Top 6 PC Game releases of the season.

Here at the 6 best PC games of the season that you can play right now or should be excited for:

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

The Call of Duty franchise has won many awards and the latest edition - Advanced Warfare, takes the first person shooter experience to a whole new level. Laced with advanced exoskeletons, smart grenades and powerful guns, Advanced Warfare gives you a glimpse of the future of warfare and weapon technology.

Middle-Earth - Shadow of Mordor

This game puts you in the shoes of the Ranger, Talion who rampages through Mordor to wreak vengeance on the orcs and other followers of Sauron for his slain family. The game has two large expansive maps and an exceptional 'nemesis' AI system that will keep you occupied for a long time.

Alien Isolation 

Alien Isolation is not as new as the other two games mentioned earlier but who doesn't want to face an alien Xenomorph? On a similarity level, the game comes much closer to the Amnesia franchise thanks to its scary soundtrack and an invincible monster always on your heels. The challenging part is that the AI of the game learns as you play and will try to attack you and find you based on where you're hiding and the way you're playing

Assassin’s Creed: Unity & Rogue

The latest edition of the Assassin's Creed saga was launched on Monday and will see a dedicated India launch on 13th of November. This time the Assassin’s are playing their role in the French revolution and from the initial trailers we have seen, it looks amazing. The game also brings multiplayer story driven quests for the first time. Assassin’s Creed Rogue will be launched alongside Unity but in this game you will playing as an Assassin turned Templar. How your hero turns from an Assassin to Templar and what is the story behind the Templar faction is what you have to find out as the game progresses.

Far Cry 4 

Far Cry 4 is almost here and this time the excellent first person shooter is set in the Himalayas. The game is set in Kyrat, a wild region in the lap of Himalayas with all the usual first person fun a Far Cry game provides. Launching November 18.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Dragon Age returns this year with its third game in the franchise, Inquisition. The game is set in the land of Thedas and the maps will be almost 4 to 5 times more expansive than the last game - Dragon Age: II. Bioware has confirmed that the game will incorporate open-world gameplay and will bring more races to choose from. Launching on the 18th of this month.

Asus is all set to unveil the Zenfone 2 series of smartphones early next year at CES 2015

Asus will reveal its new Zenfone lineup next year at CES in January, Asus CEO Jerry Shen revaled to the press at an investor conference. The price of the Zenfone 2 line will start from NT$ 9,999 (Rs. 20,100 approx.). The majority of these phones will be powered by new Intel chips with 4G capabilities.

While the majority of smartphones from Asus will be powered by the Intel 4G chips, Asus is in talks with another chipmaker to produce much cheaper devices. Asus is aiming to pry into the budget phone segment since it is unable to compete with Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi with its current lineup.

Xiaomi has overtaken Lenovo, LG to become World’s third largest phone manufacturer. The Chinese manufacturer has done so by keeping its prices extremely low. Hence, every phone manufacturer is struggling to maintain its market hold, even a behemoth like Samsung which posted the lowest quarterly profit in three years.

CES 2015 will be good place for other phone manufacturer as well to showcase their new phones which can compete with the likes of Xiaomi head-on. In related news, the Asus ZenWatch is now available in the US Play Store for $199 (Rs. 12,200 approx.) and we may see the ZenWatch earlier next year in India.

Not fond of Hangouts for texting? Google now brings to you a new standalone messaging app featuring Material Design.

Google has released a standalone messaging app for Android on Google Play store. Called Messenger, the application features Google's new Material Design, though supports devices running Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, and above.

Google Messenger, like the traditional SMS app, lets you send and receive SMS and MMS messages to any phone. You can also send group texts and images,videos and audio messages to texts. The Messenger lets you search through contacts and conversation threads. It also gives you the option to block SMS senders. Other features include coloured text threads, archiving messages and emoji support. You can download Messenger for Android from here.

