X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX
There’s a trailer for a brand new superhero movie. Of course we are interested! This time round it’s a brand new movie from the X-Men Franchise and we are very very excited by this movie. It focuses on Jean Grey. Jean is spiralling out of control and is hurting everyone around her, it is up to the X-Men to face the difficult task of taking down one they love. Making this one of our highly anticipated movies of 2019! How are they going to save the world and Jean? How are they going to find the strength to face one of thier own without letting emotion take over for the sake of the world? Who knows!? But what we know is, we definitely want to see this movie! This is X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX.
Plot
In X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX, the X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiralling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponise this force and rule the galaxy.
(20th Century Fox)
X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX
Cast: Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Jessica Chastain, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters
RELEASED IN UK CINEMAS 07 JUNE 2019
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The Division 2 – Official Year 1 Trailer
First of all, Tom Clancy’s The Division was a HUGELY successful game when it was released in March 2016, spawning a massive community in the gaming world. Now a sequel is due for release right around the corner (March 15th) and we cannot wait! The game follows a lineage much similar to the first game, but this time it’s focused in Washington DC. The game is an action shooter RPG set in an entirely open world, players are able to play in co-op or singularly. There are also PvP modes available for those who want a bit of high octane competitive action. The Division 2 also offers much more variety in missions than the first game, brand new challenges and a new progression system for players. In an effort to keep the game fresh and inviting for months and years to come.
Story
Washington D.C is demolished and in disarray, it’s on the bring of collapse. Consequently, there’s looting in the streets and tons of instability from within the city. Society is a mess, which is emphasised from the fact that there’s always rumblings of a coup. It is up to you and your Division ally’s to save the city. Like in the first game you a part of an elite Division. A Division made up of civilian agents, of whom are the last line of defence for the safety of the city. You are tasked with using the plethora of gear and skills available to take on the oncoming threat. In Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, Washington D.C is replicated in a 1:1 representation of the real city. Furthermore, you are given maps which offer up-close-and-personal views of landmarks and neighbourhoods around the city, including the enemy hideouts!
Year 1 Content
The way that Ubisoft will keep players coming back time and time again to The Division 2 will be through downloadable content. Which will be of a regular occurrence too! While, each experience is said to renew a players experience each time they load up in to the game. During the first year of the games release Ubisoft will be releasing three episodes. Episodes which will expand on the main story of The Division 2. The Episodes will be narrative driven content alongside new ways to play. All of this content during year 1 will be free to play for all players of The Division 2. Furthermore, Ubisoft will be releasing three brand new specialisations alongside the Survivalist, Demolitionist and Sharpshooter. Which are already available at the end the main story.
More info
The trailer above gives you an insight to the first year’s content. Plus will give players a look at an upcoming 8-player Raid. Below is some more information on what the Episodes will entail
- The first Episode, D.C. Outskirts: Expeditions will take you to the surrounding areas of Washington as you chase down elite members of the Outcasts and the Black Tusks and fight for the liberation of the city in new locations.
- The second Episode, Pentagon: The Last Castle will bring you to one of America’s most iconic locations to unveil what secrets lie inside this well protected maze.
- Our third Episode will conclude Year 1 of The Division 2 and pave the way for more thrilling content.
Year 1 Pass to Purchase
Those wishing to have all of the content sooner than the rest. You can pay for the Year 1 pass. Which will give players a look at the Year 1 content a lot sooner, furthermore, they will get exclusive content. Which is detailed below.
Features
-
7-Day Early Access to Episode Narrative Content
- Owners of the Pass will have a 7-day early access to the narrative content only, included in all Year 1 Episodes.
-
Instant unlock of the Year 1 Specialisation’s
- At launch, The Division 2 will include three Specialisations, instantly available to everyone when reaching max level (Level 30).
- Throughout Year 1, we will release three additional Specialisations for your agent. Year 1 Pass holders will unlock these new specialisations as soon as they’re released.
- For those who do not have the Year 1 Pass, specialisations will be released at the same time, but must be unlocked over time through gameplay.
- Year 1 Pass holders will also be able to earn exclusive cosmetic items with each Specialisation’s release.
-
Exclusive Access to Classified Assignments
- Over the course of Year 1, Pass holders will have exclusive access to 8 Classified Assignments, which will provide more story behind the events leading to your arrival in D.C.
- Completing each assignment will award you with a unique and exclusive backpack trophy to customise your Agent’s look.
