Posts Tagged ‘San Francisco’

Seven45 Studios talks Power Gig details, we go hands-on with its six string guitar peripheral

We'll just come right out and say it: Guitar Hero and Rock Band should watch their back, 'cause there's a better-than-decent chance that Power Gig will be all the rage this holiday season. Seven45 Studios is a heretofore unheard of upstart with roots in First Act, and unlike the vast majority of game developers, these guys actually have a direct hand in the production of the software and hardware associated with this package. They'll be designing the Power Gig video game series (Rise of the SixString is only the first installment) as well as the guitars, drums and microphones in-house, and given the First Act roots, you know you'll be getting instruments of higher quality than what's on the market today. Oh, and yes, we didn't misspeak when we pluralized "guitars" and mentioned those other two devices.

We had a sit down with the team today at GDC, and besides coming away impressed with the alpha build of the game and the prototype axes we saw, we also learned quite a bit more about their plans than what was revealed in this morning's press release. Just to be exceptionally clear, Seven45 Studios will not only sell their upcoming title as a standalone product, but it will sell a "band bundle" that includes the game, a guitar (plus a strap, picks and an extra set of strings), a drum set and a microphone, the latter two of which are still very early in production and weren't available for us to test. The beat matching setup that gamers have grown used to in Rock Band and Guitar Hero is still there, but most everything else is new; a "chording" addition will allow users to strum actual power chords that match the chords used in the song, giving newbies the ability to actually learn songs as they play the game if they want to. In other words, if users strum the same chords required to succeed in the game but through an amp, they'll be playing the actual song; if you'd rather not learn, you need not have any clue how to play a guitar to enjoy the game. Speaking of which, the bundled guitar (along with extra guitars that are still being sorted in terms of size, material and color) doubles as a legitimate six string by simply depressing the dampening pad beneath the neck, and while it won't match the crisp tone emitted from your Les Paul Custom, the prototype we heard here in San Francisco sounded just fine for a beginner's instrument. We also learned that existing Rock Band and Guitar Hero guitars will work with the Power Gig titles, and Seven45's guitars will work with existing music band games -- not bad!

More after the break...

Continue reading Seven45 Studios talks Power Gig details, we go hands-on with its six string guitar peripheral

Seven45 Studios talks Power Gig details, we go hands-on with its six string guitar peripheral originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox v1 games, systems no longer Live; Microsoft’s pulling the plug April 15

It's been no secret that original Xbox games and systems have been the vestigial limb holding back much wanted XBL features including raising the limit on our friends list to over 100 or mobile tie-ins, and on April 15 Live access for all of them comes to an end. Even those Xbox Originals downloaded to the 360 or played via backwards compatibility will be cut off from online play, so we'd suggest getting those last few rounds of Halo 2 in now or at least look into an alternative solution like XBConnect. Affected users should keep an eye on their inbox, Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten has promised "details and opportunities" to come for you as partners in this process -- we're figuring a coupon or two or an extended XBL subscription as the lights are turned out is the least they can do. For the rest of us already living in the future? The timing of this announcement mere days before the X10 event in San Francisco February 11 can't be coincidental, we should find out what comes next by then.

Xbox v1 games, systems no longer Live; Microsoft's pulling the plug April 15 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s on: Apple holding January 27th event to show off its ‘latest creation’

Yes folks -- the rumors are true. Apple is holding an event on January 27th to show off something the company is calling their "latest creation." Hair standing on end? Good. The proceedings will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, and will get underway at 10AM Pacific. We'll be there live -- as usual -- covering every little second of the action... so get ready!

Update: We're not ones for wild speculation, but the inclusion of splatter paint and the use of the word "creation" could suggest that if we do see the long-rumored Tablet at this event, the focus could be slanted towards art, music, and movie-making. Maybe we'll finally figure out what the point of an Apple tablet is! On the other hand, that might just be a bit of wild speculation. Feel free to generate your own kooky concepts in comments -- we promise not to judge you.

If you'd like to read (or re-read) a slew of Apple Tablet rumor coverage, click here.

It's on: Apple holding January 27th event to show off its 'latest creation' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Editorial: Hey, AT&T — drop lawsuits, not calls

AppleInsider published a piece this week that does a good job rounding up the latest counterarguments we've been hearing against Verizon's claims in its suddenly ultra-aggressive attacks on archrival AT&T's network -- attacks that have offended AT&T right into getting the legal team involved. Both sides are applying enough spin to make you dizzy at this point, so let's break down the latest round of pot shots, shall we?

