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TUAW TV Live: The chat room speaketh
The TUAW TV Live chat room regulars are a rowdy bunch. Whether it's urikelman, drallgood, harumph, benroethig, docrock, lvreefkpr, macmommy, verso, ericasadun or any of a constantly changing group of participants who is chatting, there's always a lot of back and forth talk about whatever the topic happens to be. The discussion often goes off the show topic, which is great -- it keeps me on my toes. Well, today I've got a few topics to chat about, but most of the discussion is going to be directed by the IRC chat. If you're watching the show on Ustream you can use the Ustream chat tool that's embedded just below. If you're watching on Justin.tv, you'll want to use an IRC client like Colloquy, LimeChat, or Textual to participate. Below, you'll find a Ustream livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments. You can also choose to watch the show on Justin.tv if you wish, by visiting our portal at http://justin.tv/tuawtvlive. In either case, you'll be watching the show in glorious HD! If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream App. It's a universal app and is wonderful on an iPad, both for viewing and participating in the chat. We'll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you're seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you see the live stream. For those of you who are not able to join us for the live edition, you'll be able to view it later this evening on our TUAW Video YouTube channel and as part of the TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.
TUAW TV Live at 5 PM EDT
Just a reminder that our live streaming video show, TUAW TV Live, will be polluting the Interwebz at 5 PM EDT today. Although we have some rumors to talk about, most of today's show is up to those of you who are in the chat room so bring your best ideas. As usual, I'll be starting the show at 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT / 10 PM BST) sharp, and we'll take a few minutes to chat before the demos start. To join in on the chat and watch the live streaming video, drop by TUAW about five minutes before the start time to get your instructions on how to participate. If you're unable to join us for the show, remember that you can always subscribe to the video podcast and watch the show at your leisure in iTunes or any other favorite podcatching app. The past shows are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel. The chat is on IRC: join us on server chat1.ustream.tv, chat room #tuaw-tv.
iPhone could have a four-inch screen, says Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal claims that Apple is ordering screens from Asian suppliers that are bigger than the 3.5 inch screen that has become the one and only standard for the iPhone. The Journal says iPhone production will begin next month, with new screens that measure at least 4 inches diagonally -- something we've heard before. This could be a response to rival Samsung, who has been featuring larger screens in comparison ads to the iPhone. Samsung offers a 4.3 inch and a 4.8 inch screen on some model phones. Will an enlarged iPhone screen meet the rumored shrunken iPad? No one knows for sure, but Apple is very good at competing. Some have even shown how a larger screen could work. We know from experience that when Apple says it isn't going to do something that's not always the case. I vividly remember Steve Jobs telling us no apps for the iPhone, that web apps were all we needed. Then there was a quick reversal, and apps are now a multimillion dollar business. Apple has not commented on the report.
Sprint reportedly cancelling its early upgrade program June 1st (update)
Like dominoes, Sprint's consumer-friendly policies continue to fall one at a time. Citing "high costs," the Now Network will begin discontinuing its practice of allowing customers to upgrade their phone 10-14 days prior to the official date of eligibility. According to the memo leaked by TechnoBuffalo, the program will cease to exist as of June 1st. It sounds like this policy change is an unfortunate consequence of the company's large investments in iPhones and its still-dormant LTE network. It may not be enough to convince many Sprint customers to jump ship, but this isn't the first cost-cutting measure put forth by Dan Hesse's team -- and we have a hard time believing it will be the last. We've reached out to Sprint for official comment and will update you as soon as we have word. Update: Sprint sent us a statement about the matter, which you can read below. Apparently, no actual changes to the policy are taking place -- rather, a "reason code" used by customer care representatives to justify early upgrades was removed. Here's Sprint's statement on the policy: We are not making any policy change regarding our phone upgrades. In fact, the 14-day upgrade window was never a program or a policy to our customers - so there is nothing to cancel. We are removing a 'reason code' that made it possible for care reps to sometimes offer an early upgrade - but that code in the system was redundant with the early upgrade benefit we already offer customers. The reality is we already provide customers an early upgrade benefit when they sign up for service by rolling their upgrade eligibility back to the first day of the month. So, if you purchase a phone on the 31st of the month - your upgrade eligibility is rolled to the first of the month (after 20 months). So, that is a 30 day early upgrade advantage. If you bought your phone on the 18th of the month - you would have an 18 day early upgrade advantage, etc. And, if customers have an issue with an inoperable or broken phone before the upgrade date, there are several options they can check into - depending on if they have insurance, they can work with our Service & Repair, or they can buy a refurbished phone, or, in some cases, we can buy back the customer's phone.
