General Gaming Article |
- Nokia Maps Coming To Other Phones, No Voice Prompts Included
- The Game Boy: The Future Will Be Randomized
- RIM Is Worth More Dead Than Alive
- Google Posts Then Pulls Gmail iOS App
- How To Set Up Lightning-Fast RAID the Simple Way
- Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D Review
- Byte Rights: Music Copyright Vs. Basic CS 2
- Logitech Mini Boombox Unchains Your Audio
- LG: Relax Optimus 2X Owners, You'll Get Your Ice Cream Sandwich
- Survey Shows Businesses Already Interested in Windows 8
| Nokia Maps Coming To Other Phones, No Voice Prompts Included Posted: 02 Nov 2011 02:53 PM PDT
Nokia Drive fills in a real feature gap in Windows phone, which lacks voice prompts or live routing in its navigation app. The Nokia Maps app will show up in the Windows Phone Marketplace in the next few weeks, but it's not going to offer much more than the existing integrated Bing Maps. This sets Nokia's Lumia phones apart from the rest of the Windows Phone lineup. Microsoft said that Nokia would be a special partner on Windows Phone, and this is the first manifestation of it. Microsoft has been unable to implement a feature, instead leaving it up to Nokia, which reasonably wants to promote its own phones. Do you think Microsoft should develop its own turn-by-turn technology for Windows phone, or let Nokia have this differentiator? |
| The Game Boy: The Future Will Be Randomized Posted: 02 Nov 2011 02:44 PM PDT
I don't know if you've heard, but Minecraft is pretty great. Now, maybe (read: probably) I'm crazy, but building towers that scrape – nay, grievously paper cut – the sky and versions of Mt. Rushmore with the faces of Rush band members actually isn't my favorite part of the game. Truth be told, that award goes to the simple act of cracking open a fresh world and seeing the sights. Minecraft's random generator is a subtle master of "Ooooo, what's that over there?" and each unique world is a joy to explore. Towering, snowcapped mountains, glorious seaside vistas, winding cave mazes that feel thousands of years old (as opposed to seconds) – each one's a Costco bulk bag of block-shaped eye candy. Meanwhile, when most gamers hear "randomization," they probably think "Diablo loot," or – if you've been around the block/are a clinically diagnosed masochist – "roguelikes." That, I think, needs to change. Now, don't get me wrong. Randomization's not the solution to all of gaming's greatest ills. BioWare, for instance, probably couldn't fire its entire writing staff and hire a bunch of Magic Eight Balls. But randomization is an incredibly powerful tool that consistently collects dust in many developers' arsenals. I mean, I'm sure you've contemplated running through a level of Modern Battle War on the Homefront blindfolded while making all the sound effects and pinning a tale on a donkey before. Or maybe not... that, but you know what I mean. Here's the thing, though: For modern videogame randomization techniques, adding a few branches to that excessively linear path is only the tip of the iceberg. Let's start our tour with Civilization. Granted, Sid Meier's time-transcending opus has far fewer factors to randomize than, say, a triple-A shooter, but that's precisely why it works so well. Civilization's core design thrives on randomness. Where will key resources end up? How about each major faction? Depending on just a few deft pokes and prods from the invisible hand of fate, your entire in-game story changes radically. I'll never forget my Japanese nation's centuries-spanning war with the Spanish, but it could have easily been a hug and handshake convention for the ages if the dice had landed a couple ticks differently. Either way, though, it's my story and nobody else's. Moving into more complex territory, there's the likes of Dwarf Fortress and Love. Both games use algorithms and randomization to generate entire worlds. But while Love hasn't quite found its footing just yet, Dwarf Fortress is legendary for spawning tales that are equal parts epic and epically hilarious. Depending on innumerable factors – from individual dwarven dispositions to freaking soil erosion – you might end up with anything from an inspirational tooth-and-nail battle against the odds (and, you know, a genocidal murder monster) to a single dwarf suddenly going mad and smelting another dwarf into armor. There are entire websites devoted to this stuff, and with good reason: It's videogame storytelling in its purest, most emergent form, and – more importantly – it's really, really good.
