In the new HD version, players can enjoy detailed backdrops with different types of landscapes, which can be used in defense schemes. Attacks of enemy units are generated by a special algorithm, which makes each attack more challenging than the previous version. As opposed to other games of this genre, Defense Zone does not feature any superweapon.

Previous versions of Defense Zone were sometimes too challenging for some players. Therefore Easy and Medium modes have been made simpler in this version.

With OpenFeint support it is possible to compare your results with those of other players.

Game Features Include:- HD quality, detailed backdrops and impressive visual effects;
- balanced levels;
- weapons with different firepower, rate of fire, firing range, blast radius and price;
- different types of landscape;
- strategic thinking involved;
- support for OpenFeint;
- rated 12+.

The talk of town might be Siri, your own virtual assistant that takes voice commands, but for my money the best part about the iPhone 4S is the updated camera.

The new 8 megapixel camera, with all-new optics, is being billed as the “you-can’t-believe-it’s-on-a-phone-camera”. After reading through some of the specs, it could just be one of the best cameras on a mobile phone – ever. Sure, it’s easy to hype up a camera, but we all know the proof is in the photos. Take a look at some of the photo examples below, all of which were taking with the iPhone 4S:

What do you think of the photos? Leave a comment below and tell us your thoughts.

Brands include:

- Audi
- BMW
- Ford
 - Hyundai
- Jaguar
- Kia
- Land Rover
- Lincoln
- Mercedes Benz
- Mercury
- MINI USA
- Rolls Royce
- Scion
- Volkswagen
- Volvo

At least three new vehicles are on display at the event at the HD Radio booth – the Ford 2011 Taurus SHO, Volkswagen 2010 MY Golf TDI, and 2010 Scion xB. The first ever factory installed implementation of HD Radio enabled iTunes Tagging will occur at CES and will be showcased by Ford. A number of after-market solutions from various brands are being displayed as well.

"New low-cost, low power IC solutions were introduced at CES 2009," says iBiquity Digital. "Since that technical breakthrough, many new portable products have been committed for launch into the consumer market, several of which are currently available, with additional new models on display at CES 2010."

These include Microsoft Zune HD, Insignia ND-HD01, Cydle T43H (PND w/ Real Time Traffic), Cydle P15, Gigaware 12-645 and 12-646, Sangean DT 600HD and Sangean DT 800HD. iBiquity itself is developing a Software Development Kit (SDK) for receiver partners to aid feature integration, which is planned for later in 2010.

Over 2,000 stations in the US use HD Radio Technology. The technology allows for a richer multimedia experience than traditional radio giving users access to album art and other features.

Watch for more WebProNews coverage of CES, with exclusive video interviews coming soon.
 

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1080p is, in case you didn’t know, the picture type associated with Blu-ray.  It makes very minute details visible (hair and makeup teams were none too happy about its creation), and on YouTube, should simply allow for larger images, too.

Unfortunately, creating and displaying 1080p clips requires enough stuff that not everyone will be able to take part.  Content creators who don’t have fairly new cameras will be left out.  Then, viewers who don’t have fast Internet connections, fast computers, and large monitors should probably just stick to what was already available for the sake of not having clips stutter.

Still, YouTube’s trying to make the switch easy on people.  A post on the YouTube Blog stated, "[T]hose of you who have already uploaded in 1080p, don’t worry.  We’re in the process of re-encoding your videos so we can show them the way you intended."

And the introduction of support for 1080p is important.  In the long run, it’ll provide an attractive option to professional content creators and advertisers, along with the obvious eye candy benefits for YouTube users.

Related Articles:

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> Yahoo Challenges YouTube On Music Video Front

YouTube product manager Ryan Junee also points out that users can upload large HD files directly from their cameras. Essentially this means, we will start seeing a lot more quality (at least picture-wise) videos on YouTube.

Junee shares a couple tips for linking to and embedding HD versions of videos:

- To share a link to the HD version of your video, simply append &hd=1 to the end of the URL. This means the video will start playing in HD as soon as someone follows the link. Cool, huh?

