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WoW.com livestreams Halls of Reflection Friday at noon PST
Halls of Reflection, the 5-man in which we're going to face down Arthas (finally -- we've been waiting for this moment since the end of Warcraft III) is now live on the PTR, and the staff of WoW.com is going to head on in there to see what there is to see. And you get to watch -- we'll be streaming our run of the brand new 5-man this Friday afternoon, starting at noon Pacific / 3pm Eastern. We'll be live on our Ustream page, with full in-game video and commentary from yours truly, as five intrepid WoW.com bloggers go and see what the Wrath of the Lich King really looks like. Of course there will be spoilers, although if you're interested in seeing what the PTR has to offer, this will be as good an opportunity as any to do it. We've embedded the Ustream feed after the break on this post, so just come back here on Friday at noon to jump in, chat with us and other viewers live, and check out the action. If you have the Ustream iPhone app installed, you should be able to see it on there as well, so if you're out and about that afternoon, you can still watch. And we'll be recording the whole thing on Ustream, so if you can't watch it live, you will be able to come back later and check it out for yourself. Should be fun -- we'll see you back here on Friday afternoon at 3pm Eastern. Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
WoW Insider Show Episode 111: Ninja werewolf
Good times on the WoW Insider Show last Saturday -- even though Turpster was AFK for the week, we had a packed show, with Matthew Rossi, Chase Christian, and Eddie "Brigwyn" Carrington all jumping on to share some opinions. We talked about the new instances already testing over on the PTR, as well as what we'll find in Icecrown (we kept the story spoilers out of it, though we did talk about some bosses and their abilities). And we hit up the character selection and creation screens and chatted about what might be better on those.Email was also answered, and we even heard from a fan that the Ustream app will even work over just a plain Edge network connection, so if you've got an iPhone or iPod touch, there's no reason that you can't listen live on the show every Saturday at 3:30pm Eastern. Meanwhile, enjoy the show this week, and oh yeah: there's only a little bit of time left to put in nominations for the Podcast Awards, so if you feel the inclination, please put us in for your People's Choice and Gaming podcast nominations over there. Thanks! Get the podcast:[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Listen here on the page:
Pioneer's 12x BDR-205 Blu-ray burner is so fast it's ahead of its time
We're still not sure if that many people are interested in buying Blu-ray burners yet, but Pioneer just unveiled the first 12x capable drive (up from 8x, and with an 8x read speed that gives us a great idea for the next PlayStation 3 revision) the BDR-205. Initially rolling out to OEMs this month, this drive couldn't wait for 12x certified discs to exist, though its full speed has been tested on Panasonic and Sony 6x BD-R blanks, "12x writing on all media cannot be guaranteed." Minus that caveat, expect to see these popping up on Newegg and the like any second now, the only price mentioned is for the full retail package BD-2205 coming Q1 2010 for $249.
Count The Beats: A Welcome Note...
Welcome to a brand new series focusing on music creation on the Mac and iPhone platform.As you know, here at TUAW, we are crazy about anything Apple. We just love it! But, dear reader, this is not the be all and end all of our hearts. For many, if not all of us, music is a great passion of ours too. So, when these two worlds collide, naturally, it's a beautiful thing. Recently, you may have seen a few posts on TUAW covering iPhone apps such as FourTrack and Noise.io or Soundboard for the Mac. Well, in this series, we are going to be singing a similar tune but taking a bit more of an in-depth look, or, if you will, taking things a semi-tone down (OK, enough with the music word play).What exactly can you expect from this (fortnightly) series? If you're a home studio enthusiast (or a singer-songwriter trying to make ends meet) there will be tips, tricks and how-tos from Garageband all the way to Logic Studio and everything in between. Reviews on some of the latest and greatest music creation software and hardware for the Mac and iPhone/iPod Touch as well as, every now and then, a bit of inspiration for those rainy days.But don't fret (oops!) if you can't hold a tune. For those less musically inclined we know you still need a soundtrack for the holiday you had with Granny last year and she wants to share the photo's on a DVD with some 'hip and happening' music in the background - we've got your back.Stay tuned and leave a comment if you have any bright ideas for what you'd like to see covered in this new series.
