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‘The Lonely Assassins’ is the best Doctor Who game ever made
It's a found phone game that doesn't outstay its welcome, has some fun puzzle-solving elements and a very quirkly conclusion.
'Doctor Who' might finally get a game that does it justice
You step out the back door of a London laundromat and into a grimy, orange-smoke-filled junkyard. A mysterious voice sings out from a nearby radio, asking for your help to put right what has gone wrong. Armed with nothing but a sonic screwdriver donated by your new friend, you have to scavenge for parts to build a device that can summon your rescue vehicle.
Doctor Who: The Adventure Games on Steam, ready to EXTERMINATE your wallet
Allons-y! The TARDIS has landed on Steam, bringing with it the Doctor and his faithful companion, Amy Pond. BBC's Doctor Who: The Adventure Games are now available through Valve's digital distribution service for the Earthly sum of $19.99. These episodic games follow Matt Smith's version of the character through five stories, including "City of the Daleks," "Blood of the Cybermen," and "Shadows of the Vashta Nerada." Of course, if you live in the UK, this is all moot. You can thwart interstellar villains and save the universe with a sassy sidekick for free. Also yes, we know we combined a reference to Tennant's Doctor with information about Smith's in the opening, there. But don't worry, that seeming disconnect will be retconned faster than you can say "timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly." [Image: BBC]
This one weird Siri feature turned me into a Bing user
Even Spider-Man couldn't make Bing cool. So when Apple introduced Bing integration into its Siri voice assistant for iOS 7, I wasn't exactly thrilled by the change. Bing is basically the search engine equivalent of the sixth Doctor, loud clothes and all. Sure, Apple included a Google workaround for Siri for die-hards. If you wanted to use Google to search for specific terms, you can Google those phrases. For example, you say "Siri, Google fezzes." It's pretty unsatisfying. This just tells Siri to open a new Safari window with a Google search. You lose the cool (and I use that term in its proper bow tie sense) integrated result on the Siri dialog screen. Now, after months of using the latest Siri, I'm publicly outting myself. I like those integrated results and I don't care that Bing, saddle shoes and all, has joined Wolfram Alpha and Wikipedia as a primary Siri information source. Bing's results are... just fine. Sure, I'm not so far gone to reason that I am using Bing as a verb (which you can do; just say "Siri, Bing TARDIS") because there are, after all, standards. But I'm enjoying the slick new integration with web results tied directly into the dialog. If one weren't a search engine snob, one probably wouldn't even notice that those results involved Bing at all. (I specifically exclude the Duck Duck Go die-hards from this write-up. The DDG folk are basically the rabid libertarians of the search engine world. That's an entirely different creature from Google snobbery.) Bing is doing my searches, and it's doing them well. And, as shocking as it is to discover, Siri has made me a regular Bing user. Whodathought? Steven Sande and Erica Sadun have been working on the third edition of Talking to Siri, the book that covers all the ins and outs of everyone's favorite digital assistant.
IRL: iPod Classic and the WhoSounds TARDIS Bluetooth Speaker
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. It wasn't our intention to run a nostalgia-themed IRL on Memorial Day, but here we are. After the break, Dan Cooper relives his fascination with the TARDIS time machine, and Brian swears he doesn't care if you laugh at him for using an ancient iPod.
Mini TARDIS really is bigger on the inside, thanks to augmented reality (video)
Once in a while we'd come across some cool DIY projects inspired by Doctor Who, the world's longest-running sci-fi TV show, but nothing beats this little TARDIS that would actually make you gasp out the classic line: "It's bigger on the inside!" Greg Kumparak, a former writer of sister site TechCrunch, initially built nothing more than just a convincing model of the iconic blue police box (with a functioning light at the top) by hand, but soon afterwards he wanted to somehow give it an interior as well. By utilizing the Blender 3D creation suite (which was a first for Kumparak), Unity 3D engine and Qualcomm's Vuforia AR SDK, the result is an Android app that renders the 3D interior atop the random wave-like pattern -- visible once the door's removed -- on the TARDIS in real time (no pun intended). Once you've seen the demo video after the break, you'd probably agree that Kumparak's only one sonic screwdriver away from becoming an honorary Time Lord. For more detail on how and why this project was put together, head over to Kumparak's blog post.
Scan's official TARDIS PC Case lets you roam time and space, hatstand optional
Its target audience may be cranky men who wish the show hadn't been brutally murdered back in '89, but this TARDIS case should impress even the most casual of Doctor Who fan. British desktop company Scan has teamed up with the BBC to produce this faithful PC case, complete with broken chameleon circuit. The base model comes with a 3.1GHz Pentium G2120, but you can swap that out for anything up to a 3.1GHz Core i7 if you need more power, after all, you won't be able to jettison Romana's room to crank a few more frames out of Crysis. Prices start from £936 ($1,508) and run all the way to £1,933 ($3,114) for the fully tricked-out version. At the moment, Scan only ship its products within the EU, but we can't imagine it'll be long before rioting fans in the States demand to get their hands on the gear, or, just start building their own.
