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7:12
samengland: photos, music, tv shows, contacts, cal, bookmarks, apps
7:13
samengland: "if you lose your ipad and get another one you can back it up on an iphone"
7:13
samengland: wifi - also have 3G
7:13
samengland: built in
7:13
samengland: cost - in the US
7:13
samengland: 2 plans
7:14
samengland: 250mb data per month $14.99/month
7:14
samengland: UNLIMITED play for $29.99
7:14
samengland: AT&T only
7:14
samengland: please tell your friends and colleagues about LiveTechEvents.com
7:15
samengland: activate the ipad on the ipad itself
7:15
samengland: but how much does the device cost?
7:15
samengland: international
7:15
samengland: NO INTERNATIONAL DEALS IN PLACE YET
7:16
samengland: deals hoped for by summer internationally
7:16
samengland: email....
7:17
samengland: uses GSM microsims only
7:17
samengland: ibook store, carry 1000s of books
7:18
samengland: pricing?
7:18
samengland: $999?
7:18
samengland: aggressive pricing...
7:19
samengland: THE DEVICE WILL COST AT $499
7:20
samengland: IPAD WILL COST $499 for 16GB
32 GB $599
64GB $699
$130 more for 3G on each model
$829 for 3G+64GB
7:20
samengland: 6 models
7:20
samengland: Lowest price $499 (no 3G, 16GB)
7:21
samengland: Google offers books for free, true
7:21
samengland: iBook store is ebooks (ebooks on the ipad)
7:21
samengland: external keyboard
7:21
samengland: plug in to it
7:21
samengland: like a netbook!
7:21
samengland: plug ipad in to keyboard and charging dock
7:22
samengland: also protective case like sony reader
7:22
samengland: book style
7:23
samengland: 24 months data + 64GB IPad 3G will cost a total of $1549 same cost as an imac
7:23
samengland: the ipad is SQUARE in shape
7:25
LiveTechEvents: keyboard same size as laptop keyboard?
7:25
Why will buy the iPad?
Me!
( 61% )
Not me...
( 39% )
7:26
LiveTechEvents: no new iPhone as of yet
7:26
Which iPad would you buy?
16GB
( 24% )
32G
( 26% )
64GB
( 50% )
7:27
LiveTechEvents: please vote in polls
7:28
LiveTechEvents: everyone getting the livestream ok? promo video showing now
7:28
LiveTechEvents: it has no phone capabilities
7:28
LiveTechEvents: resolution is 2x size of an iphone, apps are pixel-doubled
7:29
LiveTechEvents: no HD, no 720p
7:29
LiveTechEvents: we have feedback due to bandwidth issues
7:29
LiveTechEvents: @junjunb true, but $130 more 3G on any model
7:29
LiveTechEvents: The apple website hasn't been changed a lot which is strange normally theirs a teaser page up.
7:30
LiveTechEvents: there are 6 models
7:30
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Apple seems to have rushed this product out.
7:31
LiveTechEvents: 2 weeks were given to NYT to develop their app - it looks unfinished like a website from 1997 based on tables?
7:31
LiveTechEvents: people already know how to use the iphone/ipod touch so they will find this easy apparently
7:31
LiveTechEvents Discussion:I'd still recommend someone buy a netbook you can get a lot more for your money.
7:31
LiveTechEvents: ibook store, app store, itunes store 125million accounts with credit cards
7:32
LiveTechEvents: the processor is NOT INTEL it is just apples own 1GhZ processor (intel atom is 1.6Ghz and a netbook costs ~£250) most have built in 3G too (dell mini more, samsung NC, lenovo ideapad)
7:33
LiveTechEvents Discussion:In the UK the iPhone is currently on Orange, Vodafone and o2 so the iPad will probably be with one of those two, probably o2 at first.
7:34
LiveTechEvents Discussion:I think the iPad would look better with a wide-screen display watching films on the iPad won't be a pleasant experience.
7:36
LiveTechEvents: It has a lot of potential, who will wait for version 2?
7:37
LiveTechEvents Discussion:The games played were extremely poor they crashed and were fuzzy. Also the iBook application doesn't look as usable as the Kindle.
7:37
LiveTechEvents: is the kindle dead?
7:38
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Amazon will most likely slash the price of the Kindle to make it more competitive and plus you don't have to pay data charges.
7:40
Are you disappointed with the iPads features?
Yes
( 46% )
No
( 54% )
7:40
LiveTechEvents: Please sign up to email updates at LiveTechEvents.com main page for updates on future major tech events. Max 2 emails per year (No spam!)
7:41
LiveTechEvents: David, yes the iPad uses Micro SIM Any carrier that can handle micro-SIM will work and no contracts.
7:41
LiveTechEvents: They said earlier that international data deals would be June/July but micro sim cards would probably just work
7:42
LiveTechEvents: micro sim doesnt need contracts
7:43
LiveTechEvents: No more announcements - no iPhone
7:43
LiveTechEvents: If the iPad had a front and pack camera, that would be a great addition. Imagine Skype - video conferencing on an ipad!
7:44
Would you like the iPad to have a camera for Skype Video Conferencing?
Yes
( 94% )
No
( 6% )
7:44
LiveTechEvents: Theres apples big mistake - 96% people think the device should have two cameras
7:45
LiveTechEvents: No OLED screen but 10 hour battery life - good viewing angle almost 180 degrees
7:45
LiveTechEvents: its quite big, 9.7 inch screen with 3/4 inch bezel
7:46
LiveTechEvents Discussion:http://www.apple.com/ipad/ - website is up.
7:46
LiveTechEvents: Would this device leave the house that often? Why do we need 3G? Whats wrong with free Wifi in starbucks
7:46
LiveTechEvents: with the stand this is also a good aeroplane device
7:46
Who wants to pay £130 more for 3G? Or will you just stick with Wifi?
I want 3G
( 32% )
Im fine with Wifi
( 68% )
7:47
LiveTechEvents: screen is very responsive, A5 chip (probably ARM) is very good
7:47
LiveTechEvents: photo app responds fast
7:47
LiveTechEvents: we will have a hands on in approx 10 mins
7:48
LiveTechEvents: ****************
Please sign up to email updates at LiveTechEvents.com main page for updates on future major tech events. Max 2 emails per year (No spam!)
****************
7:52
LiveTechEvents:
****************
Please sign up to email updates at LiveTechEvents.com main page for updates on future major tech events. Max 2 emails per year (No spam!)
****************
7:53
LiveTechEvents: it docks in landscape with a keyboard
7:53
LiveTechEvents: calendar feels like a calendar (cork board etc)
7:54
LiveTechEvents: "real world experience"
7:54
LiveTechEvents Discussion:@Rufex its a lot like the iPhone OS, we're getting a demo of the iPad soon.
7:55
LiveTechEvents: No Adobe Flash on iPad <<<<
7:55
LiveTechEvents: 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
7:55
LiveTechEvents: screen's aspect ratio is closer to 4:3 than 16:9
7:55
LiveTechEvents: its square
7:56
LiveTechEvents: @JSWolf - closer to 4:3
7:56
LiveTechEvents Discussion:For anyone who's wondering what it looks its like a large iPod Touch.
7:57
Sam: ****************
Please sign up to email updates at LiveTechEvents.com main page for updates on future major tech events. Max 2 emails per year (No spam!)
****************
7:57
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Though your eyes might get tired after a long reading period, unlike the Kindle
7:57
Sam: iphone games are blown up x2 - look fuzzy
7:59
Sam: All iPhone apps which are blown up for iPad are VERY fuzzy - will all iPhone app developers make their apps for iPad too?
7:59
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Unfortunately iWork isn't as fully featured as Microsoft Office, maybe MS will develop an iPad app?
7:59
Sam: No multitasking - unmodified iphone OS
8:00
Sam: It might LOOK better but your eyes will kill after a couple of hours
8:00
Sam: Apple event is not over
8:00
[Comment From Rufex]
REALLY?! NO multitasking? do they simulated at least?
8:00
Sam: Rufex, yes!
8:01
[Comment From Rufex]
thats where kindle wins! its basically a book!
8:01
[Comment From junjunb]
since its 3g, the underground teams will make way for phone capabilities
8:01
[Comment From Doeloe]
i expected more from apple
8:01
[Comment From junjunb]
yup.. but i think its not wise to buy right of the bat.. im SURE there are a lot of bugs still..
8:01
[Comment From Kristian]
phone app could be Skype or video conferencing with Tandberg Movi
8:01
[Comment From james]
good pricing
8:02
Sam: 114,000 people watching THIS live stream
8:02
[Comment From Ken]
I don't think a netbook can beat the 499 deal
8:02
[Comment From Lee]
Agreed, it seems they did rush it. I waited for the updated iphone, and I will wait for this as well.
8:02
[Comment From Rufex]
its not the same as a netbook, touchscreen, smaller, easily carried...
8:02
[Comment From scott]
Still AT&T? What about all of us who cannot get AT&T? This is such a huge .. horrible issue. People complain about AT&T, I would just like to have the OPTION to use it. They will not give me service.
8:03
[Comment From Lee]
Only reason I can think of getting one, is if Adobe and Coral release fully functioning versions of Photoshop, Illistrator and Painter. It would be like having a piece of digital paper.
8:03
Sam: That would be good - CS4 apps on iPad
8:03
[Comment From karli]
fuck of ipad
8:03
[Comment From GeeK]
The Ipad outpriced the kindle
8:03
[Comment From Ucopmok Mok]
for me kindle is not dead because kindle still have the majority online book
8:03
[Comment From Guest]
what the hell about macbook pro updates?
8:04
[Comment From Salem]
32 is the best
8:04
[Comment From Dizaat]
Is there going to be an new iPhone today?
8:04
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Dizaat - unfortunately no
8:04
[Comment From Ucopmok Mok]
it would be great if i can play the many facebook games on the iPad,
8:04
Sam: No flash!
8:04
[Comment From Rufex]
but its much more than the kindle!! cant compare different things!
8:04
[Comment From DVE]
will you be able to use graphical programs like photoshop? Or programs like office word
8:04
Sam: DVE - just iWork
8:05
[Comment From Carl]
is there an SD card reader on the side so we can upgrade the storage?
8:05
[Comment From Lee]
A built in stylus would of been nice...
8:05
LiveTechEvents Discussion:I agree but the Kindle is good at what it does iBooks looks like an afterthought
8:05
[Comment From Guest]
USB ports????
8:05
Sam: No SD card reader, No USB ports
8:05
[Comment From Lee A]
Why are people comparing the Kindle to iPad? They're two different products
8:05
Sam: The iPad directly competes according to appl
8:06
Sam: however just like when they compared the Nintendo DS to iPod Touch
8:07
[Comment From Diogo]
Is there going to be a new macbook pro today?
