GDC 2015: Nvidia's Grid will stream 1080p 60fps games to your living room
Nvidia's Grid service isn't new, but the company has now made it more properly official with the announcement that it'll be making the service subscribable this May for its Shield set-top box.
For that you'll get 1080p 60fps games streamed straight from the cloud to your living room device.
A wide library of titles will be playable with a subscription, while more recent games will be buy and play. Dying Light, Arkham Knight and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes were given as examples of the more premium titles.
In fact we got to see Ground Zeroes looking super lovely which - let's be honest - is damn impressive when you consider how Nvidia is delivering that to your TV. Just hope that your internet connection is good enough.
There will be over 50 games on the Grid store at launch, with "well over a hundred" by the end of the year.
- All the other news from GDC 2015
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Sony announces six new FE lenses for its full-frame CSCs
TechRadar has been shown six new full-frame FE mount lenses for Sony's A7-series compact system cameras. Actually, two of these are conversion lenses, but they way they've been designed to work means they deserve to be included in the total.
At the same time, we were treated to some short videos from the Sony lens designers, who work in teams of two – an optical designer and an engineer – and who are clearly rather proud of what they do!
Sony's A7-series full-frame CSCs are well-made, pro-spec cameras capable of first-rate images, and now they're getting a lens range to do them justice. With this latest announcement, Sony practically doubles the range to 13 different lenses.
This could be the key for Sony to break into the professional and serious enthusiast market. There's nothing wrong with its cameras – photographers just need to know there's a varied and high-quality lens range to go with them.
FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS (SEL24240)
Sony's first superzoom lens for its full-frame CSCs has a 10x 24-240mm zoom range. The 24mm minimum focal length is wider than average for a lens of this type, where 28mm is the norm, and Sony says the extra angle of view is a major advantage over rival lenses.
The new zoom has a sophisticated construction, with 1 ED and 5 aspheric lens elements. Sony describes the 24-240mm as 'compact and lightweight', though these things are relative and it feels pretty chunky on one of Sony's A7 bodies. Having said that, it's a lot shorter than its chief rival at full zoom.
The autofocus seemed fast and very quiet too, so this could be a neat and practical walkaround lens for A7 users who need to travel light.
The price is £860 (about US$1320/AU$1690) and Sony says the 24-240mm will be out any time now.
FE 28mm F2 (SEL28F20)
While the 24-240mm superzoom lens has the most impressive specs, the new 28mm f/2.0 is potentially more interesting. It can be used on its own as a fast and compact wideangle prime lens, but you can also attach one of two matching conversion lenses to give either an ultra-wide or a fisheye effect. The camera can recognise the converter that's been fitted and adjust the image's embedded EXIF data automatically.
These conversion lenses mount on the front of the 28mm f/2.0 with a precision-fit 'gapless' connection. The 28mm f/2.0 lens itself will cost £390 (about US$600/AU$770).
SEL075UWC ultra-wide converter
The SEL075UWC ultra-wide converter gives the 28mm lens a 21mm angle of view – a big increase, with the loss of just one f-stop in maximum aperture, down from f/2.0 to f/2.8 – and it will cost just £210 (about US$320/AU$410).
SEL057FEC fisheye converter
The SEL157FEC fisheye converter gives the 28mm f/2.0 lens an angle of view of 180 degrees, a maximum aperture of f/3.5 and costs just £270 (about US$410/AU$530).Conversion lenses aren't always renowned for their optical quality, but these are designed specifically to match the 28mm f/2.0 lens, and the test prints Sony brought along looked very impressive – and sharp from edge to edge.
What's especially exciting is that it means you can effectively get a fast wideangle lens, an ultra-wide lens and a fisheye for a lot less cash than if you bought three separate conventional lenses. We look forward to reviewing them properly when samples become available.
Zeiss Distagon T* FE 35mm F1.4 ZA (SEL35F14Z)
Sony Zeiss lenses are designed in conjunction with the famous lens maker (though actually made by Sony), and this is the first f/1.4 lens in Sony's full-frame FE lens line-up.
The specs look similar to other fast 35mm lenses, but Sony says the difference lies in the performance. It uses an internal focus system moving a heavy three-lens focus group, which is normally a recipe for slow and noisy autofocus, but Sony has employed a 'Direct Drive SSM' with a ceramic actuator and rubber shock absorption at the ends of the focus travel for quick, quiet and cushioned autofocus.
The Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 is the first Sony FE lens for stills photography with an aperture ring, but there's a switch on the side of the lens to swap between click-stop aperture settings for stills or smooth aperture adjustment for movies.
The 35mm f/1.4 will cost £1450 (about US$2220/AU$2850).
FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS (SEL90M28G)
The sixth and last new lens isn't expected until June 2015 or later. Again, the emphasis is on quality and performance, and this lens has a 'floating' focus system consisting of two focus groups moving independently, and with independent actuators. The enables Sony to adjust each lens at the factory for optimum performance.
Depth of field in macro shots is really shallow regardless of lens aperture, and Sony's designers have paid great attention to the appearance of out-of-focus backgrounds.
The 90mm f/2.8 macro has optical image stabilization built in and a 3-position focus limiter to speed up the autofocus operation when working with subjects further away from the camera.
The Sony 90mm f/2.8 macro will go on sale at £980 (about US$1500/AU$1920).
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GDC 2015: Nvidia Shield is both a console and the world's first 4K Android TV
Nvidia has been teasing a product that's been years in the making, and now we know what it is - a set-top box that wants to become the centrepiece of your living room.
Named the Nvidia Shield, the box will sit next to your TV and, running on Android, will offer high-end gaming and entertainment for the living room. This, Nvidia eagerly tells us, is the world's first 4K Android TV.
Designed to be the ultimate all-in-one device, Shield will let you browser through games, movies, YouTube videos, music and other media.
With the box comes a remote with one-click one-touch voice search button. There's also the option to plug headphones into the remote if you want some private viewing time.
Let's talk gaming
But Shield isn't just for the casual entertainment lovers - it's also made for serious gamers. "A set top box should also be able to game," said Nvidia President Jen-Hsun Huang.The console is powered by Tegra X1, meaning it massively overpowers rivals like Fire TV and Apple TV. It can deliver twice the performance of an Xbox 360 and at one fifth of the power, said Huang.
You'll be using Nvidia's Shield controller as your gamepad, which can run for 40 hours on a single charge. Like the remote, that's also itself loaded with a built-in mic to give you voice control from the sofa.
Nvidia will be using its new Shield Store as a home for all of its games, with 50 titles set to be ready for launch. Gearbox's Randy Pitchford took to the stage at GDC to show Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel running on Nvidia's new baby, where it will be available to buy from launch day.
Crytek also came on to shows us that, yes, it can run Crysis 3, which is being ported over to Android for the arrival of Shield. Other launch titles include Doom 3: BFG Edition, Portal, Half-Life 2, Borderlands 2 and The Talos Principle.
So let's talk money - the Shield will only cost $199 (about £180, AU $255), and you'll get a controller bundled with that when it ships this May in the US - other countries to follow.
What else is going down at GDC 2015?
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Hands-on review: GDC 2015: Project Morpheus
Update from GDC 2015: Sony wasted no time at San Francisco's Game Developer Conference, diving right into an update for its Project Morpheus VR headset.
The company showed off the newest version of the headgear, complete with a larger 5.7-inch OLED screen with 1920 x RGB x 1080 resolution. The field of view was stretched to 100 degrees, and Project Morpheus now supports an impressive 120fps output (a new SDK will let 60fps images output at 120fps, too). Thanks to three additional LEDS, tracking accuracy was improved on the new headset, and Sony claimed latency was addressed as well.
Following Oculus Rift's footsteps, Morpheus undertook some design improvements to make it lighter, more comfortable to wear, and easier to put on and take off. It now supports 3D audio and has a new feature called social screen, which lets users take the same gameplay they see inside their Morpheus and put it on a TV so other people can play along.
Improved specs aside, we got something even sweeter: Sony revealed the consumer version of Project Morpheus will launch in the first half of 2016. We're bound to get our hands on the headset during GDC 2015, so stay tuned for our take on the newest bit of Sony hardware.
