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Cisco suggests WiFi Flip Video camera by Christmas, wants to integrate products with Apple's FaceTime
A rambling Computerworld report from Cisco's Live! event is bringing us news of even more goodies, beyond the business and home tablets already revealed. In an interview with Marthin De Beer, Senior VP of Cisco's Emerging Technologies Group, De Beer strongly hints at a WiFi enabled Flip Video camera by the end of 2010. While he didn't say it in so many words, he did say, "We didn't buy Flip to have it be only a video recorder," adding, "I look forward to Christmas," when asked about a possible timeline. That seems clear enough. The conversation then gets muddied when De Beer begins discussing video as a "pervasive play" for Cisco, something that will "ultimately span across everything we do." And in a bid to interoperate with all devices, including Apple's new handset and certainly future iOS devices, De Beer said, "We would absolutely love to integrate with FaceTime." When, is the question left unanswered. Until then Cisco plans to introduce a mobile Movi iPhone app to the App Store that ties back into Cisco's Tandberg SIP-based video conferencing solution. Now, maybe it's a stretch, but with Cisco slowly creeping into the consumer space, it's hard not to take away a sense that it will be introducing software and devices interoperable with its Silicon Valley neighbor's FaceTime solution in the not too distant future. Hit the source to read the interview in full.
This Apple really is for the teacher (and students)
iPads for high school students? Yes, thanks. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that Monte Vista Christian School has 60 iPads ready to serve advanced placement students with e-books instead of the clunky old paper variety. The pilot project may expand to more students if all goes well. Teachers love the ability to get definitions of words with a click, and the access to video and newspapers. In some classes, students are using the iPads for anatomy demonstrations. The paper says English teacher Marcus Schwager is excited to show students how to look up obscure words in Shakespeare and get the proper pronunciations. While the school is among the first to explore the iPad as an educational resource, it surely won't be the last. To smooth the way, Apple has provided a US$50 discount on the iPads, and it has a program to train teachers in how to use them. [Via MacDailyNews]
iPad apps: news and magazines
Apple's done a pretty good job convincing the old media that the iPad will save their industry, so we've taken our time trying out the launch titles in the App Store -- it's plain to see that different publishers have radically different ideas about how you're supposed to buy and consume their content, and everything from pricing to UI is currently up in the air. But while the apps we've seen so far are definitely intriguing, we haven't seen any silver bullets yet -- and to be perfectly honest, in several cases we wondered why an app was preferable to an iPad-optimized web site, or even (gasp) a paper subscription. Let's run down the launch lineup, shall we? Update: We added in NPR and Zinio by popular request, check 'em out below!
iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave
There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That's on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple's tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history -- not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an "HD" suffix -- as if that somehow justified the increased cost. Besides, we've seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi -- but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers. Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.
Associated Press sources report Associated Press working on iPad app
Business Insider's The Wire is reporting, rather humorously, that AP sources have the scoop that the Associated Press is working on its own iPad app. It will reportedly be a paid subscription news app that generates content from the AP and more than 1,000 member newspapers and broadcasters. The AP follows the New York Times and other news sources that are developing applications for the iPad. While the AP doesn't say if the app would be available for the iPad launch late next month, the hope is that its eventual release will generate sales from the three million people who have downloaded their free iPhone app and would be willing to pay for the apps features on a larger-screen device. To get users interested in the app, it may be free upon initial launch. From the official press release: The group already has drawn up plans to charge for an application designed for the iPad, a 1.5-pound tablet computer that Apple Inc. is scheduled to release at the end of March. The price of the application has yet to be determined, although it might start free, according to Jane Seagrave, a senior vice president who becomes the AP's chief revenue officer Monday. Much like the AP Mobile news product, the iPad app will show custom packages of headlines, stories, photos and video from the AP and from newspapers and broadcasters that choose to contribute their content and share the revenue. AP members also could use the same system to offer their own iPad apps that show their own content. The AP iPad app is just the first product from the AP's new business unit known as "AP Gateway" that will focus on mobile platforms. The AP is among the legion of print-centric news organizations that have seen revenue hit hard by free papers and the internet. A week ago, a Danish paper made the case that devices like the iPad are the newspaper industry's only hope for paid distribution. While many still debate whether the iPad is the savior the publishing industry needs, it's clear that the major publishers are gearing up for an iPad world.
