ASUS Transformer Book

Windows 8 hybrid goes up for

pre-order

Despite being announced long before the budget-minded VivoTab Smart, ASUS' higher-end Windows 8 laptop / tablet hybrid known as the Transformer Book has yet to make its way to store shelves -- or receive official pricing, for that matter. Nonetheless, those intent on throwing one of the machines into their satchel can snag the Transformer Book on pre-order, which is available through MacMall for $1,479.99. The 13.3-inch system sports a 1,920 x 1,080 display, and in this particular configuration, you'll fetch a dual-core 1.9GHz Core i7-3517U CPU with Intel HD Graphics 4000, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive that's augmented by a 128GB SSD. This price includes the keyboard dock, but it's worth reiterating that you might pay more than necessary to snag the system on pre-order. If you're on the fence, be sure to revisit our hands-on from last summer's Computex.

Linux kernel patches surface for Chromebook Pixel

Google's flagship Chromebook might be a solid piece of hardware, but its prohibitive $1,299-1,449 sticker price left us aching for the ability to dual-boot a more robust operating system. Lucky for us that Google's Benson Leung has a knack for Linux -- he's already patching the Linux kernel to support Pixel's hardware. Just hours after the notebook's reveal, Leung updated the Linux kernel mailing list with patches supporting the Pixel's touchpad, touchscreen and ambient light sensor. A small step, to be sure, but one that could eventually help the community build a Linux distro that can make the most out of Google's premium hardware.

Samsung Series 7 Chronos trickles into US stores

After whetting our appetite at CES, Samsung's updated Series 7 Chronos is slowly squeaking its way into US retailers. Spotted at Best Buy for $1,200, this 21mm dynamo packs a 2.4GHz Intel Core i7 3635QM CPU and an AMD Radeon HD 8870M GPU along with a 15.6-inch touchscreen. While this lean, mean, Windows 8machine's streamlined design and spec sheet are impressive, such adornment comes at a price. Absent from the Chronos' fine engineering is room for an optical drive, so DVD and Blu-ray enthusiasts be warned. However, should this caveat not apply to you, then by all means you have our blessings to check out Sammy's new up and comer.