With the new Messenger, Google aims to reach out to users who haven't been using Hangouts for SMS. Contrary to rumours, Google's new Messenger doesn't seem to be a threat to the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber and other popular messaging apps.

Google is often criticised for forcing users to use its applications. Its Hangouts application was criticized for tight integration of Google Hangouts to Google+, which many believe could lead unwilling to share personal information to others.

It will be really interesting to see how Google manages its Hangouts and Messenger applications. Will these two apps be interlinked? Also read: Facebook Messenger reaches 500 million monthly users.

Have you downloaded the Messenger app? Do you like/hate it? Let us know in the comments section below:

Google has finally made the Android Lollipop factory images for Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 available for download officially, you don't have to wait for the OTA update if you know your way!

Alright! The wait for the official Android Lollipop ROM for Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 is over. Google has finally uploaded the images on their "Factory Images for Nexus Devices" page. For the uninformed, these factory images are made available for users and developers wanting to install the latest Android OS on their Nexus device manually, without having to wait for the OTA update being pushed to their devices. And, yes the wait can be long! Having to wait for a week or 10 days after the factory images are up for download can be excruciating.

The bad news

At least for now, till we checked last. Nexus 4 section does not have the Android 5.0 image listed. So Nexus 4 users might have to wait for a little more time. The silver lining is the fact that Nexus 7 (1st gen) WiFi version also has the Android 5.0 image listed under it! Yes the first gen Nexus 7 can go to lollipop, now!. The factory images aren't too large, for instance the Nexus 5 Android 5.0 factory image is a 556MB download. Word of caution, do ensure you download and flash the right ROM for your Nexus device and do it the right way as explained here by Google. Digit does not take any responsibility for bricked Nexus devices, and not does Google!

Direct download link for Nexus 5 factory image

Direct download link for Nexus 7 (2013) WiFi factory image

Direct download link for Nexus 7 (1st gen) WiFi factory image

Best Headphones of 2014

It wasn’t long ago that if somebody was listening to music on their mobile device, they’d be doing so through a tiny pair of earbuds jammed into their ears. While earbuds do keep getting better, plenty of people would argue that nothing beats a good pair of full-size headphones, and it seems like a lot of people agree.

Picking a pair of headphones can be tough, considering there are so many variables included. What’s your price range? Do you want Bluetooth or not? What about noise cancellation? In assembling our list of the best headphones, we’ve tried to cover all the bases. Our first pick is a great example of that.

Audio Technica ATH-M50x

Somewhat similarly to how we started our list of the best Bluetooth speakers, the first item on our list was probably fairly easy to guess. Just because it’s an easy guess doesn’t make the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones less of a good choice.

This is name that you hear all the time, and for good reason. If you’re looking for precision sound that doesn’t sacrifice an enjoyable listening experience for the sake of accuracy, this is it. The lows thump and the highs shine, but they’re not going to hide mistakes in the music.

While some color choices run more expensive, the base models of the ATH-M50x clock in at under $200. We’ve reviewed great headphones that cost more than this, but beyond these you start to see diminishing returns. The combination of price, sound quality, and build quality come together in a pair of headphones that are more than the sum of their parts.

Bose QuietComfort 25

Until September of this year, it had been an unusually long time since Bose had released an update to its extremely well-regarded QuietComfort line. The line consists of a few models with both in-ear and over-ear varients, both of which feature active noise cancellation. When the Bose QuietComfort 25 came out, it was quickly apparent that these improved on their predecessors in nearly every way.

Active noise cancellation is a tricky thing: if it’s too heavy handed you end up with an annoying hiss, and if it is too subtle, it just plain doesn’t work. Bose hits their mark perfectly here, and the ability to block out the world around you at will is a big part of why we’re recommending these headphones. Other noise cancellation we’ve heard is good, but not this good. In terms of sound quality and comfort, the QuietComfort 25s are on par with other Bose headphones, which is to say their fairly well balanced, but they don’t go overboard on bass.