Wasteland Diaries: The great respec debate
To respec or not to respec, that is the question. Having the ability to refund your Advancement Points (AP) to rebuild your character is something that's available in many MMOs, so most players have come to expect it. When that option is not available, it tends to become a focus on game design theory and certain levels of "hardcore". The truth is, the folks developing Fallen Earth have already decided what they're going to do about refunding AP, as they've always said the option would eventually become available. Right now, we're in a sit-and-wait period to see how well their implementation will be received by players and how it will balance with the current state of the game.
Mom calls 911 over son's gaming habit
Look, we totally get it. Video games are evil -- they're turning your kid into some kind of arsonist or blood-obsessed psycho killer or -- in the case of one Boston area mom -- a rebellious little rabble-rouser. A frustrated mother called police about her son's overzealous gaming this past weekend, complaining the kid wouldn't shut off his console and go to bed. The call came in on 2:30 a.m. Saturday, when the mother complained her son was walking about the house, turning on all of the lights and failing to comply with her wishes. Two officers responded to the call and were able to diffuse the situation. The Boston Herald -- the outlet which broke the news -- said the kid was apparently playing "Grand Theft Auto."
GC clarifies ArPen's stat removal and others
Ghostcrawler's hoping this answer "gets read," so we'll help. A player asks why Blizzard is worrying about armor penetration with the Scourge Strike ability -- isn't, they ask, ArPen getting removed in Cataclysm like we heard at BlizzCon? The answer is basically no: Armor Penetration rating is getting removed from gear (along with Block value, Defense, Attack Power, and a number of other gear stats), but Armor Penetration as a stat is not getting removed from the game. Talents and other abilties will still depend on removing and penetrating armor, even if your gear selection won't revolve around it. They'll still be balancing it, but as players choosing gear, it won't be a part of our calculations there.Make sense? Just because you don't see, say, Attack Power on gear doesn't mean you won't have an Attack Power number governing how much damage you do. It just means that the AP you have will come from stats like Agility and Strength (depending on your class and a number of other factors) rather than gear adding directly to AP. Of course, as Ghostcrawler says, these changes aren't even coming until patch "4.0" and the Cataclysm expansion, so there's still lots of gear choices and balancing to do before then.
AP Stylebook comes to the App Store
If you're a journalist, writer, or editor, you've probably either heard of, used, or referenced the AP Stylebook in some way. Now, the AP has released an iPhone app of the AP Stylebook [iTunes Link]. It's searchable, allows you to make notes, and offers features for easy access of suggested writing styles. However, this app costs $28.99, which is considerably more expensive than the printed version, which is available for $18.95 from the AP. If you're out a lot, and don't want to carry a big spiral-bound book around with you, you might want to consider this, although the price of this app may be limiting.
Solving the mathmatical tangles of ArPen
Armor penetration is probably one of the most misunderstood stats in the game, for a number of reasons. First of all, it's only become popular lately -- while it's been in the game since 1.10, it's only started showing up regularly on items in Wrath. And even then it's really only a meta-meta stat: the core abilities like Strength and Agility are easy to understand, the next level of abilities are things like hit rating and crit rating, and then armor penetration, you could argue, goes another level after that: it's a stat that affects a stat affected by a stat. It's for that reason, then, that Xanthan argues we need a more elegant solution.Armor penetration basically allows you to hit an opponent as if they're wearing less armor than they really are. That's not to hard to understand -- if you have a certain amount of armor penetration, then the opponent armor number in the equation that determines damage done is lower (edit: by a percentage, not a number) than it would usually be. But the confusion comes in when you see how armor penetration scales. It actually scales exponentially, not linearly -- if you have no ArP and you increase it by a little bit, you only get a little extra damage increase. But if you have a lot, and you add a little more onto that, then you'll get a bigger damage increase, due to the way the math works (I'm bad at math, but Xanthan has an excellent, clear description of the calculations in the forum thread, and we've posted some explanations before as well). Blizzard recently capped ArP at 100% (so you could never get into a place where you're reducing armor below the amount of armor that's there), but it's still possible to have the amount of armor reduced equal the amount of armor on a target, causing the equation of armor vs. armor penetration to divide by 0, and at that point, things get wacky, and terms like "infinite damage" come into play.
