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'Apex Legends' Old Ways trailer shows off its town takeover mode
Respawn has shared a new gameplay trailer that details what Apex Legends players can expect when tomorrow’s the Old Ways event starts. You’ll be able to obtain these through Apex’s direct purchase shop a new prize track.
‘Apex Legends' brings back duos and Kings Canyon permanently
The next Apex Legends event is about to get underway and while that might only last for a few weeks, Respawn is bringing back a couple of key features on a permanent basis. The original Kings Canyon map will join the current World's Edge arena on rotation after it recently popped back up for a limited time. Meanwhile, the duos mode that debuted last fall is returning for good alongside the original trios option. They'll both come back on April 7th.
Samsung unveils a quartet of Android smartphones for the budget crowd
Not everyone can justify splurging on a powerhouse phone like the Galaxy S5, and Samsung clearly knows it -- the tech firm just unveiled four Android KitKat handsets for frugal types. The Galaxy Core II (shown here) is the standout of the bunch, although it's a curious case of taking two steps forward and one step back. While it has a larger 4.5-inch (if still WVGA) screen and a much faster quad-core 1.2GHz processor, it also drops from 1GB to 768MB of RAM and cuts the built-in storage in half, to 4GB. Thank goodness there's a microSD card slot, or that storage could get cramped very quickly.
Breakfast Topic: Do you play WoW with a family member?
I have two duos going right now. I'm playing a mistweaver with The Spousal Unit's brewmaster and I'm playing a windwalker with The Spawn's frost mage. Both are good times but very different. My daughter and I are leveling very slowly. We stop to smell every peacebloom and sometimes the only questing we get done are the Ironforge cooking and fishing dailies. But we're having a great time tooling around on my two-seater rocket and generally being silly. The duo with The Spousal Unit is completely different. We're speeding through dungeons on our monk experience buffs and he's definitely a GOGOGOer. I prefer a slower pace -- enough to actually see my surroundings rather than just running from place to place watching health bars. But he wants to get through as many instances as possible in a session. This has led to some discord, but for the most part we are happily GOGOGOing. Are you playing with a significant other, sibling, parent, or child? Or are you the lone WoW player in your family? Or do you purposely not play with family because of possible out-of-game drama being brought in game or vice versa? The family that plays together stays together? Maybe? Let us know.
Drama Mamas: The case of the disagreeing duo
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. The duo in the letter disagrees and so does our Drama Mamas duo. Hello Drama Mamas! I recently moved in with my boyfriend, Sam, who I dated long distance for two years. I have never been happier! As you know, sometimes certain things that weren't a problem when long distance can become big ugly problems when living together. When we were long distance, Sam and I made several WoW pairs together, so we could play and be together and have fun. Almost all of those pairs have me tanking (because I love leading and tanking and fast queues keep us entertained) and some of these pairs have him healing me as I tank. All too often tanks are treated poorly. I understand that tanks may not seem necessary when leveling, but I wish more DPS would understand that many tanks find proper tanking fun, and so pulling ahead and ripping aggro can be an act of outright funsucking.
Samsung Galaxy S Duos goes official: launches in Europe next month
Aside from that minor labeling at the top, the Galaxy S Duos appears to be trading heavily on the looks of Samsung's latest flagship. That said, it does have its own trick; space for two SIMs. The phone will be able to keep both SIMs running concurrently, with the ability to chat on Carrier A while still fielding incoming calls on Carrier B. The rest of the hardware is less likely to wow, with a now pretty humble 1GHz processor, 1,500mAh battery, 4GB of built-in storage and a five-megapixel camera on the back. The screen seems big enough, with a 4-inch 480 x 800 TFT housed within the 120g frame, happily running Android 4.0. A European launch is pitched for September, with an unspecified roll-out "across other territories" following soon after.
