Mobile Gaming on your TV!

Its all very easy for people in their thousands to marvel and wait for the release of the latest Next Gen gaming consoles, and why not speaking from  tech point of view theirs a lot to get excited about. However what about the people who cant initially afford to lay down £349 +, or those who are looking for something different, more family oriented? Well I would reply that the answer comes in two flavours, and boy are they delicious.

Flavour 1 - GamePop

The first is "GamePop" a third party development game console which if you play mobile games are bound to love, the console itself is minuscule in size like a jam packed fire cracker waiting to explode, typically the size of a standard pack of chewing gum

You probably think this is a crazy sort of pitch right now, but wait what GamePop have going for them is that more and more people are becoming addicted by mobile gaming, with games you wouldn't find on the bigger giants such as Microsoft or Sony to name but two. What GamePop does ingeniously is try to tap into this market and say hey you know that mobile game your always playing?  Well what if you could play it on your 30 inch TV, with either a dedicated emote controller or by using your phone at a very tiny price.

Now I have your attention, lets get down to the facts, what you get when you pre-order (more on that in a moment) is the mini version of the console and a controller as well as a library of over 500 top mobile games as found on IOS and android devices. All of this you get for a subscription of just £4 per month, yea I know that's pretty tempting, what could you lose? The subscription lasts for 12 months after which you get to keep the console, if you decided its not for you and you want to send it back sooner you just need to pay a £15 restocking fee.

This is a great little option if you enjoy mobile gaming, or even a great family gamin option which is fast easy to set up with lots of potential for fun. The console isn't being developed by one of the big names and is not yet available however if you pre-order at no extra cost right now, one will be sent to you when its released in the winter, pretty close to the release of the PS4 and Xbox One consoles.  Your card wont be charged until the unit is sent to you which is also a big plus.

For affordable, addictive, fun gaming I recommend you check out GamePop and the intro video over at http://www.gamepop.tv

Flavour 2 - Ouya

The other Flavour is called "Ouya" the words more commonly associated just before soldiers, usually marines shout before they enter battle. Now the price tag shifts more rapidly with this console which is a buy it straight away option at £99 which is pretty good for a games console, but again a little stepper to say the least given the GamePop price.

Ouya doesn't have a subscription plan like GamePop instead you can download games to try and then purchase them, downloading them to play. the console does have some good things going for it though, and some interesting ideas.  For example the console is fully modifiable to your own design, one screw and your into the hardware, customizing it as you see fit, every aspect is completely customizable, you can even develop your own games and run emulators with it, making it more of a tech DIY console and worthy of a more closer look. Games on the Ouya can also support resolutions of up to 1080p

One look at the device itself and you can’t imagine how it has earned the title of console in fact just by looking at it without knowing what it was you probably believe it to be a lavish looking external hard-drive:  The console is very small in size roughly the size of 3 decks of playing cards placed on top of one another. 

You’re probably ready to disregard any thoughts of seriously buying at this point, but you may well be wrong. The console uses an Android Jelly Bean flavour O.S., and comes with 8GB Flash memory and 1GB of DDR3 SDram with graphics capability provided by Nvidia ULP GeForce. The console also has Ethernet, USB 2.0, WI-Fi and blue-tooth, surprising the amount of things that you can fit into such a small device.

Ouya will will be able to run built in aps such as popular game streaming services such as Twitch TV and Onlive game streaming service as soon as it is plugged in as well as running a modified Android variant which will be open to rooting (without voiding the warranty) Not surprising given it size and limited internal part structure that it can be opened up all but fairly easily in fact you only need your traditional screwdriver to access the internals, this allows for modding and hardware upgrades which can be done by you the user however you please. 

What the team behind Ouya have done is allow owners of the console to also be developers without paying fees for doing so, something the big game companies would die of fright at the very mention of such an idea.  

For more info check out https://www.ouya.tv

Its great to see these smaller development companies try and corner the mobile gaming market, even if they can't directly compete with the big guns, I don't think they are trying but instead of attempting to take them on they're finding their own niche level ground, most people play mobile games on the go and when they come home, why not bring that experience to your living room TV, whether  direct support for transitioning between playing a game on the go and then picking up on one of these consoles when you get home remains to be seen but that would further add to the allure of its initial premise.

