My first experience with Ridge Racer was on a PSP at school while bunking a maths lesson. I remember quite clearly that it was definitely worth bunking maths! [Sorry Mrs S.]

Drift through corners, build up boost, point your car in the right direction and leave your opponents for dust – the perfect formula for making my fingers tremble with excitement. Honestly, I never played all of the Ridge Racer titles. I was but three years old when it hit arcades and my first taste of such an arcade-styled racer was Burnout. As it turns out, after playing Unbounded, I feel as if I was cheated out of many years of mind-numbing, button-mashing gameplay.

Ridge Racer Unbounded has quite an impressive arsenal that will keep all-comers more than entertained. There is good old racing where finishing first is the only way to finish, time trials with a twist, “Dominate”ť events where coming first coupled with destroying everything and everyone is key, drifting, self-explanatory and finally fragging opponents and more importantly police-cars. I have nothing against real policeman just the virtual kind.

In addition you can create your own tracks and post them for everyone in the world to use. Obviously then, you can race the world on your track or on theirs. Personally I think that feature is so insanely epic that I want to be locked in a room with a massive TV, my Xbox 360 an internet connection and Ridge Racer!

I must critique this game in two departments; the first being the amount of cars to choose from is far from impressive and a lot of them are essentially the same, just slightly modified to suit the different events.

Secondly, the graphics are lacklustre and with a slight tweaking could have made the entire experience that much more exciting. There is one particular instance where more effort would have gone a long way and that is when something explodes. There is no depth to the explosions.

Personally, I require explosions to be almost immersive, as if at any moment my whole house will spontaneously burst into flames!

Ridge Racer Unbounded as a stand-alone title is nothing short of a hit. I assume that through the eyes of someone who has played the entire Ridge Racer series Unbounded is a perfect continuation. If you need a game that doesn’t hold back on fictional physics then look no further.

Ridge Racer Unbounded Rating: 6/10

Check out the Ridge Racer website: http://www.ridgeracer.com/

Josh “Swift” Sack – Gaming Editor || About Me: Started Writing for TechHuman in July 1946 after an honorable discharge from the Guatemalan National Guard. Call of Duty Guatemalan Rampage, to be launched in 2026, will be based on Josh’s various military campaigns in the Guard.

The SSX series has been one of great successes from the original SSX, to SSX Tricky, to the sort of sequel and to SSX 3. Admittedly there was the unwelcomed lull in the form of SSX On Tour and SSX Blur. So when the new SSX was announced many fans almost wet themselves from shear excitement and the rest of us weren’t exactly camping outside our nearest retailer.

In hindsight one night of roughing it outside my favourite anime and gaming store, AWX http://www.awx.co.za/shop/cat/t/Home.html, would have been well worth it, SSX 2012 is phenomenal! It is a true arcade-styled gamer’s game. I have not been this entertained since I found out that girls don’t have cutees. This game pushes all the right buttons and as you progress so grows your fondness for it.

The graphics are impressive and compete with almost every title out there. They are especially awesome when you enter tricky mode and land an epic combo, the world around you seems to shudder. This coupled with a sweet soundtrack really has your senses occupied whilst your mind tries to
comprehend all the gravity and physics defying action that lies before you.

At first, Linking combos and pulling off major tricks is tremendously rewarding, but then when you think you’ve mastered the art of SSX, it throws in a game changer. These are in the form of: different maps and routes down various mountain ranges. Some paths have different requirements: wingsuit – when deployed allows you to soar through the air for a limited period, armour – to keep you alive, ice axes – to corner like a mofo, head lamps – to see where your next big bail will happen, solar panel – to keep you toasty, and an oxygen tank – to keep you from passing out.

In addition to the equipment you are also able to rewind your rider three times in a ride, at the cost of points and time, but at the advantage of not falling off a mountain and landing on your face travelling at the speed of sound. These all add up and make gameplay an evolving experience.

However, there is one issue the game – in single player and the only way to jam with your buddies is online. Honestly I was shocked that this was the case as I thought EA should have thought of multiplayer on a single console. That said, the trend seems to be that most games are now designed solely for online multiplayer.

Yet, it is a tiny price to pay for such an epic, sensational game. If you have doubts about getting this game then please allow me to ease them: Wake up this game is frigin ridiculous! If you haven’t bought a copy by the time you have finished reading this then you have missed out on an integral 5 minutes of your life!

SSX Rating: 9/10

Check out the SSX website: http://www.ea.com/ssx

Josh “Swift” Sack – Gaming Editor || About Me: Started Writing for TechHuman in July 1946 after an honorable discharge from the Guatemalan National Guard. Call of Duty Guatemalan Rampage, to be launched in 2026, will be based on Josh’s various military campaigns in the Guard.

