Samsung recently announced a couple of new additions to their Galaxy of Android phones (a statement that can be safely made without details because it will be as true next month or next year as it is today): The Galaxy Mega 5.8 and 6.3.
The 5.8 is of only moderate interest; it's a cheap(-ish) phone with a large (5.8") but low-resolution screen ("qHD", or 960x540), good for media consumption or people with poor eyesight (a huge market, that, not to be underestimated).
The 6.3, though, offers a 1280x720 6.3" display, 90% of the resolution of my Nexus 7 at 90% of the size. The phone itself, though, is markedly smaller than the Nexus 7 - 168x88x8mm and 199g vs. 199x120x10.5mm and 340g. - so 25% narrower and 40% lighter. It has almost no bezel (the Nexus 7 has quite a wide bezel on all sides), but is small enough to hold by the edges, so that shouldn't matter. (Actually, the Nexus 7 is too, barely, at least for my hands.)
A quick mockup I made of the relative sizes of the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 and the Asus/Google Nexus 7. It only approximate, but it should be pretty close.
That image is Photoshopped - well, actually, Fireworksed, as I do most of my image work in that instead - using cropped and rescaled images of the two devices. It should be fairly accurate; the screen on the Mega has a slightly higher pixel density so it's a little smaller vertically, plus noticeably narrower as it has 720 pixels vs. 800. The really dramatic difference comes from the near-elimination of the surrounding bezel.
Other hardware includes a 1.7GHz Exynos 5250 CPU (a dual-core A15), the exact same chip that powers the Nexus 10, which is much zippier in everyday use than the quad-core 1.2GHz A9 in the Nexus 7; 1.5GB RAM vs. 1GB in the 7; 8MP rear and 1.9MP front cameras vs. none and 1.2MP; but only 8GB or 16GB storage vs. 16GB or 32GB for the current Nexus 7. It also has a microSD slot supporting cards up to 64GB, which helps make up for the disappointing shortage of on-board space.
So while it's maybe an inch too far for a phone, as a small, take-anywhere tablet that has 3G/4G phone capability as a bonus, it's rather intriguing.
I'd like it even more if it had a 1080p screen and a bit more storage - even 32GB - but as it is, I'm already interested. Samsung haven't announced pricing or distribution details yet, so I'll be watching for that.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
10:13 AM
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Starbound has opened up pre-orders! That's usually not that big a deal, but in this case (a) it's a successor to the much-loved Terraria, being put together on a tight budget by a tiny studio, and extra money now could really help make the game better, and (b) they're running with Kickstarter-style stretch goals - when they reach $500,000, for example, they'll add a new alien race. At the time of writing, they've been going for a little over a day - on a weekend, too - and have reached $370,000, so it's looking good. Update: $500,000 reached, new race - Novakids - are in, next goal is alien fossils at $750,000.
Darkout. It's on Desura, GamersGate and Steam Greenlight. It's not pixel-art (the style of Terraria and Starbound), but it's still a little cartoonish; I think the art style works well for a slightly more serious game. Take a look at the trailer and see what you think.
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Starbound preordered. Hopefully it'll be at least as good as Terraria!
Posted by: RickC at Tuesday, April 16 2013 11:56 AM (WQ6Vb)
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It looks like it may even be better than Terraria. If it has a Linux server (very likely, since there's a Linux client) I'll set up a multiplayer instance here at mee.nu.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Wednesday, April 17 2013 04:22 PM (PiXy!)
Sorry little green dude, I haven't worked out how to attach parachutes yet. But your epic journey 440km above the surface of planet Kerbin will not be forgotten, even if we never find your scattered remains.
Update: My improved Up Goer 2B reached 680km and is equipped with a parachute. I just need to remember to open it around 23km of altitude....
Update: Patience and practice and lots of solid-fuel boosters, and I can now make a stable orbit fairly reliably even if my primary stage goes flaky on me. Right now I have a Munar flyby lined up - my orbit will take me close enough that I'll be pulled to within 500km of the Munar surface, before being slingshotted back into a Kerbin orbit. From there I should even have enough fuel left to deorbit and land. Here I go!