Facebook Tips and Tricks worth Knowing!

Facebook is more than just a social media hub for you and your friends, once you post, share, like and generally use the site there are a lot more things that come into play.

So here’s a little article I wrote to help educate those of you who use the site with some very useful tips and tricks to help protect yourself, part of my safer web practice

Everyone that uses it more than likely shares an important element to which everything else locks onto, this element is "Information" Information which can be stored, analysed, processed and targeted by a wide variety of individuals / groups. Sharing information has never been easier, but are you in total control of your account?

Information friends are allowed to share!

Whenever you access or use applications or games, they automatically ask for a certain amount of information about you, sometimes this is ok but what if you have an app or a game you haven’t used in a month or two, you may not be using it but that app or game will still have up-to-date information about you.

To see what application’s you are using and what information they are allowed go to "Account" > "Privacy Settings" > "Apps"  Then next to the Apps you use listed select edit settings, now you can see what information each app or game has about you, here just edit the settings or if no longer needed delete it entirely.

Remote Sign Out!

This is a useful option if you forget to sign out of your computer or another unrecognized computer or device attempts to log in from an unknown location.

To set this up go to "Account Settings" > "Security" and click on Login "Notifications" now you can choose to be notified by Text SMS message or email if a new computer or device attempts to log into your account.

In addition to this if you click login notifications underneath you can have a code sent to your phone which you will need to input if you try to login from an unrecognized computer or mobile device. 

Finally in the Active sessions tab at the bottom of security you will be able to see all sessions and devices that your account has been accessed from, if you want to make sure that no one else is using your account or don’t recognize an address or device simply click on "End All Activity" to log out of every device. 

Appearing in Search Engine Results!

There are many search engines and data mining sites that will link to your Facebook profile along with your profile picture and any information you have made public will also show up in these results.

To opt out of this go to "Account" > "Privacy Settings" > "Privacy" and where it reads "Do you want other search engines to link to your Timeline?"

 Un-check the box to allow search engines to link to your account, if you have your profile set to everyone you can also follow the link here to change this to a select audience as well your friends only for example.

Photo Albums!

You may have already set individual photos of you to private or to a select audience but what about your photo albums, it is easy for people to forget that albums entitled "Profile Pictures" Mobile Uploads and Wall Photos are usually visible to everyone unless you specifically edit their privacy settings.

To edit the privacy settings for photo albums you've posted:

1. Go to your timeline and click on the Photos section
2. Click the Albums tab
3. Use the audience selector tool under each album to control who can see your photos

A few important notes:

• The privacy setting for your Cover Photos album is always public
• If you share a high resolution photo or album with someone, that person will be able to download those photos.

Unlike other photo albums you create, you can choose an audience for individual photos in your Timeline Photos and Mobile Uploads albums. Each time you post a new photo, you pick who sees that photo using the audience selector.

Power of Lists!

Lists are a great way of adding a bunch of friends or individuals to so that if you create a close friends list for example before you post something simply select the list next to the Post button and select close friends, now only the people on that list will see your post.

You can have many lists, with them being organized on the left side of your screen for easy viewing, to remove, organize or de-clutter the left side of your Facebook feed where lists are located simply move your mouse cursor next to news feed or any list until you see rearrange appear, click on this and then drag and drop to rearrange or remove lists and apps.

To create or add a friend to a new list;

1. Go to their timeline
2. On their cover photo, clickFriends in the lower-right corner
3. Click the list you want to add them to or click Add to another list...
4. Uncheck a list to remove them from that list

Note: When you add someone to a list for a school, workplace or city, your friend will have the option to add that information to their timeline, too. For example, if you add one of your friends to your work list, they can choose to add that company to their timeline. You should see a reminder about this the first time you add someone to one of your smart lists.

De-Clutter your News Feed with more relevant content!

The trouble with the “News Feed” is that a prolonged use of the site is that this can start to have all sorts of updates most of which aren't of interest to you, as a result this spam of posts may actually prevent you from seeing important posts from friends, yet another good reason to utilise lists.

Whenever you like a page on Facebook let’s say you decide to like "Shrek" the movie, "Kellogg’s Frosties" Cereal and Star Wars Trilogy" that’s great you show your support for the page you like what it is etc. However each time you do this that page will start pushing content to your News-Feed after liking 30 - 50+ pages things can start getting out of hand.