The choice of mobile phones on sale today is simply mind-blowing. There has never been a better time to be looking to spend some money on a mildly expensive mobile phone. A year ago you would ask yourself one question “Can I afford an iPhone 4S?” if the answer was “yes” then you would skip merrily down to the Vodashop, or MTN Store, and buy an iPhone. If the answer was “No” then you would get a BlackBerry, as even the high-end Bold is cheaper to run than the data hungry iPhone. Things have become much more complicated in the mid to high-end cellphone market.

The Apple iPhone is still a safe bet; no one is ever disappointed with an iPhone. BlackBerry on the other hand has the South African Smartphone neatly tied up, owning 44% of it – so if simply communicating effectively and efficiently is your criteria than a BlackBerry is still a serious contender. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Windows Phone owning a minute portion of the market but making serious strides with the Nokia Lumia range.

And now right onto the HTC One S, the recently launched Android Ice-Cream Sandwich device with their all new Sense 4 interface. The HTC One S is being launched with its big brother, the One X (see our review here), into a hotly contested market, with Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Sony and Motorola all vying for dominance.

The Screen

To credit Apple, the iPhone 4 stepped up the game for screen quality. It has taken some time but the market has finally responded. The One S has 4.3-inch 960 X 540 Super AMOLED display – this translates into a sharpness and clarity that has to be seen to be believed. Both inside and in direct sunlight the screen performs beautifully, however the touch accuracy when using the One S at certain angles, such as sitting slightly slumped, was below par.

That said, because HTC are using Gorilla Glass Version 2 at every other angle typing and navigating on the One S proved to be a smooth, fluid experience. The benefit of Gorilla Glass Version 2 is twofold; it places the capacitive touch surface closer to your fingers which results in improved touch accuracy and sensitivity, it is also more scratch resistant than say the more standard glass used in the iPhone 4S.

The Inside Story

Here in the office Steven is using the One X and I am using the One S. I maintained the dual core Snapdragon processor in the One S is faster, in the real world, but using the 5 core holiness of the NVidia Tegra 3 chip in the One X Steven has its advantages.

In some informal tests I found that I was wrong and the One X is substantially faster. The trade-off however is that with both devices being unplugged from charge at 6am, come 6pm the One X is in need of some juice, while the One S is humming along with around 40% battery remaining. This is extremely impressive, especially when the competition, who’s insides are not even half as powerful, would only get to around 4pm before needing a bit of electricity.

The 8mp camera, the same one as is the One X, is superb. The images are sharp and always in focus this is thanks to some image processing trickery by HTC. Even in low light the camera excels, using the flash only when necessary and unlike the Nokia Lumia 800’s flash that appears to whitewash the image, the One S’ flash improves quality in low light immensely.

The media player, which has a Beats Audio equaliser, is excellent. The sound quality is crisp and the bass is deep. Personally, the quality is not quite in the same league as the iPhone 4S, it sounds far closet to the Nokia Lumia 800. Overall I was very happy with the One S’s sound quality; the iPhone just edges it out by being a bit clearer and sharper sounding. HTC do not have a mac client which would help make managing media on your device easy, as a result I had to manually copy music and podcasts across to the device – archaic, when all of the competition have clients for both Windows and Mac.

The OS

The One S is running Google’s latest iteration of its Android OS – Ice-Cream Sandwich (ICS), or Version 4. Google have polished up Android immensely with ICS, from resizable widgets, improved text input and spell checking, and better Facebook and Twitter integration. Many of these features were incorporated by HTC into their previous devices with their Sense version 2 and 3 overlay. With Sense 4 HTC took all of these improvements in Android and incorporated them into their new Sense 4.0, simplifying and cleaning up the user interface immensely. What this all means for you and me is a leaner, meaner, faster, and easier to use interface.

ICS with HTC Sense 4 is now as slick, stable and sexy as iOS – no question about that. I still found that iOS is far more conservative with its data use. ICS may have improved on many elements but conserving data use was clearly not on Google’s agenda – the One S is thirsty! Bank on a gig a month if you are a moderate to heavy user.

Aesthetics

While the One S will be available in black, our review unit is grey, well grey and blue. Sort of like a sad rain cloud. Although the design of the One S is somewhat austere it feels and looks beautifully sculpted. The One S sports a unibody construction, evolved from last year’s HTC Sensation and it feels absolutely brilliant in the hand. The back of the One S is curved ever so slightly to allow it to sit at the correct angle for interacting with the device and the screen feels smooth and silky; it is something you just want to touch. HTC evidently put a lot of thought into the design, while the iPhone 4S feels architectural, the One S – like its big brother the One X – feels organic, and sculpted. This is in part thanks to a unique micro-arc oxidation technique to finish off the body. What HTC did was blast the aluminium case with 10 000 volts to give the aluminium a ceramic feel rather than cold metal.

