Hasta La Gadget!

Look out, OnLive — you’ve got company. InstantAction is having their coming out party at GDC, and we stopped by for a lengthy chat about the technology, its future and the hopes / dreams of the company. Put simply (or as simply as possible), IA has developed a browser-based plug-in that allows full games to be played on any web browser so long as said browser is on a machine capable of handling the game. In other words, you’ll still need a beast of a machine to play games like Crysis, but the fact that you can play them on a web browser opens up a new world of possibilities for casual gamers and independent developers. You’ll also be notified before your download starts if your machine and / or OS can handle things, with recommendations given on what it would take to make your system capable.

Oh, and speaking of operating systems — games will only be played back if they’re supported on a given OS, so you won’t be able to play a Windows only title within a browser on OS X or Linux. Rather than taking the typical streaming approach, these guys are highlighting “chunking.” In essence, a fraction of the game’s total file size has to be downloaded locally onto your machine, and once that occurs, you can begin playing. As an example, we were playing The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition — which is the sole title announced for the platform so far, though Assassin’s Creed was demoed — within minutes, and since you’re curious, that’s a 2.5GB game, and we were on a connection that wasn’t much faster than a typical broadband line.

More after the break…

Continue reading InstantAction streams full games to any web browser, gives indie developers a business model (video)

InstantAction streams full games to any web browser, gives indie developers a business model (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Never mind keeping track of how many gold medals Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Monaco rack up during the Winter Olympics; the real nerds are watching to see exactly how many tweets are being pushed out per minute from a smattering of cities around the world. CASA’s Tweet-O-Meter has been running on a webpage for awhile now, but frankly, the novelty tends to wear quickly. These, however, are far more tempting to the retinas. What you’re looking at above are a few analog Tweet-O-Meters, which do exactly what you think they do: showcase the amount of tweets that are leaving New York, London and Paris at any given time by moving a needle within a conventional gauge. Head on past the break for a video, and be sure to express your reaction on your favorite up-and-coming social networking site.

[Thanks, Dr. Andrew]

Continue reading Analog Tweet-O-Meter shows city-specific Twitter activity the old fashioned way

Analog Tweet-O-Meter shows city-specific Twitter activity the old fashioned way originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  CASA, Digital Urban  | Email this | Comments

While most homes are still catching up to the idea of Internet radios, U.K. company Pure is ready to take the product to the next level. Today, Pure unveiled a line of five radios with interactive features. Users can browse Facebook and Twitter content, and group their favorite stations in the Pure Lounge, a connected media portal. The Lounge goes beyond standard music content, and offers 100 sounds for setting a mood or falling asleep.

The Pure radios coming to the U.S. include:

• Sensia ($349): This model offers a 5.7-inch, 640×480 touchscreen, stereo sound, an MP3 player input, and access to Facebook and Twitter applications.
• Evoke Flow ($229): This radio (above) offers touch-sensitive controls and a box-like design. Use it to listen to podcasts, FM radio, streaming radio, and locally networked content.
• Siesta Flow ($139): This bargain model is the next generation bedside clock radio. It plays streaming stations and offers four quick-set alarms.
• Oasis Flow ($249): This rugged model is made for outdoor use. Take it in the garden or to a campsite. It offers FM and streaming content.
• Sirocco 550 ($449): Why is this the priciest one? Because it’s a full audio system, with a CD player and iPod/iPhone connectivity. Touch-sensitive controls let you play FM radio, streaming stations, podcasts, and content from networked computers or storage devices.

Remember how, in Catch Me If You Can, fugitive Leonardo DiCaprio kept calling Detective Tom Hanks to taunt him? Here is a convicted burglar doing the same thing, in real time on Facebook. Should we celebrate or fear him?

Craig ‘Lazie’ Lynch has been rising to folk hero status after absconding, in early September, from a prison in Suffolk Bay. (England! Which frees us up to celebrate him, because NIMBY.) He’s been daring the cops to come find him with defiant photographs, and detailing the corporeal pleasures associated with freedom, ever since:

mmm i just had a 12lb venison steak. Roasted veg and chips, bangin meal.

I feel stuffed but still got room for the j.d’s . Hope you enjoyed the meal babe’s. We’ll have to eat here again. Now to drive home in this shit weather. Hope we make it cos i’m ready to get in bed and un wrap somethin for afters x x.

Craig ‘Lazie’ Lynch Is thinkin, which lucky girl will be my first of 2010!!

Here’s how he celebrated Christmas. The middle finger is blurred because I was forced to rely photographic middlemen, since Lazie hasn’t accepted my friend request. (If my friendship is rejected by an escaped convict so indiscriminate as to send Facebook messages to the police, it will truly be a low point in my social networking career.)

YES YES i fuckin made it to Xmas i beat their fuckn system and i love it. I love you all my family my friends my lovers and all my supporters and fans i love the whole lot of you x x your the best merry xmas merry xmas merry xmas ho ho ho.

If any of you was doubtin my freedom. Here’s proof. How the fuck could i get my hands on a bird like this in jail. ha ha.

But will Lazie last until 2010? His yuletide updates invited press coverage and a ramped up manhunt, with Facebook disabling various accounts and delivering data to law enforcement. To get around this—and to avoid the “haters and racists” populating his comment sections—Lazie has constructed a Byzantine web of personal profiles and fan pages, each with varying degrees of privacy.* At last count, he had 7300 fans and 1300 friends. He’s skittish, too. A recent update read, “Oh No sirens!! Its happening,” only to turn into a sigh of relief when the sirens weren’t for him. A recent, baleful update reads:

well what can i say fellow friends. The run is nearly over. Sorry some of you had to find out like this. I know some of you might take offence that i never told you personally. But you know me. I Trust No One. Its the only way to be.

If we have learned anything from Hollywood fugitives, it’s that the desire for human connection is always what does the lone wolf in—and Facebook udpates count. Lazie, woefully aware of this premise, announces in his bittersweet About Me: “You’ll have a laugh with me but it will end in tears. It always does.” Just don’t pull a gun or anything when they come to get you, because then we’ll feel like total jerks for cheering you on.

Click below for screengrabs. [DailyMail] [LondonTimes] [Facebook] [Facebook]

* Hiding from law enforcement with privacy settings is theoretically pointless, but the fact that this strategy has worked for three months suggests Suffolk cops are actually that out of touch. Also, after successfully evading the authorities for this long, if he is thinking anything at all, it is probably, “Gawd, am I so baller, I think I’ll take another topless picture and brag about my sex life some more.” Successfully evading The Man is a known ego boost and aphrodisiac.

Continue reading PS3 firmware 3.10 released with Facebook support, ‘richer’ trolling experience

Filed under: Gaming

PS3 firmware 3.10 released with Facebook support, ‘richer’ trolling experience originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  PC World  | Email this | Comments