Galaxy S4 doesn't come with FM radio

Samsung explains why Galaxy S4 doesn't come with FM radio

 April 19, 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4 was unveiled by the company on 14 March. While the phone boasts high-end specs like a 5-inch full-HD screen with 441 pixels per inch, a 1.6GHz Exynos octa-core processor in some regions and a 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor in others, and 2GB of RAM, it received criticism in some quarters for missing out on a rather basic feature: FM radio.

The omission of FM was indeed a strange one from Samsung. While Apple has never shipped an iPhone with built-in FM radio - despite receiving its share of criticism - Samsung's first three flagship devices, and indeed, most other phones, come with FM radio. In that sense, Samsung customers are used to enjoying the feature. There have been complaints since the omission was confirmed after Galaxy S4 was officially unveiled but Samsung was mum on the subject - until now.

Samsung's Facebook page in Russia has made the following announcement on the subject, which was picked up by GSM Arena via Hi-Tech.Mail.Ru.

Our studies show a trend shift of interest to digital broadcasting, specifically - focus on listening to music content in social networks or on the channel YouTube. The flagship model of our products are focused on customers who use digital content, which use modern formats and channels of information consumption. (translated from Russian).

While Samsung may be right in believing that flagship customers tend to be focused on digital content, the fact is, if you take something away from people after they become used to it (in other Galaxy flagships), they are far more likely to complain, than if they never enjoyed the feature in the first place.

Something tells us we haven't heard the last on the Samsung Galaxy S4 FM radio debate. What do you think us of Samsung's decision? Will your decision to buy the Galaxy S4 be impacted by it? Let us know via the comments.

Samsung Galaxy S4 key specifications

• 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920) Super AMOLED display (441 ppi)
• 1.9GHz quad-core processor/ 1.6GHz octa-core processor (Depending upon region)
• 2GB RAM
• 16/32/64 GB Storage (expandable by 64GB via microSD slot)
• 13-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS/ GLONASS, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, IR LED, MHL 2.0
• Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• 2,600 mAh battery
• 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm
• 130 grams

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Stream your Call of Duty: Black Ops II battles live on YouTube

NDTV Correspondent, November 09, 2012

One of the most awaited games of the year just got more exciting.

According to a report in The Next Web, Activision has confirmed that it has partnered with YouTube to let users stream their battles live on the world's most popular video platform.

Activision announced today that Call of Duty: Black Ops II, to be released on November 13th, will have a livestreaming feature that is the result of a partnership with YouTube.

Players will be able to stream their matches directly from their Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles to YouTube. There's no indication that the feature will be available on the PC version.

The release specifies that League Play games will be streamable -- this is a new feature for the Call of Duty series, which has you take part in a few test matches before placing you in a division based on skill for more balanced matchmaking. Once in a division you can work your way up the ladder.

As the report notes, while there have been other services that offer similar facility, a tie-up with YouTube will likely make the feature more mainstream.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II goes on sale 13th November and will vie for the title of 2012's top-selling game with this week's big release Halo 4.

Angry Birds Star Wars

Angry Birds Star Wars becomes top iPhone, iPad app within hours of release

NDTV Correspondent, November 08, 2012

It's barely been a few hours since the latest edition of the Angry Birds franchise was released, and it has already become the top paid app for iPhone and iPad.

Rovio released Angry Birds Star Wars Thursday for iOS, Android, Amazon Kindle, Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, Mac and PC. In case the name doesn't make it clear, the game combines two of your favourite franchises: Angry Birds and Star Wars. The game is set in a galaxy far, far away, where a group of desperate rebel birds face off against a galactic menace: the Empire's evil Pigtroopers.

Rebel birds, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Imperial Pigs. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the PIG STAR, and are racing to deliver the plans to the Rebel Birds. You are armed with Star Wars themed weapons from 'The Force' to the lightsaber, in your quest to blast away the Pigtroopers on an intergalactic journey from the deserts of Tatooine to the depths of the Pig Star. Your ultimate face off is against, who else, but Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Pigs.

Angry Birds Star Wars is available as a free download on Android, $0.99 on iPhone and Windows Phone 8, $2.99 on iPad and Kindle Tablet, $0.99 on PC and $4.99 on Mac.

Head to Rovio's website to download the game.

game sales drop

US video game sales drop 25 percent in October

Associated Press, November 09, 2012

A research firm says U.S. retail sales of new video game hardware, software and accessories fell 25 percent in October.The drop marks the 11th straight month of declining sales for physical game products. Many gamers are waiting for big holiday releases such as Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Call of Duty: Black Ops II."
The NPD Group said Thursday that sales fell to $755.5 million from $1 billion a year earlier.
Sales of video games themselves, excluding PC titles, fell 25 percent to $432.6 million. Sales of hardware such as Microsoft's Xbox 360 fell 37 percent to $187.3 million. Sales of accessories, meanwhile, grew 5 percent to $135.6 million.
NPD estimates that retail sales account for about half of all video game spending. The rest is downloads, apps and the like.