Conclusion

The One S is hard to fault, it is superbly built with an almost obsessive attention to detail, the screen is spectacular and it is more powerful than a small African country. What this does is give the consumer choice; it is no longer “If I can afford an iPhone, I will buy an iPhone” now it goes “if I can afford an iPhone, or a Nokia Lumia 800, or a HTC One S, I will buy…” Personally out of that trio I would get the Nokia Lumia 800 but that’s the thing, the devices in the mid-to-high-end mobile market have become so good it is now down to personal preference. So go out there and try a One S you may be very surprised.

Specifications - via HTC

Brendon Ambrose – Managing Editor | About Me – Scared of: Clowns, spiders and Hilary Clinton; Dream Wing Man: Jacob Zuma; Started Writing Tech: 2005 for Gadget.co.za; Favorite cereal: Frosties; Find me on: Twitter & Facebook

The announcement that Alienware was finally landing on South African shores made most gamers in the country giddy.

Alienware’s slick looks, the weight of the Alienware brand and of the course the top of the range power is a great combo. The only issue was that Incredible Connection would be the primary distributor and most gamers worried the prices would be high, and lo and behold, the prices were very steep. The average product was at least two thousand Rand more, which is not a tremendous hike and somewhat expected due to South Africa’s somewhat weak conversion rate to the stronger Dollar, Euro and Pound.

Many, as a result, looked overseas for a better deal. So I thought I would give it a try as an “undercover consumer”. The deals were great, but I have to mention Alienware’s and Dell’s greatest downfall, their customer service.

I began on the UK Alienware website to build my own M11x. I built it to be as powerful as China and for almost ten thousand Rand cheaper than the equivalent in SA. I then found out a close relative would be in France for two weeks and I jumped at the opportunity. Upon reading that the UK website does not deliver to anywhere outside UK I looked at the French website. As an aside, I do not speak a word of French, but hooray for Google translate. I then configured the same M11x for a further saving of one thousand Rand. My smile was growing by the second.

However, it would be shattered in the next few moments. I used the online chat function on the UK site to query a few aspects of the French M11x such as: the OS being changed from French to English, the AZERTY keyboard being changed for a QWERTY keyboard and of course the delivery aspects. The English consultant could not and would not answer my questions using a response of “We do not deal with products outside the United Kingdom.” My thoughts being but it is the same product and instead of my taking a crash course in French and annoying a French consultant with my lacklustre diction, I would sort out some details with the English speaking consultant. No matter which way I approached the consultant I received the same response.

Flustered I stoked the Google Translate machine and started preparing my questions ahead of the daunting task of chatting to a French consultant. Upon narrowly making my way through the greetings I asked my questions and the responses resulted in fantastic news. I can have the OS in English and the keyboard as QWERTY. I was triumphant but it was all superseded by the fact that Dell does not deliver to hotels. I was crushed and again proceeded to approach the consultant with a billion different solutions: having it sent to a Dell store and collecting it, having my relative wait at the hotel all day just for the delivery person to arrive. It was to no avail. The only responses I received was “no”ť, “not possible” and “there is no solution”ť well at least that is what Google Translate translated it as. I was typing one other possibility yet before I could hit enter the consultant ended the chat without as much as a sorry or goodbye.

I was forced back to the South African Dell site which does not even allow you to configure your own Alienware product. I sent them an email, which still has not been replied to, four days later. Also speaking to any of the Dell appointed resellers I found out that you cannot buy the M11x in South Africa which was confirmed by two different call-centre representatives at Dell.

My question then is: “What in the world does one have to do to get their hands on an M11x short of emigrating to America, the UK or France?”ť

In addition, anyone who has purchased an Alienware product knows that you pay before you receive your product so the least I expect is that Dell would go out of their way to deliver it to me even if I was in the middle of the Okavango Delta.

It seems it is almost impossible to purchase Alienware products in South Africa for close to international prices, and even more difficult to purchase it anywhere else in the world as a South African. Dell is a massive organisation and has a product for almost every market. I would surely expect the customer service to be a little more satisfactory. Such areas that need some improvement include: Consultants that are friendlier and actually wish to properly assist all customers, a system whereby Alienware from country to country are not single entities but rather operate as one large network.

After going through all this I will just have to look elsewhere for my gaming computer fix, what a pity as Dell and Alienware have lost a dedicated and committed customer.

Josh “Swift” Sack – Gaming Editor || About Me: Started Writing for TechHuman in July 1946 after an honorable discharge from the Guatemalan National Guard. Call of Duty Guatemalan Rampage, to be launched in 2026, will be based on Josh’s various military campaigns in the Guard.

HTC were the first on the Android bandwagon and in 2008, together with Google, they launched the very first Android phone, the G1. HTC’s rise was meteoric on the back of Android until they stumbled a little in 2011. HTC let the world know that they were back at the recent World Mobile congress in Barcelona where HTC unveiled their new Android phones, the ONE range. The One range consists of only three models, the One V, One S and the flagship One X. TechHuman managed to scoop up one of the first HTC One X phones in South Africa for review, and boy have we have been having some fun for the past few days.