8:07
Sam:
****************
Please sign up to email updates at LiveTechEvents.com main page for updates on future major tech events. Max 2 emails per year (No spam!)
****************
8:07
[Comment From Carl]
Missing GPS!!! Would be great in the RV!!!
8:07
LiveTechEvents Discussion:No it was just the iPad launched today.
8:07
Sam: True - no GPS is as big a failure as leaving the camera out!
8:08
Sam: Demo hall - 60 iPads
8:08
Sam: where was the 'One last thing'?
8:08
Have you signed up to updates on the main page at http://LiveTechEvents.com Yes
( 18% )
I will right now
( 14% )
I dont want to
( 68% )
8:09
[Comment From carmen]
I wanted USB ports and flash and would like multitasking, front facing camera, tethering. Without tethering, I wouldn't bother with a data plan. Anything else can be synced. I still love it, but I'll wait.
8:09
Sam: Do you think they were creating it for a year?
8:09
Sam: front facing camera would be great on Skype
8:10
[Comment From dylan]
im a little disappointed, i expected much more after a year of creating it!!!!
8:10
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Dylan, I think they rushed it.
8:12
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Future updates in the coming years will make it a more compelling product. It did take apple more than a year to add copy and paste.
8:14
[Comment From dylan UK]
i personally think they just bought 10inch touchscreens and added the ipod touch software onto it! theres nothing 'new' on it, its all been seen before
8:14
[Comment From Rufex]
haha! a year for copy and paste! true!
8:14
Sam: Please refresh http://www.livetechevents.com and subscribe to email updates. These will be sent out only before major events. Thank you for supporting us. We are a FREE service.
8:15
Sam: A front facing camera would be a welcome addition to version 2, along with GPS
8:15
Sam: The iBooks bookstore is up now
8:16
Sam: 9000 in our stream today. Thanks for watching. Please refresh http://www.livetechevents.com and subscribe to email updates. These will be sent out only before major events. Thank you for supporting us. We are a FREE service.
8:16
9000 in our stream today. Thanks for watching. Please refresh http://www.livetechevents.com and subscribe to email updates. These will be sent out only before major events. Thank you for supporting us
I already joined
( 67% )
I'm about to now...
( 33% )
8:17
Sam: Front facing camera is a fundamental assent. What 3G operator would you rather it be exclusive to in the UK?
8:17
[Comment From dylan UK]
yes sam, as soon as they add a front facing camera i will get one. maybe they will bring out an add on? when will apple learn we like cameras on our gadgets?
8:18
[Comment From Rufex]
so, really? how much better than an iphone is it? more powerful processor, more RAM Im sure, but software the same still with no multitasking, and apps the same but enlarged and not in a good way...
8:18
Will the iPad fulfil a need in your life if you choose to buy one?
Yes
( 25% )
Np
( 75% )
8:19
[Comment From r1]
are they gonna announce the new iphone 4g?
8:19
LiveTechEvents Discussion:not today
8:19
[Comment From raymund]
so when we will get front camera?
8:19
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Probably in the next 1-2 years
8:19
Sam: Processor is almost 100% faster though no multi task and also the fact that iphone apps are being used are a big pitfull, the font size will be very big and games and graphics pixellated
8:19
Sam: Remember most iPhone apps are designed for THUMBS not HANDS.
8:19
Sam: This will cause big problems in the UI of apps
8:20
Sam: What about the ASUS nvidia tablets coming out? Competitors?
8:20
[Comment From Sunny]
iphone os 3.2? any word?
8:20
Sam: No word of this Sunny
8:21
[Comment From Rufex]
technology for the iphone existed long before its appearance but due to price issues no such phone was launched. only apple can launch an expensive thing like that and their people will buy it..
8:22
[Comment From Rufex]
will this ipad have the same success as their iphone?
8:23
Sam: Almost 10,000 people joined us today for our coverage. Thank you for joining us! We are a 100% free service. Please join our email list at http://www.livetechevents.com (refresh the page) - we will send max 2 emails per year to notify you when we do live coverage of MAJOR tech events. We will improve our coverage in the future and ensure that video quality is better and you will hear our audio discussion. This is the first event we covered and it went well!
8:23
[Comment From raymund]
will this works as a phone with the 3g connection?
8:23
Sam: No it will not, but it has 3G for data
8:23
Rufex: nope! no phone capabilites!
8:24
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Nobody really knows what the iPad will do, the iPhone had a purpose what purpose does the iPad have
8:24
Rufex: HP's tablet should should come up anyday now!
8:24
Sam: GPS would be cool on the iPad
8:24
Rufex: that should be another interesting event and something which we can compare with the ipad through and through...
8:25
What would you most liked to have seen on the iPad?
Front facing and main cameras
( 55% )
GPS
( 5% )
Tethering
( 0% )
Stylus
( 0% )
OLED Screen
( 40% )
8:26
Rufex: also, the possible name iSlate was so much better!
8:27
LiveTechEvents Discussion:yeh although I would have thought apple would be starting to move away from adding 'i' to the front of everything.
8:27
[Comment From Sunny]
to be honest i told myself i would never get an iphone, but then i became a sucker to marketing and what not and eventually got one myself. maybe the same thing with the ipad in a few years?
8:28
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Sunny, well apple certainly knows how to market a device, and I think you'll start seeing iPad's being used in your local Starbuck soon enough.
8:28
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Almost 10,000 people joined us today for our coverage. Thank you for joining us! We are a 100% free service. Please join our email list at http://www.livetechevents.com (refresh the page) - we will send max 2 emails per year to notify you when we do live coverage of MAJOR tech events. We will improve our coverage in the future and ensure that video quality is better and you will hear our audio discussion. This is the first event we covered and it went well!
8:28
Rufex: hopefully not Sunny! I mean, I'll never get tired of saying it! Two iphones and an ipad and still? No MULTITASKING?? REALLY?
8:29
[Comment From Jon Wolf]
What is the screen's aspect ratio?
8:33
[Comment From Sunny]
i dont have a macbook. well.yet maybe in about 6-9 months, but i dont think opting for an ipad would be a alternative choice? or would it?
8:34
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Sunny what kind of things would you be doing on your computer?
8:34
Rufex: I think that an ipad would never fullfill as many needs as you may have as a macbook...
8:36
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Rufex, I'd agree I think people need to realise that the iPad is basically a larger version of the iPod Touch but with a few more capabilities.
8:36
[Comment From diogo]
i need to buy a new pc, i'm thinking to buy the macbook pro, should i wait for thenew update?
8:37
LiveTechEvents Discussion:I would wait as I'm sure it's imminent.
8:37
Rufex: true! a large ipod touch is a more accurate comparison than a large iphone
8:37
[Comment From Rod Lewis]
So, I'm not the only person who wants a camera for Skype
8:38
Rufex: Guess not Rod...
8:38
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Rod, it seems a lot of people want a front facing camera.
8:38
[Comment From p0ps]
for me as a Painter, it's what I've always wanted. As a browser, social networker, emailer, reader, movie watcher, music watcher - it's got all I need. I'll get the 3G 16GB ASAP
8:39
Rufex: the painter part is really interesting!
8:39
LiveTechEvents Discussion:p0ps do you think the screen will be accurate enough to produce good paintings?
8:39
Rufex: But I'd strongly suggest you test it before you buy it!
8:39
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Almost 10,000 people joined us today for our coverage. Thank you for joining us! We are a 100% free service. Please join our email list at http://www.livetechevents.com (refresh the page) - we will send max 2 emails per year to notify you when we do live coverage of MAJOR tech events. We will improve our coverage in the future and ensure that video quality is better and you will hear our audio discussion. This is the first event we covered and it went well!
8:39
[Comment From Chris]
As a designer... I really wanted a stylus for sketching!
8:40
[Comment From p0ps]
yes, I can make it work. I can do it on the iPhone with Brushes, this will be better.
8:40
Rufex: Exactly! And what about software? Will there be good software for painting and photo editing?
8:40
Rufex: If you can do it with the iphone then go ahead!
8:41
Rufex: We have to give it to them though... If you're fine with 16Gb and no 3G, then 500 bucks is an excellent price!
8:41
[Comment From p0ps]
I expect the iPhone app developers will do a good job with making the fantastic apps available from phone to pad.
8:41
[Comment From tehbomb]
where can I watch the video
8:41
Rufex: Provided their touch screen is as good as the price...
8:42
p0ps: It has 10 finger multi-touch, correct? That's pretty sweet.
8:42
Rufex: I assume the screen is capacitive and supports multitouch... Is that the case?
8:42
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Yes it's both
8:42
p0ps: They demoed Jobs typing with all 10 fingers.
8:43
LiveTechEvents Discussion:I'd like handwriting recognition. I think it'll be a pain using the keyboard.
8:43
[Comment From DVE]
using it as a wacom tablet on our mac would be great too
8:45
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Now your talking, it would be cool if it worked out of the box as a secondary surface for the mac computers.
8:45
[Comment From diogo]
imminent like days? weeks?
8:45
p0ps: and a remote for TV & Macs
8:45
LiveTechEvents Discussion:more likely weeks.
8:46
LiveTechEvents Discussion:p0ps, let's wait for the jail breakers to get their hands on the iPad!
8:46
p0ps: Yes this is waiting to be hacked big-time.
8:47
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Almost 10,000 people joined us today for our coverage. Thank you for joining us! We are a 100% free service. Please join our email list at http://www.livetechevents.com (refresh the page) - we will send max 2 emails per year to notify you when we do live coverage of MAJOR tech events. We will improve our coverage in the future and ensure that video quality is better and you will hear our audio discussion. This is the first event we covered and it went well!
8:47
[Comment From diogo]
this ipad can't replace a wacom tablet,right?
8:48
LiveTechEvents Discussion:No I doubt it will 'officially' .
8:49
Rufex: I dont think that apple is ready to drop the i on front the names of their products. I believe their goal is that you hop on your iCar and go to your iOffice to work, have a delicious iLunch, finish the day, stop at an iBar for a beer and go home to eat and sleep with your iWife.
8:54
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Almost 10,000 people joined us today for our coverage. Thank you for joining us! We are a 100% free service. Please join our email list at http://www.livetechevents.com (refresh the page) - we will send max 2 emails per year to notify you when we do live coverage of MAJOR tech events. We will improve our coverage in the future and ensure that video quality is better and you will hear our audio discussion. This is the first event we covered and it went well!
8:56
Rufex: This was the first event covered by you guys?
8:56
Rufex: Excellent work!
8:56
Rufex: Clearly you did a great job! It's the first time I seek out to watch some live show due to my poor latin american width band and already I ended up here!
8:56
Rufex: Cheers!
8:57
LiveTechEvents Discussion:it was indeed we plan to do more in future, glad to hear it.
8:57
Rufex: bandwidth.. you know what I mean...