-
Additional Bounties and Projects
- Bounties in The Division 2 are special tasks to eliminate specific enemy targets, while Projects are assignments to complete various tasks around D.C.
- As a Year 1 Pass holder, you will get access to one additional Bounty per week and one extra Project per day for a Challenging mission.
- This perk ends on March 1st, 2020.
-
Exclusive Cosmetic Items
- Year 1 Pass holders will get access to these exclusive rewards: the Agent Ward Outfit and the Scout emote.
(Ubisoft)
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The Division 2 – Enter The Dark Zone
First of all, Tom Clancy’s The Division was a HUGELY successful game when it was released in March 2016, spawning a massive community in the gaming world. Now a sequel is due for release right around the corner (March 15th) and we cannot wait! The game follows a lineage much similar to the first game, but this time it’s focused in Washington DC. The game is an action shooter RPG set in an entirely open world, players are able to play in co-op or singularly. There are also PvP modes available for those who want a bit of high octane competitive action. The Division 2 also offers much more variety in missions than the first game, brand new challenges and a new progression system for players. In an effort to keep the game fresh and inviting for months and years to come.
Story
Washington D.C is demolished and in disarray, it’s on the bring of collapse. Consequently, there’s looting in the streets and tons of instability from within the city. Society is a mess, which is emphasised from the fact that there’s always rumblings of a coup. It is up to you and your Division ally’s to save the city. Like in the first game you a part of an elite Division. A Division made up of civilian agents, of whom are the last line of defence for the safety of the city. You are tasked with using the plethora of gear and skills available to take on the oncoming threat. In Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, Washington D.C is replicated in a 1:1 representation of the real city. Furthermore, you are given maps which offer up-close-and-personal views of landmarks and neighbourhoods around the city, including the enemy hideouts!
The here are a range of factions that Division agents have to take on, Divisions made up of those who remain, factions of those who look to cause more harm than good:
- True Sons
- Hyenas
- Outcasts
- Black Tus
Competitive Modes
In PvP mode you explore three Dark Zones across Washington D.C. It is up to you to explore these areas of the city, whilst keeping an eye out for players looking to cause harm. In an Player vs. Environment vs. Player experiences.
Such as Skirmish: here you go head to head against other teams in a classic Team Deathmatch scenario. Domination: here you are tasked with capturing locations to claim dominance against other players, in this objective based mode.
Weapons
Weapons are highly customisable and are vital to your surivial in The Division 2. Differing weapons, armour and cosmetic options for all elements of the game is available to players. This includes things such as weapons, armour and exotic items. Some are only available to the high end players, so best get that grind on! Furthermore, those who reach the endgame have unique specialisations on offer. Allowing even further customisation!
End Game
The End Game is a feature at the end of the game which throws in some more challenges, game modes and high end rewards to further test and upgrade agents. Once an agent has reached level 30, players will have to pick a specialisation. Such as Survivalist, Demolitionist and Sharpshooter. Yet, each of the selections will unlock a unique signature weapon and additional skills.
So, much like other Ubisoft games, The Division 2 will be constantly updated and players will have access to a full year of free story-driven missions, map expansions and new game features.
(Ubisoft)
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Battle of The Super Sexes: New data shows huge gender imbalance across biggest superhero films
New research has found that there is a lack of female representation across the top 10 of the highest grossing superhero movies. Despite many of the characters women portray, posses superpowers of their own. The representation of the characters across superhero movies is low. With just under a third of the named characters portrayed are by women and the rest are by men. (77 vs 256) While, the amount of screen time that male characters get to their female characters also has a huge disparity. As 91% of the screen time is dominated by the male characters. Information gathered by Battle of the Super Sexes have compiled this detailed analysis which includes screen time, poster billing position and salary splits.
Screen Time
Their research goes even further and looks at the key gender stats from the top 10 highest grossing superhero movies. Looking at things such as screen time, number of directors and producers, named characters and movie poster billing. Furthermore to the stat above, male counterparts are seen on screen on average 13mins to a female’s 4mins. One example is in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, the main male characters are on screen for a total of 2hrs and 30mins. That’s compared to the main female characters screen time of less than 30mins. There are a total of 69 superhero’s across all of the top 10 highest grossing movies the majority are male, a staggering 52%!
