Meizu MX4

The Chinese manufacturers are expected to continue their onslaught this year and Meizu is one of the new kids on the block in Malaysia. Already, this particular vendor has begun selling the MX4 here and will be bringing in its MX4 Pro sometime this year as well. While Meizu might be a new name for many, for those of us in the ICT news reporting line and a few others who hunt the Internet for their next gadget, it’s a brand that these few would have been aware of. In fact, I knew of it since my days in college. The thing is, Meizu had primarily been a manufacturer of MP3 players back then. However, it now has smartphones too and, thus, it’s appropriate the Meizu MX4 has come in for a hands-on this month.

MSI GT80 Titan SLI 2QE

Let's be honest, no one cares about the preamble for this review. What you really want to know is if the MSI GT80 Titan (GT80 Titan) is the best thing that's ever happened to gaming notebooks. So let's get right into it - here's the GT80 Titan in all its monstrous glory.

DO YOU EVEN LIFT?

First things first, the GT80 Titan is obscenely huge. Weighing in at 4.5kg and being just as thick as eight tablets stacked on top of each other, this notebook is a true blue desktop replacement. To complement its size, the power-brick itself weighs a full kilo and is bigger than a 300 page paperback novel. Guess that is why big things come in pairs. I had to bring this thing into office on two separate occasions and the trip from the office to the basement parking lot (and vice versa) is ridiculously tiring.

Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro

Yo, check out this phone from Lenovo! Sorry, that came out of nowhere. But really, the team likes the stuff Lenovo sends us most of the time. In November last year, I attended the launch of the Vibe X2 in KL and yet the one I had really been interested in is the Vibe Z2 Pro. Well, here it is!

DEVICE OF STEEL

How to describe the Vibe Z2 Pro? ‘Sleek’ comes to mind. Housed in a smooth brushed aluminium unibody, the chilled touch of this smartphone feels great in my hands though it may feel a tad too big for smaller ones. The titanium coloured unit I had for review looks amazing too and shows that when it comes to design, Lenovo nailed it with this one. If there’s one thing that detracts from it, I’d say the mini-screws over the panel - where the 16MP rear-facing camera is enclosed in - are just a tad unsightly. However, I’m sure there are people who would like the mechanical appearance.

Razer Leviathan

When it comes to brand association, Razer is truly known for its gaming peripherals and new ventures into the multimedia space. However, one particular system caught the attention of a different kind as the sleek brand moves into the audiophile space. First, there was the Adaro line for audiophile headset enthusiasts and now Razer moves deeper into the sound scape with its newly launched Razer Leviathan Soundbar.

Revolution Number Ten

Ian McGurren takes a look at the Windows Phone 10 preview

Microsoft is in a strange place at the moment. No more is it the world's biggest technology company (even combined with Google, its market cap is less than Apple's), its current OS has been a comparative failure, the Xbox One's gestation has veered from bad to even worse before righting itself a little, and Windows Mobile hasn't troubled iOS, much less Android, even after MS took up the manufacturing mantle. It's odd, then, that in critical terms, Microsoft is entering a much more favourable phase. Windows 8.1 was warmly welcomed by many and praised for its under-appreciated innovation. The flood of exceptionally cheap Atombased Windows tablets has become hard to ignore, and Windows Phone is finally being seen as its own unique platform and not just Redmond's way of not towing the line. Coupled with Android and iOS becoming a little stale in many eyes after five years, the time for Windows Phone 10 could be just right.

Remembering… The BBS

David Hayward worryingly enjoys the sound of a modem a little too much

Long before Facebook or Twitter or any other social media, the limited internet population communicated through bulletin board systems.

Each BBS was really just a server sat somewhere, usually in a university, that ran a front-end for users to dial into. Once connected, the user would be able to upload and download any stored programs, catch up on news through the various message boards and send each other private or public messages.

It all depended on the system in place and what modules were loaded in to the server. For example, the BBS I recall fondly was the Airedale BBS at Trinity and All Saints University just outside of Leeds. It was a small, locally run BBS with a Teletext-like front-end and access to various university resources, as well as local information and more mainstream PC-related downloads.

Heroes of the Storm

When Blizzard first revealed ‘Blizzard DotA’ to the public along with StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty, it had been more to show off the StarCraft 2 Map Editor. However, the crowd at that year’s BlizzCon, which is where the concept video aired, really loved the idea. The guys behind the concept must’ve thought “Why not?” in response to the crowd’s reaction.

After a few more BlizzCons and some franchise disputes with Valve for the name of ‘DotA’, Blizzard revealed that the proper name of this idea will bear the title: Heroes of the Storm (HotS). This all took place on and before 17 October 2013. In this review, I’ll be giving you all a sneak peek of the game and what one can expect.

The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth

Once upon a time, indie game developers Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl developed a game called The Binding of Isaac (BoI). It is literally based off the Biblical story where God tests Abraham’s faith through the requirement of sacrificing his son, Isaac. The game - eventually - got so popular that fans are demanding for more. This resulted in the Wrath of the Lamb expansion, and needless to say, fans of the game are crying out for the developers to continue. Seeing a great opportunity to rebuild the game, Edmund decided to make a sequel/reboot of the original, leading to the creation of The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth.

The lowdown on the Nikon D5500

The Nikon D5500 was released at the beginning of February, but people have already been anticipating and talking about it for a while now. Will it be an upgrade from other Nikon models, and if so, how much will change? What will it be able to do? And-most importantly—who is its target market, and will it be a good camera for you? Today we’ll consider these questions and give a general overview of Nikon’s newest mid-range DSLR.