today’s standards it was relatively simple, but it was still shockingly addictive and nurtured an obsessive amount of fan loyalty.

So when Sega announced that it was releasing a sequel here in North America (it is already out in Japan), and that the game will be free-to-play, I was intrigued. After seeing it, I am still intrigued, but somewhat surprised as well.

Phantasy Star Online 2 is going to instantly flair the nostalgic centers of brains of gamers that played the original. It actually feels as much like an update as a sequel, but that isn’t a bad thing.

For those that didn’t sacrifice small but significant chunks of their lives at the altar of PSO, the game was a combination of MMORPG and action game. The gameplay was third-person action that leaned toward hack-n-slash. Each character fell into one of three classes: hunters, who were adept at close to mid-range combat; force characters, your mage-like magic users magic; the third were the rangers who were best suited to long range attacks. Each class had had four species to choose from for customization, and each character carried a full assortment of weapons and armor.

The gameplay mapped attacks to one series of buttons while holding down a trigger button brought up other options, including magic that you could then switch out in the menu. It was simple enough, and yet it felt deep. The sequel uses something very similar.

Playing PSO2 was not just reminiscent of PSO because it brought back memories; it was reminiscent because the games are very similar fundamentally. They even share similar music.

The gameplay ofPSO2 offers a few more options, but it is very similar. You have three tiers of weapons and magic you can scroll between with the d-pad. Each new set gives you a new weapon to use and new magic options, and it plays like the original in the way you attack and move. You have a lock on as well, but beyond that the game plays the same. The first boss on display was even the fire dragon that was in the first game as the boss of the forest.

Of course, it looks better graphically speaking and there is now a jump, which may sound like nothing major but fans of the series will appreciate it, even though it means a sacrifice of an attack key.

Oddly there is no voice chat option, which makes it feel even more like the original game as the keyboard communication is key. But that raises the most important question which is still unanswered: what is the social side going to be like for North American users? How will the team hubs work? Will their be a bizarre form of soccer?

The original game was a solid action game, but it featured four areas that could be played through in a few hours, and yet people poured dozens, even hundreds of hours into the game. People came back because of the social aspects, that is what made the game memorable. We can see all the ins and outs of PSO2’s social plans, but until it is live and populated by real players, we can’t know for certain if it comes close to recapturing what made it special. We’ll find out soon enough.

Phantasy Star Online 2, which is out on PC in Japan and coming to North America early next year, will also be released on Android, iOS, and Vita.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Update on the Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note Jelly Bean release schedule

It’s no secret Samsung has been investing quite a lot of effort in the the Galaxy S III Jelly Bean update development recently. Numerous ROMs have already leaked online with the latest being having a build number of XXLH8.

So, what’s really happening inside Samsung’s labs and when we can expect to see the Galaxy S III Jelly Bean update going live?

Each new Jelly Bean test ROM shows significant improvement in performance, some minor UI changes and tons of bug fixes. Even though the latest LH8 seems pretty good at first, it still has a few bugs inside and needs some polishing.

Samsung is holding a pre-IFA press conference tomorrow and it will reveal when the Galaxy S III (both US and international) Jelly Bean will come out. The Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note updates are also already in development and are scheduled to come in Q4 (which starts in October, so here’s hoping).

We’ll probably know more once the Samsung’s pre-IFA event finishes tomorrow eventing. We will be there to cover it live for you, so stick around.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Guidelines on Advanced SEO Techniques To Increase Business

In the internet dominated modern society we live in today, it is imperative for a company to have a strong online presence in order to succeed in business. Most of the traffic to any site, at least initially, is generated by search engine results. Hence it is paramount to design the site in such a way that it ranks among the top one or two pages for any relevant search result. To achieve this goal, SEO techniques are implemented. Although many people are aware of the basic SEO methods, there are some advanced techniques that can really boost the amount of traffic to a marketing blog or a business site.

