PlayStation 4 Overview

The PlayStation 4 has finally been announced, so we have decided to break down what is known about the console thus far.

The DualShock 4

Replacing the DualShock 3, the DualShock 4 has a few new features meant to tightly integrate the social aspect of gaming with some of your favorite social platforms. There is now a 'Share' button, a headphone jack, and a touch pad. The addition of the touch pad will feel familiar to those who own a PlayStation Vita, but seeing how they integrate it with games will still be interesting. The DualShock 4 also has Bluetooth 2.1, Sixaxis, rumble, and a micro-USB port. 

Tightly Integrated Social Interaction

When Sony revealed the PlayStation 4, they stated you will be able to share the last few minutes of your gameplay just by pushing the 'Share' button on the controller. By doing this you can upload screenshots or even video clips, making your content accessible to others. You will even be able to spectate and chat with others while they are playing, which is similar to what OnLive has been doing for a while now. 

What does this mean for the PlayStation Vita?

A feature that Sony announced that isn't too surprising is the ability to use the Vita as a second screen via remote play. It sounded somewhat similar to the Nintendo Wii U, but unfortunately there has yet to be any gameplay showing off this feature. This could be huge for the Vita, as it has struggled with sales over the past year. This might give consumers another reason to finally pick one up.

Gaikai and Streaming Games

Gaikai was bought out by Sony last year for $380 million dollars. Finally, we will get to experience the full potential of cloud gaming on a console. Not only will Gaikai be used to help implement to social features of the PlayStation 4, but it might also pave the way for backwards compatibility between the PS4, PS3, and earlier versions of the PlayStation   I'm sure many of you are aware of the rumors that the PlayStation   will not be backwards compatible with PlayStation 3 games, but Gaikai may make this a non-issue.  

Mobile Devices?

For months now, Sony has been workings towards making their content available everywhere, and using their slogan of 'gaming on the go' to promote the Vita. Now it seems as though this slogan will be able to be used for tablets, and phones as well. There wasn't much detail as to what type of content will actually be available on mobile devices, but we have already seen certain PlayStation  games on Sony Tablets, such as PS1 classics like Crash Bandicoot and Cool Boarders. It wouldn't be surprising if Sony uses Gaikai to help stream even Triple-A titles to mobile devices, which would bring a whole new aspect of gaming to phones and tablets.

Announced Games

• Killzone: Shadowfall
• InFamous: Second Son
• Deep Down
• Driveclub
• Diable 3
• Destiny - Pathways Out of Darkness
• The Witness
• Final Fantasy (? unannounced title)
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• Watch Dogs
• Knack
• Star Wars 1313

Check out the video below to see a montage of gameplay on the Playstation 4!

Read more »

The Best Android Tablets

We decided to compile a short list of some of the best Android tablets available to you right now. From $200 to $500, we give you plenty of options to find the right tablet to suit your needs.

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700

The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 definitely sets new standards when it comes to the tablet market. It features a 10.1-inch display with full HD at 1920 x 1200. This high resolution makes it look amazing, and the tablet design itself is very elegant. It's battery life is about 9.5 hours, which is a bit less compared to tablets such as the Kindle Fire HD, or the Infinity's predecessor. It has a front 2MP camera, and an 8MP camera on the back. Overall, the Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is stll one of the best tablets.

Google Nexus 7

The Google Nexus 7 is Google's answer to Amazon's Kindle Fire. It has a stunning 7 inch LED backlight display, and runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). One interesting feature is that the home screen is fixed in portrait mode, while most android tablets seem to focus on landscape mode. It has a front 1.2MP camera,

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is one of the best tablets to date for taking notes with a stylus. With a 10.1" display, using the custom S Pen Stylus makes note taking, sketching, and annotating easier than ever. It has a very sleek design, and comes with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) out of the box. Along with its built in storage space, you can add on a 32gb or 64gb SD card, ensuring you will never run out of space.


