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HTC Rhyme official: 3G, 3.7-inch display, single-core CPU, headed to Verizon for $199 on contract
Well, well. Looks like those leaked press shots (and hands-on photos and video walk-through) were on the money. HTC just officially announced the Rhyme -- that womanly handset otherwise known as the Bliss. As it happens, HTC isn't explicitly marketing this as a lady phone, though it bears all the markers of a device pandering toward those of us with XX chromosomes. Which is to say, it's petite and purple with middling specs. What you're looking at is a handset with a 3.7-inch WVGA display, a single-core 1GHz Qualcomm CPU, 768MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage space, a non-removable battery, microSD expansion slot, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS radios and dual 5MP / VGA cameras. The phone runs Android 2.3 with "next-generation" Sense (that would be version 3.5) layered on top. And, as rumored, you can pair it with an optional "Charm Indicator," a bubble that glows purple when the phone is ringing so that you'll never again miss a call because your phone is buried beneath nail files and fifty tubes of lipstick. Other accessories include a wireless dashboard speaker for the car, a dock and a workout armband. As that tell-tale FCC report revealed, the purple version you see up there will land on Verizon as a 3G device, with a silver version arriving in Asia and Europe next month. HTC has yet to confirm pricing or availability. If leaks are to be believed, though, those of you with small hands and deep murses should be able to pre-order yours any day now. Update: We're told that it'll sell for the typical $199 on a two-year contract (which includes all accessories), with pre-orders starting on the 22nd and availability pegged for September 29th. A bit steep given the specifications, but hey -- you'll pay a premium for style, right? Right? Update 2: As for global aspirations, we heard from an HTC representative that it'll soon be available on an unspecified amount of European carriers, where it'll be hawked as the "Hourglass," tinged in a "sand-like color." All other specifications and accessories will remain the same, though. Update 3: Check out our hands-on (with video!) right here. %Gallery-134387%
Where IPs go to die: a theoretical look at the belly of the online beast
The key to a secure online world of tomorrow? Why, that would be an internet that spends a bit more time padding its waistline at the protocol buffet. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an evolutionary model, dubbed EvoArch, that simulates a survival of the IP fittest battle for the interweb's belly. Separated into six distinct layers, the top-to-bottom structure -- specific applications, application protocols, transport protocols, network protocols, data-link protocols and physical layer protocols -- reveals a fiercely competitive middle tier that often sees newer, non-specialized competition cannibalized in favor of an older, more dominant framework. The team created the theoretic model as a guideline for "architects of the future Internet... to increase the number of protocols in these middle layers," thus protecting the web from potential security vulnerabilities. Despite these proposed layer variances, however, further simulations of the model only churned out more midriff slimming eventualities. It seems our dear internet is destined for a damned if you do, damned if you don't hourglass-shaped evolution. Full PR after the break.
Sand Glass traffic light concept: it's about time
Did your little internal design chimp just say, duh? Ours sure did. What you're looking at above is the Sand Glass LED traffic light concept from designer Thanva Tivawong. Obvious... unless you're colorblind.
USB Hourglass flips itself, generating random numbers in the process
This is such a bizarre combination of the old and the new that at least a few of our geekiest readers are sure to get a kick out of it. The USB Hourglass is essentially an egg timer equipped with an optical beam for keeping an eye on sand levels and a rotating mechanism for flipping the thing when all the sand has landed at the bottom. But that ain't all! The observed light levels are sent to a host PC (via USB, which also supplies power) where any of your favorite open source tools can use it to generate random numbers. The rest of this -- "entropy," "random" versus "pseudorandom" number generators, etc. -- is simply a little beyond us this morning, although we're sure that this will produce a lively and intelligent discussion in the comments (where many a lively and intelligent discussion has taken place over the years). Just make sure you peep the video after the break first -- it's a blast.
