General Gaming Article

---

• Ultrabook Sales Prop Up a Struggling PC Notebook Market
• Chrome for iOS Tops The Download Charts, but is Intentionally Handicapped by Apple
• Microsoft Word 2013 Will Support PDF Viewing & Editing

Ultrabook Sales Prop Up a Struggling PC Notebook Market Posted: 01 Jul 2012 02:03 PM PDT For far too many years now Windows laptops have been catering to the sub $500 crowd, practically ceding the high end market to Apple. Of course the Alienware's of the world have continued to pump out impressive gaming notebooks, but mainstream users were all too often deciding between a cheap PC, or a more expensive Macbook. Ultrabooks have done a great job of capturing back consumer mindshare, and according to NPD, have helped keep the $700-$900 PC price bracket from eroding away completely. They also noted that the $900+ price point managed to grow a whopping 39 percent from last year. The outlook for PC sales in 2012 continues to be a bit fuzzy, though selling fewer machines at a higher price could help offset any declines, at least temporarily. The chart below shows the steady growth of Ultrabooks since the start of the year, a trend we hope to see continue.

Chrome for iOS Tops The Download Charts, but is Intentionally Handicapped by Apple Posted: 01 Jul 2012 01:16 PM PDT Browser options on Apple's iOS platform are pretty grim, however one bit of defense Apple will no longer be able to use is a lack of demand. Chrome for iOS was released last week at Google IO, and since then it has shot like a rocket to the top of the app charts. The UI for iOS Chrome emulates pretty closely what we've seen over on Android, however it does have a few significant, and disheartening differences. Apple has been approving alternate browsers for ages now, but what they don't do is allow users to set them as the system default, or even use their own JavaScript engines. What iOS users are getting here is little more than a new UI wrapper for Mobile Safari, and an inferior version at that. Third party applications are limited to using UIWebView, which means the updated Nitro JavaScript engine that was released in the previous version of iOS is disabled. This puts Chrome at a significant disadvantage to mobile Safari when it comes to SunSpider benchmarks, making it difficult to recommend.  What Chrome for iOS does give users however is an arguably superior UI, along with the ability to sync tabs, pages, and history across all your desktop and mobile devices. Based on the popularity of the app it appears as though these features are enough to garner a ton of interest, however we can't help but wonder just how many people know what they are giving up in exchange. To make things even more confusing the first two words of the app's description is "browse fast". Not as fast as Safari it would seem; Apple has seen to that.  Benchmarks iOS Chrome: 7200.1ms iOS Safari: 1704.8ms  Safari = 4.22x as fast

Microsoft Word 2013 Will Support PDF Viewing & Editing Posted: 01 Jul 2012 12:31 PM PDT Working with PDF documents in Windows has always been a bit of a pain. Most people end up downloading a copy of Adobe Reader, or if they are slightly more savvy the amazing and lightweight Foxit Reader. Microsoft Word 2010 gained the ability to output documents to PDF, however all of these tools have one thing in common; they are a one trick pony. According to LiveSide.Net, Microsoft Word 2013 won't only be able to export PDF files, but it will be able to open, and even edit them.  Paul Thurrott is also reporting on the WinSupersite that the PDF renderer is a "stunning new reading experience for both traditional Word documents and PDFs that reflows text in a columnar view automatically." Bookmarks as well as automatic page resuming are also rumored to be supported. As far as killer new features for Microsoft's new productivity suite go, this will probably rank fairly high for most users.   The first public beta of Office 2013 is expected to be released sometime next week.

You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Gameforumer.com

---

• Ultrabook Sales Prop Up a Struggling PC Notebook Market
• Chrome for iOS Tops The Download Charts, but is Intentionally Handicapped by Apple
• Chrome for iOS Tops The Download Charts, but is Intentionally Handicapped by Apple
• Microsoft Word 2013 Will Support PDF Viewing Editing
• Continent of the Ninth Seal - Open Beta phase begins
• Continent of the Ninth Seal - Open Beta phase begins
• MapleStory (JP) - 2 new classes teased

Ultrabook Sales Prop Up a Struggling PC Notebook Market Posted: 01 Jul 2012 02:25 PM PDT FG_AUTHORS: Amit Teli For far too many years now Windows laptops have been catering to the sub $500 crowd, practically ceding the high end market to Apple. Of course the Alienware's of the world have continued to pump out impressive gaming notebooks, but mainstream users were all too often deciding between a cheap PC, or a more expensive Macbook. Ultrabooks have done a great job of capturing back...

