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Exclusive: Designing the expanded Incarnate trees for City of Heroes
It was rumored for a while and confirmed at PAX East -- Issue 20 of City of Heroes will feature four new Incarnate slots for characters to improve their abilities. That means a huge breadth of new power and ability choices for everyone, and it should lead to some very interesting gameplay once the four new slots become more common among players, especially as the Incarnate abilities aren't tied to any specific archetype or power selection. Of course, that means there are all sorts of new issues for the Paragon Studios team to deal with as the powers go through the phases of design. In this exclusive developer diary, Tim Sweeney, system designer on City of Heroes, has given us the lowdown on how the new endgame slots were conceived and designed. Jump on past the cut to see how the four newest slots were put together for the upcoming patch, from concept to balancing issues.
Sprint renames the HTC 7 Pro the Arrive, launching it tomorrow
Punch sprint.com/arrive into your address bar and the above is what you shall find. Not a generic error marker but a URL-specific "coming soon" message that would seem to confirm the existence and indeed near-future arrival of the HTC Arrive. Beyond that bit of web sleuthing, we also have ourselves a proven tipster informing us that this will be a carrier-branded version of HTC's 7 Pro and confirming that it will be launched tomorrow. A tweet from Sprint earlier this week, intimated heavily that it's about to introduce a Windows Phone 7 handset on the 24th, which we surmised to mean exactly the long-awaited 7 Pro QWERTY slider. Already available in Europe, this device will serve as the first CDMA representative from the WP7 stable, meaning that you'll soon be able to Glance and Go on the Now Network of alliterative advertising slogans.
Sony Reader app hitting iPhone and Android devices in December
Playing catchup, are we? Sony's hot on the trail of Amazon and Barnes and Noble, who already have e-reading apps for the Android and iOS platforms, with its own freshly announced Reader offering set for release next month. The functionality in this upcoming slice of software will be familiar: you get to access books already purchased at the Reader Store or pony up cash for new ones, while making bookmarks, notes and highlights on your mobile device. Throw in adjustable fonts and you've got your boilerplate beginning to a decent mobile e-reader. Now you just need to pick your fave ebook purveyor.
Dell Inspiron Duo tablet could be with us next week
Alright, we know AMD's busy showing off its Atom killer, but there's still a little life left in Intel's netbook stalwart, which has been harnessed to its fullest in Dell's screen-flipping Duo tablet / netbook. And the good news is that we apparently won't have to wait too long to see that zany concoction out in the real world. Well placed sources have informed CNET that Dell intends to release the Inspiron Duo at some point next week, potentially on November 23rd, while pre-sale information should be dished out later this week, alongside Microsoft's announcement of a new store opening. Things are moving along nice and swiftly, it would seem. Update: And just to fan those flames of desire a little more, the Duo has shown up in Microsoft's latest cloud computing advert. See it after the break.
Dell Studio XPS 14, 15 and 17 packing NVIDIA Optimus lunch for imminent launch?
It would seem Dell's suffered another of its signature pre-release leaks, as the folks over at Logicbuy have a full trio of new laptops from Round Rock to tease us with. The three new Studio machines -- imaginatively titled the XPS 14, XPS 15, and XPS 17 -- are said to come with anodized aluminum shells and brushed aluminum palm rests, NVIDIA Optimus switchable graphics (up to the GeForce GTS 445M on the XPS 17) and options for Blu-ray drives, 16GB of RAM, and Core i7 CPUs. The accompanying pictures of each laptop are what leads us to believe Logicbuy has simply stumbled upon some prematurely published Dell pages, which in turn leads to the deduction that their proper launch can't be too far away. Sherlock Holmes, eat your stony heart out.
Opera Mobile coming to Android within a month, bearing hardware acceleration and pinch-to-zoom
Forget all that Mini stuff, Opera is bringing its full-flavored mobile browser to Android some time very soon indeed. To tempt people on board, the new software will support hardware acceleration for buttering up frame rates while you zoom around at potato-scalding speeds, while pinch-to-zoom will also be implemented in a big O Android browser for the first time. Opera Mini will be partaking in the latter upgrade as well, while Opera Mobile proper is expected to make its debut on the Android Market at some point over the next month. All versions of the "well diversified" OS are supported too! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Update: Opera has clarified that the first Android beta of Opera Mobile will have pinch-to-zoom and will arrive some time over the next month, but won't be bringing hardware acceleration with it. That'll be a feature for a later date.
Sega bringing Chu Chu Rocket, others to iPhone soon
Sega America hosted an iPhone gaming event earlier this week, and the lineup of titles they've got coming to the App Store this fall is a gamer's dream: Chu Chu Rocket (my favorite Dreamcast game!) is coming to iOS, along with classic side scrollers Gunstar Heroes and Altered Beast, Sonic the Hedgehog Episode 1 (the brand new 2D version of Sonic), and a free-to-play strategy/RPG MMO called Kingdom Conquest. TouchArcade was there at the event, and they say that Chu Chu Rocket is all you hope it will be, the new Sonic looks excellent, and Kingdom Conquest sounds like an intriguing mix of genres. Card battling, empire building, and RPG questing all built into one Sega-published free-to-play title? Chu Chu and Sonic already have their pedigrees, but it doesn't sound like you can go wrong with that last one. What a lineup from Sega for this year -- I'm actually more excited about their iPhone releases than I am about anything they're bringing out on consoles or any other platform. Unfortunately, there's no mention of Game Center in any of these previews, but all of the games seem to have multiplayer of some sort, from 1-4 players over both Bluetooth and wifi. So it's probably a pretty good presumption that they'll be Game Center-enabled in some way. So lots to look forward to in the next few months. Should be fun.
