War Horse is a popular book for children that has been adapted into an award winning play that is going to be a major motion picture. Steven Spielberg is returning to the director’s chair, and between that and the John Williams score, the story involving a horse named Joey and the young boy Albert is sure to pull on the heartstrings.
On the official site for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, fans receive a tutorial about how to launch an exclusive augmented reality experience using copies of Part 1 and 2 of both games based on the films. After downloading a program to their desktop, fans can reveal a hidden Lord Voldemort by holding up the front cover of the Part 2 game to their webcam to unleash the Dark Lord in our interactive Augmented Reality experience. If you have Part 1 of the game, you can hold that up at the same time for an extra magical surprise.
Batman: Arkham City will feature Robin, albeit not in a playable fashion outside of the game’s challenge maps. He’s the Tim Drake incarnation of the preeminent sidekick, although not the one most remember which Rocksteady senior concept artist Kan Muftic explained.
“We wanted to create a Robin that players would identify as a contemporary character and move away from the traditional ‘Boy Wonder’ image that most people know. Our vision of Robin is the one of a troubled young individual that is calm and introverted at times but very dangerous and aggressive if provoked. The shaved head is inspired by cage fighters, because we thought that Robin might be doing that in his spare time to keep him on his toes.”
“Still, we kept all the classic trademarks of Robin’s appearance, such as the red and yellow colors of his outfit, the cape and the mask,” he added. “We really hope that people will discover our Robin as one of their new favorite characters in the Batman universe. He is back and he means business.”
Source: community.batmanarkhamcity.com
Ubisoft has announced the creation of UbiCollectibles. This premium, limited-edition merchandise store will offer collectables like an Assassin’s Creed statue Ezio s Fury (only 2,000 copies), the Archangel Michael from Might & Magic Heroes VI and a limited-edition t-shirt for Ghost Recon same design as those worn by the development team during this year s Electronic Entertainment Expo.
UbiCollectibles are designed to give true fans something special, said Geoffroy Sardin, Chief EMEA Marketing and Sales Officer at Ubisoft. Each item is a custom-designed, limited edition, created to give fans an exceptional way to deepen their experience with their favorite Ubisoft universes.
Find out more at shop.ubi.com/ubicollectibles.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have announced a series of prizes to celebrate the one year anniversary of PlayStation Plus. To be entered, users merely have to have an active 90 day or 1 year PlayStation Plus subscription by August 3, 2011.
First prize is a Sony Entertainment package, including 46 3D Bravia TV, extra 3D glasses, a PS3 320GB, a PSPgo, PlayStation Move starter pack with extra controller and navigation controllers, a selection of 10 PS3 games, PlayTV and a 5 year PlayStation Plus membership. Second prize will give three people a free a one year PlayStation Plus membership while third prize will give100 people a free 90 day PlayStation Plus membership.
Source: blog.eu.playstation.com
The social networking site Google+ launched last week, heralding the search giant’s latest attempt to enter the social space. One instance is while the contract with Twitter has expired to display live feeds, expect to soon see Google +’s live feed displayed alongside search results.
Google has said that their social network is not ready to support brand pages or profiles yet, writes Ilie Mitaru. Obviously, if it wants a chance to compete with the likes of Facebook, the company will have to offer brands a compelling profile or page to communicate with their followers. What kind of platform Google+ intends to offer brands is yet to seen.
There also isn’t a way for users to claim an URL within Google+ yet. The way that Sparks works (Google+’s personalized content aggregate) is also a bit of a mystery and will no doubt benefit those who can get to the top of those pages; posts from the site will also carry SEO weight.
If there is one main takeaway of the implications Google+ has on SEO however, it is that real users, not keyword-and-link-seeking robots, will increasingly rank and share content. A recent study highlighted the fact that Facebook usage is actually usurping time spent on the search-based internet, notes Mitaru. Without a doubt, Google+, with its built-in content aggregators through Sparks, will take us one step further to understanding the Internet not as centered around content, but around relationships.
Source: PC World
The town of Juzcar, Spain has been touched up with the color blue to celebrate the release of the CG animated film Smurfs. It took 4,200 liters of paint and 12 unemployed locals with pain brushes to cover the town.
The Andalusian government and the local bishop all had to sign off on the move. Juzcar mayor David Fernandez Tirado says people have begun calling him Papa Smurf.
Source: Metro
According to sources, Apple has been ordering up ordered key components for a new iPhone. This new device, expected to launch in September 2011, is said to be like the iPhone 4 but with a better eight-megapixel camera along with a thinner and lighter design.
A source said that the new iPhone will have Qualcomm wireless chips, compared to the Infineon Technologies chip used in the current iPhone 4. While Infineon is used by most operators, Qualcomm chips are used in phones for carrier Verizon Wireless.
The device was apparently scheduled for release over the Summer, but the problem came from contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Co. who was unable to improve its production yield rate. Hon Hai Chairman Terry Guo confirmed recently that manufacturing issues have hurt profitability.
“The touch-screen devices are so thin. It’s really difficult to install so many components into the iPhones and iPads,” said Gou. “We hope to raise the yield rate and volume in the second half, which will help improve our gross margin.”
“Apple’s sales estimates of the new iPhone are quite aggressive. It told us to prepare to help the company meet its goal of 25 million units by the end of the year,” said a person at one of Apple’s suppliers. “The initial production volume will be a few million units.”
Next year might see a more major iPhone revamp, with the possibility of a cheaper phone with an edge-to-edge screen.
Source: WallStreetJournal.com
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words and Media Mind to that to heart with this mobile advertising infographic. Check out a visual demonstration of why iOS users are so engaged.
Source: BusinessInsider.com
Facebook has announced that it is getting Skype powered video calling. The feature is now available, requires no programs to download, and runs from the browser in a couple of clicks.
The option appears as an icon in Facebook’s chat window and on profile pages. It was also announced that Facebook had over 750 million active users.
Source: PC World
