E3 2011: New Fable and Kinect experiences wow the LA crowds
Microsoft has kicked off E3 2011 in style in Los Angeles today, with a slew of new announcements and demonstrations of exclusive games and services for Xbox 360 and Kinect. And, as was expected and hoped, a final reveal that Halo 4 is on the way soon.
Following a momentous opening marked by a demo of Activision's forthcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and a demonstration of the forthcoming new TV and voice search features on the way to Xbox 360 later in 2011, Microsoft gave the hardcore crowd exactly what they were hoping for.
Loads of decent new games
The Xbox 360 maker is the first of the three major console manufacturers to lay its cards on the table at this year's massive gaming industry trade event, opening E3 2011 in some style, and with an almost confident swagger.
A solid range of developers took to the stage to demo loads of new and exclusive games set to arrive on Xbox 360 and Kinect later this year and next, including (in no particular order) the aforementioned Halo 4 and COD: Modern Warfare 3 along with Gears of War 3, Forza 4, Fable: The Journey, Minecraft (yes!) and a ton of other new triple-A content.
Firstly, following a quick UFC for Xbox Live announcement to please the wrestling fans, and a first look at Crystal Dynamic's new Tomb Raider title (due late 2012) Microsoft Studios Phil Spencer took to the stage to assure the audience that every single game they were showing from this point onwards in the presser was an Xbox 360 exclusive.
Starting with one of the biggest and most highly-anticipated 360 games of the year, Epic Games' CliffyB took to the E3 stage to give the latest demo of the next version of much-loved muscle-men sci-fi shooter Gears of War 3.
The Epic rep gave rap legend Ice-T a run through some of the new aspects of the co-op gameplay in the game. Nothing really new seemed to be on show in terms of the gameplay demonstrated, but why fix it when it's clearly not broke (and hugely popular)?
Following the latest Gears demo, cutting edge developers Crytek were next up to show off a title called Ryse, which will let you use Kinect motion-control for melee combat.
After that short demo, the new HD remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, with improved graphics and new Xbox Live maps was shown off, to the requisite whoops from the series' many fans in the crowd.
Halo: Combat Anniversary is set to be released on November 15th. A must-buy game for anybody that never got to play the original (and, most likely, a must-buy game for a large proportion of those gamers that did play the original as well).
Kinect'ing with the hardcore
Following that slew of sci-fi shooters, the latest demo of every Xbox-360-owning petrolhead's favorite Forza 4 is shown off, with the announcement that the demo was all in-game footage causing jaws to drop amongst many in the audience.
Plus, as rumoured, Kinect voice control and head-tracking features are also confirmed for the new Forza, in addition to full 16-player online multiplayer and an impressive list of 80 car manufacturers all signed up to the game, which releases on October 11 later this year.
Next up, as expected, Lionhead boss (and Microsoft Gaming Studios' creative director) Peter Molyneux took to the stage to introduce his next major Xbox 360 game, Fable: The Journey.
Kinect control is clearly going to play a major part in Molyneux's new game, as he demonstrated the games' young protagonist controlling a gypsy caravan and casting spells merely by hand movements and gestures recognised by Kinect. The impressive new Fable demo draws cheers and applause from the appreciative crowd.
Finally, just to confirm that Kinect is being developed firmly with hardcore gamers and games developers in mind, Microsoft announce that PC gaming favourite Minecraft will be heading to the Xbox 360 with Kinect support later in 2011. A very savvy - and very cool - move indeed.
Read the views of online Certification Experts, which provide the real questions and correct answer and explanation for the students / professionals who are seeking or enhancing their level of expertise. more at certkingdom.com
June 8, 2011
June 7, 2011
Six tough questions for your next IAAS vendor
1. What happens if your cloud computing resources are unavailable?
While questions about disaster recovery and high availability in the cloud will be similar to those asked about your own data center, you need to be a lot more specific when looking to implement or utilize a cloud environment.
IAAS is smart choice for ConnectEDU
SLAs vary widely between providers so you've got to make sure you're clear on the details surrounding guaranteed uptime, and then decide if that works for your business.
2. How (and more importantly where) do you backup data?
In a cloud environment, IT executives need to be confident that their data not only will be replicated but also stored across multiple sites in separate locations to ensure they will still have access to that data in the event of a data center failure or other incident.
3. How do you handle large data migration and what are the costs?
While provisioning a cloud environment takes minutes, populating that cloud with the necessary data is an entirely different story.
For example, if you need to migrate or populate a database to the cloud that is too large to send over the network, you need to consider factors such as additional costs, available data load options, and the process for working with your provider on the migration.
4. What are my network access options - and, more importantly, the restrictions?
One of the biggest benefits of the cloud is being able to access critical data over the Internet from any location. Beyond obvious questions such as whether you can access the cloud from mobile devices is whether the provider can support VPNs or dedicated connections. This is particularly true for organizations like financial services firms that have more stringent rules around access.
Tips for picking an IaaS provider
5. My organization must comply with regulations. What are my options for using IaaS?
For some organizations, particularly ones that have to comply with stringent regulations, public cloud IaaS offerings might not make sense.
Ultimately, everything is shared even though it's separate both logically and from a security perspective. For this reason, many CIOs may look to community clouds, which enable companies with similar requirements - for example, two pharmaceutical companies that both must meet strict FDA regulations - to share a cloud and achieve true economies of scale.
6. What's the cost to decommission an IaaS project?
While most cloud providers are upfront about the cost of specific IaaS offerings (for example the cost per megabyte for storage), it is much more difficult to provide a cost for decommissioning - a critical but often forgotten step in the cloud life cycle.
