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Ghostcrawler on dual specs and loot tied to achievements
So sayeth the Ghostcrawler and so we shall listen. He spoke today regarding a few issues that are of prime importance to many players. However instead of long rants or detailed analysis on the issues of raiding difficulty, dual specs, and achievements he presented them in bullet points.First dual specs, a topic hot on everyone's mind. He provided some new insight into how things will work. In particular he said that "It will be trivial to do in town. You will also be able to do it out of towns, but not as trivially." This is new information and should make everyone tingle with gleeful anticipation at how trivial it might be to switch specs while in Dalaran.He also makes mention of things we already knew. They are aiming to allow people to swap glyphs and action bars with the dual spec feature, and that it should be along ideally in the next major content patch.That patch cannot come soon enough.In addition to the dual spec information, Ghostcrawler went into some points on raid difficulty. While there isn't any really new in terms of how difficult the raiding environment is (or isn't) and what may lie in store for the future (a harder Ulduar raid zone), there is some new news about loot tied to achievements.
Tigole confirms dual specs are still in the works
Many people have been wondering about when the promised dual specs will appear in the beta. For those that don't remember, back at the World Wide Invitational the developers said that they would be rolling out the ability for players to switch easily and quickly between multiple specs. At the time one of the main points was that these quick changes between specs would not require gold.Tigole confirmed last night that dual specs are currently being worked on. They are figuring out all the details internally still (which is a good thing). When a poster asked "I imagine by this stage we wouldn't see it until a patch after release?" Tigole replied "Most likely in a patch but it's not too far off." Now you can interpret that different ways. Perhaps he means in a beta patch or a patch immediately following Wrath's release. Either way the fact that these dual specs will eventually be here will make many people quite happy.Last night I was talking to some guild mates about it and the word that was thrown around was "game changing" for Protection Warriors and other low DPS specs. Since the Protection Warrior would just be able to flip into a DPS spec for farming, he would no longer need a farming alt – significantly changing the way the game is played.
Microsoft talks third-party Zune accessories
You can't run around launching fancy new music players these days without a secondary offensive of cases and car chargers following close behind, and Microsoft's new Zunes have a veritable cavalry behind them. In addition to the official accessories we've already heard about from J Allard and crew, the company's lined up a number of third-party manufacturers to crank out 60 different Zune-friendly products, including Polk, Belkin, DLO, Monster, Altec Lansing, Targus, iHome, Memorex and Griffin. Microsoft's new pals will be releasing everything from speaker docks to RCA cables, so it looks like you'll be able to build a happy little home for that new Zune of yours when it launches next month.
Split personalities: the WND Wind DUO 2000
Wouldn't it be great if you could, like, glue two handsets together? One could be for, say, personal use while the other is strictly business. Two phones, two SIMs, but you just have to carry around one bulky mass. Strike that idea, Lebanon's WND Telecom beat us to the punch. Unlike devices like the Samsung Ultra Music F300 that offer different functionality on each of their sides, WND's Wind DUO 2000 is literally two thin GSM candybars placed back-to-back -- identical in every way, save for their colors. The spec sheet is nothing to get too excited about (GPRS data is all you get, for example) so the draw here seems to simply be that you can get an ear-splitting ring in your ear emanating from phone number 2 while you're talking on phone number 1. At 17.9mm, it's admittedly pretty thin for what it is, but the triband radio's a dream killer.[Thanks, Rey]
Skylink goes both ways with Ubiquam U-520
Russian operator Skylink is apparently claiming that their U-520 candybar -- sourced from Korea's Ubiquam -- is the world's first dual-mode CDMA / GSM handset. While it's a nifty trick to be sure, we can think of countless phones that have managed to pull it off before; sorry Skylink, no gold star for you there. Anyhoo, on the CDMA 450 side of things, the U-520 rocks EV-DO data, but GSM suffers along with puny GPRS on 900 / 1800 networks. Other specs include a 2 megapixel cam, Bluetooth, expandable memory, and USB. We'll pass on this one -- partly on account of its homely appearance, partly because it offers precisely zero bands of interest to us -- but we're sure it'll come in handy in Moscow's rough-and-tumble mobile landscape.[Via Unwired View, thanks Staska]
SOYO's GVLM1728 and GVLM1928, the dazzling dual-displays
In what appears to be the conjoined twins of monitors, SOYO has just announced two models of dual-screen LCDs -- two 17-inch (or 19-inch) monitors attached at the side, but with a single base. Both models, the GVLM1728 and the GVLM1928, pack a 2560 x 1024 native resolution, 8ms response time, and 300 nits (that's candelas per square meter) of brightness. The beefier of the two comes in at $1200, while the 17-incher will set you back an even grand. Sure, it's not quite as good as the TripleHead2Go, but it'll be a bit less expensive than buying a trio of monitors and that VGA connector.
