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Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's Daniel Stahl at E3
Last week the unstoppable Jasmine Hruschak was one member of Massively's crack team who braved the traffic of Los Angeles to take in the sights, sounds, hawking, yelling, and craziness that was the Electronic Entertainment Expo. While she was there, she interviewed Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, and put forth a few questions from the Massively team. Stahl was able to drop a few hints about the future of Star Trek Online in his responses, so join me past the jump as I deliver the highlights from their conversation!
Captain's Log: June's Ask Cryptic hints at more changes for STO
It's been more than two weeks since Star Trek Online saw the implementation of the Legacy of Romulus, its first expansion. The game has seen its fair share of queues and server crashes, as well as frequent maintenance closures to address the stability problems. In the game's most recent Ask Cryptic column, Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, addressed some of those issues, answered numerous player questions about the current state of the game, and also gave hints of what we might see in the months to come. Join me past the jump as I attempt to prognosticate on what his answers actually mean.
Neverwinter Days: The great economic collapse of 2013
So funny story: In planning out in advance what I wanted to talk about in this biweekly Neverwinter column, I had selected something that recently caught my eye about the game and made me happy. That something was the Neverwinter Gateway, a web portal that allows out-of-game players the ability to fiddle with their character sheets, auctions, professions, guilds, and mail. I thought -- and I still do -- that this was a nifty service that deserved a day in the sun. As I was getting set to write that column, Neverwinter's economy exploded and then imploded over the course of a weekend, thanks to a nasty exploit that involved, yup, the Gateway. Suddenly my topic had to shift from "isn't this a neat tool?" to "check out what the tools are doing with this tool." Seeing the economy effectively destroyed in a matter of hours and how Cryptic Studios dealt with this PR nightmare might be old news at this point, but it's definitely worthy of reflection, analysis, and speculation as to how trust can be rebuilt in this fledgling title. Let's get cracking -- we have a lot of ground to cover!
Netgear melds 802.11ac WiFi with cable modem, gives us a cable gateway we'd actually like
If you're reading this, you're likely the sort who looks down on the hybrid cable modem and WiFi gateway your cable company foists upon you: it's like setting your wireless network in stone. Netgear is hoping to make that all-in-one experience a little more pleasurable by merging the best of two very fast worlds. It's planning to show a cable gateway (not pictured yet) that unites a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem, no slouch in itself, with even speedier 802.11ac WiFi to share the connection in the home. The router side has all the familiar extras, such as DLNA media sharing, guest networks and shared USB storage, but it's clear the real perk is simply making sure the hundreds of megabits per second in bandwidth from that cable pipe carry through to your future laptops and tablets. Netgear hasn't said how close it might be to shipping the cable gateway, but it'll be showing the practical device at the ANGA Cable trade show this week -- along with a 1.2Gbps download, 320Mbps upload cable modem that could give even Google Fiber a run for its money.
TiVo shows off Pace-built XG1 six-tuner gateway DVR it plans to ship later this year
New add-on boxes that extend and supplement the functionality of existing Premiere DVRs aren't all TiVo had to show off this week at the Cable Show in Boston, as it also demonstrated the fruits of its new partnership with Pace. The result is this XG1 gateway, a six-tuner DVR that's intended to be sold by TV providers and then hidden away in a closet, quietly distributing video to smart TVs or extenders located throughout the house. It runs TiVo's software with support for multi-room video, MoCA, mobile and tablet remote apps and at least 500GB of hard drive space inside. Since it hasn't announced any plans to bring this unit to retail we'll have to wait and see which providers decide to offer it when it becomes available in the Americas "later this year".
Packard Bell EasyNote LV, TV laptops bring Ivy Bridge to speed-hungry Europeans
Most laptops being updated to Intel's Ivy Bridge processors have come from international brands, so it may be some relief to European PC buyers that Acer's local Packard Bell badge has made the leap as well. The 15.6-inch EasyNote TV and 17.3-inch LV will each use the new 22-nanometer processors both to push performance that little bit farther as well as get a middling five hours of battery life. NVIDIA graphics in GeForce GT 620M and 630M flavors will spruce up the gaming side, however, and Packard Bell is delivering a 20 percent more responsive multi-touch trackpad, dedicated music / social keys and a bamboo-like lid pattern to add a little dose of style. The duo will surface in Europe during June at prices starting from €499 ($656). Acer has sometimes brought Packard Bell PCs to the US as roughly equivalent Gateway models and vice versa, so Americans shouldn't be surprised if they get counterpart laptops before long.
