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Totem Talk: Restoration between now and Warlords of Draenor
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem talk for the shaman. Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration, brought to you by Joe Perez (otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and InternetDragons.TV), shows you how. Well, I don't know about you but I'm still very excited about the announcement of Warlords of Draenor. I mean, it was honestly the big news from BlizzCon 2013 and the feeling is still quite electric from almost everyone in regards to it. For some, The Burning Crusade and going to Outlands was one of the greatest things to ever happen in the World of Wacraft. For restoration shaman in particular, BC was that point in time where everything was awesome and shaman were the top of the food chain for healing. This week though, I'm not here to talk about the glory days of shaman healing. No, that will be an article for another week. This week I wanted to talk about the time between now and the next expansion. It is always a topic to think about what to do in that time where you're waiting for the next expansion to even enter beta phase. The good news is Mists of Pandaria offers so many more options than any other expansion before. I thought I would share how I'm spending my time between now and Warlords of Draenor.
Patch 5.4.2: This is just the beginning for Blizzard's Raid Finder
We posted earlier about Blizzard's first steps towards building their own answer to oQueue, leveling various criticisms at what they had done so far for patch 5.4.2. Basically, you can head back and read the previous post, but the changes so far have all been to the existing Raid Finder tool. The one that nobody knows exists. And the one that nobody can find. Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street was quick to add, though, that this is only the beginning for Blizzard's group finder. @Bashiok @oliviadgrace Takes our crappy old raid browser and enables some cross realm functionality. Still doing a new Group Finder for 6.0. - Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) November 21, 2013 So we can allow ourselves to hope for better with 6.0. What would you like to see? Personally, I think oQueue, for all its bugs and quirks, does a pretty great job of finding cross-realm groups for people. I'd like to see something that mirrors oQueue, but with fewer issues like spam, memory use, and more. Of course, with Blizzard designing this themselves, it's very likely to be the case that it doesn't suffer any of these ills. I'd love to see it have all the ilvl restrictions, completion restrictions and other group restrictions applicable, and to have the option to appear offline, or hide. One big thing, too, is visibility. It needs to either be integrated into the LFG panel, or have its own micro-menu entry. The single thing that such a system needs, as I mentioned in the earlier article, is people. It needs to be right in players' faces, more convenient than the competition. I believe Blizzard can do it, but to replace such a popular addon that's done so much good to the game, they'll have to do it well.
Flexible raiding's magic numbers
Blizzard Community Manager Bashiok has blue-tagged an interesting discussion on the US forums today, asking for more feedback on Flexible raiding's numerical breakpoints. Bashiok Right now there are some assumptions being made about mechanical breakpoints in Flex, but there are also some valid concerns. The orbs on Norushen for example may need tweaking. What would be super helpful is if people have examples of breakpoints they think limit them to having a certain number of people, and what those are. It's in everyone's best interests to be able to invite whoever they want, and not feel like they're limited to some number because of mechanic scaling. source The forum thread in questions certainly brings up some valid concerns. Bashiok mentions the Norushen orbs, where going over a breakpoint by just one player can provide a substantial DPS or healing boost for a boss which can prove a tight DPS requirement for some groups. The Sha of Pride's prisons are another one which seems reasonable -- over a certain number and you'll get three prisons as opposed to two, so it'd be easier for some groups to just not bring that one player who tips the balance. What's more, on AoE mechanic-heavy fights like Dark Shaman, simply having more people standing in bad is a problem, if they're not able to put out the DPS, or are failing at mechanics. Crawler Mines on Iron Juggernaut could well be another problem, as could Malkorok's swirls and Matter Scramble in Spoils.
Samsung's curved smartphone gets pictured in leak (update: now official)
If you think there's something wrong with the image above, you wouldn't be alone -- but it is, in fact, what it's supposed to look like. As you can tell, this may very well be the first Samsung device that takes advantage of the Korean manufacturer's flexible screen, as shown to us by notorious leakster @evleaks. If this is accurate, it's quite a bit different than the prototype we originally saw at CES this past January, which featured a flat display that drooped off on one side and was designed to show a ticker-like notification bar. The image above also shows what appears to be a Korean version of the rumored device, but we don't know for sure if it'll ever see the light of day in other countries. This also indicates that an upcoming launch may very well be close at hand. We'll update our post with more pictures if or when they come in. Update: Another pic of the SM-G910S (the curved phone's rumored model number) has been added after the break. @evleaks has also mentioned that this is indeed going to be a Korean device. Update 2: It didn't take too long for the phone to become official as the Galaxy Round. Head here for the full rundown.
