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The Digital Continuum: Daringly duo
There were a great many things I took away from my experience at ION 08 this year. I learned how amazing community managers can be. I also learned how much they put into their communities -- if you're wondering, it's quite a lot. Among all the waves of information I soaked up there were little leaks of ideas to take away as well.During the "Online Games in 2013" panel there was a point of Damion Schubert's presentation that piqued my curiosity. It was his prediction that MMOs will see far more "Duoing" content. The fact that playing with a friend or two -- along with playing solo -- could become much more ubiquitous fills my heart with hope. If you're wondering why, I'll be more than happy to explain.
Pantech Duo 2 C820 in the works for AT&T
We've learned that Pantech and AT&T are apparently hard at work on the successor to the Duo C810 smartphone, a Windows Mobile 6 Standard device whose claim to fame is its dual slide mechanism in the same vein as the Pantech-sourced Helio Ocean. The Duo 2 -- model number C820, naturally -- is said to feature a rounded black case that recalls the look of Motorola's old MPx200 and clocks in with dimensions very close to those of the HTC Vox. We're also told that the dual slide feel is "excellent" with well-illuminated buttons on both the numeric and QWERTY pads; the QWERTY side is apparently the easier to use of the two, with the numeric side being just a bit difficult to navigate by feel alone. Up front, the 2.4-inch screen is QVGA (who'd have thought?). Along the four edges you'll find a Pantech proprietary charge / sync connector and a microSD slot protected by a hard plastic cover.It doesn't sound a heck of a lot different than the phone it replaces so far, but here's where it gets a little interesting: the C820 moves up from a 1.3 to a 2 megapixel camera and packs Windows Mobile 6.1, which apparently is already pretty well customized for the carrier thanks to the inclusion of apps like MobiTV and AT&T Music. Follow the break for software, memory, and processor details; since we might be waiting a while for a release, you may as well get all the info you can in the meanwhile, eh?
AT&T to get Pantech Duo in red?
Pantech's double-sliding Duo seems set to roll out with AT&T in a refreshed red housing color. Seriously, what's not to like here if you're hunting for some inexpensive Windows Mobile, QWERTY keyboard and keypad, HSDPA / EDGE, fun? Not much, and for $99 bucks on contract, AT&T has even seen fit to match the color with next week's Valentine day launch window. Who thought Blue could be so romantic?[Via IntoMobile]
Gamer Interrupted: Duos are good for relationships
Each week, Robin Torres contributes Gamer Interrupted, a column about balancing real life with MMOs.Sharing your leisure time with a friend and/or loved one is a great way to strengthen your relationship. This is not a controversial statement. But if that leisure time includes video games, we are getting into much debated territory -- though things are improving. Newer studies are finding that social games do in fact make people more social, rather than the basement dwelling stereotypes that exist. In my opinion, MMOs are a great way to spend quality time together with friends, family and significant others -- particularly when some are in different physical locations. Couples can have in-game dates where they spend only the money that they are already spending on their account fees and with the kids sleeping nearby. Separated friends can spend time together even if they are in different countries. And, in my favorite story (though I am biased), brothers who have never met can get to know each other though they are hundreds of miles apart.
2v2 almost was 4v4
Nestled in a hokey thread (as important as the overpowered McRib is, it's not something I'd really expect a blue to be commenting on), Kalgan has dropped some insight about how Blizzard is viewing the very strange 2v2 Arena lineup. 2v2 is the weirdest balance of all, because not only is WoW not a dueling game, it's not a 2v2 game either. It's very possible for there to be two classes within four players that don't have balances against each other.And Kalgan says that Blizzard realizes this, and as a result, they are still not happy with the way 2v2 is balanced out-- Kalgan says that there are a lot of classes "left out of having a reasonable chance" to compete in the format, because of the "endurance" nature of the game. In fact, Blizzard almost went with a 4v4 Arena instead (in addition to the 3v3 and 5v5 teams now in the game), and abandoned the 2v2 idea entirely. The reason 2v2 stayed is that Kalgan agrees that players should be able to grab a friend and play. So Blizzard apparently took on the bigger challenge of balancing 2v2 just to keep players who didn't have lots of great PvPing friends in the Arena game.Was it worth it? I've played both 2v2 and 5v5 formats, and I'd have to say that 2v2 is an interesting format, but the players angry about balance are right-- there are just some fights that can't be won in 2v2. I don't know if that's reason enough to have decided against it and gone with 4v4 instead (and I also don't think that there are lots of players that have friends enough to play 2v2 and not one of the bigger brackets), but Blizzard does have a long road ahead of them if they want to make 2v2 seriously balanced. Depending on how many people they've got playing there (my hunch is that 5v5 is much more popular, but that's just a hunch, I haven't seen the numbers), that may not be a road worth traveling.
