MasHD Blog

This week the folks at Google and Niantic have released their cages from the “closed beta” edition of Ingress to allow this augmented reality game to all. The game remains in “beta” mode, though we’re essentially seeing the entirety of this environment’s gameplay live right this minute. This game will be available to iOS users in the future, but for the time being – it’s all about Android. The big draw with this game is partially in how it’s been closed off as an exclusive title until now – but there’s also the fact that you’re playing on a real landscape, using Google Maps to see where you need to go to take over your neighborhood. At the moment the Android restriction for this game stands. Google has promised an iOS version of the game in the future, but it may be in the wings until early 2014 – not that long off. This game was promoted several times in a big way over the past several months. We saw invites handed out to all developers at the 2013 edition of Google I/O. Google al...

Scientists have been studying the human brain for decades in an attempt to understand how the brain can do what it does. Scientists have made a very interesting discovery suggesting that the human brain may be significantly more powerful than previously believed. The image you see below may look like Christmas decorations, but it’s a computer simulated image of pyramidal neurons in the cerebral cortex. These microscopic branches of brain cells were thought to act as wiring of the brain. However, researchers now believe that these branches may actually behave as mini computers. The human brain has about 100 billion neurons with approximately 1 quadrillion connections known as synapses connecting those neurons together. The anatomy of the brain includes many short branches called dendrites that project from one end of the heart of a neuron called the soma. The opposite end of the soma has a single thin fiber known as the axon sticking out. Scientists now believe that these dendrite...

Dead trigger 2 by MADFINGER Games , app review by Rakitha Peiris FonePressMagazine  magazine features a full review , you can download it by clicking here . If you are a fan of Zombie apocalypse themed games , then Dead trigger might probably be a house hold name .The first game started its life as a $0.99 app but Madfinger games quickly decided to release it as a freemium game because of the high level of piracy the game experienced after it was officially launched on Android last year . However , being freemium , the game was webbed with lots of in app purchases , the game was also effected with the lack of depth in the form of a proper storyline and the gameplay almost felt repetitive at times , but the game was popular for one reason - its almost eye candy graphics which made it one of the best games for mobile devices last year so obviously , its sequel will be just as great ..so lets take a look Plot ,Gameplay and controls The game begins with a short into video s...

Facebook has been actively researching the feasibility, effectiveness, and profitability of tracking users’ cursors and screen positions, reports the Wall Street Journal. The data would give the social media giant the ability to analyze the ways in which users interact with Facebook content and advertising. This would in turn let it change the site and its advertising methods according to where users hover their mice and scroll their device displays. The new data collection method would be added to its other methods, such as gathering information users enter into their profiles or tracking friendships and likes. It is part of an ongoing investigation by Facebook analytics chief Ken Rudin, who joined the company in April 2012. Before that, he was the vice president of analytics and platform technologies at Zynga, Inc. That company made billions of dollars in revenue on such Facebook-reliant games as Farmville. (Maybe you’ve heard of it.) The screen behavior technology being studied ...

Often times on product pages on Sprint’s website, they’ll have a 360-degree angle of the device, so you can see the entire thing. Well actually it’s like that on most retailers websites nowadays. Following yesterday’s exclusive with a bunch of photos of the Nexus 5 found on Sprint’s website, we now have the full 360-degree angle of the device from a Tipster who got these off Sprint’s website. It’s actually an animated gif, which you can see above. It shows us the “white” Nexus 5 and all sides of it. It actually looks a bit like a Oreo in my opinion. The white Nexus 5 definitely looks nice and it might actually be my first choice, which is surprising since I only like black or dark-colored phones. The Nexus 5 is due to be announced any day now, and it looks like it’ll be hitting T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint. There doesn’t look to be any type of chance for it hitting Verizon anytime soon. It’s expected to have a 4.95-inch 1080p display, with a Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM 16G...

Lenovo re-thought the laptop, bringing flexible displays to a variety of different notebooks, and has now turned its focus to the tablet. The new Yoga Tablet 8 and 10 appear almost book- or magazine-inspired, like the Sony Xperia Tablet S, with a round bulge along one edge to serve as a grip. The design itself isn't completely new — the new tablets look eerily similar to the Apple Wireless Keyboard — but the extra space allows Lenovo to pack the tablets full of battery life. Both devices will supposedly last 16 to 18 hours on a single charge, which Lenovo hopes will make these tablets stand out from the competition. Both the 8-inch and 10-inch Yoga tablets feel solid and well-built, with a slightly textured backing and slim body, except for the cylindrical battery. The new shape is actually really comfortable to hold, especially the 8-inch model, which has a great grip for reading. Both tablets also have a kickstand that's a little hard to open but holds steady at any angle, ...

