Archive for: June 4, 2009
June 4, 2009
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen a Batman game come along that I really enjoyed. I’ve been keeping my eye on Batman: Arkham Asylum since it was announced, and today I finally got my hands on a demo while at the Eidos booth. The game looks fantastic, as you’ve no doubt seen from the trailers that are out. Much like Batman, your time is almost equally split between sneaking up on your enemies and kicking ass. You have a full arsenal of gadgets there to help you accomplish both tasks in style. I particularly enjoyed the combat, especially when you had a group of enemies trying to come at you at once. The more hits you chain together, the more finishing moves you can pull off. It only takes a few minutes to get a feel for the combat, and then you’re taking guys out left and right. If you’re like me and enjoy the non-stop action parts, you can actually enter the challenge mode, which has 4 waves of enemies, with each growing larger and more difficult. Combine the action, good controls, excellent visuals and Mark Hamill voicing the joker once again, and you’ve got yourself one awesome Batman game. It’ll definitely be worth checking out when it hits stores on August 25th.
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E3 2009 – Batman: Arkham Asylum
Back at the end of 2007 I introduced you guys to a company called Fusion-IO, which was producing hard drives that ran on your PCI-Express slots. It was a pretty cool idea then, but unfortunately their offering was really salty, and aimed primarily at enterprise customers. Well since one of the co-founders is a hardcore gamer, they decided to branch out and try to bring the same incredible performance to a new crowd. Enter the ioXtreme. This card holds 80GB of storage (NAND Flash) which is capable of giving you a performance boost that you won’t see by just upgrading your CPU and RAM. Games, large applications like Photoshop and Final Cut will open almost instantaneously. They likened it to bringing up a program that was minimized on your start bar, which is pretty incredible. They even said that it would be possible to boot Windows in just one second. Unfortunately this feature won’t be available at launch, due to them still working out bugs with a few different BIOS, it will however be available via a driver update. The card should be launching later this year for somewhere around $800, though the price is subject to change.
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E3 2009 – ioXtreme
Valve is a company that has never failed to impress me with a game. Coming to E3 I was hoping to hear some news about Half Life 2: Episode 3, or even something about the new Portal game. I was disappointed. What I didn’t expect was to see a new Left 4 Dead game this soon, especially with the SDK just getting released not long ago. Even better, the game was playable behind closed doors. The game takes place in the deep south, with four average Joe characters fighting their way through a mass of zombies. They’re going to be adding short movies to the beginning of each of the 5 different campaigns to give you just a little more story than the first game. However, Valve stressed that they want the game to be more about the action and experience, so you won’t ever find yourself stopping in the middle of the game just to see some plot progression. Their AI director has seen an update, which they are calling Director 2.0. The director has even more control over your environment, this time controlling the weather (one example was encountering a torrential downpour in the swamp to slow you down). The director will also be able to alter the maps slightly. The maps will always have the same overall structure, but the director can block off routes, forcing you along a different path, which will definitely spice up the game. Melee weapons make their debut in this sequel, the first two of which are the frying pan and the firefighter’s axe. Both weapons can be brutal when used properly in close quarters. You can also pick up incendiary ammo, which will set your target on fire upon impact. Hazmat zombies will appear at times, which are invulnerable to ...
Hulu may go from offering free online access to TV shows, movies and clips to a fee-based model, according to an executive from News Corp. Hulu is a joint venture between News Corp., NBC Universal, and Disney. Over time, paying for some of the content on Hulu is a logical thing, said News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller during an Internet Week event earlier this week. Miller, who was formerly at AOL, prefaced his comments by saying he won’t attend his first Hulu board meeting until Monday, June 8, so his opinions are his own. “I don’t see why over time that shouldn’t happen,” Miller said. “I don’t think it’s on the agenda for Monday {but} it seems to me that over time that could be a logical thing.” “It was essentially a throwaway comment and more a reflection of whether they would,” said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. “The question is what they’ll pay for what content and under what consequences.” Money, Money Celebrating its first year recently, Hulu went from being in beta to offering users access to online videos, television shows, and clips from various providers of content and has had tremendous growth. In the past year, the company has gone from 50 content partners to more than 130, has grown the number of advertisers from 30 to 175, and has increased the number of streams from 63 million as of May to 308 million. Although the service has gained a lot of momentum, and has been backed by top players, including Fox, MGM and Sony Pictures Television, moving from a free model to a fee-based model may put the brakes on Hulu’s momentum. “Of course you’ll have to pay for it,” posted one blog poster with the screen name bloominoctober. “Hulu was too ...