MacBook Pro, iMac with new Ivy Bridge processors show up on benchmarks
As Chris Rawson noted in today's rumor roundup, there are some fascinating indications that new Macs may be on the way to an Apple Store near you. Geekbench is a cross-platform processor benchmarking tool that is used to provide numbers on the relative capabilities of computers with various CPU / GPU combinations. The results end up being posted on the site and are available for browsing, so it was a bit of a surprise when figures showed up for what appear to be a new MacBook Pro and iMac powered by Intel's new Ivy Bridge processors. The MacBook Pro is listed on Geekbench as a previously unknown "MacBook9,1" with an Ivy Bridge Core i7-3820QM running at 2.7GHz. The benchmark number of 12252 is about 17 percent better than the number generated by an existing Core i7 MacBook Pro. The "iMac13,2" shows a Core i7-3770 desktop chip clocked at 3.4GHz pumping out a Geekbench score of 12183 -- probably lower than it should be due to only having 4 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM installed. Engadget notes that the scores are roughly equivalent to what they've seen for benchmarks on other platforms running the Ivy Bridge processors -- a bump in the speed, but nothing earth-shatteringly big. While benchmark results can be faked, MacRumors says that the various motherboard identifiers and special Mountain Lion build number are consistent with past practices. MacRumors also points out that premature benchmark results have shown up in the Geekbench database before, just prior to the release of new equipment from Apple. While all rumors should be taken with a very large grain of salt, there's a possibility that the next-generation MacBooks and iMacs are just around the corner. Another Mac site, 9to5Mac, is also stating that they've pulled code from the latest Mountain Lion beta that appears to show that the Ivy Bridge MacBook Pros will come with USB 3.0 complementing the Thunderbolt high-speed external bus and a new NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M GPU. 9to5Mac also postulates that a new 15" MacBook Pro will arrive complete with a Retina display. Whatever the truth may be, it's refreshing to see that some glimmer of new Mac models is beginning to excite the Mac faithful.
Elder Scrolls Online leaks flood the web
The internet and rabid fandom being what they are, it's next to impossible for gaming press outlets to keep their exclusive information exclusive for very long. So it went with Game Informer's The Elder Scrolls Online reveal, which is slated to appear in its June print edition. Posters at NeoGAF, as well as pretty much every gaming news site around the web, subsequently got a hold of the article and leaked a bunch of screenshots as well as a few rumored gameplay details. Said details include traditional hotbar combat, a third-person perspective, and around 120 hours' worth of leveling content for the average player.
Pachter says rumored Nexon buyout of EA 'cannot happen'
Forbes reported on a rumored takeover of Electronic Arts by Nexon earlier this morning. The magazine noted that EA shares spiked following a supposed bid by the Korean gaming giant. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter weighed in on the rumors at GamesIndustry.biz, saying that the deal "cannot happen." He guesstimates that EA will balk at any such deal because "Nexon couldn't pull off a stock-for-stock deal [...] and would have difficulty financing an all-cash deal to make EA shareholders happy." Pachter floats a few numbers in his analysis, and he also notes that EA CEO John Riccitiello isn't likely to cede control of the company to anyone outside of EA management.
RIM's first BlackBerry 10 device may come as early as October
It's no secret that there's currently a sense of urgency in Waterloo, but if a recent report from N4BB is accurate, it seems that both consumers and enterprise are bound to benefit. According to the site's confidential source, Research in Motion is preparing to reveal its first BlackBerry 10 device in mid-August and will have the product in the hands of consumers by October. We'd previously known that RIM intends to have these units in the hands of developers next month, which gives a bit of credence to this most recent revelation. As for what consumers may expect, the first device is said to offer just a touchscreen, whereas we'll need to wait until Q1 of next year to see a handset with a physical QWERTY keyboard. As you'll recall, the company's previous leader, Mike Lazaridis, previously stated that consumers wouldn't see a BlackBerry 10 device until the end of the year, but this was due entirely to a shortage of the chipset that RIM deemed crucial to its manufacture. Perhaps Mr. Heins was able to light a bit of a fire under the company's partners, no?
TUAW Talkcast: Rampant speculation and unfounded rumors episode
What do you do when there's nothing really amazing going on in the world of Apple? You make the news! Rumors and speculation will be our fuel for tonight's episode of the TUAW Talkcast. This is my first Talkcast hosting stint in a while, so I've invited some amazing people who can hopefully generate tons of utter B.S. to make up for the lack of real news. Of course, we do have the Apple Q2 2012 earnings call coming up on Tuesday, so perhaps there's a chance to see if the Talkcast regulars can do a better job at forecasting Apple's revenues and earnings than professional Wall Street analysts can. Your calls and questions help us make the show the best it can be. To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cellphone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy (you know those headphones that came with your iPhone?), you can connect via the free Zoiper, X-Lite or Blink SIP clients; and basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!
