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Ubidays 2008 coming May 28-29 in Paris
European gaming giant Ubisoft has settled on a fairly classy location for its second annual trade show - the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Ubidays 2008 will run two days, starting Wednesday, May 28. Invitations have begun to arrive at European press and business partners, according to MCV.Ubisoft has not revealed a lineup or event program for the event. Last year's Ubidays showed off Assassin's Creed, Tom Clancy's EndWar, and Splinter Cell: Conviction, and teased gamers with a Wii holographic projector.
An American player in the EU realms
Kraylessa is, I'd guess, an anomaly-- she lives in the United States, but has actually obtained an EU copy of the game and rerolled on EU servers. She says she loves it-- her nationality is a topic of conversation, no one's been xenophobic, and while the lag isn't great, it's just about as bad as it was when she played cross-continent servers (she's living on the East Coast).I'm not sure how well I'd do playing on an EU realm-- while I'm sure the people are great (hi, EU readers!), it seems like I'd have even less chances to raid (with my schedule being so off), and as ocannie points out in the comments over on Kraylessa's post, customer service would be an interesting experience if anything ever went wrong. It would definitely be interesting to see the cultural differences, however, and it would make it a completely different game to be "the outsider" in Azeroth. Right now, the vast majority of my guildies are American (and quite a few of them are from St. Louis, my hometown), and it would definitely be a different experience to play entirely with people from the other side of the world.Have any of you played on realms in a different country before? Did it make Azeroth a lot more like actually visiting another place, or weren't there too many differences? Would you recommend it or not? I don't know if I'm curious enough to try it now (since I'm good and situated on a server where I am now), but if I had the chance to start a new game on another region's servers, I might give it a shot.
Toshiba's G900 launching this month in Europe and Japan?
Hold tight Europeans and Japanese -- if reports straight from a showcase in Paris are to be believed, you'll be able to get your palms around Toshiba's inviting G900 "this month." Of course, with but a few days left until July, it will only be a matter of hours before this hunch is proven true or false, but considering that it did already pass through the gates of the FCC, it's not too far fetched. So, do let us know if you're able to locate one across the pond in the coming days, will ya?[Via PocketPCThoughts]
Toshiba's stylish Tekbright 7 digital photo frame
As the barrage of new Toshiba gear continues to flow from Paris, along comes a device that we aren't used to seeing from the laptop and monitor-tilted company. The seven-inch Tekbright 7 digital photo frame sports a stylish silver bezel, a clear beveled surround, rear-mounted kickstand, 800 x 400 resolution, and a 400:1 contrast ratio. Additionally, you can load up your images via CF, SD, MMC, MS, MSPro, xD, and USB, and there's even a paltry 16MB built-in for storing the crème de la crème. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to sport any WiFi abilities or even a wireless remote, but the reasonable €139 ($186) pricetag seems to justify the omissions somewhat. More snaps after the break.
Toshiba's 14-inch Tecra X9 shown in Paris
Toshiba sure is stealing the rays in the City of Light, as the outfit is showcasing yet another up and coming laptop in the Tecra X9. Not quite as flashy as the X200 nor R500 situated nearby, this 14-incher is destined for the hands of workaholics who aren't looking for high-end graphics performance and ultra-mobility. The black / silver color scheme seems attractive enough, and the built-in fingerprint reader ought to keep your manager's nerves at ease. Judging by the looks of it, you'll also get a number of USB 2.0 ports, 4-pin FireWire, a flash card reader, VGA output, and a DVD burner to boot, but the internals remain a mystery for now. You know the drill, more pictorial delight awaits you after the jump.
PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 21
PSP Fanboy offers the latest and greatest movie and game trailers, formatted for the PSP in this new weekly feature. Check it out every Saturday. PSP owners can download files wirelessly via m.pspfanboy.com.Instructions: Save all movie and thumbnail files to the VIDEO folder. These high resolution 480x272 videos require firmware 3.30 or above. (Note: OE custom firmware will also play these videos.)New for PSP: Get selected videos delivered automatically to your PSP via our new RSS feed. Pirates of the Caribbean 3Download MP4 (17.3MB) | Download JPG The following videos are featured after the break: Folklore (PS3), The Kingdom, Paris Je T'aime, The Solomon Brothers.