Apogee debuts GiO USB guitar interface and controller for Macs
You're going to need to practice on a lot more than Rock Band or Guitar Hero to fully make use of this rig, but Mac users looking to go a step beyond basic GarageBand recording may want to consider Apogee's new GiO guitar interface and controller, which is fully compatible with GarageBand 09, as well as Logic Studio 9 and MainStage 2. Designed to more or less give you full hands-free recording, the device packs five Stompbox buttons that are dynamically color coded to match software effects, plus five Transport control buttons that are dynamically lit when engaged, not to mention all the ports you'd expect, including a 1/4" instrument input, a 1/4" MIDI Expression pedal input, a headphone jack, and that all-important USB port, which just so happens to also conveniently power the device. You're still going to have to make do with your current setup for a bit longer, however, as this one's only set to launch sometime in September for a fairly reasonable (as far as Apogee products go) $395.
The 88 song recorded on iPhone and released in iTunes Store
Remember that time you were on tour with The B-52's and had a great idea for a song, but there was no recording equipment to be found? Oh wait, that was The 88. Well anyway, The 88 recently recorded their latest single with nothing but an iPhone and the Sonoma Wire Works Four Track application, according to The Loop.The 88 recorded the song, Love is the Thing, with a few tricks: to make sure the drums didn't overpower the iPhone speaker, they covered the drums with a sheet and uses brushes instead of drumsticks to deaden the sound. Four Track records at 16 bits and 44.1 kHz and can make unlimited-length tracks. The band recorded 14 separate tracks, including various guitars, vocals, and effects, and combined them on a Mac for the final mix. The band documented the process in more detail on their website. The song sounds great quality-wise and is now available in the iTunes Store for $0.99, and Four Track is in the App Store for $9.99.
AudioBoo lets you broadcast audio directly from the iPhone
Back when we looked at Radar, a photosharing site with an accompanying iPhone app, I mentioned that while Twitter had monopolized the "text exporting" function from your iPhone, there would be a slew of companies to try and grab the rest of the media you want to broadcast. Radar, I said, wanted to be the photo app. And AudioBoo, it appears, wants to be the audio app (we've yet to see a strong video contender pop up with the 3GS, though YouTube is certainly serving for now).I've been using AudioBoo (iTunes link) for a few weeks now, and I have to say, it definitely does what it says on the box: after a short signup session and the installation of the app to your iPhone, you can record and upload (and almost more interesting, listen back to others') audio quickly and easily. You hit record, can talk for a while (i haven't hit a limit yet, though three minutes is what I originally heard, and that tends to be about right for these little mini-podcasts), then hit stop and upload, add a picture, title, and tags, and a few minutes later, your audio is right there on the web for everyone to hear. I've used it on my EDGE phone and my friend's 3G, and I have to say the experience is better on the 3G -- the upload speeds are much better (I generally have to wait on my iPhone until I get on Wi-Fi to upload the audio), and to my ears, the audio sounds better. Here's a recording I made at a Cubs game on my 1G with a few friends, and a recording my friend made on his 3G at a restaurant. Edge works, obviously, but the 3G seems to work better.
WoW Insider Show live this afternoon on Ustream
Our podcast is back yet again this afternoon, and it's sure to be a good one. Turpster and I will welcome our bloggers Lesley Smith and Robin Torres on to talk about the biggest news in WoW from the last week: we'll touch on the new Druid forms and what we all think of those, 3.1.3 and how it's worked out so far, players with amazing achievements in game (like the level 1-80 no deaths guy, and Ensidia's big finish), and scams you might want to look out for ingame. And if we have time, we'll talk about one of the stranger stories to come out of the WoW community lately. The show begins over on the our Ustream page at June 6, 2009 3:30 PM EDT var date_span = document.getElementById("date"); var date = new Date(date_span.innerHTML); var monthname=new Array("Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug", "Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"); var weekday=new Array("Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday", "Friday","Saturday"); var year = date.getFullYear(); var day_of_month = date.getDate(); var month = monthname[date.getMonth()]; var day = weekday[date.getDay()]; var hour = date.getHours(); if (hour > 11) { if (hour > 12) {hour -= 12} am_pm = "PM"; } else { am_pm = "AM"; } var minute = date.getMinutes(); if (minute < 10) { minute = "0"+minute; } date_string = day + ", " + month + " " + day_of_month; date_string += " at " + hour + ":" + minute + " " + am_pm; offset = -date.getTimezoneOffset()/60; if (offset >= 0) { offset = "+"+offset; } date_string += " in your time zone (GMT"+offset+")"; date_span.innerHTML = (date_string); , or you can jump after the break to see an embedded feed. We'll also answer your email, which you can send to us at theshow@wow.com, and as usual we'll be chatting live both during and after the show. Should be a lot of fun -- we'll see you this afternoon!