-  To embed the HD version of a video on a website or blog, click the ‘customize’ button to the right of the embed box on the video page. Some options will appear; simply check ‘play in HD’. The embed code that’s generated will cause the video to start playing in HD as soon as a viewer clicks play. We recommend embedding HD videos at the largest size (853×505) for maximum enjoyment.

The increased uploading limit should do nothing but make YouTube a better place to watch videos. The more high quality content that is uploaded, the more people will be likely to stick around and watch more of it.

Microsoft announced that it will open its Zune video service to the Xbox LIVE this Fall. Microsoft also unvieled its newest portable media player, the Zune HD. Designed to compete with the popular iPod Touch, the Zune HD combines built-in an mp3 and video players, an HD radio receiver, HD video output, an OLED touch screen, Wi-Fi and an internet browser.More details:

• Zune HD comes with a built-in HD Radio receiver. Users also will have access to the additional song and artist data broadcast by HD Radio stations as well as additional channels from their favorite stations multicasting in HD
• The bOLED touch screen interface allows users to flip through music, movies and other content on a 16:9 widescreen format display (480×272 resolution).
• The HD-compatible output enables playback supported HD video files from the device through a premium high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) audiovisual docking station (sold separately) direct to an HD TV in 720p
• Zune HD will include a full-screen Internet browser optimized for multitouch functionality.
• Zune HD is Wi-Fi enabled, allowing for instant streaming to the device from the more than 5 million-track Zune music store.

Comments

The videos can be up to 90 seconds long and free members can upload two videos per month, in addition to their 100MB monthly photo upload limit.

Flickr also is allowing high-definition video to be uploaded to the site. The Yodel Anecdotal Blog offers details. "Because our focus has always been on allowing our members to showcase their vision in the best way possible, we’re also enabling HD video uploading and viewing today."

"Only Pro members can upload videos in HD, but our entire community will benefit by being able to view high quality videos."

One other new feature that has been added is the Flickr Clock. "Through Flickr Clock, members will be able to share their vision of what’s happening at any given minute around the world."

"We’ll be able to display these videos according to the approximate time that they were taken, so you can see what’s happening at different moments in time."
 

They also have a page you can go to and view all kinds of HD videos that have been uploaded so far. Luckily they are broken down by category from autos and vehicles to travel and events.

Now that YouTube is catering to Hi-Def uploading, it would probably be a good idea to review YouTube’s summary of how to get the best results from your videos. They offer the following chart:

With that info in mind, YouTube does say, "Please note, we are currently experimenting with this feature and optimizing it accordingly, so we can’t guarantee that your videos will always be transcoded into this format with this user option present."

It’s nice that HD videos are available on YouTube, but it would have been nicer when the videos weren’t littered with pop up ads and text boxes. Better late than never though.

Google-owned YouTube continues to experiment with additions and changes. Some of these are neat while others are partly distracting, like when YouTube shows a search box when you start an embedded video and hover over the video box. Other overlays include AdSense ads – cool, I am offered to buy “Www You Tube De” on eBay! – and creator-added links. A yellow box reading “Try YouTube in a new web browser! Download Google Chrome” is also put on many or perhaps all YouTube pages rather indifferently these days..

Comments

The new format seems like real HD 720p video and looks clean and professional in the widescreen format. As we’ve noted in our Watch Higher Quality YouTube Videos wiki, it is possible to make YouTube’s high quality video the default on the site, but formerly it was only possible to watch at a 480×360 resolution.

Formerly, viewers who wanted to watch 480×260 videos could do so by adding "&fmt=18" to the end of a YouTube video’s url. To access the 720p format, the new appendage is "&fmt=22." 

Here is a look at the difference in picture quality. HD:

Non-HD:

It is a bit surprising that this did not come about sooner, considering success Hulu has enjoyed this year. That success just might be the catalyst for getting this (not to mention many of the other moves from YouTube in recent memory) kicked into gear. YouTube also recently decided to start looking to offer feature length films, and live programming, and after sitting on the site for a couple years, Google suddenly seems very interested in the monetization of the site.

Is this all because of Hulu? Perhaps not, but Hulu is a big player in the rise of the online video revolution that is taking the web by storm. It only makes sense for YouTube, the most recognizable brand in online video to get their act together and stay on top of the game.