Vinyl record iPod touch app gives you the spins
Vinyl has been on the verge of a big-time comeback for ages now (and for some of us, it never ceased to be the format of choice anyway), so we're pretty happy to see that even the land of zany iPhone / iPod apps is no longer immune to its charms. The spinning vinyl app by Theodore Watson makes use of the iPod touch's accelerometer to control the speed that the "record" is played at. The video (which is after the break) might make you a little sick when you watch it, but it sounds great. Analog rules, doesn't it?[Via Make]
Beatles-on-iTunes talks 'stalled' says Paul
Talks between Apple, Inc., Apple Corps, and EMI to bring the Beatles catalogue to the iTunes Store have "stalled," according to a statement by Paul McCartney to the Associated Press. McCartney said, "The last word I got back was it's stalled at the whole moment, the whole process." He told the BBC that "heavy negotiations" were in progress with EMI, who said they were "working hard to secure agreement with Apple Corps." My ill-informed, Captain Obvious guess? Someone's holding out for more money. The AP oddly suggested that the holdup is related to a trademark dispute between Apple Corps and Apple, Inc. which was settled in court last year. McCartney continued, "I really hope it will happen because I think it should." [Via Cult of Mac.]
Itemization and the plight of the bear tank in Wrath of the Lich King
One of the biggest concepts coming with Wrath of the Lich King is gear consolidation. Stat are being folded into each other and classes are being changed even on very basic levels so that fewer gear types can work for more classes and specs. Feral Druids have seen this happen as well, with talents such as Survival of the Fittest and Heart of the Wild tweaked so that they can get more benefits from Rogue gear. Unfortunately, this hasn't worked out that well for bear tanks.
Mania on the Growl change
Mania is quickly becoming the voice of choice for analysis on Hunter changes, and her latest take on the Growl changes recently released in the patch 2.4.2 notes is no exception. From what Mania can see, Growl's threat isn't scaling with Hunter Attack Power at all, but Blizzard claims it is, so she's chalking her findings in that direction up to faulty data. What she does determine, from both her research and Blizzard's posts on the subject, is that the change here has nothing to do with Hunter's RAP or AP values -- it only has to do with the pet's AP values. Before, if pet AP got a bonus, so did Growl's threat. After 2.4.2, any bonus to pet AP won't affect Growl's threat.So Hunters who routinely get their pet buffed are probably going to feel this change a little bit (though in most situations where pets get group buffs, I'd imagine Growl would be turned off anyway, in order for the tank to control threat). And Hunters who use boars, of course -- as Daniel explained, that extra AP from Charge doesn't work for Growl any more. Mania doesn't stop there, however -- since we know now that the only thing affecting Growl is the Hunter's Attack Power, she's determined to figure out just how much AP can scale Growl up (she's guessing it starts at 1955, we'll see what she comes up with).Of course, some players have found that this works pretty well -- especially MM Hunters, who generally have more attack power (thanks to talents which increase it), have no problems with drawing aggro away from their growling pets. Blizzard's reasoning on this may have been solid -- to make the abilities of the pet rely on Hunter stats, not any temporary pet buffs. Hunters with Boars won't get that nice burst any more, but Hunters with a high RAP will do just fine.
Presidential candidates finally address important issue: their gadgets
Sure, it's important to know Candidate A's position on the environment or how Candidate B plans to handle our international affairs, but when it comes to the issue of character, we'll suggest that there is no single attribute more telling than a presidential hopeful's electronic devices of choice. For instance, an Xbox-lover might engage the country even more deeply in the gears of war, while a Roomba owner would likely work to ensure the cleanliness of our national roads and parks. So what, then, does the AP's poll of the 2008 presidential candidates' favorite gadgets say about this current crop of potential world leaders? Unfortunately, that they're a pretty boring bunch: six of the nine respondents could only manage to come up with run-of-mill iPods and BlackBerries (and couldn't anyone at least give us some model names to work with -- we can't live without knowing if Hillary prefers the 3G nano to the 2G). Only Republicans Giuliani, Huckabee, and McCain strayed from the pack here, although America's Mayor seems a little behind the times with his "CD player," and Senator McCain certainly won't be getting much work done with one hand on his cherished TV remote. Anyway, all of this has got us wondering: what do you think that some of today's popular gadgets might indicate about their owner's character?[Thanks, Mike T.]