We've already gotten our hands on the work-in-progress. Read on for in-depth coverage on Project Morpheus, or if you're in the mood to read Cameron Faulkner's impressions, who nearly flipped his lid upon first trying it, check that out here.
When the creator of Oculus Rift told us that he didn't think consoles were fit for virtual reality, I wondered if he might have a point. But as is the way with VR, seeing is believing, and having taken Morpheus for a spin there's no longer a doubt in my mind: virtual reality on the PS4 is going to be amazing.
Morpheus is in prototype right now. Sony told us that the final product will probably be quite different in both look and specs, but the current headset looks pretty damn slick nonetheless.
It certainly feels more "finished" than Oculus; not only does the main eyepiece look like a polished product, there's a dynamic plastic headstrap to boot. Getting it to fit wasn't too difficult and the headset felt secure enough for the purposes of the demo.
However it does feel like the weight balance needs addressing, and Sony will want to relocate some of those wires that I kept almost chewing on.There's also the tiniest of space near the bridge of your nose. It's not too distracting from the overall experience and, during the more intense sensations, served as an easy reminder that my feet are still planted safely in reality.
Morpheus hits the ground running with a 1080p display - some of you will never know the nausea that an SD screen with lag can induce. We asked Sony if its God of Dreams might end up in 4K however it didn't sound promising. As it is, Morpheus is satisfyingly crisp, but I did notice the occasional jaggedly-rendered object and felt the odd frame rate stutter. It's the same stuff we've seen with Oculus.
Morepheus's 90-degree field of vision does lose out to Oculus's 110 degrees but this is hardly noticeable - and likely to change come the final product.
Lost in space
The first game I tried was space simulator Eve: Valkyrie. Already a fan of Strike Suit Zero on the Oculus Rift, I was reasonably prepared for what was about to come.Hurtling through space, admiring the view of giant ships as you pass under them, dodging your way through asteroid fields - this is exactly the kind of stuff we all dreamed about when we were younger.
And even though I'd experienced space in VR before, there were a couple of barrel rolls that sent my stomach spinning.
It's clear that some people are more prone to feeling physically affected by VR than others, but the clarity and low latency of Morpheus in its current state mean the risks of nausea are low. I felt ok during my 10 minutes with Eve, but like I said, there were a couple of hairy moments.
Beyond the sea
But as great as space was, it was exploring the ocean depths that really set the pulse racing. The Deep, Sony's second demo, was a perfect tease at what's possible when you wed VR and horror.The game begins with you in a diving cage, floating near the surface of the ocean. What was different about this experience was that I was standing up so the game needed to account for this. Sure enough, when I squatted down I noticed my virtual legs bent at the same time, a feat made possible by the motion tracking.
It's these little touches that help make the experience that bit more immersive. As I sunk further down to the ocean depths, it became clear that I'd made an enemy among the aquatic wildlife as a shark began circling my cage.
The Deep wasn't a very interactive experience. I could look around me was holding a flare fun that would move with my real hands thanks to the motion-enabled Dualshock 4, however there were a couple of moments where I "broke" the connection between my real hands and my virtual ones.
As it turned out, the flare gun was about as effective as a bacon sandwich when the shark started ripping into the cage. But it was fantastic way to experience VR, especially with the lack of any form of HUD.
It was just me, under water, face to face with Jaws. And for a couple of brief moments it was absolutely terrifying.
Street Luge
Where The Deep represented pure fantasy as only a faux-holodeck experience could provide, the Street Luge stood out for its ability to make me cringe, wince, yelp and ultimately feel like I was on a roller coaster without the intense wind and bodily sensations.It started slow, allowing me to get used to the controls - lean left to drift left, lean right to go right. Then came my first car. I dodged left and, in doing so, earned a small speed boost. There was a timer ticking in the corner of my screen that I hadn't noticed before; this was one of virtual reality's first time trials.
More cars came and went as I slowly became comfortable balancing the hardware that was secured around my head and the bodily sensations I was starting to feel. I could look straight up at the clouds and left and right over the mountainside. If I hadn't been sharing the road with sedans and semi-trucks this would've been a relatively zen-like experience. Alas.
The crowning moment came when, unable to dodge left or right, I slid unscathed between an truck's wheels and looked up into its undercarriage. When I did eventually crash, however, the screen briefly flashed red before I slowed down some - there were no gruesome, Tomb-Raider-getting-impaled-on-a-tree-branch moments here.
I crossed the finish line with two minutes and thirty two seconds on the clock. Not bad for my first downhill run.
Morpheus Castle
The final demo was called Morpheus Castle, a smack-'em-up that served to demonstrate how Move can be used so brilliantly with Morpheus. You may have forgotten about Sony's Wiimote rival, but these glowy sticks may be about to have a serious comeback.By pressing the back triggers you'll curl your fingers into a fist. Extend them rapidly and you'll throw a punch. Because the PS Camera can track your position in a room, you'll be able to walk a few feet forwards and backwards - but not very far left or right.
You're asked to punch a hanging dummy. Complete the task and you're rewarded with your first weapon, a sword. I held the trigger on the back of the Move and I was able to cast the sword in huge arches, eventually lopped off the poor dummy's arms, legs and head.
This was a smooth, seamless experience and gave me hope that the Star Wars game we've always dreamed of - the one where lightsaber duels are not only plausible, but an enjoyable part of the game - are within arm's reach. (See what I did there?)
Next I grabbed a mace that, when extended, felt the force of gravity and hung low on its chain. I swing it a few times to get some momentum going and before long was using it to dismember a newly furnished foe.
After which was a crossbow demo, the least exciting part of my experience. I didn't need to hold down a button in the back this time and was only required to press the trigger when I had lined up a shot. The arrow tended to curve down and, while realistic, it felt a little unfulfilling in a so-far, so-good demo.
But as with the flare gun in The Deep, there was occasionally a disconnect between my virtual and real hands. There are clearly some technical boundaries when it comes to body motion with VR, and making them harder to break will be key to immersion.
Like the Playstation camera and the Dualshock 4's tracking blue light, Move suddenly makes a lot more sense with Morpheus. Sony's master plan is coming together.
Early verdict
The most frustrating thing about VR right now is trying to convey it with words. You really do have to see Project Morpheus (and, indeed, Oculus Rift) to believe it.There's still work to be done - edges were rough and objects seemed a little less than their HD display - but Sony is clearly determined to iron these out before it comes to market.
When that might be is hard to say. But take Morpheus for a spin and I guarantee you'll be as excited as I am for what virtual reality will offer. This is the missing piece of the PS4 puzzle, and it's a big one.
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GDC 2015: PS4 sales top 20 million, Sony reveals at GDC
Sony announced at GDC 2015 that it's sold 20.2 million PS4 consoles worldwide as of this month.
That doesn't 100% clear up who's winning between Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, since the most recent official Xbox One numbers came from last November, when Microsoft had shipped 10 million of the consoles.
- There are tons of cool gadgets coming this year
"We are so grateful for the enormous support from PlayStation fans worldwide, and we are truly humbled that gamers around the globe have continued to select PS4 as the best place to play," said Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House of the PS4's impressive sales.
It seems for now that Sony is ahead in the current console war, though we can't be totally sure - and even if it is, it's not by much. With both platforms doing everything they can to pull ahead the real winners at the moment are clearly gamers.
- The iPhone 6 is bigger, better, sleeker and faster
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Hands-on review: UPDATED: Pebble Time
Update: Pebble Time won't be alone thanks to newly announced Smartstraps and Pebble Time Steel, both explained below.
There were plenty of new wearables at MWC 2015, but it's the Pebble Time that's been the most convincing among Barcelona's sea of smartwatches.
It has already been funded by more than 53,000 enthusiastic backers and raised in excess of $10 million, the same amount the startup raised during the entire duration of the original Pebble campaign.
More than anything, though, Pebble has a track record of developing one of the best smartwatches in terms of performance, and it's one that works with both iOS 8 and Android.
