Fight
Latest
Livescribe Pulse Smartpen records heated Delta / airport conversation, leads to chaos
Whoa, Nelly! Talk about a whale of a story. Ben DeCosta, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport's general manager, loves gadgets. So much, in fact, that he purchased a Livescribe Pulse Smartpen, which is capable of recording audio onto its 4GB of internal storage space. While details on the story remain murky (disputed by both sides, actually), it's fairly clear that Ben and Delta didn't exactly see eye-to-eye on everything. To that end, Mr. DeCosta figured he could flip the recorder on during a private conversation between airline executives and personnel from the city of Atlanta, and now the whole thing seems to have backfired. Ben maintains that he didn't intend to record Delta's negotiations, and he even went so far as to suggest that Delta stole his pen in order to discredit him. In the end, the city's investigation found that there was "insufficient evidence that DeCosta intentionally sought to record the private conversations of Delta's team," but that's not stopping Ben from retiring when his contract expires in June. Hit the source link below for the whole drama-filled thing, but unfortunately, the discussions held on the pen have yet to leak. TMZ -- you on that, or what?
Rumor: Verizon and Apple are at odds over pricing on CDMA iPhone
Analyst Maynard J. Um told investors today that while the rumored Verizon/Apple deal to bring a CDMA iPhone to the big V is still on the table, it's hit a snag over a pricing disagreement. Apparently Apple is used to being paid about $700 for every iPhone sold through AT&T, while Verizon pays out just $450 for Motorola's Droid, and the two companies are at odds over how much money should change hands for iPhones sold over the network. Seems like there should be a compromise somewhere in there, but of course any delays in making an agreement mean delays in actually releasing the phone. And just for the heck of it, Um mentioned that he does expect a tablet this year, and that Apple's stock will depend on the "functionality and appeal" of the rumored new device. This just in: If people like something and think it works well, they will buy it. Thanks, analyst!
Nintendo trademarks 'Zii' over in Japan, Creative is like 'zaywha?'
Here's an interesting one. Siliconera has dug up what it claims to be a Japanese trademark for the term "Zii," and contrary to what you may expect, the application wasn't filed by Creative. We double checked the database, and sure enough, the paperwork went through on October 30th -- which almost certainly means that this was more than just some day-late attempt to fend off the next-generation of KIRF Wii consoles. There's obviously no way to tell what the Big N has in mind here, nor if this will cause any kind of friction between it and Creative, but we'll certainly be keeping an ear to the ground for more. Who knows -- maybe the Zii is that HD Wii we've all been clamoring for since November of 2006. Or maybe it's nothing at all. Update: We've done a bit more digging, and it looks as if this here filing may simply be a renewal of a 2006 trademark request. Moreover, we've found Nintendo trademarks in Japan for Cii, Bii, Oii and Yii, so it seems the company may just be on some sort of rampage in order to cover its tracks in one form or another.
Latest AT&T spot calls Verizon's 3G network a headless, sluggish wannabe
We hate to point out the obvious, but it really seems that the marketing gurus at AT&T have this all wrong. Look guys -- no one's debating that AT&T's 3G isn't the fastest where available. We even saw as much ourselves. But Verizon's recent slew of ads have been calling out the size of your 3G network, which you absolutely can't argue is incredibly small when placed next to red-tinted competition. That said, AT&T is still fighting a battle to which no one has challenged it by employing the admittedly quirky Luke Wilson to show off just how much faster his favorite network can download a JPEG of himself compared to VZW. We've got to say that the results are fairly hilarious, but frankly, we would've rather seen that huge ad buy go towards a few more 3G towers here in the US of A. Vid's after the break, per usual.
NVIDIA takes its feud with Intel to cartoonish new levels
Oh, boy. Just when you thought NVIDIA 's feud with Intel couldn't rise above endless name-calling, lawsuits and production shutdowns, NVIDIA does this. In a series of not-so-subtle cartoons on the recently established Intel's Insides website -- which NVIDIA's spokesperson has confirmed is, in fact, hosted by NVIDIA -- NVIDIA takes aim at Intel (and CEO Paul Otellini, specifically) over a range of alleged ill doings, and even goes so far as to include a cheeky disclaimer that the site "is not provided, sponsored or endorsed by Intel Corporation." Hit up the gallery below for a quick retrospective, and stay tuned for what we can only hope is a decent comeback from Intel.
