HTC Surround Review

Hardware

HTC is known for making phones with solid hardware design. They make devices that look and feel like they are high-end. While there are a few design choices that are questionable this phone it’s still a good. To start off I'm not a huge fan of the chrome trim around the screen and around the speaker, having a chrome trim is a little played out. But the biggest questionable additon to this device would have to be the addition of the speaker because it depending on your personality. It adds a thickness to the device but it does not make it unattractive. This device can definitely slide in and out of your jean pockets easily. This speaker is supposed to provide Dolby Digital Surround Sound (hence the surround in the title) and it’s noticeable, especially if you have headphones in. At first I was skeptical about the speaker but I ended up loving it. I listen to music a lot so I was able to get the most out of it by playing my music out loud. The inclusion of the kickstand really helps make the Surround a media device. It can be propped up and play music as well as movies. The kickstand does show off one of the flaws of the Windows Phone OS, there is no landscape mode when you have it up and listening to music. The speaker might seem like an unnecessary addition if music is not really your thing or you would rather listen through your headphones. If one of those two things are true then you might want to stay away from this phone.

The screen on the Surround has a shockingly good 3.8” screen which produces colors far better than what I expected. The size is not too small and yet it’s not as big as the screen on an EVO 4G or the HTC HD7. It allows for enough finger space when typing in portrait, and enough space while playing games like The Harvest or Twin Blades. On the bottom of the screen host three capacitive buttons which are Back, Windows Home, and Bing Search. I found myself hitting the Bing search button far more often than what I would have liked. That’s due to the fact that the buttons are capacitive and a finger just needs to slide over it to cause a response.

The Surround has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and it’s good. The iPhone4’s camera has an edge on it though. One thing I did notice is the fact that users don’t have to worry about turning on flash when in dark situations. I found this as a very cool feature; the phone detects when you’re trying to take a picture in low lighting and adjusts the flash for it. The LED flash can really light up a dark room.

Software

While only being the first version of the Windows Phone OS, I have been looking forward to using it since its initial announcement. The OS is fresh, simple, and fast. That's probably due to the fact that it doesn't multitask as of right now but I would take this speed over having multitasking. The tile format for the home screen works extremely well and looks appealing which is important since that’s what you’re going to be looking at most. Usually people don’t talk about the lock screen on a device but Microsoft has one of the best lock screens I’ve seen on any phone. It gives you all the information that you need in a simple glance. Time, Date, your next appointment in the calendar, signal status, battery status, Wi-Fi status, and if there are any notifications they show up on the bottom. This should be what every lock screen should give you. It allows you to just glance at the phone and move on.

People Hub

The People hub is an interesting tile, if you link your Facebook account to the phone it congregates all of your friends and includes them in the contact list. While it could be convenient considering that if your friends with somebody in real life then you’re probably friends on Facebook, it also means all the people who you’ve added as a friend out of courtesy (or pity) are now on your phone. What ever information that they have posted about themselves you now have at your disposal. Phone numbers, addresses, and even e-mail accounts. It might just be me but I think that kind of makes these phones stalker friendly. (Then again it’s not that smart to put that much information on the internet people)

Zune Marketplace

Two of the main things that makes the Windows Phone OS so attractive are the inclusions of the Zune and its Marketplace as well as Xbox Live. Overall the integration of Zune in the Windows Phone OS is great, which is to be expected with Microsoft. If you have experienced the Zune HD OS then you will feel right at home within the Zune app; everything you had available there is available here. As expected users have full access to the Zune Marketplace library and if you have the Zune Pass to accompany it then there is a huge library of music at your fingertips. Pair the Zune App with the Surround’s speaker and that makes the extra thickness the speaker adds worth it.

Xbox Live

Xbox Live could be the initial determining factor for early adopters. When unlocking achievements on the go it provided me with a strange but welcome feeling. There is nothing like getting achievements while waiting for a class to start. As of right now the only multiplayer that is allowed is with turn-based games like UNO. It’s a good experience but once there is actually some live real-time gameplay going on, that’s when this is really going to shine. The one problem that I had with this app is if something draws you away from the game -like a phone call- while playing it gets cancelled out and you lose whatever progress you made. While the game does restart after your finished what caused you to back out, it does not pick up right where you left off. This is probably because of the lack of multitasking for something other than music. Besides that one flaw Xbox Live is going to grow and get stronger on the mobile platform as time goes on and developers continue to create games.

Keyboard

The keyboard in this OS is the best virtual keyboard that I have had the pleasure of using. Auto-correct works phenomenally, even with my fingers flying across the screen the OS somehow understands what I’m trying to say versus the iPhone keyboard which constantly fails at correctly correcting what users are trying to type. It’s not without its faults though, when in landscape mode I found myself constantly hitting the smiley face button while going for something else. But once I became adjusted to where everything was it became a rare problem. (Just a note, the first half of this review I wrote on the phone itself using the Microsoft Office app. So that just goes to show how amazing this keyboard is as well as the usability of the Microsoft Office on the phone.)