Directors/Producers
This leads into the producers and directors field too. Male’s make up 75% if the combined 105 main listen producers while there are no female directors. However, despite the huge difference in numbers, the female actresses names are placed higher than the male actors. Furthermore Black Panther (2018) includes the highest amount of female characters compared to their male counterparts (16/10). While The Dark Knight Rises (2012) featured 18male characters to 3 female.
Pay
Pay was also looked at. During the Iron Man series, Gwyneth Paltrow who plays Pepper Potts, stated that she was being paid less than her male co-stars. Furthermore when asked about what the difference was is that “if I told you the disparity you would probably be surprised”. Yet it was reported that during The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Scarlett Johansson was paid the same as Chris Evans (Captain America) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor) for both movies.
For more information on this please click here: Battle of The Super Sexes.
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Samsung Galaxy S10, Fold and much more!
Samsung recently announced a bunch of new phones including a brand new foldable smartphone called the Galaxy Fold. We have a plethora of Samsung Galaxy S10 information to tell you all about, plus new wearables!
Samsung S10
So, Samsung announced a total of 4 different variations of their flagship phone this year. The Samsung Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e and the S10 5G version.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 has an Infinity-O AMOLED display, which this time round has got rid of the notch and replaced it with a keyhole design. The only thing that’s preventing the S10 to be fully screen is the camera and we’re sure that at some point in the near future we will definitely see a full screen phone.
The Samsung Galaxy S10, has a 6.1″ display, the S10+ 6.4″, both are curved QUad HD+ screens and come with an inscreen fingerprint reader. Surprisingly the S10 5G version has an even bigger screen that the S10+ at 6.7″ Cameras are very impressive on the S10 too. Both the higher end models have a 12MP camera with variable aperture (f/1.5 and f/2.4), that’s for the ‘main’ camera. There’s three in total. The ultra wide camera is 16MP and has a f/2.2 aperture. The telephoto has a f/2.4 camera. The selfie camera is 10Mp. Field of view portrait style photo’s are only possible on the larger end models, that being the S10+ and 5G version.
Both the Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+ have 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage. However, if you’re pockets are deep you can go to 12GB RAM and an INCREDIBLE 1TB of storage, and that’s not including the optional microSD card slot for storage either! The high end 5G version is only available at 8GB RAM and no storage expansion. It’s also a little thicker than the other models too. The 5G version also has the biggest battery out of them all, standing at a crazy 4,500mah battery. S10 and S10+ will be available on March 8th, costing $900 and $1000.
Release for the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G for the UK is at the beholden of carriers in the UK adopting 5G. Furthermore the Samsung Galaxy S10’s also have inductive charging on them so users can charge their Galaxy Buds, or Galaxy Watch Active on them. Even their phones. By simply placing the products on the rear of the devices.
The S10e is to rival the cheaper iPhone XR and as you’d expect, it’s slightly less powerful than it’s bigger brothers. There’s 6GB of RAM and only 256GB of storage, however, you can add in storage via the microSD slot. The screen is also smaller at 5.8″ flat Full HD+ AMOLED display. No in-screen fingerprint reader either. There’s a sensor on the side of the handset instead. Camera’s are the same, yet, there’s no telephoto or depth sensor on the front. March 8th is when you’ll be hable to get your hands on it and at a lower price too at $750.
Galaxy Fold
So, foldable phones are here and Samsung are the first to the punch with the Galaxy Fold. It’s as you’d expect. EXPENSIVE! $1,980 to be exact.
The screen is 7.3″ when folded out and the screen on the front is 4.6″. You could argue that the screen on the front is the secondary screen. Especially as it’s so small and designed just to show important information.Both screens are AMOLED, while the screen on the inside is described as Flex AMOLED.
It’s when you open up the device is when you get much more detail. Therefore much more real estate to do whatever you want, even run up to 3 apps at once if you wish. Watch a video on YouTube, whilst sharing it on Twitter and talking about it on WhatsApp. The smaller screen for example can show you basic information on Google Maps on the front, however, open it up and you see much more of your route.
There’s 12GB of RAM in this bad boy, 512GB of storage and a 4,380mAh battery to power it all. There’s 3 rear cameras, 2 front cameras and a 10MP sensor on the cover, therefore you’re never without a camera.
Galaxy Buds
As stated above the Galaxy Buds can be charged by placing them in their case and putting them on the rear of the Galaxy S10. They sell for $130 when they release on March 8th. However if you pre-order a Galaxy S10, you’ll get a pair thrown in for free.