Sony previews PlayStation 4 capabilities, design remains a secret

Sony wants you to know that the PlayStation 4 is coming this holiday season, but not what it will look like.The Japanese electronics giant talked about its upcoming console for the first time Wednesday and showed what it can do, without actually revealing the device itself during the two-hour event. Presenters played games that were projected on screens in a converted opera house, but the PlayStations themselves were hidden backstage.
"I don't know that the box is going to be something that's going to have a dramatic impact on people's feelings about the game. It will be a color and a size fairly comparable to previous consoles," said Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, the U.S.-based arm of the PlayStation business.
"There's a big story to tell here, and it's going to take between now and the holiday season to get all the details out there," Tretton said in an interview.
Tretton said the price of the PS4 hasn't been decided yet, but hinted that it wouldn't be as high as the PlayStation 3 was initially. The PS3 debuted in 2006 with two models for $500 and $600. It now sells for about $300.
The PS4 will be jostling for attention this holiday season with Microsoft's successor to the Xbox. Details on that device are expected in June. Xbox 360 came out a year before PS3 and has been more popular, largely because of its robust online service, Xbox Live, which allows people to play games with others online. Having an event this early allows Sony to grab the spotlight for a few months, though the lack of an actual device was noted by many people on Twitter and elsewhere.
Sony did reveal that the insides of the PS4 will essentially be a "supercharged PC," much like an Xbox. That's a big departure from the old and idiosyncratic PlayStation design and should make it easier for developers to create games. Sony Corp. is using processing chips made by Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
"One of the big challenges we faced in the past was that we created great technology that we handed over to the development community, and they had to go through a learning curve before they could harness it. And when they did, we saw some phenomenal games," Tretton said. "We wanted to lower that barrier of entry and really give them the ability to create tremendous gaming experiences from Day One."
The adoption of PC chips also means that the new console won't be able to play games created for any of the three previous PlayStations, even though the PS4 will have a Blu-ray disc drive, just like the PS3. Instead, Sony said gamers will have to stream older games to the PS4 through the Internet.
Other new features revolve around social networking and remote access. With one button, you can broadcast video of your game play so friends can "look over your shoulder virtually," said David Perry, co-founder of the Sony-owned Internet game company Gaikai. With remote play, you can run a game on the PS4 to stream over the Internet to Sony's mobile gaming device, the PlayStation Vita, which debuted last year.
The goal is to make the PS4 so good at figuring out what games and other content you want that it can download it without being asked, so that it's available when you realize you do want it, Sony said.
"Our long-term vision is to reduce download times of digital titles to zero," said Mark Cerny, Sony's lead system architect on the PS4.
The PS4 is arriving amid declines in video game hardware, software and accessory sales. Research firm NPD Group said game sales fell 22 percent to $13.3 billion in 2012. With the launch of the PS4, Sony is looking to attract people who may have shifted their attention to games on Facebook, tablet computers and mobile phones.
Forrester analyst James McQuivey said Sony is missing the point by building what amounts to an upgraded PS3.
"Sony believes the future will be like the past and has built the game console to prove it," he said. "Tablets and smartphones now engage more people in more minutes of gaming than consoles will ever achieve."
Sony showed an updated controller that adds a touchpad and a "share" button. The controller also features a light bar, which means a new PlayStation camera can more easily track the device for motion control.
The bulk of Wednesday's event was devoted to demos of games for the PS4, including a realistic team racing simulator, "Drive Club," super-powered action sequel "Infamous: Second Son," artsy puzzler "The Witness" and several first-person shooter games, including "Killzone: Shadow Fall." Beyond games, the PS4 will let people create animation in 3-D using a Move motion controller - all in real time.
Last fall, Nintendo launched the next generation of gaming consoles with the Wii U, which comes with a tablet-like controller called the GamePad. The controller allows two people playing the same game to have different experiences depending on whether they use the GamePad or a traditional Wii remote, which itself was revolutionary when it came out because of its motion-control features.
Judging by Wednesday's event, Sony seeks to improve but not revolutionize game play. The games were updates to existing ones, with improved graphics.
"At the end of the day, this is a device by gamers for gamers," Tretton said. "The games that people go out and spend billions of dollars on are your traditional shooters."
The original Wii has sold more units since its launch than both its rivals, but it has lost momentum in recent years as the novelty of its motion controller faded. Nintendo said it sold 3.1 million Wii Us by the end of 2012. It was a disappointing start for the first of a new generation of gaming systems.
In some ways, notably its ability to display high-definition games, the Wii U was just catching up to the PS3 and the Xbox 360, the preferred consoles to play popular games such as "Call of Duty."
All three console makers are trying to position their devices as entertainment hubs that can deliver movies, music and social networking as they try to stay relevant in the age of smartphones and tablets. The PlayStation online network will have access to Sony's video and music services, as well as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, with paid subscriptions to those services. People will also be able to access Facebook.

Facebook, Google co-founders join forces to extend human life

Famed founders of Internet rivals Google and Facebook joined forces on Wednesday to back big-money prizes for research aimed at extending human life.Sergey Brin and Mark Zuckerberg, along with their spouses, joined Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner to award 11 scientists $3 million each to launch the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
"Priscilla and I are honored to be part of this," Zuckerberg said.
"We believe the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences has the potential to provide a platform for other models of philanthropy, so people everywhere have an opportunity at a better future."
Art Levinson, who chairs boards at mobile device powerhouse Apple and biotechnology star Genentech, will head the non-profit foundation created to support breakthrough research.
Levinson said he believes the prize will spotlight outstanding minds in medicine and hopes it will help enhance medical innovation.
Zuckerberg, Milner, and Brin's wife Anne Wojcicki will be on the foundation's board of directors. They have agreed that going forward, five annual Breakthrough prizes of $3 million each will be awarded.
"We are thrilled to support scientists who think big, take risks and have made a significant impact on our lives," said Wojcicki, co-founder of startup 23andMe, which provides personal DNA testing services.
"These scientists should be household names and heroes in society."
Brin remarked that "curing a disease should be worth more than a touchdown" in an apparent reference to riches heaped on professional athletes such as those who play US football.
This year's Breakthrough Prize winners, many of whom targeted cancer in their research, agreed to serve on a committee to select future honorees.
"Solving the enormous complexity of human diseases calls for a much bigger effort compared to fundamental physics and therefore requires multiple sponsors to reward outstanding achievements," Milner said of the Silicon Valley heavyweights teaming up to back the award.

Hike Messenger app review

Instant messaging (IM) has become a trend these days especially with the youth. A trend, pioneered by the immensely popular WhatsApp IM application, others like Nimbuzz and Samsung's proprietary ChatON messenger are trying to follow suit as well.

