Apple et Alibaba sont en pourparlers pour un accord autour du paiement

Apple et Alibaba sont actuellement en pleine discussion autour d’un éventuel partenariat. Tim Cook l’avait laissé suggérer il y a deux semaines lors de son interview à la conférence WSJD du Wall Street Journal. Aujourd’hui, le vice-président d’Alibaba, Joseph Tsai, a confirmé au Wall Street Journal que l’entreprise chinoise était en négociation avec le fabricant d’iPhone.

Le principal thème évoqué touche le paiement et plus particulièrement Apple Pay. Tim Cook avait annoncé récemment son intention de vouloir lancer le nouveau service de paiement d’Apple en Chine, il lui faut un partenaire de taille pour le faire. Alibaba est l’un des principaux acteurs chinois dans le secteur de l’achat en ligne. «Nous sommes confiants sur la coopération potentielle, mais tout dépendra des détails qui sont en cours d’élaboration», déclare le vice-président d’Alibaba.

Alibaba dispose déjà d’un service de paiement, nommé Alipay. Il est différent d’Apple Pay cependant. Le système d’Apple fonctionne uniquement avec l’iPhone 6 et l’iPhone 6 Plus en boutiques, l’utilisateur valide la transaction via le capteur d’empreintes Touch ID. Alibaba est un acteur qui se fait de plus en plus remarquer au fil des mois, notamment après son introduction en bourse en septembre dernier.

À ce jour, les discussions n’en sont qu’à leurs débuts, il pourrait se passer plusieurs trimestres avant d’arriver à un partenariat potentiel entre Apple et Alibaba.

Un iPhone 6 Plus, l rsquo;Islande = des clichés magnifiques

Austin Mann est un photographe professionnel qui a déjà travaillé pour le compte d’Apple. L’intéressé a eu le loisir d’utiliser l’iPhone 6 Plus avant la mêlée du grand public, et s’est rendu en Islande où l’attendaient des paysages forcément sublimes mais aussi des conditions de prise de vue qui permettent de se faire une bonne idée des réelles capacités photographiques des derniers iPhone. Et autant le dire tout net, les photographies prises par Austin Mann confirment que des clichés valent beaucoup mieux que des avis ou des tests qui peuvent toujours être teintés d’une certaine subjectivité et parfois même, ce qui est un peu plus grave, d’une légère mauvaise foi.

Aucune aberration optique, des couleurs à la fois chaudes sans verser dans le rendu «irréel» de certains concurrents : la classe

Première constatation : l’iPhone 6 Plus utilisé  – mais les photos seraient identiques avec l’iPhone 6 4,7 pouces, le capteur est le même si ce n’est qu’il n’y a pas de stabilisateur optique (mais tous les clichés sont pris sur trépied donc) – prend des clichés en basse lumière qui surclassent aisément ceux de certains compacts actuels. Deuxième constatation : le rendu des couleurs et la façon dont l’iPhone «débouche» les blancs et les détails dans les zones sur-éclairées n’ont sans doute pas d’égal aujourd’hui. Les résultats sont très au dessus de ceux de l‘iPhone 5s (voir 3ème photo de comparaison), alors même que ce dernier n’était surclassé que par le Lumia 1020 dans la plupart des tests.

En très basse lumière : peu de bruits visibles, les ombres sont bien détaillées et la scène ne «coule» pas dans le noir

Dernière remarque : toutes ces photographies sont «brutes» de décoffrage; elles n’ont pas été retouchées. Impressionnant.

Les couleurs de l’iPhone 6 sont plus réalistes et plus «chaudes» tandis que le «bruit» s’estompe presqu’entièrement 

Un mode panorama qui prend des clichés parfaitement homogènes grâce à la mise au point dynamique

Bien d’autres clichés sont disponibles sur le site d’Austin Mann ainsi que des vidéos pour illustrer le ralenti en 240 images par secondes ou bien le mode Timelapse.

Qui a dit qu’il fallait absolument 13 ou 20MP pour faire de belles photos avec un mobile ?