DIY footswitch for Ableton Live frees up your hands, makes you dangerous onstage
When Ableton forum member AlexMC came across plans for a no-fuss, no-muss USB foot controller for the company's world-renowned music app, he liked what he saw -- but not so much that he couldn't make a few changes his own self. By adding a sturdy wooden case, a 30 degree pitch to the top of the thing, some extra buttons, and some razzle-dazzle (that'll cost you extra) he now has a device that sports twenty buttons and a bank switch (making for forty unique outputs total), useful for things like play / record on individual tracks, stop / fade, and of course, everybody's favorite -- tap tempo. The best part? He built this bad boy for ten bucks! The excruciating step-by-step plans and photos (including circuit diagrams and all that jazz) are yours when you hit the read link below -- and you'll be mashing up Katy Perry and the Cure live on stage, while jamming along on your keytar, in no time. But please, don't mash-up Katy Perry and the Cure. [Via Make]
BtDP up for Scribe award, Warcraft audiobooks delayed
Here's a few bits of WoW book news from our friend Medievaldragon over at Blizzplanet. First up, the good news: Aaron Rosenberg and Christie Golden have been nominated for a "Best Adapted" award from the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers (just proving that for everything in the world, there's an association for it) for the World of Warcraft: Beyond the Dark Portal book that they wrote together. Pretty groovy, and supposedly well-deserved -- if you ever sit down to read any of the Warcraft literature, we've heard that's a great place to start. Winners of the prizes will be announced at GenCon this year, so good luck to the writers there.And secondly, a bummer for those who've been waiting on the audiobook versions of the Warcraft books -- Medievaldragon says that he heard from Tantor Media, the company behind the productions, that they've been postponed. He's convinced that they've only been held off temporarily, but we're not so sure -- given the current economy, Tantor may have figured it wasn't worth the licensing and the trouble. But you never know -- apparently they've all been recorded, so perhaps we'll see them at some point in the future, even if it's only in digital form. We certainly hope so.
TASER's AXON on-officer recording system could revolutionize COPS
Oh sure, technically COPS is still a current show, but seriously, the formula hasn't changed in eons. TASER International's AXON / EVIDENCE.com tandem is gearing up to change all that -- so long as officers agree to strap the hardware on their person, that is. In short, AXON is an on-officer recording system that captures audio and video of arrests, and after the scuffle is complete, it sends the data (encrypted heavily, of course) to EVIDENCE.com servers that are managed far, far away from the potentially dubious grasp of police departments. There are built in sensors to see if any data has been tampered with, and if all goes to plan, the entire system should be ready for deployment in Q3 of this year. In other words, go ahead and get all your stupidity out before the summer ends.[Via Engadget Spanish]
12seconds, Animoto release iPhone apps for video slideshows
12seconds.tv is a site that started up a little while ago that seems to be aiming at a "Twitter-for-video" kind of idea -- you upload just twelve seconds of video, whether that's you saying something, video of a short scene, or whatever else you want. The site was in alpha but has recently opened up to beta (so anyone can join), and they've also released an iPhone app, available for 99 cents in the App Store right now."But wait, Mike," I hear you saying, "the iPhone doesn't record video!" And it still doesn't, but it does record pictures and audio, and the 12seconds app will combine a slideshow of three pictures you take with any 12 seconds of audio you record, thus creating a close approximation of a 12 second video. You can see my sample upload here, just a few pictures of my apartment's hallway and some Mountain Goats playing from my speakers. You can use pics you've already taken, and the whole process of recording, combining, and uploading works pretty well. You don't have any control over how the images slide across: it's more of a "throw it all into the mix and hope something good comes out" thing.It's an interesting idea, and while you're paying a buck for a social networking video app that can't actually record video (not that that's 12seconds' fault, Apple), you could probably come up with some pretty creative stuff, from the artistic and witty to the requisite cat videos (because no video site is complete without a cute kitty). It's definitely not a video replacement for the iPhone, but for uploading quick and simple snippets of experience from wherever you are, it does the job.For a different approach to photo-based videos generated on your iPhone, you can check out the free Animoto app, released last week by the website of the same name. Animoto will take 8-16 photos from your iPhone or iPod touch, let you order them and select musical accompaniment (from a provided but fairly ample list of tracks; you can't use your own music or record a soundtrack). The app then uploads your images to the Animoto site and cranks out a 30 second, montage-style video for you. You can stream the video back to your iPhone, or send it along to friends. If Techcrunch gushes about it, well, you know it must be just awesome, right?