The latest entrant in this genre is Hike, a communication app that offers both instant messaging and SMS under one roof. Developed by Bharti Softbank, a 50-50 partnership between India's Bharti Telecom and Japan's Softbank telecom provider, the app is the brainchild of Kavin Bharti Mittal.

A cross platform messenger app, Hike is similar to WhatsApp but is better in the sense that it also allows users to communicate over SMS, which is certainly a big advantage for those who do not have access to mobile Internet or data on the-go and for communicating with your friends without Hike app from within the same app.

That said, we played around with the app a bit on the iOS and Android platforms to see what is refreshing about it that has made it the No.1 Top Free app in the Google Play Store (It is placed at the third position under Top Free apps in the India Apple App Store).

Let the SMS-ing begin!
Hike offers messaging in three different ways. Hike-to-Hike messaging with other phones is unlimited and free worldwide. Second, you can communicate with other smartphone users who don't have Hike via SMS, which is only restricted to India at the moment. Finally, you can message any other phone user via SMS. But beware, if you constantly bug another user with Hike, they are given a code that they can use to block you.

On the bright side, each Hike user gets 100 Free Hike SMS every month to message those friends who aren't on Hike., which gets replenished each month and in case any friend joins the app on your request via SMS, you get 10 Free SMS extra and the company will also be awarding each user with 50 free SMS per month for each friend they have invited to Hike. Other ways of inviting friends are through Facebook, Twitter and email.

Furthermore, Hike users will also be rewarded one-time SMS bonuses of 100 each for connecting to Twitter and Facebook and the company plans to keep offering such bonuses time and again. These one-time bonuses will be valid for life until you run out of them.

Getting started and user interface
The user interface of Hike is very clean, simple and basic with pleasant hues of white and blue. Once you've downloaded the app, you'll be prompted to enter your mobile number. While the iOS version sends a 6-digit verification code via SMS that expires within a minute (reminiscent of Google Authenticator), the Android version simply greets you to the welcome screen asking you to enter your name and complete the registration. This is then followed by a tutorial of the app's basics.

Also, as soon as you enter the app, an Inbox message welcomes you with a reward of Rs.10. Every time you successfully invite a friend via SMS you earn credit of an additional Rs.20. In order for you to earn rewards, your friends must download and activate the app soon after you invite them.

Features and usage
Hike-to-Hike communication via instant messaging has features such as group chat and photo and video sharing, which are right up there with any top smart IM app. Group chats can be initiated by an icon in the top right corner while a '+' icon on the bottom right can be used to send a new message. The app supports various audio and video formats and uploads up to 6MB for each file.

That said, we experienced almost instantaneous responses over a stable Internet connection, especially with group chat that works pretty well and so does the image and video transfer. This is, of course, dependent on Internet connection speeds.

Using the app is fairly simple. The app smoothly integrates your entire existing phone contacts. You can access various menu options such as Home, Invite Friends, Free Messaging and more by swiping left. Swiping right reveals Search bar along with Favourites and Friends on Hike.

We couldn't help but notice this functionality as being very similar to Facebook Messenger. Another feature resembling Facebook's Poke is 'Nudge'. You can 'Nudge' a friend by double tapping anywhere in their conversation screen.

Once you send a message you can see sent (S), delivered (D), read and typing (...) notifications, similar to WhatsApp, which has a different notification convention. Apart from the standard Emojis on your device, Hike has its own set of emoticons for variety.
iOS versus Android

The UI as well as functionality on both platforms is pretty much the same. A word of caution, Android users will not be able to play .mov files sent by iPhone users. The company is aware of the scenario and plans to soon implement a fix soon to convert the video to a universal MP4 file format at their backend so that it can be played on every device.

Other issues include couple of emoji smileys not appearing properly for the iPhone 3GS, Android Hike app unable to open the correct image at times from a clicked thumbnail, multiple file uploads failing on EDGE networks and the "D" and "R" notifications currently unavailable from Hike-to SMS. For Android, the app works only on v2.2 or later,

Overall, the app offers a fresh alternative to other instant messaging clients out there and is a welcome addition to the pool. It's true that the app is pretty nascent and does not offer video calling support like Nimbuzz or even voice recording as offered by WhatsApp and ChatON, but it does deliver a quality performance at what it's best - messaging, instant or otherwise.