You may be wondering, however, what's happening in Big-Budget Land beyond Diablo III and its ilk. Unfortunately, the answer's currently "not a whole lot." Can you really blame the Activisions and EAs of the world, though? I mean, building a game like Dwarf Fortress with the scale and fidelity of, say, Battlefield 3 would be a task on the level of creating a second Great Wall of China made out of Sistine Chapels and ancient Egyptian Pyramids. There are simply too many variables to take into account. That said, a couple games are carefully tossing in a few dashes of dynamic tech to spice up otherwise tried-and-true formulas. Foremost, there's Left 4 Dead, whose AI Director bases enemy timing and placement on what's most frightening and oh god there are Witches everywhere and my whole world has been engulfed in fire and despair. Er, sorry about that. But, yes, the end result of all that randomization tends to be a perfectly delicate, utterly unique snowflake of bloody, screaming chaos. As such, Left 4 Dead's at its best when everything goes horribly, horribly wrong. "We succeeded" is a boring story. "Everyone died" is far more fascinating when Left 4 Dead's telling the tale. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, meanwhile, is probably playing the quietest variation on the randomization theme. Basically, depending on where you are in the game world, Skyrim will kidnap a character – probably somehow using dragons – from a nearby town and toss them into whatever quest or storyline you encounter. It's a tiny twist, sure, but the hope is that it'll ultimately lead to more believable, personal stories. It's also a perfect example of how deeply these dynamic systems can run. They don't have to be the backbone of an entire game to make a big difference. You may not even notice until you're talking it over with a friend, but really, that's the beauty of it. Plus, it's friggin' Skyrim. There are already reports of chickens-turned-law-enforcers and newlywed NPCs cheating on their wedding nights. Drop even the teensiest pinch of randomization into that cauldron of crazy and you're likely to get a full-on explosion of hilarity. I feel, then, that the gaming industry's sitting right on top of this wellspring of potential, but mostly opting to pass by it in favor of dry, cracking hand-me-downs from other mediums. Many people seem to see randomization as this place where intricate game mechanics – especially those involved in storytelling – go to die. That mentality, however, couldn't be further from the truth. I'm tired of roller coaster rides masquerading as games. I want the whole damn theme park. |
| RIM Is Worth More Dead Than Alive Posted: 02 Nov 2011 02:36 PM PDT
This number is called "book value", and can be a useful indicator of the health of a company. RIM's share price is now $18.91, but if you work out the value of RIM's assets, it's worth $18.92 per share. It could be said at this point, that RIM is worth more dead than alive. If a private firm were looking to buy RIM and possibly sell it off, the book value would be an important part of the calculation. Unless the folks in Waterloo get back on their game, RIM is going to have trouble pulling out of this tailspin. The stock price has dropped nearly 10% in the last quarter, and 67% in the past year. Do you think RIM still has a shot? |
| Google Posts Then Pulls Gmail iOS App Posted: 02 Nov 2011 02:21 PM PDT
Just hours after the app appeared, Google's Gmail Twitter account posted, "The iOS app we launched today contained a bug with notifications. We have pulled the app to fix the problem. Sorry we messed up." The flaw also throws an error message each time the app is opened. Google claims that the problem is actively being worked on, but no ETA for an update was given. The Gmail app has been high on every iPhone user's 'want' list since the platform launched. The app features conversation view, stars, labels, and at some point, notifications. We suspect that some Googlers are going to be burning the midnight oil tonight. |
| How To Set Up Lightning-Fast RAID the Simple Way Posted: 02 Nov 2011 01:22 PM PDT RAID—redundant array of inexpensive disks—is one way of either getting more capacity or more data security out of your storage system. If you're willing to commit enough disks, you can get both speed and performance improvements. Today, though, we're going to show you how to set up a simple RAID setup. The only choice offered will be either RAID 0 (technically not RAID, but we'll get to that shortly) or RAID 1. We'll take a look at the RAID controllers built onto motherboards, and delve briefly into Microsoft's software RAID. Finally, we'll show you how to set up the most recent use of Intel's RAID controller, which enables SSDs to act as big hard drive caches—provided you have a Z68 chipset and Sandy Bridge CPU.