BlackBerry Music Gateway hands-on (video)
The music streaming accessory market is immensely saturated, but RIM is hoping to add its own flavor with its latest version of the BlackBerry Music Gateway. We took a brief look at this year's BlackBerry World in Orlando, and were impressed by both its size and ease of use. A tiny dongle no larger than the Bold 9900's display, the device easily pairs up with any Bluetooth-enabled phone, tablet or music player and lets you push your tunes into a home or car stereo -- provided it offers ports for RCA cables, that is. NFC is also added into the mix this time around, which means you can impress friends by simply tapping your BlackBerry to the Gateway to initiate the pairing sequence. While it's not bringing anything drastically new to the table, its $50 price tag makes it a tempting offer for anyone whose FM transmitter is picking up nothing but static in a densely populated city. If you fall into that category or are just looking for something to bedazzle close friends and relatives, don't hesitate to check out our gallery below and video after the break.
Microsoft Research wants to automate your house, introduces HomeOS
Ever wondered if you could control your house's climate, security, and appliances -- along with your PCs and peripherals -- using Microsoft software? That day may soon dawn, as its Research arm has started testing its home automation software, called HomeOS, in twelve domiciles over the past few months. The budding system views smartphones, printers and air conditioners as network peripherals, controlled by a dedicated gateway computer. The project even has a handful of apps in play, which perform functions like energy monitoring, remote surveillance and face-recognition. This growing list of applications, available through a portal called "HomeStore", will allow users to easily expand their system's capabilities. So how does it all work out in the real world? Head past the break, and let Redmond's research team give you the skinny.
Acer dips its toes into Ivy Bridge, refreshes two of its desktops with new processors
Now that the Ivy Bridge cat is out of the bag, you can expect to see a deluge of press releases from PC makers over the coming weeks, each of them saying that this computer or that is getting refreshed with Intel's latest processors. From Acer, at least, we expect multiple announcements: it's only ready to talk about a couple of desktops today, with news around laptops and Ultrabooks coming later. Right now, you can choose from several configurations of the Predator AG3620 gaming tower, with the top-shelf $1,200 model packing a 3.4 GHz Core i7 3770 CPU, NVIDIA GT630 graphics, 16GB of RAM and 2TB of storage space. On the budget end, the $799 Gateway D4860-UR14P will feature a 3.1 GHz Core i5 3450 processor, 6GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. Both are available now -- you know, if you've been waiting for precisely this sort of thing.
Motorola Connected Home Gateway home automation all-in-one hits the FCC with Verizon tags
We first got our eyes on Motorola's Connected Home Gateway home automation box during CES 2012, and now that it's passed through the FCC it should be ready to do its all-in-one magic in real consumer's homes sometime soon. What makes this device special is its ability to speak more than one of the various wireless home control protocols currently in use, easily connecting to, controlling and spitting out macros to make multiple things happen with a minimum of user interference or setup. Want to dim the lights, lower the temperature and turn on security cams as soon as you step outside your door? It can do that. This will all be a part of Verizon's Z-wave based Home Monitoring and Control system at some point, if you're still wondering what possibilities are out there, check out our CES demo video embedded after the break.
TiVo releases Q4 results, announces transcoder and IP set-top box on the way
Today TiVo announced its earnings for Q4 2011 and the full year, however the most interesting note was word of a few new boxes on the way. From the sound of things, the company will deliver a four stream transcoder similar to the one we saw demonstrated at CES (pictured above) capable of dishing out video to multiple devices (phones, tablets, etc.) within the home simultaneously. Also on the way is an IP set-top box coming to retail that sounds very much like the TiVo Preview multiroom extender, however it could include access to internet video services as well. As mentioned on Tech of the Hub, CEO Tom Rogers' statements indicate the transcoder will enable both live streaming and DirecTV Nomad-style "high speed" sideloading of recorded content for offline viewing. More concrete are its positive numbers from the partnership with Virgin Media in the UK, and progress on a plan for Pace to develop TiVo-compatible set-top boxes for cable operators here and abroad. The Comcast partnership is also apparently progressing, with VOD access in beta trials and preparing to launch "soon" in the San Francisco area.