Pantech Duo C810 pops for AT&T retail
We're still waiting for it to grace AT&T's pages, but it looks like the WinMo 6 Standard Pantech Duo C810 is now available in most AT&T retail stores for $249 with two-year contract. Phonescoop has the full spec rundown and video hands-on of AT&T's new quad-band GSM / HSDPA dual-sliding QWERTY. Besides that rough, chubby look the phone also sports more than a few operational oddities including a mysterious "turbo mode" and the fact that sliding the phone open and shut does not answer or hang-up your calls. Fat? Sure, but still trimmer than the Helio Ocean also manufactured by Pantech. Check the video review after the break.[Via Pocketnow]
Pantech Duo gets handled, one of four new phones showing up on AT&T
So the Duo's finally starting to land in stores (as is the LG CU515, we're hearing), and Boy Genius Report has wasted precisely zero time to check it out. It sounds like everything's just fine and dandy from the initial impression -- it turns out you can't slide out both the numeric and QWERTY keyboards at the same time like you can with the dummy units, but we're not too sure why you'd want to do that anyway. Oh, and if the Duo isn't to your liking, hang tight; we're hearing that the Q9 Global has starting shipping to stores (the Samsung A737, too), so they should be showing up any day now.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
Pantech Duo dummies showing up in AT&T stores
On track for a late October launch? Sure looks like it. We've caught wind that retail locations are starting to stock up on Pantech Duo dummies, suggesting that they'll be prepping for launch any day now. Between this, the Q9 Global, the Blackjack II, the Tilt, and the 5700, it looks like anyone complaining about a lack of Windows Mobile devices on AT&T by the end of the year... well, needs to find a real issue.[Thanks, Kal-El]%Gallery-8413%
Updated AT&T availability dates!
Like pretty much everything else in life, carriers' launch dates tend to slip, sometimes to the extreme (oh, come on, you can't tell us you've never procrastinated to the point where you couldn't make a due date!). To that end, we've gotten an updated look at AT&T's expected drop dates, and it seems like the wait has gotten a little longer for a few of the more anticipated handsets in the pipe. Some devices like the red version of the Nokia 6555 have slipped a couple weeks, while others -- the lowly Samsung A127 comes to mind -- have actually moved up. The Pantech Duo has also been pushed out from October 9 to the 30th, possibly to give the just-launched Tilt a little breathing room in the spotlight. Click on for the full list![Thanks, Kal-El]Update: A second source is telling us that the Duo is still tracking for shipment "on or about" the 9th. Of course, the proof is in the pudding -- but either way, at least we'll be getting our Duo on before the month's out.
Tilt, Duo, Inferno, and Q9h to blow out AT&T's October?
These are all devices we know folks have been waiting for, so we're delighted to finally hear some whipsers that launch windows are being put in place. First up, the AT&T Tilt -- alias 8925, alias Kaiser -- is rumored to be priced at $299 on a two-year or $374 on a one-year agreement. The Pantech Duo, which Amazon jumped the gun on over the weekend, will be launching for $199 on a two-year, which makes the Amazon pricing a bargain already. The Nokia 6555 "Inferno" gets priced at $49.99 on contract -- a steal for a sharp lookin' 3G flip, we figure. Last but not least, the Motorola Q9 global finally materializes for a cool $299, putting it head to head with the Tilt. All four of these are supposedly scheduled for shipment to stores on October 1, making for a very interesting month. Everyone know which of the four they're choosing yet?[Thanks, Amy K.]
