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Sonim XP3300 Force hands-on (through insulating gloves)
What do you do with a phone that claims it can withstand anything you throw its way? Dip it in sub-zero temperatures, bang it against concrete, drop it from great heights, and then stand on it? That was the full extent of our imagination today when getting to grips with the Sonim XP3300 Force and the damn thing didn't budge a millimeter, never mind an inch. It has a Gorilla Glass-protected screen and some rather self-apparent water- and impact-resistant hardware surrounding its soft electronic core. Changes in this latest model include the redesign of the Java-based OS, the internal power supply circuitry, the GPS module, and the antenna, all in the name of improving efficiency to a claimed 24 hours of talk time on a single charge. That's quite the feat, even if you can't exactly stream HD Flash videos using this chunky fella. The XP3300 Force is available in 50 countries around the world today, with pricing near $400 unsubsidized or between $50 and $150 on contract. Skip past the break for video of its endurance. %Gallery-116644%
Hyperspace Beacon: A mystical energy field controls my destiny
I find it extremely interesting that the most poignant and memorable lines spoken in the original trilogy are not said by the primary protagonist, Luke Skywalker. Instead, the majority are spoken by Yoda or Ben Kenobi, and in this case, Han Solo quipped this line: "Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense." When I watch the first in this series of memorable films, I find it extremely fascinating how this bit of exposition was seamlessly woven into the the movie's narrative, especially given that, in the later films, exposition was set aglow with neon lights and explosive fireworks. Although an earlier scene set up what the Jedi were, this conversation between Han and Obi-Wan while the latter trained Luke really shows what the Force is: a mystical energy field that can control your actions or obey your commands. The premise was the set-up for many hokey religions and ancient weapons to be birthed in the Star Wars universe. I would like to take some time to explore the other religions born from the Force. Granted, this will not be exhaustive, but it should give you a taste of some of the possible "simple tricks and nonsense" (as Han Solo called it) that we may run into in Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Corsair F120 SSD undressed, reviewed, compared to predecessor
We know you like SandForce's ludicrous speed SSD controllers, but how much do you know about these enterprise-class chips really? If your answer is anything short of "everything," you'll have to give Tech Report's writeup a read, where the guys get down and technical with Corsair's latest SandForce SF-1200-controlled drive, the F120 (above right). Differing from the F100 that came before it by cutting down overprovisioning (user-inaccessible storage space set aside to accelerate random writes and improve longevity) from 28 to 7 percent, this drive offers you an extra 20GB of room, but it does take a bit of a performance dint as well. If you must have the results in bitesize form, the F120 seemed better value (at $339) for netbook and desktop users than its elder, faster brother, though Indilinx-based competitors (such as Corsair's own Nova) were recommended as the sagest choice. We still advise, as always, that you wade into the source and give the full review a read.
Corsair expands SandForce SF-1200-based SSD family with 60GB, 120GB and 240GB options
Corsair stirred up something fierce when it dropped in a pair of SSDs to get the newfound Force series going, but obviously, just having a 100GB and 200GB model isn't exactly catering to every possible market. In order to remedy said quandary, the company is today expanding the Force family by three, with the 60GB F60, 120GB F120 and 240GB F240 joining the herd. All three are based around the well-received SandForce SF-1200 controller, and Corsair states that each supports a maximum throughput of 285MB/sec (read) and 275MB/sec (write). Per usual, the company's keeping quiet on the pricing front, but all that should be brought out into the open once they ship next month. %Gallery-93367%
Corsair's 100GB Force SSD scorches the test bench with its blazing speed
The name's Force, SandForce. Corsair's making it kinda easy on us to spot its first SandForce-controlled SSD, and there's no reason it should be bashful about it, given that the SF-1500 is currently the fastest SSD processor around. The F100 in question has the SF-1200 onboard, offering a lesser 285MBps read and 275MBps writes (oh, such measly specs!), but that also means you might, might, actually find a way to afford one. The TweakTown crew took one for a spin recently and were happily surprised to find little in the way of performance difference between SandForce's supposedly enterprise-class SF-1500 and consumer-class SF-1200 -- both sped ahead of the Intel X25-M G2 and Indilinx Barefoot-controlled drives. The speed conclusion was clear cut, and with pricing for the 100GB F100 projected to be as low as $400, the value proposition doesn't look too bad either. The 200GB variant is expected to land somewhere around $700 when Corsair's Force SSDs make it out to retail in a few days' time.