The buds have Ambient Sound mode, that will make the sound around you clearer. You can activate it by taping them, this is Quick Ambient Mode. They also have “adaptive dual microphones” this will help people who are at the other end of phone calls hear you clearer. Regardless of how noisy the environment you’re in is. The way that this works is via the “inner mic” this will pick up your voice internally when in a busy environment. The Buds are able to sense your environment and will switch from the mic on the outside to the inside. Samsung have described the Galaxy Buds as use for both listening and talking.
They’ll last 6hrs when listening to music on a single charge or 5hrs when talking. The case, which comes with the buds as standard, will provide an additional 7hrs of battery life if you run out of charge when out and about. You can also quick charge these. 15mins will give you 1.5hrs of charge.
(Engadget)
Galaxy Watch Active
Samsung also showed off a brand new fitness first focused smartwatch. It has blood pressure monitoring, stress tracker, automatic workout detection. The stress tracker will give users breathing exercises to users when it feels as though it’s user is overwhelmed. The Galaxy Watch Active is also smaller than the Galaxy Watch that is out now, additionally it’s thinner too, making it mroe comfortable to wear. Not only in workouts but every day too. It’s also out on March 8th alongside the S10 and sells for $199.
(Engadget)
Photos courtesy of Samsung
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Whiskey With Alexa!
Voice is going to be HUGE in 2019 and there are more and more usages that companies are discovering every day. One of the interesting ones that we’ve used is from Diageo. It’s available on Amazon’s Alexa and it’s called Talisker Tasting Experience. Once asking Alexa to open Talisker Tasting, consumers will be asked to name the Whiskey that they own. Be that the Talisker Skye, Talisker Storm or Talisker 10 year old Single Malt. Once informed Alexa will begin an audio journey. Consequently drinkers will be taken through an auditory journey of how to taste the Scotch and get to know the richness and complexity of flavours from within the Talisker range. Furthermore after completing their drink, tasters will be invited asked to ask questions about the story of their drink, or flavours of Scotch that they’re interested in.
The final stage invites the taster to ask questions about the story behind their drink or flavours of Scotch they may like to try in the future.
“Talisker is a brand with an extremely rich heritage, produced by the sea on the Isle of Skye. When approaching this project, we were looking to bring elements of this location and the fantastic tasting tours at the Talisker Distillery into people’s homes.”
“Voice is the perfect technology to do just this and provide an enhanced brand experience by putting the consumer, product and brand at the centre of a tasting, in a completely seamless and non-intrusive way.” Benjamin Lickfett, Head of Technology and Innovation at Diageo
Additional Apps
This isn’t the only Alexa based app from Diageo either! They also have ‘The Bar’ which was released in December 2017. However, this app is specifically for the Echo Show. This app will highlight how to master mixology techniques and shop for ingredients. All through voice led advice. Furthermore Happy Hour Amazon Alexa Skill uses voice to provide cocktail recipes. Consequently, the app will even recommend bars to drinkers, specific bars to enjoy a Diageo cocktail.
While, voice is getting really really good and we’re intrigued to find out how Diageo will develop their voice technology. It’s worked really well for the Talisker Tasting Experience and we cannot wait to see more!
Download Talisker Tasting Experience here!
Purchase some Talisker Whiskey here!
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What are your most Data Draining Apps?
We all love our data and back in the day there was a stupid amount charged per MB! So, wouldn’t we all like to save MB’s where possible? We all don’t like that dread text message towards the end of the month that you’re about to run out of data. Therefore wouldn’t you like to know which apps are sucking the life out of your data plan? Well we’ve got some data for you! (See what we did there) A study, conducted by Mobile Phones Direct, explored the data usage of a number of apps that hurt your data balance.
First of all, daily video and music streaming is doing you more harm than good and it’s hitting your data, HARD. If you use BBC iPlayer and Channel 5’s My 5 then you’re gonna have to cut back. As they’ve been named as the worst offending video apps for data drainage. Taking up to a gig, a GIG of data for an hour of streaming. Suprisingly Netflix uses very little data at 314mb. See the handy chart below for more:
Quick Tip:
Download on Netflix to allow videos to be played offline to save data. However, if you don’t wish to download videos, let the show buffer whilst you are on WiFi network and then watch on your mobile network. Therefore you aren’t using any data as the file has already buffered on your phone! Furthermore on YouTube you can head into settings and make sure that the ‘limit mobile data usage’ option is ticked. This will force the app to only watch videos in HD when connected to a WiFi Network.