The HTC One X is a technical triumph; it has a Quad core NVidia Tegra 3 processor with a separate video processor. Translated from geek-speak this means that it is faster and more powerful than many low-end laptop and desktop computers. Couple all the processor horsepower to a 4.7” super LCD screen and a seamless curved polycarbonate body, and lots more technical firepower, and you have a seriously lust worthy device.

The Screen

Before we go bananas over the insides, the first thing that will hit you about the HTC One X is the screen. This is without doubt the finest screen I have seen on a phone to date. The Apple iPhone 4S may have a few more pixels, but the One X with its resolution of 1280 x 720, its amazing brightness and size is simply breath-taking. The screen also boasts a surface made from the latest Gorilla Glass version 2, which features greater scratch resistance and better touch sensitivity. The HTC One X touch sensitivity and feel are as good as, and in fact better than most touchscreen devices we have used to date. The colours are not oversaturated like many OLED screens, although the trade-off is black levels that are not quite as inky black as the best OLEDs. Overall, this is the best screen visually and from a tactile perspective that I have ever used. The touch response is super sensitive and silky, helped no doubt by the processing prowess of the One X.

The Inside Story

The HTC One X is the first Quad core 1.5 Ghz phone featuring the NVidia Tegra 3 chip, to hit the South African Market. There will be many more competitive devices shortly, with the much anticipated Samsung Galaxy III coming fairly soon. The number of processors is fairly academic for many, but once the sheer speed and lack of lag of the One X has been experienced, all other phones feel slow and unresponsive. As a test we had 10 programs open at once, including two high memory using games, and the ONE X did not stutter, task switching is immediate, and applications resume amazingly fast. The 1 GB of main memory and the 32 GB included storage helped significantly as well. The HTC One X also includes Bluetooth 4, which is a major advance, and will allow massive increases in battery life for headsets and other Bluetooth connected peripherals. Beats Audio is also standard.

The camera is also at the cutting edge, with a 8 Megapixel sensor with a BSI , or Backside-illuminated sensor, which improves lowlight sensitivity enormously and reduces the graininess of low light pictures. It also has a F2.0 aperture lens, read sensitive in low light, and a dedicated imaging chip, called HTC Image Sense, translated to mean fast, really fast. Pictures from the One X are as good as many stand-alone point and shoot cameras, and the camera responds instantly, hold the button and the One X shoots pictures continuously. The HTC One X has another party trick, it can take still shots while you are filming a video, simply push the camera button and a still shot is saved without irrupting the full HD 1080 video. The quality and low noise of the pictures and videos will make a separate stand-alone camera virtually unnecessary, for all but the fussiest photographers.

Phone construction and Battery life

The HTC One X is carved from a single block of polycarbonate. It is a large phone but is curved and molded in such a way that it feels smooth and pebble like in your hand, and at 130 grams in weight, it feels very light for the size as well. The overall thickness of the phone is 8.9 mm, which also helps to minimise the feeling of size despite the huge screen. The screen itself, whilst it is not curved like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, has curved edges very similar to the Nokia Lumia 800, and this curve also serves to reduce the feeling of size.

Overall, the HTC One X feels wonderful to hold, with no creaks, give, or flex anywhere. The only downside is that apart from the Micro SIM slot, there are no other removable bits. The battery is fixed and not user replaceable, and there are no slots for expandable SD memory. That said, the One X does come standard with 32 GB of main storage, and uniquely includes a further free 25 Gigs of storage on Dropbox for all your files and pictures. Dropbox is cleverly integrated all over the phone, with automatic upload of pictures as you take them to your Dropbox account.

The internal battery is large at 1800 mAh but all that screen area and multiple processor cores can chew through the available charge at a rapid rate. After being unplugged at 100% the initial charge lasted less than 5 hours, but that was probably due to the fact that the screen never switched off as we were so busy installing and playing games, and just generally revealing how fast the phone actually is. After a day or two in which the phone was used heavily, but in a more usual manner, we were able to get a full day, or around 9 to 10 hours, of use before needing to charge. This is no better or worse than most of the new generation smartphones available today. When the One X was used lightly for mail and social media the battery was able to last well into the next day. When the processor speed and screen is taken into account, this is actually a competitive result. The reason for this competitiveness is in standby the Tegra 3 processor sips battery, courtesy of an additional standby processor core, so the Tegra 3 is actually a 5 core device, and if left alone one charge can easily last a few days. It is playing games, taking pictures, and watching video, that really eats battery power.

Operating System

Android 4.03 or Ice-cream sandwich, is the flavour in use on the HTC One X. It is super smooth and far more polished than Android 2.3 or Gingerbread. HTC also have overlaid Android with a proprietary launcher called Sense. The latest version of Sense on the ONE X is Version 4.0. Sense 4.0 is the fastest, lightest, and most polished version of Sense to date. We have always felt that Sense is one of the best launchers and skins for stock Android, enhancing the base operating system and tricking Android out really usefully, unlike many other attempts at skinning and modifying stock Android.

