Tech Caster

It was everyone’s dream to be either Batman or Superman as a kid. Well, that fantasy came to reality when Warner Bros. and DC released Injustice: Gods Among Us. Now, they have released the next iteration of the game called Injustice 2. I have been playing this game almost daily and so far, have been enjoying it. Though there are many improvements in the game but still it is lacking in a few areas. Listed below are the details of the game and some of my personal opinion about the mobile version -

The graphics are way better than the previous game. It feels realistic with a lot of room for movement. Plus, the ultimate moves are so exciting to execute. I would have liked the stage transformation as well like in the console version but as of now we don’t have that. Even though the graphics are better, still I have faced some glitches on my OnePlus 3T such as the character models disappear or the screen blacks out when you minimize the game without pausing. Since, it’s a fairly new game I hope these issues get fixed soon.

The controls in the game feel simple and easy to master. There are a few complaints though. The character swap seems somewhat laggy. Also, the special moves are not instant and there is a little time delay (not too evident though). Also, I would like the block button to be a tad bit more accurate. It is difficult to block in the middle of the attacks.

The energy system (which I am not a fan of, though I can understand why they use it) is required to play any mission (except the Story and the Arena mode). It auto generates over a period of time, as seen in most games. You can also gain energy from completing daily objectives and achievements. The game also has a threat level which is the sum of the total threat of the heroes chosen.

There are six different modes in the game - 

The Campaign mode boasts fights against various heroes. it has five sub-missions which leads up to a boss fight. This mode requires 6 energy to play in Normal mode and 12 energy in Heroic mode. This is the most important mode used to increase the hero level and gain credits.

The Arena is the online mode where you are auto matched to the same threat level player as yours. I felt this is quite simple to play with hardly any challenge to it.

The Story mode is the main story mission. As of now, there is only one chapter with the rest coming soon.

The Resource Missions is the place where you get XP capsules used to level up your heroes. This mode requires 6 energy to play.

The Challenges mode provides you challenging opponents which is available at random (as far as i know). It gives you random shards of the opponent and some random rewards.

The Operations mode is the mode where you can send heroes to various missions as per their threat levels. It provides you with XP, gears, credits and gems. The operation level can be improved by upgrading it through gems which provides you a better chance to receive gear and increases the credits you get from each operation. I personally like this mode a lot as you can send heroes to various operations to gain level and credits without having to play it yourself.

There is another mode which is yet to arrive called the Leagues mode.

Now moving on to the progression system. I personally like the system which they have in place for this game. It has a lot of depth into it. The characters level up by winning fights. You can invest the in-game currency called ‘credits’ for leveling up abilities or gaining new talents. The star rating of the character can also be increased by collecting the respective hero ‘shards’ which you get at random by completing various missions. You can unlock various heroes in the game by two methods - by collecting that particular hero shards or using the gems to buy heroes. Gems are the items which you get by completing achievements. You can also buy gems in the cash shop by paying real currency. 

We get gears for heroes at random by defeating a boss or by completing the operations. I personally find the drop rate of the gears to be very rare. To get a complete set of gear it will take ages. The gear of each hero can also be upgraded by using materials which can be obtained by dismantling redundant gears. Plus, there are various set bonuses as well.

The cash shop in the game is quite reasonable with no such item which makes it pay to win. It just provides you with a way to buy gems, credits (which can only be purchased through gems), chests hero shards and some special offers with a hero and their max level gears which helps you in progressing within the game.

All in all, I find Injustice 2 a good free to play game for your mobile, which will keep you hooked to play everyday in order to unlock new characters and get new gifts.

Every year at Google I/O, we get to hear the latest and the greatest things Google is working on. All their plans for the forthcoming year is revealed at this huge conference. As per this year’s I/O, there were quite a few things that Google is working on. So, lets see what do they have in store for us this year. 

Google Lens - An advanced picture recognition technology which lets the phone camera recognize what it sees and also take appropriate action on those. It converts the camera into a search box for pictures.

Improved Google Assistant - The assistant has been supplemented with some new features:

This version of Google Assistant integrates with the Google Lens and enhances the user experience.

The Google Assistant is now available for iPhones. 

