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Spectrum Interactive brings WiFi hotspots to London's phone boxes
London's red telephone boxes are iconic, sure, but just how relevant can they be in this century? Spectrum Interactive has a solution that both ensures their preservation and provides customers in search of internet a free ticket online. The company has converted some 1,800 pay phones throughout London into WiFi hotspots, offering passersby a free connection so long as they provide their mobile numbers and download an e-coupon for a nearby store. Spectrum initially began testing the program with the help of Nokia late last year, and while it's amassed an impressive number of WiFi access points, it's lost the support of its Finnish partner, and is still assessing how willing local businesses are to pay for getting coupons in the service. On top of that, there's the whole issue of how many people will think to scope out phone booths rather than, say, an internet cafe. Here's hoping Spectrum has some very flashy signs on the windows. [Image credit: Elliott Brown, Flickr]
EVE's Incursion 1.5 patch goes live
Capsuleers attempting to log in to EVE Online today will be greeted with the familiar "new build available" popup. Yep, it's patch day, and CCP is updating Incursion to version 1.5 (although it's only a 16-megabyte download, so you won't be out of commission for long). Nonetheless, the update does bring some significant change to New Eden. As we told you earlier this week, agents are getting an overhaul, as are associated connection skills. Another helpful bit in today's patch is the new visual differentiation between blueprint originals and blueprint copies. Onboard ship scanners have had their ranges extended to 64 AU, and of course, the changes to jump bridge-capable ships are now in effect as well. There are a few more tweaks courtesy of Incursion 1.5, and you can read all about them via the official patch notes.
Incursion 1.5 patch bringing agent changes to EVE
Significant changes are in the offing for NPC mission agents in EVE Online. A new CCP dev blog details the tweaks, which are currently on the Singularity test server and scheduled to go live on Tranquility with tomorrow's Incursion 1.5 patch. Prior to the patch, each NPC corporation had up to 21 divisions (security, distribution, etc.), each with agents that gave out different types of missions. CCP Molock notes that "these divisions and values did little other than adding complexity to an already complex game," and the devs have condensed said divisions into a more manageable set of four: distribution, mining, security, and research. The tweaks necessitated the removal of the game's seven connections skills, which were then replaced with three new skills (distribution connections, mining connections, and security connections). Players who had previously trained connections skills will find their skill points refunded. EVE's agent quality system was also a bit of a puzzler for both players and devs, and Molock says its "effects were not particularly meaningful." CCP is reassigning both a -20 and a +20 value to all the game's agents, which will effectively make it easier to access many of them as well as raise their payouts. Further details are available via the full dev blog at the official EVE website.
Rumor: AT&T will carry 3G iPad in stores
Here's an interesting rumor I hadn't considered yet: sources inside AT&T are telling Boy Genius Report that AT&T's retail stores are planning to carry the 3G versions of the iPad. It's not unexplainable, given that AT&T is the partner for the 3G service, and so I guess they have a vested interest in selling the devices. Still, when you think of "tablet computer designed for consumption of media and minor household tasks," you don't really think of AT&T. In fact, without a phone on it at all, it's just strange to think that the iPad would have a place in AT&T stores anywhere. But if the 3G versions will make money for the phone company (and we'll bet they will), they might as well sell them. If the rumor is true, and the AT&T store is closer to you than the Apple store, you might as well check there on release day (remembering that 3G iPads will be released after their WiFi-only cousins). In the meantime, let's all hope their 3G network holds up under the increased strain. [via MacRumors]
Exclusive: Apple dictated Light Peak creation to Intel, could begin migration from other standards as early as 2010
Remember how Intel showed off its new, advanced optical standard -- Light Peak -- this past week on a Hackintosh? Well it turns out there's more to that story than you probably know, and it all leads back to some revealing facts about the connection... literally and figuratively. Engadget has learned -- thanks to an extremely reliable source -- that not only is Apple complicit in the development of Light Peak, but the company actually brought the concept to Intel and asked them to create it. More to the point, the new standard will play a hugely important role in upcoming products from Cupertino.
Widespread connectivity issues abound today
Users of Comcast and Verizon are experiencing technical difficulties today in their connectivity to the game. They are experiencing this in both connecting to the actual game, and then maintaining a good connection once in the game.Blue poster Claudiog is seeking more information from the community on the technical support forums. In particular he's looking for traceroutes from affected users. Head over to their forums (ignoring their own ads) and help them out if you're struck with these issues.Some users are stating that the Los Angeles datacenters are the culprits for the connectivity issues. However we want to caution users that Blizzard has made no official statement about their datacenters.
Ask Engadget HD: Which cable / interconnect brand should I rely on?
