I stopped by Razer’s E3 2013 booth to check out the new Razer Blade and Razer Blade Pro. The former is a thin-and-light gaming laptop that doesn’t sacrifice power for portability. It’s a 14-inch model that features top-of-the-line chips from Intel (Haswell) and Nvidia (GeForce GTX 765M). The second iteration of the Razer Blade Pro features the same chips in a 17-inch body. It features the Switchblade UI for added flexibility. Switchblade has been updated to include features for professional applications like Maya and Photoshop. For those that lament the loss of the 17-inch MacBook Pro, the Razer Blade Pro is a compelling alternative.
Check out the video above for more details on the stylish and powerful gaming laptops.
Thanks again to Rich Brown for his great camera work!
Nvidia made quite a splash when it announced its Shield portable gaming system at CES 2013. At E3 2013, I interviewed James Wang from Nvidia product marketing to get more details on the system and got some hands-on time with the console. Shield will be the first Tegra 4 device on the market, according to the company. Nvidia’s latest and greatest mobile chip should take mobile gaming to the next level. In addition to being able to run Android games, Shield allows gamers to stream PC games (GeForce GTX 650 or higher required). Of course it runs non-gaming apps as well, which is handy for people that want to update their Facebook status with one of the most menacing Android devices ever created.
Shield sports a solid gamepad that will feel familiar to most gamers. The buttons and sticks are solid, but I needed a few minutes to get used to the flat feel of the system. It was very much a mental thing on my part; I know that portable gaming systems are supposed to be flat, but Shield’s shape and color scheme reminded me of Xbox 360 so I was thinking curves. Of course I need to spend more time with the controller and use it with a variety of games before I can judge it, but my initial feeling was like, not love.
While Shield has a lot of power and a lot of features, it also has a lot of competitors — traditional handheld systems, Android phones and tablets, and several other Android-based consoles. It’s certainly unique, but I’m not sure what the demand will be for a $349 portable Android gaming system. That’s where you come in! As always, I want to hear your thoughts on Nvidia Shield, now that you have more info on it and have seen more footage of the system. Share your feelings like a Care Bear in the comments section when you have a chance (please).
At E3 2013, I spent some time with Sunflex vice president of business development Nicki Repenning to talk about the UNU tablet. At a glance, this seven-inch tablet is one of the most unique and diverse Android devices I’ve seen. In addition to being able to use it as a standard tablet, UNU comes with software and accessories that help you use it as a smart TV or videogame console.
On the smart TV side, it uses docks and an air-mouse controller. The controller is particularly novel. It features motion controls for menu navigation and for casual games (think Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja). The back of the controller has a QWERTY keyboard for a familiar and comfortable typing experience. One dock and controller are included in the standard UNU tablet bundle, which will retail for $199.
For hardcore Android gamers, there’s a $249 bundle that includes a full-sized gamepad, a travel pouch, and everything in the standard bundle. The controller has a good feel, thought not as impressive as the Nyko PlayPad Pro 2 that I tried at E3 2013. The gamepad makes sense for Android users that play a lot of traditional games ported to Android.
On paper, UNU looks like an inexpensive Android tablet that does many things very well. However, I want to spend more time with Sunflex’s custom UI and learn the exact chipset under the hood before I pass judgement. Hopefully I’ll get to do so before the product’s late-summer release. I’m intrigued by UNU, but I want to see more!
How about you guys and gals? Any of you interested in the UNU tablet?
[Thanks again to Rich Brown for his great camera work in this video!]
At E3 2013, I spent some time with Sunflex vice president of business development Nicki Repenning to talk about the UNU tablet. At a glance, this seven-inch tablet is one of the most unique and diverse Android devices I’ve seen. In addition to being able to use it as a standard tablet, UNU comes with software and accessories that help you use it as a smart TV or videogame console.
On the smart TV side, it uses docks and an air-mouse controller. The controller is particularly novel. It features motion controls for menu navigation and for casual games (think Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja). The back of the controller has a QWERTY keyboard for a familiar and comfortable typing experience. One dock and controller are included in the standard UNU tablet bundle, which will retail for $199.
For hardcore Android gamers, there’s a $249 bundle that includes a full-sized gamepad, a travel pouch, and everything in the standard bundle. The controller has a good feel, thought not as impressive as the Nyko PlayPad Pro 2 that I tried at E3 2013. The gamepad makes sense for Android users that play a lot of traditional games ported to Android.
On paper, UNU looks like an inexpensive Android tablet that does many things very well. However, I want to spend more time with Sunflex’s custom UI and learn the exact chipset under the hood before I pass judgement. Hopefully I’ll get to do so before the product’s late-summer release. I’m intrigued by UNU, but I want to see more!
How about you guys and gals? Any of you interested in the UNU tablet?
[Thanks again to Rich Brown for his great camera work in this video!]
Last month I paid a visit to Five Pawns HQ in Irvine. In my interview with company president Rodney Jerabek, I learned about the company’s history and the story behind its fantastic e-liquids. In this video feature, Rodney and I talk about the Five Pawns tasting room. Blending high comfort and high style, this is one of coolest and classiest vaping lounges I’ve ever been to. The tasting room has super-cushy bar stools, a comfortable couch, art by Shepard Fairey, and some rare mechanical mods. Naturally, customers can sample and purchase Five Pawns e-liquid — including the barrel-aged Reserve Line — but they’ll also be able to try flavors that are in development. The company will use the tasting room for focus groups, allowing customers to try new flavors as they’re being fine tuned before they hit store shelves.
Check out the video above to see and hear more about the Five Pawns tasting room.