No, it's not the premium Apple Watch, and it's not one of the many, many Android Wear smartwatches. It's simply a better-looking, better-functioning version of the original Pebble with the same goal: being a watch first and a smartwatch second.
Design
As someone who wears the Pebble Steel, I was a bit skeptical the new Pebble Time's plastic design. Was this watch enough of an upgrade to ditch my all-metal version?
Luckily, after trying it on, I can report that it doesn't feel or look as much like the toy-like original Pebble. The wrist-hugging lugs at the top and bottom have been reduced significantly.
Yes, there's still quite a bit of outer bezel, but it's not as large as before, and at least it's made out of stainless steel with rounded off corners and has an overall thinner frame.
Pebble Time, in a lot of ways, actually looks like a mostly plastic Apple Watch, as if Apple decided to unapologetically create an iPhone 5C version of its upcoming smartwatch.
There aren't as many colors for early adopters with three case choices at launch: black, white and red, and each have a specific silicon strap and stainless steel bezel colors. Like past Pebbles, more variety is likely to be introduced at a later date.
There's an all-black version that sports a black case, stainless steel black bezel and rubber-feeling black strap. The white case mixes things up with a white band, but silver bezel.
Pebble injects some color into the mix with its red model. It consists of a red watch case and silicone strap and a stainless steel black bezel.
Backers haven't been asked to decide on straps just yet. That will likely happen closer to May. But, of course, all will be interchangeable just like with the original Pebble and Pebble Steel.
Pebble Time supports 22mm straps, the standard common among wristwatches and they're just as easy to pull apart and change up. With a quick-release pin in back, they can be changed in about 10 seconds.
The overall design doesn't match the jewelry-level Steel, but it sits better on my wrist than any of the bulky Android Wear watches I have tested and it feels like something I could wear daily, at least during on casual occasions. Proper attire may have me reverting back to the Pebble Steel.
Display
Looking at the Pebble Time watch screen in person, I was able to see notifications even better than before for one reason: the new color e-paper display that rests behind scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass.
My demo at the Pebble booth began with a barebones watch face. It was nothing special at first. That changed when I began clicking the three buttons on the right side of the watch face.
All of a sudden, I saw animations spring into place. A cheery sun face greeted me with the weather and a mail icon zipped about when a message was sent.
The color screen makes it easier to recognize what you're seeing on the small watch face, which is great for quick glances. Moreover, it should be easier for readability in direct sunlight.
Pebble Time supports up to 64 colors and pushes 30 frames per second. It doesn't have a bright and color-rich AMOLED or P-OLED used by Samsung and LG, but there's a healthy color palette ready for app and game developers alike.
Battery life
Sticking with e-paper, Pebble Time achieves another stunning battery life victory: seven days on one charge. Yes, you can use a color smartwatch for a full week without taking it off.That really contrasts with almost every other color smartwatch out today. At best, Android Wear watches last a day and a half, but more often than not it's drained by the end of a day.
There are no official specs on the Apple Watch battery capacity, but Apple CEO Tim Cook did suggest that it'll require "daily charging." That's a deal-breaking for a whole bunch of people.
While I'll have to wear the Pebble Time for an extended period of time before I can confirm its battery performance, it's e-paper display seems to be a good trade-off for the convenience of 7:1 battery life.
Smartstraps
Smartwatches are often coupled with sensors to track everything from users' heart rates to their runs via GPS. Pebble had none of these, and that was fairly excusable in 2013.Today's backers, however, have been wondering where these fitness-focused must-haves are on the Pebble Time. It turns out, they're coming after all in the form of accessories.
The plan is to have "Smartstraps," as Pebble calls them, hook into a special port on the back of the watch, one that I thought was just a normal smartwatch charging port. Nope.
Smartstrap possibilities including embedding a battering-hogging GPS chip only when it really matters or a heart-rate sensor when you decide to monitor your real-time beats per minute.
Pebble even floated the idea of adding even more battery life to the the already-long-lasting Pebble Time. "Want four weeks between charges?," it teased.
Right now the Smartstraps concept is open to developers and hackers who want to tinker with the idea of helping craft the future of Pebble Time. The company figures, its dedicated community has done it before with apps, so why not add customizable hardware too?
Pebble says it'll make some straps on its own too, but which and when remains to be seen. Right now, it's asking partners to contact the company with a vague timeline of "later this year." That appointment is going to remain in my "future" menu on my Pebble's Timeline for quite a while.
Is Pebble Time Steel a better choice?
A week shy of its Kickstarter launch, the smartwatch-focused startup added a premium version of the new Pebble to its already-funded campaign.
In shape, size and Smartstrap compatibility, the Pebble Time Steel is more like an all-metal version of the plastic Pebble Time rather anything that resembles the oddly-shaped Pebble Steel.
The big differences? It's built from machined stainless steel, is just 1mm thicker than the plastic version and, instead of 7 days, has a whopping 10 days of battery life - the most of any modern smartwatch.
- Check out Apple Watch vs Pebble Time Steel
Early verdict
Pebble Time is the true sequel to the original Pebble, and its color e-paper display is the most obvious hardware perk. It's easier to see what's on the screen in an instant.It looks and feels better than the first Pebble, though it's not going to fool anyone into thinking you're wearing a real watch like the jewelry-level Pebble Time Steel.
That's okay if you want an inexpensive smartwatch that's about half the price of an Apple Watch. Pebble Time will be $199 (about £129, AU$256) at retail, but it's still available for $179 (about £116, AU$229) on Kickstarter
The true test for Pebble Time is going to come with daily use. It works with iOS and Android and has fun animations broken up into past, present and future menus. That could end up being its biggest selling point if it's laid out just right. Time will tell.
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GDC 2015: Valve just announced its plans for Steam Machines… and Source 2
We've been expecting big things from Valve at GDC 2015, and it's just delivered the motherload.
First, fulfilling its promise from months ago, it announced its plans for the long-overdue Steam Machines. They'll be launching in the fall, but Valve is releasing a device called Steam Link, a $50 (about £32, $64) streaming box that will let you broadcast games from the PC to the TV. That will support 1080p at 60Hz with low latency.
Valve also confirmed the final specs of its Steam Controller, which we'll be wrapping our hands around this week. The Controller will have both touch (haptic pads still in place, then) and motion capabilities.
Third was VR, with Valve revealing a piece of software called Lighthouse ahead of the launch of its HTC Vive headset. This will let VR headsets calculate their surrounding environment.
"We continue to see very strong growth in PC Gaming, with Steam growing 50% in the last 12 months," said Valve president Gabe Newell. "With these announcements we hope that we are helping build on that momentum."
One more thing
But there was one final surprise from Gabe Newell and co - Source 2. Valve announced the next generation of its game engine, which will be available for free to content developers.This is a pretty big deal, as the original Source was launched over 10 years ago. The first Source debuted with the launch of Counter-Strike: Source, so we can probably expect some sort of game announcement from Valve very soon.
Nobody say it.
- Everything else going down at GDC 2015
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How I went to MWC 2015 without leaving home
Roaming MWC 2015
This week at Mobile World Congress, we've seen HTC and Samsung launch their hottest flagship smartphones for 2015. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the trip to Barcelona, Spain, but that didn't stop me from having a virtual presence at the show.The internet allows me to stream audio and video, Google Hangouts and Microsoft's Skype technology let me take calls with partners and executives, and telepresence technologies, like the BeamPro and Beam+, bring me virtually to MWC so I can take face-to-face meetings.
While similar in scope to video conferencing solutions, telepresence makes technology more personal and engaging. This means I can work from home with a telepresence robot in the office and follow my colleagues around as they move between conference rooms, rather than requiring my in-office attendees to be tethered to a laptop or re-dial into a video call when they transition between different meeting spaces.
Design
The design of the $16,950 (£11,040, AU$21,685) BeamPro and $1,995 (£1,300, AU$2,560) Beam+ gives other meeting participants a sense that you're physically present. One way to describe the solution is that it's a non-autonomous robot on wheels that looks like a monitor mounted to a stand that's affixed to a Segway. The monitor shows your face, and BeamPro gives your virtual call a physical presence in the room.