Garrosh, a raid boss?
I don't necessarily agree with everything we highlight here on WoW.com, but just because a post seems wrong doesn't mean it isn't interesting to talk about. Such is the case with Loregy's latest post -- they suggest that after all is said and done, the much beloved (whoops, not) Garrosh Hellscream will end up at the wrong end of our weapons. They say that the big fight between Garrosh and Thrall (rudely interrupted by the Wrath of the Lich King) means that Garrosh is in for a whooping at some future point. Matt basically said as much in his post a while back -- Garrosh is a flawed hero, to say the least, and it's likely that sometime here, those flaws are going to catch up with him, possibly in the form of us players.Now of course whether that's true or not is an entirely different question from whether that's what you want or not. Kisirani has already said that there are sides of Garrosh we haven't seen yet, and Blizzard could go either way with him -- either put him through some troubles and teach him to learn some lessons (right now the guy is pretty dumb), or do what Loregy is suggesting and turn him into a raid boss (wouldn't be the first faction leader with such a fate, to be honest). Personally, I think Garrosh is headed for a little redemption -- all he really needs, to my mind, is a little experience and humility, and, as I understand it, war can teach those pretty well.
Video of the Hogger live raid at BlizzCon
Michael Gray mentioned it in his writeup of the Premonition live raid at BlizzCon 2009, but this is a moment so epic it's worth mentioning again, and now that there's video online, you can see it: in the final fight, none other than Hogger appeared to take on one of the best guilds in the game. And this was no mere Hogger, nor even the slightly-more-powerful Memory of Hogger seen in the Trial of Champions. No no -- this thing was a foul raid boss from the bowls of Deepholm, a one-shotting maniac that couldn't be controlled even by the best tank. As you can see in the video above, he charges like an angry Rhino -- he was originally pulled by a Hunter who was then one-shot so fast the aggro table cleared and Hogger reset instantly. And after the raid changed their collective pants, they took him on again, and it was all over but the Gnoll snickering.He was immune to taunt, and he appeared to just pick a target at random, pinging around the raid like Batman beating up bad guys in his recent videogame. He only had about 600 hit points (some say 666, which would make sense), but he was immune to damage, or at least all forms of damage that Premonition tried to throw at him. In the end, even though they'd beaten Thaddius, Anub'Rekhan, and Patchwerk all at once, this level 80 Heroic version of Hogger was the one who wiped them. I saw Ozzy do War Pigs, but this Hogger fight was probably the most epic thing I saw in Anaheim last weekend.
David Pogue launches all-out war on canned voicemail messages
You know, we love fighting the good fight -- especially if it means calling out corporations on their untoward business practices. Today we're joining David Pogue of the New York Times in calling foul on cellphone carriers' insistence that users be forced to listen to those maddening, pointless 15-second canned carrier messages. In case you've held off on owning a cellphone or calling anyone who has one, they go a little something like this:At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press 1 for more options. To leave a callback number, press 5. (Beep)Not only is Pogue mad-as-hell-and-not-going-to-take-it about the ridiculous idea that we still need to be told how to use voicemail, it turns out those additional messages are actually costing you cold, hard cash. He estimates that Verizon, for instance, is netting around $620 million a year thanks to these little annoyances. So what's to be done? Well Pogue wants the citizens of the internet to take up virtual arms... and complain like nobody's business. He's wrangled together all the best contact points for the four largest carriers in the US (included for your convenience after the break). Let them know you know don't want to pay for voicemail instructions. And hey, while you're at it, tell them the price-gouging on text messages needs to go, too.
HTC Hero vs. T-Mobile myTouch 3G... fight!
Two long lost siblings, at last reunited. But can there ever be unity? We don't think so. At every turn, the HTC Hero seems to trounce the myTouch 3G -- it's really hardly a contest. The myTouch is certainly lighter, and in many ways "feels" smaller because of it, but the size differences really are negligible. They're still both great phones, but the Hero really feels like a million bucks, while the myTouch feels a bit like a toy. Unfortunately, only one of them just went up for pre-order on T-Mobile, and it's not the one we want to marry.