Vodafone teases with exclusive green Nokia N8, still mum on prices and availability
With September just a few days away, things are really about to get real for Nokia's flagship N8, especially in Europe. For instance, Vodafone's UK arm has just updated the "Coming Soon" page for this Symbian^3 device. What's new? Just the fact that the carrier will be offering the phone in two colors: black and green, with the latter ironically exclusive to red Vodafone. Yep, that's pretty much it -- no prices or dates mentioned just yet, but we'll be keeping an eye out for you N8 believers.
New Courier Mac app from RealMac teased
Usually, I'm not so hot on the vague teasers, especially for Mac software. If you want me to be interested in your movie or your game or your software, just let me know what it does and how, and I'll decide if I want it or not. But what the heck, it's the freakin' weekend, so here's a teaser short for a new RealMac app coming soon called Courier -- not to be confused with the Microsoft tablet. Frederico at MacStories says it might be one of the best apps of the year, and why not -- we'll take his word for it (at least until we can try it out ourselves). Plus, the teaser has a nice cover of Stand and Deliver, and I can't really argue with that. From the look of it, the app will allow you to collect and send whatever you want around the world, from music and movies to pictures, and ... toy horses? We'll keep an eye out for Courier when it releases sometime next week.
Illuminating answers about the upcoming patch for Champions Online
The first adventure pack for Champions Online is due out this month, although we don't know quite when just yet. But there are a lot of things coming along with the new pack, such as the promised return of Blood Moon and the addition of a difficulty slider. If you're curious about what all of this means from a gameplay perspective, you're coming to it at the right time, as the most recent Ask Cryptic has just been released, covering most of what players might be wondering about. The difficulty slider will be responsible for improved drops, but costume pieces are likely to remain just as frequent (or infrequent) as they currently are. Players who have watched the development of Star Trek Online might be saddened to know that the resistance bonuses and such coming with the Accolade system in that game will not be copied for Champions Online's Perks system. But there's also the prospect of expanding smaller regions into full-sized explorable zones, and some details on the next few adventure packs heading down the pipeline. It should be good news for the game's players, and it certainly helps keep the interest stoked for the coming release of Serpent Lantern.
Nokia N8 gets first official carrier in Vodafone UK
Expect this to be the first of many similar announcements as Nokia works out carrier agreements for its new flagship phone. Vodafone's always informative Coming Soon page has today been updated with the N8, touting its "incredible" camera, social features, and personalization options. Nothing resoundingly new or informative then, but at least you'll know where to look come late August. [Thanks, Moominking]
Android 2.2 coming to Nexus One, open source community 'in the coming weeks'
Why, thanks Google! Just a day after wrapping up a rather monumental Google I/O event in Northern California, the company's official show Twitter account has belted out a tidbit that just about every attendee was wondering about. According to the outfit, Android 2.2 (yeah, that's Froyo for the inexperienced) will be "made available to OEMs and the open source community in the coming weeks," and it'll be hitting up the HTC-built Nexus One in the "next few weeks." That's music to our ears, and if you're unsure what kind of impact this will have on your own life, feel free to take a deep dive into this right here. [Thanks, Alex]
Samsung Galaxy S and Wave 'coming soon' to Vodafone UK
Perhaps eager to steal some of the thunder from Everything Everywhere's recent debut, Vodafone has updated its Coming Soon page to show a selection of new handsets, which is highlighted by Samsung's pair of Super AMOLED beasts, the Wave and Galaxy S. The Wave brings the new Bada sensibility to British shores, while the Galaxy S will be pretty much the most advanced Android handset the UK has yet seen. It runs version 2.1 with Samsung's own skin on top, but it's the hardware behind it that'll be pushing Brits to upgrade. Hit the source link to peruse the full list, which also includes the new BlackBerry Pearl 3G, but do remember to be patient -- an Amazon pre-order listing for the Wave (priced at £350, or 521 greenbacks) indicates a one to three month waiting period.
