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RIFT devs on Russian revolution, improved itemization, and solo success
RIFT Live Producer Hal Hanlin and Systems Producer Adam Gershowitz were flagged down by fansite Magelo to tackle a grab bag of various questions about the game, including the process of injecting this title into the hearts of the Russian populace. According to Hanlin, the Russian release of RIFT was "very smooth," and he credits Trion Worlds' partner in the region, GFI, with assisting in that. Even as itemization improvements continue to roll into RIFT, the devs state that they're constantly monitoring damage output. For the next patch, Warriors will see a buff to their DPS as attack power will be tweaked to boost the pain. Hanlin promises that "soloable content is very important to us" and pointed at the success of Instant Adventures and the Chronicles of Telara as proof that Trion has responded to the desire for such content in the game. The devs touch on small details from the recent patch and their vision for expert dungeons as well.
G-Fi puts GPS on your first gen iPhone or iPod touch, at quite a cost
I love my iPhone, but I have to say that there is one little thing wrong with it: it's a first generation. That means that I can't quite play all of the games, or record video, or do all of the cool GPS things you kids can do nowadays. It's not a really bad thing -- I can still do a good 99% of the things that a 3GS can do, and I get plenty of usage out of mine anyway -- but it is kind of a pain waiting for my Google maps to update over Edge, or not having turn-by-turn directions when I want them. Fortunately, there are already ways to get GPS going on my 1st gen, and here's another one. The G-Fi is a little box that will add GPS to your first generation iPhone or iPod touch. Unfortunately, this one is probably a little too hardcore for me -- it creates a mobile wireless point that will spin out GPS locations to any number of devices in the area, up to 200 total. The catch: it requires a specific app called Navmii, selling in the App Store now for $33. That's in addition to the little box itself, which is $100. Unfortunately, while this might work for a large number of roaming devices, it's way more than I need. A single unit add-on like the Magellan kit works with any app that uses GPS and will probably cost less, too. But if this one floats your boat (maybe you have a fleet of bounty hunters rocking 1st gen iPhones who need GPS to track down crooks together?), you can pick it up right now.
Panasonic Lumix GF1 reviewed
The typical Micro Four Thirds review seems to come down to a matter of tradeoffs -- size and convenience for a bit of a drop from the image quality and performance of a real DSLR. The GF1 doesn't break that trend, but it has some pretty nice things to offer for the inquisitive interchangeable lens shopper. The most notable feature when put up against its direct competition, the E-P1, is the GF1's built-in pop-up flash, and the primary drawback of both of these cams versus their regular Micro Four Thirds counterparts is the lack of an eye-level viewfinder, though the GF1 does offer a pricey hot-shoe mounted approximation. As for images PhotographyBLOG says the camera gets "almost everything right," and video doesn't look bad neither -- a couple samples are after the break. The camera is no ultra-compact, but it seems another good proof for the existence of Micro Four Thirds as a DSLR alternative.