WoW Mountain Dew ad was directed by Tarsem Singh
A number of sites have done a post-mortem on the Mountain Dew WoW Game Fuel ad (featuring two ladies battling it out through their WoW characters in a live-action supermarket), and they've uncovered a really interesting fact: the ad was actually directed by Indian director Tarsem Singh, one of my favorites -- he not only did the visually stunning sci-fi/horror flick The Cell a few years ago, but more recently made The Fall, which is an very well-done kind of mirror-life fairy tale. He's directed a number of commercials before, including some for Nike and Levi's, and teamed up with a company called Zoic Studios (they've done a few other spots for video games already) for this WoW commercial.The original CGI models for the ad did come from Blizzard (I'd guess that they're the original models from the WoW CGI trailer), though they were spruced up quite a bit by Zoic to add facial expressions and dynamic costumes and hair. They were then connected to motion captures from stunt artists (which were probably also tweaked to seem a little more than human, and then composited all together in the supermarket scene.Very cool stuff. This isn't the first time WoW characters have been used to sell soda, but hopefully we'll see more fun sequences like this come out of the deals between Blizzard and their partners.
Kondo bot battles rage in Japan, vision of humanity's imminent destruction crystallize
You may be familiar with the modular line of Kondo robots sold in Japan -- but are you aware that a "Kondo Battle" exists where the bots duke it out to the death (or until they fall over)? Well, now you know... which is half the battle. You can pretty much see where this is headed -- life-size (or larger) Gundams going totally crazy on cityscapes across the globe. A picture says a thousand words, and video says billions and billions, so feast your eyes on the IDG News clip after the break, and to sweeten the deal, we've included a few videos of the actual fights as well.
Canon EOS Rebel T1i vs. Nikon D5000... fight!
We can't quite recall if the last week in April of 2008 was jam packed with camera introductions, but you can go ahead and pencil this little stretch down as quite an important time in the lives of DSLR junkies. Nary 24 hours after we gave you our pair of pennies on Nikon's D5000, Canon's EOS Rebel T1i (its arch enemy, just so you know) has arrived. Based on specifications alone, the T1i looks like a much more serious shooter than the D5000, though its kit package -- which also includes an 18-55mm IS EF-S lens -- runs you $50 more and omits that all-too-intriguing articulating display. Instead, you get a fixed 3-inch Live View display (like the more expensive D90 over on the Nikon front), a 1080p movie mode (which trumps all Nikon DSLRs at the moment and matches the mighty EOS 5D Mark II), a ISO sensitivity up to 12,800 (the D5000 tops out at 6,400) and a 15.1 megapixel sensor (compared to the 12.3MP sensor in the D90 and D5000). We're going to run out and pit these two against each other in order to bring you a more thorough showdown soon, but for now, hop on past the break to see how the T1i -- which is shipping to the public today as well -- stacks up against the D5000 on paper. Oh, and check out the gallery if you're intrigued by world class knock-down-drag-outs.
HTC Touch Pro2 vs. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1... fight!
It may not have been a fair fight to put the mighty X1 up against the original Touch Pro -- the X1's got the better display and oodles of sex appeal -- but HTC's already back for round two with an all-new device. Is it an even match this time around? The final call will probably have to wait a couple months for production Touch Pro2s to start circulating, but in the meantime, we now have a few side-by-side shots to ponder. "Too much awesome hardware" is a great problem to have, isn't it?[Via WMPoweruser.com]
MSI X-Slim 320 vs MacBook Air... fight!
You knew the comparisons were inevitable, but have you braced yourself for how incredibly similar these two laptops are? MSI's new X-Slim 320 13.3-inch ultraportable is a teensy bit wider and a teensy bit thicker than the MacBook Air, but most of the dimensions, layouts and curves are uncannily alike. As for build quality, MSI obviously suffers a bit for its netbook heritage. The plastics aren't stellar, and the keyboard, while delightfully full size, is a tad squishy, but there's still no denying that this is a pretty wild deal for this very particular form factor -- plus that built-in 3G, VGA and Ethernet are just rubbing it in Apple's face.%Gallery-41122%
Nokia N97 vs iPhone... Fight!
