IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 12/06/2012

Apple updates Mac notebook lineup
Apple today has announced updates to its line of Mac notebooks. First up to receive a refresh was the MacBook Air which will now feature an Ivy Bridge dual-core up to 2GHz. It will additionally sport up to 8GB of 1600MHz RAM and 60% faster graphics along with up to 512B of SSD storage. 11" starts at $999, 13" at $1099, both are shipping today.

The MacBook Pro has also received a refresh today and will now sport Ivy Bridge goodness. The 13" will retain the dual-core version and the 15 will get the quad-core. It will feature up to a 2.7GHz quad with 8GB of 1600MHz RAM, USB 2 and 3, and the 13" will sport a 1280x800 display. The 15" gets a 1440x900 display. Both are shipping today.

Alongside the refreshed MacBook Pro line, Apple announced a new 15.6" model that sports a 2880x1800 Retina display. This model also sports a quad-core, is .71" thick, and under 4.5lbs. It's "the most beautiful computer we have ever made." Comes with up to 768GB of SSD and features a 650M. The price? You don't want to know. $2199. Starts shipping today like the rest.

Apple adding 32 additional countries to App Store
Apple has announced that the App Store has surpassed 30 billion downloads and that Apple has paid out $5 billion to developers. The store currently operates in 120 countries and Apple is now adding 32 more. They have 400 million credit cards on record, more than any other store in the world.

Crytek to change focus to big budget free-to-play games
Sources around the web are indicating that Crytek, the studio behind the hit series Crysis, is moving towards producing free-to-play games with pay-to-play budgets. This means that Crysis 3 is likely the last retail title we will see from the Crytek team. Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli let the cat out of the bag to Videogamer.com.

Right now we are in the transitional phase of our company, transitioning from packaged goods games into an entirely free-to-play experience.
What this entails is that our future, all the new games that we're working on, as well new projects, new platforms and technologies, are designed around free-to-play and online, with the highest quality development.

These free-to-play games will be serious, online games that are near console quality. Budgets should be in the range of $10-30 million which will produce some great quality games. Crytek has already teamed up with Trion on one of these games to create a free, online FPS game called Warface. We reported on the game, which is live in Russia and in closed beta in China, from E3.

Intel says Android not properly prepared for multiple cores
Intel recently released their Medfield Atom chip in smartphones and have had limited success. At first blush, it appears tests are proving the single core chip is the same as multicore ARM chips in both performance and power draw measurements. Usually, to increase performance, more cores are thrown at the problem.

However, this time Intel believes that won't help as they are saying that Android isn't properly prepared to utilize multiple cores efficiently. Moreover, Intel thinks that these optimizations for multiple cores could and should come from the System-on-a-chip providers such as Texas Instruments or Qualcomm.

Intel's Mobile and Communications Group General Manager, Mike Bell, had this to say:

If you are in a non-power constrained case, I think multiple cores make a lot of sense because you can run the cores full out, you can actually heavily load them and/or if the operating system has a good thread scheduler. [...] So as we move to multiple cores, we're actually putting a lot of investment into software to fix the scheduler and fix the threading so if we do multi-core products it actually takes advantage of it. [...] The way it's implemented right now, Android does not make as effective use of multiple cores as it could, and I think - frankly - some of this work could be done by the vendors who create the SoCs, but they just haven't bothered to do it.

RumorTT: Apple MacBook Pro set to receive Kepler goodness
Going along with the rumor that the Apple lineup of computers will be receiving an update at WWDC, a blurry picture has hit the webs that is purported to be of the 15-inch MacBook's logic board. We can't promise anything, but we should find out later today if this is the real deal as we are just hours from an Apple Keynote.

The picture seems to indicate an NVIDIA 650M as the next GPU destined to be in the MacBook Pro lineup. It's not unreasonable, but a bit unexpected after last year's high-profile switch to AMD graphics. But, then again, Apple doesn't really have any sense of loyalty or sentiment so this shouldn't matter much.

There have been several juicy rumors ahead of this upcoming Apple Keynote and we will be sure to let you know the full story of what does actually occur at the speech. Hopefully we see a complete refresh of the Mac Line, though I'm suspecting a new iPod Touch in the works since it's been a while since the last version released.

Beauty and the Beast 3D (2012) Cinema Review

As time goes on and display devices become larger and larger, somewhat ironically, I value the experience of going to a cinema more and more. Yes, sometimes the kids talk, there's bubble gum on the seat and the candy bar is horrendously expensive, but the communal experience of seeing a movie in a darkened cinema, knowing at times that you are experiencing something special cannot be replaced or replicated.

For this reason, I love seeing my favourite movies on the big screen. If it takes a stereoscopic 3D retro-fit to get the film there, then so be it. For me, the 3D isn't the selling point, although it's a cool gimmick. No, it's the chance to relive a cherished experienced and share it with those I love.

I first saw Beauty and the Beast when I was five years old. I don't really remember it, but I have seen the movie a few times since then. Now, as a 26 year old adult (well, I'm definitely 26 years old) I'm a much different person, but in many ways still the same. Digital lounge regulars will no doubt be familiar with my Disney soft spot. Well it's true, but I'm not ashamed. The songs are brilliant, it's innocent fun and besides, Ariel is a hottie. Even if she isn't real.

When a young prince is cursed with the form of a beast for his selfishness and arrogance, he is banished to his castle with only his enchanted subjects as company. However, the beast has one chance at redemption. If he can open his heart to another, so she loves him in return, the curse will be broken. But who could ever learn to love a Beast?

The bookish Belle (voiced by Paige O'Hara) years for adventure and a life beyond the provincial Parissian village. Her inventor father Maurice is a social pariah, seen as crazy. When he is lost in the woods and seeks solace in the Beasts castle. When the Beast holds him captive, Belle traverses the country side to find him. When she does, she offers herself as the Beasts prisoner in his place. But as the two spend more time together, perhaps there is something there, that wasn't there before.

The golden age of the Walt Disney company, which began with 1989's The Little Mermaid, and continued with Aladdin and The Lion King have much to thank Beauty and the Beast for. Despite their popularity, more so than any of the others Beauty and the Beast is a mature, thoughtful and sumptuously animated classic, which has adults in mind, just as much as the children.

The soundtrack to Beauty and the Beast composed by Alan Menken and written by Howard Ashman is just as beautiful as it has ever been. Any Broadway musical would be lucky to have such moving songs as "Beauty and the Beast" and "Be Our Guest", but this film has six of them. Disney owes much of the films spark (along with Little Mermaid) to song writer Howard Ashman, who tragically succumbed to AIDS before the release of the film.

Disney has put significant effort into the 3D conversion of the title. From the opening scenes, it's clear that this is going to be a heavily involving 3D effect. Whilst the 3D rotoscoping is not quite as aggressive as performed on The Lion King, I would have liked to have seen less flatness to Gaston's face, for example, however overall it's a very pleasing effort. Beauty and the Beast was the first title to fully utilize the CAPS animation process, which digitally inks the image and is infinitely more conducive to the 3D rotoscoping process, the real test will come with next year's release of The Little Mermaid, the last production to use hand drawn production cels.

For now, fans of the film can pick up Beauty and the Beast on Blu-ray, and in a 3D Blu-ray pack, before the film enters the Disney vault for the next seven years. The film will have a short 3D theatrical re-release, with a two week engagement.

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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 12/06/2012

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