Update: A little careful nudging and I'll be coming to within 50km5km of the Munar surface... As long as nothing goes wrong. If something does go wrong, Cmdr. Dudsen Kerman will be the first Kerbal on the Mun. Or bits of him, anyway.
Update: Success! Munar flyby and return landing accomplished! I guess the next step will be to make Munar orbit, then break orbit and return. I want to refine my vehicle first, though, so its a bit less fally-aparty.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tuesday, April 09 2013 09:50 AM (PiXy!)
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Aha! I see you listened to me
My poor^D^D^D^D intrepid crew are still stranded in a low Kerbal orbit with no fuel to deorbit with. So far my attempts to learn how to rendezvous a rescue vehicle have been less than successful.
It's also available on Steam now, FWIW.
Posted by: Artee at Tuesday, April 09 2013 12:50 PM (24day)
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Yep, I fired it up for the first time last night.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tuesday, April 09 2013 01:50 PM (PiXy!)
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I'd just like to mention that "Up Goer" is a wonderful name for a space ship.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Saturday, April 13 2013 02:53 AM (+rSRq)
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Of course, all xkcd references are wonderful examples of what they are.
Posted by: Mikeski at Saturday, April 13 2013 03:20 PM (DU6Ja)
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On The Daily WTF, xkcd comic images will be replaced by mods with a picture of Helen Thomas (or someone, I forget who exactly.)
Interestingly, the Time XKCD is still going.
Posted by: RickC at Sunday, April 14 2013 08:00 AM (WQ6Vb)
Would anyone like a copy of Civilization V, Torchlight, or Trine on Steam? I just noticed that I acquired free bonus copies somehow. Also Serious Sam HD, Frozen Synapse, Cthulhu Saves the World, and Breath of Death VII.
Update: Civ V goes to GreyDuck, Trine to Wonderduck.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Monday, April 08 2013 05:35 AM (9jITs)
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GreyDuck, email me at help@mee.nu with your Steam username.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Monday, April 08 2013 02:27 PM (PiXy!)
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I think after I sunk my weekend into Temple of Elemental Evil, following the GOG link in the previous post, you basically owe me Torchlight
Posted by: Kian at Tuesday, April 09 2013 02:24 AM (1riL7)
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I'm trying to remember if I said "thank you" or not. Since I can't remember, it's fairly safe to assume I didn't.
THANK YOU! Trine is, indeed, interesting. As with most platformers, I suck at it, but I'm getting better.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Wednesday, April 10 2013 12:14 PM (9jITs)
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Mini-review of Trine: it's good, but each level is just THAT MUCH too long. Like, if the perfect length of time to complete a swingy-jumpy-fighty level is 20 minutes, Trine's levels take 23 minutes, 18 seconds.
The game is GORGEOUS.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Thursday, April 18 2013 01:51 PM (9jITs)
Terraria looks set to get a new update after a year in the doldrums - and it has turtles!
Torment: Tides of Numenera is closing in on becoming the best-funded computer game on Kickstarter, ever.
GOG are selling the whole suite of recent D&D computer games - Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Icewind Dale 1 & 2, Planescape Torment, Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, Dragon Shard, that Temple of Elemental Evil thing and Demon Stone, plus all expansion packs - for up to 80% off. $21.10 gets you the complete bundle, over 200 hours of top-notch adventuring... And 100 hours of so-so adventuring (the original campaigns of both Neverwinter Nights games are a bit stodgy, but the expansions pick up dramatically).
There's also bad news, but you can get that anywhere.
I just found nine separate Doctor Who "minisodes" that I hadn't seen before. There are five that make up a sequence called Night And The Doctor, plus two two-part specials, for Red Nose Day 2011 (with Amys and Rorys) and Children in Need 2012 (with Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax - a prequel to the Christmas Special).
You'll need to hunt around for Night and the Doctor - or just take the easy way and buy the DVD set, which includes it as a bonus - but the charity benefit specials are on the BBC's Youtube channel. And so:
Also:
Which might be a spoiler if you haven't seen the 2012 Christmas special.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
10:37 PM
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