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Ubisoft 'always on' DRM hated, hacked - circle of life continues
Ah, the circle of life. Here's how it works: Game developers claim they've created some sort of unbreakable DRM that will lock pirates out, and then the pirates break their way in, leading to even more repressive forms of DRM. The snake has eaten its own tail once again, as Ubisoft's "Online Services Network" – also known as the obnoxious "always on" DRM that's already caused problems for paying customers – has reportedly been hacked. The hack, by a group named Skid Row allows users to circumvent the DRM entirely and play the affected games without connecting to Ubisoft's authentication servers. In a statement attached to the crack's release, Skid Row proclaims that their crack "can't be compared" to other ways of hacking the games (which include having the software check in with an unofficial server), and that Ubisoft should "next time focus on the game and not on the DRM. It was probably horrible for all legit users. We just make their lifes [sic] easier." This crack is specifically for Assassin's Creed II but if the method works, it could theoretically be tweaked to include all of the games protected in this manner, including the upcoming Splinter Cell: Conviction. And thus, the circle, the circle of life continues on.
Pegatron's Ubuntu-equipped netbook spotted in the wild
It's been a hot, hot minute since we've seen anything noteworthy from the lads and ladies over at Pegatron, so it's not shocking that we're super tantalized by the prospect of yet another netbook flooding the oversaturated market in the near term. All unnecessary snideness aside, the sub-$200 price point that's being floated about definitely has us interested, though the Ubuntu operating system is likely to fend off any non-adventurous would-be buyers. The machine was spotted at ARM's Connected Community Technical Symposium 2009 over in Taiwan, and while the actual internals remain a mystery, snoopers were told that it'll boast instant-on capabilities and a low power draw. Huzzah?
Verbatim InSight USB drives display name, free space even when disconnected
Verbatim, a name we mostly come across when looking for blank DVDs, has announced its new line of InSight portable USB hard drives. The storage devices are diminutive (weighing less than 6 ounces, measuring 6-inches in length), are being billed as "sleek" and "durable" with their fetching "piano black" finish (and who are we to disagree?), and are available in capacities of 320GB or 500GB. But the attention grabber here is the Always On display, which is -- you guessed it -- always on, displaying the drive name and available free space, even when disconnected from the computer. Available now for $119.99 for the 320GB or $149.99 for the 500GB. Full PR after the break.
TUAW Tip: Turn your iPhone into a digital picture frame
You probably thought exactly the same thing I did when I first saw Piet Jonas' tip: the iPhone as a digital picture frame? That's a pretty darn expensive digital picture frame. And his tip is pretty simple-- all he suggests is to turn off the AutoLock feature on the iPhone, thus leaving the screen on to display a slideshow. At first glance, it's not that big a deal.But the more I thought about it, the more genius it was. I've been pining after a Nabaztag lately, and an always-on iPhone just sitting there on the charging dock could serve exactly the same purpose-- you could have it spit out the time, constantly updated stock info, or even watch your email come in. With Piet's suggestion of webcams, the iPhone could work as a little monitor right there on your desk. And if Apple ever gets this rumored RSS reader off the ground, you could watch RSS headlines fly by on that screen. When you think of all the things you could display on an iPhone sitting in the dock, it's not a bad picture frame at all.Any other ideas of constantly updated information you could put on your always-on iPhone?
New display tech could make mobiles "glanceable"
We hesitate to bring up anything to do with the ongoing debacle that is SPOT, but the guys over at Microsoft's most left-of-center division helped popularize the concept of "glanceable" information -- ubiquitous, high-demand data (weather reports, for instance) that can be gleaned quickly and with little or no user input. Cellphones, despite the fact that they have ready access to such data, have been largely left out of the party; always-on displays are a backbone of the glanceable concept, and the dazzling, hi-res screens necessary to keep the modern consumer entertained drain far too much power to be left on when no one is interacting with the device. Manufacturers have taken baby steps to solving the power problem by introducing OLEDs, but more is needed. Qualcomm, when it's not busy filing lawsuits, has been working on its iMoD (short for Interferometric Modulator) technology, which uses an array of microscopic mirrors to stay highly visible in well-lit conditions. Meanwhile, Philips spin-off Liquavista is taking the electrowetting approach. Either way, we're all for always-on cellphone displays that afford us more than a few hours of standby, but both groups have yet to name any commercial devices in the pipeline. In the meantime, there's still a chance to jump on the glanceable bandwagon -- grab a handful of Ambient Orbs, turn down the lights, and soak in the psychadelic data.[Via textually.org]
