Let’s just hope there’s no SCO around to ruin it for everybody.
Archive of posts filed under the gadgets category.
Reality distortion field parts again
Though the mood is probably going to be on the negative side on today’s antenna-centric event.
Angry Birds AWOL?
Following a tragic and sudden expiration of the its screen, I’m back to using Musti 2 (having laid Musti 3 to rest).
Had the device reflashed (it was running a build from late December), and went looking for the most essential applications.
And discovered that Rovio’s Angry Birds is nowhere to be found in the Ovi Store. The pack of extra levels, sure – but the actual game is absent.
Application economy now and then
Application development economics, just the thing for the fragmented era.
Akihabara
It’s been a long time since the previous entry about the April trip to Japan. Been busy and uninspired. Will try to conclude in decent time.
Akihabara had changed somewhat in six years since the first and thus far the only trip there.
The big stores, even chains have taken root and crowded out the weird small shops.
In 2004 it was easy to discover shops packed with old videogames and game soundtracks. This time they were in minority, superseded by ubiquitous porn-games for windows.
The weird shops were close to the metro station, present either as singular windows in buildings, or rather well-hidden in office blocks that show no signs of their contents outside.
Picked up the first t-shirt of the trip (grey on black, always an exuqisite combo) and cemented my position as the premier gaming geek in Nöykkiö by purchasing a Professor Layton figure. Sadly, the soundtracks of the classically-musiced series were nowhere to be found.
3D, one more time
Crunchgear has published a quite decent guide on three dimensional technologies being employed in far too many movies these days.
Curated computing
Curated computing = having someone else select what is appropriate for your device.
Finland not in the two first waves of iPad rollout
Sad but true, but picking one up in Germany in June is a credible proposition.
Android on iPhone
One of the many sights Steve Jobs probably would have gladly done without.
Left the 20th century
The first truly scifi-moment of the trip was the sight of a plastic lantern in front of a restaurant.
A lantern whose surface was a liquid crystal display that kept changing the image displayed.
Stupidly enough I thought they were commonplace and didn’t snap an immediate picture.
Of course the first such lantern was the only one seen.
iPad, the first reviews
Apple’s wonderslate is just about to hit the streets. Jason Kottke has collected the first reviews. Most of which are almost gushingly positive.
Third Time Lucky Indeed
N-Gage HD features GTA: Helsinki as an exclusive to attract buyers.
(And yeah, do check the date of the article before reserving a unit).
Steampunk mobile phone
Celsius X VI II is probably the coolest phone in a long long while.
Developer advocacy
Tim Bray began at Google, and for starters fires fusillade at the iPhone ecosystem. Not the product, not the culture of zillions of apps, just the closed nature.
It's an L-mug, you lowly users of consumer equipment!
Apparently these promotional mugs are not for sale. At least yet.
No Superbowl liveblogging tonight
Meh, taking care of the flu has higher precendence than watching superbowl live.
Even though it’s my #2 and #3 teams playing.
The just bought DVR ought to take care of storing the game, and tomorrow will be a perfect opportunity to actually watch the game.
Will Peyton Manning cement his place as the greatest quarterback ever, or will Drew Brees take the Saints to their first championship. Either alternative works, let’s hope it’s a high-scoring game, with plenty of lead changes and excitement.
OS X on N900
Toni Nikkanen’s proves that a Nokia N900 is able to run OS X (albeit very very slowly).
Maemo Weekly News
Maemo Weekly News gathers a weekly digest of the occurrences and happenings of the Maemo community.
Which means that I’ll have to talk about my work here even less than usually.
Prediction for tomorrow's launch
For Apple’s tablet, that is:
Yes (duh), yes, yes ($899 for the lower-spec device), yes, yes, yes (Xcode 4), yes (the model’s been a rousing success), yes (at least a subset, with non-scaled resolution), yes, no, yes, yes, yes (itunes all the way), yes, yes, no (USB only), no (no haptics yet), yes, no (though eventually yes), yes (this is a killer platform for flash games), no (not yet, but definitely by the time next school year kicks off), yes (none of this i* stuff any longer), no, no, no, no, no, no, yes (yay Verizon), yes (especially if the screen has pressure-sensitive elements), no, yes (see previous), no, no, no, yes, no.
Scored tomorrow after the event.
One more platform
Kindle opens up.
An old threat in a new disguise
Offline Book “Lending” Costs U.S. Publishers Nearly $1 Trillion, putting the imaginary losses from e-book piracy to shame.
Bacon, wrapped in vegan
Lexicon dresses an Oppo player in a second chassis, adds 3000$ to the price, with a bonus of a bogus THX certificate.
Score one against the “high end” home theatres.
News of the odd
- Flaming Lips to cover Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon).
- Continuing the sue-a-handset-manufacturer- season: Philip K. Dick’s estate sues Google for Nexus One (claiming it’s a ripoff from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep).
Good, bad and geeky
I lied, it’s all about geeky top lists of the decade here:
- The best and worst technologies of the noughties.
- The most influential games of the decade.
- The most influential web memes.
- Ten devices that didn’t survive the decade.
And as a bonus, a fearsomely geeky list on interesting products and projects of 2009.
PS3d
Gave in to the need to have a bluray player in the house.
Games such as Uncharted 2 didn’t realy hinder the decision to purchase either.
