TheCanadianTechie

 Nothing can beat the feeling of tearing some gift wrapping paper to reveal the most must-have gadget around. From waiting in line on Boxing Day (Here in Canada) and scoring a awesome deal on a tablet or TV to trying to figure out what to get certain “Techie” in your life. You have come to the right place. In the next few posts, i will have a helpful graphic with some products to help ease your gift decisions.

Now onto the gamer in your life, below are just some of the awesome games that have come out this year that your recipient will surely appreciate. This list includes games ranging from first-person shooters to action adventure games. It also includes some “NEW” game consoles such as the all-new Nintendo Wii U.

GAMES

 
Dishonored (Xbox 360, PS3,  PC, Available Now)

 
NBA 2K13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Available Now)

 
Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360, PS3,  PC, Available Now)

 
NHL 13 (Xbox 360, PS3,Available Now)

 
Assassin’s Creed III (Xbox 360, PS3,  PC, Available Now)

 
Need For Speed: Most Wanted (Xbox 360, PS3,  PC, Available Now)

 
Far Cry 3 (Xbox 360, PS3,  PC, Available Now )

 
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Xbox 360, PS3,  PC, Available Now)

 
Halo 4 (Xbox 360, PS3,  Available Now)

 
Medal of Honor: Warfighter (Xbox 360, PS3,  PC, Available Now)

 
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (Xbox 360, PS3,  PC, Wii U, Available Now )

 
Hitman: Absolution (Xbox 360, PS3,  PC, Available Now)

 
New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U, Available Now)

 
ZombiU (Wii U,Available Now)

 
Batman: Arkham City Armoured Edition (Wii U, Available Now)

 
Rabbids Land (Wii U, Available Now)

 
Scribblenauts: Unlimited (Wii U, Available Now)

 
Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth (Wii U, Available Now)

GAMING GEAR 


Super Slim Playstation 3 $299 (Assassin’s Creed III 500GB Bundle)

Wii U Deluxe Version is Shown

 
Wii U $299/349 (8GB Basic Version/32GB Deluxe Version) 

Xbox 360 $249*/299 (*4GB Kinect Family Bundle/ 250GB Kinect Bundle/250 GB Bundle with Forza 4 & Skyrim Download / 320GB Limited Edition Halo 4 Console)

 
Nintendo 3DS XL $199 

PS Vita Console $249 (Console Only with Wi-Fi/Assassin’s Creed III: Libration Bundle/COD:Black Ops 2 Declassified Bundle)

 
PS Vita Console $299 (Console with 3G & Wi-Fi with Gravity Rush & Unit 13 Download Vouchers)

 
Kinect $100 (Standard Kinect System with Kinect Adventures)

Image Sources

http://fronttowardsgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/dishonored_game-wide.jpg

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/71/04/25/49/0071042549188_500X500.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/77/Borderlands2boxart3.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bb/NHL_13_Cover.png/250px-NHL_13_Cover.png

http://oyster.ignimgs.com/mediawiki/apis.ign.com/assassins-creed-3/thumb/f/fc/Assassins-Creed-3-logo.jpeg/468px-Assassins-Creed-3-logo.jpeg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/91/Need_for_Speed,_Most_Wanted_2012_video_game_Box_Art.jpg

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121202145946/farcry/images/c/c6/Far_Cry_3_PAL_box_art.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/Call_of_Duty_Black_Ops_II_Game_Cover.png

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121031012240/halo/images/b/be/Halo_4_Standard_Edition_Small.png

http://postmedialeaderpost.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/medal_of_honor_warfighter-e1334284960499.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bd/Epic_Mickey_2_Boxart.PNG/256px-Epic_Mickey_2_Boxart.PNG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bc/HitmanAbsolutionPackArt.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/03/New_Super_Mario_Bros._U_box_art.png/250px-New_Super_Mario_Bros._U_box_art.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/10/ZombiU_Box_Art_(Final).jpg/256px-ZombiU_Box_Art_(Final).jpg

http://www.nintendofuse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Batman-Arkham-City-Armored-Edition-Wii-U_1350515985.jpeg

http://static2.cdn.ubi.com/ncsa/ubi.com/gamepages/rabbidsland/rland_logo.jpg

http://www.gamingvlog.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/936full-scribblenauts-unlimited-screenshot.jpeg

http://cache.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/298433_S/the-avengers-video-game-coming-marvel-avengers-battle-for-earth.jpg

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/09/27/Super_Slim_PS3_35454664_35454666_35454667_35454668_04_620x433.jpg

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2012/11/wiiureviewheader.jpg

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/videogames/detail-page/xbox360_2_large.jpg

http://www.3dsbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/3DSXL.jpg

http://www.sync-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Sync-PS-Vita-a-600×337.jpg

http://www.bestbuy.ca/multimedia/Products/500×500/102/10227/10227316.jpg

http://www.adafruit.com/adablog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/kinect1.jpg

Apple iPad (4th Generation) $499/599/699 (Wi-Fi Only) $629/729/829 (Wi-Fi & Cellular)

Apple iPad Mini $329/429/529 (Wi-Fi Only) $459/559/659 (Wi-Fi & Cellular)

Nexus 10 $409/509 (16GB Wi-Fi Only/32GB Wi-Fi Only)

Nexus 7 $209/259 (16GB Wi-Fi Only/32GB Wi-Fi Only) $309 (Wi-Fi & Mobile Data)

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity $499/599 (32GB Wi-Fi Only)

Microsoft Surface $519/619/719 (32GB Wi-Fi & Tablet Only/32GB with Touch Cover/
64GB with Touch Cover)

After using Android 4.2 for about two weeks now, I would have to say it is a nice incremental update over Android 4.1 (also called Jellybean). Now here is my review of the latest version of Android.