8:57
LiveTechEvents Discussion:I do indeed.
9:00
[Comment From Sam]
does the ipad have snow leapard
9:00
LiveTechEvents Discussion:No it's based on the iPhone OS
9:01
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Any other questions you want answering?
9:03
Rufex: it has VGA out support or AV out via dock connector and converter cable... thats interesting...
9:03
LiveTechEvents Discussion:that would be good, but it's something the iPod's/iPhone's have been able to do for sometime.
9:05
[Comment From john]
is ipad going to be consider as computer or something else?
9:05
Rufex: It's definitely not a computer...
9:05
LiveTechEvents Discussion:I would say something else, like the iPhone/Touch it can't really compete with a computer.
9:06
Rufex: It's software is not powerful enough to be one...
9:06
[Comment From convert]
That was me, windows user until I was 33yrs old, starting with a tandy. On the macbook for 1 week and I knew I'd never ever go back to windows.
9:07
Rufex: We'll all be using linux or other free software OS by the end of the decade... Ubuntu is only getting better and the new Gnome that comes out in April shall rock!
9:08
LiveTechEvents Discussion:I'm all for Ubuntu it's a great OS.
9:09
LiveTechEvents Discussion:Right, that's a wrap folk we're over and out, remember if you want to stay up to date with Live Tech Events please join our email list at http://www.livetechevents.com (refresh the page) - we will send max 2 emails per year to notify you when we do live coverage of MAJOR tech events.
Edit Delete
9:10
LiveTechEvents Discussion:thanks for participating, head over to iVirtuaforums.com if you have any more questions about the iPad.
After years of rumors, speculation, and leaks, Apple today announced its long-await tablet, the iPad.
Chief executive Steve Jobs complemented the introduction of the new device with a new e-bookstore, called iBooks, together with partnerships with four major publishers, and showed off new versions of its iWork application and third-party applications.
Jobs kicked off the company's launch event in San Francisco on Wednesday by highlighting the history of the company's mobile products. "We're the largest mobile device company in the world," he told the audience, showcasing the iPhone and the company's line of MacBook products.
"There is room for something in the middle," he told the crowd. "If there's gonna be a third category, it has to be better at [Web browsing, e-mail, photos, video, music, games, and e-book reader]—otherwise it has no reason for being."
While netbooks have attempted to address the space, Jobs added, "netbooks aren't better than anything…They're just cheap laptops."
The key, he insisted is the tablet—a new device the company has christened the "iPad," one of several rumored names, including the "iSlate" and, simply, the "Apple Tablet." The iPad features a 9.7-inch, full capacitive multi-touch IPS display, weighs 1.5 pounds and measures 0.5 inches thick—"thinner and lighter than any netbook," according to Jobs.
Pricing for the iPad starts at $499 – far lower than the early $1,000 projections of many analysts. The 16-, 32-, and 64-GB devices run $499, $599, $699 – with an additional $130 for 3G capability. The device will begin shipping in March.
For the chipset, the company went in-house, designing a 1-GHz Apple A4, contrary to rumors that the device would be powered by an Intel or Samsung chip. The iPad comes in three capacities: 16-, 32, and 64GB. It features built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, an accelerometer, company, speaker, and microphone.
The iPad has a built-in iTunes store, for music playback. Itcan also do video, naturally, either via iTunes for movies and TV shows, or via third-party apps like YouTube and YouTube HD. The device syncs to Macs and PCs via USB, in much the same manner as the iPhone, so users can transfer content like movies and music from iTunes.
According to Jobs, the device gets 10 hours of battery life. "I can take a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo and watch video the whole time." It also features a month of standby time on a single charge, he said.
Apple is offering two 3G data plans for the device: $14.99 a month for 250-MB or $29.99 for unlimited data. "Data plans usually cost about $60 a month," Jobs told the crowd.
Contrary to early Verizon partnership rumors, the plan is available solely through AT&T. No contract is required. "International plans will be in place by June," Jobs added. Those uninterested in 3G data will be able to use the device with Wi-Fi, of course.
Jobs surrendered the stage to a number of content providers. First off, Mark Hickey from video game publisher Gameloft showcased a first person shooter for the device called Nova.
Travis Boatman from EA showcased a the upcoming title: "Need For Speed: Shift". "Building for the iPad is like holding an HD display up to your face," he told the crowd.
Martin Nisenholtz from The New York Times took the stage to show off "something special for the iPad." The paper's layout on the device mimics a standard newspaper. "We think we've captured the essence of reading the newspaper," he told the crowd. "A superior experience in a native application." The application also lets users play video, making newspaper reading a multi-media experience.
Developer Steve Sprang showcased an application called Brushes, which is already available as an iPhone app. In iPad form, the application takes advantage of the device's significantly increased real-estate, offering a deep artistic canvas experience. The app, according to Sprang, will be available when the iPad launches. Chad Evans from MLB.com also showcased a new app for the device featuring live video.
Jobs came back on stage to take a shot at Amazon's successful Kindle. "Amazon has done a great job of pioneering [e-readers]," Jobs told the crowd. "We're going to stand on their shoulders for this." The new e-book reader for the iPad is titled, fittingly enough, iBooks. Apple partnered with a slew of major publishers, including Penguin, Harper-Collings, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and the Hachette Book Group to provide content for the device's online book store called the iBookStore.
Unlike the Kindle, the iPad displays titles in full color. The screen's animation lets users flip quickly through the pages of the book. Users can even change the font of the books they're reading. The device utilizes the nearly universal ePub format for its titles.
For more business-minded users Apple has developed a special iPad version of iWork, making it possible to create and view spreadsheets on the device. The device can also view slides in Keynote and PDF files via Adobe Acrobat. iWork applications will run $9.99 a piece and will be compatible with Macs and projectors.
Apple is also offering a number of accessories for the device, including two docks. The first is a picture dock, which lets the device stand upright for video and image viewing. The other has a built-in keyboard, transforming the iPad into a more fully functioning netbook of sorts. Apple's case also lets the device stand upright.
Below will follow a tranbscript of iVirtua's traditional live coverage from our new subsidiary
These include some titles from larger publishers that should’ve knownbetter – and niche publishers that should’ve known better to boot.Special thanks to Chris Remo, Kris Graft, and Leigh Alexander forsuggestions:
Javaground’s UniWar is a hex-based strategy game for iPhone that didn’t get nearly enough play. While Hudson was providing inferior ports of Military Madness to XBLA (and a decent port to Android), UniWar took the tried-and-true formula to the next state, with simple tweaks and clever unit pairings.
This was one of my favorite iPhone games of the year – it wasn’tamazing, but it provided a solid tactics experience in a year wherethat was really difficult to find on a handheld. Unfortunately itdidn’t really get picked up by the masses.
With more swearing than an American porno, HotD: Overkillrubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Its over-the-top exploitationfilm love, married with the classic light gun gameplay was too much forsome people. But it was not too much for Gamasutra’s Kris Graft, wholoved this game to pieces and put this on our list.
I do welcome the return of the light gun genre, and Headstrong did anexcellent job of recognizing what was good about the genre from agameplay perspective. Shame the “hardcore” Wii userbase doesn’t reallyseem to dig the old lightgun thing.
This was one of my personal surprises of the year. With Raiden,you pretty much figure you know what you’re getting, and to some extentI did. But there was so much more there under the surface. Raiden Fighters Acesgot me to fall in love with scores again, through its perfectimplementation of arcade fun. Big explosions, chunky pixely graphics,and ridiculously responsive controls, it’s the best I could hope from ashooter, in this day and age, or any previous.
I found myself going back to attempt single credit playthroughs,because the game essentially teaches you itself. Far from thebullet-hell shooters of the current era, RFAwinds up being more accessible and more inclusive than even modernindie shooting games. Well worth a spin, especially given the valueprice in the West.
Chinese developer Meridian hit it out of the park with Alive4Ever, but it was understandably somewhat glossed over. It’s one of many twinstick Smash TV-styleshooting games on the iPhone, so is easily dismissed. But theresponsive controls, and more importantly the different missions - fromrescuing survivors, to defeating enemies in specific ways, toharvesting gold - kept the missions fresh.
The game is plain fun, and when you layer on a level system withvarious upgradable weapons, accessories, and attributes, you’ve got agame that really caters to the “just one more” voice in all of us.
This is another one that I totally understand people skipping over. Thefighting genre is niche to begin with, and SNK releases so many KOF variants and ports that nobody but the hardest of the hardcore can keep up. But KOF 98 UM is a rebalanced version of the most popular KOF ever, with new characters to boot.
The game feels more kinetic and more explosive than ever, and thebalances really help make the game work much better in versus mode. Butin the shadow of the arguably regressive KOF 12, 98 UM really didn’t get the chance to shine. If you like fighting games and have ever wondered what KOF was all about, this is the game to start with. It showcases almost everything that is good about the series.
The Silent Hill series has taken some serious knocks,after the third. Most recently development shifted to the West, and forbetter or for worse, it seems here to stay. Double Helix dropped the ball on Homecoming, and Climax’s Origins didn’t fare much better – but the latter developer got a second chance with Shattered Memories,a reimagining of the original, and it works quite well. Though itdoesn’t have the scares of the PSX game, it does have thoughtfulpuzzling and a very well developed UI.
I’ve argued about this with the developers in person, but the blue icedenvironments just don’t have the scare factor of the originalrust-colored chainlinked worlds of Silent Hill for PlayStation – but the newest entry is the best Silent Hill in years, and it seems most have written off the series entirely at this point.
Shattered Memories is worth a shot for fans of the adventuregenre more than the survival horror genre. Fans and critics alike willdiscount the game based on the downturn in the legacy - but if you canget past the arguable lack of horror, you’ll have a nice gameexperience on your hands.
Here’s a protip if you want to get on the overlooked list – release agood, but very niche handheld game for $40. That will assure almostnobody will play it in spite of its quality, as is the case with Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble,the third in Spike’s awesomely irreverent look at the world ofhighschool delinquents, released for $10 too much by Atlus in the U.S.(and not at all in Europe, so far).
This third person action game has you starring as an ambitious younggangster (bancho) who lacks street cred. As you progress, you use youreye beams to stare down other gangsters, (unfortunately staring atpeoples’ butts and crotches has been severely de-emphasized in this,the third entry in the series. It was rather hilarious.)
Crouch on the ground like a hooligan to regain your power, and engagein smack talking battles to raise in ranks and achieve dominancewithout fighting (of course, you do wind up fighting an awful lot). Theridiculous humor, fun action, and B-level nature of this game wouldhave you singing this game’s praises to your pals – if only it weren’tpriced out of most people’s “sure, I’ll try that” range.