Overall this Windows Phone 7 OS is really good, especially for its first outing. But there are places where it can improve and become better. I’m talking allowing more things to run in the background besides music, losing some of the bugs, adding things like copy and paste, and overall performance tweaks. The days of the old convoluted Windows Mobile OS are done and the simple, Windows Phone 7 OS is in.

Wrap-up

The HTC Surround is a very good entry phone into world of Windows Phone OS. But I would only suggest it if you’re a music lover like I am, or else the slide out speaker might seem like an unneeded accessory which adds on extra weight and makes it thicker than it should be. The Windows Phone platform is only going to get better as time goes on, Microsoft seems like they really want to get back in the Mobile race and I think that have a good chance of doing so with this start. Only time will tell if the are really able to catch back up to both Apple and Google.

If you haven't seen the Unboxing video.

Bungie finally says goodbye to Halo.

It doesn't matter who you are or where you’re from, if you have the internet you more than likely have heard of Halo. Bungie on the other hand may or may not be known (but should) as the developers. Halo: Reach is Bungie’s last go around in the Halo fiction and they could not have sent their creation off in better fashion. For those who don’t know this does not mean the end to all things Halo. Any new Halo project is being done by Microsoft Game Studios internal build team 343 Industries’. Now I’m going to separate this into three parts, Campaign, Matchmaking, and Firefight/Forge.

The Campaign in Halo: Reach is one of the best out of all the Halo games. It’s also one of the easiest to understand. Unlike Halo 2 or Halo 3, Reach gives an amazing, action packed, story driven campaign that anyone can jump straight into. Along with having the best Halo storyline Reach is also the most difficult Halo to date. Bungie boasted that this one will be the most difficult to beat on Legendary (Hardest difficulty) and they have not disappointed. My solo Legendary run was one of the most difficult playthroughs of a game I’ve had in a while. Probably only to be bested when Fallout: New Vegas comes out. The story line gives you characters that you end up caring about, along with a massive scope of the war that’s on this planet. It gives the feeling that there is no way the humans can win this war. To top it all off the score Martin O’Donnell has created continues to deliver some of the most iconic music for the most dramatic moments in the Halo franchise and continues to do so. The fall of planet Reach is neigh and you feel that throughout the entire campaign experience.

Multiplayer has always been the milk and butter for Halo. Reach does not revamp the experience but adds to it which makes it better. The most proficient being the addition of Armor abilities to multiplayer. Jet packs, Sprinting, Holographic decoys’, Active camouflage, Drop shields, Armor lock, and Evade (strictly for Elites) all add a new dynamic to the multiplayer experience. You would think that some of those would make the game unbalanced but none of them do. I have had a lot of “man that was awesome” moments with these abilities. One of them was when I sent my decoy up a ramp to get a guy who was sniping around the corner to pop out. When he did I assassinated him because he thought I was my decoy and tried to assassinate it. I will say that one thing I would love to have in Multiplayer is more maps. Being Bungie’s last hurrah in Halo I thought they would pack this thing to the brim with maps. While there are a good amount of them some are just remakes of old maps, which I love, but still more new maps would be great.

Firefight has been expanded a lot since its initial releases in Halo: ODST. Now players have complete control over anything and everything. Want to have a firefight with all grunts? You can do that. Want to have a firefight on Legendary setting but you have unlimited rocket ammo, and complete overshield? You can do that as well. You think of an insane setting you want for Firefight, Bungie more than likely allows you to fulfill that. Forge also has been expanded to allow players to create whatever they dream of. I’m not huge on Forge but it seems like it allows a lot of precise movement of objects to allow creators to make what ever they want. I’m looking forward to downloading crazy maps, and playlists.

Bungie could not have sent Halo off in better fashion. They have packed in an amazing fall of mankind story, made multiplayer better, and gave far more power to players to keep the Halo universe alive and kicking while Microsoft takes the reigns and pushes out their own take of Halo. Reach is easily my favorite Halo game and the fact that this is Bungie last makes it a bittersweet victory.

Upgraded iPod Touch

Now this is interesting to me because I have a few conspiracy theories up my sleeve. Besides those this upgraded iTouch will be boasting the iPhone 4's Retina display along with its A4 chip. As expected it has a front facing camera which will allow people to use Facetime over any wi-fi connection. It also has HD video recording capabilities as well. The pricing for this will be $229 for 8GB, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB.

iPod Nano changed up

Now I'm not sure if I like this design choice for the new Nano. It's lighter, and smaller than the previous generations. (42% lighter and 46$ smaller to be exact) But having a touch screen on it kinda seems weird to me.(Even though the market will eat it up) It has hard volume buttons as well as a clip on the back. The screen does support multi-touch and has a 24 hour battery life. Once again it will be available for purchase next week.