BioShock kindly receives AP's game of the year award
The Associated Press put out a pretty good year-end list about games and named BioShock its game of the year. Sure, the AP almost invalidates the entire year-end round-up by mistakenly listing BioShock as available for PlayStation 3; however, because the wire service didn't simply phone in Halo 3 as their game of the year, we'll generously overlook their faux pas. Speaking of Halo 3, the AP actually says it was the "most overrated game" of the year ... not saying we agree, just sayin' is all.The AP gave more accolades to the likes of The Orange Box for "best deal" and Rock Band for "best game that involves getting off the sofa" while trashing Lair as the "best idea for a game gone horribly wrong." One sentiment that we think everyone can agree with: the federal law requiring all good games to be released within weeks of each other has to be overturned.[Via X3F]
Patch 2.3: A buff for feral druids
It looks like feral druids will not be denied their bit of love in patch 2.3. The feral talent Heart of the Wild, will be changed to gain +10% attack power in cat form rather than +20% strength as shown in the current version above. As Vorox notes for us in his forum post this is a buff for feral druids.It may be a nerf for those druids who have stacked as much strength as possible to the exclusion of other stats, but especially considering that they plan to raise the attack power on items that buff druids' attack power while shapeshifted, having this talent to make them even more powerful seems pretty nice to me. It also makes agility scale even better for cat druids than it did before, and in many cases it enables us to get more bonuses from many buffs and items (such as Blessing of Might, and... rogue gear!).For the mathematically inclined amongst you, here is the formula for calculating your new buffed-up attack power from the original poster Vorox (who translated from German): (Current AP - (Strength in cat form - Strength in caster form)*2)*1.1
Sony cuts PS3 price to $499, new $599 80GB model to hit North America in August
Despite denials, Sony has made official the new $499 price point for the PlayStation 3 that we've started to see appear in retailers across the US. The 60GB model's new price point will indeed be $499, with a new 80GB model going on sale for $599 in the US and Canada in August. As a small bonus, the 80GB version will include a "free" copy of MotorStorm. So there ya' have it kids: in one quick swoop, Sony has made the PS3's price a whole lot more competitive.Update: Looks like the cat's out of the bag. Here's the release.
WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 2
For those of you who have been playing World of Warcraft since launch, this information is going to be ancient history. However, for players newer to the game, I imagine that many of the stats you'll find on armor and weapons remain something of a mystery -- and it's for the new players in the audience that this post was written. That said, if you haven't read our recent post attempting to explain the five basic attributes, you ought to start there, because the basic stats all impact the more advanced stats we'll be discussing here.In part 2, we're going to be talking about stats that improve physical DPS -- if that sounds interesting to you, read on!
Air Force turns 'pain gun' on AP reporter
We're all quite familiar with the Air Force's so-called 'pain gun' by now -- the millimeter wave weapon that gives targets an unbearable, full-body burning sensation and that may or may not have been recommended for testing on Americans by branch secretary Wynn -- but can you ever really 'know' a crowd control device without seeing it in action? Thankfully the military doesn't think so, which is why the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program held what must have been a fun-filled media day this past January, highlighted by the screams and flight response of AP reporter and curiously-willing guinea pig Elliot Minor. In the video after the break, you'll see Minor react to a brief encounter with the pain gun, and although he doesn't cry and wet himself like some might expect our colleagues in the MSM to do, he does admit that the weapon is "quite effective." Apparently there are some more vids of the Air Force's new toy bringing the pain on the linked site, but the military must be spending a lot more money on hurting people than web hosting, because the first clip hadn't even loaded by the time we finished this post.[Via Danger Room]