There have been many theories as to why this game didn’t get thepopular reception it should have, in spite of overwhelming criticalapproval. Marvelous blames its own lack of brand appeal. Thedevelopment lead, producer Yoshiro Kimura worries that the game might appear too kiddy for more sophisticated audiences. But the fact is, this bizarre Pikmin-like game had way more to offer than most people realized.
It came from the mind of the creator of Chulip (Kimura), a game in which you must kiss people of all genders in order to make the world a happier place. In Little King’s Story,you play as an unintentional king who must unite the land, in anincreasingly bizarre adventure full of game and culture references,both obvious and obscure, which charmed the pants off of journalists,but they got it for free.
Those who had to pay kept their pants firmly affixed to their belts,and didn’t shell out for the title. Which is a shame, because if anythird party Wii game was trying to make something to fit the coreaudience while pleasing the casual, this was it.
It sure feels odd to put an EA game on the overlooked list, but here Igo. This is the final release from a whole Pandemic Studios, and in myopinion, their best game. I’ll admit to not being a huge fan of thestudio’s last work, but this one hits the right chords. It’s a GTA-likein which you throw Nazis to their doom (that’s fun), while liberatingParis (well, Paris is awesome), and driving sports cars and runningaround on rooftops (I’ll admit, I have a mild videogame rooftopfetish).
Like Infamous, Prototype, and Assassin’s Creed before it, The Saboteurfeatures parkour as a main method of getting around (it’s admittedlythe worst of the bunch at it – still fun though), and uses the player’sabilities to get into some interesting situations. One of my favoriteaspects is sneaking, in which you can sucker punch, garrote, orotherwise stealthily disable a Nazi and then steal their clothes toblend in and engage in subterfuge. Throwing a Nazi off a building,stealing his clothes, then blowing up his sniper roost has a certainkind of satisfaction associated with it.
The icing on the cake though, is the Will to Fight mechanic. The world of The Saboteuris black and white when controlled by the Nazi, and in color in areaswhere the French resistance is strong. This works surprisingly well –in the black and white areas, the main color you can see is the red ofNazi insignia – on armbands, on buildings, and on every Nazi target youcan blow up with dynamite (you do a lot of this).
This not only shows you an easy list of targets, it actually feelsoppressive. There are enemies everywhere, and in fact they’re the mostvisible thing in the environment. The environment changes back to colorin real time as you destroy more Nazi installations – it’s subtle, butfor me the mechanic really works.
If only the tone of the game had been more serious they could’ve reallyhad something there. But still, the game is good, I’m still playing at12 hours in, and it got neither the recognition nor the marketingbudget it deserved. It’s not perfect by any stretch, and it does havesome dastardly design choices at times, but it’s most definitelyoverlooked for its quality. And a fitting final effort from a studiothat exists now in name only.
1. Cryostasis (Action Forms Ltd./Aspyr/505 Games/Zoo Corp. – PC)
Ukrainian developer Action Forms Ltd. has released good games before - Chasm was well received, and the company’s other games have done rather alright. But Cryostasis,an FPS survival horror game, of a sort, is Action Forms' magnum opus. Ihave absolutely no doubt that if the game were released on homeconsoles, this would be one of the more talked-about games of the year,but the curious shape of game journalism means most of us tend toignore PC games in favor of the dedicated console experience. As itstands, this game hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves.
What’s so special about Cryostasis? A few things. First,it gets across the idea of cold (and for that matter warmth) incrediblywell. Cold is your enemy, and also very tied to your health. The gametakes place on a huge ship that’s been wrecked in the North Pole – andthe prior inhabitants have come back to life as horrific shadows oftheir former selves. You have to battle the cold, as well as the actualenemies, in order to stay alive.
In this game each encounter matters, in true oldschool survival horrorstyle, avoiding huge waves of enemies in favor of important dedicatedbattles. The main “gimmick” of this game is the ability to dive intothe memories of dead crew members you find, during which time you canattempt to avert the deaths of these characters. If you’re notconvinced, try on one of the more unusual brain dives for size. Mildspoilers included, but none that are really tied to the main story.
You come upon a meat locker. There, you have the ability to dive intothe memory of a slab of beef. You become a cow in a field – there’sreally not much you can do, other than die. But later, you have theability to play as the ship’s butcher. You can choose not to kill thecow – by not killing the cow, not only is that particular slab of beefno longer present in the meat locker, the butcher lives, because he wascrushed to death by that very beef slab.
By now, you've seen the Windows 7 commercials and read the reviews. PCMag will have far more to say in the coming days and weeks about the quality and performance of Microsoft's Windows 7 OS, as well as how it stacks up against its primary competition, Apple's Snow Leopard. But have you ever wondered what it would be like if you could watch executives from both companies really have at it? Not with snarky commercials, but with an honest discussion of the technologies that drive these operating systems? It won't happen, of course, but this is pretty close.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a surprise offer: Apple wanted to go on record and talk about why Snow Leopard is better than Windows 7. Apple's Senior Director of Mac OS X Product Marketing Brian Croll gave me his side of the story. Then I interviewed Microsoft's Jay Paulus, Director, Product Management Windows Client, to let him make his case. Although the interviews were conducted separately, I've tried to blend the comments to make it something of an ex post facto debate. It seems fair enough, as each side knew I would be talking to the other. What I ended up with is a good-old-fashioned debate, in which I play the moderator—and occasional fact-checker. It may not settle the question of which OS is better, but goes into a lot more technical detail than the 30-second spots that will be all over TV this holiday season.
Editor's Note: To reiterate, the interviews with Mr. Croll and Mr. Paulus were conducted separately—at no time were all three parties speaking to each other at the same time, and while they did respond to these topics and questions, I have added some detail to my moderator sections in order to put Mr. Croll and Mr. Paulus' responses in the proper context.
The 64-Bit Question
Lance Ulanoff: Let's start with 64-bit. For perhaps the first time in operating system history, average consumers are aware of the 64-bit choice and thinking about whether or not they need or want to use it. Mr. Croll, what does Apple bring to the table here?
Brian Croll: We have one version of Snow Leopard. Contrast that to Windows, which has six versions and adds a lot of complexity. Their product matrix gets really complex very fast. Then multiply by two, because you have to know if you want 32- or 64-bit.
In 2003, we started adding 64-bit technology. Apple went from a 32-bit to 64-bit environment without any issues for customers. Now we can allow 64-bit apps to run entirely on a 64-bit Intel processor. The major system apps now run in 64 bits. We architected Snow Leopard to allow the whole system to run in 64-bit mode on a 64-bit chip, not partial. (Ed. Note: But the vast majority of Macs will still run the OS kernel in 32-bit mode.)
Application developers can package up applications to put both 32- and 64-bit binary in one package. We never wanted the consumer to have to decide, and app manufacturers do not have to offer two versions.
LU: Mr. Paulus, your rebuttal?
Jay Paulus: We do have two versions. When you buy media, it comes with both in the box. We recommend people with 3GB or more of memory install the 64-bit version. (Ed. Note: You cannot upgrade from a 32-bit version of Vista to a 64 bit version of Windows 7. You must do a clean install.)
I think the transition to 64-bit is hard. It takes work to transition to 64-bit. Apple knows 64-bit is hard. They wanted to take credit for the work they did. OS X 10 Snow Leopard doesn't boot into 64-bit by default. And switching between 32-bit and 64-bit causes a big performance hit. The only SKU that boots into 64-bit by default is OS X server. Tough position for them to take, as much as I like their 64-bit logo.
We've had 64-bit and drivers since 2003 on Windows XP. Pretty hard for them to claim a lead on that.
LU: What about Microsoft's two-version approach, as opposed to one binary?
JP: I think it's representative, a pretty good way to make transition. As the hardware and software catches up and people have more and more memory in the systems, 64-bit makes more sense. The fact that they can make a choice, is that a bad thing?
Programming for Multicore
LU: Modern computers now feature multicore CPUs. However, consumers aren't always sure if their operating systems or apps are taking full—or any—advantage of all those cores. What are you guys doing in the multicore space?
BC: We took a step back and rethought the problem. It's a big deal for developers to get the most out of multicore systems. Programmers usually have to write apps differently if there are two, four, or eight cores. Grand Central lets the operating system figure it out. We'll shield the developers from having to worry about it. It's a big breakthrough in software. For application developers to take advantage of it, they only need to add a couple of constructs to their code. It's minimally invasive to the current set of code.
The primary benefit is speed (how fast it goes on screen) and responsiveness, if I click on something on the screen how quickly it comes back.
JP: It's a tough computing problem, the multicore, multithreading, programming across GPU and CPU. These are tough problems, no doubt. Anyone who does this wants to take credit. I feel like Apple is playing catch-up in this realm. We've had threads and fiber since 2000. The Windows 7 kernel is the same kernel as Window Server 2008 [R2]. I would hold our granular scheduling and multicore scaling up to theirs any day of the week. They're providing a queuing mechanism. People will still have to design their apps to be multithreaded. I reject the fact that it's going to fundamentally alter the way people are building apps to be multithreading or multicore.
Programming for Multicore
LU: Modern computers now feature multicore CPUs. However, consumers aren't always sure if their operating systems or apps are taking full—or any—advantage of all those cores. What are you guys doing in the multicore space?
BC: We took a step back and rethought the problem. It's a big deal for developers to get the most out of multicore systems. Programmers usually have to write apps differently if there are two, four, or eight cores. Grand Central lets the operating system figure it out. We'll shield the developers from having to worry about it. It's a big breakthrough in software. For application developers to take advantage of it, they only need to add a couple of constructs to their code. It's minimally invasive to the current set of code.
The primary benefit is speed (how fast it goes on screen) and responsiveness, if I click on something on the screen how quickly it comes back.
JP: It's a tough computing problem, the multicore, multithreading, programming across GPU and CPU. These are tough problems, no doubt. Anyone who does this wants to take credit. I feel like Apple is playing catch-up in this realm. We've had threads and fiber since 2000. The Windows 7 kernel is the same kernel as Window Server 2008 [R2]. I would hold our granular scheduling and multicore scaling up to theirs any day of the week. They're providing a queuing mechanism. People will still have to design their apps to be multithreaded. I reject the fact that it's going to fundamentally alter the way people are building apps to be multithreading or multicore.
Backing Up
LU: Okay, let's talk about backup—something everybody needs, but no one really does. Windows Backup has been around for a long time, but isn't widely used. Apple's Time Machine arrived with Leopard and deep integration with the hardware. Where are we now with OS-based backup?
BC: Time Machine versus Windows Backup: We built it in with Time Machine. It's easy to use, easy to restore, easy to understand, easy to search. There's a huge qualitative difference between what you get on a Mac and what you get on Windows.
JP: There's been some work done to make Windows Backup easier to use. It does a good job of full-system backup. If you have pictures scattered around the disk, you can send them to Library view—Backup is smart about picking up files from wherever they are. Another feature that is key is Previous Versions. It was called Time Warp and we have had it since Server 2003. It manages previous versions of files and is running by default on disk—it's a file system feature. There's no separate disk. It doesn't protect you from disk failure, but lets you go back in time to previous versions of files.