You can take actions on Google Assistant such as payments, taking orders and other such functions.

Google Home - 

Proactive Assistance:  This feature is for Google Home which proactively informs you about any significant change in reminders, change in traffic, flight updates and much more.

Hands-Free Calling: Google Home will now support free calls to any landline or mobile phones in US or Canada via voice command.

Bluetooth Support: Now we can play music over Bluetooth from Google Home through various media services such as Spotify, Google Play Music, YouTube Music and others.

Visual Responses: Google Home can now cast it’s responses onto your TV.

Photo Books - This app helps you print physical picture album from the Photos app. But apart from having the option of choosing the pictures yourselves, it will select your best images for you. There are currently two options for this feature - $9.99 Softcover book and $19.99 Hardcover book.

Android O - Google showed off some features which the new Android OS boasts which brings fluid experiences for the users and improves the vitals such as battery life.

Picture-in-Picture: This feature helps in multitasking like watching a YouTube video and taking notes simultaneously.

Smart Text Selection: This feature helps by improving the copy paste mechanism using machine learning

Google Play Protect: This security feature helps android detect harmful apps and removes them. It also helps in locating, ringing, locking and erasing the device by bring a feature called ‘Find my Device’.

Android. If we were to go back in time and land in 2007, one could have never imagined that the mobile phones would evolve into something this mind blowing. 

Andy Rubin, one of the founders of Android, had said that Android has tremendous potential in developing smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner’s location and preferences.

Who would have thought that it would become a reality? The evolution of Android through the past decade has left everyone astonished. Let’s talk about it’s evolution through the ages.

The first version of Android was released by Google in the later half of 2007 but the one which was a major release was Android 1.5 coded as Cupcake. With features such as on-screen keyboard, widgets and Bluetooth support, this version would pave the way for the future versions to build on. 

The next version to see the consumer market was Android 1.6 named Donut. It had features such as text to speech and universal search.

Android 2.0 (Eclair) created the pathway for the now fancy cameras in the smartphones with features such as flash support, digital zoom and other editing features. They also included update such as smart keyboard and live wallpapers in this version.

Another significant version of Android, released in May of 2010, was Android 2.2 named as Froyo, which brought Adobe Flash support, improved resolutions, support for installing applications to the expandable memory and various other UI changes. Most of the phones had adopted to Android by that time and were running this version of Android.

Gingerbread (Android 2.3) was the next release on 6th December, 2010. With features such as NFC support, increase in battery life, Android was set to create a simple and fast experience for the users. 

Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) was developed mainly for tablets with a “Holographic” user interface. Google didn’t release it for the phones because they didn’t want a bad user experience since it wasn’t customized for the smartphones.

The next major update for the smartphone segment was when Google release Android 4.0 named Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). This version of Android brought something that is integrated into the current Android versions - multitasking. It merged the experience provided by the tablet version of Android and that of the smartphone version. ICS also discarded the hardware buttons and moved to the now seen commonly, action bar with the overview button.

Google released Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) with Google Now support. It also added the ability to add multiple accounts on one phone and also made notifications more customizable.

After Jelly Bean came Kitkat (Android 4.4). It brought voice search through ‘OK Google’ command, a new application runtime environment (ART) and a modern looking immersive UI. This new version also reduced the RAM requirements to run the OS.

Android 5.0 named as Lollipop had one of the biggest changes in the UI. Lollipop introduced Material Design into its UI which is still being used by the modern versions of Android. It also brought Project Volta, which aimed at improving the battery life of the smartphones running Android.

Marshmallow, which is Android 6.0 came with improvements over what Lollipop offered. It had a brand new Google Now with cards. It also introduced Doze which helped in improving battery life by reducing CPU fan speed.

Android’s latest version, Nougat (Android 7.0), took multitasking to a new level by introducing split screen and the ability to switch between apps by double tapping the overview button. Though still carrying the Material Design from Lollipop, it improved on the OS design and brought better notification system.

The new version of Android being worked upon by Google is code-named Android O (probably Oreo). As per latest developer preview, Android O brings in additional features for notification, such as the ability to snooze individual notifications. Though still boasting the Material Design, Android O hopes to make the user experience even more simpler.