Corsair Force gives us another SandForce-controlled SSD speed demon
Seriously, if you're shopping for an SSD and don't know the name SandForce yet, you're not doing it right. The producer of what looks to be the consensus fastest controller on the market is spreading its wings today with a new drive announced by Corsair that offers its SF-1200 chip and capacities of either 100GB or 200GB. The Force follows swiftly in the wake of the Nova and Reactor series and represents Corsair's new flagship device in this space. It'll offer the generous consumer a sweet 280MBps read and 260MBps write speeds (yes, those are megabytes we're talking about), "class-leading random read/write performance," and the requisite Trim support to ensure it maintains that performance in the long run. A specific price is not yet known, but these are expected out within the next couple of weeks.
Peratech's QTC sensor technology headed to your next cellphone
We've always heard to strike while the iron's hot, and that's exactly what Peratech seems to be doing. Just weeks after we heard that the company's pressure-sensitive touchscreen methodology was being seriously considered by the powers that be, along comes Samsung Electro-mechanics to take 'em up on their offer. For those unaware, Samsung EM provides components to loads of leading phone makers, which could mean that Peratech's pressure sensitive 5-way input device is on its way to your next mobile as we speak. These so-called Navikeys will supposedly provide a greater level of immersion when interacting with phones, and we get the feeling that those aging dome switches are feeling mighty frightened by all this encroachment. The best part? Paratech claims that a "Navikey using QTC from Samsung EM is already being used in a Tier 1 mobile phone," so here's hoping that we find out exactly what phone that is in the near future.
The development of the Sith Inquisitor in Star Wars: The Old Republic
The Sith Inquisitor is not meant as just another Force-using class. That's one of the central themes behind the most recent developer blog from Star Wars: The Old Republic. Saying even that the Inquisitor is meant as a Palpatine to the Sith Warrior's Darth Vader is only a fraction of the whole story. No, the Inquisitor exists as someone whose diet of dark secrets and forbidden knowledge is as much a survival mechanism as anything, the manipulator and scholar, the calm and reason to balance against the Warrior's bravado and power. Where the Warrior begins as a member of high society, the Inquisitor begins life as a slave, sent to either become a part of the Empire's almost monastic order of Sith or die unknown and unmourned. Inquisitors face the difficulties of choice, not only of morality but of their personal desires weighed against the needs and demands of the Empire. And through it all, they are the keepers of secrets and mystical knowledge of the Force, learning and studying into the otherworldly aspects it posseses. While we're still more than a year out from the expected launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic, fans should still enjoy this look at one of the game's most devious classes.
The Daze of Darkfall epilogue: The Siege of Andruk
So I thought I was done with my whole "month long investigation of Darkfall." Best way to end out the series was to include some PvP being lead by Wardragon Drow (*gasp*, a last name, and I'll get to that in a second) and then close it off there.Well, sadly, Darkfall had one more surprise left for me. Or, should I say, the Blackrock Clan had one more surprise for me. A siege.A complete accident lead me to logging on during the first contestation of our city, the orc themed Andruk. A siege stone had finally been dropped, sides were quickly formed, and our first war was on. No more drills, no more pathetic defense attempts -- this one was for real. We liked our city and we were not interested in losing it.But with the siege came a conundrum. If I report the siege, it will be pretty obvious who I've joined up with. It doesn't take a genius to look at all of the sieges and come up with, "Which one was at an orc city?" So, as this is truly the last article in the Daze of Darkfall series -- the one where I get to participate in what many say is the capstone of the Darkfall experience -- I think it's time to drop the worries and be specific. This is my view of the Battle of Andruk that took place between the Blackrock Clan and the Brotherhood of the Spider.