Android 4.2 brings some new features such as:

• Photosphere (& a redesigned camera interface)
• Lockscreen Widgets
• Google Now Improvements
• Gesture Typing
• Daydream (& Other Minor Details)

Gesture Typing in 4.2 works in the similarly to Swype and SwiftKey, where a user would drag there finger to each letter to create a word. Now that has been implemented into stock Android. It works really well, and it predicted words as accurately as possible including ones added to your Personal Dictionary. It is a nice feature to have instead of typing like normally or using speech to text. Overall this feature was feature was implemented very well.

Photosphere & New Camera Interface, In Android 4.2, the camera interface gets a redesigned look from recent versions of Android but still keeps the swipe to left to get straight to the gallery, that was introduced in 4.1. What is also new is the ability to take a Photosphere, which allows you to create a 360° view of where you take it, as if you are standing there. When a photosphere is viewed, it looks similarly to a Google StreetView.

You start off by selecting a area and then you can choose to move the device’s camera up, down, left or right to start stitching together your Photosphere. One tip I learned from MKBHD (on YouTube) is when creating a photosphere, is to not move yourself when creating it, but instead just move your device in your hands, that way you won’t have awkward pictures of objects or people in you Photosphere. Another thing to notice is that you can now take Panorama photos in Portrait unlike before where you could only take it in Landscape.

Google Now Improvements, Google Now can get information from Gmail to get ideas for new cards. It can help you track packages, find movie information and it can also help you find great spots for photo-ops which is based on your location.

Lockscreen Widgets, if you ever wanted to have widgets like Gmail, Messaging, a Clock Widget in the lockscreen now in 4.2, you have that feature available to you. So far with the update you can add in a Gmail, Calendar, Messaging and a standard Clock widget. There aren’t really any other widgets you can add at the moment, as this update is fairly new. So third party lockscreen widgets are suppose to come in the coming weeks as widgets are update to support the feature.


Minor Features, some other features included in the latest update include Daydream, where you can set your phone to have a “screensaver”, and you can choose from various options like photo albums or news from Google Currents, and the flinging of “Jellybeans with happy faces on them.

Despite Google cancelling their Android event that was supposed to occur in New York City today. The Android Team at Google revealed the latest Nexus devices plus a Android 4.2 update.

Everyone has heard the rumors for a while now of a LG built Nexus phone, now everyone who speculated are at ease. The New Nexus Phone built in partnership with LG, called the Nexus 4, it has a quad-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB RAM, 8GB or 16GB of storage, a 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 768 and a 8-Megapixel Rear-Facing Camera. The Nexus 4 will also support wireless charging straight out of the box (wireless charger not included). The Nexus 4 runs Android 4.2 (Still called Jelly Bean). The unlocked versions of the Nexus 4 costs $300 for the 8GB version ($309 in Canada) and $350 for the 16GB Version ($359 in Canada). This device will be available to buy unlocked in a number of countries including Canada, U.S, U.K, Australia, France, Spain and Germany on November 13th.

The Next Device that was revealed was the Google Nexus 10. It is rocking a dual-core 1.7 GHz Samsung Exynos processor, the processor includes a quad-core GPU inside to make the tablet fast. It also has 2GB of RAM, a 10-inch screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 display which has more pixels-per-inch that the iPad’s Retina display. It has a microUSB and microHDMI port. The tablet also includes a 5 Megapixel Rear-facing Camera and a 1.9 Megapixel Front-facing camera, plus it has two front-facing stereo speakers. Google claims to give users about 9 hours of video playback. A feature that is only of tablets with the Android 4.2 update, is that it allows for multiple users, so then for example it could be shared amond different family members. Each member can set up different user accounts and switch between them on the lockscreen, and each user will have their own home screens and widgets to customize their way. The Nexus 10 costs $400 for the 16GB and $500 for the 32GB model (add $10 to each one for Canadian Price). It will be available in the Google Play store in Canada, U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Japan on November 11th.

Google also announced a version of the Nexus 7 with 32GB of storage and Mobile Data (more specifically HSPA+) and it is unlocked. It will cost $300 ($309 in Canada) and will available on the Google Play Store on November 13th in the following countries, Canada, U.S, U.K, Australia, France, Germany and Spain. Google has discontinued the 8GB Nexus 7 and now the 16GB Nexus 7 starts at $200 ($209 in Canada) and 32GB for $250 ($259 in Canada).