Measuring 62 x 15 x 25 inches or 157.5 x 38.1 x 63.5 cm (H x W x D), the BeamPro has a 17-inch mounted display that shows your face in life-size proportion, a six-microphone array, integrated speakers, and an eight-hour battery life.
The Beam+ is slightly more compact at 53 x 12 x 14 inches or 134.6 x 35.6 x 30.5 cm (H x W x D), and it is designed for small office and home use. The Beam+ has a smaller 10-inch display, 4-microphone array, integrated speakers, and eight-hour battery life.
At the top, a wide-angle camera is mounted to give you a view of your surroundings, similar to what you would see if you were walking down a conference hall at MWC.
On the bottom, the wheels and motors allow you to move and steer either Beam units remotely with either a keyboard or mouse. BeamPro can reach speeds up to 2mph, and you can control how fast or slow BeamPro accelerates.
To avoid obstacles while maneuvering Beam, a second wide-angled camera is angled downwards, giving you a clear view of where Beam is headed. This allows you to steer clear of obstructions to your path, avoid running over someone's toes, and see where stairs are so you don't accidentally tumble. It's similar to a backup camera mounted to the rear of a car for parking assistance.
Beam me up!
Beaming works when you have a telepresence BeamPro or Beam+ unit set up at a remote location. In my case, a BeamPro was set up in Barcelona on the show floor of Mobile World Congress. On my Mac at home, I downloaded the Beam software, connected to the BeamPro unit, and steered my telepresence robot around the show floor.
Using BeamPro, I interviewed conference attendees, virtually "walked" the show floor by steering BeamPro, and engaged in lively discussions and viewed demos from the comfort of my desk - things that would not have been possible with a simple video conference solution alone. In essence, it gave my a physical presence at MWC without requiring downtime for flights.
I wouldn't have been able to frequent the various booths or get live demos, see attendee reactions, or experience the excitement with traditional video conference. While traditional video conferencing is designed for a quiet room, BeamPro takes me to the heart of the action.
Similarly, executives could use BeamPro to attend meetings at the office while they're traveling for work or check in on the manufacturing facility in China from a design office from, say, Cupertino, California.
Pluses and minuses
Beaming with benefits
It's the mobility of BeamPro that sets it apart from a static setup of using a video conference solution on a desktop. Rather than requiring the other party be tethered to their computer for the call, BeamPro's wheels and motors allow me to follow and move with my colleagues. Although I used BeamPro to travel to MWC, telepresence could take me to a facility in China or take a leisurely stroll through the Detroit Institute of Arts museum.Additionally, in a meeting, BeamPro makes video conferencing more dynamic and engaging. Rather than forcing my meeting attendees in a conference room to look at a video screen, I can have a "face-to-face" meeting and give attendees "eye contact" when using BeamPro.
Turning Beam Pro slightly to the left, I can be talking to the colleague in the next chair over, and a shift of Beam Pro to the right focuses my attention and the conversation to my colleague on the other side in a meeting.
Beam+ is a lighter unit designed for smaller spaces. The four-microphone array isn't as good at canceling background noises as the six-microphone setup on BeamPro. Additionally, the Beam+ speakers don't crank out as much volume as on the Pro.
With Beam+, you can check in on grandma at home or talk to the kids as they're getting back from school.
Another difference is that BeamPro allows more users to connect to a single unit. The unit requires an annual subscription fee of $3,200 (£2,100, AU$4,100) for access to the Beam Site Admin tools for managing multiple users, organizations, access times and beams.
There is no subscription cost at this time for Beam+, but there may be added costs in the future for premium features or tools.
Limitations
A downside in mobility with both Beam models is that neither can handle stairs. If you need to get to a different level in a building, you'll need to use elevators or handicap-accessible ramps. Additionally, with a slow speed of 2 mph, don't expect to go anywhere quickly with BeamPro.That said, I was never able to move rapidly around MWC as the technology piqued the curiosity of onlookers who stopped in front of the machine, blocking my path forward. Because of the footprint, it is also harder to squeeze through a crowd.
For the price, I would have liked a higher resolution for video. My VGA video feed from MWC was a bit too grainy. The BeamPro should have been equipped with at least a 720p main camera coupled with a higher resolution display on the unit. Another useful feature that could be added in a future model is the ability to tilt or articulate the camera upwards or downwards.
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UPDATED: Netflix Australia: the content line-up so far
Netflix Originals
UPDATE: Netflix has announced release dates for an upcoming wave of Netflix Originals – details below.With Netflix officially arriving on our shores on March 24, Australians are eager to see what all the fuss is about, and also keen to find out how it compares to the U.S. version of the service.
The recent launch of the Stan streaming service has proven that Australians are ready to adopt online streaming as the entertainment delivery method of the future, which puts the market in a good place leading into Netflix's launch.
Still, the question remains: will Australian Netflix deliver the goods in terms of content?
With that in mind, we've put together a comprehensive list of Australian Netflix's confirmed licensing partners and content line-up so far, and will be keeping it up-to-date as more announcements are made.
Netflix Originals - Present
Netflix Australia will be launching with original shows that are already available overseas, such as Marco Polo, Netflix's most expensive original show to date, with a budget of US$90 million.
Complimenting that historical, martial arts epic is the animated comedy series BoJack Horseman, starring Will Arnett as a washed-up '90s sitcom star who just happens to be a horse, Alison Brie as the ghost writer of his autobiography and Aaron Paul as his human roommate Todd.
Netflix also has the acclaimed original documentaries Virunga about the preservation of life the Congo, as well as the oceanography documentary Mission Blue.
The service also produces stand-up comedy specials like Chelsea Handler's Uganda Be Kidding Me Live, and Jim Jefferies: BARE.
Netflix has also confirmed that Kids and Family Originals shows The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Ever After High: Spring Unsprung and Mako Mermaids will all be available to watch when the service launches in Australia.
Netflix Originals - Future
On a lighter note, the comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is due for an American Netflix release on March 6, promising a light-hearted look at life in New York starring Ellie Kemper as the titular Kimmy, and Jane Krakowski as her boss.
One of the most eagerly-anticipated Netflix Original shows in the pipeline is Marvel's Daredevil, which is Marvel Studios' first attempt at creating original material for the service.
Debuting on April 10, Marvel's Daredevil is one of four Marvel Studios TV shows heading to Netflix, with individual series' A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist on the way, eventually leading into the Avengers-style team-up mini-series, The Defenders.
Famous for creating The Matrix trilogy, the Wachowskis will be bringing their unique blend of sci-fi thrills to Netflix in the new series Sense8 on June 5, about a group of 8 people around the world whose senses are connected in a mysterious way.
A new series called Gracie and Frankie is due to arrive on the service in May, and stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as two 'frenemies' whose husbands leave them for each other.
We can also confirm that all three seasons of the flagship Netflix Original show House of Cards will be available on Netflix at launch, despite initial reports that the Australian version of the service would lack the first two seasons due to local rights issues.
Fans of David Wain's 2001 summer camp comedy film Wet Hot American Summer have plenty to cheer about – Netflix has commissioned a prequel series to the cult classic called Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, which will debut on the service in its entirety on July 17.
Despite many of the original cast members having hit superstardom since the film's release, everyone will be back, including Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Rudd, Michael Ian Black, Judah Friedlander, Janeane Garofalo, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Christopher Meloni, Marguerite Moreau, Zak Orth, Amy Poehler, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon and Michael Showalter.
The new Canadian survivalist thriller series Between will be coming to the service in May, about a small town where everyone over the age of 21 has died.
Spanish-language content is also on the way, with the announcement of Netflix's first Spanish-language original series Club de Cuervos, which is currently shooting in Mexico, and the Pablo Escobar drug cartel drama Narcos, also on the way.
No word yet on whether the first two seasons of Orange is the New Black will be available, though the third season is confirmed to arrive on the service on June 12.
Netflix has also just announced that it has acquired the war thriller Jadotville, starring Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) and Guillaume Canet (Tell No One), which will go into production in April and will premiere on Netflix across all territories in 2016.