Legend of Zelda: Tangible Hourglass
None of that Phantom business to be seen here. This is a for-real, corporeal hourglass, and it's being sent along with review copies of the latest Zelda game, Phantom Hourglass. You see, the title has the word Hourglass in it, and this is one of those. An hourglass. Get it? It's being sent out to remind reviewers what an hourglass is.Okay, so maybe we're just being snarky because we didn't get one in the mail. We would so love to have some interesting Zelda stuff of our own to show off. You know what? Here's a papercraft Link model. We can all print and fold this thing so we can forget about the pain of not receiving trinkets with Zelda logos on them.[Via GoNintendo]
E307: Zelda screens and delightful artwork
It's true, we didn't hear much about The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass at Nintendo's E3 keynote. But Nintendo discreetly dropped some images into a press release and stuffed them into our briefcase, giving us the notion that if they happened to be shown to you guys, it wouldn't be terrible.A few new screenshots have been added to the gallery, as well as some character art. One of the pieces is the same artwork used in the supposed US boxart, which, to us, confirms the validity of that boxart. Man, the Wind Waker art style still out-styles pretty much everything else out there, especially in mainstream AAA games. Sorry, every other game.%Gallery-4748%
The Legend of Zelda: Pen of Touching
This fall, you'll be able to show everyone that you're all about Zelda and also that you don't care that your DS doesn't fit in its case anymore. To commemorate the release of Phantom Hourglass, Yujin is creating a set of six Zelda styli, each with a Rupee on top and a screen-cleaning strap attached, all designed to dangle from your DS. These won't be out until the fall, so preorder now and hope you still like the game. Also, you should hope you either find five like-minded friends or five more DS's (and ten more hands) because this item comes in packs of six.
Phantom Hourglass Japanese boxart FTW
It's stylish. It's classy. But we here at DS Fanboy think that Link is getting a little too cute, even yon cel-shaded version. This cuteness is only made more creepy by the fact there is an old man with oddly-styled facial hair standing right next to him. Damn sailors.This boxart reminds us heavily of Wind Waker, and it makes us wonder how big a component sailing is going to be in this new adventure. Crossing the ocean became a bit tedious in Wind Waker, so here's hoping the process has been streamlined (LOLpun) a bit.[Thanks, Braden!]%Gallery-3279%
DS Daily: Legend of Zelda: Item of Great Importance
According to the latest news about The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the eponymous hourglass keeps your hearts from draining while in a cursed underwater shrine. Link must go from island to island to find sand so he can keep the hourglass full. Basically, he is addicted to sand.That sounds like an interesting gameplay mechanic, lending the game a sort of Fushigi no Dungeon-esque resource upkeep element (like keeping the light glowing in The Nightmare of Druaga.) However, that's not the issue for today's discussion. We want to talk about the item as it relates to Zelda's history. In most Zelda games since the N64 one, there has been an item in the title that is central to the game's plot and/or gameplay-- the Ocarina of Time and the very similar Wind Waker, Majora's Mask, Four Swords, the Minish Cap, and now the Phantom Hourglass. Do you think basing the game (and its title) around a single item is a neat storytelling convention, or lazy formulaic design? We are declaring this a Safe Zelda Bashing Zone. Don't be afraid to say something negative about Zelda! Here, we'll start: the first one didn't even have a subtitle, and it's still the best one.[News item via NeoGAF]
Phantom Hourglass due for June, saves summer
Last year's middle months were starved for high-profile releases -- publishers held back the big guns for the holiday season, and the Nintendo DS relied on Big Brain Academy and third-party GBA games to fill out its summer schedule. The latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu reveals that this year could be different with the early release of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on June 23rd.After seeing that the only Phantom Hourglass previews available at GDC were of the game's multiplayer mode, we didn't think that Nintendo would have Link's new adventure ready until Christmas. The announced date is for Japan, of course, but we don't expect a significant delay for its North American arrival. The series has always experienced more success in the US, sales-wise. June 23rd happens to fall on a Saturday, which is unusual when you consider that outside of Dragon Quest and hardware debuts, most games in Japan are brought out on Thursdays. Could a Zelda-themed DS Lite also be in the works? We've got our fingers crossed!
Like LEDs through the hourglass...
