hardware-upgrade
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Perpetuum upgrading to shader 3.0
Avatar Creations has posted a new Perpetuum dev blog that heralds the coming of shader 3.0. This is either great news or irritating news depending on what kind of gaming rig you run, but either way, change is coming. The sci-fi sandbox game launched with model 2.0 shaders because Avatar wanted to make it as accessible as possible for as many people as possible, and because the team initially lacked DirectX experience. Now, though, Avatar has "reached the limits of shader model 2.0," and needs to upgrade the game in a visual sense without "going through significant hacks that reduce client performance and mess up the codebase." Shader 3.0 is the answer, and the dev blog serves as a warning that the game's minimum hardware requirements will be changing. "As the vast majority of you have hardware that supports SM3, the change will only affect a handful of players," Avatar states.
Motorola Xoom appears on Verizon MAP, finally heading to LTE?
The Xoom may finally be getting LTE support, after a mysterious issue prompted Motorola to delay adding access to Verizon's 4G network to the popular tablet. The Moto Xoom recently appeared on Verizon's Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) system, which means the device will likely become available later this summer. Unfortunately, MAP doesn't include any pricing information for the tablet, and there's no official word regarding availability, but current 3G Xoom owners should still be able to upgrade free of charge with a one-week turnaround via FedEx. We'll be curious to see how LTE affects battery life, considering some of VZW's other high-speed devices haven't fared so well, but we are willing to compromise ever so slightly in exchange for that lightening-fast 4G data.
Motorola Xoom will get LTE in 'approximately 90 days,' requires one week for hardware upgrade (updated)
When will the Motorola Xoom, ahem, justify its price point with a dose of Verizon's speedy LTE? According to an allegedly leaked Verizon document at Droid-Life, it seems we'll see it by the end of May. You can read the rest for yourself immediately above, but if you have an aversion to JPEG images we'll also spell out the salient points here: the upgrade will reportedly be completely free, including shipping; both hardware and software tweaks will be carried out by Motorola; and the whole process will take up to six business days. If these facts are all correct (and we don't honestly doubt a one), you should see them mirrored at our more coverage link in the days to come. Update: The official Xoom LTE upgrade site is now live confirming that the process will take six business days to complete after shipping it off to Verizon in a FedEx box, free of charge. Unfortunately, VZW won't say exactly when the upgrade will be available, going only so far as to say "shortly after launch."
Blizzard unveils Cataclysm system requirements
Conventional gaming wisdom holds that World of Warcraft is such a lean, mean GPU-conserving machine that it will run on everything from a 386 to a scientific calculator from the early 1970s. Rumor has it that there are even some punch-card computers and difference engines that will run Blizzard's game with a bit of tweaking. Sadly, those days are numbered, as the forthcoming Cataclysm expansion is planning to destroy not only the world of Azeroth, but also any thoughts you may have had of running WoW on your older Mac or PC hardware. The official system requirements for the new expansion have been released, and -- skipping right over the minimums -- we find that the recommended setup is a dual-core CPU, 2 GB of system memory, and a graphics card with vertex and pixel shading capability. While it's not exactly state of the art, it may necessitate a bit of an upgrade if you're still puttering along with your Burning Crusade or vanilla WoW equipment. Check out all the details courtesy of our friends at WoW Insider.
Guest Post: Building an epic-level computer
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider. Today's post is the third of a three-part series on preparing your computer for Cataclysm. In our first post, we covered upgrading your current system; last week, we discussed how to assemble a hot gaming rig. Today, we'll look at building a high-end system that will last. Today, I will cover building a high-end system for under $2,000 that will last you many expansions into the future. In this article, I will be listing specific parts as opposed to making general suggestions. Computer geek opinions vary drastically; this is just my two cents. When you're considering a rig that will last you for years to come, you need to consider key components including the case, the power supply, the motherboard, a processor, heatsinks, hard drives the video card and more.
Motorola Europe repents, restores Milestone XT720 CPU to 720MHz speed with software update
Bought a Motorola Milestone XT720, only to find that "up to 720MHz" processor was actually clocked at a paltry 550 million cycles per second? If you live in Germany or the UK, you're in luck -- Motorola's poised to wash your troubles away with a software update that restores the OMAP3440's full 720MHz potential, and reportedly adds DLNA connectivity to the device as well. The company released the news on its official Facebook page earlier this week, and it was then reportedly available "today," so barring accident or injury you should be able to update your device or wait for the OTA. It feels like just yesterday we were discussing how software-updatable silicon felt slimy, but look -- it's not all bad.