Motherboard RAID ControllersIn general, motherboard RAID controllers come in two flavors: integrated into the chipset and third party controller chips. Both of these can be set up through either EFI BIOSes or BIOS setup programs. These support soft RAID – while the controller has some smarts, much of the computation load for managing the RAID arrays is in the driver. A few, very expensive motherboards designed for workstation class systems may have fully accelerated RAID controllers that offload RAID compute chores from the CPU. For most home users, standard motherboard RAID is reliable, and if you're not frequently rebuilding the RAID array, then you won't notice the minor CPU usage. RAID ModesFirst, let's talk about RAID 0. Technically, it's not really RAID, since RAID 0 isn't redundant. Instead, two drives are striped together so that reads and writes happen alternately. Both read and write performance is theoretically doubled over a single drive, but overhead does bring it down to a little under 2x speed. Unless you absolutely, positively must have the fastest possible reads and writes, you should avoid RAID 0. If a RAID 0 array crashes, all the data is lost. The exception is SSDs, which tend to be more reliable. But even SSDs have their own share of issues, mostly with firmware problems, so it's still possible to lose a RAID 0 array even with SSDs. If your SSDs are running solidly, though, they'll likely run well in RAID 0 mode, too.
RAID 1 duplicates data across two drives. So a pair of 2 TB drives creates a single, 2TB RAID 1 volume. Redundancy is the key advantage with RAID 1; if one drive fails, your data is fully available on the second, presumably good drive. You do gain a little read speed, but lose a little write speed, but the differences are fairly small. Note that RAID 1 is not a replacement for doing backups. You can still completely lose a RAID 1 array through external problems, like giant power surges frying your PC.
Also available with most motherboard RAID solutions are RAID 5 and RAID 10. RAID 5 requires a minimum of three drives. RAID 5 uses a parity stripe, which is a way of ensuring data integrity without completely duplicating all the data. It's both redundant and striped, so data stored on a RAID 5 array is usually safe if one drive fails, but read times are substantially faster. However, because of the need to calculate and write the parity stripe, write times can be noticeably slower. RAID 10, sometimes called RAID 1 + 0, combines both RAID 1 and RAID 0 to give you both speed and redundancy – but you'd need four 1TB drives to create a single 2TB RAID 10 volume. RAID 10 takes a group of RAID 1 volumes and stripes the data across multiple drives. It's expensive in terms of the number of drives you need, but does give you both data integrity and speed. Again, though, RAID 10 is not a replacement for a good backup strategy.
This is only a partial list of RAID modes, but these also cover the most commonly available modes built into motherboard RAID solutions. There's one other RAID "mode" we'll discuss, but it's not precisely RAID. The latest Intel Z68 motherboards from Intel support SSD caching through Intel's Rapid Storage Technology. The SSD is used as a very large cache for the hard drive. The maximum size of the SSD is 64GB currently. Both drives must be in RAID mode to use this feature. Now let's walk through a quick setup guide. I'll be setting up a RAID 1 array in one case, and in the second example, use an SSD as a hard drive cache using Intel's Rapid Storage Technology features. I'll be using Intel ICH10R RAID controllers. Marvell and other controllers are similar, but read the documentation – every manufacturer offers different user interfaces and jargon. What about Windows RAID?The software RAID built into Microsoft Windows since Windows XP works fairly well, but there are some caveats that prevent it from widespread use. (Note that XP can't create mirrored or RAID 5 volumes, however.) What's not an issue is performance, assuming you're using a current generation CPU. And it does have its place, such as systems with no built-in RAID controller. One critical limitation is the need to convert the drives used in Windows RAID to dynamic disks. Once a drive is converted to a dynamic disk, you can't make it a basic disk without completely wiping the volume – it's a one-way street. In general, Windows RAID is useful when other RAID controllers aren't available, but with the widespread availability of Intel and other third party RAID controllers, it's generally better to use those. Before BIOS SetupBefore you dive into BIOS setup, first take a close look at the drives you plan on using. There are a few rules of thumb to follow.