Patch 5.4 Developer Round Table information roundup
Blizzard has just released a new developer roundtable video featuring Production Director J. Allen Brack, Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas, and Game Director Tom Chilton talking about Patch 5.4 and the future of World of Warcraft. The 28 minute video is worth a watch, but we have a full roundup of all the new and interesting information after the break. Patch 5.4 Overall, patch 5.4 was a very smooth launch for them. The servers even came online earlier than expected. In EU they had to temporarily nerf the Celestial bosses on the Timeless Isle because of the massive influx of players trying to get their legendary cloak. Boss health was nerfed by up to 80%, and some abilities were removed entirely to facilitate a steady rotation of players without negatively impacting server performance. The rush for the legendary cloak was more of an issue on EU servers because EU tends to have more hardcore raiders, and their time zones are more compressed leading to more people playing during prime times.
LG confirms production of 'bendable and unbreakable' smartphone displays
It's been a long time coming, but LG's foray into elastic smartphone displays is finally going mainstream. The company has confirmed that it will begin mass-producing a new lightweight 6-inch panel that, it claims, is the world's first flexible OLED panel for smartphones. The display is built from plastic substrates that give it bendable properties, allowing it to be fixed inside devices with curved (but likely rigid) designs. Reports suggest LG could include its first flexible screen inside the G Flex, a new 6-inch smartphone set to be announced next month, but the company points to new products with "enhanced performance and differentiated designs" coming next year. Something tells us LG may move quickly to announce its first such product, with Samsung strongly tipped to unveil its own exotically-shaped smartphone next month. It's probable that both devices will be artistically bent to achieve their form, so we'll probably have to wait a little longer for something that actually bends into our jean pockets.
Getting out of your comfort zone
Have you been to the proving grounds yet to try a role you normally don't play? Trial Master Rotun seems awfully lonely in his little corner of the Temple of the White Tiger with everyone so busy collecting Timeless Coins or sieging Orgrimmar. What about flexible raiding? Have you tried taking the step up from raid finder? Blizzard has sent a clear message with patch 5.4: they really want you to get out of your comfort zone.
Samsung exec admits Galaxy Gear smartwatch 'lacks something special'
In an unusual bout of frankness, a Samsung official has acknowledged that the Galaxy Gear smartwatch lacks, you know, whatever the Korean is for je ne sais quoi. As reported by the Korea Times, the unnamed official said: "We've acknowledged that our Gear lacks something special. With more investment for user interface and user experience, Samsung devices will be better in terms of customer satisfaction." We're not sure if the source of the quote is Samsung's VP of strategic marketing, Lee Don-joo, but this exec is quoted in the same Korea Times article as saying that the watch is "definitely receiving a warm response" and that improvements would stem from software tweaks and the hiring of new UI experts, rather than from the development of a whole new device. He described the Gear as part of Samsung's drive to create new categories of "wow product" and, in virtually the same gasp, he also reiterated that Samsung would launch some sort of heavily curved -- or perhaps even partially bendable -- smartphone in Korea next month.
oQueue how-to for Flex raiding on demand
So you want to do Flex raiding instead of LFR? Or as well as LFR, you crazy cats? But you don't have a guild or any friends or the time to sit in trade chat forlornly spamming "520 afflock LF Flex /w" for hours on end? You want to be out in the world doing Timeless Isle things rather than stuck in cities? If only there was another way to PuG Flex raids. Well fear not, my friends, oQueue is here to save your bacon. Or any other pork product. Before I get into the oQueue how-to, I am just going to dedicate a moment to openraid. If you're organised enough to be able to say "Yes! I can raid on Monday at 7pm!" then openraid.us or openraid.eu depending on your region should be your weapon of choice. This allows you to sign up for pre-arranged raids, or indeed to set up your own. But if you want to log in, and immediately hop into a queue for a flex raid, without the need for organization or flexibility, oQueue's the way to go. So let's get started.
CSR's membrane puts wireless, super-thin touch controls on tablet covers
We marveled at how the Microsoft Surface's Touch Cover could fit a full keyboard into such a thin space, but it has nothing on a new membrane from CSR. The peripheral combines printed circuitry with a Bluetooth 4.0 chip, producing a flexible, nearly paper-thin (0.5mm) touch layer that can talk wirelessly to most mobile devices and accessories. It should also be highly responsive with less than 12ms of lag. CSR suggests the skin could be used for more than just tablet keyboard covers; it could equally apply to smart paper notebooks and interactive desks. The company hasn't named any customers for the membrane, but we should see more of it at IFA.