Reviewers generally like the Palm Pre smartphone, predicting it will be a strong challenger to Apple’s iPhone 3G. The Pre goes on sale Saturday, June 6, from exclusive carrier Sprint Nextel, just two days before Apple fans gather for the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Apple is expected to release an updated iPhone at the meeting, and AT&T may have an announcement about a lower-cost subscription. Despite some analysts’ negative comments about the viability of both Palm and Sprint, the reviews of the Palm Pre so far have been generally positive. Reviewers especially like the ability to run several applications at once, which the iPhone does not do. The Pre also has touchscreen controls and a physical slide-out keyboard. Some reviewers, however, noted that few applications have been developed for the Palm Pre so far. Such apps have been a key driver for the iPhone, which can download from Apple’s App Store. Reviewers also noted a short battery life. While Sprint has exclusive U.S. rights to the Pre through the end of the year, Verizon Wireless and AT&T are interested in adding the device when Sprint’s deal expires. The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg called the Pre “beautiful” and said its design is better than the Android-based T-Mobile G1 and the BlackBerry Storm. He called it “potentially the strongest rival to the iPhone to date” if developers produce a lot of apps for it. The Pre is able to access music and videos on Apple’s iTunes Store, and that could lead to some legal disputes with Apple. One blogger suggested that the access method used by the Pre could be switched off by Apple.
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Palm Pre Gets Good Reviews as Launch Nears
I own one of the older Belkin FM transmitters for my iPod. Audiobooks and music are my daily dose on the one hour commute to and from the office. There is one area in the city though that is surrounded by 3 radio stations and because I use an FM transmitter, my “classic rock” playlist is overshadowed by the incessant banter of the DJ on the morning show. Thankfully this lasts only for 3 minutes as I make my way past the area. Now, Belkin has released a new update to their FM transmitters, combining GPS technology to locate strong empty station signals. Not really useful when you’re driving, but it is useful so you won’t need to guess where to place your MP3 player and radio. TuneCast Auto Live (F8Z498) - $79.99 * Specifically compatible with iPhone OS 3.0 * Also compatible with the iPod Classic and nano * ClearScan one-push station locator * PRO setting optimizes audio and boosts volume * Two programmable preset buttons * High-contrast backlit display * In-car charging [ Read More // Photos from Belkin PR ] Post from: Cellphone9
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Belkin TuneCast® Auto Live has GPS
Intel is spreading its software wings with the $884 million acquisition of Wind River Systems, which develops operating systems, middleware and software design tools for a variety of embedded computing systems. Intel said the company will become part of its strategy to grow its processor and software presence outside the traditional PC and server markets and into embedded systems and mobile devices. “This acquisition will bring us complementary, market-leading software assets and an incredibly talented group of people to help us continue to grow our embedded systems and mobile-device capabilities,” said Renee James, an Intel vice president and general manager of the company’s software and services group. “Wind River has thousands of customers in a wide range of markets, and now both companies will be better positioned to meet growth opportunities in these areas.” A Multibillion-Dollar Opportunity Embedded systems and mobile devices include smartphones, mobile Internet devices, other consumer electronic devices, in-car “info-tainment” systems, networking equipment, aerospace and defense, energy and thousands of other devices. Intel sees this multibillion-dollar market as becoming increasingly connected and more intelligent, requiring supporting applications and services as well as full Internet functionality. Analysts said Intel is poised to make a notable entrance. “This is a market where the individual processors, in some cases, cost a few pennies, but volume is king,” said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. “The opportunity is more than just selling a handful of expensive processors, but it’s a matter of selling billions or tens of billions of tiny processors. That type of volume market is one that Intel knows very well how to play in.” Squeezing the Competition As an Intel subsidiary, Wind River will continue to develop commercial-grade software platforms that support multiple hardware architectures that are optimized for the needs of its many embedded and mobile customers. ...
Even before the economic downturn, cost and complexity of security were major pain points for businesses. Companies just want security issues to go away. This mindset is especially true for SMBs, which lack the resources and skills of large enterprises, and therefore have a harder time gaining control over their security posture. Additionally, the interconnectedness of the networked economy means that SMBs are facing a myriad of security issues that simply did not exist five years ago. New realities such as globalization, evolving threats, increasing compliance demands and new technologies also present new challenges and more risks. While managing risk is difficult for all businesses, it tends to be more difficult in smaller environments, where there is less expertise to help mitigate it. One clear example is in compliance spending. Businesses of all sizes have to comply with the latest PCI compliance standards. For smaller companies, that can be a substantial financial burden without guarantees for increased security. Many times we find SMBs spend all of their resources just meeting compliance before even contemplating security. While compliance with accepted government and industry regulations is required, it is not a blueprint for security. Measures like PCI compliance are merely an accepted guideline for minimum standards. Because the threat evolves, often in reaction to published compliance standards, it may take years before standards catch up to the threat. Therefore, companies must run routine checks to make sure they are effectively deploying all of their point solutions. The Five Laws Because often times SMBs do not see the big picture, many tend to ignore the five immutable laws of SMB security, which are: 1. Small is not invisible. Many SMB owners believe they are safe because they’re too small to be interesting to cybercriminal organizations. Nothing could be further from the truth. Cybercriminals ...