Proving once again that there are few things that can't be made better with LEDs, Dhananjay Gadre of the Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology has whipped up this flashy take on the venerable hourglass, with plans already in the works for an improved version. In its current state, the LED hourglass less-than-accurately imitates falling sand, with a Z-axis accelerometer able to detect when it's been flipped over (we're guessing that top bit detaches). Planned improvements include a more accurate LED lighting pattern, and enclosing the whole thing in a perspex tube to make it a little more presentable. Until then, however, you can check out the prototype version in action in the video after the break.
GDC 07: Phantom Hourglass multiplayer mode demoed
Ever since The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass made its debut at last year's GDC, the project has essentially been hidden within a solar eclipse. Now, on the celestial zenith anniversary of that momentous day, Nintendo has felt fit to show off another little part of the game: a multiplayer mode.IGN has some hands-on impressions; one player controls Link, attempting to gather pieces of Triforce scattered about a (now classic) hedge maze, while the other draws paths on the touchscreen for three guards to follow and intercept. There appears to be some strategic elements as well, and for those a bit skeptical, remember this: the last Zelda title to feature a "bonus" multiplayer mode turned out to be good enough to spawn its own title, Four Swords Adventures.
Phantom Hourglass pushed back?
Reports are rolling in that Link's latest adventure on the DS has been pushed back. Way back past the reaching arms of year 2006 and on into the future, almost certain to be an apocalyptic one, year 2007 is the date that is now when most are expecting to see The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass available on retail shelves, undoubtedly to be eagerly wrestled free from its noisy prison upon placement on said shelf to the quiet, almost romantic sanctity of your domicile. We're fairly sure you'll have some candles lit.This news stems from reports that the title was not present during the recent San Diego Comic-Con. When asked, the rep supposedly stated that their presence was to showcase DS titles available for 2006, implying once again that we would not see Phantom Hourglass until 2007. Stay glued to DS Fanboy for future updates as we await official word from Nintendo on this matter of great import.[Via NeoGAF]
Whopping 22 minute vid of Phantom Hourglass at E3
This video shows the entire demo of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass that was available at Nintendo's booth during E3. The video, which is filmed exceptionally well, shows all of you exactly how Link will control and interact with the environment. Just make yourself some popcorn before starting to watch, this video is on par with the length-time of a full episode of Scrubs.
Nintendo Power dishes out Phantom Hourglass info
Some new information on the upcoming stylus-drive Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass has emerged via the latest issue of Nintendo Power. N-Sider has taken the time to condense the information for those lacking the fortitude to actually go out into the world and purchase the magazine, or even lack the strength to a wield a pen and fill out the requisite information to subscribe. Out of the repeated information, a few new items are able to be extracted.The game supposedly features one primary dungeon that Link will have to navigate, yet will become impassable to him at times, which will require him to venture into other minor dungeons to acquire an item of some sort that will allow him to progress. What's also interesting is that the dungeons will also be home to what are being dubbed "chasers." These enemies are invincible, mercilessly pursuing Link upon the mere sight of him.
Phantom Hourglass scans
Some scans hit the net today for this game called The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. You've probably never heard of it. It looks like it's a game based around spinning a small boy dressed in green, who is armed with a sword, shield, and sleeping cap, while his twin brothers cheer on. The scans come from magazine Nintendo Dream and also showcase a rather large, rosey-cheeked character wielding a massive paintbrush. It looks as if you'll be able to control the small kid, whose name is unknown, through the stylus and touch screen. We're not too excited about the game since it's relatively obscure, but we felt obligated to post about it for the benefit of the three people out there looking forward to it.
Phantom Hourglass trailer analysis
Since showing off the latest offering in the Zelda series at GDC, the vast amount of message boards that inhabit this interwebbed world we live in have lit up with posts of painful yearnings for the latest Hyrulian adventure and "Celda is teh gay agian lawls WTFBBQ." In attempting to fill the gap in time up until this year's E3 with something, IGN has posted a frame-by-frame analysis on the Phantom Hourglass trailer. In doing what you've likely already done, they dissect the video and offer up their opinions on what the game's final release build will be like.