Despite the fact that the iPhone 5S is supposed to have better battery life than its predecessor, a small number of units are exhibiting extreme battery draining issues. This is, according to Apple, due to a manufacturing defect, and only affects a minor portion of devices. An Apple spokesperson said that the company “recently discovered a manufacturing issue affecting a very limited number of iPhone 5S devices that could cause the battery to take longer to charge or result in reduced battery life”. Apple is replacing affected units at no cost. “We are reaching out to customers with affected phones and will provide them with a replacement phone”, said the spokesperson, who did not mention an exact number of units affected; instead, “a few thousand phones” was used to describe how widespread this issue is. To put things in context, Apple sold 9 million iPhones over the first weekend of availability, granted, numbers are combined for the 5S and 5C. Pocketnow

So far, Google’s been fine-tuning Glass and getting ready for the innovative headset’s launch with the help of some early adopters. While those users still have to buy their own (very expensive) Glass hardware, it’s nonetheless a pretty limited program, making participation a coveted position. Yesterday, the company announced plans to greatly expand the scope of this testing, inviting current users to offer up to three friends the chance to get involved with Glass for themselves. While doing so, it also revealed that all these testers will have the chance to swap out their existing Glass units for a new design later this year. So, just what’s changing? All told, the tweaks seem pretty minimal. That’s supposed to be this new hardware up above, and comparing it with existing photos of Glass, we’re hard-pressed to spot any big changes. Google describes its efforts with this design as making Glass more compatible with existing glasses. The bigger news might be the inclusion of an optio...

The National Security Agency, in conjunction with England’s NSA counterpart Government Communications Headquarters, has been secretly intercepting Google and Yahoo data transmissions around the world, according to a new analysis of the Snowden documents. The documents show how the two spy agencies can cooperate to send copies of customer records en masse to the NSA’s data centers at Fort Meade. Intercepted records include email addresses, personal identities, and even the contents of private messages flowing between and among Americans and all other nationalities. The interceptions are within the bounds of current US law because they occur at points outside US soil. The analysis was conducted by the Washington Post in consultation with Google and Yahoo employees. It lays out four plausible scenarios by which the agencies capture the private data of millions of customers. In the case of Google, the most likely scenario is that the agencies have tapped into fibers and cables connecti...

Quite an amazing story coming out of Sweden today. A Nokia Lumia 800 smartphone was found after spending three and a half months in a lake and it was still working! The news comes by way of Facebook user Roger Nilsson who even captured some pictures of the device in question. The phone was allegedly found more than three months after being lost in a lake, wedged between two rocks at low tide. The screen was covered in shells and algae. Mr. Nilsson cleaned then dried the phone for an indeterminate period of time, at which point he charged it and found that it works. He claims that there’s no issues with the device, and that the battery lasts for about two days as before. If the story is true, then it’s quite an impressive feat for a device that’s not even rated for underwater resistance. This further cements Nokia's reputation as being indestructible GSMArena

A CNET reporter recently tracked down the meaning and nature of a barge moored to Treasure Island, a former Navy base in San Francisco Bay. The barge, which has been built up with shipping containers to resemble a floating, mostly windowless, four-story building, largely matches a Google patent for a floating data center filed in 2009. The investigative report corroborates widespread suspicions the secretive project realizes that patent. The evidence is tantalizing. Late last year, a company named By and Large started working on the project inside Hangar 3 of Treasure Island. That company is widely believed to be a subsidiary of Google, as evidenced by local witnesses spotting Google-identified employees working in relation to the Hangar 3 project, along with reporter Daniel Terdiman’s contact with By and Large and Google employees. The 250-foot long, 72-foot wide, 16-foot deep barge can be viewed via Google Maps and in person, even though the construction site is cordoned off by...