There are also more stand-up comedy specials on the way to the service, with Chris D'Elia: Incorrigible arriving on April 17, Jen Kirkman: I'm Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine) coming on May 22.
On top of that, Netflix will also be resurrecting the cancelled series Longmire, with a fourth season in the works for the service which has also been confirmed for Australia.
Finally, Netflix will also be bringing the Nina Simone documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? to the service on June 26, after its successful debut at Sundance.
Content Partners
When you wish upon a stream
Netflix's deal with The Walt Disney Company is one of its biggest wins in the battle for streaming supremacy in Australia, giving the service a large selection of popular content from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm.Confirmed Pixar content includes such as films as Cars, Monsters Inc. and UP, while Marvel Studios will be providing the service with Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Walt Disney Animation Studio will be providing the highest-grossing animated film of all time Frozen, as well as Tangled and Big Hero 6, and other Disney favourites like Saving Mr. Banks, Maleficent, Muppets Most Wanted and Planes will also be appearing on the service.
In terms of television shows, the Disney deal brings with it Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Jake and the Never Land Pirates from Disney Junior, the Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie and ABC Studios' hit series Lost.
While some of those films and shows might make their way over to other streaming services, the Disney deal lists Guardians of the Galaxy, Maleficent and Big Hero 6 as Netflix exclusives in the months after launch.
Let's get this show on the road!
Bringing another licensing partner into its fold, Netflix Australia has announced a deal with Roadshow Entertainment that will bring a wealth of content to the service, including exclusive content and locally-sourced material.Roadshow Entertainment, which also provides content to rival streaming service Stan, will be providing film content such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Matrix trilogy, and the Ocean's Eleven trilogy, as well as the Aussie classics Happy Feet and Bran Nue Dae and comedies Zoolander and Wedding Crashers.
The deal also grants Netflix the exclusive Australian streaming rights to British TV dramas Broadchurch and The Tunnel.
Will the real media streaming service please "stand up"?
Among some of the specials to be launching are: Carl Barron: A One Ended Stick; Arj Barker: Harvest; Kitty Flanagan: Hello Kitty; Jimeoin: Something Smells Funny, and Umbilical Brothers: The Rehearsal.
The deal that makes these comedy specials possible is with Beyond Distribution, which is also responsible for cult classic MythBusters, plus kids shows Mako Mermaids, H2O: Just add water, Lightning Point, Maya the Bee, Lalaloopsy, and The Hive.
Naturally, these shows will also be appearing on Netflix Australia when it launches next month, although don't expect every episode from every show at once.
RIght. So is that it?
While there's bound to be a much bigger range of content to watch when Australian Netflix launches on March 24, the films and TV shows listed here are the only ones that have been confirmed by a Netflix announcement.That said, we will be regularly updating this content line-up listing as more information becomes available to us.
- Netflix vs Stan – which is Australia's best streaming service?
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GDC 2015: This is Sony's new Project Morpheus, launching in the first half of 2016
Today at GDC, Sony Computer Entertainment boss Shuhei Yoshida took to the stage at a special event to reveal how Project Morpheus is coming along. Turns out, quite nicely.
Morpheus already had us impressed, but the new HMD packs an 1920 x RGB x 1080 OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, while the 5.7-inch screen (up from last year's five inches) offers a 100 degree field of view.
More amazingly, developers can render their games at 60fps but achieve a 120fps output using something called "reprojection". These are some meaty specs.
Coming next year
Even better, Yoshida confirmed that Project Morpheus will launch to consumers in the "first half of 2016", giving developers another year to get their content lined up. It sounds like dev kits have been shipping out to developers by the truckload.The design of the updated Morpheus looks mostly the same although there's now an extra tracking light in the centre of the headset's face, along with two other new ones on the headset, bringing the total number of LEDs up to nine.
Overall, the HMD is now lighter and more comfortable to use, says Sony. We'll be going hands on with it soon so stay tuned for the verdict.
And according to Yoshida, this is almost the final version of the headset. It looks like Sony is rather keen on the general design - as are we - so you can expect the market-ready Morpheus to look pretty similar to what you're looking at now.
- Everything else going down at GDC 2015
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Wearable wage: watch payments incoming from Optus
Left your wallet at home? Just pay with your phone. Left your phone behind? Pay with your watch!
Optus has announced it will be expanding its Cash by Optus NFC payment app later in the year with a proof of concept (POC) that will include Apple handsets and wearables running both iOS and Android.
The contactless payment app, powered by Visa PayWave, will soon enable users to make purchases without having their wallet or phone at hand – no more bulky pockets.
Smartphone-free
While most wearables need a linked handset to access their full functionality, Optus claims this will not be the case when making wearable payments via Cash by Optus.Once the app is updated, users will be able to make wearable payments without a connected handset. Then, once the wearable is back in range of the smartphone it will sync up via Bluetooth, updating the user's account balance.
Cash by Optus enables contactless payments under $100 – no, you won't be buying a new car via your watch – and is currently available to Optus customers on monthly plans with a compatible Android handset.
- New ways to pay are great, but sometimes cash is safer. Apple Pay has become a target for fraudsters.
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Presto app coming to Telstra T-Box
With the news that Netflix is launching all guns blazing on pretty much every device you own on March 24, you may have been wondering how rival Foxtel Presto was going to respond.
The answer, it seems is by partnering with the nation's largest telco, Telstra, signing a reseller agreement that will allow the service to be bundled with Telstra services.
While there's a lot of opportunities for the brands to work together, the most exciting is the confirmation that a Presto app will "soon launch" on Telstra's T-Box set top box.
This marks the first instance that Presto will be available on a device that connects directly to a big screen, instead of relying on a Chromecast for wireless streaming.
Un-box the app
More than just T-Box though, the reseller arrangement means that Telstra can start bundling the service to eligible customers now. So they have.Pre-paid Telstra mobile customers who activate their account before May 25 will get a three month subscription to the Presto service for free.
Post-paid customers aren't completely left out in the cold either, with new and recontracting Telstra post-paid customers across mobiles, tablets and mobile broadband also getting the three month deal.
Metre by metre
Telstra broadband customers also benefit from the partnership, with the telco confirming that fixed-line customers (as well as Foxtel Broadband customers) will be able to stream without incurring any data usage.The same unmetering sadly doesn't apply to mobile customers – who could arguably use it more – although the day that video streaming services are unmetered in this country is a long, long way away.
It's all a pretty useful leg up for Presto, in a market that is getting more competitive every day.
- Shall we sound the funeral bells for Quickflix now?
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in depth: Alienware, MSI and Origin weigh in on the age of upgradable laptops
Upping the game
Unlike desktops, notebooks are notorious for being disposable. Buying a notebook usually comes with the expectation you'll toss after a few years in favor of something newer, complete with a faster processor, beefier graphics card or more storage. But as this year's crop of gaming laptops shows, this throw-it-away mentality isn't necessarily the case anymore.Just look at MSI, which will replace mobile graphics cards on its bulkiest gaming laptops after a user has owned the machine for some time. Meanwhile, Origin has fitted its latest EON15-X and EON17-X gaming laptops with desktop processors, complete with a socketed connection for easily swappable components. In the last few months, we've seen two GPU boxes from Alienware and MSI that allow hardware tweakers to plug in a desktop graphics card, potentially opening up their system to years of upgrades.
Easy upgradability has been a hallmark of desktop computers, but now it's starting to spill over to gaming laptops. To get a handle on this modular movement, we talked to the top notebook manufacturers about the advantages of an upgradable laptop, and take a look at why it hasn't come to more consumer machines - yet.
Under the hood
The MSI GT80 Titan is better known as one of the most insane gaming laptops thanks to its built-in mechanical keyboard, but hardcore PC gamers are equally drawn to its simple upgradability. Undo two screws and the entire front top pops off, giving you access to the flash storage, memory, hard drive and optical drive.What's more, users can send their laptop back to MSI for a hot new graphics card. Typically servicing your laptop means fixing a problem, but for the last few years the Taiwanese computer maker has offered GPU upgrades for users who want to keep their systems up to date.