Now this is a fight worth waiting for.[Photo courtesy of Robert Scoble]
AT&T bringing De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao to U-verse HD PPV
Regardless of his age or win total, Oscar De La Hoya is a preeminent eminence grise in the sport of boxing. That said, we understand that not everyone will be able to jet off to Las Vegas to see his December 6th matchup with Manny Pacquia, but those with AT&T's U-verse will be treated to The Dream Match in glistening high-def. 'Course, the pricing is apt to make you consider just visiting a bar ($65 for the HD PPV, $55 for the SD PPV), but who knows how inflated that tab could be by the end of the night. Decisions, decisions.[Image courtesy of PFW, thanks Anthony]
Ghostcrawler: The rules of the role forums
1st Rule: You do not talk about the role forums.2nd Rule: You do not talk about the role forums.3rd Rule: If this is your first post on the role forums, you have to fight.There are eight rules to Fight Club, and there are eight rules to the new role forums. Coincidence? Highly likely. Ghostcrawler has referenced the movie before, and for some reason I could see him kicking the crap out of himself screaming "Don't nerf me, bro!"But nonetheless, Ghostcrawler has outlined eight simple and easy to follow rules for these new discussion forums. We'll take a look at them all after the break, but the highlight of the rules is rule #4 which in part says, "Sometimes Blizzard employees, such as me, respond to threads." That along with the preamble remark that "...class designers, such as myself, visit [the class forums] less often than the role forums," makes these new forums very interesting.It looks like the discussion and back and forth we've come to see in the beta will continue on the new role forums. This can only lead to good things.The full rules after the break for all you special and unique snowflakes.
NVIDIA throws another punch, sez Larrabee would've been hot in 2006
You've got to love it, don't you? The prolonged hatefest between Intel and NVIDIA is continuing on today, with Andy Keane, general manager of the company's GPU computing group, delivering the latest blow. While speaking to reporters at the outfit's headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, he was quoted as saying that there is still "an incredible amount about Larrabee that's undefined." Furthermore, John Mottram chimed in by suggesting that "as [blogger and CPU architect] Peter Glaskowsky said, the 'large' Larrabee in 2010 will have roughly the same performance as a 2006 GPU from NVIDIA or ATI." We're beginning to wonder if these guys aren't just passing disses while sharing a cold one afterwards just to get attention, but being that it's more fun to envision suits from rival firms intensely angry with one another, we'll just keep believing this actually isn't a joke.[Via Slashdot]
Samsung Instinct, LG Dare, iPhone 3G... fight!
Alright, you three are sworn enemies, so what are we waiting for? Let's get it on! Go ahead, seriously, exchange some blows. No better way to get the party started than with a little speed test; the Instinct's data services still seem to be jacked, but the Dare and iPhone 3G squared off with the LG model consistently besting Apple's by between 50-100kbps over Verizon's EV-DO network (see the gallery for the side-by-side). That's not to say the Dare is consistently the faster phone -- it has everything to do with the network in your area, the time of day, the circumstances, and which side of the bed you woke up on this morning -- but it's an interesting observation here nonetheless. We'll follow up with an Instinct speed test (and another round of testing on the Dare and iPhone) when we can.%Gallery-27485%
Black iPhone 3G vs. white iPhone 3G... fight!
For many people we encountered in line on launch day, the decision had already been steadfastly made: they'd be picking up a black iPhone 3G, and no one would sway them from their path (except maybe -- maybe -- if the black was sold out by the time their number got called). We've got to say, though -- after spending a great deal of quality time with both colors, the white definitely holds a special place in our hearts. It doesn't show smudges as easily, it makes just a little bit bolder of a fashion statement, and it tells passers-by, "yo, I sprung for the 16GB model" since the 8GB is only available in black. Don't get us wrong, the black's just fine, but we figured we'd throw out some food for thought on the subject.%Gallery-27483%