Water reactive sheets could become critical part of MEMS
While we've seen mention (and patent applications) of origami-based gadgetry before, the latest gizmo to incorporate crafty folding also melds it with a water reactive plastic in order to create diminutive shapes that "could be used to make certain microscopic 3D structures in large quantities." Gurus from ESPCI and the Paris Institute of Technology have teamed up to concoct specialized plastic sheets which react in curious ways to wee water droplets, and while the process itself seems more interesting than useful, the bigger picture could enable this technology to become a staple of microelectromechanical systems used in printing heads and video displays. Interestingly enough, the scientists were even kind enough to create a time lapse video of the morphing process in action, so be sure to tag the links below if you're even remotely interested in seeing a two-dimensional triangle mystically convert into a pyramid.[Via NewScientistTech]
PSP camera doesn't like sunlight, garlic
Long-time PSP Fanboy reader Joel used the PSP camera to take pictures from his trip to Paris. He seems pleased by the camera's performance, especially considering its budget price. Take a look for yourself in his Flickr photostream. A close-up look at the pictures reveals tons of artifacting and other visual glitches, meaning the camera won't replace a dedicated digital camera.One of the more crucial problems with the camera appears to be how it reacts to sunlight. "I wanted to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower with the sunset. And guess what happened: for one little second, the sun was SO bright my eyes hurt and I had to close them, and the camera went completely black. The sun killed the lens for some time. I watching and taking pictures, all black, until I turned off the PSP completely, and rebooted it, and it was working again. My hypothesis is that the Sun might kill the lenses for a little time if it's too bright."It doesn't come as too surprising that such a cheap camera won't handle the sun's powerful rays. Hopefully, if Sony ever decides to officially release the peripheral in the States, the camera will be able to handle a bit more.
French students to get USB drive with open source software
Sheesh, where were these guys when we were in school, huh? A number of (admittedly admirable) French authorities have okayed a plan to dish out 175,000 USB drives to Parisian high-school students at the beginning of the next term, and each stick will pack a bevy of open source software aimed at "further reducing the digital divide." The USB drives will likely contain Mozilla's own Firefox and Thunderbird applications, OpenOffice, an instant messaging client, and of course, an unnamed media player to play back tunes and videos. The exact mix of software will be determined by whichever firm ends up winning the bid to provide said thumb drives, but the council plans to spend a whopping €2.6 million ($3.4 million) on the devices alone, leaving us to wonder if these won't be crafted out of precious metals or something. Nevertheless, it looks like just the 15 and 16-year olds will be getting the gifts this time around, but if the implementation "proves successful," it could very well be renewed (and expanded) the following year.[Via SmartMobs]
Orange to offer DSL and a MacBook for two euros per day
We'll go ahead and spare you the blatantly obvious "apples to oranges" remark, as the two fruitful companies actually do seem to have something in common based on a recent report from French newspaper Le Figaro. While we've seen a plethora of wireless broadband providers hook up with laptop manufacturers, Orange is apparently getting set to offer 1Mbps DSL service for (an apparently attractive) €60 ($79) per month, or "around €2 ($2.65) per day," and you even get a shiny new Apple MacBook to use with it starting in January. Additionally, those looking to make the most of their high-speed missions can upgrade to an 8Mbps connection for an additional €5 ($6.62) per day. While contractual terms aren't crystal clear just yet, it looks like some sort of "three-year agreement" would be in order, and Orange hopes the deal will lure enough folks in to move "1,000 units per month" for the first six months, which would certainly help its consumer base grow right alongside the competitive pressures it's feeling from the Iliad Group. Plus, if you're one of the first 200 to sign up, Orange will throw in a new iPod shuffle for an additional single euro. Purportedly, the whole deal will only be available to Frenchmen (and women) at first, but could spread to other parts of Europe if it catches on.[Via MuniWireless]
Red Steel 2 semi-confirmed
Sorta kinda maybe. Everyone's favorite overly-hyped-shooter-with-glitchy-aiming-mechanisms-and-unintuitive-combat seems to be gearing up for another go. Ubisoft's Paris division has posted a big digital "Help Wanted" ad on the internet, whose transcript shall be withheld to save the reader from silly BabelFish translation errors. In any case, it asks for a game designer for the "continuation of the Red Steel franchise". There is no direct confirmation that the sequel will be on the Wii, but come on. It's pretty damn obvious.One must wonder if the world really wants this. If they can iron out the bugs, improve level design, and add more realistic melee combat, maybe they'll have a winner. If not, we'll always have Super Smash Bros. Brawl to fall back on, right?