To remedy this simply go to your news feed, and take a look at the items or pages showing up and think is this of interest do I really want to see more updates like this?

When you think "well there are 3 sets of pages that are constantly sending updates I never take interest in simply click on the title for that update to go to its page.

Once you arrive at the page you will see a tick next to liked, just hover over this and in the drop-down menu uncheck show in news feed by clicking on it (a tick indicates it is to be shown - blank signifies not to be shown)

This doesn't mean you are un-liking the page it just stops a lot of useless, uninteresting spam updates which can only be a good thing. 

Get Notifications from more friends!

If you would like to get notifications from more friends or even just certain ones which aren't currently appearing in your notifications list simply go to that persons profile and where it says “Friends” “Close Friends” etc.

Simply hover your mouse over until a drop down menu appears and click on “Get Notifications” this makes sure that when this person posts or shares something you won’t be likely to miss it.

Adverts and 3rd Party Sharing!

Although Facebook does not give 3rd party sites access to your name or picture to be used in adverts the site does state that if it decides to start doing this you need to specify weather or not you are ok with this.

To turn off this option go to "Account Settings" > "Adverts" and select "No one"

In addition to this you may want to disable pairing your social actions with adverts also found on the Adverts page, underneath Third party sites.

Following the above advice will help you take charge of your Facebook account and your information helping to secure it against misuse, please let me know what you think.

Break from work!

It would be great if I could update this blog more often, however I'm not to keen on connecting blogger with the official Apple apps as it seems to be causing a lot f problems. However I have managed to update my site quite a bit facing a lot of challenging items which have now been resolved, so pretty happy, that was until another set of problems surfaced, I do like to get things done properly. The site will not go live until it has got my absolute seal of approval.

It has been a good few weeks though enjoying life with friends, well some at least, which evokes a feel good attitude, more than likely how I have been working more on the site at times. As if I didn't have enough to do I have now started studying again so to speak for an upcoming event, more on this again though.

I would like to voice more of my opinions on some of the gaming news and developments however my usual hosting site for game reviews has been down for a few weeks now and that needs to be sorted by the admins who I need to talk to.

Some chill out time with Demons Souls I think now as my new game rental plan (not from blockbuster) is working out really well, so far by renting on my current package I've saved over £92 compared to actually buying them, that's a result, it also equates to less space needed of bought ones.

It seems my IOS-7 review went down well with views and a Plus one which I have limited details on, so more reviews and Tech stories will follow presently once I find a quiet 5 mins.

General update 22nd June

Well another productive few days, although I haven't actually been coding much of the site of late, as I have been busy taking photographs of products and projects so I can generate my web galleries.

After taking inventory I have now found what items are ready to be sold as well and what gadgets need parts, I think I need a larger container in which to store everything, only yesterday I came on a box chocked full of T5, T4 style screwdrivers and spudgers, was a result though as I also found my mini Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass.

Apparently we are in summer now, so am just hoping that it sticks around for a bit, will be nice to get out a bit and visit some nice scenic places where I can do some photographing, I could defiantly use a holiday though.

It's an intriguing time for Gaming tech with the giants Microsoft and Sony still going head to head, with the interesting news of Microsoft pulling their DRM and always connected restrictions in order to try and match Sonys offering, I believe this will be another strong year for Sony not just because of Microsoft's blunder, I'm already considering per-ordering the new PS4.

Not the first thing on people's minds but I actually want to know the insides of a PS4 too see how it ticks.

As I write this I have now edited some of the images for my website so things are going steady. Interestingly I am about to post this from my IPad through a remote viewer to my computer browser which I am looking at instead of emailing it to the computer to copy, ahh the joys of technology.

My Views on IOS 7

So just caught up with the new IOS 7 preview coming this fall, my initial thought was I'm not sure if I like it, maybe I have become too attached to my current U.I. (User Interface) however, but I think the icons look pretty nice now, still I have to applaud Apple for moving foreword with their new software.

I say that because what Apple have done is re-design the system and what it means to own an I-phone, but they have done this at system software level. What I mean by this is Apple unlike their direct competitor of the Android Operating System is that instead of designing new software and a new phone to showcase it off with an ever shortening list of flavours of Ice cream and such, and disallowing older Android models an upgrade option.