Samsung's S-Cloud tipped to arrive alongside the Galaxy S III next month
Korean newspaper Maeil Business believes that Samsung's finally ironed out the kinks in its S-Cloud service and will unveil it alongside the Galaxy S III at next month's event. The Korean giant will reportedly offer an "unlimited service" with less of the content or storage restrictions imposed by iCloud. It'll also apparently come with a VOD-store, offering up audio and video content for a fee, presumably beside what's available in Google Play. It's also reporting that the company's Media Solution Center has asked Microsoft to join KT and Amazon in developing the infrastructure to ensure a smooth launch. Either way, it's not long now until we know for certain, so be sure to join us on May 3rd for the whole story.
Could future PureView devices support 4K video?
As we eagerly await the arrival of the 808 PureView, video professionals are pondering the usefulness of that 41-megapixel sensor. On paper, it's capable of shooting continuously-focusing 34-megapixel video that's then resampled down when compressed, but blogger James Burland wonders what it could do with less resampling. He claims that a member of Nokia's imaging team told him that shooting at 4K "might be possible," although there are plenty of issues that prevent it being achieved on the 808 handset itself. The hardware wouldn't be able to handle the storage or processing requirements, so it's unlikely Peter Jackson will be shooting on a Symbian-powered device any time soon -- but in any case it's an interesting pointer to the future of cellphone cinematography.
Is that a 3D prototype in HTC's EVO 4G LTE making of video? (update: nope)
An HTC Evo 4G LTE with dual cameras could only mean one thing, right? It's unclear whether the 3D rig in the company's intro video is simply a design mock-up, or a functional prototype of a model to come, but there's definitely something of the sort floating around HTC's labs. The device in question looks identical to the Evo we saw at yesterday's Sprint launch event -- kickstand and all -- save for that unique dual-lens design. And if such a smartphone did come to fruition, what could we expect for a name? Sprint HTC EVO 4G 3D LTE? We sure hope not. We've reached out to HTC to get a better idea of what we're looking at, but for now, this clip will have to do. You'll find the video in its entirety just past the break, but you'll want to skip to the 25 second mark for the 3D proto.Update: Well, we just heard back from HTC and the company confirmed that it's not a prototype of any future device. Apparently, it's just an early design when HTC and Sprint were considering carrying over the 3D feature, but it didn't make the cut. Mystery solved!
Google Drive leaks suggest 5GB free storage, in-app document editing
Mountain View has been leaking Google Drive details like a glacial trickle, but we still have no firm notion of how much free cloud storage it'll bring or just how deeply it'll be integrated with other services. There have been rumors of a Dropbox-like 2GB limit, but now a screenshot purporting to show the beta version's main welcome page points to a healthy 5GB instead. Moreover, Google's Support portal mentions that the Drive app for Android will have document-editing capabilities, which brings us back to the question of whether this is a whole new service, or an add-on to Google Docs or indeed a complete re-branding of Google's documents platform. Regardless, calling it 'Drive' still makes it sound like sat nav.
The rumors have begun: next iPhone to get a bigger screen?
Now that the iPad's been announced and launched, it's time for the rumor mill to start churning out gossip on the next generation iPhone. The latest report comes from a Maeil Business Newspaper via Reuters and claims the next iPhone will sport a 4.6-inch display. An unnamed industry source provided this tidbit, so I wouldn't place any bets just yet. If you want to see what a 4.6-inch handset looks like in real life, then head down to Verizon Wireless and scope out the Galaxy Nexus. You might be surprised by how big a phone has to be to accommodate such a screen.
Huawei MyTouch for T-Mobile, meet Mr. Blurrycam
So the rumors about Huawei pushing out a duo of T-Mobile MyTouch devices just got a little beefier, now that the real deal has actually been given the Mr. Blurrycam treatment. Above and below are images grabbed by TmoNews that show off the non-QWERTY model, which are expected to come running on Android 2.3.6 and taking advantage of a WVGA display. While the two mid-range devices will be the next in line to bear the MyTouch name, they'll also be known as the U8680 and U8730 elsewhere. If you enjoyed these pics, don't wait to click on the source link for more.