MSI's Clifford Chun told TechRadar that a lot of users buy new laptops when the next generation of graphics cards comes out. However, with this upgrade path, users keep using their machines for longer and stretching their dollars in the process.
"That way they're not spending $2,000 for one year, they're actually spending it for three years or longer," Chun said.
Rather than permanently soldering the graphics card to the laptops logic board, MSI has employed an MXM card connection that it can easily unplug and replace.
"It's very easy to just pull out the fan [and] the thermal modules and the MXM card will just slide out, letting you put in a new one," Chun said.
Putting the desktop in laptop
MSI isn't the only company to offer MXM card-based GPU upgrades. Origin provides the same service and now it's taking the modular concept of laptops to an even higher level with a desktop processor inside its latest EON15-X and EON17-X gaming machines.
Origin Marketing Manager Eddy Piedra said it's exactly the same CPU you would find in a full-size desktop from the part to the LGA 1150 socket it plugs into. This in turn means the processor is not soldered to the motherboard, allowing users to send their laptop back to the manufacturer for an easy processor replacement.
Piedra explained that the desktop processor is more beneficial for users who edit video and use other processor-heavy pro applications. At the same time, the beefier CPU is useful for games with lots of artificial intelligence-driven characters such as Elder Scrolls Skyrim and Civilization V.
There are more advantages than just performance as Piedra told us: "the [Intel] 4790K processor is half the price of the extreme mobile processor, so just overall the system is cheaper to begin with and we have really good overclocking abilities [too]."
This isn't the first time Origin has made a gaming laptop with a desktop processor humming inside. Three years ago, the boutique computer maker came out with an EON17-X, based on the Clevo P570WM, rocking an Intel Sandy Bridge processor.
"On the old unit [it] had a desktop processor and it was an SLI system, so you used to have dual 300-watt AC adapter to power it," Tony Berry, Origin's mobile product manager, said. "These notebooks now with the single GPU and desktop processor use a 230-watt, really slim AC adapter. It's kind of crazy how things have changed in just a few years."
Despite running with a desktop processor again, Origin says it's worked closely with Clevo to develop a compact system. The new EON17-X is 37% thinner and 30% lighter compared to the older model. This is thanks to Origin dumping the optical drive and creating a unified cooling system with one big heat sink for both the CPU and GPU.
More than a laptop
Maxing out graphics
Processors aren't the only desktop part coming to laptops. Both MSI and Alienware have created GPU boxes that allow you to connect a full-size graphics card to a laptop for the full-on desktop gaming experience.
So far the concept has proven sound from our time with the MSI GS30 Shadow with GamingDock. As we discovered during the course of our GS30 Shadow review, pairing the Intel Core i7-powered laptop with a high-end GPU gave us as much performance throughput as a desktop rig.
The only problem is MSI's system requires users to fully shut down their gaming laptop as well as use an external monitor, keyboard and mouse, all of which turns it into more of a dockable desktop. Alienware, on the other hand, has created a much more flexible system with its Graphics Amplifier, which allows users to push the extra performance from the desktop graphics card directly into the laptop and its built-in display.
As Joe Olmsted, director, Alienware products, told TechRadar, "[Alienware's] goal was to give [their] customer the full functionally of their notebooks." This includes using the notebook's LCD screen, keyboard, touch pad and ports while offering even more expandability through the GPU's own external video ports.
Olmsted explained Alienware wanted to produce a solution that helps gamers drive the QHD and 4K screens found on its larger-than-life gaming laptops, such as the Alienware 17. More importantly, it's a solution that will allow users to extend the life of their mobile gaming rig.
"I personally would want the fastest GPU I could afford and be able to put in virtually any card that comes in the future," Olmsted quipped. As it stands, the Alienware Graphics Amplifier comes with two 375-watt slot cards, which should take anything except the single highest-end card AMD card or the Nvidia Titan Z.
"If my friend just upgraded his gaming desktop to a Nvidia GTX 980 card and gave me his 780 Ti, it would be nice to kick the performance of that Alienware M17x up a notch," he said, giving an example of what the Graphics Amplifier can do for users. Olmstead wasn't ready to say a desktop graphics bump could extend the life of a gaming notebook by three years, but it could help customers get off the cycle of upgrading their notebooks so quickly.
The long road to mainstream
Of course, there are some downsides to having easily upgradable components. For starters, a soldered connection will always be thinner than any socketed plug or circuit linking together over a bridge. It's for this reason MXM cards and desktop CPUs are reserved to thicker gaming machines such as Origin's EON17-X and EON15-X.
These are also upgrades you won't likely see on Ultrabooks or anything less than a gaming machine that stands on the bleeding edge of performance. That said, the here and now is an extremely exciting time for those who already own or are interested in investing in a gaming laptop. Mobile and desktop components have never been closer in performance and it's a trend that will likely only continue in the near term.
Beyond gaming laptops, notebooks have generally become thinner rather than modular. Take the MacBook Air - it's is stunningly slim, measuring 0.68 inch (170 mm) thick, but at the cost of irremovable components, including memory that's fixed to a logic board.
However, experiments like Project Ara have shown smartphones can be modular, which then inspired notebook maker One Laptop Per Child to start designing a hybrid-device of its own. Larger manufacturers have yet to express interest in making upgradable laptops, but for now gamers may have a glimpse of the future.
- The gaming hardware arms race is a boon for the PC gaming renaissance
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GDC 2015: AMD LiquidVR aims to make better virtual reality ... on AMD hardware
AMD, too, is dipping a toe into virtual reality, the company announced today at GDC 2015 - but thankfully not with yet another VR headset.
Instead, the component maker's VR initiative involves a development kit called LiquidVR, which it hopes will enable developers to make better virtual reality on AMD hardware.
AMD says LiquidVR lets developers make virtual reality with less latency and better comfort and performance, as well as plug-and-play capabilities for a variety of VR headsets.
"Content, comfort, and compatibility are the cornerstones of our focus on VR at AMD and we're taking a big step in all three areas with the introduction of LiquidVR today," AMD Corporate Vice President of Visual Computing Raja Koduri said in a press release.
The company has partnered with Oculus Rift and other "key VR developers" to further improve its initiative, of which LiquidVR is only the first part.
An alpha version of the LiquidVR dev kit is available to registered developers starting today.
- The iPad Pro: is it still happening?
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Updated: Valve Steam Machine release date, news and features
Every Steam Machine, and the latest Steam Controller
Update: Valve is set to spill a load of information on its Steam Machines, including the revised controller and its Vive virtual reality headset, at GDC 2015. However CyberPowerPC, one of Valve's early Steam Machine partners, has got in there first, announcing a slew of new Steam boxes that will be available later this year.Once there was a world where PC gaming was at the desk, console gaming was in the living room and never the two shall meet. That's all coming to a close now, as Valve prepares to bring Steam to your HDTV thanks to the Steam Box.
If you're unfamiliar with Steam, think of it as iTunes for video games, with a buddy list and chat for joining your friend's games. It started off on Windows PCs, but now has a healthy number of titles for Mac, too.
Valve's Steam Machines are set to shake up tradition, bringing PC gaming to the living room TV. They won't actually be built by Valve - third part manufacturers will be putting together their own boxes - but Valve will be injecting them with SteamOS, its currently-in-beta, Linux-based operating system.
A point of clarification: Valve seems to prefer the term Steam Machine, while manufacturers keep calling their products Steam Boxes. We'll be using the two terms interchangeably in this article until someone, somewhere declares the Steam Machine the official name.
- Read more: SteamOS: what you need to know
Perhaps because of that, a lot of the phrasing in Valve's SteamOS reveal treats Steam and the SteamOS interchangeably.
Still, Valve's goals with Steam Machines and SteamOS are clear: give PC gaming the ease and accessibility that console jockeys already enjoy, and do so in a way that lets OEMs make the hardware and compete.
And put Steam right at the center of it, ready to vacuum up the cash like it's the Steam summer sale all year long.