Upgrade Paths
LU: Perhaps one of the most stressful things users face is the act of upgrading their OS. With Windows 7 coming out, people will be making choices and possibly upgrading their OS. Mr. Croll, what's Apple's perspective on what's happening with Windows 7?
BC: Over 60 percent of the people are out there running Windows XP. I will point out that Microsoft more or less left the XP users behind. So I'm not understanding the logic.
LU: Mr. Paulus, Brian has a point. There were a lot of netbooks sold over the last 12 to 18 months, and the vast majority of them shipped with Windows XP.
JP: The majority of people get their new OS with a new machine, so the notion that we're leaving behind a vast set of people, I'm not sure I accept that. The fact is that Windows XP shipped eight years ago and hardware and software has moved on. We made a tough choice and I hope in the end that it's the right choice. It's a bit disingenuous for Apple guys to talk about us leaving people behind. On positive side, Windows 7 will run really well on those netbooks.
Windows users aren't left behind to the degree that people who are running those old Macs are being left behind. If you didn't buy a Mac since the Intel transition three years ago, you are really getting left behind. (Ed. Note: Snow Leopard only runs on newer, Intel-based Macs.)
What's Inside
LU: After years of integrating utilities and even full-blown apps from competing products in the operating system, or as part of the OS package, Microsoft made an about face this year and is letting end users decide whether or not they want to download Mail, Messenger, Movie Maker and other apps. Why?
JP: Pulling things out allows us to update them on a more regular basis. There's more customer value, the apps are more directly integrated with the cloud offerings. I think that people will realize that that's the way they want it: software plus service. Those upgrades are free. Apple can say they include it in the OS, but they also charge you for the upgrade.
LU: Mr. Croll, how do you view the debundling of applications?
BC: We build everything in and put together a package that works beautifully out of box. Microsoft is going in a different direction, pulling out Mail, and other apps and having people download them. For example, we have Exchange support in Snow Leopard. You have to buy Microsoft Office to get Exchange support in Windows 7. We bundle that right out of box.
JP: The premier client for Exchange is Outlook. If you want the full-fidelity experience, you want Outlook. For those that don't want to buy Outlook, there's Outlook Web Exchange. It's a strong, high-fidelity client.
What's Different
LU: In the race to build the best operating system, where do each of you think you stand? What sets you apart? Mr. Croll?
BC: Mac OS X is much simpler than Windows. We're more advanced from a technological standpoint. Windows 7 still has DLL and the Registry, still has defragmenting, still needs activation. We don't make users enter in activation codes.
LU: It's a fair point, Mr. Paulus. Microsoft has done many things to Windows 7, but couldn't change some of the fundamentals like the DLL and Registry.
JP: So what? Yeah, we've got the Registry and DLL, so what? It's not something we talk about. We do a lot of work around reliability and performance. Getting into notions of replacing Registry and DLL, it just doesn't become relevant.
LU: What about Mr. Croll's activation and technology comments?
JP: Apple has a different model. They charge you a lot of money for the hardware and charge you again for the OS. We're selling you the OS. We use the activation to help ensure that you have genuine versions of Windows out there.
Pricing
LU: Let's talk about pricing. There are free operating systems out there, like Linux, but, as we can see from market share, free does not necessarily translate into mass-market adoption. How do the two of you see price and the OS?
BC: With Snow Leopard, the upgrade price is $29 for Leopard users or $49 for a family pack with five licenses. With Windows 7 Ultimate, the upgrade is $119 for Home Premium and $199 for Professional—that is really expensive software.
LU: Jay, I know Microsoft has one $30 plan for students. What else do you have to say about pricing?
JP: Snow Leopard is much more akin to a service pack and Apple is charging $29. We don't do that. Windows 7 demonstrates a lot of customer value and priced at a pretty attractive price point. Most users get their OS automatically when they buy a new system. With Apple, you're going to be paying an Apple Tax. You're going to have to buy their expensive hardware just to get in the game.
Making the Choice
LU: Okay, here's your opportunity to make your case for your OS. Mr. Paulus, why Windows?
JP: I would say it's all about value, choice, compatibility, and simplicity. Value we've talked about that lot. There is value in a Windows ecosystem with nearly a billion users and thousands of PCs manufactured. Having lots of apps and systems drives a lot of end-user value. Stack any PC up against a Mac, we'll win pretty comfortably.
Windows 7 was designed around simplicity. It offers innovative features that set it apart, including Jump Lists and HomeGroup. A whole bunch of things that we think will make Windows 7 land as a game changer. I think the game has changed.
LU: Mr. Croll? Why should people choose Snow Leopard?
BC: Over last ten years we've been adding a lot of features, and it all culminated with Leopard. It's the best-selling software product Apple has ever done. It added things like Cover Flow and Time Machine. For Snow Leopard—the goal was to make a better Leopard. Mac OS 10 was made up of 1,000 different projects. For Snow leopard we refined 90 percent of them. Mac OS 10 continues to be much simpler than Windows.
1: Speed up Firefox
This hack requires a few steps. Search for pipelining in the filter and you should see:
network.http.pipelining: Change this to true.
network.http.proxy.pipelining: Change this to true.
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests: Change this to 8.
Now search for max-connections and you should see:
network.http.max-connections: Change this to 96.
network.http.max-connections-per-server: Change this to 32.
2: Disable antivirus scanning
This is only for the Windows version. If you’re downloading largefiles, this scanning can seriously slow things down. And since you willmost likely scan the downloaded file anyway, you’ll probably want todisable this. Of course, if you are uber paranoid (not a bad trait forcomputing), you might want to leave this entry alone.
To disable antivirus scanning, search for scanWhenDone and you should see:
browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone: Change this to false.
3: Open Javascript popups as tabs
If a popup window lacks the features of a browser window, Firefoxwill handle it like a popup. If you would prefer to open all windows,including popups, as new tabs, you need to tell Firefox inabout:config. Search for newwindow and you will see three entries. Of those three entries, you will want to modify:
browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction: Change this to 0.
4: Spell checking in all fields
By default, Firefox checks spelling only in multiple-line textboxes. You can set it to check spelling in all text boxes. Search for spellcheckdefault and you should see:
layout.spellcheckDefault: Change this to 2.
5: Open search bar results in new tab
When you use the search bar, the results display in the current tab.This can be a nuisance because you will navigate out of the page youare currently in. To make sure Firefox always opens search results in anew tab, search for openintab and you should see:
browser.search.openintab: Change this to true.
6: Auto export bookmarks
In Firefox 3, bookmarks are automatically saved and exported foryou. The only problem is that by default, they’re saved asplaces.sqlite instead of the more convenient bookmarks.html. To changethis setting so that they can be easily re-imported, search for autoExportHTML and you should see:
browser.bookmarks.autoExportHTML: Change this to true.
7: Disable extension install delay
One of the few gripes I have with Firefox is the silly countdown youmust endure every time you want to install an extension. Fortunately,this can be disabled. Search for enable_delay and you should see:
security.dialog_enable_delay: Change this to 0.
8: View source code in an external editor
When you need to view the source of a page, it opens up in browserpopup. Most developers would probably like to have that opened in theirfavorite editor instead of having to cut and paset. To do this, thereare two entries to modify. Search for view_source.editor and you will see:
view_source.editor.external: Change this to true.
view_source.editor.path: Change this to the explicit path to your editor of choice.
9: Get more add-on search results
When you do a search in the Add-on window, you’ll see just fiveresults. You might find it more efficient to increase this number.Search for getAddons and you should see:
extension.getAddons.maxResults: Change this to 10 (or higher, if you want to see even more).
10: Redefine the Backspace button
Did you know you can configure Firefox to use the backspace buttonto either go back a page or go up a page? This keeps power users fromhaving to go back and forth from the keyboard to the mouse. Search for backspace and you will see:
browser.backspace_action: Change this to 0 for previous page and 1 for page up.
Your turn
Do you have other favorite hacks you’ve discovered that make Firefox even more useful? If so, share them below.
You may have installed countless add-on in Firefox to enhance yourusing experience, but if you want to get the most out of Firefox, youreally have to hack your way into the about:config.
The about:config page contains most (if not, all) ofFirefox configuration options. It is so far the most effective, and themost powerful way to tweak and enhance your Firefox performance. Hereare 28 of the popular tweaks.
Accessing your about:config page In your Firefox, type about:config in the address bar.
You will be shown a warning page. Click the “I’ll be careful, I promise!” button to proceed.
On the main page, you will see a long list of configuration entries. Enter the name of the key you want to update in the “Filter” field. The list will narrow to only the entries that match your keyword as you type.
To modify the value, simply double click on the entry value field and update the entry. That’s all!
Isn’t that simple? Now, let’s get to the tweaking.
1) Adjust the Smart Location Bar’s Number of Suggestions In Firefox 3, when you start typing in the location bar, a drop-downlist of suggestion URLs will be shown. If you want it to show more than12 suggestions (12 is the default), you can adjust the browser.urlbar.maxRichResults keys and get it to show the number you want.
Config name: browser.urlbar.maxRichResults
Default: 12 Modified value: Set to your desired number of suggestion. If you want to disable it all together, set it to -1 2) Disable the session restore function Firefox 3 automatically saves your session every 10 secs so thatwhenever it crashes, it can restore all your tabs. While this is auseful feature, some of you might find it irritating. To disable thisfunction, toggle the value of browser.sessionstore.enabled to False Config name: browser.sessionstore.enabled Default: True Modified value: False if you want to disable the session restore function 3) Adjust the Session Restore Saving Frequency Same as above, if you decided to keep the session restore featureon, but want to reduce the session saving frequency, change the valueof browser.sessionstore.interval so that Firefox will save the session at a longer interval.
Config name: browser.sessionstore.interval
Default: 10000 (in msecs, equivalent to 10secs) Modified value: Set it to your desired value. 1000 means 1 sec and 60000 means 1 minute. 4) Enable Advanced Color Profile Support Firefox has this advanced color profile features that display higherimage quality. It is not enabled by default as it has a negative effecton the performance of the browser. If you are concern with the imagequality rather than the performance, you can activated it via the gfx.color_management.enabled setting
Config name: gfx.color_management.enabled
Default: False Modified value: True (if you want to activate the color profile support feature) 5) Disable Antivirus Scanning This is mainly for Windows users. By default, Firefox 3automatically scan the downloaded file with the default anti-virusapplication to make sure it is free of virus. If you download a bigfile, it could take a long time for the whole scanning process tocomplete. To increase the performance of the browser, you might want toconsider disabling the anti-virus scanning via the browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone key.