One common complaint about Bose products is that they’re too expensive, and at $299, we’re sure some will that that about the QuietComfort 25s. While of course we’d like to see them sell for less, you’re definitely getting what you pay for here. For more info, check out the full review over at Sound Guys.

Samsung Level Over

While Samsung has made plenty of audio products over the years—anyone who has bought a Samsung phone has used their earbuds—it wasn’t until 2014 that the company decided to move into the realm of higher-end audio gear. Over at Sound Guys, I reviewed the entire Level line, but the only one that really stood out was the Samsung Level Over.

Not only do the Samsung Level Overs offer Bluetooth connectivity and active noise cancellation, but they offer a novel control scheme. Instead of a bunch of buttons, the entire right ear cup actuals as a control surface, allowing you to raise and lower volume, skip forward and backward, and play and pause audio with a few simple gestures. It may sound odd at first, but it fairly quickly becomes second nature.

Battery life is fairly decent (10 hours with ANC on) and the sound quality is nice too. Noise cancellation isn’t quite as good as the QuietComfort 25 headphones, but comes pretty close. The price does too: at $349 the Level Overs will run you more than the QuietComfort 25s, but that’s understandable considering this pair is wireless.

Looking for a cheaper pair of Bluetooth headphones without sacrificing too much in the sound quality department? Check out our next pick.

Photive BTH3

Before we reviewed them over at Sound Guys, I had never heard of the Photive BTH3 headphones. Taking a look at the Amazon reviews, I started to get my hopes up. When I did finally get the chance to check them out, I was still impressed.

While they don’t look very flashy, the Photive BTH3s make up for it with a combination of features and comfort. They’re light, pair quickly, and you can wear them for a few hours without them becoming uncomfortable. They’re also loaded with buttons, making playback and volume control easy even if you can’t get to your phone. Unlike Photive’s slightly more expensive BTX6 headphones, the Photive BTH3s are fairly balanced sounding, especially for the price.

Monoprice 8323

For most people, if you’ve heard about Monoprice at all, it was probably as a source of cheap but good AV cables or similar components. When word first started spreading that they had a few pairs of good-sounding headphones it was surprising, but not as surprising as the price.

Like the ATH-M50x headphones, the Monoprice 8323s don’t offer much in the way of features. What they lack in fancy looks or included remotes, they make up for in sound quality. I’ve had the chance to review some excellent headphones by now, and every time I come back to the 8323s I’m stunned by how well they hold up in comparison.

Obviously, to keep the price low some sacrifices had to be made. For example, the build quality isn’t exactly rock solid. That said, I’ve had my personal pair for nearly two years now, and not only have they not fallen apart, but they look as good as the day they arrived.

At the time of this writing, the Monoprice 8323 headphones go for exactly $23.98, direct from Monoprice. Not only is that a great deal for the sound quality, but a great price if you want a pair of headphones to throw in you backpack while you leave your more expensive headphones at home.

GTA V, which has received rave reviews till now and even been called the best open world game till date, is getting ready for launch on the PC and new consoles.

Popular open world game Grand Theft Auto V is soon going to include a first-person mode. The game, which has received a lot of accolades since its launch, is going to add the mode for Xbox One and Playstation 4 consoles. In addition, the FPS mode will also come to the PC version of GTA V.

The Xbox One and Playstation 4 versions of GTA V will be available from November 18 onwards and the PC version will come from January 27, 2015. Watch the video showing the FPS mode below.

Source:youtube

5 things you should know before migrating to Android

Before you go out and buy a new Android smartphone, here are some important things you need to keep in mind.

Considering that Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world, it’s more likely than not that at any point in time that someone will be shifting over from iOS, Windows Phone or Blackberry to an Android phone. While Android has built up a reputation, accurately, as an OS that you can do plenty with, there are still some restrictions in play that you should know about.