2015: The new year of the Steam Machine
A tricky part of the Steam Machines will be input, and Valve is trying to solve the problem with its own Steam Controller, which is part of the reason the Steam Machines are taking so damn long to arrive. Valve's gamepad has undergone a number of iteration on its journey to launch, but the final version is set to be revealed at GDC 2015.Last year, Valve announced it has taken user feedback into account and decided to take the controller back to the drawing board.
"It's generating a ton of useful feedback, and it means we'll be able to make the Controller a lot better," Valve's blog post read. Making sure the controller is absolutely spot-on seems to be a huge priority for Valve, and rightfully so.
Valve will reveal the final product at GDC, along with a bunch of new machines and Valve's virtual reality headset, the HTC Vive. Will the final gamepad keep the controversial haptic feedback pads? All will be revealed soon...
Hands on with Alienware's Steam Machine at E3
Since Lily Prasuethsut went hands on with the Alpha at E3 2014, she has seen its final user interface in screen shots. Check out here most recent impressions of the Alienware Steam Machine.Alienware went through eight revisions over two years in collaboration with Valve before it came to its final Steam Machine. That's how serious Alienware claims to be about Valve's hardware initiative.
Now it seems the Steam Machine with the alien head logo could be one of the first to hit the market. Dell plans on releasing the Alienware Alpha regardless of whether the Steam Machine program goes live this year. And at E3 2014, we got some extra hands on time with the device, now known as Alpha and with finalized specs.
Hands on with Valve's Steam Controller at GDC 2014
Valve has almost entirely transformed the face of its Steam Box controller since we last saw it at CES 2014. Now, the company is set on getting the input device to market by holiday 2014, so it can be bundled with every make and model of Steam Box, and sold separately at a "competitive" price point. That said, a few planned features have been put on the back burner, if not tossed out entirely. Regardless, it's still a novel and functional method of control.While it's disappointing to see Valve ditch a unique feature like the controller's touchscreen, the company has a history of going back to the drawing board to much success. When the controller and Steam Machines come out this holiday season, it won't be prying the keyboard and mouse from fingers, it'll be joining them.
We go even more in depth on the new changes to Valve's divisive input device in text form. Read all about them in our updated hands on Steam Controller review.
The Steam Box is coming. Half-Life 3 confirmed?
Hmmm, maybe. At least that's what Counter Strike co-creator Minh Le suggested in an interview with goRGNtv. "I think it's kind of public knowledge, that people know that it is being worked on," Le said. "And so if I were to say that yeah, I've seen some images, like some concept art of it, that wouldn't be big news to be honest.""I guess I could say that I did see something that looked kinda like in the Half-Life universe," said Le.
Will Half-Life 3 launch alongside the first wave of Steam Machines? Well it makes sense, though perhaps Portal 3 would be better suited to Valve's virtual reality headset...
Steam Box hardware partners unveiled at CES 2014
CES 2014 wasn't really a gaming show, but thanks to the Steam Machines, games dominated the headlines this year. Well, games and Michael Bay's Samsung implosion.Before introducing the world to its thirteen official hardware partners, Valve's head honcho Gabe Newell addressed the crowd. It was an informal chat, Newell fielded questions from the crowd and teased that 3 million Xbox One sales still puts Microsoft's console behind Steam's install base.
Newell: Dota 2 is "bigger than Monday night football."
Then came the prototypes, from behind a literal curtain. PC building moguls such as Alienware, Origin, Maingear, Gigabyte and more were represented. See them all on display in the video below.
All the Steam Boxes from CES 2014
What Steam Machines were before and after CES
Here's a look into the past at what Steam Machines were shaping up to be in early 2014. Enjoy the extra context of exactly how much the Steam Boxes have changed in the short time since their unveiling. Spoiler: they changed. A lot. (Especially that controller, seen below.)Watch our hands on with Valve's Steam Controller at CES 2014
And now that Valve's Devdays are in full swing, pictures are coming in off Twitter of a controller with a newly redesigned layout, featuring two four-button clusters.
Steam Machines to debut at CES 2014
To the surprise of many, gaming stole the headlines at CES 2013. Now just a few weeks from CES 2014, it's looking like the same thing will happen all over again, thanks to the Steam Box.Or should we say Steam Boxes? Multiple manufacturers, including iBuyPower and Digital Storm, have given us glimpses of their designs, with the promise of more to come at the show in Vegas early next year.
Both manufacturers are well known in the gaming enthusiast space, and we'd be shocked if more companies that specialize in gaming didn't reveal designs over their own. Valve's idea behind making the SteamOS free and open source is to encourage multiple builds to let customers choose the machine that's right for them. Expect serious competition as hardware manufacturers fight to convince the consumer where to spend their Steam Box dollar.
The original Steam Machine prototype
Valve's Steam Box prototype
While Valve seems sets on producing the SteamOS and leaving it to third-party OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) to build the Steam Machines, that hasn't stopped it from producing and distributing its own prototypes.300 lucky Steam users have been selected as beta testers. They each received a nondescript wooden case housing the new gaming gear, and one of them was kind enough to produce an unboxing video that's garnered hundreds of thousands of views.
Units are shipping with a variety of specifications, ranging from i7 to i3 builds, a variety of Nvidia Geforce graphics cards. This is inline with past comments by Valve CEO Gabe Newell, who has said Steam Machines will builds will go from "good, better, best," with some machines capable of playing games locally, while others will rely on streaming.
Steam Box prototypes shipped in 2014 to 300 lucky gamers
Valve has come out and said it. "This year we're shipping just 300 of these boxes to Steam users, free of charge, for testing." There are instructions to opt into a beta Valve's Steam Machine page. They're rather simple, and seem designed to confirm that you're active Steam user.
Valve has reiterated that while it is making these intial prototypes, multiple manufacturers will be making Steam Boxes of disparate configurations, saying that this will give users a choice, and not force them into a one size must fit all situation.
How open will this Steam Box beta be?
Very open, it would seem from the FAQ on Valve's site. Questions like can I install another OS, post pictures of the thing online or change the hardware are all answered with a resounding yes.It also goes on to say that users will be able to build their own Steam Boxes, and Valve will providing access to the SteamOS source code.
Wait, how will a Linux-based Steam Box play my Windows games?
Through streaming, of course! Valve released its in-home streaming service from beta and into the hands of the gamers, meaning you can go play with it right now.The new feature lets you stream games from a Windows PC to either a Steam Machine or another Windows computer. Support for streaming from SteamOS, Linux and Max OSX is coming soon, says Valve.
The Nvidia Shield does just that, allowing you to stream a Windows game from your PC to an Android device.
Of course, having the Steam Box be dependent on the PC we assume you own is not without its faults. First off, it's tying up that machine, so no one else can use it. Second, you're still caught in the expensive upgrade cycle of PC gaming.
So there will be Steam Boxes, plural?
Yes. Valve's open SteamOS will be available to whoever will have it, and they can create whatever sort of machine they like to run. At least Valve hasn't publicized any planned restrictions.It won't be like the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, where you have the Sony system and the Microsoft system with their own libraries. Multiple configurations mean competition, which will hopefully drive innovation and keep things affordable.
It will also means a lot of different models all claiming to be the best Steam Box for your money, so picking one won't be as simple as deciding if you like Uncharted better than Halo.
Hopefully you'll check back with us for some Steam Box reviews when deciding on which model to go for. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
The first-ever Steam Controller and Valve's vision
The Steam Box controller
Try as you might with wireless peripherals, the mouse and keyboard just aren't suited to couch gaming. Valve has recognized this, and thus unveiled a controller for use with any and all games on Steam.That's right. First-person shooters, simulation games, even precise point-and-click tactical titles will be controllable with this gamepad, according to Valve. They even claim to have, "fooled those older games into thinking they're being played with a keyboard and mouse."
Touchpads instead of thumbsticks
The general shape of the Steam controller is familiar. Based on the renders on Valve's controller site, it looks a bit bulbous, like an Xbox 360 or (shudder) an Ouya controller.There are some major differences though. First of all, it has dual circular touchpads rather than thumbsticks. You'll pilot them with your thumbs and they're even clickable, but Valve says they're more precise than physical movable sticks.
