March 12, 2010
Look out, OnLive — you’ve got company. InstantAction is having their coming out party at GDC, and we stopped by for a lengthy chat about the technology, its future and the hopes / dreams of the company. Put simply (or as simply as possible), IA has developed a browser-based plug-in that allows full games to be played on any web browser so long as said browser is on a machine capable of handling the game. In other words, you’ll still need a beast of a machine to play games like Crysis, but the fact that you can play them on a web browser opens up a new world of possibilities for casual gamers and independent developers. You’ll also be notified before your download starts if your machine and / or OS can handle things, with recommendations given on what it would take to make your system capable.
Oh, and speaking of operating systems — games will only be played back if they’re supported on a given OS, so you won’t be able to play a Windows only title within a browser on OS X or Linux. Rather than taking the typical streaming approach, these guys are highlighting “chunking.” In essence, a fraction of the game’s total file size has to be downloaded locally onto your machine, and once that occurs, you can begin playing. As an example, we were playing The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition — which is the sole title announced for the platform so far, though Assassin’s Creed was demoed — within minutes, and since you’re curious, that’s a 2.5GB game, and we were on a connection that wasn’t much faster than a typical broadband line.
More after the break…
InstantAction streams full games to any web browser, gives indie developers a business model (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
March 12, 2010
We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Mitchell, who couldn’t care less if you have a problem with his question. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
“I just got a new laptop and am looking for a WiFi detector. The catch is that I want one that will tell me if the network it is detecting is open or not. I can’t fathom the point of one that doesn’t tell you that information. If posted, this will probably generate a lot of snark, but whatever, I just want to be able to find open networks!”
You know, we appreciate the honesty here. And we totally feel you. If anyone out there has found a fantastically useful WiFi detector, throw your recommendation(s) in comments below!
Ask Engadget: Best (useful) WiFi network detector? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
March 11, 2010
Our DJ friends Mrs Blythe and Clove will spin their magic during GDC on Thursday March 11, at 111 Minna in San Francisco, during Alexis A. photography exhibition “A Troubled Night…” Come with us after a hard day checking out the latest video games and gaming accessories at the Moscone, you may be able to meet Hubert, co-founder of Ubergizmo. Event details and RSVP email address on the Facebook event page, cover: $5 at the door.
Permalink: Troubled Night Event During GDC Tonight at 111 Minna in SF from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!
March 11, 2010
RSS feeds have pretty much remained the same way as when they first made it big, and reading all those feeds could prove to be a bore. Google intends to spice things up a bit with their new service known as Google Reader Play, where similar to Stumbleupon, it offers you an alternative method of browsing interesting news on the Internet. Items will be presented one at a time in Google Reader Play in a big format, taking up the entire screen. Once you have read it, click the next arrow to move on, and so on and so forth. Users might realize that Google Reader Play is based on the same technology found in Recommended Items in Google Reader, where it will automatically attempt to search the most popular stuff that appeals to you (as well as what turns you off), as long as you won’t mind it “reading” into your mind initially.
Permalink: Google Reader Play spices up RSS feeds from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!
March 11, 2010
This Fiskars Momentum Reel Mower adds some smarts to the good ol’ dependable push-powered reel mower. For starters they’ve added [...]
167 words |
March 10, 2010
If you think that the LG KH5200 Andro-1 phone looks rather familiar, you’re right, as it seems that this phone is a rebadged version of the LG GW620 that we’ve seen before. The KH5200 will be launching in Korea via KT as soon as next week, and should be going for about 600,000 won ($531). What makes it more interesting is the rumblings of a plan that will allow you to get the phone for free, if you’re on a plan of 45,000 ($40) won and above. It the rumors are true, the KH5200 will become KT’s first smartphone that will be offered for free on contract. Specifications of the LG KH5200 Andro-1 should include:
- Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
- 5-megapixel camera
- Bluetooth
- 3-inch 320 x 480 resolution display
Permalink: KT To Offer The LG KH5200 Andro-1 In Korea from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!
March 10, 2010
Yes, even the military has gone 3D. Helping it in that endeavor is Boeing, which has just announced a tiny new 3D camera that’s one-third the size and consumes one-tenth the power of comparable 3D imaging systems. While it will also be made available for commercial use, it seems like military will be first in line to use the cameras, with Boeing noting that it’s potential applications including “mapping terrain, tracking targets and seeing through foliage,” and adding that it’s already testing the camera on unmanned aerial vehicles. The biggest drawback to the camera at the moment is that it’s only able to take 3D still images, but Boeing says it will “soon” add 3D video capability as well. Details are otherwise pretty hard to come by, as you might expect, and pricing is no doubt best left unsaid.
[Thanks, Graham]
Boeing announces compact, energy-efficient 3D camera originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
SPIE | 
Boeing | Email this | Comments
BakadoPlayer is a free media player which focuses on subtitle handling, which is something that most players tend to overlook. The [...]
93 words |
March 10, 2010
OWC has launched its OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini 1TB portable drive, claimed to be the first ever 2.5-inch 1TB drive that ships with a quad interface. It sports eSATA, USB 2.0, and FireWire 400/800 connectivity on the body of its brushed aluminum, fanless enclosure. The drive inside is rated at 5200RPM, and will be bundled with Intech Speedtools, Prosoft Engineering Data backup and Carbon Copy Cloner. If you’re serious about carrying about huge amounts of data with you, then you’ll probably be more than willing to shell out the $299.99 to pick up one of these.
Permalink: OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini 1TB portable drive from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!
It was hard to be anything but disappointed when Intel’s dual-core Atom D510 processor started hitting nettops and was found to be no better performing than the earlier D330. Sure, it was more frugal, but most users were hoping for a bit more oomph not a bit less consumption. Soon, netbook users will seemingly get a taste of the same bitter pill, with talk that a netbook version of the D510 is in the works, likely called the N500. This is a rather less than shocking development and while it surely won’t mean you’ll finally get Crysis running on your Eee it could make for future netbooks that offer slightly better performance than their earlier brethren and yet deliver even longer battery life. Because, you know, if there’s one thing netbooks need today it’s greater longevity.
Intel bringing dual-core Atom D510 processors to netbooks as the N500? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