Motorola Connected Home Gateway tour (video)
When we first told you about Motorola's Connected Home Gateway, it was little more than a picture of a cool looking router. Thankfully, however, the company has been giving tours of the technology on the floor of CES, showing off the way it brings together such things as climate control, home security and automation. Of course, it's not really a real world use case here -- for one thing, the wireless in the Las Vegas Convention Center WiFi isn't all hot the week of CES, with ten billion gadgets being shown off at the same time. Still, the walkthrough we got was pretty cool, shutting off lights and the like from the comfort of your handy Motorola smartphone. Check out the demo, after the break.
Broadcom befriends Sling and Myriad, outs new set-top and streaming chips
Busy days at Broadcom, which has already forgotten about its earlier 5G WiFi announcement and launched a barrage of new chips for set-top boxes and home networking. The line-up supports the latest MoCA 2.0 standard for greater network bandwidth over coax wiring, but even more interesting is what some of the SoCs can do for smart TV and streaming. The BCM7425 dual-tuner HD gateway SoC will support Sling Media's "place-shifting" platform, potentially making it easier for set-top manufacturers to enable TV streaming to mobile devices. A similar deal has been inked with Myriad over its clever Alien Vue software (shown above), allowing Broadcom-equipped boxes to run apps designed for Google TV and HTML 5 without the need for extra dedicated hardware. In short, if your service provider fails to make TV content smarter or easier to access in 2012, they won't be able to blame it on Broadcom. Further details in the PR combo after the break and at the source link.
Motorola's Connected Home Gateway makes your house smarter, turns it into a 4Home
The world of home automation is one full of disparate, fragmented pieces often requiring high-dollar contractors with trucks full of adapters. Motorola's been trying to streamline that with its 4Home standard and the company's latest attempt at smarthome synchronicity has just been unveiled. It's called the Connected Home Gateway and it looks like your average wireless router, but it's actually much more than that -- according to Moto's press release, anyway, which promises the thing can easily tie together home security, automation and climate control into a single, petite box. Once harmonized, the whole package is said to be easily accessible from a mobile device, something that might help homeowners relax a bit more while on vacation -- or while covering a major convention in Las Vegas. We're still lacking a lot of details here (like, how exactly do all these devices connect to the thing) but we'll try to get a demo and more details as soon as possible.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: quantum levitation, Zombie-Powered Vertical Farm and Macquariums
Alternative transportation blasted off into the future this week as DeLorean revealed plans to launch an all-electric vehicle in 2013 and Richard Branson announced the official opening of the Virgin Galactic Gateway spaceport. Researchers also developed a next-gen quantum levitation technology that could lead to floating vehicles, and we spotted a cloud concept blimp that soars through the skies. We also brought you an exclusive interview with Revenge of the Electric Car director Chris Paine, and we shared a leaked brochure with specs on Toyota's new Prius C. Renewable energy also rocketed towards a more sustainable tomorrow as Japan's team Tokai took first place in the World Solar Challenge and Apple filed a set of patents for next-generation solar technology. Meanwhile Facebook announced plans to launch a new energy efficiency app in 2012 and we launched a contest where you can win one of 25 $600 home energy audits. We also showcased a stunning set of satellite photos of the world's power lines, and since Halloween is on its way, we brought you a Zombie-Powered Vertical Farm designed to keep its inhabitants safe from the Living Dead. Speaking of Halloween, this week we shared instructions for making a DIY cardboard box robot costume, and we launched our 2011 Green Halloween Costume Contest for kids. We also brought you several developments from the realm of eco textiles -- a material that repairs its own rips and tears and a Japanese company that recycles old bras into power-generating fuel. Finally, we showcased several slick developments in aqueous technology: an oil skimmer that cleans up spills four times faster, an artificial muscle that could one day propel nanobots through the body, and a quirky set of 'Macquariums' made from Apple iMacs.