An update on revealed power sets at the Champions Online site
When the Champions Online official site unveiled the full Electricity power set a week ago, they promised that further sets would be revealed over the coming days. They made true with that promise and we're here to round up what's been shown thus far: The Electricity set, where the revealing-spree began The Fire set, which excels at damage-over-time and area-of-effect damage Power Armor, a set that centers on toggling the various weapons on your suit of armor -- check out the Power Armor trailer to get an idea of how it works The Force power set, which allows for powerful knockbacks and protective force fields In addition to previewing the abilities for these sets, Cryptic and IGN also put out a trailer that looks at a bunch of melee powers (and as a bonus, Teleporting) in action. There should be more reveals on the way and we'll probably do another round-up when there's a decent swag of new ones. In the meantime, you can see all the outed powers at the new Power Sets section of the Champions Online site.
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a Paladin
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the fourteenth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself. You might say that paladins are the guardians at the gates of hell -- they fight evil wherever it penetrates into their world and they take the fight to the evil's source in the hope of quenching it forever. Although they focus on guarding their people from undead and demonic forces on the rise, paladins actually stand against evil everywhere, including the evil in their own hearts.Being a paladin means that you have a relationship of some sort with the Holy Light, that mysterious force of goodness and faith that flows to some degree within all living beings with positive intentions. Most paladins (and many priests) believe that when you do something that you believe to be good, the power of the Light increases in you and your connection to the rest of creation is strengthened, whereas doing something evil (such as acts of greed, despair, or vengeance) will darken the universe and weaken your connection to it. Whether this belief system is a religion or a philosophy is open to interpretation, and seems to depend in some part upon which race you are.There are three sorts of paladins in World of Warcraft, aligned with the humans, the draenei, and the blood elves. All of these share certain similarities, but each has its own differences as well.
The Elves of WAR: Meet the Archmage, levels 1-5
Massively's exclusive pre-NDA coverage of the Elves of Warhammer Online continues with this sneak peek at the beginning levels of the High Elf healer class, the Archmage. The Archmage has an interesting mechanic it shares with the Destruction Goblin Shaman, a ying/yang relationship between his offensive and healing spells. Every time an Archmage casts a healing spell, he gains a point in Force up to 5 points maximum. Every point of Force will reduce the casting time of offensive spells by 20%. That means at maximum Force, your next nuke will be insta-cast. For offensive spells that are already insta-cast, each point of Force will increase that spells potency by 5%. Once an offensive spell is cast, Force resets to zero.The same holds true in reverse. For every damage spell the Archmage casts, he gains a point of Tranquility, resetting the counter when he finally uses his stored up Tranquility to power a defensive spell. Out of combat, any gained points will quickly fade.Level one through five spell details after the jump!
Joystiq hands-on: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (DS)
The DS version of The Force Unleashed tries to cram all of the light-saber-rage from the consoles into a handheld package. You'll be disappointed if you directly compare the two. I recently tried a late version of the DS game, and I didn't think enough of the system's strengths and weaknesses affected the design. The DS game gives a 3D perspective of the action on the top screen with adequate visuals, but the chunky graphics steal some of the excitement. And since the camera can't be repositioned, you'll be regularly attacked by people just off-screen. Worse, player attacks are issued by tapping on icons, causing hunting-and-pecking through battles.Since The Force Unleashed is about going nuts with explosive superpowers, that sense of excitement got lost by scaling everything down to fit the DS. A wireless, four-player, local battle mode might make it a fun game to play with friends, but I wasn't able to test that feature. I hope the final game will grow on me after its September 16 release. But the time I had with this portable edition left me cautious.%Gallery-26952%
Poke the Force with Lightsaber styli
We're often wooed by game-themed styli, but never has the Force been with a touchpen so much as with these mini Lightsabers. Releasing on July 31st, these official Nintendo and Lucas Arts styli are sure to sell like hotcakes (we can think of at least one game they'll go well with). Yet if you plan to buy them, you'll have a tough choice to make -- should you get the three small replicas for $7.99, or the two slightly bigger light-up sabers for $16.99? Choices, choices.So far we've only seen these beauties available on Amazon through seller BD&A, but we're sure they'll hit other retailers as time passes. If you're too cheap to make the purchase, though, be sure to check out our guide for stylus alternatives.[Thanks, Kimiko!]Source: Nintendo DS Star Wars Light Up Lightsaber Stylus 2 PackSource: Nintendo DS Star Wars Lightsaber Stylus 3 Pack
Microsoft adds twist to handhelds with force-sensing technology
Surely you're not content with just multi-touch and built-in accelerometers, right? Microsoft Research is expecting not, as it's already working towards integrating force-sensing technology that will enable gestures to twist on-screen imagery without crafting UMPCs out of flexible material. Essentially, the gurus behind the idea feel that implementing said tech would "turn an otherwise passive component that just holds the device together into an active input surface." In the future, it's likely that auditory cues would enable users to know when they've applied enough pressure to cause a change, and of course, they expect it to work hand-in-hand with existing human-computer interfaces. Yeah, who needs keypads these days, anyway? [Warning: PDF read link][Via BBC, thanks Joe]
TurpsterVision: Star Bores Fallacies
Every Tuesday think "T" for Turpster and take the "a" in "day", capitalise it, remove the little bit in the middle, turn it upside down and you get a "V". Put the two together and you'll have TV for TurpsterVision -- the best Internet video podcast on Massively! (Never mind that business about it being the only video podcast on Massively...) Some people are born entertainers, some people are born story tellers, and others are born reviewers. I'd like to think that in this Episode of TurpsterVision that I prove that I am the illegitimate love child in their sexy, secret, and most definitely sordid, love orgies! Join us after the break to find out if Turpster's heritage is no longer in doubt!