Sense up to version 4 had started to get a bit bloated and fussy. In contrast, Sense 4 is clean and minimalist, and as Android 4 has included as standard a lot of what Sense offered in the past, the latest iteration of Sense is simpler, faster, and enhances Android without bogging it down with unnecessary bloat and useless features. Overall, the experience is fluid and polished with very little to irritate or confuse a first time user. Android on the HTC One is a pleasure to use for both hard core Geeks, like us, and those that just want a superior experience without any fuss or fiddling.

Conclusion

HTC have pulled no punches on their latest flagship the One X. In every respect this is a superior phone to everything currently on the market. The technical specs and abilities leave the competition in the dust, the built quality is fantastic, but more than that, once you pick up the One X it has that indefinable sticky tactile quality of true legends; you simply don’t want to put the phone down.

Call quality is stellar. The HTC ONE X has the best mobile reception, and the best Wi-Fi reception I have experienced on a mobile phone. The all polycarbonate body no doubt had a massive role to play in this. The Camera is good enough for even fussy photographers and videographers. The One X includes near field communication, NFC for banking or payments, DNLA for streaming video to TV’s wirelessly, and more sensors and features that we could fit into this review.

Overall, the One X experience, from screen quality, to sound Quality, to included software, and features, is truly well thought out and more importantly carefully integrated. The HTC One X is currently the best Android phone available on the market; in fact we may go as far as to say the One X may just be the best phone of all for 2012. Try one and see. The HTC One X will be available from Vodacom from the 7^th of May 2012 and all the other mobile networks in South Africa soon thereafter.

Steven Ambrose – Executive Editor, CEO of the technology and strategy consulting firm Strategy Worx and a major gadget geek. A chartered accountant by training Steven sports a history spanning from heading statups to divisions of major multinational corporations, he ran and wrote for Gadget.co.za from 2006 to 2010, and now consults on technology and its impact on business as the brainchild and CEO of Strategy Worx. For more immediate comment, views and discussion follow him on Twitter

There was a time that 29-inch’s were huge, now 40-inch’s are average, and 55-inchť units are becoming mainstream. Samsung produces a huge range of TV’s, from small to massive, and their flagship the 55-inchť D8000 is truly the business.  The D8000 ticks all of my videophile boxes, LED lit screen, innovative slim bezel, a super attractive design, 3D, internet connectivity, and reportedly the best picture currently available.

The first thing any new or prospective TV buyer would notice about the Samsung D8000 is that it is absolutely drop dead beautiful. I know tech should not be described that way, but this TV will do almost any setting proud. It is amazingly thin, and the bezel, which is the bit surrounding the screen, is around 1cm thick, and the whole TV is under 3 cm from front to back. The build quality is stellar and overall this is the best looking TV I have ever had gracing my lounge.

Once set up and fully connected to my various sources, and Audio systems, the time came to actually watch. The set up process included plugging in the included Wi-Fi dongle, which proved most useful, as the setup process included downloading the latest software for the TV. Just like your laptop the latest generation Samsung TV’s include the ability to download software updates directly from the internet which should keep your device right up to date. The guided set up was painless and fast and I was soon watching TV.

At first I was blown away. The D8000 is incredibly bright and sharp, and the colours were vivid and bright. After about 30 minutes I was feeling decidedly uncomfortable. The TV sets itself to the vivid setting by default, and though this may work in a store demo environment, and may, just may, work for games, the vivid setting is way too bright, dynamic, and over saturated for comfortable TV viewing. Changing to the standard setting was far more acceptable, especially in lower light during evening watching. There is an additional mode for watching movies, though in general I found this to be too warm and soft for general viewing.

The D8000 series includes a number of key technologies, from the insanely bright and sharp LCD panel to fully adaptive backlighting, which allows really deep blacks and incredibly bright whites. The D8000 is also fully internet connected, in addition to the ability to update its own software, there is a Smart Hub which allows the download of apps, even Skype, as well as a few 3D movies, YouTube, Videos, and all manner of Social apps, basically very similar functionality to your smartphone, just with a 55-inch screen. My experience with the Smart Hub over Wi-Fi which connected to our home ADSL 4 Meg line was very good. I was able to watch YouTube clips with minimal buffering, and playing games and other apps was smooth and fairly seamless. Web Browsing was a bit of a pain, mainly due to the mouse ability, or lack thereof, though the included QWERTY keyboard Remote helped a bit.

Watching 3D on the D8000 was an interesting experience, not because of the TV, but because of the family. Seven people were all trying to watch the 3D demo using two pairs of supplied 3D glasses and that was not fun. Overall the D8000 has excellent 3D performance. Key to amazing 3D is to sit fairly close to the TV, so the picture fills your field of view, and also not to sit off to the side of the TV which somewhat kills the experience, both from a 3D perspective, and also LED TV’s don’t have a very wide viewing angle, before the picture looses brightness.  For large families or with a bunch of friends this can be a bit of a problem. Overall 3D can be an incredibly immersive experience and the D8000 excels, both due to its brightness and its size, 3D is always better on a big screen.