Configuring Intel RAIDFirst, let's look at setting up a RAID configuration on an Intel X58 motherboard. In this case, I'm setting up two SSDs as a RAID 0 striped array. Setting up RAID 1 is similar; you just need to choose the RAID 1 option in the BIOS, but bear in mind that the final capacity of the RAID 1 volume is the same as the smallest drive in a two-drive array. First, set up the system BIOS to configure drives as RAID. Note that you can do this even if you don't use RAID at all. That can be useful, as you'll then have the RAID driver installed, and if you decide to use RAID at a later date, configuration headaches are minimized. Going from a system where drives are configured as IDE to RAID mode often results in blue-screen errors and may require a repair or complete reinstall of Windows.
If you have an EFI style BIOS, as is common in P67, H67, and Z68 motherboards, setup is similar, but the screen may look different.
Once that's done, reboot and then enter the Intel RAID configuration BIOS by hitting CTRL-I as the system is booting. You'll add the drives to the array by first marking them will the space bar, then selecting "Create RAID volume." In general, I leave the stripe settings at default. Don't forget to check to see that the drive is bootable, if you plan on making this your primary boot volume.
That's pretty much it. You'll reboot once more, and then you can start installing Windows. If this is a data drive, you'll boot into Windows, and then use the Windows disk management tools to configure partitions and format the volumes. If you're using Marvell, here's a quick screen shot of what the Marvell BIOS setup looks like.
Z68 SSD CachingConfiguring an SSD cache drive on a Z68 motherboard is a little different than configuring other Intel RAID volumes. While you do need to set up the drives in RAID mode as the first step, you don't use the Intel ICH RAID BIOS to configure the cache. Instead, you install the Intel Rapid Storage Technology software in Windows, then use that to configure the cache drive.
If you reboot and check the Intel RAID BIOS, you'll see the cache drive configured—and you don't need to make any changes in the Intel RAID BIOS.
Only Scratching the SurfaceIn the past, I've configured secondary volumes as RAID 1 volumes using a pair of identical drives, but now I simply have two 2TB drives—one for data and the other for a nightly backup. Once a week, all my data gets backed up over the network to a home server. If I were into heavy duty video editing, however, I'd probably set up an SSD RAID 0 array as my boot drive and for applications. I'd set up a second data drive using RAID 10. If I were a professional video guy, I'd probably have a dedicated RAID controller for those secondary RAID 10 volumes—and I'd likely have more than one. Video can eat up both storage capacity and bandwidth in a hurry. For my uses, though, fast boot and app load times are my main consideration. I am a fairly heavy Photoshop user, but having 12GB of RAM mitigates the need for a fast secondary array. In the end, it's all about how you plan on using the system. What RAID level you use and the risk you take all depend on how you plan on using the drive. The RAID 0 array I've been using, which consists of a pair of Corsair 240GB SSDs, has been solid. Boot times are incredibly fast and application load times are minimal. Your needs and risk assessment, however, may be quite different. |
| Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D Review Posted: 02 Nov 2011 12:50 PM PDT Creative hedges its betsIs Creative buying into the notion of the post-PC world? The Sound Blaster Recon3D is a powerful USB audio device based on Creative's all-new Sound Core3D chip. But you can also connect the Recon3D to an Xbox 360, PS3, or even an Intel-based Mac. Creative tells us the Sound Core3D doesn't boast the naked power of the company's previous-generation audio processor, but that it is extremely efficient—it draws all the power it needs from a single USB port. The Recon3D has an optical S/PDIF input, a 1/8-inch audio output to drive a pair of speakers or headphones, and a 1/8-inch input to support a wired headset's microphone. It can also be upgraded to support Creative's new Tactic3D Omega wireless headset. All the cables you might need are included in the box.
