There’s no doubt about it: Android is insanely popular. Even if you fall into the Apple, Microsoft, or Blackberry camp, 1 billion active users is an incredibly respectable number. That’s almost a seventh of the earth’s population, assuming roughly one device per person. That’s crazy. Few products ever achieve such penetration. So you know that when Google takes to the stage each year to talk about the future of their mobile operating system, a lot of people pay attention (apparently even women, who according to Google were up in attendance 8% this year). So what happens when you take a product so popular, so familiar, so ubiquitous, and totally change how it looks and feels? You will make a certain unpleasable vocal minority upset, that’s for sure. But that group will usually come around after a while. What matters is that you’ve got the quiet majority on board. With the Android L Developer Preview, available as of tomorrow, June 26, does Google have a win on their hands, or does the f...

Somehow I was under the impression that virus scanners for Windows aren’t really the issue they used to be. It’s been years since I personally was infected, and generally the same is true for those I’m acquainted with. But recently I was reminded that a significant portion of PC users still don’t know how to surf the web safely, and for such people it’s just as easy to fall prey to scams and viruses today as it was five or ten years ago. Normally I address a relatively computer savvy demographic here on ThinkBoxly, but today I write for the less tech literate, or those who know a few people that would fall into that category. This is a pretty basic issue, absolutely, but that’s exactly why it needs to be laid out in no uncertain terms. So let’s go. Beware of Virus Scanners Before we go into what security and protection application you should use, first we need to go over a few things you shouldn’t. And the item at the top of that list is so important I figured it deserved its own categ...

When most people think of E3, they think of high-budget stage presentations put on by only a select few high-profile videogame and videogame hardware developers. While these are certainly very exciting and exhilarating events, there’s a lot more to E3 than just what happens on stage. In fact, some years the best games at the show also have the least amount of presence. So here’s a few of the best things at E3 2014 you didn’t see in a press conference. Virtual Reality Though not a game in itself, virtual reality had an especially strong presence at E3 this year. By now the latest iteration of Oculus is a granted for the show, but the now-Facebook-owned property wasn’t alone in a distant corner this time. Sony also joined the VR race with their PS4-exclusive Project Morpheus. Though Sony’s budget and style make Morpheus the more compelling device to look at, as the newer of the two major VR options it currently is not quite as impressive as Oculus’s offering. Sony’s VR headset doesn’t of...

I’ve said before that in recent generations each new Ubisoft game is broken somehow. The same could be said for their E3 press conferences. Granted, Ubisoft has their fans. I am admittedly not one of them. So take my word about Ubisoft for what it is–an outsider looking in once a year, hoping that Ubisoft will succeed to draw me in, pretty much universally being disappointed every time. Last year left me with an overall better impression than usual; this year was a slight step down, but not a complete tumble. First, the games. Here’s what Ubisoft had to show on-stage: Far Cry 4 Just Dance 2015 (+Just Dance Now) Tom Clancy’s The Division The Crew Assassin’s Creed: Unity Shape Up Valiant Hearts: The Great War Rainbow Six: Siege Earlier today I commented that I appreciated Microsoft’s lack of gimmicks at their stage presentation. Sadly I can’t say the same for Ubisoft. The terrible MC was back, the on-stage dancers were back, and the show started with a pointless (but admittedly pretty f...

Earlier today Microsoft took the stage to open E3 2014 with a bang. As promised, their focus was “games, games, games.” Some were not exclusively Xbox properties, but the dominant theme of the show was definitely (re)building the Xbox brand. Just take a look at the list of titles Microsoft put on display, and you’ll see what I mean: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Forza Horizon 2 Evolve Assassin’s Creed: Unity Dragon Age: Inquisition Sunset Overdrive Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha Fantasia: Music Evolved Dance Central: Spotlight Fable Legends Project Spark Ori and the Blind Forest Halo: the Master Chief Collection Inside Rise of the Tomb Raider The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Phantom Dust Tom Clancy’s The Division Scalebound Crackdown Crackdown, Sunset Overdrive, Forza, Halo—all scream ‘Xbox’, and the inclusion of popular multiplat titles doesn’t hurt its image, either. Was this push the right move for Microsoft? I think both yes and no. After Sony’s criti...