The trackpads will also give haptic feedback. These are the touch vibrations you know from phones like the Galaxy S4. According to Valve, this isn't just for rumble feedback, but it will actually help make controls more precise. How exactly that will work is unclear, but anyone who played StarCraft on the Nintendo 64 knows that controllers need all the help they can get with certain genres.
Dead center on the gamepad you'll also have a touchscreen, which seems more advanced than the touchpad on the PS4 or Ouya controller. There's a ton of potential here, giving game designers a space to place a map, inventory screen or even shifting contextual controls.
But do I have to use this thing?!
Nope, not at all. Valve's site says that you'll be able to use the regular old mouse and keyboard on Steam and the Steam Box, should you want to.
Of course, it conceivable that someone could make a game just for the Valve controller, but it doesn't look like there are plans to lock out any traditional input devices.
But what will be in the(se) Steam Box(es)?
It's hard to say. Because Valve plans to be open with the SteamOS, companies can slap together any sort of compatible configuration they like and put it to market. It will be a lot like Android, where you have devices of varying sizes, internal power and price. Some people theorize that Valve will produce a Nexus-style Steam Box of its own.We expect to see two, maybe three types of Steam Box. First, a high-end beefy machine capable of running games locally. The second would be a less expensive configuration that relies entirely on streaming for gaming. A third would be somewhere in the middle.
Valve has confirmed that, at least for the beta, installing your own OS will be totally copacetic.
Music and movies on the Steam Box
Now, it looks like these are the sorts of features that are next on the list for the Steam app on Windows. Steam Database has caught some new updates snuck into the latest beta release for the game and software store, largely enabling a host of new application IDs, including films, TV series, videos, plugins and music.Watching football and Netflix are a part of the console experience, and not something that Valve will be leaving out of its Steam Box. On the SteamOS site it says, "We're working with many of the media services you know an love. Soon we will begin bringing them online, allowing you to access your favorite music and video with Steam and SteamOS."
Valve doesn't name any names, but we expect the usual suspects to assemble. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, basically anything you can get at right now on your Xbox 360 right now is almost guaranteed. NFL Sunday Ticket and cable apps like Xfinity seem like a remote possibility, as cable companies and traditional media conglomerates tend to move slowly and cautiously. iTunes is right out, since it never shows up on a device without an Apple logo.
The Steam Box will have family sharing and account controls
Placing a machine in the living room means everyone in the house is welcome to it. This isn't a personal device like a cell phone or even a tablet; this is something everyone can log into. Of course, the Steam Box is guaranteed to be more nuanced than grandpa's VCR.Valve has made that clear on its site, saying, " Soon, families will have more control over what titles get seen by whom, and more features to allow everyone in the house to get the most out of their Steam libraries."
It seems plans are in place for multiple users on a Steam Box. Whether or not those will all be linked to one Steam account is now the question that arises. Having it all on once account might be best, since that way everyone can share all the games the family has purchased, and mom and dad can keep little Johnny from playing GTA V by altering permissions, while still having it on tap for themselves.
Of course, moving games between multiple Steam accounts might not even be a big deal. Valve's SteamOS site details plans for a family sharing plan. Valve says, "Family Sharing allows you to take turns playing one another's games while earning your own Steam achievements and saving your individual game progress to the Steam cloud."
It's not terribly dissimilar to what Microsoft had planned for the Xbox One. Don't worry Xbox fans, that feature may actually make a comeback.
Article originally contributed by Alex Roth
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Hands-on review: MWC 2015: Archos 94 Magnus
The Archos 94 Magnus may look like just another run of the mill Android tablet, but beneath its 9.4-inch display lies a hidden secret. 256GB of internal storage.
It's harnesses Archos' new technology, Fusion Storage, to achieve such as large amount of internal space
What's more the 94 Magnus also sports a microSD card slot, allowing you to build on that insane space even more by up to 128GB.
If you fancy splashing the cash on the 94 Magnus you'll need to part with £249 (around $380, AU$480), which gets you a 9.4-inch 1280 x 800 display, 1.8GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 5MP rear camera, 0.3MP front snapper, a 6400mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat.
The plastic construction does feel a little cheap, and the 94 Magnus is pretty heavy at 570g - you wouldn't want to be holding it with one hand for an extended period of time.
It terms of design it doesn't break any new ground, and while it's not the most attractive tablet on the market it is at least functional.
The unit I was playing with wasn't final hardware, so some small changes may be made for the final go to market version, and on the rear cover it did say 128GB - which is an obvious mistake.
At 10mm thick it's slightly or the porky side, and overall it's a touch bigger than the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2.
It's not too overbearing when held with both hands though and the circular power/lock key is easy to find at the top of the right edge.
The volume rocker is on the top of the Magnus (when held in landscape) which I found a little tricky to hit, and it's joined by a microSD slot, two USB ports and a microHDMI port.
I found the HD display relatively average. Colours are bright and you're able to read everything clearly, but the lack of a full HD resolution is noticeable.
Stock Android runs smoothly on the 94 Magnus, and the interface feels slick under finger.
Media fans will love the fact it has front facing speakers, which improves gaming and video playback on the tablet.
Early verdict
If internal storage is a big factor when it comes to choosing the tablet you won't find anything bigger than the 94 Magnus, but if you're a light user there are better options available, although you'll probably have to pay more.
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GDC 2015: Steam Machines set to launch late 2015, as Valve partner reveals new hardware
Syber, a division of CyberPowerPC, introduced a slew of new Steam Machines today at GDC 2015.
CyberPowerPC was one of Valve's early Steam Machine partners, announced way back in January 2014.
- The Galaxy S6 is finally here
These six include the Steam Machine-Mini, Steam Machine-Mercury and Steam Machine-Switch, as well as the Steam Machine-P, Steam Machine-K and Steam Machine-X.
The $450 (about £290, AU$575) Syber Steam Machine-E is the starting point, with a quad-core AMD processor and NVIDIA® GeForce GTX graphics, while the high end is occupied by the $1,400 (about £910, AU$1,780) Steam Machine-X.
All six models are also customizable with a variety of colors, including a new orange shade, and Intel, AMD, Radeon and Nvidia components.
Syber's Steam Machines will launch alongside those from other manufacturers this fall.
- The best Chromebooks are right here
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Mozilla Firefox heading for 64-bit Windows glory in May
Mozilla has outed its new Firefox Developer Edition 38, the first version that includes support for a 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows.
The addition of a 64-bit version for Windows users will be a boon for native game developers who want to deliver slick speeds and desktop quality experience from apps within the browser window itself.
The improved experience is possible because the recommended heap size in the older incarnation of Firefox is 512MB, whereas the 64-bit heap size can go up to 2GB.
It also brings with it faster task execution, increased security and the whole browser experience just feels that little bit faster when set against the older edition.
Hitting all PCs in May
Reports back in October 2014 claimed Mozilla was planning to bring 64-bit support with Firefox 37 originally by March 31 2015, but it will actually be hitting the release channel during the week of April 7.Firefox 38, meanwhile, is expected to arrive to end user PCs in May after landing on the beta channel in the big April 7 week. Until then Windows users that want a slice of the 64-bit action can already take advantage of Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Opera already running in the souped up state.
Via: Mozilla
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GDC 2015: Amazon's next game console doesn't even have a screen
Late last year, Amazon launched Echo, its voice-controlled speaker with attitude. Although it looks like little more than a futuristic cylinder, Echo can answer questions or perform tasks by being spoken to. Now Amazon wants you to play games on it.
Speaking at GDC 2015, Amazon Developer Evangelist David Isbitski invited developers to start building games for Echo. Amazon has just launched a beta SDK for developers to start making custom apps, along with a sign-up page that you can find here.
"This thing would be great as a dungeon master," said Isbitski. "It could say, 'go left or right', and you could say 'go right'. You could tell this thing to tell me jokes. There's so much potential here."
- Meet Alexa, aka Amazon Echo
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