Pantech C810, AT&T's homage to the Helio Ocean
What would you get if you crossed a Helio Ocean, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, and UMTS? This here Pantech C810, naturally. Boy Genius Report has pictures of the AT&T-branded device being called "Mustang" and "Duo" internally, though it's not known whether either of those names will make it to production; features are said to include a 3G radio of some sort (either UMTS or UMTS / HSDPA), microSD expansion, that wild dual-slide action with a numeric keypad in one direction and a full QWERTY deal in the other, and a 65,000-color display -- but other than that, we're in the dark. It's rumored to be hitting as soon as next month for $250 on contract, and if this all checks out, we suspect AT&T may have a difficult time keeping 'em stocked.Update: We've heard from several folks that this device may actually be the C810, which would be more in line with Pantech's naming convention for AT&T devices. We'll keep you updated.
Class cooperation tricks players may not have thought of
Recently, we took another look at the best and worst class combinations you can make with your friends, and you all had many insights on how to choose classes that match each other well. It occurred to me that there are some special tricks that two classes can pull off in pairs or small groups that would be impossible to do on their own, and that this might be an interesting thing to try if the trick strikes your fancy.The most obvious one may be that rogues and druids can sneak around together as a stealthy mini-party all of their own, and that's the sort of thing that many people know about. But for me, I remember being very surprised to learn from a friend how powerful a mage and a priest can be together when leveling through PvP content. I saw the mage gather up many enemies together and use arcane explosions on them while the priest healed and shielded her. They completed quests faster than anyone I'd ever seen before. Later they invited me to level new triplet alts together with them -- two mages and one priest. She taught me how she and I could gather up many monsters and kill them all without getting hurt by alternating our frost nova and blizzard spells, while at the same time having the priest's healing for tricky spots, mistakes, and emergencies.This is a fast way to level cooperatively that I never would have thought of on my own, and it took my friend's ingenuity and research to make it happen. Have any of you found similar class-cooperation tricks that you think many people might not have heard of?[Exciting fan art by Sara Forlenza]
The absolute worst class duo
Our reader Josh wrote to us with an common and practical question, saying that he said that he and his girlfriend are looking forward to starting two new alts together and they would like to know what the best classes would be for leveling exclusively together, with no solo play in between. He said, and I quote: "what would the greatest, most face melting/ass kicking/uber pwnage duo in WoW look like?"Now, fortunately for Josh and his girlfriend, we've actually been asked this question before, and anyways this sort of topic comes up lots and lots and lots of times in one way or another. I'm happy to refer them, and all interested parties of two, back to those posts with comments from our insightful readers. Of course if you feel something has changed since those topics last came up and there's a new best duo in the game, feel free to let us know here!But in order to give this post some kind of interesting spin, how about we advice them what not to do! What would be the absolute worst class combination imaginable for two people to level with? It's not as easy as you think -- As our class encouragement breakfast topics have shown so far, each of the classes has their own form of face melting, ass-kicking uber pwnage, and they all seem to have abilities that complement each other, no matter who they're paired with. Still... there has to be a less-than-optimal combination in there somewhere, right?Ideologically, you'd think that paladins and warlocks just would not mix at all, but no, that's not true! Actually they work great together. From my own experience, I remember practicing as a 2vs2 arena team with a mage friend, who is an excellent player, but we still didn't do very well at all. I know it could be just because I may be a terrible druid, or my gear may not be good enough, but it's actually the only time in this game that I've ever paired up with a friend only to feel that maybe our class abilities didn't complement each other well. I thought that if I could level my rogue to join her we might be a lot more successful, but my friend thought that I just needed more practice. Maybe there is no worst class duo! What's your experience?[Check out the girlfriend's answer in the last panel of this great Penny Arcade comic above, and take it as a warning not to choose for your duo a new class that you like toooooo much, or else you might not be able to resist soloing with it when you have free time and your partner doesn't!]