Chrome for iOS Tops The Download Charts, but is Intentionally Handicapped by Apple Posted: 01 Jul 2012 02:01 PM PDT FG_AUTHORS: Amit Teli Browser options on Apple's iOS platform are pretty grim, however one bit of defense Apple will no longer be able to use is a lack of demand. Chrome for iOS was released last week at Google IO, and since then it has shot like a rocket to the top of the app charts. The UI for iOS Chrome emulates pretty closely what we've seen over on Android, however it does have a few s...

Chrome for iOS Tops The Download Charts, but is Intentionally Handicapped by Apple Posted: 01 Jul 2012 02:01 PM PDT FG_AUTHORS: Amit Teli Browser options on Apple's iOS platform are pretty grim, however one bit of defense Apple will no longer be able to use is a lack of demand. Chrome for iOS was released last week at Google IO, and since then it has shot like a rocket to the top of the app charts. The UI for iOS Chrome emulates pretty closely what we've seen over on Android, however it does have a few s...

Microsoft Word 2013 Will Support PDF Viewing Editing Posted: 01 Jul 2012 01:03 PM PDT FG_AUTHORS: Amit Teli Working with PDF documents in Windows has always been a bit of a pain. Most people end up downloading a copy of Adobe Reader, or if they are slightly more savvy the amazing and lightweight Foxit Reader. Microsoft Word 2010 gained the ability to output documents to PDF, however all of these tools have one thing in common; they are a one trick pony. According to LiveSide.Net,...

Continent of the Ninth Seal - Open Beta phase begins Posted: 01 Jul 2012 06:12 AM PDT FG_AUTHORS: Amit Teli [Game website] Finally, after years of waiting and months of teasing, Webzen's Continent of the Ninth is now in its Open Beta phase for the English market. I have no idea why the game is renamed as "Continent of the Ninth Seal", but it is still the same non-target action MMO as its Korea, Japan and China counterparts. The game is Free to Play if you are wondering, and I have...

Continent of the Ninth Seal - Open Beta phase begins Posted: 01 Jul 2012 06:12 AM PDT FG_AUTHORS: Amit Teli [Game website] Finally, after years of waiting and months of teasing, Webzen's Continent of the Ninth is now in its Open Beta phase for the English market. I have no idea why the game is renamed as "Continent of the Ninth Seal", but it is still the same non-target action MMO as its Korea, Japan and China counterparts. The game is Free to Play if you are wondering, and I have...

MapleStory (JP) - 2 new classes teased Posted: 01 Jul 2012 04:30 AM PDT FG_AUTHORS: Amit Teli I must say, the sudden influx of exclusive classes to regional servers is a surprise move to me. With the American server getting Jett (link), the China and Taiwan servers getting the Dragon Warrior (link), how can Nexon Japan miss out on the fun? While the 2 classes above use the Pirate + Pistol motif, the new classes here are taking an alternate route. Currently known as...

You are subscribed to email updates from Home To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

MMO Updates

---

• Previously on MV TV: The week of June 23rd
• The Daily Grind: What game have you waited past launch to play?
• The Mog Log: Unabashedly squealing about Seekers of Adoulin
• The Tattered Notebook: Exploring EQII's Qeynos revamp
• The Road to Mordor: The superiority of goats

