• Apple Surpasses Google as World’s Most Valuable Brand

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, google, Microsoft, News, Rants & Raves, Tech. No Responses

    Apple has overtaken Google as the world’s most valuable brand, ending a four-year reign by the Internet search leader, according to a new study by global brands agency Millward Brown. Apple’s brand is now worth $153 billion, almost half Apple’s market capitalization, says the annual BrandZ study of the world’s top 100 brands.

    Apple’s portfolio of coveted consumer goods propelled it past Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable technology company last year.

    Peter Walshe, global brands director of Millward Brown, says Apple’s meticulous attention to detail, along with an increasing presence of its gadgets in corporate environments, have allowed it to behave differently from other consumer-electronics makers and went on to say:

    Apple is breaking the rules in terms of its pricing model. It’s doing what luxury brands do, where the higher price the brand is, the more it seems to underpin and reinforce the desire. Obviously, it has to be allied to great products and a great experience, and Apple has nurtured that.

    Other Top-100 list companies including: Apple (1), Google (2), IBM (3), Microsoft (5), AT&T (7), Coca-Cola (6), McDonalds (4). Facebook entered the top 100 at number 35 and No. 10 spot on the top tech brands with a brand valued at $19.1 billion. Here is top tech brands list:

    Download Full Millward Brown’s 2011 BrandZ study – PDF 11.8MB

    [Via Reuters]

  • Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Full Details Revealed

    // Gradly // blog, Games, News, Poster, Rants & Raves No Responses

    The final chapter in the Ezio trilogy has been detailed. The latest issue of Game Informer has first information on Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, which sees Ezio searching for the lost ‘seals’ of his assassin ancestor, Altair.

    • Ezio is over 50 years old in this game
    • Ezio is looking for seals in Revelations. These seals hold the memories of Altair. They’ll allow Ezio to peek into Altair’s life (just as Desmond uses Animus to peek into his ancestors lives).
    • You’ll control Altair through these sequences.
    • The bulk of the game is set in Constantinople which will be split into 4 huge districts (Constantin, Beyazid, Imperial and Galata)
    • You’ll also visit Cappadocia
    • Ezio has a new item called the hookblade which allows him to use ziplines throughout the city. UBI says that it speeds up navigation by about 30%
    • You can also use the hookblade to reach out and pull enemies in for a combo
    • Ezio can now make bombs through a crafting system. UBI says that there are over 300 bomb types
    • They’ve modified the control scheme so that circle/B will control the hookblade and triangle/Y will control project weapons and bombs
    • Eagles vision has become eagle sense. “Eagle sense let’s you focus on a character and see where he’s been,” Amancio says. “You’ll get an approximation of where he will go. If you’re able to detect the path a guard will take, you can run ahead, set a bomb, and create a trap or an ambush.”
    • They’ve expanded on the Borgia Towers concept in order to create a new system. Throughout the city there are Assassin’s Den’s, you’ll need to complete various assault scenarios in order take down the Templar presence (UBI says that there’s more variety than in the Borgia Towers). Once you obtain a den you’ll be able to upgrade the buildings in that region along with adding ziplines across the rooftops. You’ll also be able to change the guards from being hostile to neutral.
    • You can lose control of you dens as you gain notoriety. You’ll be able to send your own troops after the templars if you’re unable to make it back to the specific den that’s being attacked. You can do that by making it to any of the other dens that you currently control. You’ll also be able to install a master assassin to control a specific den and you’ll never have to worry about it being taken over.
    • The assassin leveling mechanic has been increased from 10 to 15.
    • In order to make the world more immersive they’ve done away with traditional side missions in favor of random events. For example you may be traveling through a city and notice a shop owner being robbed or a little girl asking for help
    • They’re using a new type of capture facial technology called Mocam that GI describes as an “intriguing amalgamation of traditional animation, performance capture and the fascinating new style of performance on display in games like LA Noire.”
    • Desmond is placed back inside Animus where he finds a safe mode called the ‘Black Room’. You’ll be able to access Desmond’s lost memories through that back door
    • The gameplay during Desmond’s game is described as narrative-fueled puzzle sequences. “Through the manipulation and creation of geometry with the game world, Desmond seeks to reintegrate the splintered layers of his subconscious.”
    • Multiplayer is returning but this time they’re trying to give more focus to the narrative since that’s a big part of AC
    • You’ll be able to custom your character appearance and weapons as well as create guilds.

    Collected by NeoGAF.

  • Anonymous Hacker Group Possibly Behind PSN Security Breach

    // Gradly // blog, Consoles, News, PS3, Rants & Raves, Scandal, Sony No Responses

    According to Financial Times, two long-time members belonging to the hacker group Anonymous says it’s likely that other group members were behind the attack that took Sony by surprised–contrary to what the group said yesterday in their press release, released yesterday.

    Sony has said in a letter to the US Congress that it found evidence suggesting Anonymous’ involvement but has not directly accused the group of the crime, which exposed millions of customer accounts.

    One member from the group told FT that he saw the technical details of the vulnerability in Sony’s network prior to the attack on the PlayStation Network; the member added, “The hacker that did this was supporting OpSony’s movements”.

    Another long-time member of the Anonymous group told FT that it’s very likely that other members from the group hacked Sony, “If you say you are Anonymous, and do something as Anonymous, then Anonymous did it,” said the hacker, who uses the online nickname Kayla. “Just because the rest of Anonymous might not agree with it, doesn’t mean Anonymous didn’t do it.”

    We’re not sure who to believe? More on PSN hack here.

  • X-Men: First Class Character Trailers

    // Gradly // blog, Featured, Movies, News, Poster, Rants & Raves, Superheroes, Trailer No Responses

    20th Century Fox has unleashed the first bunch of character trailers for the upcoming comic adaptation X-Men: First Class. The characters are Banshee, Havok and Beast. The movie hits theaters in just under a month, taking Professor X and Magneto back to their early days and introducing a new group of mutants to the live-action “X-Men” universe.

    Banshee Played by Caleb Landry Jones, is Sean Cassidy, whose power manifests itself in a powerful “sonic scream” that he can use as a weapon or a method of flight.

    Havok Played by Lucas Till, is Alex Summers, he is able to generate powerful “plasma blasts” that he has difficulty controlling. He’s eventually outfitted with a uniform that allows him to focus the energy he releases from the his body into a powerful beam.

    Beast played by Nicholas Hoult, is Hank McCoy, he reveals the true nature of his mutation in the above trailer, and we get a peek at the drastic changes he underwent in his early years with Charles Xavier.

    Official Synopsis:

    X-MEN FIRST CLASS charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.

    [via mtv]