Orange, SFR team up to ease parking in Paris
Here in the US of A, we like to do things the old fashioned way. Case in point: when we're looking for a way to track availability of parking spaces in real time, we turn to satellite radio for the answer (okay, fine... bad example). In France, Carriers Orange and SFR have teamed up with NavX, V-Traffic, and a number of other firms to take an arguably simpler approach to the problem. A new feature on Orange's portal (and we're guessing SFR's as well) enables users to search for nearby parking garages with available spots; cell triangulation can estimate the phone's position, or the user can enter a location manually. Of course, only garages explicitly participating in the system will be listed, but seeing how everyone has a phone, we could imagine the holdouts losing business at a brisk pace.[Via The Wireless Report]
Pioneer AVIC-HD1BT brings plain speech voice-activated GPS units
Yeah, we love GPS around here as much as the next guy, but it really doesn't impress our lady friends too much when our mellifluous prose gets interrupted by Cro Magnon-like gestures while we have to ask for directions on our nav units. We'd much prefer to use a phrase like "Find me a hotel in Paris in the seizième arrondissement, play Serge Gainsbourg's 'Je t'aime' and adjust for mood lighting -- s'il te plaît" and have our ride respond instantly. Well, save for that last request, apparently plain English queries (or 13 other languges) to a GPS stystem are now possible thanks to software by IBM built onto Pioneer's new AVIC-HD1BT nav unit. It's loaded up with a 30GB hard drive (20GB for maps and the rest for music), a DVD player and an iPod connection of some sort. Although Pioneer claims that the AVIC-HD1BT is for the European-only non-"luxury car market" driver (sorry, us Lexus-driving Yankees will have to suffer), it still doesn't come cheap: €2,500 ($3,145). [Via IDG News Service]
The DS is your co-pilot
Or could be, at least, if you're traveling in Paris, thanks to one enterprising homebrew artiste. Christophe Andreani's "simple application" puts all of Paris at the tip of your stylus -- in map form, at least. He's worked up a neat little program that brings an entire map of the city to the DS, with zoom and stylus functionality to help you find your way around. Metro-Paris v1.0 is all there is for now, but perhaps Monsieur Andreani can be convinced to cook up a few other maps ... or other programmers will follow his lead. If nothing else, a DS Lite is certainly more stylish than that old, beat-up Rand McNally that lives in the floorboard of your car. [Via QJ.net]
Jobs might deliver a keynote, updated MacBook Pros on September 12th?
Egads, the rumor engine has caught on fire and September 12th is to blame: HardMac cites anonymous sources (i.e. - take it with a grain of salt) that Steve Jobs still won't be present in Paris for the upcoming Apple Expo, but that doesn't mean he can't be on a stage somewhere: the rumor is that Jobs will still give a keynote, but it will be produced in Cupertino and relayed to London, Apple Europe's headquarters (where all the journalists have actually been invited to already). Let's hear it for the powers of iChat A/V.Next on the list of September 12th rumors is that, along with 23-inch Core 2 Duo iMacs, we could also see revised MacBook Pros, possibly even with Core 2 Duo shininess. For this one, HardMac cites a French student who tried to purchase a MacBook Pro online, but was given a 3-5 week shipping window - which typically happens to products in some regions when an update is imminent.Keep in mind none of this is confirmed, so if Sept. 12th turns out to be not much more than an Aperture update (after all, it is close to Photokina), keep your chin up. Apple's fall season is just getting started.