Performance on HD signals and Blue Ray sources is amazing, with a fine grain level of detail and contrast with deep blacks that approaches the best of the reference Plasma TV’s, and is by far the best I have seen from LCD or LED TV’s to date. There is some moiré patterning, a form of banded interference, especially when panning away from a blue sky, or ocean vistas, but only the really fussy will notice. The Samsung D8000 is also very flattering to SD, or normal TV signals, as the level of detail and the clearly superior video processing allows these signals to stay relatively sharp and clear with good contrast.

Overall the D8000 is an incredible TV, as it should be for the premium price of around R40 000-00, there is one major caveat for me, and that is the standard picture settings, from Vivid, through standard, to Movie, are all a far cry from any reference monitor standard. Vivid can cause your eyes to bleed, by being super bright with colours that are completely oversaturated. The standard setting is better, but still way off what a professional would consider accurate. The movie setting was not much better. I decided to have the D8000 professionally calibrated to see what difference it would make.

Professional calibration sets the TV up based on ISF standards for the best quality picture. To cut a long process short, once set up the D8000 was unbelievable, in fact the best picture I have ever seen on any TV yet. The colours were spot on, not too bright or too dull, the brightness was now perfect with abundant detail in dark scenes, yet not overly bright and etched on beach or outdoor scenes, and the overall detail and picture quality has to be seen to be believed. As each source from your, DSTV decoder, to your Xbox, or Media player, needs to be set up individually, this can be a time consuming process.

Overall the Samsung D8000 is a state of the art TV, capable of staggering accuracy and picture quality. Unfortunately out of the box it is just a great looking and very decent TV. For the premium price it should be calibrated properly before it is sold, and failing that, a calibration service should be offered once the customer has the TV in their own home. The difference is not subtle and it’s not only for the fussy, as once properly set up the picture quality will amaze anyone who sees it.

Taking even the calibration issue into account I would still recommend this TV, as very few others can perform as well in all respects, as the D8000, the features, Smart Hub app functionality, and the overall build quality almost justify the price. Price is always subjective in many cases, if you can afford the fee then this set won’t disappoint. There are cheaper sets, but none with this level of picture and facilities. If you spend a little more on professional calibration then the D8000 sets the benchmark for home TV.

For all the tech details go to http://www.samsung.com/africa_en/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/led-tv/UA55D8000YRXXA

Steven Ambrose – Executive Editor and major Gadget Geek. Father of 5, and as a result scared of nothing, except being bored. Ran and wrote for Gadget.co.za since 2006, and consults on Technology and its impact on Business via Strategy Worx Consulting. Find me everywhere there is a social platform, but mainly on Facebook and Twitter @ambio

The Blackberry Curve 9380 is the first of the Curve range with a touch screen. While it may be BlackBerry’s first attempt at a mid-range all touch screen cell phone, this BlackBerry is nothing short of awesome. Up to date tech specs, sensitive bright touch screen and the latest Blackberry OS 7, and still one of the most cost effective ways to rock a smartphone in South Africa

Aesthetics

The Curve is a small thin device, just 10cm in length, 6cm wide and 11.2mm thick, the screen is still a healthy 3.2” as there is no hardware keyboard, making for relatively mistake free typing. With a screen of that size, we did not expect the battery life to be very good; surprisingly it shames other similar touch screen devices by giving a solid two days of regular to heavy use.

The new Blackberry Curve 9380 is very well built, and is a huge step up from the previous Curve range. The silver trim is flush with the body, the plastics used are all of a high quality and the overall impression is of a cell phone that will handle the test of time relatively well. It is not all peaches and puppies; firstly unlike other manufacturers who use Gorilla Glass for their touchscreen, BlackBerry has opted for high-density plastic. This reduces the touch sensitivity and tactile feedback of the touchscreen slightly, as well as making it less hardy, when compared to those with Gorilla Glass.

Unfortunately the back battery cover is made from the quality of plastic normally reserved for the toys you buy at petrol stations, basically it scratches far too easily.  Despite these niggles the Curve 9380 is as well built as many of its competitors. We do recommend that you invest in a funky cover to keep your Curve 9380 looking fresh, the official Blackberry covers work well and look good to boot.

OS

This is where the Curve 9380 really shines, not once did I have to do a battery pull, not once did the device freeze, and not once did I want to slam it in my car door! For a veteran BlackBerry user this is hugely impressive. The Curve 9380 comes out of the box with the latest iteration of Blackberry OS 7.0 and will be upgraded to BlackBerry OS 7.1 in the next few weeks, and it is rock solid. Social features are beautifully integrated; BBM, Facebook and Twitter are all constantly updated in real-time with notifications popping up in your consolidated message centre.

