It's been 11 years since Apple released the iPod and unleashed the ubiquitious white earbuds to the world. Initially, these earbuds came with black foam on the outside, but eventually they slightly changed the shape and dropped the foam. Well, today I got latest incarnation called Earpods. Cue Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra (ala 2001 opening theme).

So, why did I get this latest product ? Okay, truth be told, Jony Ive sold me. He could sell ice to Eskimos and it would be the smoothest, most polished and best designed piece of ice you've ever seen. This little video about the new Earpods talks about how Apple has been researching and developing these for sometime, 3 years in fact.

So, how do they sound ? Well when compared to the old earbuds, they are significantly better. They sound more richer, more fuller and the sound seems to come from in front of you rather than from the side. I know that might sound a little strange, but it has to do with the way the sound is directed down the ear canal.

Return of the Bass

Thanks to the inclusive of slits in the ear piece, this enables air to flow and allows the speaker to move more freely, which means more bass for you. For the first time in 7 years since I bought my first iPod Shuffle, I could hear and "feel" the bass. Wired reviewed the Earpods and even commented they were as good as some of the $100 earphones on the market such as Beats and Shure. Now, Beats have always been overrated so that's no surprise, but Shure make good products.

Everybody's ears are not the same and so it's impossible to make a one size fits all, however, I found them to sit in my ears with no trouble. A friend of mine can't stand the earbuds and prefers the in-ear models by other vendors, but me personally I find the in-ear headphones to be too intrusive. Leo Laporte also uses in-ear headphones but mentioned on MacBreak Weekly that he has to replace the grommets every 3 months otherwise they get clogged up. Ewww.

The remote controls have also been updated. They feel pretty slick and responsive, though I'm yet to test the microphone in a phone call sense.

So, for $35 it was a great purchase and my ear's look forward to hours of enjoyment to come.

Songs I used to test:-

BCee - Captured in Time (VIP Mix)
Random Movement & Dave Owen - Child's Play
Netsky - Love Has Gone (Enei Remix)

Developers Ubisoft Shanghai have released a new third person post-apocalyptic game using the Unreal Engine and I think they've outdone themselves. This game has all the hallmarks of a AAA title yet comes at an indie price of $18 AUD on Steam.

You play the unnamed male and without giving too much of the story away you're looking for your family in a dust-filled desolate world with shady characters and dark, bleak situations. The game takes place one year after America has gone through a massive disaster included earthquakes that destroyed most cities and areas known only as "The Event".

As a PC gamer, it plays like a console game, however I didn't find the camera or controls to be frustrating. Being a dust-filled world, there is a grainy filter applied to the video, which helps to immerse you into this dire world. Whilst, it's may fall into the "nothing new" category, I would argue that most games don't need to do something new every time and still be an enjoyable play. This is where I Am Alive fits in.

7/10

The guys from PrimerLabs write "We are recovering physically from PAX and nailing down all the bugs that cropped up with the new level creator that syncs what you build to the server. We're going to ship the new Code Hero Alpha to everyone this Friday.

Full PAX report and announcement coming also this week! Here is the trailer of the new Code Hero for you to enjoy till more updates and the Alpha release this Friday."

On the 19th August, 2012, the 5th Annual Australian Haiku Users and Developers Conference was held at The University of Queensland.

A conceptual design submitted to this year’s James Dyson Awards by Andrey Kokorin, would have cooks placing food in a spherical pod to be cut into custom segments using lasers.

Check out the cool concept video.