WoW Insider on How I WoW
Patrick Beja (who was on the WoW Insider Show not too long ago) and Shawn Coons host a great occasional podcast called How I WoW, which focuses on popular folks in the WoW community (they talked to our very own Turpster a while back, and have done an episode with Felicia Day as well). And apparently they've already talked to everybody else in the WoW community, because this week they made the mistake of inviting me on the show. They actually ask more about me personally than you'd ever want to know, but there's lots of great information about WoW Insider there as well, including who's really in charge around here, what we think of you great commenters, whether or not I'm really a fanboy, and things Blizzard could do better with their game.It's a long show (all of the How I WoW shows tend to be long, I think, and though I tried to keep it short, mine didn't end up being the exception), but if you're interested in me, the WoW Insider Show, or how we run the site in general, there should be something fun for you hear in there. Plus, you can hear me murder some French if you stick around long enough.The episode is up right now on their site. Thanks to Patrick and Shawn for having me on there -- hopefully you'll enjoy listening to it as much as we did making it. And stay tuned -- we'll have to have both of them on the WoW Insider Show with us soon.
TapeDeck discounted for National Day of Listening
I don't know that I've heard of the National Day of Listening before, but I like the idea a lot -- right around the holidays, StoryCorps and NPR sponsor a day when you're meant to sit down with loved ones and pick up some of that oral history that has served the human race so well so far. And the folks at Toasty Code are doing their part to get these recordings done by offering their TapeDeck audio recording software for 20% off all this week -- just follow the instructions on their website, and you too can pick up any oral history your folks can dish out along with the turkey and cranberries.Of course you can do that with any software, from GarageBand (came free with your Mac) to Audacity (free to anyone). And it doesn't need to be only audio -- I'm taking a new Flip MinoHD home for the holidays with me to get some shots of my folks in my childhood home (they're currently trying to sell it off). But the Day of Listening is a great idea no matter what you use -- in these days of high definition, 1080p television, multichannel speaker setups, ubiquitous computing, and the 24/7 flow of text across blogs, Tumblrs and Twitter, it's easy to forget the value of actually sitting down and talking to someone. This week, as you're home with family, try it out.
Interview with a Gnome Death Knight
We still have no idea who did the voice of the Headless Horseman, but if you're playing a male Gnome Death Knight lately, we know whose voice you've been listening to: Dino Andrade, recently interviewed by Geeks of Doom, a voice actor who's probably most heard as "Pop" of the Kellogg's Rice Crispies mascots. You can hear his reels and demos on his website, and sure enough, that's our Gnome.Andrade says the Blizzard recording was "the most secretive thing I have ever done" -- they didn't show him anything visually about what the character was or did, and apparently he wasn't even allowed to take the script out of the recording room. Andrade also says that Blizzard is keen to let voice actors do their thing -- rather than giving direction, they let the actor come up with lots of their own reads, and then chose the one they wanted to use. It's almost hard to believe that Blizzard's voice acting is so good, given how hands-off they are (you'd think they'd aim to connect it with the art or animation in some way), but Blizzard fans know how well it works -- the voice characterisation in Blizzard games has always been terrific.Very interesting -- while Blizzard's voices are one of the things that have really made their games successful, it's strange that they've never let us into the process more. Their sites are full of concept art and model designs, but it would be cool to hear an uncut recording session or find out exactly how voice recordings are integrated with the game. Maybe we'll see more on that in the future.
Sony's compact HD HXR-MC1 POV camera provides oodles of mobility
No matter your definition of small, Sony's HXR-MC1 is apt to fit the bill. This minuscule HD POV camera seeks to provide high-def capture abilities in just about every nook and cranny you can imagine, providing increased mobility when filming extreme sports, reality TV, documentaries, nature, wildlife, etc. The camera can log footage at a native 1,920 x 1,080 resolution and store it on Memory Stick PRO Duo media using AVCHD compression; just 16GB of space can hold six hours of HD content. You'll also find a 10x optical zoom, built-in microphone and a 2.7-inch LCD monitor, all within a 1.5- x 1.69- x 3.5-inch package. Pricing has yet to be announced, but we'd expect to pay quite the premium for the compactness come February.
