FCC tweaks Broadband Acceleration Initiative for accelerated deployment, makes erecting temporary cell towers easier

Waiting for LTE to roll out to your neighborhood? FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski understands, and he's trying to speed up the process. The commission's head honcho recently announced new actions to the Broadband Acceleration Initiative, clarifying technical provisions within the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 that should make mobile broadband deployment a little easier. The crux of the change focuses on how requests to modify existing base stations and wireless towers are reviewed, and is designed to give providers less pause when investing in building out their infrastructure.
"Just as is the case for our nation's roads and bridges, we must continue to invest in improvements to cell towers and transmission equipment, in order to ensure ubiquitous, high-speed Internet for all Americans," Genachowski said in an official statement. "To keep pace with technological advances, such as the advent of small cells, and to lay the groundwork for new developments, our policies must continue to adapt." Speaking of adaptation, the Chairman's announcement also noted FCC efforts to expedite the installation of temporary cell towers, used to bolster network capacity for events like the Super Bowl or Olympics. You wouldn't want to miss tweeting about the half time show, would you? Read on for the Chairman's official announcement.

DmC: Devil May Cry

Digit Rating: Excellent

4.5/5

Features:

Performance:

Value:

Design:

PROS

Good story
Great variety of weapons and moves
Great environments
Varied enemies
Good level design
Good character design

CONS

PS3 version is sluggish, and bad-looking when compared to the 360 and PC
Boss fights stick to the tried and tested mechanics

Boss fights stick to the tried and tested mechanics

MRP: 2999 Rs

Summary

DmC is the perfect reboot and should be set as a benchmark for other action game reboots. The story is simple yet entertaining thanks to the great execution of characters. The combat is fantastic and friendly to newcomers as well as challenging to veterans. At the end of the game you have a satisfying feeling of accomplishment. I haven't had so much fun playing a game since Batman Arkham City! The game will take about 12 hours for the first playthrough and there are unlockables as an incentive to go through the journey once more. Not to mention the varying difficulty levels. A must buy for all the action adventure fans out there. A free Bloody Palace DLC, providing endless more hours of time spent honing one's skills, will also make its way...

Resident Evil Revelations to hit store shelves on May 24

The next chapter in the Resident Evil franchise will hit store shelves on May 24 on the Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii U. The story this time around takes place between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.

The story of the game takes place between the timeline of Resident Evil 4 and 5. Revelations was first launched for the 3DS. The story of the game is same on the consoles and the 3DS but the graphics and gameplay elements will be bumped up to HD for the console and PC release. You can take a look at the debut trailer of the game below.

The Resident Evil games defined the survival horror genre when they launched on the PS One. In todays day however, other franchises such as Dead Space have taken that crown. We have seen a number of games launch in the survival horror genre such as Alan Wake, Silent Hill and more and they have all been relatively successful, but Resident Evil is the only franchise that has made its mark on all the gaming hardware launched till date.

Google Slides gets offline editing support

Google's PowerPoint-rival, Slides now gets offline support.

With the update, Google Slides users can now create presentations, edit presentations and give presentation as well as leave comments. “You can now create, edit, comment and (perhaps most importantly) present without an internet connection—just like you can with Docs. Any new presentations or changes you make will be automatically updated when you get back online. So you can continue polishing slides on your next flight, and head to your upcoming presentation without worrying about whether there's going to be Wi-Fi,” says Google in a blog post.

Users who have already offline editing for Docs enabled, they do not need to change anything to work with Slides offline. If still disabled, users can turn it on for Slides by instructions posted here. Google points out that users will need Chrome or ChromeOS to work offline.

The fresh update is likely to provide a huge boost to the service which otherwise had seen very limited usages due to need for Internet. The offline editing is likely make the usage of the service more convenient. It's notable Google Docs already has a range offline editing features. Google will be soon rolling out offline editing support to its spreadsheet app.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 images and specifications leak online

Images and specifications of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8 have leaked online. It is expected to be officially unveiled at MWC 2013.

Images have leaked on the Internet that showcase the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (also known as the Note 8.0) along with its specifications. The device is expected to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress that takes place in February in Barcelona. The model number of the Note 8 is thought to be Samsung GT-N5100.

From the leaked images it is clear that the Note 8 looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy Note II. It has a white border surrounding the screen, a front facing camera on the top, a physical home button and the capacitive menu and back button. The rest of the look of the device is on the same lines as the currently available Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.

As the name suggests, the Galaxy Note 8 tablet is expected to have an 8-inch Super Clear LCD display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. The Note 8 will also supposed to have a 5MP rear camera, a 1.3MP front facing camera for video calls, and 2GB of RAM. In terms of storage, it will have 16 or 32GB built-in, with microSD card support for expansion. A 4600mAh battery expected to power it.

The Galaxy Note 8 is expected to feature a variety of connectivity options such as Bluetooth version 4.0, USB 2.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and A-GPS. The dimensions of the tablet are supposedly quite svelte, at 211.3×136.3×7.95mm, and it weighs 330 grams. The Note 8 will run on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean straight out-of-the-box.

Soon, unlock your car by waving your smartphone

Melbourne: Keep misplacing your car keys? Just wave your smartphone to unlock the door!
Engineers at South Korean automobile major Hyundai have invented a new system that will allow your smartphone to double as your car keys, and the technology will be made available to buyers within two years.
Rather than using Bluetooth, the system by Hyundai uses wireless Near Field Communication (NFC), allowing you to lock and unlock the car by waving your phone over a small tag on the car window.
Inside the car, you place the phone on a pad in the centre console that wirelessly charges it while the content is synced and streamed to the car’s infotainment system and touchscreen.

Representational Image

The system can also store in-car preferences, including radio stations, seating positions and even mirror adjustment — with multiple profiles able to be saved for different drivers.
The system was demonstrated on a concept version of Hyundai’s popular i30 in Germany. Hyundai said developing the system was part of the carmaker’s aim of producing technology for the mainstream consumer, website carsguide.com.au reported.
“The Connectivity Concept showcases Hyundai’s philosophy of making tomorrow’s technology accessible to a wide range of customers,” Hyundai Motor Europe chief operating officer Allan Rushforth said.
“With this technology, Hyundai is able to harness the all-in-one functionality of existing smartphone technology and integrating it into everyday driving in a seamless fashion,” Rushforth said.

Sony to launch new Xperia Tablet Z in Japan soon

Sony Corp’s Sony Mobile Communications Inc said it will sell the new version of its Xperia tablet in Japan this spring, the Nikkei reported, citing Kyodo News.
The Xperia Tablet Z, whose price has not been announced, has a 10.1-inch display, is 6.9 mm thin and weighs 495 grams, according to the company’s website.
Rival Google Inc’s Nexus 10 tablet is 8.9 mm thick, while Apple Inc’s iPad mini measures 7.9 mm.

A product image of Sony Xperia Z tablet.

Sony halted sales of Xperia in October, a month after launch, after discovering gaps between the screen and the case that made some of the machines susceptible to water damage.
The Nikkei reported on Sunday that Japanese smartphone makers seem to be regaining some market share they lost to companies like Apple and Samsung Electronics Co.