HP Envy 14, Envy 17, and new EliteBooks leak onto the scene
The tap that keeps on leaking has inadvertently let loose an internal "notebook index" document that corroborates earlier rumblings of a forthcoming Envy 14. Sourced from HP's Korean site, this little ditty reveals Envy 14 and Envy 17 models, which both tick the 'HP external USB DVD Drive' category, bringing up the intriguing possibility of a 17-inch laptop without an integrated optical drive. The bigger machine is also listed alongside "new" 6- and 9-cell battery packs, but other internal specs remain unknown. In other news, successors to the Elitebook 2730p tablet, 2530p ultraportable and 8730w desktop replacement have been spotted, with 16:9 display ratios on the smaller machines and 16:10 on the 17-inch workstation. Hit the read link for more details, and keep it locked to the Engadget channel as CES hits in a few days' time, when a lot of these sketchy leaks will be replaced by exhaustive spec sheets and full-color, in-the-metal photography. [Thanks, Billy]
New producer's letter for Warhammer Online
As we approach the end of the year, which has been a pretty tumultuous one for Warhammer Online, it's not surprising to see a new letter from the producer. But this letter is also a letter from a new producer -- Bruce Maclean, who is apparently now taking on the duties as producer. There's no word on Jeff Skalski except that he is still "working hard" on the game. But we may as well focus on the positives, as the letter itself doesn't speak about the problems the game has had, instead focusing on the improvements that have come into Warhammer Online over the past year. The patch 1.3.3 graphical improvements are cited as a notable improvement, as are the many updates the game has seen over the course of the year and the launch of the Macintosh client for the game. There's also a brief discussion of what might be expected in the near future, which include useful weapons earned via RvR gameplay and a new scenario structure. How far in the future isn't mentioned, but they're hinted to be close, which could be excellent news for a game that's seen its fair share of ups and downs. As the letter says, however, now is the time to drink and relax and enjoy the game so far. Good advice, that.
HP Envy 14 on the horizon?
We'll keep this short and sweet -- the same amateur sleuths who were responsible for revealing the majority of HP's fall lineup ahead of time are back again, this time indicating a forthcoming Envy 14 model. It doesn't take much genius to find this information out, mind you, as HP's Softpaq support docs just keep coming out ahead of official announcements. Two Envy 14 iterations appear to be in the works, though their specifications remain open to speculation. There still shouldn't be too much of a wait before finding out if this will be just a range filler or a distinctive advancement in its own right, so we'll leave it to you to decide whether to delay that Envy purchase for just a little while longer. [Thanks, Al]
iLickit might not be sanitary, but brings new meaning to 'oleophobic'
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_game_you_play_with_your_tongue_Video'; If you're the kind of person who complains in the comments whenever we post a useless app, then just move right on from this weekend post (or go check out Paradise Monkeys, it actually looks like a good one). But as weird and pointless as this app may be, we have to give the folks behind this iLickIt game credit -- they really took the multitouch screen to a place it probably shouldn't go. The idea is that you get a plate of food from Grandma, and then you have to lick it clean... by actually licking your iPhone or iPod touch. No thanks. Actually, iLickIt isn't the first app that's asked you to lick something that's been in your pocket (and who knows where) all day long -- there's other ice cream-licking related apps on the store already. But its claim to the very first "iPhone game you play with your tongue" may actually be legit -- it actually times how long it takes you to lick up the food and turns it into a little game. Though we can't really recommend it, it is coming to an App Store near you, so just in case your tongue hasn't had enough to do lately (and yes, I'll just let that one go), there you have it.
Snood Redood coming to the iPhone
Fortunately, World of Warcraft didn't exist while I was in school, otherwise I might not have finished my venerable BS degree at the storied Ithaca College at all. But if there was one game that almost kept me from finishing all of those essays and homework... well, it was Civ. But if there were two games, the second was Snood. And now that game is due in iPhone form soon as well. It features the same creature-matching gameplay (with both new and old graphics, as you can see above), which means it probably has the same addictive quality that kept me playing long after I was supposed to have read those excerpts the professor gave to us in English class, and three gameplay modes, including Story, Classic, and even a Time Attack mode. "Coming soon" is the word on when it'll be out, though the main webpage actually says "play now," so it probably isn't that far off. It's not the only "Bust a Move" style game out on the App Store, but it is Snood, and that itself is enough to take me back to the days of pizza and beer in the dorm room.
HTC Hero spotted on Orange UK website
The HTC Hero has made its first appearance on a UK carrier's website, but finds itself burdened with a teasing "coming soon" badge. Having talked to Orange, we can confirm previous reports that the device will be available for free on some, as yet undetermined but surely eye-gouging, price plans. The company said they are still testing the device and should have pricing information by tomorrow. Expect T-Mobile to quickly follow suit and unveil their Hero by another name (G1 Touch?), also fully subsidized. Both carriers will be offering the graphite edition of the phone, so if you have your heart set on the white Teflon-coated goodness, you may have to go the SIM-free route.
Uplay brings 'confluence' to Ubisoft titles
Ubisoft has just revealed a web-based service called Uplay, set to come out by the end of the year, that will enable people playing their games to connect up and share media, make purchases, and download game information, all through a standardized cross-game interface. It will premiere in their games later this year and will hope to accomplish Ubisoft's stated goal of "confluence": connecting developers with players and gamers with each other completely inside of the game menus themselves.We're skeptical, but they haven't pulled back the curtain on what exactly it will offer Ubisoft fans yet. But we'll find out by the holidays, as the first games to support Uplay will be Splinter Cell: Conviction, Avatar, and Assassin's Creed 2.