1. The storage issue:

Most Android phones come with a limited amount of internal storage (think anything from 4 to 16GB) but also support microSD cards. Now, about 30 to 40% of that internal storage is inaccessible and used up by the system, the interface etc. This means that in a 4GB Android phone, in the best case, you’ll have access to about 2.8GB. This becomes a serious problem if you’re planning to install a lot of heavy apps or games on any Android phone that comes with Ice Cream Sandwich or newer. The apps necessarily install themselves on the internal storage and even if your phone (or an app) allows you to ‘move’ the apps to the SD card, it will only move a minor portion of the data. For e.g. in the case of the game Asphalt 8: Airborne, that takes up 1.2GB, an inconsequential 65MB gets moved to the SD card. As a result, if you bought a 4GB Android phone, you won’t be able to install Real Racing 3 (1.8 GB with all assets downloaded) and Asphalt 8 at the same time.

About the only large things you can move to the SD card are music, videos and photos. Therefore, if you’re picking up a new Android phone make sure you do so after carefully weighing what all you’d like to install and use on the phone.

2. The music:

Once upon a time, the audio quality that you could expect from your phone used to vary wildly depending on the actual phone. Since that time, we’ve reached a spot where things like audio quality and music playback have pretty much been standardized, or at least that’s what we’d like to believe. If you plan to spend a lot of time listening to music on your phone, then you should research the music playing abilities of the phone/s you’re planning to buy because if you don’t, you may end up regretting your purchase. This is especially true for Android phones, since there is a large variety of phones from different manufacturers and with different hardware.

For instance, the Huawei Honor 6 is a great phone overall but is one of the worst I’ve come across when it comes to both audio quality and volume, both things that can’t be improved with the help of countless DSP or Equalizer apps. When I was considering buying the Honor 6, that was pretty much the deal breaker, and it may be the same for you as well.

If audio quality is important to you, make sure you try out the phone either at a showroom or with the help of someone who already owns it or at least use the Internet to figure out other buyers’ experiences.

3. The curse of freedom:

One of the things that usually gets spouted whenever someone’s praising Android is the ‘freedom’ it offers. Freedom to choose what you want from your phone or how it works is great but if you have no particular idea about what it is that you want, the same freedom can be a curse. Just like with Windows, Android has a huge number of apps that claim to perform certain activities slightly better and offer more functionality. If you go about installing all of them without researching them first, at best you’ll quickly fill up your phone storage and at worst, you may make your phone a lot slower and more susceptible to hanging and crashing.

There are an insane number of Cleaner apps on the Play Store

As with anything, make sure that you read up about the best apps for any activity and only download those. You can also just rely on the default apps on your phone if they happen to do everything you are looking for.

4. The beauty of freedom:

On the other hand, there may be many apps out there that can radically change the way you can use the phone for the better. For instance, if your phone comes with Google Play Music or some other unknown default app for playing music, you can do so much better with the likes of a Power Amp, a MusixMatch or an N7 music player.

PowerAmp is a great music player app to replace the default player.

If you find the default UI of your phone unnecessarily complicated or ugly, you can opt for different themes and looks with the help of launcher apps like Themer or Nova Launcher. You can also try out an app like IFTTT that can help you increase the speed of plenty of common actions on your phone.

Themer offers a large number of themes to change the look of your phone.

Just remember, if you are willing to spend some time doing research, you’ll find that Android’s potential is limitless.

5. The migration:

Provided you’ve been using Gmail or other Google services on your old non-Android phone, or on your PC, a lot of the data that you’d want on your new Android phone is easy to migrate over. All you need is to input your Google account details on your new phone and you should be done. However, when it comes to moving things like your messages, WhatsApp history or notes from, let’s say, an old iPhone, things get a little more complicated.

For instance, if you want to migrate over messages from iPhone to Android, you’ll have to download a couple of apps and delve into the iPhone backup, nothing really complicated, but still complicated enough to turn off basic users.

So, if you’re planning to make the big move, make a neat list of what all you’d like to migrate from your old phone and then figure out the best (and easiest) ways to make that happen.