BOSTON, MA, June 4, 2009 SocialTrak, a new social network and online community for those who want to connect with friends, professionals, and potential customers in their local area, has launched. SocialTrak is designed specifically to locate, communicate, and network with others in a member’s geographic area or with people who engage in similar activities, hobbies, casual or cultural pursuits. Members can create multiple profiles, network for business purposes, search for jobs, post classified ads, upload photo albums, and establish or maintain friendships. Membership is completely free. Donations of $.25 cents will be made for each new member that signs up to SocialTrak. New users will be able to choose from 12 different charities. Jonah Lupton, SocialTrak founder, said, “Connecting locally is a more powerful and effective way to network. That’s why SocialTrak takes social networking and social media closer to your local area. SocialTrak offers customized networks based on geography, personal interests, and career fields. We are launching in New England, a region that offers so much professionally, academically, culturally and socially. Our goal is to simplify the social networking experience and enable people to make more valuable personal and business connections.” Initially, SocialTrak will focus on geographic areas around New England including Boston, Cape Cod, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The company will expand the service into 25-plus U.S. cities. SocialTrak also offers a variety of online communities that bring together all kinds of people including entrepreneurs, golfers, estate planners and much more. Unlike other social networks, members can create as many profiles as they want while still controlling the privacy settings of each profile. SocialTrak strives to become the “one stop shop” where members can link and manage other accounts, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr, as well as…
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Crisp, the online child protection specialist, has deployed NetModerator into SuperSecret.com, a new online social game created to provide 9-13-year-old ‘tweens’ with life lessons about growing up in a fun and safe environment. Crisp NetModerator is the world’s most comprehensive anti-bullying and anti-predator child protection system available to communities offering communication opportunities for children. Utilised by schools, social networks and online games to monitor thousands of simultaneous conversations between users analysing for inappropriate and threatening chat, NetModerator will support SuperSecret’s moderation team in providing a safe and supported environment for tweens to interact. In the SuperSecret world tweens can play games, interact with friends, navigate surprises and challenges, and learn basic online social skills. Using a character, players ‘grow up’ by gaining fun responsibilities like adopting a pet, decorating an apartment, and choosing a car. The more they play, the more they can explore, discover, and create. SuperSecret.com, which launched its site in April 2009 is designed for tween children who are at an age when they want to start exploring on their own within safe boundaries. Ted Barnett, co-founder and CEO of SuperSecret, said: “We have designed SuperSecret.com to be a safe environment where children can learn about online social interaction. Crisp NetModerator is an important part of that commitment as it provides parents with a reassurance that our world is being moderated by experts using the most advanced and sophisticated safety software available.” NetModerator’s fast and automated examination of online message content provides a more refined, accurate and efficient approach than existing keyword-matching techniques. Crisp allows SuperSecret to get an immediate understanding of which users are breaking its rules of conduct so judgements and action can be taken quickly and efficiently. Andrew Lintell, Crisp Chief Executive, said: “Safety is paramount for online games designed for tweens. Any virtual ...
The 360-degree imagery on Google's Street View mapping feature is pretty impressive, but until today, navigating the streets from your keyboard has been somewhat of a chore.
Google on Thursday updated Street View to allows users to move through the streets by double clicking on your mouse rather than using the arrow keys.
"We have been able to accomplish this by making a compact representation of the building facade and road geometry for all the Street View panoramas using laser point clouds and differences between consecutive pictures," Daniel Filip, a computer vision tech lead at Google Zurich, wrote in a blog post.
In addition, if you hover over a certain area, a shaded box will appear - an oval if you're on the street and a rectangle if you're pointing to a building. Double click the box and Street View will either take you to the best panorama shot of the building or street or give you the option to zoom into the selected area by double clicking.
If you've traveled too far, hit the return arrow in the address box to go back to your previous location.
"Not only is it an easier way to browse cities in Street View, it allows you to do superhuman things like jump from one side of a river to another to see a faraway building," Filip wrote.
    
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Luke Skywalker got Legoed. So did Batman and Indiana Jones, too. Really, it only makes sense that everyone's favorite boy wizard would also eventually be turned into a minifigure as well.