Additionally, a host of other social platforms and apps either have proprietary apps or links right into the OS. Whatever you choice of social platform, there is no better OS to keep you connected and updated than Blackberry OS 7.1 – you never, ever feel out of touch. This extends to email, calendar, contacts, tasks and all other areas of productivity that synchronize to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft Live over the air, in real time. Simply put, iOS, Android and Windows Phone could learn a lot, from how connected BlackBerry OS7.1 makes the user feel.

Media

While BlackBerry Music and other paid services are still not available in South Africa (fingers crossed!) the Curve is a solid media device. The music player, and PC/Mac sync tool, is slick and seamless – and allow for music, videos, podcasts and pictures to be transferred to and from the device with minimal fuss. The quality of the music player is also up to snuff in the mid-range scene. Finally, the camera is fantastic, fast, sharp and takes great pictures at night – what more could you ask for really.

The BlackBerry Curve 9380 is currently one of the most compelling cellphones on the market, keeping you completely socially connected, coupled with a stable OS and rocking media capabilities. Bar the issues I mentioned around build quality, there really is very little to fault in this splendiferous, diminutive device.

The Curve 9380 is first BlackBerry to date that is never going to give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you… It’s awesome.

Spesifications

Brendon Ambrose – Managing Editor | About Me – Scared of: Clowns, spiders and Hilary Clinton; Dream Wing Man: Jacob Zuma; Started Writing Tech: 2005 for Gadget.co.za; Favorite cereal: Frosties; Find me on: Twitter & Facebook

Spesifications – really this time

The original FIFA Street series, one through three, was an arcade styled, toned down version of the FIFA game enterprise.

The graphics were cartoony and with enough tricks you could build up your skill meter and gain a game breaker ť which when activated made your footballers into super-humans doing backflips with the ball glued to their feet and when it came time to shoot it was almost a certainty that you would score and whilst doing a b-twist.

FIFA Street, 2012, has become serious and now takes itself far too seriously. In honest truth I am disappointed, it just isn’t fun anymore, it harbors around competitive attitudes and realism that is unrivaled.

That being said, there is no sporting game out there that is as realistic, as aesthetically correct and that skill demanding. It truly looks tremendous even if there are no marvellous colours radiating from the footballers feet as he dances his way through the competition and rocks the net with a shot that would probably shift the earth off its path of travel.

I must stress my point, again, FIFA Street is truly a sneak-peak into the future of sporting titles graphics. They are so realistic that it is almost difficult to discern between real-life players and their CGI counterparts! Oh and you can play as the major teams from all the first division leagues such as: English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Major League Soccer and of course the international teams.

There are other aspects that are tremendously well thought out these being: the online gaming, which is slick and easy to operate and exceedingly simple to organise games, the player upgrades and development system which has all the aspects I could think would be upgraded on a virtual footballer and the different game modes of which there are 4: 5-A-Side, Panna Rules, Last man standing and actual Futile. This FIFA definitely caters for a large community of “underground footballers”ť.

However, where it seems to stagger a bit is the games “mechanics”ť they seem to be ported from FIFA 12. FIFA 12 worked so well with that system as the fields were much bigger and the chances of a player being on you in a split second were much less. “On the street”ť quick feet are everything and the FIFA 12 system is a tad too slow to accommodate the less dextrous gamer. Ultimately if someone is close to you when you have the ball and you try to dribble passed them it is already too late and they will rob the ball from the tip of your toes. It is also a sign of lazy developing and for me that deals a major blow to potential FIFA Street consumers.

This makes for a very frustrating and quite inclined learning curve, especially if you didn’t play FIFA 12. Also it may or may not have you throwing your remote or keyboard at the nearest moving object, that’s how I lost little Skippy. Rest in peace Skippy.

There is one thing I should mention, if you had played FIFA 12 avidly then the transition is almost instantaneous and you will be selling everyone left, right and centre. So once you get the system and the slight delay and take it into account then the sky is the limit.

As with all EA titles a killer soundtrack is standard and surprise surprise FIFA Street is bang on the money.

FIFA Street was a big let-down for me as I was expecting cartoon styled, fun, unrealistic visuals and a general non-serious attitude. However if your idea of a street football gaming titles is one of unparalleled realism, attention to detail and a true reflection of what is out there then look no further as this title will certainly satisfy.

Fifa Street Rating (For Me): 6/10

Fifa Street Rating (For Fifa Fans): 9/10

Josh “Swift” Sack – Gaming Editor || About Me: Started Writing for TechHuman in July 1946 after an honorable discharge from the Guatemalan National Guard. Call of Duty Guatemalan Rampage, to be launched in 2026, will be based on Josh’s various military campaigns in the Guard.

This game is all out fun! A makerť of the 1993 title Syndicate and opposed to most makers they got this one right.