Previously on MV TV: The week of June 23rd Posted: 01 Jul 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Video, Age of Conan, EVE Online, EverQuest II, Previews, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Vanguard, Free-to-play, Casual, Humor, Champions Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Livestream, Miscellaneous, Previously on MV TV Whoa, what a week! It's possible that this last week of livestreaming was the greatest week of all of time! OK, sure, that's open to interpretation, but it is possible that you might have missed the greatest stream ever and never knew it. Luckily for you, I have collected some of the last week's highlights and assembled them into an easy-to-digest pill. Just to be sure to take them on an empty stomach and rest afterward. This week we have some Champions Online and EVE Online action with Mike; Star Wars: The Old Republic PvP with Psykopig; and adventures in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, EverQuest II and Age of Conan with MJ. I round it off with a livestream of Divina, a new free-to-play Anime title. Be sure to bookmark our livestream guide so you'll never need to ask "What game is this?" in the chatroom again! Continue reading Previously on MV TV: The week of June 23rd Previously on MV TV: The week of June 23rd originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Jul 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What game have you waited past launch to play? Posted: 01 Jul 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Launches, New titles, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous I'd be lying if I said I'm not interested in The Secret World. What little time I got with the game on the floor at PAX East was promising, and I do like the ideas on display. But I haven't taken part in the betas, and I haven't focused on getting into the game right now. As interested as I am, I'd prefer to see how the game shakes out after launch and then make that decision. There are a lot of games that I've wanted to play on launch day if not sooner, but I'm sure I'm not alone in having waited on some titles so that I could see what the launch and subsequent support looks like. So what about you? Are there games that you have waited on in the past, even if you were interested in them before launch? Did they meet your expectations, exceed them, or fall short? Or are there games on the horizon now that meet these criteria? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind! The Daily Grind: What game have you waited past launch to play? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Jul 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Mog Log: Unabashedly squealing about Seekers of Adoulin Posted: 30 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Expansions, Previews, Opinion, Consoles, The Mog Log It seems almost unbelievable, but it's here. It's coming. Seekers of Adoulin is the fifth expansion for Final Fantasy XI, the first one in what seems like an eternity, a genuinely new experience for players above and beyond the many recycled bits that have dominated the game for years now. It's a new region, a new set of challenges, all sorts of new. It's what players have been asking for for years on end, and as surreal as it seems, this is a reality. That it's not coming until next year almost seems like a footnote. Needless to say, I'm excited. I think that if handled correctly, this is a great opportunity for Square-Enix to revitalize Final Fantasy XI in the wake of Final Fantasy XIV's relaunch later this year. It's a chance to give the game a new audience and let players come back to enjoy it on their own terms. Most of all, it's a chance to show how much life the older game really has, possibly to players who would never have seen it otherwise. Continue reading The Mog Log: Unabashedly squealing about Seekers of Adoulin The Mog Log: Unabashedly squealing about Seekers of Adoulin originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Tattered Notebook: Exploring EQII's Qeynos revamp Posted: 30 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Lore, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Tattered Notebook Back when the Freeport revamp was first announced, the first question I had was when will Qeynos get a facelift? EverQuest II fans have waited patiently, but finally, this past week, Qeynos got one step closer with its arrival on the test server. The Freeport revamp was a major undertaking, with brand-new architecture, new scalable city quests, and even a foreboding scene with Lucan carrying out his own special brand of justice on the Freeport denizens. But what does the new Qeynos look like? This week's Tattered Notebook features a little tour around town to see what's changed. Read on for the low down! Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: Exploring EQII's Qeynos revamp The Tattered Notebook: Exploring EQII's Qeynos revamp originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Road to Mordor: The superiority of goats Posted: 30 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor I love goats. OK, pipe down there. I mean that I love the goat mounts in Lord of the Rings Online. Shush! Man, this column isn't starting well. It sounded better in my head. It's a well-known fact that LotRO lacks the mount diversity shown by most other fantasy MMOs. It's pretty much horses all the way down, and chances are it's going to stay that way thanks to the IP. Unless, of course, the devs give in to my flying eagles suggestion. There just isn't much wiggle-room in Tolkien's works for the Free People of Middle-earth to be taking a 2012 Mechanospider to work. However, the devs did shoehorn in one different flavor of mount for the Mines of Moria expansion. Goats received a room at the stable and were integral to navigating through the labyrinthine deeps. They never did match horses in terms of popularity or even variety, and I doubt that we'll be seeing War-goats for Riders of Rohan. Still, if I had my pick (and I do), I'd pick goats any day of the week. They're so much better than horses, and I'm going to tell you just why. Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The superiority of goats The Road to Mordor: The superiority of goats originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

You are subscribed to email updates from Massively To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610