If you already have a tablet, which one? Which tablet for 2013 are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more »

Headphones for everyone

Whether you own an iPhone, iPod or any other type of MP3 player, you know how awful the quality of the stock headphones can be.  One of the first upgrades you should consider when purchasing an MP3 player is new headphones.  In this article, I'll outline 3 different headphones for 3 different budgets.  Whether you are a hardcore music enthusiast, or you're just looking for something to wear to the gym, there's something out there for everyone.

Option 1: The basics

The first option is an excellent pair of ear buds from Sony.  The Sony MDREX10LP/BLK In-Ear Headphones are comfortable, durable, and provide excellent sound quality for under $11.  I have personally owned 2 pairs so far, and while they eventually frayed (to be honest, I put them through the washing machine) they were absolutely excellent while they worked.  The first pair lasted over 9 months and I'm still running my current pair for general use (i.e. exercise, walking to class, studying, etc.).  The Sonys provide excellent sound quality with deep bass and detailed overall sound quality.  They aren't the best for sound isolation, but for $11, they perform admirably.



Option 2: Mid-range
Next up are Koss's PATHFINDRW Lightweight earbuds.  They are slightly different from the usual earbud, as the insert is made of an earplug-like material.  As a result, the noise cancellation is very good for such a cheap pair of headphones.  Unfortunately, I found the insert got pretty dirty pretty quick.  However, the PATHFINDRW's had fantastic sound quality and are perfect for someone looking for a good pair of headphones for studying or activities where you need a decent amount of noise cancellation, but won't be moving around much.



Option 3: Studio Quality
Last but certainly not least I'd recommend the Audio Technica ATH-M50 Studio Monitor over-ear headphones.  At almost $150, they are certainly the priciest of the 3.  In fact, for those of you who are familiar with the headphone market, they are quite comparable to the Bose QuietComfort 15's.  However, at a list price of $299.99 from Amazon.com, they are over twice as expensive as the ATH-M50's.  Are they worth twice as much?  Having used both for an extended period of time, I would say no.  I purchased the Audio Technica's last year as an escape from the torrent of noise created by my 3 college roommates.  I was immediately blown away by the quality of construction and materials - they are some of the nicest looking headphones I've seen.  In addition, a nice leather carrying case and a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter are included.  The first test I did was a comparison between my basic Sony earbuds (same one's as above) and the ATH-M50's.  Utilizing the exact same EQ settings on my HTC Design running Poweramp media player, there was no comparison.  Combined with the EQ functionality of Poweramp and the sound quality of the ATH's, I was hearing layers of music I'd never known was there!  They are hands down the finest sounding headphones I've ever owned or listened with.

I would highly recommend to anyone serious about their music that they research ripping their music into a lossless format such as FLAC or ALAC to take full potential of their headphone investment.  Trust me - you will never go back to MP3s or other compressed formats.

Do you have any headphone recommendations?  Questions about music formats or headphones in general?  Feel free to post up!

Read more »

Bing vs Google

I've been having many discussions lately about which search engine people prefer, and the unanimous choice each time has been Google. So over here at Monkey Hacks we decided to try the Bing It On challenge. I'm sure many of you are away of the recent Reddit AMA with Bill Gates, and someone asked him if he really uses Bing..

It's hard not to believe Bill Gates sometimes, so we decided to check out Bing for ourselves and see if it really does have a chance against Google. Here are our initial thoughts:

The Homepage

We started by navigating to bing.com, and notice right away that it is definitely a prettier site than what Google has put together. 

There is also more social interaction involved with Bing if you connect your Facebook account with it, as you will not only have your normal search results, but a side tab of social results displaying relevant (or irrelevant.. ) things your friends have to say about the topic you just searched (binged?). But the real question we want to know is, how do their search results compare against those from Google? Even the word Google has become part of our everyday vocabulary, so how can Microsoft expect us to simply start using Bing instead? This is where the challenge comes in. 