Apple have kept simplicity simple, there only ever exists one version of their O.S., and they allow their existing hardware to be upgraded internally, creating a brand new experience. Unlike Android which are constantly creating a new version of their operating system as stated previous and creating a completely new hardware model to market it.

You could also see this in a greener light as well as it allows a whole new array of features without the need to upgrade from your current contract, or buy a new phone to experience the latest technolgy.


Sure it seems that Apple are looking at what others are doing by adding Animation into their screens, which is what a lot of users want, but again it works across all existing IOS enabled hardware models, including the Ipod, Iphone and Ipad range, all with the same look and feel without any physical upgrades all utilising their current hardware is truly amazing.

The lock screen has also had a little makeover using an animation technique usually found on the Android OS. Every screen has a translucent feel to it which adds to the clan friendly user interface making interacting with an IOS device more fluid, fun and friendly.

The control centre further simplifies things for the user by being swiped upwards from any screen, which then shows you easy access to various options and controls. It is great to see that Apple can encompass all users of their IOS software and further increase the longevity of devices, while developing the new Iphone and Ipad range for example, this has been a strong point of Apple, allowing users like myself to continue using my Iphone 4 and Ipad 1 without needing to upgrade to a new hardware model in order to receive the new features.

When IOS 7 does land I think I will make the transition to the new IOS offering, sure I love the way my phone looks and feels, but I guess you have to sacrifice some things in order to move forward embrace new experiences, after all technology stands still for no-one, all in all I will say I'm rather pleased and impressed.

General Update and News.

After a week long cold I can finally try and get back to business, the site is now nearing completion stage. I was going to add more galleries on my projects, however it seems I have not enough pictures so I need to get snapping again.

It shouldn't be too long before I can get back to finishing my repair of one of two play-station Vita's I have in stock, not to mention sourcing parts to build a custom computer build either for a friend or to sell, so a few things need to be done.

The weather seems to be holding quite nice still which is great, but hope it lasts throughout June /July that would be great, Luckily I have some engagements coming up, kicking off with a classic car show this weekend, great photography opportunity, possibly seeing Superman's latest outing and then a BBQ with some great people the following weekend.  All in all a good chance for me to leave my "Bat Cave" as it were.

Speaking off good weeks, it has been in regards to the gaming world, after a very long day and night of watching the Microsoft and Sony Conferences in Los Angles during E3, but it was so worth waiting for, Sony totally dominated and I love how President and CEO Jack Tretton came out at the end and was like unlike some people we do this, oh and we do this, to the roar of applause from the crowds all pointing of course to Microsoft's failed Xbox one reveal. But it was their own fault to be honest, I'm so glad Sony remained strong and further added insult to injury by offering a lower price than anyone anticipated.

I think Microsoft need to stop trying to sell a state of the art computer hub that can revolutionise modern society and instead sell it as a "Game Console", as well as not imposing so many restrictions, then they would do much better.

Completely random I know but I also tuned into Americas got talent last night, oh goooooood whyyyyyyy, some of the auditions were so painful to watch, and cant believe Howard Stern ins on the Judging Panel, still he's not bad really, Just hope it can turn into something better than what has been shown thus far.

Well that's my 10 cents worth as they say, time to get back to work on those website galleries.....................

5th June Quick Update.

Glorious 20c sun outside and all morning spent mostly writing out all the legal pages for the website I'm working on, I think I've covered everything that needs to be, and have created a nice tab view on their own separate page. 

Not a bad morning, last night was quite an unusual one, the weather was calm yet the power in the house kept going off and on every so often, not ideal when you are in the middle of a film and have to reset your Xbox all the time. Thankfully whatever the problem was seems to have gone (touch wood, as they say).

I have now got to do some tests on a used but working Dream cast and make sure that it does work completely before thinking of swapping parts with my old one.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be seeing a new film at the cinema, more than likely Hangover 3, its just all go at the moment. Back on the website front and I think I have made a lot of progress with it, past few hours have paid off with some disobedient code.

Overall, feeling like a pretty good week and still feeling uplifted from the effects of a party, I mentioned previous which was all kinds of fun ahh I live for those moments.