Guest Post: How to assemble a hot gaming rig for Cataclysm
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to our pages. Today's post is the second of a three-part series on preparing your computer for Cataclysm. Last week, we covered upgrading your current system. Today, we'll look at building a system that will play WoW at max settings without breaking the bank. I like my cases how I like my women -- lightweight and protective. A computer case has three purposes in life: to house all the components, to protect them and to provide good airflow to them. Owning the most epic set of plate mail ever created does you no good if you cannot move or breathe in it. However, running around in your auction house tux is also a bad idea if you're the main tank. It's important to find a happy middle ground between the two. When it comes to computer cases, first, pick out something you like. A case should be an expression of its owner! Pick out a few different cases you like and then narrow down the search by the number of fans the case supports. Modern systems will require at least one 120mm front intake fan and one 120mm rear exhaust fan. A top exhaust fan is a nice bonus, since (as everyone knows) heat rises. You should be able to find a decent enough case for around $50 with free shipping.
Guest Post: Is your computer ready for Cataclysm?
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. The Lich King is dead, your GearScore is 6,000+, and you have enough alts to run your own 25-man ICC. You cannot wait for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion, but along with the new instances, gear and level cap, there are also significantly increased graphics to consider. You may be ready for Cataclysm -- but is your computer? While we have yet to hear official system requirements from Blizzard, we do know from the Cataclysm FAQ that "there will be incremental tweaks and updates to the graphics engine in this expansion. For example, we've made improvements to the way that water is rendered. We'll announce the exact system requirements closer to the expansion's release." This is the first part of a three-part series on getting your computer up to speed for Cataclysm. Today, we will cover how to cheaply upgrade your current system. Part 2 will look at how to build a cost-effective, brand new system that will still run WoW at full settings. Finally, part 3 will focus on building a future-proof monster computer capable of soloing the Blood Queen herself!
Darkfall EU server latency issues to be corrected
Denizens of Darkfall's European shard have been subjected to a rough ride of late, and not just from the title's relentless PvP action. Due to a Storage Area Network hardware failure at Aventurine's third-party hosting center, players have seen high amounts of latency over the last week. The bad news is that Aventurine doesn't have a specific timetable for correcting the problem. The good news is that the company is currently working on it, as well as prepping for future hardware upgrades. "Performance is an extremely serious issue with us and we're constantly working on improvements. Apart from dealing with this specific issue, we are currently working on major performance upgrades for both servers to be added during the upcoming expansion," says Darkfall's Tasos Flambouras on the game's official forums.
Lord of the Rings Online to get hardware upgrade
The folks at Turbine are planning a significant hardware upgrade for Lord of the Rings Online, and are asking players to help test it out. The Bullroarer server currently has the new hardware, and is open to anyone who currently has an active subscription. You can copy up to five of your characters over using the character copy tool in order to join the test, and you'll find some nice bonuses in exchange for your time: all of the content from Mines of Moria and Siege of Mirkwood is on the Bullroarer server. If you don't own the expansions, this is an excellent way to check them out. Turbine has one more thank you gift for players: everyone who plays on the Bullroarer server for at least an hour between now and Friday will be entered in a drawing for a Best Buy gift card. One person will receive a $250 card, one will receive a $150 card, and five people will receive $100 cards. The Bullroarer server can be downloaded here.
Rogers wants some of that AT&T mojo, rolls out steeper iPhone 3G S discounts for current customers
Rogers must know a good thing when it sees it, because it's essentially copied AT&T's modified plans for providing deeper subsidies to more customers looking to upgrade to an iPhone 3G S in the next few weeks. The details are just a little bit different though: with Rogers, the new deal is that anyone who bought an iPhone 3G between July 11 and September 30 of 2008 -- and has averaged CAD $100 or more a month on their bill -- will be able to nab the 16GB or 32GB for $199 and $299, respectively, on a three-year contract. Buyers between July 11 and December 31 of last year or who didn't manage to average $100 a month will get the less heavily-discounted prices of $449 and $549, while any customer will be able to waltz in and spend $699 or $799, a princely sum indeed.
Hardware Upgrades Coming for EU Servers
CM Thundgot has announced plans to retrofit all existing realms with new hardware over the next month - in preparation for the expansion's release. These upgrades should result in an immediate performance improvement - however, the realms involved can expect additional downtime periods in which to perform these upgrades. The realms needing upgrades have been divided into three groups, and will be receiving upgrades group at a time (with specific dates and times to be announced).
Test Realms Up, Live Realms Down
We know that Blizzard is upgrading their authentication hardware today (which seems to be running a bit late, though there's no official word on status), but I am a little confused as to how the test realms are up and all the live realms not. Login to the live realms is painless, but there's not a single realm showing as available to play on. The test realms all appear to be up (as of the time of this writing), but with a bit of a queue and massive crowding in the Eastern Plaguelands as everyone heads in for a glimpse of Naxxramas. However, the fact that login is possible seems to suggest that the delay we're experiencing isn't caused by authentication problems...