WoW Insider Show Episode 60: Inside Blizzard HQ
The WoW Insider Show landed at its new home, our new Ustream channel, last Saturday, and things went pretty darn well. We had a nice turnout of listeners from all over, and we had Adam Holisky and Turpster on, along with our guest Patrick Beja (of Azeroth.fr, How I WoW, and all of the other podcasts and features at his site Frenchspin). We had a few contests (one of which is still ongoing for you non-live listeners, so make sure to listen for the details if you haven't heard them yet), and we took some of the new features over at Ustream for a spin, including some fun polls.I'm told our new iTunes feed isn't quite up and running yet, but in the future you'll see an iTunes link here as well. Show notes are after the break.[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show in iTunes.[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Or listen to Episode 60 right here:
WoW Insider Show live on the air
Our weekly podcast will be going on the airwaves at 3:30pm Eastern (for about an hour and a half or so), and since we've recently uprooted to a new venue, we're trying something new today -- after the jump, we've put an embedded stream of the podcast, which you can listen to right here on WoW Insider.If you like, you can also just go over to the Ustream page itself, and there'll you'll be able to jump into the chat room, and answer some live polls and other things during the podcast. Plus, we'll be giving away some loot codes during the show as well. Patrick Beja will be on with us to talk about his experiences at BlizzCon, and Turpster and Adam Holisky will join us as well. If you're around this afternoon (maybe playing the new patch or just reading up on our latest posts), click the link below to check it out.
WoW Insider Show Episode 58: Live at BlizzCon
Not only will WoW Insider be at BlizzCon all weekend, and not only will you get a chance to meet-and-greet with us on Thursday night at The Lost Bar, but this is the first BlizzCon in the life of our podcast, the WoW Insider Show, and the show's going on the road, too. Friday night at 8pm, we're inviting you to come see us do a live recording of the show, direct from right outside the Anaheim Convention Center. Our partners at WoW Radio will be set up in the courtyard between the Convention Center and the hotel next door, and all of us will be there, doing a live recording of the podcast for you to hear and see as we do it.And as if that wasn't enough, we've got another surprise, too: the folks from The Guild will be right there with us. Felicia Day and her cohorts will have a panel during the day, but they're spending the evening with us, so we'll talk to them about making the series, their experience with WoW, and what they think of all the craziness that's sure to be at BlizzCon. We'll have some other guests from around the community as well: both Totalbiscuit from WoW Radio and Starman from World of Warcast will be on hand to talk shop with us. And as is usual on the WoW Insider Show, we'll talk about everything going on in World of Warcraft, our most popular posts on the site, and don't be surprised if we have some good giveaways for passers-by to win as well.It's going to be a lot of fun, and you'll get to see us make the show right there in front of your very eyes. Friday night at 8pm, come right outside the Convention Center, and look for the WoW Radio setup, because that's where we'll be. Everybody have a safe trip out to BlizzCon, and have a great time while you're out there.
Warcraft Outsiders hosts WoW Insider
The folks at the relatively new Warcraft Outsiders podcast were kind enough to invite me on their show the other day, and I proceeded to make a mess of things -- one of the hosts got sick, I stayed long after they tried to get rid of me, and I just generally stomped all over any plans they had to do their own show. The results are now up on their page -- the good news is that John, Michelle, Kyle and I did have a lot of fun, and we got some good discussion in about the Honor non-wipe, what few addons I swear by, and what's up with Varian Wrynn's return to Azeroth (he's actually wearing Anduin Lothar's belt -- shows you how much attention I pay to the lore stuff, so pay no attention to all the mistakes I make on that part).It was definitely a good time, and hopefully the show will be as fun to listen to as it was to record. The Outsiders will also have our good friend and colleague BRK on next week, and they do a nice job. Of course, if you only listen to one WoW podcast, you should make it the WoW Insider Show, but if you've got some extra room in your iPod, check them out (they also do a podcast on videogames in general) and see what you think.Thanks to everybody over there for having me on, especially since, with our names, we should be swordfighting in a warehouse or something (Outsiders/Insider -- get it? I totally didn't realize until the very end).