Samsung's flexible display contest offers cash for device ideas, business plans
Samsung's been so busy getting its flexible displays (aka "Youm") consumer-ready, it's now got no clue what to actually do with them. As such, it's decided to pay others to be idea-men, launching the "Flexible Future Business Plan Competition" in the US. Starting August 29th and running to October 6th, the contest is calling for nifty gadget concepts that use one to 20 inches of flexible display at up to full HD resolution. They'll be judged on how important a flexible display is to the device, as well as design, practicality of hardware and business plan. The winner will receive $10k, with second and third place taking $5k and $2.5k, respectively. Samsung hopes you'll head to the source link for the full lowdown, because there are only so many bendy smartwatches one can sell before you need other gear to put wobbly panels in.
Plastic skin lights up on contact, may lead to touchscreens everywhere (video)
Flexible circuitry is frequently a one-way affair -- we've seen bendy displays and touch layers, but rarely both in one surface. UC Berkeley is at last merging those two technologies through a plastic skin whose display reacts to touch. By curing a polymer on top of a silicon wafer, the school's researchers found that they could unite a grid of pressure sensors with an OLED screen; they just had to remove the polymer to create a flexible skin. As the film-like material can be laminated on just about anything, it maylead to touch displays in places where they were previously impractical, or even very thin blood pressure sensors. It could also be easy to produce -- since the skins use off-the-shelf chip manufacturing techniques, commercial products are well within reach.
Corning says flexible Willow displays are three years out, simpler uses still expected this year
There's no question that Corning has had a big impact on mobile devices in recent years with its Gorilla Glass, and it's hoping for similar success in the years ahead with its new Willow Glass technology. It looks like there's still a bit of a wait in store before we'll see products that fully take advantage of the glass's bendy properties, though. Speaking with Bloomberg, Corning president James Clappin says that products with flexible displays are likely still three years out, adding that it's now busy making "a lot of effort" to teach what it describes as "very big name" companies how to fully use the product. Clappin did reiterate the company's earlier that we will see some products using Willow Glass as early as this year, although those will likely take the form of simpler products; he offered a flexible barrier for solar panels and a thin film behind touch panels as some examples.
Stretchable, serpentine lithium-ion battery works at three times its usual size
While we've seen more than a few flexible batteries in our day, they're not usually that great at withstanding tugs and pulls. A team-up between Northwestern University and the University of Illinois could give lithium-ion batteries that extreme elasticity with few of the drawbacks you'd expect. To make a stretchable battery that still maintains a typical density, researchers built electrode interconnects from serpentine metal wires that have even more wavy wires inside; the wires don't require much space in normal use, but will unfurl in an ordered sequence as they're pulled to their limits. The result is a prototype battery that can expand to three times its normal size, but can still last for eight to nine hours. It could also charge wirelessly, and thus would be wearable under the skin as well as over -- imagine fully powered implants where an external battery is impractical or unsightly. There's no word yet on whether there will be refined versions coming to real-world products, but we hope any developments arrive quickly enough to give stretchable electronics a viable power source.
E Ink reference phone and flexible display hands-ons (video)
Looking for your dream phone? Chances are, this isn't it -- but it could be the precursor to what could eventually be cradled in your pocket, especially if you are a fan of E Ink. The device seen above and in the first gallery below is one of just five prototypes of the E-ink reference phone in existence. The point? The company wants to have a tangible Android-powered (2.3.5 Gingerbread, to be exact) model to give to potential partners, so they can craft something similar down the road. We're told that it will most likely be used on the back of color phones, much like the YotaPhone, but partners are welcome to get crazy on the front screen as well. No official timeframe for availability or seeding has been set, but it is expected to roll out in limited capacity sometime this year. Official specs are few and far between, but what we do know is that this nameless phone is driven by a Cortex-A5 CPU of some kind. Given that this is an extremely early prototype, the E Ink device had a lot of bugs when we played with it: force closes, reboots and slow response are among the things we noticed. However, we imagine this will continue to improve with time, so by the time of seeding it may be a completely different story. The UI reminds us of a simplistic feature phone geared toward the basic user, with six icons on the front screen including an app menu. As we'd expect, the phone is great for reading books, and it comes with the option to install applications (though it's possible most games wouldn't look that great). You can also shake the device to clean the text in case it ends up getting "dirty," or misaligned. %Gallery-180039% %Gallery-180040%
Researchers devise new image sensor that could meld screens with cameras
CCD sensors have long ruled the digital imaging roost, but a team of researchers at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria have concocted flat, flexible and transparent image sensors that could eventually change things up. Made from a flexible polymer film suffused with fluorescent particles, the prototypes catch only a specific wavelength of light and shoot it to an array of sensors that surround the sheet's edge. At that point, the rig calculates where light entered the polymer by measuring how much it has diminished during its travel time, and then composes an image from that data. It's said the process is similar to how a CT scan functions, but uses visible light instead of X-rays. Not only is the membrane relatively inexpensive and potentially disposable, but the solution is a world's first, to boot. "To our knowledge, we are the first to present an image sensor that is fully transparent – no integrated microstructures, such as circuits – and is flexible and scalable at the same time," said Oliver Bimber, co-author of the group's paper. As of now, the setup only snaps black and white images with a resolution of 32 x 32 pixels, but there are plans to boost its fidelity by leveraging higher quality photodiodes (or even composite photos). Also, color photographs could be achieved by using several sheets that capture different hues of light. So, what's this all mean for practical applications? Researchers believe its prime use lies in layering the film on TV screens and other displays to offer gesture controls without pesky, additional cameras. In addition, objects can be imbued with sensor capabilities if wrapped with the layer, and even CCD's could benefit from having a slice of the polymer slapped on them to take photos at different exposures. Hit the second source link for the scientific nitty-gritty, or head past the break for a glimpse at the setup's photos.