Best of 2014 (suite) les meilleurs films, séries et albums musicaux selon Apple

Apple donne un grand coup de projecteur sur iTunes aujourd’hui avec la mise en avant des meilleures apps, séries, films ou albums musicaux de l’année, des classements forcément très subjectifs mais qui permettront peut-être à certains de se remettre en tête quelques-unes des créations de 2014 qui seraient passées un peu inaperçues au moment de leur sortie sur le Store.

Concernant la Musique, qui reste le coeur d’activité d’iTunes, Apple ne fait pas trop dans l’originalité en reconnaissant des valeurs sûres  : l’artiste Pharell est nommé artiste de l’année (album Girl), Chaleur Humaine de Christine and the Queens est le meilleur album, Chandelier le meilleur morceau et Camélia Jordana rafle la mise dans la catégorie Variété française.

Dans la catégorie Films, Apple joue là encore une carte plutôt très grand public : Dragon 2 (excellent) obtient la palme du meilleur film familial, le dernier X-Men (qui est aussi le meilleur de la série) est le blockbuster de l’année, le documentaire Vivian Maier est le meilleur film indépendant, tandis que le film français de l’année, toujours selon Apple (il vaut le mieux préciser ici) est la comédie Qu’est-ce qu’on a fait au bon dieu. Ah bon…

Enfin, les séries permettent à Apple de se montrer un peu moins «politiquement correct«; c’est la tout à fait remarquable série True Detective (HBO) qui est nommée meilleure série de l’année, ce qui est un choix audacieux, pas parce que la série ne mérite pas d’être reconnue, mais parce que son approche est à l’opposée des facilités de séries plus familiales. La meilleure série dramatique est House of Cards saison 2, la nouvelle série à suivre est Gotham, tandis qu’une fois encore c’est une série de type comédie qui voit la création française honorée, avec P’tit Quinquin. Ah Bon…

Et vous, qu’avez vous apprécié cette année sur iTunes  ?

iPhone 3G une image des lignes de production

Amusante histoire que celle de cette mère de famille américaine qui après avoir acheté son iPhone 3G, a découvert en l'allumant pour la première fois que l'appareil contenait déjà trois photos ! Deux d'entre elles se sont révélées flous. La troisième a quant à elle dévoilé des iPhone 3G, filmés de plastique, qui semblent avoir été photgraphiés sur une ligne de production. On aperçoit d'ailleurs, sur plusieurs d'entre eux, un autocollant avec des caractères en chinois. La question qui se pose est donc : comment une telle photo a-elle pu être prise ? Découvert via TUAW.

apple dévoile l iphone 4s à l occasion du keynote let s talk iphone

Après une longue attente, Apple vient enfin de lever le voile sur la cinquième révision de son smartphone. Sans grande surprise, et comme annoncé depuis plusieurs semaines par certaines rumeurs, il s'agit bien d'un iPhone 4S.

Au programme, quelques changements hardware avec notamment l'intégration de la puce A5, déjà présente sur l'iPad 2. Cette puce permettra de bénéficier de meilleures performances graphiques.

Apple annonce également une autonomie en hausse, avec par exemple, 8h en appel 3G (14h en 2G), 6h en surf 3G ou 9h en WiFi.

Autre nouveauté, l'intégration de deux antennes et la compatibilité avec la norme 3,5G (14.4 Mbps). L'iPhone 4S est également compatible avec les réseaux UMTS et CDMA.

Comme prévu, le capteur photo / vidéo passe à 8 MP. Apple promet des images de meilleure qualité grâce à l'utilisation d'un capteur accompagné d'un filtre infra-rouge de dernière génération.

L'iPhone 4S permettra également de filmer en 1080P (contre 720P actuellement) avec système (logiciel à priori) de stabilisation et réduction de bruit de fond en temps réel.

L'iPhone 4S sera disponible dès le 14 octobre prochain, ou en pré-commande dès le 7 octobre, à partir de 199 dollars, soit le même tarif qu'actuellement. En revanche, l'iPhone 4S sera (enfin) décliné en version 64 Go. Comptez cette fois 399 dollars. L'iPhone 3GS reste au catalogue et sera proposé gratuitement en cas de souscription à un forfait mobile. L'iPhone 4 sera proposé en version 8 Go à 99 dollars.