While questions about disaster recovery and high availability in the cloud will be similar to those asked about your own data center, you need to be a lot more specific when looking to implement or utilize a cloud environment.
IAAS is smart choice for ConnectEDU
SLAs vary widely between providers so you've got to make sure you're clear on the details surrounding guaranteed uptime, and then decide if that works for your business.
2. How (and more importantly where) do you backup data?
In a cloud environment, IT executives need to be confident that their data not only will be replicated but also stored across multiple sites in separate locations to ensure they will still have access to that data in the event of a data center failure or other incident.
3. How do you handle large data migration and what are the costs?
While provisioning a cloud environment takes minutes, populating that cloud with the necessary data is an entirely different story.
For example, if you need to migrate or populate a database to the cloud that is too large to send over the network, you need to consider factors such as additional costs, available data load options, and the process for working with your provider on the migration.
4. What are my network access options - and, more importantly, the restrictions?
One of the biggest benefits of the cloud is being able to access critical data over the Internet from any location. Beyond obvious questions such as whether you can access the cloud from mobile devices is whether the provider can support VPNs or dedicated connections. This is particularly true for organizations like financial services firms that have more stringent rules around access.
Tips for picking an IaaS provider
5. My organization must comply with regulations. What are my options for using IaaS?
For some organizations, particularly ones that have to comply with stringent regulations, public cloud IaaS offerings might not make sense.
Ultimately, everything is shared even though it's separate both logically and from a security perspective. For this reason, many CIOs may look to community clouds, which enable companies with similar requirements - for example, two pharmaceutical companies that both must meet strict FDA regulations - to share a cloud and achieve true economies of scale.
6. What's the cost to decommission an IaaS project?
While most cloud providers are upfront about the cost of specific IaaS offerings (for example the cost per megabyte for storage), it is much more difficult to provide a cost for decommissioning - a critical but often forgotten step in the cloud life cycle.
June 6, 2011
Apple Leaks New Automatic Updates for iOS Apps
Happy Apple rumor weekend! The week before WWDC is usually rife with speculation for the details behind the colorful logos and product teases that Apple's slapped on its huge print displays in San Francisco's Moscone Center. But that's not the only place where you can find sneak peeks for Apple's to-be-announced features: How about iTunes itself?
Just last night, Apple let a little detail slip within iTunes that suggests automatic application updates are going to be unveiled for iOS users come Monday's iOS 5 announcement at WWDC.
The source of the information comes from the little description found within iTunes' app update page. Typically, the text indicates (and has indicated for years) the process by which one can update one's apps: Click "Get Update" on an app to just download the new version of one particular program, or use the "Download All Free Updates" button to do just that. Once you connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer and sync the device, the app updates you downloaded to your system transfer over to your smartphone or tablet.
A new line appended to the bottom of this app update description–text which has since been removed from iTunes by Apple–said the following: "Or if your device has Automatic Download enabled for apps, your updates will download to your device without having to sync."
Automatic Download, eh? If released, the feature would be a significant upgrade for iPad and iPhone users that would finally put these devices on par with Google's Android OS in the "keeping your apps updated" category.
Right now, the over-the-air process for updating one's apps on an iPad or iPhone is entirely manual: You have to remember that you haven't checked the status of your apps in a while, you have to pull up the App Store, you have either select the updates you want to download or download all available updates at once, and you have to wait while your app downloads chug to your device over your 3G connection (or Wi-Fi , if an update is larger than 20 megabytes).
It's unclear whether Apple would allow its users to take a piecemeal approach to automatic app updates a la Android, where one selects exactly which app updates should download and install as soon as they're released. That's in contrast to a blanket automatic update service that could apply to all apps, which could be frustrating prospect for users who want to control over how and when their devices use a ton of 3G or Wi-Fi (due to concerns over data caps or battery life, to name a few).
There's also no indication from Apple as to whether automatic downloading would apply to app updates only, or whether updates to iOS itself could automatically push to users once released.
Just last night, Apple let a little detail slip within iTunes that suggests automatic application updates are going to be unveiled for iOS users come Monday's iOS 5 announcement at WWDC.
The source of the information comes from the little description found within iTunes' app update page. Typically, the text indicates (and has indicated for years) the process by which one can update one's apps: Click "Get Update" on an app to just download the new version of one particular program, or use the "Download All Free Updates" button to do just that. Once you connect your iPhone or iPad to your computer and sync the device, the app updates you downloaded to your system transfer over to your smartphone or tablet.
A new line appended to the bottom of this app update description–text which has since been removed from iTunes by Apple–said the following: "Or if your device has Automatic Download enabled for apps, your updates will download to your device without having to sync."
Automatic Download, eh? If released, the feature would be a significant upgrade for iPad and iPhone users that would finally put these devices on par with Google's Android OS in the "keeping your apps updated" category.
Right now, the over-the-air process for updating one's apps on an iPad or iPhone is entirely manual: You have to remember that you haven't checked the status of your apps in a while, you have to pull up the App Store, you have either select the updates you want to download or download all available updates at once, and you have to wait while your app downloads chug to your device over your 3G connection (or Wi-Fi , if an update is larger than 20 megabytes).
It's unclear whether Apple would allow its users to take a piecemeal approach to automatic app updates a la Android, where one selects exactly which app updates should download and install as soon as they're released. That's in contrast to a blanket automatic update service that could apply to all apps, which could be frustrating prospect for users who want to control over how and when their devices use a ton of 3G or Wi-Fi (due to concerns over data caps or battery life, to name a few).
There's also no indication from Apple as to whether automatic downloading would apply to app updates only, or whether updates to iOS itself could automatically push to users once released.
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