NYT: Apple experimenting with wrist-worn iOS devices using curved glass (updated)
Rumors of Apple building a watch-like device have existed since time immemorial -- they've built up the same near-mythical status that the iPhone did pre-2007, or a TV set does today. The New York Times, however, claims that the watch concept exists as more than just some fan art. Reportedly, Apple has been "experimenting" with wrist-wearable devices that would run iOS and use curved glass. Other details are left to feverish speculation, although the OS choice suggests it would be more than just a glorified iPod nano watch. Before we get too excited, we'd do well to remember that any testing in a design lab doesn't equate to production plans: the company might well scrap its work before it ever becomes public, if it's indeed real to start with. Still, there have been enough advances in flexible displays and miniaturization that the notion of connected, wearable Apple gear is no longer as far-fetched as it once seemed. Update: Not to be left out, the Wall Street Journal has made a similar claim. It adds that Apple has explored possibilities with its contract manufacturer Foxconn, although there's not much more to learn at this stage.
Intel, Plastic Logic and Queen's U build the PaperTab: a flexible e-paper tablet (video)
Plastic Logic may have bowed out of building its own e-readers, but that's not stopping the company from making its presence felt at CES. It's teaming up with Intel and Queen's University on the PaperTab, a 10.7-inch tablet concept built around a flexible, e-paper touchscreen. The prototype runs a Sandy Bridge-era Core i5 processor that lets it stand on its own, but it's ultimately designed to work as part of a team: position awareness lets multiple PaperTabs join together to share a work area, and tapping one tablet with content can send it to a waiting document in another. The bendy nature isn't just for durability and a paper-like feel, either, as readers can flip through pages just by bending the relevant side. A fuller reveal is planned for January 8th, but you can get an initial sense of how the plastic slate works through the video after the break. %Gallery-174952% Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Athens university prints polymer circuits with lasers, speeds us towards low-cost electronics
The dream of ubiquitous technology revolves around cheaper materials, and polymer circuits could help make the dream a reality... if the solvents used to produce the circuits didn't cause more problems than they cured, that is. The National Technical University of Athens has developed a more exacting technique that, like most good things in science, solves the crisis with lasers. The approach fires a laser at a polymer layer (covered by quartz) to throw some of that polymer on to a receiving layer; by moving the two layers, the scientists can print virtually any 2D circuit without resorting to potentially damaging chemicals. Any leftover worries center mostly around risks of changing the chemical composition as well as the usual need to develop a reliable form of mass production. Any long-term success with laser-printed polymers, however, could lead to more affordable technology as well as more instances of flexible and wearable gear -- there might not be much of a downside to ditching the circuit status quo.
LG gets patent for mobile UI that reacts to flexible displays, encourages origami
As often as companies love to toy with flexible displays, we're seldom told how we'd control that newfound freedom. Are we supposed to make e-paper cranes? Credit LG for some forward thinking -- it's just receiving a US patent for a 2008-era user interface invention that would use a bending screen to its advantage. The implementation includes two displays, one of which flexes while the other accepts touch; bend or fold the first display, and the touchscreen changes to suit the context. Having two closely linked displays would also let the panels run either in unity or independently. Suffice it to say that the technology is unlikely to roll out as-is on a smartphone, if ever: LG's attention has swung towards having one big touchscreen as of late. However, the interface does give the Korean firm a place to start if it develops devices to match its new flexible batteries.
