By: Tony Novoa (Contributing Editor)

Staff Note: Don’t forget about our ongoing contests and prize giveaways such as the Sony Xperia X10 phones, 12 Nokia N8s, weekly iPhone 4, Apple Magic Mouse and exciting passes to exclusive events! We’re always doing contest giveaways every month so it pays to stay tuned in!

Well.. Monday certainly was a big day for Microsoft and their Windows Phone product line.  With the Advent of the totally revamped and rewritten Windows 7 smartphone platform, they have essentially rebooted their recent reboot of their Windows Mobile Platform in the form of their failed Kin.  Microsoft and rebooting… seems to be a long running theme.  At MyRealityTech we are all about fair exposure for all things tech and we are excited about what the Windows 7 smartphone platform and the accompanying devices bring to the table.  As Microsoft CEO, Steve Balmer said at the opening of his New York press conference: “I’ve been looking forward to this day… for some time, you might say.”  I guess we can say that we share that sentiment!

Beginning November 8, the Windows Phone 7 will be available on three AT&T networked phones which will sell for $199.99.  Another phone will be offered thereafter by T-Mobile. As for applications, there will supposedly be thousands of third party applications available and during the conference, programs from eBay, Amazon’s IMDB, AT&T’s U-Verse Mobile and EA’s “The Sims 3″ were shown.  Not surprisingly, the Windows Phone 7 will connect to the Xbox Live gaming service as well as the Office platform.  My understanding is that this will provide support for an integrated to-do list – something that is missing on the iPhone & Android platforms.

The Samsung Focus

As for devices, there were nine Windows Phone 7 devices shown from Dell, HTC, LG and Samsung with the expected variations in interfaces and screen sizes. In this case, our opinion is that the Samsung Focus stands out for its sleek and light design and vibrant, high resolution screen.  The phone features a 4″ super-AMOLED  display, 110g weight, 1 GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 Processor, 8GB of internal memory and up to 32GB with a microSD card, 5MP camera with 720p HD Video and GSM, HSDPA and UMTS network support.  Battery life is documented at 3 hours talk time – a bit light by many standards – and up to 10 days standby time.

All being said, the morning did leave some questions unanswered.  Most notably: what of multi-tasking capability?  What about support for other carriers beyond AT&T or T-Mobile or the ability to synchronize with non-Windows computers or non-Microsoft Web services?  I guess time will tell.  In the meantime, we can celebrate variety, innovation and lots of options in this competitive market that will surely continue to keep vendors on their toes and customers salivating at the next new shiny thing to capture their attention.

Want to know more?  Go here for more details on Microsoft and Windows Phone 7: Microsoft Windows Phone 7

So, what are your thoughts?  Is this the shot in the arm the Windows Mobile platform needs?  Are you already down a different path?  Sound off and share your thoughts.  As always, don’t forget to follow @MyRealityTech on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook for additional chances to win our super cool giveaways. 99% of the time, we choose individual winners exclusively through Facebook & Twitter!

By: Edward Jackson (Senior Editor)

Conquer a Massive World, Defeat Flocks of Evil Chickens and Dispense Justice as the Summer’s Funniest Hero is Available Today!! 

Electronic Arts Inc. and Hothead Games today announced that DeathSpank, an action-RPG blending epic storytelling, addictive gameplay, humor and evil chickens, is available for download today on PlayStation Network for $14.99 and tomorrow on Xbox LIVE Arcade for 1200 Microsoft points. Developed under the direction of The Secret of Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert, DeathSpank takes players through a heroic adventure in the boots of the titular hero DeathSpank as he hacks and slashes his way through epic quests in a vast world filled with vibrant, eccentric and terrifying characters.

“While DeathSpank is definitely one of the funnier games out there, it’s more than a one trick pony,” said Vlad Ceraldi, Director of Game Development for Hothead Games. “We’ve built a game with fast-paced, addictive combat set in a world that has a tremendous amount of depth that is filled with dynamic characters, colorful environments and tons of cool weapons and loot. And yes, we still have ponies too — trick ponies!”

“The team at Hothead has really made the perfect experience for the summer,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development for EA Partners. “DeathSpank is a high-end and fun game, yet incredibly accessible. It’s very easy to pick up and play, both in terms of its classic arcade controls, as well as the convenience of downloading it straight to your console.”

Players who download the game will be placed in the boots of the mighty DeathSpank, “Dispenser of Justice”, “Vanquisher of Evil” and “Hero to the Downtrodden”, embarking on his life long journey is to search for and find a mysterious artifact known only as, “The Artifact”. Along his journey, DeathSpank will rescue orphans, defeat a local tyrant, help an aging adventurer, and dive headfirst into an even deeper mystery. The game’s accessibility makes for a fun, addictive experience where players will find themselves solving crazy puzzles, collecting massive amounts of loot and hearing witty dialogue. For those with friends, DeathSpank also features local co-operative gameplay, allowing friends to jump in and out of fighting through this adventure on the same console as both DeathSpank and his trusty, magical sidekick, Sparkles the Wizard.

DeathSpank is rated “T” for teen by the ESRB. For more information on DeathSpank, please visit, www.deathspank.com

By: Nate Nelson (Contributing Writer)

In what could most charitably be described as a thought-provoking use of taxpayer dollars, the Office of Naval Research described preliminary results last week of an ongoing study to determine whether gaming provides an advantage for potential soldiers. Early indications are that video games can help adults process information much faster, increase short-term memory, and improve reasoning and problem solving abilities.

The study concluded that gamers perform 10 to 20 percent higher in perceptual and cognitive ability when compared to non-gamers. The ONR did not indicate which games their test subjects were playing, but noted their specific purpose was to “develop… training methods to improve performance on the battlefield.” Odds are good it was not Dance Dance Revolution, in other words.

Although the ONR’s study is general in nature, the implied findings that video games can help make soldiers more efficient killing machines is not likely to be ignored by those opposed to escalating violence in video games. The conclusions do not address the influence of video games on the moral or ethical judgment of gamers, although it is clear that playing games does have a neurological impact. Whether right or wrong, it would not take much to extrapolate some controversial presumptions about the effects of this study.

A final piece of research will be determining whether the positive benefits of gaming translates to real world tasks. Everything has been conducted in a controlled laboratory environment at this point, although program developers at the ONR are looking to incorporate gaming elements into future military training, including simulators and virtual environments. The ultimate goal, according to ONR program officer Ray Perez, is to blur the distinction between training and operations.

The ONR’s results were good news for civilian developers, who have already announced a new slate of specialized training games: Super Sales Call Challenge, World of Inventory, and Middle Management 2010. Okay, that’s not true (at least, I hope not), but it is not difficult to imagine a game like Tetris enhancing a person’s spatial reasoning, thereby improving their ability to load a delivery vehicle or pack the back of their SUV for a vacation. Is that good news? I would say so. At any rate, the message is clear: keep gaming, gamers.

(via Defense.gov)