We've heard this question so many times that we've taken for granted the answer, but given the recent increase in competition in the cable market, we figured we'd pass along Josiah's question on the matter: "I'm not going to pay hundreds of dollars for those cables sold in Best Buy and Circuit City, but I want the best possible audio and video quality. I've got a pretty basic setup, and I just need a few HDMI cables, a set of component cables and a few optical audio cables. Where would I go to get the best for my money? Is there a particular brand I should look for? What has worked out for your readers?" Unload your experiences with cables -- however expensive (or cheap) -- below, and be sure to elaborate on which brand / store / etc. you found to be the best for the price. Oh, and make no mention of Furutech, we're trying to keep the cost-per-cable under a grand.Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.
AT&T maintenance tonight to cause connection issues
A news announcement on the login screen is letting us all know that AT&T, the people who provide data center service to Blizzard, will be performing maintenance tonight from 12:00 a.m. EST until 5:00 a.m. EST. This will likely cause problems with both being able to login to the game and stay connected. This is an odd maintenance announcement, and one that I don't recall seeing before.Hopefully this will not develop into anything more serious – such as extended network outages or other such issues.
Time Warner Cable customers experience World of Warcraft trouble
Many of us with cable internet connections are well aware of the problems that arise when cable companies specifically block certain applications, such as the recent problems with Comcast blocking Bit Torrent. It looks like there may be a similar problem with Time Warner and Roadrunner Cable, as many of their customers have found to it difficult to impossible to play due to lag and latency issues for some time, reports the New York Post. To some extent, both TWC and Blizzard have been blaming each other for a while, with Time Warner claiming they have done nothing to block any packets or traffic related to World of Warcraft, and Blizzard pointing out that all of the players on the east coast with these problems are Time Warner/Roadrunner cable customers. It's difficult to say if Time Warner is being genuine in their confusion, since other ISPs have lied about similar issues in the past, but there are signs they are taking this seriously. They have contacted Blizzard's ISP, and players are saying that they have been contacted by Time Warner representatives looking to fix the problem. Seeing the issue making it into print media, perhaps, will give them the extra initiative they need to get it completely sorted.
Fans speak out passionately on Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom closing
We reported on the closing of Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom the other day, and at the time, it seemed like business as usual -- Disney had created the virtual world for an event, and the event was over, so it was time for the world to close. But the comments thread over on this Virtual Worlds news post about the closing has to be seen to be believed: fans of this place loved it completely and are painfully heartbroken over its closing. There are tons of eloquent, emotional comments lauding VMK for its sense of community, the friends made there, and the opportunity to connect on a virtual level with other people and Disney's attractions when, for various reasons, the same can't be done in real life.What's most amazing here is that, from these comments, it seems VMK was one of the strongest virtual communities out there. This is why we play these MMO games -- to connect with others online, to experience things that can't be experienced any other way, and to create connections that otherwise wouldn't be there. It's an amazing story -- here's an MMO that worked perfectly in terms of building community and developing social connections between players, and yet Disney chooses to close it down.There is a petition online, with 11,000 signatures as of this writing, to keep VMK open. Disney has responded to this emotion with a short statement only saying "we hear you," and the game itself is still set to close down as planned on May 21st.[Via Waxy.org]
Identifying with your class
Relmstein has an interesting post up about how players develop their identities with the classes they play, and while he marks it as players connecting with the various classes they choose, I actually see more of an effect on me, the player-- when I play with my Shaman in World of Warcraft, I'm more measured, careful, and helpful, and when I play my Rogue, I tend to do a lot more ganking, cheap tricks, and sneaky stuff. My Shaman would never run up to a flag in Arathi Basin without support, because that's his thing-- he supports others with totems and helps groups. But my Rogue loves sneaking off to a flag by himself, hopefully with a clothie there that he can sap or gank.In exactly this way, classes can help the playerbase form communities and connections of their own-- you start to identify with and support those of the same class around you. Players specialize in one class, and grow more and more familiar with and attached to it. A straightforward skill system (like that in EVE Online) doesn't have that-- you still have races, but no one identifies with the traditional class roles. Miners may stick together, but when everyone can mine, that doesn't mean as much.And new games can learn from this, too-- we've already seen some great class ideas come out of Warhammer, and there's no doubt that if those are implemented as well as they appear to be, we'll see players stepping up to identify with the roles in that game as well.
A puzzling connection
Setsuzoku no Puzzle, or Puzzle of Connections, is worth a playthrough just for its synthy score; besides, downloading the homebrew game and listening to the music tracks takes little to no effort. Actually clearing a level or even learning how to attack the puzzle, however, will require a considerable amount of work.Modeled after Match It, a 1989 arcade game, you'll have to knock out 140 tiles against a timer. Each multicolored square has a symbol -- moons, stars, and other Lucky Charms marshmallows -- that you can link with an identical piece to remove them both. Though your connecting line can stretch all the way across the playing field, the catch is that the link must turn no more than two corners to be valid. You'll suffer several frustrating losses before you get to the point where you've trained your eyes enough to spot similar tiles, but the satisfaction that comes after everything "clicks" and you complete a level is ample reward. If you get stuck, you'll be able to hit X to have the computer eliminate a match for you several times. Head past the post break for more screenshots of the homebrew puzzler.