Bing It On

If you head over to bingiton.com, you can participate in a challenge where you search for 5 things, and each time both results from Google and Bing get displayed. You don't know which results are which, so you pick the one you like more. At the end, you get to see whether you preferred Bing or Google. 

Round One: "android transformer"

In this first round, we searched android transformer. Here is what we see:

We chose the results on the left simply because we can see reviews and ratings right away, and for the fact that Asus' site is sitting right at the top for us to click. We did like that right side had images, but we were more interested in seeing reviews and learning about the product itself.

We picked: Left

Round Two: "ouya specs"

In this round we searched ouya specs with hopes that one of the top links would give us all the information we need.

The results were extremely close, so we had to call this one a draw. Both sides had some of the same pages, and in general, we couldn't decide without actually clicking into the links. So for this round, we give it a draw.

We picked: Draw

Round Three: "steam box"

We searched steam box (Valve's game console) with hopes to find relevant release date information, its specs, etc.

This round also provided very similar results, and a couple that weren't even related to Valve's Steam Box. We chose the results on the left because if you look at the dates for the articles on both sides, the left side has results only from 2013, while the right side has results dating back to May of last year. While this is inherently a bad thing, our concern would be that the information last year could be quite outdated now and not even be relevant anymore. 

We picked: Left

Round Four: "monkeys"

This round was simple. We searched monkeys, and wanted to see results showing images of monkeys.

The clear winner was the left side once again. It provided multiple image and video results which is exactly what we wanted to see.

We picked: Left

Final Round: "cloud storage comparison"

In the final round we searched cloud storage comparison. The results were close, but we did end up picking one of them.

We decided to go with the results on the right because all of the top links pertained to comparing different services, while we noticed one on the left (the fourth link down) appeared to only be talking about the file size limit of SkyDrive. We saw no keywords comparing against another service.

We picked: Right

Final Results of the Bing It On Challenge

Well it looks like Google is our winner. Bing was only able to come out with one victory, but many of the results were very difficult for us to pick. You also have to keep in mind that this challenge is disregarding all social results that Google and Bing have, which are both important factors to each search engine. So although we didn't pick Bing in the end, we don't believe it is too far behind Google. Even if Bing were to have the better engine, the problem will be convincing everyone to stop using Google and start using Bing. 

So what do you think? Which search engine do you prefer? Try the challenge yourself at bingiton.com.

Read more »

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 8

If you are using Windows 8 on a laptop or desktop, then you already know that navigating throughout the new interface can be difficult compared to using a touchscreen. Luckily, there are many keyboard shortcuts that make using Windows 8 easier then ever. Checkout the list below for shortcuts to make your Windows 8 experience even easier.

1. Windows+C brings up the charms menu instantly.
2. Windows+X brings up various Windows tools, such as Control Panel, Device Manager, Command Prompt, File Explorer, Task Manager and more.
3. Windows+D switches to desktop mode.
4. Windows+I shows the Settings for the currently open app. 
5. Windows+PrtSc takes a screenshot and saves it to the Screenshots subfolder in the Pictures folder.
6. Windows+F opens the search menu to search files.
7. Windows+E opens the File Explorer to show the classic "My Computer".
8. Windows+. snaps the current application to either the right or the left of the screen.
9. Windows+Q brings up the apps search menu where you are able to search for programs you have installed.
10. Windows+Z brings up the menu for the current app. 
11. Windows+H will bring up the Share menu for the current app (you cannot share within every app).
12. Windows+Tab cycles through your active apps.

If you are interested in upgrading, you can purchase an upgrade here: Microsoft Windows 8 Pro - Upgrade


More shortcuts that you find particularly useful? Let everyone know in the comments below! 

