Heated debates, Lenovo netbooks, and pricey Macs: The week in laptops
Posted by - 08/08/08 at 02:08:00 pm
This swirl indicates time travel.
It’s been a week of flashbacks, and not just because I went to a concert that featured ’80s bands ABC and The Human League. I also (hypothetically) relived the ’90s as the CNET laptop editors (hypothetically) debated the merits of touch pads versus pointing …
Cheap and wonderful Altec Lansing Orbit-MP3 speaker
Posted by - 08/08/08 at 01:08:00 pm
(Credit: Altec Lansing)Altec Lansing has had its fingers in the iPod speaker business for several years now, which may explain why the company has been one of the most innovative when it comes to design–the retro-slick iM7 boombox and the ultrathin iM600 provide some excellent evidence of that. Further …
An all-’Zelda’ weekend, with no guilt involved
Posted by - 08/08/08 at 12:08:00 pmFive college guys plan to spend their entire weekend playing Zelda–and they don’t even have to apologize to their girlfriends.
That’s because they’ll be playing the Ocarina and wielding swords with a virtuous goal–raising money for Child’s Play, a game industry charity that brings toys …
JamVOX: Karaoke for guitarists
Posted by - 08/08/08 at 12:08:00 pm
The JamVOX hardware lets you call upon the guitar-winged gods of rock to rain down a firestorm of fret-tapping fury! It’s also a USB audio card.
(Credit: Vox)
Are you a guitarist with just enough talent to shun Guitar Hero, but too little to form your own Kiss cover band? Boy, do we have the product for you.
The JamVOX is a hardware and software combo that outfits your computer with a tiny, badass VOX amp USB sound card and a software package with virtual amplifiers and effects (ala Guitar Rig) that helps you mute or solo the guitar parts from your favorite songs. Basically, this thing lets you surgically remove your guitar heroes from their songs, and replace them with your own ham-fisted shred fest.
The JamVOX system is due out in September, with a suggested retail around $350. Video after the break….
‘Wrath of the Lich King’ looking good, ‘WoW’ fans say
Posted by - 08/08/08 at 12:08:00 pm
Blizzard Entertainment has recently opened up the beta for its forthcoming expansion to ‘World of Warcraft,’ ‘The Wrath of the Lich King.’ According to people familiar with the beta, the expansion offers some big improvements and appears likely to sell millions of copies.
(Credit: Blizzard Entertainment)
Since its launch in the fall of 2004, Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft has shattered expectations at every turn.
Prior to its release, no American massively multiplayer online game (MMO) had ever reached what was then seen as the magical million subscribers level–even major hits like EverQuest and Ultima Online. Yet almost before anyone could blink, WoW, as it’s known, had surpassed four million paying users and now has more than 10 million worldwide, and at $15 a month for most users, it may well be bringing in more than $1 billion a year.
Then, prior to the January, 2007 release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, no one had ever heard of the kind of nationwide midnight madness lines associated with iPhone and Xbox launches for a game expansion. Sure enough, however, people lined up at game stores everywhere for hours for the right to be among the very first to buy Burning Crusade, and the update went on to sell millions of copies.
And now, with the second major WoW expansion, The Wrath of the Lich King, in beta testing, Blizzard is getting ready to prove yet again that when it comes to American MMOs, it is the undisputed gold standard.
“It’s just beautiful,” said longtime WoW player and Lich King beta player Katrina Glerum. “The game really feels epic in a way that The Burning Crusade didn’t….Burning Crusade felt like an extension of the (original) game. This really feels epic, and that you’re part of something grand.”
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Copyright © 2008. William Hushburn. All Right Reserved.
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