Music Streaming however, there may be a different way to save data, if you’re a Spotify user. Tthere’s a way to help limit the way that it uses your data! As well as changing the quality of the music, making the music available offline, or downloading the music that Spotify (and many other apps) offer you, you can do more.
With Spotify only there’s an app called Spotify Lite (Currently only available on Android). This version of the app only takes up 15mb of memory compared to 100mb. Most of all, the app doesn’t allow HQ music to be played. If you’re an Apple Music or a Tidal user however, then they take up the most data when listening for an hour. Tidal gobbles up 184mb compared to Spotify using almost 100mb less.
(Deloitte)
*Mobile Phones Direct watched 5 minutes of content from each app and multiplied it to determine the total data usage over an hour. Each video was watched on both an iPhone 7 plus and XR in HD using 4G. Results may vary.
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Team Sonic Racing – Maps and Music!
We may be moving into a warmer climate in the coming months, however Sonic may not be. SEGA are heading into the blistering cold with Team Sonic Racing. They’ve announced a brand new ice stage for the fun racing game. It’s called “Frozen Junkyard” and will pit users through, you guessed it, a frosty junkyard. Sonic and his buddies will have to race through it, whilst avoiding a number of obstacles. All treacherous and designed to cause havoc, including lethal beams from the HUGE Death Egg Robot. The track even has it’s own song! It’s composed by Jun Senoue, the iconic Sonic Series composer. However, he hasn’t done this alone, he’s teamed up with Tyler Smyth of Danger Kids. You can listen to it in the video above! Furthermore they’ve worked together on the “Infinite” theme on Sonic Forces, therefore you know it’s going to be good!
Team Sonic Racing Features
Team Sonic Racing, developed by Sumo Digital is a fast paced, arcade racing game. While, it’s highly competitive and is fun for people of all ages, it features many of your favourite characters from the Sonic Universe. It’s not all solo racing either! Team up and win in the co-op mode, both locally and online. Furthermore players can utilise the dynamic team mechanics and vehicle customisation features to help them along the way. You don’t have long to wait either, Team Sonic Racing is due for release on May 21st across all major platforms!
Pre-Order Team Sonic Racing here!
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NextUp Comedy – Streaming Laughs
Love Comedy? Well you will love the streaming service ‘NextUp’ it’s a video on demand platform for stand ups. More specifically stand up specials. NextUp showcases all different kinds of stand ups. Be that your sketch comedian, character driven stand ups, to observationalists and many many more! It’s basically as Engadget coined it ‘The Netflix of UK Stand Up’ Therefore, as you’d expect, like Netflix you can stream content from NextUp from anywhere in the world. The content isn’t region locked to the UK. Comedy’s universal and meant for everyone!
Acts
The acts and subsequently content available to you isn’t strictly just for the household names. NextUp also is home to many up and comers, rising starts too! That’s not to say that the circuit legends are left out. Of course not! They’re still available for users to check out. Some of the acts available are:
- Daliso Chaponda – Britain’s Got Talent 2017 Finalist
- Paul Sinha – The Chase
- Bill Hicks – America’s Comic Legend
- Ed Byrne – Dublins Comic Powerhouse
- Richard Herring – UK Comedy Circuit Veteran
Rising Stars such as
One of the best things about NextUp for comedians is that they get a 50/50 revenue share form their content being on the platform. Which is especially good for the rising stars of the comedy circuit. Futhermore NextUp members get access to recording tickets and exclusive discounts to shows! If you’re an up and coming comedian interested in appearing on their platform you can apply on their site by clicking here! How cool is that?!
History of NextUp
So why create something like NextUp? Well there are a number of reasons the team (Daniel Berg, Kenny Cavey, Sarah Henley and Stuart Snaith) decided to create the platform. Such as show goers cannot attend their favourite comedian’s shows due to it’s date, location, ticket availability and or cost. On the comedian’s point of view, after touring their show they have no archive of it. They can’t go back and critique it or show it off to anyone other than those who attend their tour dates. Furthermore the team wanted to show off more than what the Tv does. Consequently they wished to show off an even more diverse reflection of what the comedy circuit is like.
NextUp describes itself as to:
Seeks to right these wrongs by carefully curating for your joyful discovery the breadth of great comedy the industry has to offer, and bringing it to you anytime, anywhere whilst supporting the comedy industry in as many ways as possible.
(NextUp)
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