Geekisms!

Right on schedule, Microsoft announced the updated versions of its two tablets, the Surface Pro 2 and the Surface 2 which replaces the Surface RT. they both come with the usual improvements, better battery life, stronger processors, higher res- screens, improved cameras and all that jazz. Even the Touch and Type Covers received improvements with slimmer, back-lit designs and a new battery cover that adds a couple of hours battery life to the tablets. You can read more about them on the Surface website.

All of this was no more than was expected from Microsoft but my main interest was in the Surface Pro 2 and its graphical capabilities.

Well, that didn't take long to happen. Back in 2011 when Nokia announced its plans to drop Symbian and Meego as its smartphone OSes and partner with Microsoft to stand behind Windows Phone, a lot of people said that it was Microsoft pulling the strings through Nokia's new CEO (and former Microsoft employee), Stephen Elop. Some even predicted that eventually business would go so badly that Nokia would eventually have to sell out to Microsoft and here we are two years later with the stunning news that Microsoft is concluding its plans to purchase Nokia's Devices and Services division for a whooping $7.17 Billion

Seems like all the negative feedback about the forthcoming Xbox One has finally gotten to Microsoft. In a post on the official Xbox website, Don Mattrick, Head of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft announced changes to the new entertainment console that include no more 24 connection to the internet, no restrictions on who can borrow, lend or resell a game disk, and no more region locked consoles. In other words, they've reversed the main issues that people had with the Xbox One when it was announced. 

E3 has come and gone an as usual, there were more games on display than one man could play in a lifetime. I wasn't there but of course my favourite blogs and news sites kept me up to date with all the happenings at the event.

Of all the games that were announced and demoed at the expo, those listed below are the ones that really caught my attention. There were many others that should be on this list but I limited it to games that are more innovative, in no particular order:

So, E3 is happening right now and the internet is flooded with gaming news but what most people will be taking note of is any news related to the next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony and true to form, both companies let loose with a ton of news concerning their new consoles (and the old ones too).

Today, Microsoft has posted a series of articles detailing exactly the way that the Xbox One will handle a permanent internet connection requirement, how it allows users to trade and sell games and exactly how private your Kinect will let your house be. Many of the most titillating and specious rumors about how the Xbox One will handle these tricky situations has been proved false with this post.

Internet Connection

Most of them except the Internet connection requirement that is. That one is still going to raise some eyebrows. The Xbox One will let you play your ‘home console’ for 24 hours without an internet connection, then will require that you log on to continue playing. If you’re logged on to someone else’s console, you’ll have to check every hour. That’s even for single player games.

After the release of Halo 2, a lot of PC gamers were pissed off when Microsoft abandoned the Windows platform and refused to publish anything Halo-related for the PC. Well it seems Microsoft has changed their minds and decided to bring Halo back to the PC but not exactly in the way most expected.