Now onto the New features in Android 4.2. The first new feature is Gesture Typing, essentially what it is, a new keyboard feature that will allow users to swipe between keys on the keyboard and it is similair to Swype or SwiftKey. 
Another feature that i mentioned early for Tablet users, is multi-user support, where your tablet will be able to support multiple logins, each user can have their own personal homescreen, background, widgets, apps and games. A cool feature of multi-user support on Android 4.2 is that it also separates game-save progress and high scores separate, the update will also use multi-tasking to keep programs running in the background to make swapping users super fast. 

Another feature of the new Android update is Miracast Wireless display support, which means you can stream videos, movies, TV Shows and YouTube videos and anything else from your device to your HDTV if you have a wireless display adapter or the Miracast technology built-in. 

The third new feature is Photo Sphere camera, which basically means you can take spherical photos. The fourth feature is “Daydream”, which is a screensaver type of feature that will allow your device to show off useful information when idle or docked. It can show things like photo albums or news from Google Currents and more. Another feature is Actionable Notifications that allow you to access appropriate actions directly from the notifications menu. And lastly in 4.2, are some “Google Now” improvements, where Google Now can get information from Gmail to get ideas for new cards. It can help you track packages, find movie information and it can also help you find great spots for photo-ops which is based on your location.

LINKS USED

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/10/google-announces-nexus-4-phone-nexus-10-tablet-nexus-7-updates/

http://www.technobuffalo.com/companies/google/google-nexus-10-coming-nov-13-starts-at-399-for-16gb/

http://www.technobuffalo.com/companies/google/android/google-officially-unveils-android-4-2-jelly-bean/

http://www.technobuffalo.com/companies/google/android/top-5-features-of-android-4-2-jelly-bean/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66-4uMQqerA

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3570034/inside-android-building-the-nexus-4-nexus-10-android-4-2

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569540/google-nexus-4-preview-price-release-date

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569684/google-now-android-4-2-knowledge-graph-neural-networks

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569244/android-4-2-new-features-miracast-gesture-keyboard-multiple-users-photo-sphere

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3568784/nexus-10-preview-price-release-date

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569688/why-nexus-4-does-not-have-4g-lte

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3572092/samsung-galaxy-nexus-google-play-store-discontinued

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3569230/google-wireless-charging-orb-touchstone-qi

http://www.technobuffalo.com/companies/google/android/google-announces-32-gb-nexus-7-with-mobile-data-and-new-prices-for-existing-nexus-7/

http://gizmodo.com/5955825/nexus-10-everything-you-need-to-know

http://gizmodo.com/5955374/googles-nexus-4-is-it-the-android-of-our-dreams

http://gizmodo.com/5955831/whats-new-in-android-42-updating

Rockstar Games still not have given anxious gamers and fans and bloggers (like myself), a official release date or even a release window. Until just recently, Rockstar invited a select few to be shown a demo of Grand Theft Auto 5, and possibly some more information about the game and also possibly the release date or when Rockstar will give some more information to the public.

In this post I’m going to talk about what i believe when Rockstar will official release Grand Theft Auto to gamers everywhere. First off i took a look at the past few Rockstar Titles, like Red Dead Redemption, L.A Noire and the recent Max Payne 3. That is 3 three games that have come out by Rockstar Games that are major, full games from the developer. Some other things to consider is that the games that i mentioned, were all released in May of the year they were released, Red Dead Redemption (May 18th 2010), L.A. Noire (May 17th 2011) and Max Payne 3 (May 15th 2012). 

So if Rockstar continues this trend there is a possbility that Grand Theft Auto 5 will be released in May 2013. There have also been reports that GTA 5 will be released in March 2013 because Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar Games’ Parent Company) has there fiscal year ending at the end of March 2013. So then that could place the release date of Grand Theft Auto 5 from end of March 2013 to middle of  May 2013.

That is all i wanted to talk about in this post and below i will place some links to some interesting articles about GTA 5 and when new information will be announced by Rockstar. Also will include a link to a website with all the official screenshots released by Rockstar.

UPDATE: Rockstar Games has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 5 will be released in Spring 2013, which coincides with my predictions that I have stated in this article.

UPDATE 2 (1.31.2013): Read this article for mor info on the official release date. http://thecanadiantechie.blogspot.com/2013/01/grand-theft-auto-v-official-release-date.html

 

http://www.igta5.com/official-screenshots (This is the link with the screenshots)

http://whatculture.com/games/grand-theft-auto-v

http://whatculture.com/gaming/gta-v-new-details-imminent.php

http://whatculture.com/gaming/gta-v-10-awkward-features-that-need-improving.php

http://www.examiner.com/article/gta-5-release-date-new-grand-theft-auto-v-to-be-previewed-by-game-informer

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/gta5/news/gta_5_info_coming_soon_cover_of_decembers_game_informer_magazine.html

Hi Everyone, This is my blog called TheCanadianTechie and I will be blogging about anything that has to do with technology and especially pieces of technology that interests me. I will also starting soon to be doing reviews and etc on this blog and on my Youtube Channel which is http://www.youtube.com/user/thecanadiantechie