Steve Jobs will not give Apple Expo Paris keynote
Our hearts go out to all the Apple Expo Paris attendees in the audience, for Steve Jobs will not be giving a keynote yet again this year. In fact, there won't be any keynote at all. A show representative confirmed this keynote-less announcement with Macworld UK, citing that, while Apple has seen "significant" market share gains in France lately, they also mention the whole 'open up your FairPlay, or else' issue the French government is trying to force on Apple.That doesn't seem like a very good reason for Jobs to stop delivering his theatrical keynotes, though he was having surgery during 2004's paris expo, and for some odd reason didn't give a keynote at '05's Expo either. I guess the closest you'll be able to get to Mr. Jobs this time around is some hi-res desktop wallpapers.
Lindsay Lohan's Blackberry gets Parised
Ring any bells? It seems everyone's favorite Herbie Fully Loaded actress has gone and gotten her Blackberry compromised this week, which was then used to send her pals "disgusting and very mean messages." Lohan's spokesperson assures us that the messages weren't sent by Lindsay herself (whew), so if you've gotten a text from her recently telling you to buzz off, rest assured, she still loves ya. Furthermore, she's suggesting that the culprit might be one Paris Hilton, herself a victim of trendy device theft not long ago -- we think the lesson to be learned here is that mobile devices with full keypads are best kept out of celebs' hands.[Thanks, Jimmie Geddes]
7 minutes in undead heaven
Xboxyde delivers again with another video from the Japan Expo in Paris. This one shows us the first seven minutes of Capcom's Dead Rising. In case your world view is hindered by the rock you live under, Dead Rising is basically Dawn of the Dead the videogame -- and currently a big favorite at Gamefly. You play a photojournalist who winds up inside a shopping mall full of zombies. Lucky for you, the mall is full of all kinds of stuff to kill zombies with: guns, lawn mowers, chainsaws, bowling balls, and even the kitchen sink for all we know. You won't see any of that in this video, though. It's mostly introduction. And like the Sonic videos yesterday, there is no sound and some dude's face keeps popping in and out of the frame. I will say one thing: it's damned pretty (the game, not the face). Enjoy!
Loco Roco party in Paris
In celebration of the Ceramic White PSP over in the French city of Paris releasing, Sony Computer Entertainment held an evening in the theme of the upcoming title Loco Roco. As a joint celebration, the event was full of booze and promotional material. While we can't vouch for how entertaining the event was, we're sure the booze was at least nice.
"I Hate You, E3," declares Escapist writer
Okay, so maybe not hate completely.The eye-catching title of an essay from the latest installment of The Escapist puts the emphasis on the negative aspect of the love-hate relationship many industry vets have with E3, but there's surprisingly a lot of love for the trade show here, even if you don't subscribe to the hardened "I hate E3 because I love it" theory of convention devotion.While the Joystiq staff hasn't been to quite as many E3s as the founder of the International Game Journalists Association (IGJA), we can certainly empathize with the world-weariness that might accumulate after years of weeklong death- press-marches and working in overcrowded, sensory-overloaded spaces. We just hope our love of the game(s) will stay with us as it has for Mr. Thomas, whether we're watching from home or working the show floor in person in post-apocalyptic L.A. The parties will be sure to be awesome.See also: Joystiq at E3 2006 mega-site The Escapist's big E3 issue this week, with references within to Joystiq's Paris Hilton story and some E3 party pics orig. from Joystiq The Game of Journalism -- the IGJA's official web site