NVIDIA promised that we'd see big upgrades to its Shield gaming system today, and it's delivering them in spades. A just-launched Android 4.3 update introduces Console Mode, which lets players steer a TV-connected Shield through a Bluetooth gamepad; NVIDIA supplies a button mapping utility that adds hardware controls to games which expect touch input. The release also takes Gamestream out of beta, providing official PC-to-Shield streaming for more than 50 titles. A few interface-level tweaks come with the new OS, including actionable notifications, restricted profiles and the option of moving app files to an SD card. The update should be rolling out now, but gamers who don't yet have a Shield now have an extra incentive to pick one up. NVIDIA is lopping $100 off the system's price as part of a bundle that includes a GeForce GTX graphics card as well as copies of Assassin's Creed 4, Batman: Arkham Origins and Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Engadget

A new version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active smartphone carrying the model number GT-I8580 has been tipped to be in the works by Samsung. The new Galaxy S4 Active is believed to be a lower performing version of the original device intended to sell at a lower price point. No official comments on the device been made by Samsung but some specifications and an image have surfaced online. The device is said to use a 4.65-inch display. The I8580 is tipped to use an unspecified a dual-core 1.2 GHz SoC featuring an Adreno 305 GPU. That unspecified SoC could possibly be the Snapdragon 400 but that is unknown at this time. The I8580 will feature 1 GB of RAM and the resolution for the 4.65-inch screen is tipped at 800 x 480. The pixel density for the screen is said to be 200 ppi. Leaked details indicate the rear camera will have five-megapixel resolution with a 0.3-megapixel front camera. The operating system for the device is Android 4.2. Details gleaned from Tenna indicate the smartphone...

LG has officially released specs for G Flex, the company’s long-rumored curved-screen smartphone. The phone is curved along the horizontal axis, features an unusual lockscreen with direct-to-app pinching, and in an homage to X-Men’s Wolverine “self-heals” scratches in its outer casing. The phone joins Samsung’s Galaxy Round among the first curved-screen smartphones that will reach consumers. The curve of the G Flex is made possible through flexible OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology, the same class of material used by the Galaxy Round. LG claims that “the phone offers better ergonomics when making phone calls and will allow for a more immersive video experience,” reports The Verge. The shell casing’s cosmetic healing relies on a protective film that makes scratches disappear in moments. The new phone ranges in thickness along its length from 7.9 to 8.7 millimeters, weighs in at 177 grams, and boasts a 6-inch, 720-pixel screen. It runs on a 2.26-GHz quad-core Qualcomm Sn...

A little over a month ago, MadFinger Games released a new trailer for their zombie blasting sequel to Dead Trigger, along with a release date of October 23rd. If you don't happen to have a calendar handy, let me help you out: today is October 23rd and Dead Trigger 2 [Free] has officially launched in the App Store. So far, early impressions in our forums suggest that, just like the first game, Dead Trigger 2 is a graphical showpiece. There is a greater emphasis on story this time around, though it will take some time playing to discover if it really is an improvement over the first game's repetitive nature of shooting wave after wave of zombies in confined areas. There are also encounters with massive bosses, a "Hideout" where you can unlock and upgrade tons of new weapons and items, and for some reason there are lots and lots of chickens. Grenade chickens, rocket launcher chickens, and machine-gun mounted chickens. Huh. If you were a fan of the first game then th...

Following the LG G Flex leaked renders last week, now the curved-screen smartphone has been shown in a talk show over at the Argentinian TV station Telefe. Journalist Federico Ini has leaked additional live photos of the G Flex for everyone to admire. In the video, the LG G Flex gets a good amount of air time, flaunting its curved display. It's reported that the screen is 6" full HD curved OLED and as you can see from the video below it looks pretty good. Additionally, the video shows that the G Flex sports the same back-sided button configuration as the LG G2. The Power/Lock key is in the middle of the volume rocker. Above the physical keys is located the 13MP camera with LED flash. Here's the video in question below. The interesting part starts at half a minute in. Processor details of the LG G Flex haven't leaked yet, but it's all but certain that the curved smartphone is going to be almost identical to the LG G2 on the inside. This means a 2.3GHz qu...

It doesn’t matter if you’re a parent or a pet owner, one of the things that both groups want to do is keep track of their kids and their pet. A company called Wonder Technology Solutions has launched a new product called the Trax: GPS Tracker for Children & Pets. The smart device works in conjunction with an app on your smartphone or tablet allowing you to locate your kid or your pet anytime from anywhere. The Trax sensor is able to provide indoor navigation capability and precision real-time outdoor tracking. The Trax sensor is durable and enclosed in a waterproof silicone case able to withstand drops, accidental washing machine trips, water, mud, snow, and other environmental factors. Trax sends push alerts to connected devices when a child or pet leaves a designated area. The sensor will also alert users when the battery is low or if the device is dropped or exceeds a predetermined speed. The GPS tracker is located using a free application that features real-time tracking, s...