Samsung Galaxy S Duos details make the rounds, bring Galaxy S III vibe to the dual-SIM world
Fans of Samsung's Duos phones wanting 2012 updates have had to make do with last year's looks so far. From what's surfacing through multiple Indian sites, though, Samsung must want to spread some of the Galaxy S III's modern, nature-influenced style to the Duos' twin-SIM audience. The Galaxy S Duos S7562 won't make its bigger sibling jealous with a 4-inch WVGA display, a 1GHz Snapdragon MSM7227A chip or 512MB of RAM, but they're not the point. As always, the highlight is that pair of SIM slots for carrying both home and work phone lines -- or simply mixing and matching prepaid plans. The rest of the hardware falls in line with what's likely to be a much less expensive smartphone, including a 5-megapixel back camera, a VGA front camera and 4GB of storage. Buyers will be glad to know that Android 4.0 should still be coming along for the ride in addition to that stone-inspired look. We've asked Samsung for more official details; there's talk of an Indian launch before the end of the summer, which (if true) could give the crowds in Bangalore and Mumbai more to look forward to in the fall than just cooler temperatures.
Samsung GT-S3752 Duos gets snapped with dedicated ChatON button by Mr. Blurrycam
If SammyHub's blurrycam tipster is to believed, Samsung will soon be swelling its Duos line of dual-sim handsets with the (purported) GT-S732 you see before you. Presumably, the feature phone will sit at the floor of any pricing table since it's packing a meager 2-megapixel camera, 2.4-inch display and a 1,000mAh battery. Notably the handset includes a WiFi radio, which puts us in mind of a messaging-centric handset -- which explains the presence of a dedicated ChatON button beneath the screen. We'll keep our ears to the ground to find out if it's likely to make an appearance on these shores -- but we won't get our hopes up.
DCUO's Battle for Earth pack spells the final confrontation with Braniac
The confrontation between Brainiac and the world's most superpowered figures is coming to a head, as SOE announced that a final confrontation with DC Universe Online's premier villain will take place in the game's third DLC pack. Titled The Battle for Earth, the pack will pit players against Brainiac's final avatar, the Avatar of Magic, during a raid on Wonder Woman's home of Themyscira. To assist players with this new raid, SOE is arming superheroes with the game's ninth powerset: Earth Powers. Earth-using heroes can excel at both tanking and damage by using earthquakes and constructs to bring the pain to enemies. The core of the pack's storyline will lead players through the struggles against Brainiac as he creates Prime Avatars to conquer the world. The Battle for Earth DLC pack also includes an invasion in South Gotham, another raid, duos, and a Courthouse Alert. SOE says that the DLC pack is coming "soon" and will be included for Legendary members or available to purchase for Premium and free players. You can check out screenshots from the pack in the gallery below. [Source: SOE press release] %Gallery-128108%
Samsung intros trifecta of Galaxy Duos in India, new Ace included
Sammy isn't taking its foot off the handset-making accelerator anytime soon. The company announced it's bringing three of its galactic machines along for an Indian ride, and while we'd previously met the dual-SIM packin' pair, the Galaxy Ace Duos is seeing life for the first time in its double-threat form. Sporting the same 832MHz CPU as its siblings, as well as a 3.5-inch display, 1650mAh battery and GSM / CDMA capabilities, the newcomer isn't much more powerful, but at least offers more screen real estate and an extra pinch of juice to get you through the day. All members of the family are rockin' Gingerbread and will start off at around $212 for the Y Duos and its Pro variant. As for the Ace, a mere $324 will let you unleash its GSM / CDMA powers.
Breakfast Topic: Guilt by association
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. I like to think that I'm a good hunter. I show up to raids on time at least 90 percent of the time, I do my best to bring my flasks and food, I keep my gear properly gemmed and enchanted, I research all encounters, and I do very respectable DPS. But despite all of this, I am not recognized by how good of a player I am. Instead, I am recognized "by association." My best friend is a restoration druid, and he is damn good at what he does. This, of course, means that he gets invites everywhere to various guilds or raids, and I'm simply tagging along as his DPS -- the guy who gets into the guild or raid by association. It isn't all bad, of course. He and I do everything in game together, and we make a pretty good team, so if continuing to stick around with him means staying in his shadow, then that's OK with me. Of course, the problem with being "by association" is how it is taken with others. If my best friend is promoted to an officer, he's going to share everything with me, so I am promoted. "By association." If guild leadership gets too many complaints about his behavior as an officer (which I never found out of line), it would be unfair to still have me as an officer, so I am demoted. "By association." If he leaves a guild over a dispute with guild leadership, I'm kicked out of the guild. "By association." And one time, he was kicked from a guild because he was defending me against some smack-talkers. Guess who also got kicked out? "By association." So, fellow readers, do any of you live in the shadow of another? Or do you cast that shadow? Do you ever wish you could find a way out?