Let us begin by getting the only critique out of the way. The story is predictable and overdone in relation to today’s movies and games. You are an agent for a corporation that is at war with other corporations for a larger control of the world. There are no countries anymore just massive conglomerates. All these corporations have become so successful through selling chips that are integrated into the cerebral cortex of consumers which allows them to connect globally to anyone else and blah blah blah. Originality score, completely zero.

Onto more insane aspects: the shooting, movement and cover system is as fluid as any great FPS of late. I did not come across any moments when I felt I was let down by the games mechanics. Moving from cover to cover whilst shooting everyone in sight in the pip and increasing your rampage score is just unbelievably awesome.

Yet, this awesomeness does not end there because agent’s chips have the ability to access enemies’ chips and cause the enemy to have a tremendously bad day. There are three different abilities: backfire which sends two or three enemies to the floor and makes them more vulnerable to damage, suicide which is self-explanatory and persuade which cause one enemy to join your side until all other enemies are dead at which point your ally then kills himself.

When those three abilities, a fluid game-engine and fantastic graphics are all combined it leaves the gamer smiling! One more thing though, “Dart 6″ your chip that allows you to slow down time and take less damage for a limited period, which means that not only are you overpowered but you are also as accurate and effective as 100 spec-op troops at any given moment.

If this isn’t appealing to you yet because I make it sound like you just can’t die and you are a “real” gamer then don’t worry because on the hardest level you will die plenty. Thus it offers an overpowered character that is just as susceptible to damage as your enemies are. Which brings me onto the AI, it is excellent! The enemies are expert marksman and have balls made of steel that were forged from the sun’s core; this makes for a seriously edge-of-your-seat experience.

In addition to your three abilities and the Dart 6 ability, you also are able to upgrade your character so that you die a little less. So ultimately this game takes everything that has ever been exhibited in innovative FPS’s and mushes them together, low and behold it works perfectly!

Syndicate is a must buy and will result in a good 4 hours of off the chain enjoyment. As long as you can get past the generic storyline you will undoubtedly have an epic time!

Syndicate Rating: 9/10

Josh “Swift” Sack – Gaming Editor || About Me: Started Writing for TechHuman in July 1946 after an honorable discharge from the Guatemalan National Guard. Call of Duty Guatemalan Rampage, to be launched in 2026, will be based on Josh’s various military campaigns in the Guard.

Disclaimer: Prepare to Die – A Lot

This is a warning. A warning that will hopefully serve to inform you that Dark Souls is the most frustrating game you will ever play. You WILL run around like a chicken without a head, looking for a path that is right under your nose. You WILL die so many times that you can no longer keep count. You WILL almost cry out in anguish as you have to re-do a part of the game for the 50th time, and yet, you WILL love this infernal game.

Over the past couple of years game developers have been moving more and more towards the part-time gaming community. By this I mean the large percentage of people that want an easy game with straightforward levels and OP (Over Powered) items that make it unbelievably easy to finish the game in record time. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this, just that this seems to be how game developers have been structuring their gameplay, as a bigger player base means a bigger bank account.

But sometimes, and I’m sure there are a lot of people that will agree, it’s nice to play a game that really makes you work for that final title screen. A game that causes you to all but throw the controller in frustration, walk away and promptly return to the game because the challenge is too enticing. With Dark Souls, you get this and a little extra on the side.

If I had to describe this game in one phrase, it would be: A real gamer’s game. This isn’t a game for the feint hearted. Dark Souls is a game for those who like getting blisters on their thumbs from playing for hours on end. Simply, it’s a game for those in society that hate the sunlight.

Dark Souls doesn’t have all the flashy lights and crazy animations that are common in RPG’s these days, but that doesn’t mean that the graphics leave you unsatisfied. The developers of Dark Souls did an amazing job in creating a landscape fit for any scenario, from giant castle climbing drakes to enormous lake dwelling hydras. Brilliant visuals to accompany an equally impressive gameplay experience.

Now for the topic that generates hours upon hours of thought and concentration: stats and customizability. To put it bluntly, there are load of options, combinations, weapons, armour pieces, consumable items etc. I haven’t seen a game that gives you this many options in ages, it will consume your life…

Dark Souls satisfied my nerdy needs like no other game has in ages. A very welcome descent into a world of fantastical creatures and impossible feats. No one can call themselves a true modern day gamer until they have played this game. An almost impossibly hard, yet immensely rewarding game. For all those parents trying to teach their console addicted kids what patience, perseverance and reward is, getting them this game is the perfect way to do it.

Dark Souls Rating: 9/10

Xavier Bezuidenhoudt – Our resident Frenchman; we discovered Xavier in the back streets of Paris selling bootleg Mighty Mouse action figures. His Parisian occupation paired with his checkered past as a mime in the Moulin Rouge gave him the necessary skill required to become an excelent PC games reviewer. We immediately offered him a job. Take away from the fast paced world of action figure bootlegging, Xavier settled in Johannesburg, living on a diet of Merlot, Foie Gras and your tears when he owns you at Starcraft