ThinkGeek's Mark VII Sonic Screwdriver universal remote pleases Whovians in time for Comic-Con
Ever wished you too could make use of the awesome powers that lie within Dr. Matt Smith's Mark VII Sonic Screwdriver? Well, it's still not exactly a reality in the way of the space-bred handyman's gadget seen on Doctor Who, but ThinkGeek and The Wand Company have you covered if an IR-packing replica universal remote sounds good enough. This BBC-licensed Mark VII remote handles up to 39 commands that are all controlled using 13 different motion gestures. Of course, if controlling the likes of TV and AV devices in an extraterrestrial fashion just isn't your thing, there's always ThinkGeek's Sonic Screwdriver flashlight, right? There's no word on price just yet, but San Diego Comic-Con attendees can try it out first-hand at the BBC America Booth (#3629) starting July 12. The Mark VII remote is set to go sale for $99 at ThinkGeek's website on August 31st, so for now we'll direct you to the press release after the break. Update: Video demo added after the break. [Thanks, Alan]
One Shots: City of who?
Massively reader Torch Light has a theory that someone at Paragon Studios is a Doctor Who fan, and I think he might be right -- and not just because the game boasts a Time Manipulation power set. Torch Light sent in today's featured image from City of Heroes' VIP testing servers along with this explanation: The beta for Issue 23 of CoH has just gone live with a new parallel world of spookiness. While exploring around, I saw a familiar (yet strangely colored) police box. Looks like Paragon called in an expert to help fix those wibbly wobbly timey wimey problems. The image isn't bigger on the inside, but it is after the cut alongside two more reader pics!
Explore menus and giant crystals in this Final Fantasy XIII-2 Time Travel trailer
We're pretty dubious of any time-travel methods that don't involve police boxes from the 1960s, but Final Fantasy XIII-2's horcrux Historia Crux and time gates look like a fairly stable, albeit significantly less British, way to traverse the annals of history.
The MMO Report: It's bigger on the inside edition
This week on The MMO Report ("where everyone is legally obligated to be filled with Yuletide"), Casey and the crew interview two of the minds behind the inbound Doctor Who-flavored MMO. Doctor Who: Worlds in Time's Robert Nashak and Max Engel sat down to discuss the game, which is a platform-independent, Flash-based browser MMO with a unique 2-D graphic-novel style that aims to appeal to fans of both the franchise and sci-fi games in general. Nashak and Engel promise iconic locations and enemies along with a Matt Smith-inspired Doctor and a customizable gadget (sonic screwdriver, anyone?) to reflect each character's abilities. The game will be F2P; ideally, players can wade through the game "without spending a penny," although naturally you can purchase faster mission completion and customization of your "home-space on the Tardis." Yes, it's bigger on the inside. The game launches in March of 2012, but for now, you can check out the entirety of The MMO Report's interview just past the break.
BBC and Three Rings readying Doctor Who online multiplayer title
Doctor Who is the latest in a long line of intellectual properties that have made the transition from the TV screen to the computer screen. BBC Worldwide has just announced a new partnership with developer Three Rings that will result in a free-to-play online multiplayer title set in the good doctor's strange and popular universe. While we're not quite sure of the upcoming game's MMO pedigree, we are pretty confident that series fans will dig it regardless. Players will follow in the iconic character's footsteps by exploring new worlds, traveling through space and time, and befriending (and battling) various alien races. Gameplay revolves around the TARDIS and enables fans to accept challenges from the Time Lord and "defend civilized culture against infamous Doctor Who enemies." Doctor Who: Worlds in Time has been in development for some time now and is "expected to launch later this year."
Speakal Doctor Who TARDIS speaker prototype hands-on
Hardcore Doctor Who fans might argue that the faulty chameleon circuit is to be blamed here, but really, this mini TARDIS is just a forthcoming Speakal iPod speaker dock that also doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and an IR remote control. As pictured above, the dock connector lies in a pull-out tray at the bottom-front of the device, with the stereo speaker drivers hidden behind the front windows. There's also a bass chamber inside the box, and we could see the opening through the back windows, along with the volume dial and power switch at the bottom. We were told that the final product will actually be slightly smaller than this prototype, and the lamp at the top will also have an IR emitter installed, which can control your TV via an iOS app (presumably via Bluetooth). Anyhow, expect to see this blue box on the shelves for around $130 to $150 come April. %Gallery-113118%
1TB hard drive thrown into a toy TARDIS, gives us a proper Time Machine
It's common knowledge that the Doctor's time- and space-bending TARDIS is a lot roomier on the inside than its external dimensions let on, and now we can put a definite number to just how much space there is in there: a terabyte. Yup, that's how much storage Max Shanly managed to cram inside his "toy" TARDIS. It took a bit of elbow grease (plus a screwdriver) to get it all to fit, but most of the credit here is for sheer ingenuity -- who doesn't want to back up his data onto a freaking Time Lord's intertemporal transportation device? Max is currently working on hooking up the flashing light up top to represent hard drive activity and we're calling up our favorite KIRF suppliers to get them cranking these out. [Thanks, Max]%Gallery-101940%
Fly the TARDIS in third Doctor Who: The Adventure Games episode
Traveling through time is tough. Unless you were lucky enough to be born as Jean-Claude Van Damme, Doc Brown (or his young companion, Marty McFly) or something, it's pretty much been a crapshoot for most of us human beings. The only other possible option has been to meet The Doctor. A more realistic alternative than trying to track that dude down is to play Doctor Who: The Adventure Games and BBC has announced that the upcoming third episode -- due to launch on August 27, but only available to UK residents -- will give players an intimate look behind the blue doors of the TARDIS and even let them pilot it. For the unaware, the TARDIS is the it's-a-police-box-but-not-really structure that allows The Doctor and his companion to traipse through time and space. So it would seem that next week Einstein-Rosen Bridge enthusiasts will finally have a viable fix! Now if only we could fast-forward to next week. Jean-Claude, if you're reading this, would you mind helping us out?