Drama Mamas: Tips on getting wife back into WoW
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at dramamamas@wow.com. Before I show you the letter this week, I'm going to fully disclose my sympathies here. First of all, I can't stand high-maintenance players. Questions about things? Yes, please. But "ne1 help me?" over and over (particularly if it's something above your level) means a polite warning followed by a gkick if not heeded -- also mockery about the use of "ne1." Ask once for help on something and if no one answers, it's not that they didn't hear you. It's not that they are mean and unhelpful. It means they are too busy with their own fun to help you at this time. On the other hand, I totally feel the pain of being married to someone with a different playstyle. The Spousal Unit is an accomplished raider. I'm an altoholic casual who is increasingly more and more RP-curious. We used to have wonderful times playing SWG and CoH together. But we have rarely been able to match up our playstyles since we moved to Azeroth. Mostly I blame him, fairly or unfairly, because he won't make a WoW duo with me. Jack and Jane Blaze were so fun! /sigh But it takes two to tango. And if he would rather go line dancing with his raider buddies, then I either need to get a pair of purple cowboy boots or see if I have better success convincing him to do the hustle. Tired of dancing around the drama? Then turn the page.
WoW, Casually: Sick and tired
Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player with limited playtime. Of course, you people with lots of playtime can read this too, but you may get annoyed by the fact that we are unashamed, even proud, of the fact that beating WoW isn't our highest priority. Take solace in the fact that your gear is better than ours, but if that doesn't work, remember that we outnumber you. Not that that's a threat, after all, we don't have time to do anything about it. But if WoW were a democracy, we'd win. I'm crabby. I'm crabby because I'm sick. This snowballs into being crabby because nothing is comfortable and crabby because I'm not spending as much time completing the holidays as I would like and crabby because I can't seem to get enough sleep. I'm also crabby because the rest of my family is crabby because they're sick too. Crabby! So this week, instead of consulting The List, I am going to crabbily give tips for playing sick and/or sleep deprived. This advice will be good for new parents, those suffering from this evil cold my family has, and those that are trying to squeeze some play in between long work/study sessions. I bet it will help other situations, too. I don't know. I don't care. See above for why.
Oh, by the way: August 4, 2009
Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of mobile for Tuesday, August 4th, 2009: Following the G'zOne C731 Rock, Casio's C741 Brigade for Verizon has nabbed FCC clearance. Not much is known about the phone -- we can assume it'll be ruggedized to one degree or another -- but one interesting tidbit is the inclusion of VCAST TV support, something Verizon's been getting lax on as of late. [Via PhoneArena] Have you seen a white / silver Samsung i7500 Galaxy? Now you have. [Thanks, Ruben W.] China's regulatory peeps have had the good fortune of seeing a couple new Philips Xeniums in their midst, a K700 full touch model and an X501 candybar. Philips has yet to announce either unit, but you can bet they'll last until the next ice age on a single charge. [Via Unwired View] Microsoft's MSDN -- its official developer network -- has published a case study on porting an iPhone app to Windows Mobile. A year ago, you'd have been more likely to see case studies going in the other direction, but, you know, times are changing. [Via Tweakers.net] Digia put together a nice little web browser for UIQ called @Web, but then UIQ sorta went away -- so they're back at it again, this time on S60 5th Edition in beta form. S60 does a decent job browsing out of the gate, but @Web's got some interesting UI elements that might make it worth a look. [Via All About Symbian] We don't see much of it in the States, but Samsung's got a whole brand -- DuoS -- for dual-SIM capable handsets. Mobil.cz has dug up a new model in the series, a low-end candybar dubbed C3212 that'll run the equivalent of around $195 and go on sale in Russia later this summer before expanding to other European markets. [Via Mobile Phone Helpdesk] Value brand Cricket is adding yet more value to its unlimited voice plans that start at a bargain-basement $40. The $40 price point now includes web access; $45 gets you unlimited email, backup, and 30 roaming minutes a month, and $55 ups the roaming to 200 minutes.