Quant à iOS 5, il sera disponible gratuitement pour tous deux jours avant, soit le 12 octobre. Nous aurons l'occasion de revenir d'ici là sur les principales nouveautés plus en détails.

Article mis à jour en temps réel

EVO 2013 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Finals Recap

Hype, hype, hype, hype, hype, hype!!
One of the top contenders at this year's EVO did not disappoint its fans, as the finals to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 drew some of the biggest cheers from the audience. While there were many fights, there were certainly some awesome things that may have been some of the top moments in EVO 2013.
One of said moments happened early on when two of the most disliked players of UMVC3 played their matches. ChrisG was pitted up against Ranmasama in the first match, but although Chris is generally disliked by some members of the community, he does have a pretty amazing Morrigan. But a keep away game in any fighting game can be quite boring to watch ' the audience loves excitement and punches to the face!
However, that is not the play style of Morrigan being handled by ChrisG. His play style is definitely that of keep away with Soul Fist flying every which direction. There were times when he did get in close and pulled off some hand-to-hand combat with Morrigan,ps3movelive but for the most part it is just Soul Fists for days. But even when Morrigan was taken out in one match against Ranmasama, ChrisG was still a force to be reckoned with.
His Vergil is not one to turn away from either. Heck, an X-factored Vergil in the hands of any top competitor is dangerous. Although he bested Ranmasama with his team of Morrigan, Doctor Doom and Vergil, ChrisG was knocked out by the crowd favorite Justin Wong with his team of Wolverine, Storm and Akuma at a later match.
Another player not liked so much in the FGC (Fighting Game Community) is Filipino Champ (F Champ), last year's EVO champion for UMVC3. When he was up on stage for his fight, there was nothing but a wave of boos from the audience. But F Champ, being the competitor that he was, just basked in it and welcomed the dislike. Although he is a good player (except for his team including Phoenix), his personality is not the greatest, and typically does not show good sportsmanship during the match or afterwards.There were times where he would not acknowledge his opponent by shaking hands, and even playing mind games by starting the match, only to drop into the character select screen and change his team. This strategy of starting a match and changing a team throws off the momentum of an opponent and may cause them to perform poorly. It is not a bad strategy to say the least, but it looks disrespectful.
F Champ bested ATX Zak in his first round, and did not display good sportsmanship, tea bagging his opponent in the middle of combos (AN: I could understand at the end of a match in the player's victory where tea bagging is partly acceptable, but in the middle of a combo? Come on, what is the deal with that?). Not many people like his team of Magneto, Doctor Doom and Phoenix, but that was the team that got him into the finals so F Champ can't  be blamed.
To clarify, Phoenix is not well received by those in the FGC considering how overpowered she is. Much like Superman in Injustice, those who win with Phoenix are not considered true champions, but are instead labeled as players who just want to win for the sake of winning.
But the reign of the former champion (F Champ, ha!) stopped short when he was pitted up against Cloud805. Against Cloud's team of Zero, Vergil and Dante, he definitely gave F Champ a run for his money. At the beginning, F Champ went with his trusty Magneto, Dormammu and Doctor Doom team, and when he saw that it was not working out well (since Cloud took two games, leaving him with one more to knock F Champ out), he made the switch to Phoenix ' still pulling off mind games.
But those tricks did not work for long. With a quick death of Magneto at the beginning and Dormammu following closely behind, F Champ was unable to get the super meter to the fifth level for Dark Phoenix, and she was dead in a matter of seconds. After this moment,R4i Gold 3DS Deluxe édition the crowd gave the loudest cheer I heard all tournament. My hands were literally shaking at the loss of F Champ. Maybe now he will be cut a slice of humble pie.
Although Cloud805 took out the champ of last year, he was then brought down by Justin Wong. There were dropped combos for days in that match up.
Although there were favorite players to win, the crowd loved one character in particular. Angelic's Shuma Gorath was a crowd favorite, and whenever it was his turn in a match, the crowd cheered 'Shuma! Shuma!'
In a world of top-tier characters and the teams consisting of pretty much the same fighters, it was a breathe of fresh air to see a rare one being used properly.
Players have their favorite characters, and Shuma was Angelic's. He fought a good fight, but was knocked out of the running by the favored Justin Wong. Justin Wong himself was fighting a good fight and, although he was knocked in the loser's bracket by FS EMP Flocker, he climbed up that ladder. He went straight to the top to face Flocker once more  in the Grand Finals.
It was J Wong's team of Wolverine, Storm and Magneto against Flocker's Zero, Vergil and Dante. Zero was a hated character during the show, as his infamous 'corner loop' could mean the loss to a character most of the time. And even when Zero was knocked out, Vergil, a powerful and fast fighter to say the least, would just pick up the slack.
In the Grand Finals, it was back and forth in the number of wins. J Wong bested Flocker in the first set of matches, resetting the bracket and taking the finals to the championship.
Now, this is how a grand final should be. Both J Wong and Flocker had two games to their name and only needed one more to take the crown. J Wong fought a good fight and the crowd was hoping to see one of his famous comebacks with Akuma, but Flocker proved to be too much. He beat J Wong in the end,Gateway 3DS and was crowned champion of EVO 2013 in UMVC3.
The finals of this game in particular brings in the crowd and plenty of cheers to follow. Some players got a taste of what it was like in the top 8 spot and others did not. What was very surprising was the absence of Combofiend. He got knocked out early, thus saving a spot for those not so well known in the FGC. Maybe some players will clean up their act too and become someone who plays for the love of the game, and not just to win a championship.
Stay tuned for more coverage on the finals for EVO 2013!