We found that the Recon3D delivers plenty of bang for the buck, especially for gaming. While it's technically not a soundcard—the Sound Core3D chip at its heart consists of several digital signal processors; a 24-bit, six-channel DAC (digital-to-analog converter); and a four-channel ADC (analog-to-digital converter), but no waveform generators—the Recon3D can perform amazing tricks with whatever audio you feed it. Creative, for its part, describes the device as a "USB audio enhancer." The Recon3D can decode a Dolby Digital bit stream, and it runs several audio-processing programs, including THX TruStudio Pro, Crystal Voice, and Scout Mode. THX TruStudio Pro is a software suite consisting of programs for producing virtual surround sound on stereo devices, such as headphones; for enhancing the sound of compressed audio material, such as iTunes tracks and MP3 files; for enhancing the dialog in movie soundtracks; and for boosting bass response for playback on small speakers. Crystal Voice is great for online games and VoIP calls. It has a noise-reduction algorithm that we found to be extremely effective at blocking background noise—from cooling fans to keyboard taps—from being picked up by our headset mic. An echo-cancellation feature prevents echoes during Skype sessions, and if you swing from speaking in hushed, tense whispers to violent outbursts, Smart Volume will equalize your voice so that it comes across at a consistent level. Lastly, there's a real-time effects mode that can transform your voice to match your character—your game character, that is.
Scout Mode is one of the Recon3D's most original features. Designed primarily for FPS players, this algorithm boosts faint sounds in games—such as the footsteps of an enemy sneaking up on you. We found the effect somewhat noticeable, but not immediately useful. Pro gamers looking for the slightest edge might find Scout Mode more satisfying, but regular Joes shouldn't expect it to deliver miracles. We like the audio-processing suite, and if you're using onboard audio, you'll absolutely hear a difference when you plug in the Recon3D. Onboard audio has improved considerably over the years, but we still prefer discrete hardware. And on that score, a true soundcard—such as Creative's X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro—doesn't cost much more, provides most of the same features, and delivers slightly better sound quality. But if your primary computer is a laptop, or if you frequently game on a laptop, Recon3D is a great choice. The same goes for PS3 or Xbox 360 gamers and those who play on both PCs and consoles, because it's possible to create user profiles on the device that work on both platforms. All that makes it difficult to assign a final verdict, so you should consider this a qualified buy recommendation. The Recon3D is a solid audio solution; but if you have an open PCIe slot in your machine, stick with a true soundcard. $130, www.creative.com |
| Byte Rights: Music Copyright Vs. Basic CS 2 Posted: 02 Nov 2011 11:45 AM PDT Good news, everybody! The courts have upset music label EMI with a ruling that not only preserves the DMCA safe harbor, but acknowledges basic laws of physics. EMI was suing Mp3tunes.com, a music cloud service founded by Michael Robertson, who also founded the first music locker, Mp3.com—that one was sued out of existence by Universal Music Group in 2000. Plenty of major players like Amazon, Google, and Apple were watching Robertson's round two after launching their own services. Because moving media from one format to another is a fair use, some cloud services had purportedly stored a copy of the song for every user on the system with that song in their library to protect themselves from labels. Let that sink in for a second: Under this legal theory, if Amazon sold 100,000 of Justin Bieber's "U Smile" for use in its cloud service, it had to keep 100,000 individual identical digital copies on disk at all times.