Gateway TP Series A60 tablet pops up at Future Shop, cops Iconia Tab A500's style
We weren't exactly thrilled with Acer's 10.1-inch Iconia Tab A500, but that hasn't stopped Gateway from re-skinning the Honeycomb slate and claiming it for its own. Appearing to be a re-branded versions of the A500, the Gateway A60 comes with 16GB of built-in storage, 1GB RAM, a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor, a five megapixel rear-facing camera and front-facing two megapixel snapper, 802.11b/g/n WiFi connectivity and the list goes on. Just like its brother from another mother, this Gateway will set you back $399, and while we can't guarantee that it will perform the same, we'd suggest taking a look at our A500 review before shelling out those clams. [Thanks, Bir Bikram Dey]
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: laptops
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today we're getting down to the very important business of helping you sift through laptops, and you can always head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Ah, laptops. Some of us received our first notebooks the summer before college if not later. But times have changed and we're sure for many of the kids reading this freshman year is just an excuse to upgrade from the clunkers that carried them through high school. Either way, this one's pretty much mandatory -- unless you're a serious gamer who insists on a desktop GPU for marathon sessions of CoD: Black Ops, you're going to need a laptop for pounding out last-minute term papers in the library, taking notes in class and posting incriminating photos on Facebook. The problem is, the market's overrun with laptops that purport to be just perfect for the back to school set. They can't all be worth your money, though, so we whittled the list down to a handful of choices for each budget -- and if you're lucky you'll get your very own HP Pavilion dm1z for the pretty price of, well, nothing. Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and check out our giveaway page for more details. So wipe off the glasses, grab your clicker, and get ready to jump past the break for a top-level overview of this year's picks for back to school.
Gateway updates its ID and NV laptops with USB 3.0, Sandy Bridge and Llano internals
Acer's had its day (or two) unveiling back-to-school laptops, and now it's its sister brand Gateway's turn. The outfit just announced the 15.6-inch NV series and the 14-inch ID47, both of which include USB 3.0 and a choice of Sandy Bridge processors. (In the case of that entry-level NV, you can also opt for one of AMD's fresh-off-the-line Llano chips.) But the company did more than just give its notebooks a spec bump -- it also tweaked their designs, adding a chiclet keyboard to the NV series, while the metal-clad ID's trackpad is 20 percent larger and no longer glows like a mood ring. The ID47 also has a 14-inch display crammed into a chassis usually paired with 13.3-inch panels, as well as a non-removable battery that promises up to eight hours of juice. (The NV is rated for up to four hours.) And, in an unusual twist, our friends in Canada will get additional choices, including a 15.6-inch version of the ID, as well as select models with NVIDIA Optimus. Both the ID47 and NV55 / NV57 are available now, with the ID starting at $629.99 and $799 Canadian, and the NV fetching $529.99 and $499 Canadian. Check out the various configurations after the break, with lots 'o photos below. Update: Lots of you are asking about the screen resolution on these guys. It's not in the press release, but the answer is 1366 x 768, across the board. %Gallery-127868% %Gallery-127869% %Gallery-127832%
Arris confirms the Shaw Gateway DVR's Moxi bloodlines, hints at more to come
The six tuner Shaw Gateway DVR we mentioned recently is built on Arris hardware, and now the company revealed more information about its Whole Home Solution setup at its core. The press release after the break details the specs used by Shaw's implementation (500GB hard drive, HD UI, four port router, MoCa and optional WiFi N) plus additional capabilities the Shaw Gateway hasn't taken advantage of yet (over the top video from the internet, VoIP, an integrated DOCSIS 3.0 modem and user media sharing). We spoke to Senior VP of Marketing and Development Stan Brovont and found out that this particular project has been under development for about a year now, and many of the features are in response to focus groups indicating that the number of tuners and hard drive space (the 500GB drive was up to Shaw) were among the most important features. While he did mention there were other partnerships not yet announced in the pipeline and couldn't comment on any potential return to retail for the Moxi-derived system, our friend Dave Zatz dug up a Multichannel News post mentioning a similar system coming to Oregon local provider BendBroadband. Check the Arris press release after the break for more details, we'll keep holding out hope for another retail DVR option in the marketplace.
Shaw Gateway DVR is the six tuner Canadian son of Moxi
Shaw Cable in Canada unveiled its DVR of the future today, calling the Shaw Gateway Experience "a new world of entertainment." As it turns out, that new world is actually very familiar, consisting of an Arris six tuner DVR and multiroom companion box. The Gateway (pictured above) is a six tuner DVR with a CableCARD slot, 500GB hard drive, WiFi, DLNA and an HD guide that looks just like the Moxi DVR technology Arris purchased over a year ago. The Total Home Portal is the multiroom box that appears to be a refreshed edition of the Moxi Mate extender that lacks its own tuner or hard drive but can stream live or recorded video from the gateway. The cost of one Gateway and Portal is $600 up front or $17/month, while an extra portal is $178 or $5/month. They're currently only available in Calgary and are due to arrive elsewhere in Canada later this summer. [Thanks, Daniel]