TomTom Duo Eclipsed at CeBIT
If you were holding on tight for that new mystery GPS dock from TomTom to be released at CeBIT, well, you can loosen your grip now, son. The so called "Duo" is just the Eclipse AVN 2210p (as noted by a few of you already in the comments) all bundled up and prepped for a probable European launch. However, when (or if) it launches it will be Eclipse, not TomTom, making the announcement; that's the reason for the janky cut-out masking the 2210p docking unit in the picture above. Now, go get yourselves some Scooby Snacks you meddling kids.
TomTom DUO to hit CeBIT, tout handsfree calling
Fresh deets on TomTom's forthcoming GPS are starting to flow in, and hopefully we'll know about all there is to know by the time this unit shows off on the CeBIT floor. While we'd been led on by the FCC leaks seen just hours ago, it looks like TomTom's marketing department took the easy route with regard to titling, as they've purportedly settled for TomTom DUO. Quite literally one-upping the ONE, this squared-off handheld GPS will reportedly play nice with TomTom's PLUS services, support handsfree calling over Bluetooth, and of course, offer up an elusive (albeit enticing) interaction with a docking station. The dock is suggested to include an FM transmitter for piping navigation audio throughout your vehicle's sound system, as well as allowing external DAPs to be heard through more than just a built-in tweeter, but we're still waiting to see if TomTom plans on this being a standalone unit or if it fits better integrated into one's dash. Per usual, keep it here for (more) emerging information.
HD VMD signs first U.S. distributor, preps for 2Q launch
If you're looking for an alternative to the Blu-ray and HD DVD format war, don't forget VMD, which has just announced it's first distribution deal with a U.S. retailer, PC Rush. NME plans to make two players available in the second quarter of this year, the HD VMD Player Duo for $199 and the HD VMD Player Quattro for $249. The 40GB multilayered, red-laser based format hopes to bring HD content home for prices similar to standard DVDs, but we still have to see what kind of content will be available when players hit the shelves.
Soundoiler unveils duo: the wireless speaker lamp
Seemingly, it's just not to efficient enough to buy lighting tools for your home anymore, as lamps these days have to have at least one other random function thrown in for good measure, and Soundoiler's duo is no different. Melding form with function, this stylish lamp features a built-in speaker to go along with its lighting capabilities, an integrated control pad to dictate volume / channel selection, and an optional "maestro" transmitter that pipes in audio from your wirelessly-enabled DAP. Moreover, the lamps can be purchased in pairs and setup to function as stereo speakers, correctly separating the left and right channels during playback, and if that weren't snazzy enough, there's also a foot-controlled power / dimmer switch so you can set the mood without even lifting a finger. Soundoiler's multi-purpose fixture can be picked up now for $279.95, while the wireless addition will run you an extra $79.95, but the wow-factor in your living room is presumably priceless.[Via CNET]
Cook breakfast with your MacBook (just kidding)
[11/09/2011: Source link removed, as the site is no longer online.] Everyone knows that Apple's Intel powered portable lineup gets hot, but this is insane! An enterprising fellow figured out that it would be possible to actually fry an egg on the bottom of his black MacBook. Granted, it probably took something like 3 times as long than if he had used a stove, but that's obviously not the point. For bonus points, keep your coffee warm by placing it on top of your MacBook power adapter. While obviously a stab at Apple for releasing such hot machines, I think its important to understand the fact that Apple has no control over how hot or cold Intel's processors run. I'm sure the engineers in Cupertino do their best to make the machines run as cool as possible, but there are some things that even the Mac hardware team can't do. Just as a bit of an update, since this piece has been picked up all over the net: This isn't really serious. Although it is theoretically possible to get egg proteins to congeal from the heat of a MacBook, the guy posted the story as a joke. That is all. [via UneasySilence]
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]
1GB Pro Duo on the cheap
If you swing on over to online retailer Buy.com, you can acquire a 1GB Pro Duo for your PSP for the very reasonable sum of $24.95 U.S. after a mail-in rebate. Offer is only valid until the 4th of June, so if you've been holding off on shelling out some dough for a larger memory stick, now seems about as good a time as any to upgrade.