It doesn't take a lot of tech savvy to figure out why that is insane. It's a misunderstanding of what a digital copy is, as well as 100,000 copies of "U Smile." The court saw this, and ruled in favor of Mp3tunes, decency, and CS 101 classes everywhere. Beyond wanting to require pointless environmental and cultural waste, EMI wanted Mp3tunes to lose its safe harbor on user-uploaded content that might infringe because Mp3tunes didn't proactively filter what people uploaded. The courts did ding Mp3tunes for not doing enough to comply with take-down requests, but still didn't require proactive filtering, since that's the literal opposite of what the law requires. Robertson's first baby, Mp3.com, was killed by a lack of understanding of digital technology. Eleven years later its much younger sibling was saved by the fact that the justice system can learn. |
| Logitech Mini Boombox Unchains Your Audio Posted: 02 Nov 2011 11:33 AM PDT
"The Logitech Mini Boombox rises to the occasion to bring an immersive sound experience wherever you go," said Azmat Ali, vice president of tablets and mobile for Logitech. "Now that mobile devices also act as cinemas, concert stages, game consoles, and conference centers, people want sound quality to match - and the Logitech Mini Boombox delivers." The Mini Boombox works with devices that support Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) and phones that support Bluetooth Hands-Free Profile (HFP 1.5). There's an internal battery that charges via USB and is good for up to ten straight hours of rock and roll (or rap or country or whatever). Logitech is currently accepting preorders for the Mini Boombox in black or red, both priced at $100. It will ship later this month. Image Credit: Logitech |
| LG: Relax Optimus 2X Owners, You'll Get Your Ice Cream Sandwich Posted: 02 Nov 2011 11:12 AM PDT
"LG firmly denies the rumors that claim LG will not be providing the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) OS update for the LG Optimus 2X," LG posted on its official Facebook wall. "These rumors are NOT true. LG is currently in the process of planning the ICS OS update for the LG Optimus 2X as well as other LG high-end smartphones. Detailed information on the ICS OS update schedule for specific models will be announced, once the ICS OS is publicly released by Google. Please stay tuned for more updates from LG." That's great news for Optimus 2X owners, obviously, and perhaps even better news for other LG smartphone owners with lesser spec'd devices, though it remains to be seen where LG will draw the line between high-end and not-quite-high-end-enough for ICS. |
| Survey Shows Businesses Already Interested in Windows 8 Posted: 02 Nov 2011 10:43 AM PDT
InformationWeek surveyed 973 tech professionals working at business IT organizations and found that many of them have already started mapping out plans for deployment. "We were surprised that, even at this early stage, Windows 8 is already on the radar for many IT organizations," said Art Wittmann, VP and director of research and reports at InformationWeek. Windows 8 is a bit of a gamble for Microsoft. Even though it will be possible to work within a traditional Windows Explorer desktop, it's clear Microsoft is targeting tablets and touch interfaces in general. At the same time, the Redmond software giant is making sure to include IT-friendly features like native support for desktop virtualization and Secure Boot technology. |
When Nokia showed off its new Windows Phone wares at Nokia World last week, we all wondered if the software features shown off would arrive on other devices. Well, the answer appears to be "kinda." The most interesting Nokia app was the turn-by-turn Nokia Maps, and other Windows Phone 7 devices will get access, but 
It hasn't been easy for RIM these last couple of weeks. There was that nasty outage, more CEO shenanigans, and only passing notice of the company's announcement of the BBX platform. In the wake of all this, RIMs stock price has dropped again, which (sadly) isn't usually news these days, but this time the company has crossed an important threshold. RIM is now 
It's easy to forget sometimes that Google is not a giant monolithic entity that eats your search data, but is in fact, run by people. And people can make mistakes; like for instance releasing a much anticipated app with a crippling bug. That's what's going down today as Google has had to 
Logitech's new Mini Boombox is a combination mobile speaker and speakerphone rolled into one. The idea is to let users rock out to awesome tunes without any cords getting in the way by pairing with smartphones, tablets, and other Bluetooth enabled devices.
Every Android user with the requisite hardware is craving them some Ice Cream Sandwich right about now, and why not? ICS, or Android 4.0, is a major update to the Android platform filled with delicious new features, and when LG Optimus 2X owners heard they wouldn't be able to partake, they were understandably miffed. Not to worry, LG says -- ICS is coming your way.
Are you concerned that Windows 8 with its radically redesigned UI and Metro style Start menu will be too much to swallow on the desktop? It's a valid concern, though it doesn't appear to be scaring off businesses and IT departments, both of which are already showing strong interest in Microsoft's upcoming OS well ahead of its 2012 launch.| You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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