revelations

Sync all your photos

If you want to have all your photos easily accessible and synced across all your devices, Adobe Revel is one of the available options. However, while Apple's Photo Stream and iCloud do the same thing for free, you pay a monthly subscription for Revel for its image editing and social-sharing options.

The main role of Revel on your Mac computer, iPhone, or iPad is to keep all your photos organized. We question the need for this, as the native iPhoto already covers this task. Fortunately, the application comes with some enhancements such as basic editing tools and sharing features; … Read more

Is Resident Evil Revelations the next must-own 3DS game?

It's been nearly a year since Nintendo released the 3DS, but there's yet to be a game targeted specifically at older gamers. Does Resident Evil: Revelations fit the M-rated gaming 3DS void or leave zombie-deprived gamers wanting more?

Jeff: While my time with the 3DS has afforded my countless "wow" moments thanks to the occasionally brilliant 3D screen, it's never truly impressed me in terms of graphics alone. This is where Resident Evil Revelations fits in. It is easily the best-looking 3DS game on the market right now, producing visuals on par with something like Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube.

Speaking of Resident Evil 4, Revelations delivers an experience similar to the franchise classic, in not only controls, but tone and atmosphere. Of course being on the 3DS platform demands some tweaking, but the transition to handheld has been seamless.

Revelations introduces some new gameplay, specifically the ability to scan for items using a special device. For me, this made things a little easier than I had hoped, considering Resident Evil games usually force the player to be smart with things like ammo conservation. Almost every room you enter contains hidden ammo or health, so the redundancy of performing scans became a bit tedious after a while. … Read more

Adobe renames Carousel to Revel, adds auto-import

Adobe Carousel, the lightweight app for Macs, iPhones, and iPads that lets people edit photos and share them with contacts, has been renamed Adobe Revel.

Adobe announced the change today on its Photoshop blog, hinting that the new name better represents broader plans the company has in store:

Revel means to take great pleasure or delight...and that's what we hope to do in the future as we continue to add more functionality and fun to the app. In the future, you can expect we will also be able to offer additional photography solutions on the newly named Adobe … Read more

Assassin's Creed Revelations: Cut from a familiar cloth

Perhaps one of the overlooked accomplishments in gaming is what Ubisoft Montreal has been able to do with the Assassin's Creed franchise.

For the fourth time in five years, the team has put out another title in the series that doesn't necessarily change the combat and gameplay formulas, but pushes Assassin's Creed's historical fiction lore into a more comprehensible and ultimately tighter narrative, all while humanizing the main characters more so than in previous entries.

For me, that's always been the series' Achilles heel; its difficulty in presenting its complexly layered storyline in a cohesive … Read more

Early peek at new Assassin's Creed, animated short

SAN FRANCISCO--In a quiet alleyway here, Ubisoft gave members of the media an early preview of Assassin's Creed: Revelations and the final travels of Ezio Auditore.

For the uninitiated, the Assassin's Creed series chronicles heroic members of a secret society of skilled professional killers that fight corruption and oppression. The games are deliberately steeped in historical research as each game educates players on the era it's set in and real power players of the period--if players choose to take a moment to read the game notes.

In the new game, Ezio, hero of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, leaves Rome behind for Constantinople in search of a weapon that could forever end a war between Ezio's assassins and the Knights Templar. Journalists had the opportunity to play the game for about three hours, uninterrupted--including the entire map of the great Middle Eastern city. … Read more

Is Harman the Mercedes-Benz of the audio business?

There are surprisingly few multinational audio companies.

I'm talking about big companies that just make speakers and audio electronics, so that leaves Sony and Panasonic out of the picture. Bose and D & M Holdings (Denon, Marantz, Boston Acoustics, etc) come to mind, but Harman International has a longer reach. Harman owns AKG (headphones, microphones), Harman/Becker Automotive Systems, Crown (professional audio), Harman Kardon (receivers), Infinity (speakers), JBL (speakers), Lexicon (high-end electronics), Mark Levinson (car and high-end audio electronics), Revel (speakers), Soundcraft (professional audio), and Studer (professional audio).

Some brands, like JBL and Lexicon, make consumer and pro gear, and in the case of JBL, speakers for every budget, from entry-level hi-fi and home theater all the way up to recording studios, movie theaters and stadium sound systems.

I was thinking about all that because the Harman Mobile Showroom was in NYC last week for the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. It may soon be in a town near you, or you can take a virtual tour and see and learn more about Harman's Mobile Showroom.

I liked the sound at the Mobile Showroom and chatted with Todd Packer, a technical product and project manager for Harman, about the gear. The company's intention, "To make a strong design statement," came through loud and very clear. … Read more