EVO 2013, finals, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, UMvC3

EVO 2013 Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition Finals

It was the finals that everyone was waiting for. Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition was the last game of EVO 2013 on Sunday, and it was an uphill battle for competitors from the United States.
Many of the competitors were outside of the country, displaying that this game gains international acceptance. SSF4: AE is less about the combos and touch of deaths and more about the strategy and reading your opponent. Much of the gameplay from these top players consisted of micro movements and patience. It was not as aggressive as UMVC3, and not as quick as Injustice. This game is in a league of its own, and the finals really showcased that.
It was exciting to see the famous Daigo 'The Beast' Umehara in top eight this year again. This man has made history at EVO,linker Gateway 3ds especially against the talented Justin Wong. I'm just going to throw that iconic moment from EVO 2004 below and you will see what I mean. (AN: Those parrys are not that hard to accomplish, but as Justin inputted the super for Chun-Li, Daigo knew exactly what was coming up. But the trick was to find a combo to take out Chun-Li, considering one little poke and he would lose.)


- Leonardo Gabiati
This year, he did not face Justin Wong but another opponent, the one responsible for taking him out last year. The finals opened up with Daigo against Infiltration, Ryu vs. Akuma. This was the same match up as last year, but there were hopes that the outcome would be different. The crowd was cheering 'Daigo! Daigo!' in the hopes that the support would help him achieve victory over his old nemesis. Unfortunately, Infiltration and his Akuma still bested Daigo and his Ryu 3-1, thus knocking Daigo out of the competition. Can you say deja vu?
Another moment of this final was the matches featuring the last American in the competition, EG PR Balrog. In his first match, he chose Fei Long against MadCatz's own Tokido and his Akuma. It was an interesting move, considering his name the fact he is typically a Balrog player. After he lost that first set, the crowd started chanting 'Balrog! Balrog!' hinting at a switch. But although PR Balrog made the switch to his famous character,ps3move-sony that was still not enough, and he was knocked into the loser's bracket.
In there, he kept Balrog and won against Haitani and his Makoto. But when going up against Infiltration, Balrog was no match. Infiltration oiled up with Hakan and bested Balrog in a 3-2 victory.
Finally, the grand finals of the SSF4:AE competition. After Tokido took out the man responsible for the loss of both PR Balrog and Daigo, he went up against Xian and his Gen.
I have never seen someone maneuver a character so carefully and gracefully as Xian did with the elderly martial artist. Every move was precise and served a purpose. It just goes to show that Xian deserved that victory against Tokido. Xian was crowned the champion of Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition at EVO 2013.
We hope you enjoyed the coverage of EVO 2013. We had a blast covering it and hope to attend again next year, maybe as competitors ourselves.

Daigo Umehara, EVO 2013, finals, SSF4:AE, super street fighter 4: arcade edition, Xian