Apple patent app describes force-sensitive touchpads
It's no secret that Apple loves its touchscreens, and a freshly published patent application provides a little reinforcement to that belief. The documentation explores a method for tossing in pressure-sensitivity to touchpads in order to add functionality, or as Cupertino puts it, "a new element of control." Furthermore, it's noted that "force information may be used as another input dimension for purposes of providing command and control signals to an associated electronic device," and it goes on to explain how spring membranes could be placed under the surface to detect force. Notably, the verbiage tends to "describe a touchpad like those used for the company's MacBook lines," but it does leave open the possibility for the newfangled pads to be used in mobile / portable devices such as the outfit's own iPhone.
Developer diaries unleashed
The official website for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has dished a pair of developer diaries for the game. Focused on the motion-capturing aspects bringing drama into the game and coming up with the premise for the title, each of the behind-the-scenes looks at the game have gotten us drooling for what this title is all about. Who doesn't want to "kick ass with The Force?"[Via CVG]
VC Tuesday: Singles week
No new multiplayer games on Japan's Virtual Console this week. It's a perfect week to sit in your apartment alone all day playing role-playing games. Now, if only that apartment didn't have to be located in Japan for us to take advantage.Normally, when an RPG shows up on the Virtual Console, it's big news. This week, Japan gets three, one of which is very big news indeed as the confluence of a good N64 game, an RPG, and a Mario game. Makai Hakkenden SHADA (PC Engine, 1 player, 600 Wii Points) Shining Force (Mega Drive, 1 player, 700 Wii Points) Militia (Super Famicom, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Mario Story (Nintendo 64, 1 player, 1000 Wii Points)
Japanese hardware sales, May 28 - Jun. 3: Explanatory Aqua Teen edition
We know, you were disappointed. Last night, as you happily refreshed DS Fanboy every nine seconds or so looking for this week's Japanese hardware sales, the vim slowly faded from your eyes as the hours ticked into oblivion. We would never willingly deprive our readers so; we were unavoidably delayed! You see ....Thousands of years ago, before the dawn of man as we knew him ... there were the moon men, reigning over the Earth. But this was not the Earth you knew! It was covered in jelly and high-density motor oil, making the planet very slippery. The moon men blamed the corporations, and there was a war and many were killed. The battle raged for millennia until 8000 A.D., when the moon men realized they were not actually from the moon, but from rural Pennsylvania. They then built a monument to the moon but then the Quakers stole it and filled it with oatmeal, and no one knew what flavor. Californians were highly displeased and turned all the Quakers invisible, which is why you never see them anymore. And that ... is where babies come from.- DS Lite: 123,140 4,321 (3.39%) - Wii: 69,748 11,104 (18.93%) - PSP: 26,358 261 (1.00%) - PS2: 11,814 503 (4.45%) - PS3: 8,998 629 (6.53%) - Xbox 360: 2,219 175 (8.56%) - Game Boy Micro: 310 97 (23.83%) - GBA SP: 247 41 (14.24%) - Gamecube: 226 30 (11.72%) - DS Phat: 71 10 (12.35%) - GBA: 16 1 (5.88%)[Source: Media Create]