Read more »

Why You Should Use f.lux

If you use a computer at night, chances are you should be using f.lux.  F.lux is free software that, after giving it your location and the lighting around your computer, will automatically remove the bright blue glow from your screen at night.  It senses the time of day based on your location and will make your computer dimmer and more yellow-tinted at night.  The blue light level in computer monitors has been known to keep you awake, so if you use your computer right before bed I highly recommend using this program.

f.lux settings

This program is so useful because computer light is designed to look good during the day.  It gives off levels of light that look good in a room lit up by the sun, which at night appears far too bright and blue.  F.lux will give your screen a darker yellowish tinge that is consistent with the lighting level around your computer at night, which strains the eyes less and is highly configurable.  F.lux includes the option to disable it for an hour, as well as being able to turn it off by closing f.lux.  The best part of f.lux is that it always runs in the background and you won't even notice it, unless you disable it at night and your eyes are met with a blinding blue-white light.  I recommend f.lux to every computer user.

(Homepage image from flickr.com/people/jurvetson/)

Read more »

OUYA: The Android Game Console

OUYA, the Android based game console is set for launch this coming June, and there is a quite a bit of discussion as to the extent OUYA will affect the console competition. Back when OUYA was still a Kickstarter, it received more than $8.5 million in funding. There are already multiple game publishers lined up to deliver content, including Square Enix and NAMCO Bandai. OUYA CEO and creator, Julie Uhrman has promised that there will be games of all genres, such as shooters, platformers, arcade games, sports games, and indie games. She hopes that by combining a console format with the easily accessible open mobile SDKs, OUYA will help all developers and individual hackers "bring their craft to the world."

What Gamers can Expect

Costing only $99, OUYA will have a Tegra 3 quad core processor, which is comparable to recent smartphones. The main difference now, is that you can put a controller in your hand, and view the games on a large screen. It will have apps, music streaming capabilities, entertainment apps, and more. OUYA's official site currently says its partners include VEVO, iheartradiom TuneIn, XBMX, Plex, Twitch.tx, and OnLive.

The partnership made last summer with OnLive is one that will be particularly interesting to see how the service gets integrated into the console. The market of cloud gaming services is still trying to find its way into the console marketplace, and OUYA may be able to help open the door. Even Sony bought out Gaikai last summer with anticipation of the rise of cloud gaming, so OUYA definitely isn't alone.


Another bonus for gamers is that all games are free-to-play, although there will be in-game items and a paid version after the free trial. You can expect to see many indie games, but also some AAA titles such as Final Fantasy III (remastered for HD graphics). There will also be some exclusives, the first of which is being developed by Robert Bowling, who helped develop some of the titles in the Call of Duty franchise. It will be a prequel to the game Human Element.

A Completely Open Gaming Console

Taking Apart OUYA

One feature about OUYA that has many people excited is the fact that it is completely open. This means that any developer can make games for OUYA without paying any kind of fee, including licensing, retail, publishing, etc. OUYA is a development kit itself, and anyone with one has the potential to develop their own games for it. Because of this, you can definitely expect to see content being delivered not only from game developers, but also from any hacker out there with the time and skills needed to create their own content.

The custom OUYA SDK is literally built right on top of the standard Android platform. Anyone who designs their own games can choose where to price their product, as long as the initial download is free. As the creators of OUYA state, "OUYA is built to be hacked." You can root the device, open it up, add on your own peripherals, and more, all without voiding your warranty.

Technical Specifcations

Console

• Tegra 3 Quad Core Processor
• 1 GB LPDDR2 RAM
• 8 GB internal flash storage
• HDMI capabilities
• WiFi capable
• Bluetooth LE 4.0
• Ethernet port
• Micro USB port

Controller

• Wireless controller with 2.4Ghz RF
• Standard game controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, system button)
• Touchpad, for porting mobile games more easily
• 2x AA batteries

OS and Software

• Android 4.0
• Custom TV UI
• Integrated custom game store - users can search for and download games and apps
• SDK included for game development
• Ability to root device without voiding the warranty

If you are interested in picking up an OUYA, Amazon is now accepting pre-orders (Coming June 2013).

Check out the OUYA Kickstarter promo video below!

So what are your thoughts on OUYA? Will you be picking one up? How about developing your own content? Let us know in the comments below.

Read more »