Config name: browser.download.manager.scanWhenDone Default: True Modified value: False (if you want to disable it) 6) Configuring The Scrolling Tabs When you opened many tabs, Firefox will not keep on reducing the tabwidth. Instead, it shows a scrolling bar so that the min width (100px)is conserved and you can scroll to find your tabs. If you are those whodon’t like the scrolling tab function and prefer Firefox to show allthe tabs, regardless how small it is, you can set the value of browser.tabs.tabMinWidthto 0 to disable it. Similarly, if you want Firefox to display more tabsbefore showing the scrolling button, you can reduce the default valueto a lower value, say 75 pixels.
Config name: browser.tabs.tabMinWidth
Default: 100 Modified value: 0 if you want to disable the scrolling functions, other values to set the min width value 7) Show/Disable Close button on Tabs Some people love to see the Close (the red X) button on every tabs, but some hate it. Whatever is it, you can configure it to your preferences via the browser.tabs.closeButtons setting.
Config name: browser.tabs.closeButtons
Default: 1 Modified values:
0 – display a close button on the active tab only
1- display close buttons on all tabs
2- don’t display any close buttons
3- display a single close button at the end of the tab strip
Extend Scripts Execution Time In Firefox 3, a script is only given 10 seconds to respond, afterwhich it will issue a unresponsive script warning. If you are hooked ona slow network connection, you might want to increase the scriptexecution time via dom.max_script_run_time to cut down on the frequency of the no script warning.
Config name: dom.max_script_run_time Default:10 (in secs) Modified value: 20, or any values greater than 10 9) Handling JavaScript Popups When you come across a site that executes a javascript open newwindow function, and if the popup window is without all the usualwindow features, i.e. back/forward/reload buttons, status bar etc,Firefox will automatically treat it as a popup and will not open it asa new tab. However, if you find this to be a nuisance and wanted toopen all new windows in a new tabs, you can specify it via the browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction setting.
Config name: browser.link.open_newwindow.restriction Default: 2– Open all JavaScript windows the same way as you have Firefox handlenew windows unless the JavaScript call specifies how to display thewindow
Modified values:
0 – open all links as how you have Firefox handle new windows
1 – do not open any new windows
2- open all links as how you have Firefox handle new windows unless the Javascript specify how to display the window
10) Enable Spell Checking In All Text Fields The default spell checking function only checks for multi-line textboxes. You can get it to spell-check for single line text box as well.
Config name: layout.spellcheckDefault Default: 1 (spell checker for multi-lines text boxes only) Modified values:
0 – disable the spell checker
2 – enable the spell checker for all text boxes
11) Open Search Box Results In New Tab When you search using the search box at the top right hand corner ofthe browser, it will display the search results in the current tab. Ifyou don’t want the search to interfere with your current tab, you cantweak the browser.search.openintab to make it open in a new tab.
Config Name: browser.search.openintab
Default: False Modified value: True (open search box results in new tab) 12) Lower The Physical Memory Used When Minimized This tweak is mainly for Windows users. When you minimize Firefox,it will send Firefox to your virtual memory and free up your physicalmemory for other programs to use. Firefox will reduce its physicalmemory usage, when minimized, to approximately 10MB (give or take some)and when you maximize Firefox it will take back the memory that itneeds.
The preference name does not exist and needs to be created.
Right click on the background and select New->Boolean. Enter the name when prompted: config.trim_on_minimize Enter the values: True 13) Speed up your Firefox Several tweaks required for this
Config name: network.http.pipelining Default: False Modified value: True Config name: network.http.proxy.pipelining Default: False Modified value: True Config name: network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
Default: 4 Modified value: any value higher than 4, but not more than 8 Config name: network.http.max-connections Default: 30 Modified value: 96 Config name: network.http.max-connections-per-server Default: 15 Modified value: 32 14) Increase/Decrease the Amount of Disk Cache When a page is loaded, Firefox will cache it into the hard disk sothat it doesn’t need to be download again for redisplaying. The biggerthe storage size you cater for Firefox, the more pages it can cache.
Before you increase the disk cache size, make sure that browser.cache.disk.enabledbrowser.cache.disk.enable is set to True.
Config name: browser.cache.disk.capacity Default: 50000 (in KB) Modified value:
0 – disable disk caching
any value lower than 50000 reduces the disk cache
any value higher than 50000 increases the disk cache.
15) Select all text when click on the URL bar In Windows and Mac, Firefox highlights all text when you click onthe URL bar. In Linux, it does not select all the text. Instead, itplaces the cursor at the insertion point. Regardless which platform youare using, you can now tweak it to either select all or place cursor at insertion point.
Config name: browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll Modified value:
False – place cursor at insertion point
True – select all text on click
16) Autofill Address in URL Bar Other than the smart location feature, you can also get your URL bar to autofill the address as you type the URL.
Config name: browser.urlbar.autofill Default: False Modified value: True (Have Firefox autofill the address as you type in the URL bar) 17) Same Zoom Level For Every Site Firefox remembers your zoom preference for each site and set it toyour preferences whenever you load the page. If you want the zoom levelto be consistent from site to site, you can toggle the value of browser.zoom.siteSpecific from True to False.
Config name: browser.zoom.siteSpecific Default: True Modified value: False (enable same zoom preferences for every sites) 1 Setting your zoom limit If you find that the max/min zoom level is still not sufficient foryour viewing, you can change the zoom limit to suit your viewing habits.
Config name: zoom.maxPercent Default: 300 (percent) Modified value: any value higher than 300 Config name: zoom.minPercent Default: 30 (percent)
value: any value 19) Configure Your Backspace Button In Firefox, you can set your backspace to better use by getting it to either go back to the previous page or act as page up function.
Config name: browser.backspace_action Default: 2 (does nothing) Modified value:
0 – go back previous page
1- page up
20) Increase Offline Cache If you do not have access to Internet most of the time, you mightwant to increase the offline cache so that you can continue to workoffline. By default, Firefox 3 caches 500MB of data from supportedoffline Web apps. You can change that value to whatever amount of yourchoice.
Config name: browser.cache.offline.capacity Default: 512000 (in KB) Modified value: any value higher than 512000 will increase the cache value 21) Auto Export Firefox 3 bookmarks to bookmarks.html Unlike the previous version, Firefox 3 backup the bookmarks file in places.sqlite rather than the usual bookmarks.html. Since bookmarks.htmlallows us to export and sync our bookmarks with other browser, it willbe very useful if Firefox 3 can backup the bookmark to the bookmarks.html as well.
Config name: browser.bookmarks.autoExportHTML Default: False Modified value: True (auto export bookmarks file to bookmarks.html) 22) Disable Extension Compatibility Checks This is useful if you want to use an extension that is not supportedby your version of Firefox badly. It is not recommended, but you canstill do it at your own risk.
Right click and select New->Boolean. Enter extensions.checkCompatibility in the field. Enter False in the next field.
Right click again and select New->Boolean. Enter extensions.checkUpdateSecurity into the field and enter False into the next field.
23) Disable Delay Time When Installing Add-on Everytime you wanted to install a Firefox add-on, you will have towait for several secs before the actual installation starts. If you aretired of waiting, you can turn the function security.dialog_enable_delay off so that the installation will start immediately upon clicking.
Config name: security.dialog_enable_delay Default: 2000 (in msec) Modified value:
0 – start installation immediately
any other value (in msec)
24) View Source in Your Favorite Editor This is very useful for developers who are always using the ‘view source‘ function. This tweak allows you to view the source code in an external editor.
There are two configuration need to be made:
Config name: view_source.editor.external Default: False Modified value: True ( enable view source using external text editor) Config name: view_source.editor.path Default: blank Modified value: insert the file path to your editor here. 25) Increasing ‘Save Link As‘ timeout value When you right click and select the ‘Save Link As…‘, thebrowser will request the content disposition header from the URL so asto determine the filename. If the URL did not deliver the header within1 sec, Firefox will issue a timeout value. This could happen veryfrequently in a slow network connection environment. To prevent thisissue from happening frequently, you can increase the timeout value soas to reduce the possibility of a timeout.
Config name: Browser.download.saveLinkAsFilenameTimeout Default: 1000 (1 sec) Modified value: any value higher than 1000 (value is in msec) 26) Animate Fullscreen Toolbar Collapse mode In Firefox’s fullscreen mode, toolbars and the tab strip are hiddenat the top of the screen and only shown on mouseover. To draw attentionto this, there is an animation of the toolbar sliding upwards andoff-screen when fullscreen mode is toggled on. For performance issue,the animation of the collapse of the toolbar only appear for the firsttime. For some reason that you may love/hate the animation, you canadjust Browser.fullscreen.animateUp to switch it on/off for every collapse.
Config name: Browser.fullscreen.animateUp Default: 1 (animate the toolbar collapse only the first time) Modified value:
0 -disable the animation
2- enable the animation for every collapse
27) Autohide Toolbar in Fullscreen mode In fullscreen mode, the toolbar is set to autohide and appear uponmouseover. If you have a need to view the toolbar at all time, you cantoggle the value of browser.fullscreen.autohide to False to always show the toolbar.
Config name: browser.fullscreen.autohide Default: True (always autohide) Modified value: False (always show the toolbar) 2 Increase Add-On search result If you go to Tools->Add-ons->Get Add-ons and performa search there, Firefox will only fetch and display 5 matching results.If you want Firefox to show more than 5 results (say 10), you canadjust extensions.getAddons.maxResults to get it to display more results.
Config name: extensions.getAddons.maxResults Default: 5 Modified value: any value more than 5 This list of about:config is definitely not the complete list. If you have any tricks not listed here, please add it in the comment.
EA's Need for Speed: Shift has gone straight to number one in the UK chart in its debut week. The game, developed by the newly formed London-based Slightly MadStudios, enjoyed high enough sales to knock last week's number one -Guitar Hero 5 - off the top position after just one week there.
Need for Speed: Shift is the 13th installment of the long-running racing video game franchise Need for Speed published by Electronic Arts. It was announced in January 2009 as part of a three-game announcement that includes Need for Speed: Nitro and Need for Speed: World Online.[3] Shift was developed by Slightly Mad Studios—who, under their former name Blimey! Games helped develop GT Legends and GTR 2 together with SimBin Studios—with help of Michael Mann (EP at EA Black Box) and Patrick Söderlund (senior VP of EA Games and head of DICE). In the new franchising model for the series adopted by EA, Shift takes its place focusing on simulation racing and realistic drifting rather than the arcade racing of previous titles in the series. It abandons the street racing formula of previous games and focuses on simulating the "true" driver experience.
Shift's sales were split fairly evenly between PlayStation 3 and Xbox360, with the former just pipping the Microsoft hardware with 52 percent of the sales. Xbox 360 took 44 per cent and PC and PSP theremaining five per cent. Colin McRae: Dirt 2, which made its debut last week at numbertwo, dropped to number three this week. Eidos' Batman: Arkham Asylumdropped one place this week to number four, and Wii Sports Resortgained one place to number five.