Samsung's dual-SIM B5702, now mega-official
Dual SIM support still isn't a big deal in most of Europe and North America, but in Russia -- where the new B5702 is launching, among other places, in May -- having two lines at your immediate disposal seems to be a headlining feature. The leaked B5702 is now fully official, offering a 3 megapixel camera, quadband EDGE, QVGA display, FM radio with RDS, built-in document viewer including Office and PDF (kinda unique for a dumbphone), and microSD expansion up to 8GB. Unlike some dual-SIM devices, the B5702 utilizes both cards simultaneously; two LEDs indicate which line is being used by incoming calls, and a button on the side allows users to hot-swap active lines without restarting the phone. Just don't mix up "Boss" and "Sweetie" on the speed dials, alright?
Samsung's Ego S9402 launching for way too much in Russia
Man, it's crazy to see what flies as a "luxury phone" these days. The altogether vanilla looking Ego S9402 fittingly feels pretty darn good about itself, and while twin SIM card slots, a Bang & Olufsen sound processor and a 2-inch QVGA AMOLED display are nice inclusions, we're still wondering what we've missed that would justify the 48,990 rubles ($1,543) price tag. Who knows, maybe it's the 5 megapixel camera, metallic casing or the Russian exclusivity. Yeah, definitely the latter.[Via UnwiredView]
Samsung Ego GT-S9402 luxury phone shames the word "luxury"
We've got a bone (or three) to pick with this one, so we'll just get right down to the beating. For starters, anyone who can't recognize the striking similarity between this handset and Vertu's Ferrari Ascent Ti is obviously wearing Samsung-tinted glasses. Aside from the complete lack of originality, the Ego GT-S9402 also lacks a 3G radio -- an omission that's simply inexcusable given the estimated €1,200 ($1,513) price tag. Oh sure, there's a measly 1GB of inbuilt storage, tri-band GSM connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera (with LED flash), an FM radio module, Bluetooth 2.0, dual SIM slots and a microSDHC expansion slot, but for over a G, we expect something more than mid-range specifications in a "liquidmetal" alloy chassis. Color us emphatically unimpressed.[Via UnwiredView]
Samsung throws two SIM slots in beefy S9402 DuoS
Just in case Samsung has yet to create a dual SIM DuoS handset that really struck your fancy, here's yet another to consider: the S9402. Expected to boast a luxurious outfit (and matching price tag, we imagine), this here candybar will tout a 2-inch QVGA AMOLED display, an all-metal frame, 1GB of internal memory, a microSDHC card slot, Bluetooth 2.0, USB connectivity, FM tuner, a 5-megapixel camera (with video mode) and a complete lack of 3G support. Word has it that it'll be launched first in Russia, though we suspect surrounding nations won't have to wait too long to indulge.
Samsung intros twelve (yes, twelve) phones at IFA
IFA typically isn't considered the strongest show in the mobile world, which Samsung apparently saw as an opportunity to grab just a little more spotlight than it'd normally have. Okay, maybe "a little more spotlight" is an understatement, seeing how it trotted out no fewer than a dozen handsets at the show -- and granted, none of them are groundbreaking taken alone, but the collective ends up making for a mighty showing. Highlights include the S7330 slider, featuring a Soul-like display in the d-pad; the rumored D980 DUOS which adds an extra SIM slot to the F480's design language; the music-centric M3510 Beat; and this here beast of a phone, the B2700, looking like it's more than ready to take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. Overall, we would've liked to have seen a little more high-end fare in the mix, but we'll take it.
Samsung F480 + second SIM = D988 for China
Call it Tocco in the UK, Player Style in France, and now, you can call it dual SIM capable in China. The F480 has been morphed (more or less, anyway) into the D988 for the Chinese market, a place where a good percentage of the mobile populace enjoys having a pair of wireless accounts at the ready. It carries over the 5 megapixel autofocus camera, too; bring back the 3G that's missing here and release it as a Europe-ready DuoS model, Samsung, and you might have a global winner on your hands.[Via Unwired View]