New iPod Shuffle

The new iPod Shuffle is a mix breed between the second generation and the third generation. Take the buttons from the second and mix it with the voice playlist of the third and there you go. A brand new product, and as the picture depicts its only $49. As far as shipping goes you can look for it in stores next week.

iOS 4.1 adds Game Center, plus other features

Just announced at Apple's Fall Press conference was iOS 4.1. It brings loads of bug fixes to the OS as well as the addition of Game Center. For those who don't know what Game Center is, it's the equivalent to Xbox Live for Apple. It allows an easier access to the games that people can buy for the iTouch, iPhone, or iPad as well as giving them achievements for completing certain actions in the games. The update to the software also allows features like High Dynamic Range photos, HD video uploads over wi-fi, and T.V show rentals.

Mass Effect 2 Review

Bioware has done it again; Mass Effect 2 is a phenomenal game setting the benchmark for what a studio has to do to make a proper space RPG. The first 10 minutes alone will leave your mouth dropped in awe, especially if you had a connection with your character from the first game. I promise that I will keep this review as spoiler free as possible to keep all of your young minds fresh.

Since the bad is harder to think off we will start off with that. The worst thing about this game is that if you’re coming in fresh you probably won’t have that jaw dropping moment that I spoke about having in the first 10 minutes of the game. I highly recommend that if you have not played Mass Effect 1 then you go back right now and play it. It is well worth your time and effort. Besides that Bioware does take their cover mechanic from Gears of War but before you get all up and arms it does not feel like Gears of War, there are just hints of it there.(It does use the Unreal engine, remember that) At times the cover mechanic does not work correctly or the way you want it to. Many times I have been in cover and switching weapons only to see Shepard stand up and die because my health was low. It gets annoying but not game breaking. Those are my main two problems with Mass Effect 2 but there are small things that I noticed like a sound looping bug when you’re scanning planets. The song plays but when it gets to the end you hear a small hiccup while it loops. Also just scanning planets is a very slow process. I'm not sure why they made something that I found to be very addicting (it soaked up a lot of my time) to be such a slow and painful process. But as I stated those are very small things that I picked up while playing.

Onto the good; everything and I mean everything that seemed to be a problem in Mass Effect 1 has been fixed in Mass Effect 2. From the fade in textures, to the frame rate problems it’s all fixed. This game is filled with different things for players to do. Besides the main storyline there are loads of side missions for you to accomplish, along with a plethora of different galaxies for you to visit. In each of those galaxies there are different systems and within those systems are many different planets for you to scan for ores which you will use to upgrade your ship, armor, weapons, and yourself.(More on that later) Also you might find a planet that has an anomaly on it, and that means that there is a mission available on that planet. Each planet you go to is vastly different and seems like they could make DLC just based off of that one planet.

The inventory system, the one that so many people had problems with, is now more streamlined. I personally missed the clutter because that made me feel like I was playing a RPG. Having a ton of items everywhere made me feel good about what I was doing.(Strangely) But for those who hated the inventory system, it’s gone. You choose you’re weapons at the start of each mission and if you want to add things like incendiary ammo or cryo ammo to your bullets you have to unlock that ability. As far as upgrading your armor and weapons goes, you have to find the upgrades during different missions and upgrade them when you’re on the ship. This is where scanning planets come into play. The elements that are found on those planets are used to upgrade those different things not your credits.

The way the story is laid out for the player is amazing. The player has a choice in everything that happens. When you’re building your team each and every mission that you’re doing is engaging. Once you recruit a member to your team it’s your choice if you want to gain their loyalty, trust me you do. Each and every member’s loyalty mission is just as good if not better then the mission taken to gain them. These mission play a vital role in how the end of the game will look for you.

The way that you actually play the game has changed as well, and for the better. The slower pace of Mass Effect 1 is long gone and the fast paced shooting of Mass Effect 2 is in. With the ability to map three different powers to a key on the controller as well as one power for each of your teammates is great. Now you can actually feel like the Vanguard or Adept that you wanted to be. You can fight an Asari and have one person break down her shield with Overload, another pull her towards you, then you use slam to throw her up against the ceiling then onto the floor. All that can be done without entering into the power wheel at all. That alone blew my mind, the power that is displayed by Commander Shepard and his crew is outstanding.

This game simply put is amazing and worthy of all the hype around it. If you didn’t like the first game play the second game. If you played the first game you HAVE to play the second game. Every thing has been improved and I’m curious to see how and what Bioware is going to do for the third. Until then I hope that they give us better DLC then what they have done for Mass Effect 1. The masterminds at Bioware have done it again, they created a bench mark game for all third person shooter games to look at and think we have to hit that mark. Developers are going to say “you know the first 10 minutes of Mass Effect 2? I want that feel” for the introduction or even endings of their games. Now excuse me while I feed my scanning planets addiction.