Taiwan drive makers response to NEC Blu-ray / HD DVD combo: Thanks but no thanks
This is getting really tired.It seems like every time we're progressing towards a cheap and easy compromise to the Blu-ray / HD DVD format war hope is quickly snatched away and replaced with a stinging dose of harsh reality. This time the bad news comes courtesy of Digitimes, speaking to various Taiwanese optical disc-drive manufacturers, who reports they are not particularly enthused by NEC's just-announced dual format chipset. Despite its low cost, the prospect of manufacturing drives with optical heads for both formats and other costs is still too expensive to be worthwhile. The only good news seems to be that they did not rule out the future possibility of multi-drives -- perhaps once Ricoh's all-in-one laser is finished -- just not yet.
FCC shows Nokia N92 some approval love
Nokia's DVB-H capable N92 may not support GSM 850 or a UMTS band that's useful to us here in the States -- never mind the fact that we don't have any DVB broadcasts to tune in to -- but that doesn't mean we can't lust after the dual-pivot clamshell with its gorgeous 2.8-inch display. Happily, it looks like we can now satisfy our desires without ruffling the feathers of the, uh, FCC police. Of course, that still means we'd have to find some stock; despite getting announced alongside the N80 last year, the N92 hasn't yet become available in significant quantity, though Nokia's promising that we should start to see 'em here in the second half of the year.[Via Mobilewhack]
Ricoh laser head reads/writes HD DVD and Blu-ray discs
While there is still doubt over if or when a Blu-ray and HD DVD capable drive will be available, Ricoh has created a single laser that is able to read discs in either format. Their new component will be able to read and write to Blu-ray, HD DVD, DVD and CD with one pickup and one objective lens. The 3.5-mm diameter, 1-mm thick round diffraction plate detects what kind of disc has been inserted, and adjusts to change the laser beam as necessary for the format. They'll be showing off the tech later this week at the International Optoelectronics Exhibition '06 in Japan.While both formats use blue lasers they record at different distances and widths, a single head that overcomes those differences could make a dual-format player cheaper and a more realistic possibility if licensing fees and agreements don't get in the way. Ricoh certainly doesn't think they will, saying this technology will "make it possible to build players and recorders for all formats which benefits consumers". That's the triple truth, although if this coming technology at all influenced Toshiba's conciliatory remarks recently is unknown.They see this technology becoming commercially available by the end of this year. It will only be available for playback devices initially, as a higher powered laser is needed for recording. Those of us waiting for a relatively inexpensive solution to the high definition format war will be waiting just a bit longer.
Hacker installs Core 2 Duo chip in Mac mini, hangs on for the ride
Macenstein has blogged a Mac mini CPU swap, as a poster in a Taiwanese forum has switched out the Core Duo chip for a Core 2 Duo chip, a next-generation CPU from Intel. The brain upgrade has resulted not only in the Mac mini stomping a PowerMac G5 dual 2.5 GHz in an iTunes MP3-AAC conversion test (remember: Mac minis have slower laptop hard drives than desktop PowerMacs), but it also runs cooler, due to the new architecture of these Core 2 Duo (code name: Merom) Intel chips.Given reports like this of these new chips, we might as well talk about the elephant in the room: if these reports of cooler running and even more powerful chips so soon from Intel are true, I foresee a lot of criticism of Apple jumping the gun on cramming Intel chips into their present lineup, in light of all these complaints about heat.[via MacNN]
Dual's PlaysForSure-friendly XDRM7710 head unit
If you're one of the select few who've decided to say "iDon't," then A/V electronics manufacturer Dual has a new car stereo that might be right up your alley, as it allows you to hook up your PlaysForSure-compatible DAP and control it from the head unit or included remote. Well, it actually costs an extra $100 for the USB adapter that enables this functionality, but that still only puts you out a total of $350, and then you're able to play your digital tracks off of CDs or almost any non-iPod player, but unfortunately not SD cards as well -- hey, you can't have it all. The XDRM7710, as this model is known, also features a motorized faceplate and XM receiver jack -- but certainly not the most stylish design we've ever seen -- and is scheduled to ship in July.
Castlevania: Dual Moons
Forum poster Think Tank recently did a little snooping at Gamepro.com to shed some light on the supposed upcoming DS Castlevania title. It looks like we have an actual name for it now. Castlevania: Dual Moons isn't as gripping a name as Aria of Sorrow or Harmony of Dissonance and hopefully will change before the suggested 2007 release. Stay tuned to DS Fanboy for more information as it develops. [Via Go Nintendo] [Update: Gah! We fell for an April Fool's joke. Serves us right for that nasty Mario DS Lite prank we pulled.]