Set your content apart from the crowd with Author Markup

Author Markup is the latest offering by Google that attempts to bring all the content written by a writer under a single author profile. A Blogger or writer using author markup appears differently in Google search results with his profile picture, link to his Google+ profile and link to access more of his content. This immediately attracts the attention of the user increasing the chances of him clicking the marked up result significantly. It can be a little tricky to implement author markup but there are several good tutorials available over the net that can help setting up an author markup profile.

Know More about your audience with double-click Ad Planner

Getting to know what the target audience of your blog are currently interested in can be the biggest advantage in creating a successful blog. Posting a relevant URL to Google Double-click Ad Planner instantly generates a large list of websites pertaining to the same topic. Participating in those sites actively can give you more than a fair idea about the current trend of the moment and you can create contents for your blog according to that information. This is a very useful tool for creating appealing contents for you marketing blog.

Use hi-res images for increased traffic

According to a 2011 report by Technorati State of the Blog, almost 90% of the blogs across the web have some kind of media content in them and images are the most popular among all media formats used. Using attractive high resolution photos in your blog can actually generate more traffic and backlinks than you thing its worth. This is evident from the success of Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog that was chosen as one of the best blogs of 2011 by Time. So find relevant and high quality photos to accompany your blog content and see the traffic increase slowly but surely.

Think beyond facebook and Twitter

When it comes to marketing their blogs on social networking sites, many people are unable to think beyond Facebook and Twitter. But there is a large community of niche sites that provide the users with relevant blog posts and URL’s according to their preferences. Sites like StumbleUpon, Reddit, and Pinterest and Tumblr dish out billions of page views every month. Participating in such sites can not only generate some extra traffic for your website, but similar to Ad Planner, you will also get a fair idea of the trending interests and topics of the moment.

Incorporating the appropriate SEO techniques in the initial stages while you design the website makes it easier to implement them effectively. At this stage, the meta-tags, title tags, URLs etc that are significant for better ranking can be handled to generate the maximum possible traffic.

Author Bio – Jerry Lawrence is an Article writing professional specializing in SEO and targeting the most effective and up-to-date online marketing techniques with a keen interest in the Link Building strategies.

Source : techtalkafrica[dot]com

Lenobo IdeaPad A2109 now available at Best Buy for $299.99

The Lenovo IdeaPad A2109 has landed at Best Buy without much fanfare before the September 2012 launch date. The tablet is now in stock and can be purchased online or through brick and mortar stores for $299.99.

In case you don’t know anything about it, the IdeaPad A2109 has a 9.0-inch, 1280 x 800 resolution display, NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB storage space, 3 megapixel rear camera, 1.3 megapixel front camera and Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

With a price tag of just $299.99, the IdeaPad A2109 comes across as good value. You can find the link to the Best Buy page below.

Source : blog[dot]gsmarena[dot]com

Hulu website gets new look, includes bigger artwork and improved navigation

Hulu has given its website a makeover, creating a more visually appealing experience while improving navigation of the site.

Online video service Hulu rolled out a new look for its website late Tuesday. The company said the aim was to come up with a more visually attractive site while making it easier to discover new and interesting content.

In a blog post detailing the new look, Rob Wong, Hulu’s VP of product, wrote that the site was now using “larger, more vivid artwork to feature last night’s TV episodes and new additions to Hulu.”

He continued, “We’ve also implemented a new tray-style format to make it easy for you to browse and discover content. And for logged-in users, we highlight the ‘Shows You Watch’ to make it super easy to jump directly to the shows you are already enjoying on Hulu.”

A little way down the new-look homepage you’ll be able to find the week’s most popular episodes on Hulu, together with recommendations based on your viewing history.

With ‘staff picks’, Hulu employees get the chance to suggest their favorite TV shows, movies and videos to users on the hunt for something new.

Site navigation has also been revamped. “Use the ‘Browse’ menu to easily jump to popular content, content recently added to the site, specific networks, recommendations and more from any page on Hulu,” Wong wrote in his post. An updated search box at the top of the page also enables users to move around the site more easily.

Wong called the changes to the website “just the beginning,” promising to implement more updates according to feedback and how people use the site.

The new design is being rolled out gradually over the next few days, though impatient types can check it out now by clicking here.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com