Screen Grabs: Blackberry Storm saves the world in new Doctor Who
Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. While the US was busy delivering a certain tablet product yesterday, British sci-fi fans sat comfortably at home for a brand new Doctor Who series. We won't go into too much detail here, but the eleventh Doctor -- played by the charming Matt Smith -- was spotted writing a computer virus and sending pictures on a BBC-debranded Blackberry Storm, minutes before the aliens were to incinerate Planet Earth. Perhaps the freshly-regenerated Time Lord's a fan of the virtual keyboard? As a bonus, the Doctor also borrowed a disguised 15-inch Acer Aspire laptop for some virtual face time with chief brainiacs around the world, and then promptly reminded the owner to "delete your internet history" in reference to, well, something more disturbing that he found on the computer. And who are we to question the orders of a time traveler? Update: Turns out the new Lead Writer Steven Moffat learned of his job offer on a Blackberry back in June 2008. Too bad the Storm wasn't due out for another five months, but a quick trip through the time vortex could turn this into an amusing coincidence.%Gallery-89694%
Found Footage: The iPhone sonic ruler
Have you ever had a device that you wanted to make just a little bit more sonic? Have you ever been up late, measuring rooms and thought: "Could I approach this task with an iPhone? Sonically?" Fortunately for you, the good people at Laan Consulting have already thought of this. They've anticipated this eventuality and are now shipping the iPhone Sonar Ruler [iTunes link] for just a buck on the iTunes Store. Yes, these good folk have imbued the iPhone with sonic goodness. As the video on the next page shows, the application sends short pulses and measures their return delay. Sure, you could go out to Office Depot and spend twenty bucks getting a far more reliable, dedicated unit but isn't it more fun to help support iPhone devs while really pushing the device beyond its design intent? And don't forget: Bananas are good. They are excellent sources of potassium. Thanks to Neekers
Doctor Who wants to time warp, play retro games
Most of us have probably dabbled around with a Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator before, but have you ever crammed one into a TARDIS? Those things are supposed to be bigger on the inside than the outside. Anyhow, one man decided that having a dedicated stand-up gaming cabinet wasn't enough, so he built this pillar of geek awesomeness.Check out the two different sections, one on the building of the iconic blue Police Box, and the other on the console. He even had the 7th doctor, Sylvester McCoy, autograph the thing. Is it still a sin to covet thy neighbor's sci-fi gaming cabinet? If so, mark us down in the "sinner" category.[Thanks, Douglas!]
Dalek Webcam
Yesterday, I posted about the Tardis USB Hub. Today, I bring you another essential Mac peripheral, the Dalek Webcam. Like the Tardis hub, the webcam is made by Wesco Products, which seems to have a Doctor Who license from the BBC. They also manufacturer a Dalek USB Flash Memory Stick. As many of you found out yesterday, Amazon.co.uk does not ship electronics to the US. What a shame. If you do not live in the UK, and you cannot live without Who accessorizing, it looks like eBay UK may be your best bet for purchase. Make sure to contact the seller before placing your bid to ensure that the item can ship to the US.
My Mac needs a Tardis
The boys at BoingBoing stumble across so many wonderful things--and today they've topped themselves again. A Tardis-shaped USB hub. I want one. No, I need one. Not just for me, but for my Mac. Because I'm unselfish like that. Call me a geek, call me a nerd, whatever. The Tardis-hub has 4 ports and it goes vwooorp-vwooorp when you plug in a device. Can technology get any better than that? I think not. It's theoretically for sale over at Firebox, but the page says it's currently unavailable. Nothing, of course, that a little space-time manipulation can't solve. If US purchasers don't mind ordering overseas, it's available at Amazon UK (for £14.99), Forbidden Planet, Play.com, and so forth.