Runes of Magic on its third anniversary
Runes of Magic's third anniversary is finally upon us. Frogster has been gearing up for the event by holding diamond sales and cash-shop specials. Each anniversary, you can also take part in multiple frog-related quests and events. Frog-bashing, frog disguises, and more frog-bashing have long been a staple. Frog-racing and frog etiquette have been added to the roster. What's frog etiquette? Why, it's either insulting or complimenting frogs, silly. During the festivities, various freebies are usually handed out to players who log in, as well. The real question is what's new in the land of Taborea, but if you wanted to know about new lands or dungeons, you'll have to wait a little bit longer. There's no official word, but given the time that's passed and the unofficial images and information that are floating around the Internet, we know Chapter 5 can't be too far off. There are still players out there who are far from making their way through the Chapter 4 content, but many guilds on the cutting edge are starting to trample Tomb of the Seven Heroes into a well-worn path. During this intermediary period, Runewaker added the random attribute extractor and the costume interface. This isn't a replacement to aggregating; it's more like an extension. Most recently, the team introduced a patch containing bug fixes and a sprinkling of changes to the user interface, guilds, pets, vendor NPCs, quests, crafting, and skills. Some of the most exciting information is sketchy but does point to two possible new classes. And what class (or race?) could possibly have skills with names like "forge" and "runecraft" in them? Hmm...
Rumor: Elder Scrolls MMO to be announced in May
You know, that pesky Elder Scrolls MMO rumor just won't die. We've been hearing scuttlebutt of a Tamriel-themed massively multiplayer title for years now, and even though Bethesda has debunked such gossip in the past, Tom's Hardware is citing an "industry source" who says the title is a reality. The latest rumbling posits that the game will feature three factions and will take place several hundred years prior to the events of Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. Also, some sort of official announcement is supposedly scheduled for May. Following that, the source claims, the Elder Scrolls MMO will have a "presence at E3" in June. Bethesda has yet to comment, but we'll bring you the latest info as it happens. [Thanks to Matt for the tip!]
Rumored NVIDIA GTX 680 specs surface online, photos prove it does indeed exist
As NVIDIA readies its 28nm family of Kepler graphics cards, more and more details are starting to trickle out. Just yesterday, NVIDIA teased an Acer Ultrabook packing a mysterious new GT640M card based on the Kepler architecture. Today, we're seeing information about the GTX 680 surfacing on multiple sites. China-based PCOnline posted specs it claims to have received from an internal NVIDIA source, including a 1,536 CUDA core count, 1,006MHz core frequency, 195W TDP and 6Gbps memory. If it turns out to be true that it supports 2GB of 256-bit GDDR5 VRAM, that would fall short of AMD's Radeon HD 7970, whose 384-bit bus serves 3GB of GDDR5 memory. Then again, these specs don't quite match what was previously rumored, so perhaps there's still room for some surprises. No word on a release date or price, so for now you'll have to make do with parsing those source links.
Haptics, iPads and all that jazz
Mike Rose posted earlier about the possible introduction of haptic features on the next generation iPad. Here at TUAW, we've been waiting for haptics to officially hit the iPhone and its iOS cousins for years. Haptics, the overarching term for technologies providing tactile sensory feedback, may seem like the natural evolution for touch screens. Haptic feedback is something more than a gimmick. It solves a real problem -- the lack of physical response on the otherwise featureless glass interface between the user and the device. Haptics can provide a sense of physical location and texture enhancement that can be used to create more realistic experiences. If you've used a Wii, you're more or less familiar with the idea behind haptic interfaces. On the Nintendo system, the rumble motor in the remote responds physically to the on-screen pointer position, letting you feel when you're hovering over buttons and other on-screen elements. On the Mac keyboard, little nubbins on the j and f keys allow touch-type users to instantly orient hand positions. On a hypothetical haptic iPad, these same kinds of touch cues could align fingers to onscreen elements. A basic iPad haptic interface would work in a similar manner to these buzzes and nubbins. An advanced one would expand the notion to include even more texture elements that provide sensory output for different kinds of on-screen features. Haptics are a clear win for the visually impaired, but they also expand the user experience for the young and the elderly, as well as the "standard" iPad owner, through location feedback and texture. Today's Guardian article has a very good write-up about the current state of the technology and what we may yet see on the iPad. Will it happen today? All of us at TUAW hope so.
WSJ: Next iPad will have LTE, land on Verizon Wireless
The Wall Street Journal chimed in with a last minute report on the iPad that'll make Verizon Wireless customers happy. Spencer E. Ante of the Journal writes, "The new iPad will support a wireless broadband technology called LTE, people familiar with the matter have said," and Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Chaplin further adds, "It is great news for Verizon. They have a great LTE network that is empty, so they can afford to fill it up." Chaplin may end up eating those words as more and more customers join Verizon's relatively new LTE network, but, until then, most people will be pleased to see Apple adopting the next generation mobile broadband technology. You can learn more about the iPad on Verizon's LTE network at verizonwireless.com.