 Garmin has been busy rolling out GPS watches over the last several weeks. The navigation company previously rolled out a watch called the Approach for golfers and the D2 GPS watch for pilots. Garmin has now rolled out a new GPS watch designed specifically for law enforcement and police special operations use. The new GPS watch is called the Garmin tactix and it’s described as a high sensitivity GPS navigator and ABC watch. The tactix is water resistant to 50 m depth and can run up to 50 hours in GPS mode on a single charge. Garmin equips the watch with tide data for the US and Jumpmaster software designed to assist in amphibious and airborne operations. The watch uses a matte black finish and it features a curved lens with a green backlight. The green backlight is used to prevent flare out when the user is wearing night vision devices. The glass is scratch resistant curved mineral glass designed to reduce hotspots from sun reflection. The watch face can also be switched to n...

One of the only ways for you to get anywhere near space if you don’t work for NASA is to buy a $250,000 ticket on Virgin Galactic. If you like the idea of traveling to the edge of space, but you want to do it for less than $250,000, a company called World View, which is a division of a private company called Paragon Space Development Corp. has a new plan to get passengers to the edge of space. World View plans to send passengers to an altitude of about 100,000 feet. That’s nowhere near the altitude that Virgin Galactic plans to carry passengers, which is approximately 68-miles above the surface of the Earth. What that means for World View passengers is that they won’t get the sensation of microgravity. What World View passengers will get is a nice view. Officials from World View note that passengers aboard its capsules will be able to have the beverage of their choice while the enjoy the view. Passengers can also stay aloft for days for research if need be with the typical fl...

One ways the mobile device and LCD manufacturers can save money is by aggressively controlling the cost of the materials used in the construction of their products. One very common product used in the construction of all sorts of displays in mobile devices is Gorilla Glass from Corning. A deal has reportedly taken place between one of Samsung’s divisions and Corning that sees Samsung gain 7.4% of Corning Corning has reportedly taken control of Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co. Ltd., which was a joint venture between Corning and Samsung where Samsung owned 43%. Corning took full control of the joint venture by giving Samsung about $1.9 billion worth of preferred shares in Corning. If those preferred shares worth converted, Samsung would own about 7.4% of Corning. Samsung and Corning have also signed a long-term supply agreement that will see Samsung Display continue to use Corning products through 2023. Several high-end smartphone makers in the industry use Corning Gorilla G...

This morning Apple has officially brought on a 2nd generation of their popular iPad mini tablet, complete with Retina display. This version of the iPad mini works with a body and presentation extremely similar to the original, working with a physical appearance not all that unlike the iPad mini’s first edition. This iPad mini will be hitting the market with at least two different colorways – a darker gray and a lighter silver / white, and will be appearing aside the new 5th generation iPad – the iPad Air as well . The influence of the hardware in the original iPad mini has clearly made its mark given the appearance of the iPad Air, and here in the changes to this 2nd generation mini itself, the solid nature of the first generation again remains apparent. The big changes, instead, appear on the inside. This begins with a brand new processor chip – the Apple A7 chip, aka the same as delivered with the iPad Air and the iPhone 5s. With a new gush of power in this chip, the 2nd ge...

Apple has officially announced the latest version of its iPad tablet. The newly named iPad Air features a design that's reminiscent of the iPad mini released last year. It's thinner and lighter than prior versions, and features a smaller bezel, which shrinks the footprint of the tablet down without compromising on screen size. Apple says it's 20 percent thinner at only 7.5mm thick, and weighs just 1.0 pound (28 percent less than the previous iPad). The screen remains the same; it's a 9.7-inch Retina Display with 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution. This is the first major redesign of Apple's flagship tablet since the iPad 2 was released in March 2011. The iPad Air features the 64-bit A7 processor and M7 motion coprocessor found in the iPhone 5S, which Apple says is 8 times faster and has 72 times better graphics performance than the old processor. It also has a 5-megapixel iSight camera and FaceTime HD front-facing camera and 10 hour battery life. Apple says the ...