Launch Video
The only other new entry in this week's top ten, alongside Need for Speed, was Bethesda's WET, which entered at number six. Dropping three places to number seven was The Beatles: Rock Band, whileCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare remained at number eight for a secondweek. Nintendo's Wii Fit fell four places to number nine and EA's TigerWoods PGA Tour 10 rounded off the top places at number ten, afterclimbing one position.
The full UK all-formats chart from Chart-Track for the week ending September 19 is as follows:
01 Need for Speed: Shift
02 Guitar Hero 5
03 Colin McRae: Dirt 2
04 Batman: Arkham Asylum
05 Wii Sports Resort
06 WET
07 The Beatles: Rock Band
08 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
09 Wii Fit
10 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
Shift has been met with generally favorable reviews, the Windows version gaining a metacritic score of 87.IGN awarded it 9/10 (outstanding) citing among other things an incredible driving experience and excellent sound effects, IGN also gave Need for Speed: Shift a editors choice award.[11]Official Xbox Magazine awarded Shift with 9/10 saying that it has an outstanding driver’s view; a deep, addictive career mode with lots of variety and options; sharp multiplayer racing counts toward single-player career. Official Xbox Magazine has also nominated Need for Speed: Shift for editors choice award.[12]Eurogamer gave it a 7/10, saying, "If the skittish handling and overbearing, messy advancement can be reined in, Need for Speed could have a future in its newly serious and somewhat crowded surroundings. But with the infinitely more comprehensive Forza Motorsport 3 and Gran Turismo 5 looming in the very near distance, it's hard to see the point in this second-stringer this time around, for console players at least. And given Need for Speed's recent, confused history, you shouldn't count on it wearing the same face next year."[13]
General Features
True Driver's Experience– A variety of visual cues delivers the true driver's experienceincluding a three-dimensional HUD that mimics driver head movement,inertia and G-forces. The depth of field also adjusts based on thespeed of the car; so when the car is travelling at high speeds theperspective will shift to the distance putting the car/cockpit out offocus.
Driver Profile – What kind of driver are you? Driver profiletracks the player's evolution as a race driver from event to event.This system is made up of a driver's personality on the track, theirsuccess rate and any profile points and badges accrued all of whichwork together to create a tailor-made career and gameplay experience.Driver profile is pervasive throughout all modes: career and online.
Dynamic Crash Effect - When the player hits a static objector opponent car, the player will feel like they are 'taking damage'. Acombination of visual and audio effects will leave the playerdisorientated and briefly disrupt the race.
Total Customization – Need for Speed SHIFT features acomprehensive customization option that lets the player tailor everyaspect of the cars performance and styling. Go under the hood toupgrade and tune your vehicle to increase its performance. The visualcustomization system allows players to personalize both the exteriorand trick out the interior to reflect their individual style andpreferences.
Photo Real Cars and Tracks – Nearly 70 licensed cars areavailable including the Pagani Zonda F, Audi RS4, and Porsche 911 GT3RSR. There is also over 15 real-world locations like Willow Springs andLaguna Seca as well as fictional circuits like downtown London andTokyo.
Sensia is a revolutionary internet-connected digital audio system with Flow technology and a large colour touchscreen, giving you a unique wayto enjoy internet radio content and podcasts, DAB and FM radiostations, your own music collection via Wi-Fi, online apps, Facebook and also Twitter and uniquebroadcast material.
Pure Digital -- DAB and WiFi radio extraordinaire -- has just made live a product portal for its forthcoming Sensia, which looks to be a serious leap forward in terms of features and design. For starters, this product ditches the typical retro vibe and goes for something entirely more Jetsons-esque, and while many of Pure's past radios have had some sort of display, the 5.7-inch touchscreen (640 x 480) is certainly a first. Boasting DAB and FM tuners, this device is also equipped with an 802.11g module that lets it pull down radio streams from the web as well as stream other media from networked PCs / storage. Other specs include twin 3-inch full-range drivers, an RF remote, optional rechargeable battery and a 3.5 millimeter socket for connecting those "other sources." Moreover, users will be able to tap into a variety of applications, from weather to news to Picasa to social networking. If all goes well, it'll ship before the holidays for £249.99 ($406).
PURE, the world’s leading radio maker presents Sensia, the world’sfirst high resolution DAB digital and internet-connected radio with aunique, large colour touchscreen which delivers a state-of-the-art andintuitive user-interface. Incorporating PURE’s award-winning ‘Flow’technology, Sensia is a revolutionary radio with a large 5.7” 640 x 480high resolution colour touchscreen. Sensia gives users a unique way ofinteracting with internet and radio content including: podcasts andlisten again services; DAB/DAB+* and FM; a growing set of custom PURE‘Apps’ such as weather, news, Picasa, Facebook or Twitter; and newbroadcast material such as station slideshows**. Sensia is also a mediastreamer enabling users to listen to music stored on a home computer ornetwork storage device via Wi-Fi technology.
Paul Smith, PURE’s general manager says: “PURE made its name as thecompany behind the success of DAB. We’ve since created a market leadingand multi award-winning, internet-connected product range with our Flowseries. Sensia is the next major innovation from PURE, which I amconfident will bring radio to a whole new ‘Facebook’ generation whilestill inspiring our traditional customer base. Radio will never be thesame again.”
Sensia has an extremely sophisticated touchscreen interface whichallows users to view and interact with the radio like never before:scrolling and spinning lists, tapping to select, sliding controls andswiping to change views. Users can choose between a multi-panel and afull screen view. The screen consists of a visual panel for viewingApps, station slideshows or album artwork; a list panel for scrollingthrough lists of radio stations or music stored on a PC; a now playingpanel and a control bar for operating Sensia.
Sensia is destined to be the centre piece of any room with adistinctive, elliptical shape and four striking colour choices: Brightred, vivid yellow, sleek black and cool white. A moulded stand issupplied, which allows the user to angle the radio to an optimumviewing position and a matching remote control completes the look.
A bespoke microsite has been created for Sensia atwww.touchmyradio.com which includes a 3D interactive overview of Sensiaas well as a virtual guide with a voiceover by Christian O'Connell,Absolute Radio’s breakfast DJ.
As with the award-winning Flow range, Sensia connects to The PURELounge, our own radio and media portal (www.thelounge.com) which actsas the index to the best of internet audio content and where users canregister their radio as well as save and organise favourites. Alsoavailable from The Lounge and via Sensia is a unique selection of PURESounds to relax you to sleep or wake you in a positive frame of mind.
Sensia also features PURE Clearsound technology for 30W RMS ofimpressive stereo sound; an input for an iPod/MP3 player; an alarm;countdown timer; sleep timer and a headphone socket. Add the optionalrechargeable PURE ChargePAK to listen to internet content anywherewithin range of the Wi-Fi network or to DAB and FM radio when furtherafield. Sensia also comes with a clever RF remote control which allowsusers to control the device from up to 10m away without directline-of-sight.
Sensia will be available in time for Christmas at just £249.99 (SRPinc. VAT) from all good stockists. For more information, please visitwww.touchmyradio.com, www.pure.com, www.thelounge.com or call 08451489001.
Editor’s Notes:*DAB+ is a new and enhanced version of DAB and is now being adopted bymany countries as their platform choice for digital radio. It’s likelythat it will be a few years before UK broadcasters take up DAB+, butthe majority of PURE products are already ‘DAB+ ready’.**Where supplied by the broadcaster
About PURE PURE is the world’s leading maker of broadcast andInternet-connected digital radios, the number one supplier of digitalradios in Europe and the creator of the world’s most popular and iconicdigital radios.
PURE radios increasingly support all the broadcast standards in the DABfamily used across Europe and beyond. PURE leads the way inInternet-connected radios with its Flow technology and the PURE Loungeportal (www.thelounge.com). Designed and engineered in the UK, all ofPURE’s products are manufactured with the environment in mind and atethically audited facilities. PURE is a division of ImaginationTechnologies Group plc. See www.pure.com. See http://www.touchmyradio.com/ for more
Chalk up the Lycosa as anotherattractive and cutting-edge peripheral made by Razer, but that's not tosay that this rose doesn't have its thorns. It seems as though there'sa flipside to almost every feature with the Lycosa.
Backlit keys aregreat at night, but these keys provided very little contrast during thedaytime for readability. The Lycosa is compact compared with otherkeyboards, but this comes at the cost of having no additional macrokeys. And the flashy appeal of its glossy finish only takes a daybefore fingerprints tarnish its surface. On the other hand, the Lycosa slips in some features that merit itsprice tag. Razer continues to evolve its software for peripherals, thistime allowing users to program any key on the keyboard. We don't recallany other keyboard that can do that. Also, the laptop-like keyssurprised us with some solid tactile, and clicky, feedback, despitetheir appearance. We're also happy to see that users can store multipleprofiles and disable that annoying Windows key that can prove to be abuzzkill when pressed mid-frag.
Software and Macro Keys Without the aid of Razer's software, the Lycosa would be nothing other than a fancy keyboard that lights up. Users can program any key they want and toggle between up to ten profiles, thus providing a virtually endless amount of macro capabilities. This does come at the expense of surrendering existing keys you may want for other things. Remapping keys on the number pad doesn't affect the numbered keys in the main typing area, or vice versa. We found the F-keys as great guinea pigs for our macros.
Razer has a reputation of having a sleek, cool-looking software interface, though we'd prefer something a little less edgy and a little more usable. You'll have to scoot towards the screen to view all of the included options. They're so small.
Software and Macro Keys Without the aid of Razer's software, the Lycosa would be nothing other than a fancy keyboard that lights up. Users can program any key they want and toggle between up to ten profiles, thus providing a virtually endless amount of macro capabilities. This does come at the expense of surrendering existing keys you may want for other things. Remapping keys on the number pad doesn't affect the numbered keys in the main typing area, or vice versa. We found the F-keys as great guinea pigs for our macros.
Razer has a reputation of having a sleek, cool-looking software interface, though we'd prefer something a little less edgy and a little more usable. You'll have to scoot towards the screen to view all of the included options. They're so small.
There's no denying that the Lycosa is one sexy beast. Promotional pictures highlight how well the Lycosa shines at night, but that's not the whole picture. When this thing is plopped on your desk, in daylight, its true colors come out.
Physically the Razer Lycosa is neither the largestkeyboard I have seen nor the smallest. The Lycosa measures in at 469mmx 168mm x 15mm without the removable wrist rest and 669mm x 221mm x15mm with the wrist rest attached. The wrist rest itself is matte blackin color with the same look as the keys, but lacking the non-sliprubber coating.