It is available across all major platforms - Apple, Android, Windows Phone and on various Nokia Asha Full Touch devices namely Asha 305, 306, 308, 309 and 311  (It is expected to launch soon for BlackBerry as well) that will help it gain the much needed attention amongst its current competitors.

Apart from certain issues like we mentioned earlier, the app seems to deliver a holistic user experience. The company has promised to rectify all issues and we hope that the app receives timely updates in the future to offer a more refined experience across all platforms.

The problem with any new closed chatting platform is the lack of users. While almost everyone in our contact list in now on WhatsApp, hardly any users showed up on Hike. We expect this problem to get fixed as more people discover Hike as a compelling alternative. Until then the ability to SMS non-Hike users will sure come in handy. Start Hiking!

Hike Messenger (iOS, Free)
Hike (Google Play, Free)

Hike (Windows Phone, Free)
Hike (Symbian, Free)

PlayStation 4 launch anticipated at Sony's Wednesday event

Sony is expected to reveal its vision of the future of home entertainment on Wednesday by providing a glimpse at a new-generation PlayStation console that streams games, films, music and more."Sony needs a big hit with this game console," said Forrester analyst James McQuivey.
"Not just because it has lost its dominance in gaming to Microsoft's Xbox 360, but because the company needs to make what might be its last attempt to be relevant not as a device maker but as a digital platform."
McQuivey argued that the Japanese consumer electronics titan must show it can go beyond selling gadgets to skillfully cultivating ongoing relationships with customers who turn to online sources for entertainment.
"It's a big challenge," the analyst said. "While we won't know for a while whether Sony's new box succeeds as a device, we will know right away whether Sony has the right ambitions."
Analysts and industry insiders are certain that a Sony event in New York City on Wednesday evening will be devoted to introducing the PlayStation 4, a console that would hit the market next year.
"Expect Sony to come out, guns blazing, talking about technical details and specifications of what is likely to be a pretty mind-blowing system," said TechSavvy Global strategic innovation consultant Scott Steinberg.
The company will likely also announce "kick-ass games and development talent recruited to the cause," he continued, explaining that "Sony has traditionally been run by engineers and focused on high-performing gaming systems."
However, analysts want to see whether Sony goes beyond impressive hardware to a console that integrates services, the popularity of smartphones and tablet computers, and rich portfolios of games, films, music, and television shows.
"The question is going to be how the system has been updated to stay relevant to the times," Steinberg said. "Gamers want to know what they can get on the PS4 that they can't get anywhere else."
The PS4 will succeed PlayStation 3 consoles that began their lifespan in late 2006.
Sony has remained mum, but that hasn't stopped talk of hardware upgrades such as improved graphics and controllers with touchpads, and chatter of a Sony cable-style service to route film or music content to PlayStation consoles.
Speculation ahead of the event included talk of being able to play full-scale videogames streamed online a break from the practice of selling titles on disks.
"If Sony can offer streamed top-notch games via an affordable pricing plan, that would be a coup," Steinberg said. "It is a nascent market that will be growing by leaps and bounds in coming years."
Free or inexpensive free games on smartphones and tablet computers are increasing the pressure on videogame companies to deliver experiences worth players' time and money.
New generation consoles are typically priced in the $400 to $500 range, and blockbuster game titles hit the market at $60 each.
"Sony is under a lot of pressure," said National Alliance Capital Markets analyst Mike Hickey. "Gamers are desperate for innovation and better games."
While Sony is tethered to "legacy" hardware, companies such as Apple and Google are driving innovation with tablets, smartphones, and ways to route Internet offerings to television sets, according to Hickey.
In ramping up content and services for PlayStation, Sony needs to motivate people to upgrade from the current model.
"If Sony wants to win it, they need to show some killer games to get people to go out and spend a lot of money for the core game experience," Hickey said.
He blamed a dearth of compelling titles as a reason for disappointing sales of Nintendo's innovative Wii U consoles, introduced late last year.
"The Wii U is a case study you can't ignore," Hickey said. "Sony at least has to nail it with the games; the core market can drive the mass market."
Industry tracker NPD Group reported that just shy of $9 billion was spent in the United States last year on purchasing or renting video and computer games.
Another $5.92 billion was spent on game downloads, subscriptions, and play on mobile games or at social networks, according to NPD.
"Tablets are in every household and the computing power of tablets is going up every year," Hickey said. "Eventually, the tablet could very well become the console."