• Verbiage on Verizon's site suggests that swaths of its 3G network are still running at EV-DO Rev. 0 speed: false. In fact, 100 percent of Verizon's 3G coverage has been Rev. A since 2007 -- the wording refers to 1xRTT, which is the transport technology in use where EV-DO hasn't been deployed.
• You can't distinguish between EV-DO and 1xRTT on Verizon's coverage map: false. Turns out Verizon has one of the more comprehensive coverage browsers among top-tier carriers. The technologies aren't called out by name, but they're there -- they list compatible features in different coverage zones, ostensibly to reduce customer confusion since your average Joe (not to be confused with our own Joe Flatley) doesn't know or care what "1xRTT" means.
• EDGE approaches the "low end" of EV-DO Rev. A: false. At the top end of the specification, EDGE can theoretically approach 500kbps in a cleanroom environment -- but in reality, it runs at a fraction of that and suffers more severe latency issues in practice (which is sometimes a greater detriment to a mobile web browsing experience than raw speed) than UMTS and EV-DO. Heck, AT&T itself claims 75-135kbps. Meanwhile, we got 823kbps on the downlink in real-world modem use on Verizon's Rev. A.
• AT&T's 3.6Mbps and 7.2Mbps deployments are significantly faster than EV-DO Rev. A: true, but only in theory. We're getting downlink speeds ranging from the low 100s -- yes, 100s -- to the high 800s in Chicago and New York; Chicago's got a trial 7.2Mbps network that's live, but even if we're not connected to it (hard to say), we should still be on 3.6. We seriously have no idea what AT&T's doing behind the scenes with these rollouts, but in urban areas, at least, they're not helping. At all. And that's assuming we can help ourselves from dropping down to EDGE.
• AT&T's service is augmented by the nation's largest WiFi network: we won't even justify that with a rebuttal.
• Verizon's gaming the system by comparing only their 3G networks: the truth hurts, AT&T. Verizon's commercials would have you believe that by comparing only 3G coverage, Verizon wins by a country mile. And guess what? They do. To AT&T's credit, the 3GPP's WCDMA technology path is considerably more advanced and extensible than EV-DO Rev. A is, but beyond UMTS's simultaneous voice / data capability, the end user's experience is pretty similar in day-to-day use. We go where the faster real-world speeds (and the reliable calls) are.
• Verizon is "defending steep losses" with its anti-AT&T, anti-iPhone commercials: false. Verizon added 1.2 million net customers in the most recently reported quarter, excluding acquisitions.
• LTE is "still years away from viable use" on Verizon: false. They'll have 20-30 markets commercially live in 2010, which is 20-30 more than AT&T will have. It's not nationwide coverage by a long shot, but it gives the carrier a notable lead in the 4G transition since AT&T has sparsely detailed its LTE plans and isn't expected to go live with any markets until 2011 at the earliest.

To be fair, Verizon's taking a questionable angle in its advertising by trying to associate 3G coverage with call reliability -- in AT&T's case, the two are totally, completely unrelated -- but the fact remains that for a bunch of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco-based Engadget editors, Verizon bests AT&T in both categories, and we're having a hard time arguing with personal experience.

So listen, AT&T, we're sorry Verizon made you upset, but the solution's actually pretty simple: compete. Fix your network, keep scoring hot exclusives, and get hungry again -- because in a year or two, no one's going to give a damn that you used to have an exclusive on the iPhone.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Editorial: Hey, AT&T -- drop lawsuits, not calls originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM unveils tighter Adobe partnership, new app payment platform, OpenGL ES support, more

There aren't any new devices in the mix, but RIM has unleashed a torrent of BlackBerry OS-related news today at its BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco that's sure to make devs happy in the short term -- and you know how that goes: when devs are happy, it doesn't take long before end users reap the benefits. Here are the highlights:

• BlackBerry devices running OS 5.0 and higher will be able to benefit from OpenGL ES support, the 3D platform used by many of the world's high-power smartphones for delivering killer games. There's a beta of the SDK already, so let's get cracking, everyone -- we need some first-person shooters that totally negate BlackBerry's ultra-productive image.
• A new plugin for the Eclipse development environment should make building BlackBerry app GUIs easier than ever, which should hopefully lead to prettier apps; it'll be available in mid-2010.
• BlackBerry Theme Studio is now available, simplifying theme creation with support for changing the home screen layout, fonts, icons, colors, cursors, and more; it supports BlackBerry OS 4.2.2 and higher, which means that virtually every BlackBerry in a pocket (or holster) today should be able to take advantage. The timing's perfect on this one, because RIM has also announced that themes can now be submitted to App World.
• BlackBerry Payment Service has been announced for mid-2010 availability, bringing in-app payments, subscription support, and a variety of billing options, which all sounds far more robust than the PayPal-only setup they've got going today.
• The Push Service made available to Alliance Program members earlier this year will be made available to all comers in "early 2010," making it easy to push bite-sized chunks of "time-sensitive alerts" to phones quickly and easily.
• BlackBerry Advertising Service has been announced for 1H 2010 availability, bringing a unified ad platform for developers with a variety of existing ad networks on board. If this means more free apps in App World, we're all for it.
• Expanding on the Flash partnership previously announced, RIM has teamed up with Adobe yet again to unveil tight integration with Creative Suite 5 with direct file exports for BlackBerry-optimized formats and the creation BlackBerry-specific web layouts. End users will also be able to pull files directly off their BlackBerrys into consumer offerings like Photoshop Elements. This particular news seems pretty fluffy since Adobe products are already capable of opening and saving media formats that the phones can use -- but as with many of the other announcements here, we're on board as long as it means better-looking apps.

Sure, we wouldn't have complained if some crazy Storm2 with a QWERTY slide had unexpectedly shown up, but all things considered, BlackBerry software shops have to be salivating at the bounty here.

Filed under: Cellphones

RIM unveils tighter Adobe partnership, new app payment platform, OpenGL ES support, more originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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