One of the casualties of having a fully backlit keyboard is that, during the day, key labels aren't as conspicuous—even with backlighting set. Each key label must be clear enough to allow light from underneath to shine through, but we felt that there wasn't enough contrast between the key labels and the keys themselves. Heck, the keys reminded us of the DAS keyboard II—the keyboard with blank, black keys. Logitech's G-series and Saitek's Eclipse II keyboards both provide fully backlit keys, and a key (pun intended) to their success is that labels are bright and easily read. Obviously anybody who buys a backlit keyboard will use it at night, but that's not to say that they'll toss it aside during the day for another keyboard.
Razer Tarantula:
Razer Lycosa:
Now, let's look at that pristine glossy finish surrounding the keys. Anybody that owns a keyboard with a similar surface (like the diNovo Edge or Tarantula) knows that it deserves a little housekeeping once in a while. This area is a magnet for fingerprints and blotches when the light hits it just right. Some keyboards and mice with this type of surface even come with a cleaning cloth, but there wasn't one included with the Lycosa.
While the multimedia TouchPanel has its artistic appeal, it doesn't help with usability. For starters, you have to have backlighting on just to view the controls. Secondly, anything touch-sensitive spawns no tactile feedback, and given that there are numerous options to choose from, all sitting close to each other, pressing the wrong control can be a common occurrence.
These are some of the issues we encountered regarding the Lycosa's look and feel. As for some positives, we were impressed with the keys. Despite their short vertical height, keypresses yield positive tactile feedback, with a slight clicky sound. They don't feel quite as mushy as the Tarantula, and are in no ways as clicky as the old IBM keyboards from yesteryear.
Shorter keys mean less pressing and faster typing, especially given the Lycosa's 1ms response time. We didn't notice any improvement in our typing speed, but this is something hardcore gamers may find appealing.
The Lycosa also has a sturdy exterior, despite its smallish size compared to other gaming keyboards. It planted itself rather firmly on our desk without sliding around—thanks in part to its six rubber feet.
It's cheapest at Ebuyer: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143289
Fully-programmable keys with macro capability Be one step ahead of the competition with fully-programmable keys with macro capability that enable instantaneous command executions.
* Keytop with non-slip rubber finish * Backlight illumination with WASD cluster lighting option * Fully-programmable keys with macro capability * Gaming cluster with anti-ghosting capability * Slim keycap structure with Hyperesponse™ technology * TouchPanel™ easy access media keys * Gaming mode option for deactivation of the Windows key * 10 customizable software profiles with on-the-fly switching * 1000Hz Ultrapolling™ / 1ms response time * Earphone-out and microphone-in jacks * Detachable wrist rest * One integrated USB extension port * Razer Lycosa Approximate size: 469mm (length) x 168mm (width) x 15mm (height) – without wrist rest 469mm (length) x 221mm (width) x 15mm (height) – with wrist rest System Requirements for Razer Lycosa Windows® XP / x64 / Vista / Vista64 PC with built-in USB ports CD-ROM drive (for drivers) At least 35MB of hard disk space (for drivers)
After a year of duty, the PowerShot A470 is finally withdrawing from the retail market. In its stead, Canon has announced the 10 megapixel A480. It's 25% smaller than its predecessor and features a 3.3x optical zoom (up to 4x digital), 2.5-inch LCD screen, and a DIGIC III processor. The company is also touting a simplified button scheme and a choice of four colors to match your fashion tastes: red, blue, black, and silver. No definitive word on a US release, but Europeans can look forward to these in February for around £129.00 (US$188).
Thoughts? Do you like the design? Like the old one better?
Hate Powershots in general?
Danny Boyle's latest centres on a plucky street kid who somehowfinds himself one question from winning the top prize on the Indianversion of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Even before it carried all before it at the Golden Globes this weekend,Slumdog Millionaire looked a fair bet to defy similar odds at nextmonth's Oscars: the critics have been bowled over by this adrenalineshot of life and love in the ghettos of Mumbai.
[list=]
Slumdog Millionaire
Release: 2008
Country: UK
Cert (UK): 15
Runtime: 120 mins
Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Azharudin Mohammed Ismail, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan, Madhur Mittal, Rubina Ali
One senses a fair number of reviewers thought long and hard aboutflagging up the cornier aspects of this rags to riches tale: itsunlikely romance, the jump between Hindi and English; even thedepiction of the poorest parts of India's largest city in dazzling,colourful, turn-up-the-brightness-dial resplendence, before succumbingto the unfettered, joyous optimism brewed up by Boyle and screenwriterSimon Beaufoy (The Full Monty).
"Together, they have managed thedifficult task of creating a film that leaves you with a big smile onyour face - without insulting your brain," writes The Sunday Times's Cosmo Landesman."It's great to see Boyle, after a series of rather undistinguishedfilms, back on great form. He's the prince of zip, zap, wham, bam, boomfilm-making, who shoots from every angle but the obvious. The actionmoves from hallucination to dream to nightmare, with quick forays intofantasy. It's a glorious and great work."
"The film uses dazzlingcinematography, breathless editing, driving music and headlong momentumto explode with narrative force, stirring in a romance at the sametime," writes Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times."For Danny Boyle, it is a personal triumph. He combines the suspense ofa game show with the vision and energy of City of God and never stopssprinting."
"This is a film so upbeat and colourful that, by thetime you're relaying its infectious air of optimism to friends, youcould forget that it features orphans, slaughter, organised crime,poverty, enslavement and police brutality in its crowd-pleasingrepertoire of suffering and renewal," writes Time Out's Dave Calhoun. "Hell, it even ends with a get-up-and-dance Bollywood number on the platform of Mumbai's Victoria Terminus."
"Despitebeing overpraised - it arrives garlanded with the kind of reviews thatmust have come out after the opening night of King Lear - this is stillvery effective entertainment," writes our own Peter Bradshaw."Despite the extravagant drama and some demonstrations of the savagerymeted out to India's street children, this is a cheerfully undemandingand unreflective film with a vision of India that, if not touristyexactly, is certainly an outsider's view; it depends for its fullenjoyment on not being taken too seriously."
For me, SlumdogMillionaire is a down and dirty glimpse of third world life through awonderfully populist, feelgood filter. We may see the worst of Mumbailife - the street child kidnapped by a Fagin-like begging gang andblinded to increase his earning potential; the toilet which is littlemore than a hole in the ground, beneath which gallons of festeringexcrement menacingly await - but this is ultimately a comfortinglygeneric storyline reminiscent of a hundred million rags to riches tales.
Bestare the flashback sequences of protagonist Jamal Malik as a mischievousscamp desperately battling to stay one step ahead in a city so fastthat even Boyle's quickfire cutting cannot keep up with it. I'm alittle surprised that Brit Dev Patel, who plays Malik aged 20, hasreceived so much praise, rather than the Indian actors who played theyounger versions of the character. Patel seems somewhat detached in hisscenes on the game show itself, but by that point the film has alreadyembedded you firmly in its wildly exuberant dynamic.
But perhapsyou see things differently? Slumdog Millionaire strikes me as a filmthat could suffer an epic backlash if it triumphs on Oscar night. Rightnow it's revelling in its underdog status, but there's plenty ofammunition available to those who want to see it pulled down from itspedestal. What did you think?
Timeout.co.uk Review:
Quote:
January’s parade of films hungry for awards continues its march with Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, a film so upbeat and colourful that, by the time you’re relaying its infectious air of optimism to friends, you could forget that it features orphans, slaughter, organised crime, poverty, enslavement and police brutality in its crowd-pleasing repertoire of suffering and renewal. Hell, it even ends with a get-up-and-dance Bollywood number on the platform of Mumbai’s Victoria Terminus.
Shot entirely in India and largely on location, the fabric of the film is winningly realistic. But the story is pure fantasy inspired partly by co-producer Celador’s desire to enshrine its winning creation, the game show ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ in a movie. Still, Boyle succeeds in leaving these creepy beginnings behind to create a film that’s full of warmth and humanity and forever looks on the bright side of tragedy.
The script is a simple conceit: writer Simon Beaufoy (‘The Full Monty’) has ripped up Vikas Swarup’s novel ‘Q&A’ and turned it into a rags-to-riches yarn about Jamal (Dev Patel), a young, slum-born adult in Mumbai who gives such a cracking performance on ‘…Millionaire’, that he’s only one question shy of the 20-million-rupee jackpot. Such unlikely success inspires envy on the part of the show’s creepy host (Anil Kapoor), who invites the police to arrest, question and torture him. This interrogation offers flashbacks of episodes in Jamal’s life that reveal the extraordinary sources of his knowledge and lend Boyle the handy framework of a child becoming an adult against all the odds in an India that’s changing by the hour but still dangerous for any kid on the loose.
Of all Boyle’s mixed work, from the promise of ‘Shallow Grave’ to the embarrassment of ‘Millions’ and the recent experiment of ‘Sunshine’, his new film probably best resembles ‘Trainspotting’: where in that film he found energy, humour and bonhomie in the stupor of heroin addiction, here he takes the impoverished life of a young Indian and spins it into an escapist fairytale steeped in the sights and sounds of the new India. By the time Jamal gets his girl – ultimately and simplistically it’s a romance – and everyone’s tapping their feet, you’ll have forgotten that one of his young friends was blinded and another sold into prostitution. You may also forgive some of the plot’s wilder turns and increasingly erratic jumps in time.
Boyle flirts with realism but never fully buys into it.
He’s too concerned with keeping the mood light and the pace furious. He’s a flashy filmmaker at times, but the real saving grace of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is how Boyle and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle go to extreme and pleasing lengths to soak up the colours, people and places of India. The film’s messages – that hard-earned street knowledge can be as valuable as traditional education and, while hardly original, that later success can overcome earlier hardship – are attractive if you’re willing to bite your tongue at the air of positivity. With so much good humour about you can even forgive the film’s bizarre slip from one language to another as young Indian actors give way to a warm, English-language performance from Britain’s Patel, who’s just one of a cast of actors who are as likeable and compelling as the film itself.
NEC is back on the scene with a clutch of new products, including acouple all-in-ones, some notebooks and a color refresh for the LaVieLight. Standing in stark contrast to the new Viewsonic all-in-ones,the two additions to the ValueStar line pack a little heat, with IntelCore and AMD Athlon processors, generous helpings of memory andstorage, and features like Blu-ray and digital TV tuners that are sureto amuse and titillate. The new LaVie notebooks run the gamut from13.3- to 16-inch, with either Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon processors. Inaddition to the usual storage and memory options, the 13.3-inch modelsports an LED that can be configured by the user to display either thetime or a line of text. Last but not least, fans of the boxy LaVie Lightnetbook have a couple more color options -- aside from the originalblack or white, they've thrown pink and blue into the mix. Be sure tocheck out the additional images and detailed specs after the break.
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