Sony PlayStation gets quality certificate, China may lift ban on consoles

Reuters, November 08, 2012

Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 has received a certification of quality from a Chinese safety standards body, sparking speculation that China will end a decade-old ban on home game consoles.China has banned video game consoles since 2000, citing a need to protect the well-being of its young people. Some analysts cautioned against reading too much into Sony's new certificate, noting the organisation that gave it has no regulatory authority.
"The Ministry of Culture has the regulatory authority over the console segment and is the sole organisation that can revoke the ban," said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of U.S.-based video games consultancy Niko Partners.
The China Quality Certification Centre website showed two models of the PlayStation 3, labelled "computer entertainment system" received approval this July. All products must pass the safety standard before they can be sold to Chinese consumers.
Sony confirmed that it had received certification but remained tightlipped about whether this heralded an imminent entry for the PlayStation into the world's second-largest economy or whether the company needed further certificates.
"This does not mean that we have officially decided to enter Chinese market," Sony spokeswoman Mai Hora said.
"We recognize that China is a promising market so we will continuously study the possibility."
Representatives for China's Ministry of Culture could not be reached for comment.
But there has also been some precedent that China authorities are taking a less hard-line attitude towards game consoles.
This year Lenovo Group launched Eedoo CT510, a motion sensing device that plays games similar in concept to Microsoft's Kinect extension for the Xbox game console, by touting by Eedoo as an "exercise and entertainment machine".
Although video game consoles are banned in China, online gaming and games on mobile devices are deeply entrenched limiting the potential upside for Sony and rival game machine makers like Microsoft Corp and Nintendo Co Ltd.
"It obviously has a huge population, but gamers in China have different consumption habits," said Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games analyst at IHS Screen Digest in London.
"A lot of established gamers will use non-dedicated devices they have used over many years."
Game machine makers would also have to find ways to ensure that piracy did not cut into their income from games software and other content, Harding-Rolls added.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown review

Associated Press, October 19, 2012

Video-game aliens have gotten bigger, uglier and meaner over the years. Think of the Covenant warriors in "Halo" or the Locust Horde in "Gears of War" huge, dumb, slobbering brutes who can soak up plenty of bullets before they pounce on you and crush your skull.The extraterrestrial invaders in "XCOM: Enemy Unknown" (2K Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99; PC, $49.99) aren't exactly benevolent they have come to Earth to enslave humanity but their advantage is more technological than physical. Indeed, the first aliens you encounter, the Sectoids, are so scrawny they look like a stiff breeze could snap them. But their laser guns can disintegrate human flesh, and some of them can take over helpless Earthling minds.
"XCOM" (as in "extraterrestrial combat") is a throwback to the golden age of science fiction, when bug-eyed monsters stalked the pages of pulp magazines. The story is nothing new a relative handful of stalwart men and women make a last stand against overwhelming odds but the developers at Firaxis Games know how corny it is and have some fun with the melodrama.
Take the Thin Men, aliens who are bioengineered to look like humans, only to be given away by their discolored flesh and reptilian eyes. Or the insectoid Chrysalids, who lay eggs in their human victims, who then turn into zombies until they explode and give birth to new monsters.
Fighting for the good guys, you have a couple of gleefully deranged scientists who seem more obsessed with studying alien tech than with saving the planet. And you have the shadowy Council, a global consortium that keeps pushing you to fight while barely providing the resources you need.
During field engagements you have four kinds of troopers: Assault, who are skilled in close combat; Heavy, who can lug around machine guns and rocket launchers; Support, who make good medics; and Snipers, who are deadly at long distances. The more missions they survive, the more skills your troops earn, and you'll need a good mix to defeat the increasingly powerful invaders.
This isn't the kind of combat that "Halo" fans are accustomed to. Instead, "XCOM" revives a genre that has rarely been seen on game consoles turn-based strategy. Essentially, you take a turn moving your troops around and attacking the aliens; then the game's artificial intelligence takes over and strikes back.
As each mission begins, you can't see the enemy. Rushing headlong into the fog of war is a good way to find your squad outmanned and outgunned; it's wiser to take things slowly and try to pick off the invaders a few at a time. It's like chess with plasma rifles, and it's a refreshing break from the usual run-and-gun mayhem of video-game combat.
Firaxis is best-known for its landmark strategy series "Civilization," and players who enjoyed conquering the world in those games will have just as much fun saving the world in "XCOM." On the other hand, those who have been intimidated by "Civilization" or just don't have the time for its epic, dayslong matches will find "XCOM," whose missions rarely last longer than an hour, easier to get into.
The original "X-COM" (with a hyphen) came out nearly 20 years ago and is still regarded as one of the greatest PC games ever. But for all its retro trappings, the new "XCOM" feels entirely fresh. There's nothing else like it on consoles. Three and a half stars out of four.