I stopped by the Nyko’s E3 2013 booth to check out a bunch of accessories for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nvidia Shield, and Android. The new PlayPad controllers for Android were particularly impressive. The PlayPad Pro 2 is great for Android users that are heavy gamers. It has a rubberized grip for a solid feel and Alps analog sticks for precision control. It’s definitely one of the best Android gamepads I’ve ever tried. For Android users that are more into multimedia, there’s the PlayPad Media, which features a row of media-specific controls along the top of the gamepad. The PlayPad Media is no slouch in the gaming department either, using the same body as the original PlayPad for Android.
Kindly check out the video above and let me know what you think of Nyko’s E3 2013 lineup.
Special thanks to Rich Brown for his excellent camera work!
Here’s an interview I conducted with Five Pawns president and founder Rodney Jerabek. I first came across Five Pawns e-liquids at Vaping Ape LA and was immediately impressed. The company makes some really delicious juices that are unusually rich and complex. It was great spending time at Five Pawns HQ and learning more about the company. In the video above, Rodney talks about the company’s origins, what goes into a Five Pawns e-liquid, why the juice costs what it does, the wood-barrel steeped “Reserve” line, and more.
There are a few things that make Five Pawns’ offerings unique. Let’s start with the e-liquids themselves. They’re made with natural ingredients, including some that are sourced locally. Many e-liquids use one, two, or three flavors in addition to the standard ingredients of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerol, and nicotine. Five Pawns juices contain up to 11 ingredients. This makes for some of the most distinct, complex, and flavorful juices I’ve tried.
Most e-liquid vendors have dozens of flavors available and it’s extremely rare for an e-liquid company to do many different types of flavors well. Off the top of my head, the only juice maker that excels in so many different areas is Ahlusion. Jerabek compared Five Pawns’ approach to In-N-Out Burger, a (glorious) fast food chain that offers a simple menu with everything on the menu done really well. To kick things off, he wanted the company to offer five juices that are all done really well.
Similar to fine wines and scotches, Five Pawns e-liquids are made in small batches. Typically, each batch results in 160 30ml bottles of juice. The bottles have the mixing date, lot number, and bottle number printed on them. The juices are pre-steeped so they’re good to go when you buy them in a store or receive them in the mail.
Jerabek’s background is in design, which is obvious from the company’s packaging. Five Pawns e-liquids come in clear glass bottles with some of the best labels I’ve seen. The bottles are placed in handsome cardboard tubes that remind me of liquor or perfume boxes. It makes for a high-end experience, similar to how Apple packaging enhances the experience of a great product.
Some vaping enthusiasts had sticker shock when they saw that Five Pawns’ online prices were $27.50 for a 30ml bottle. Jerabek was very honest about the pricing. First, he noted that he doesn’t want to compete with his retail partners; the prices available on the Five Pawns web site are the same that you’ll find in stores. He’s also positioning Five Pawns as a high-end e-liquid company, which is completely understandable considering the top-notch ingredients and packaging. With all of that in mind, $27.50 is a reasonable price for these great juices. I’ve seen mediocre and less-than-mediocre e-liquids sell for $25 for 30ml at retail — stuff that wasn’t 1/10 as good as Five Pawns juices.
As a Southern California resident, I’m jazzed that Irvine-based Five Pawns is off to a great start. The company makes some fantastic juices and the people I’ve met from there are super-cool. I also love the company’s artisanal approach to making e-liquids. I’m a fan of companies that excel while being different and I believe that Five Pawns fits that description. Stay tuned for a Five Pawns juice review and a video feature on the company’s awesome tasting room.
(Also, please excuse my horrible voice in the video. I’m even more nasally than usual. Ha! I was horribly congested that day. Actually, I still am…. Hmmmm, I need to fix this before E3 2013. Oy.)
Here’s an interview with Reverb Publishing executive producer Ted Lange on Sanctum 2. The game was developed by Coffee Stain Studios for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It combines tower-defense strategy and first-person shooter action. Lange talks about improvements made over the original Steam-only game, the different types of levels, the various characters and classes, and more. Check out the interview and let me know if Sanctum 2is something that interests you!
On a side note, I think this is the first videogame interview I’ve done that incorporates vaping. I’ve known Ted for a few years (I think we first met when he was working on the first Guitar Hero games) and I’m thrilled that he has made the switch from smoking to vaping.
One of the newer vape shops in Los Angeles is The Vapor-Mart, located on the border of Hollywood and West Hollywood. For those of you not familiar with LA, this is one of the coolest areas in town, full of trendy restaurants and clothing boutiques. Adorned with paintings and sculptures from local artists, the vibe of The Vapor-Mart totally fits the neighborhood. Check out the video interview with co-owner Brian Worthy to learn how the store got started and to see some sweet artwork.
On the hardware side, the store focuses on new to intermediate vapers. There are cig-alike products, as well as smaller kits that feature the eGo-T and eGo Twist. More advanced mods include the SmokTech Bolt and Joyetech eVic. Top-of-the-line products include gorgeous mechanicals like the Atmomixani Gus 22 and 69, as well as House of Hybrids products like the Zenesis Sidewinder and Z-Atty-Pro. In the future, the store hopes to include more mechanical mods and rebuildable atomizers.
As for e-liquid, the shop is proud to only offer juices that are made in the USA. The lineup includes Mountain Oak Vapors, Virgin Vapor, Villain Vapors, Zeus e-Juice, and Desert Horizon. Customers are free to sample all the e-liquids they wish. For tasting, the shop has a great bar setup, with Vivi Nova Mini clearomizers loaded up with 0mg nicotine versions of all the juices. Customers just to need to put their drip on the clearo and the clearo on their battery to find the right juice for them.
The Vapor-Mart has partnered with local Los Angeles artists to offer some beautiful paintings and sculptures. The store gets some unique decorations that make the place look fantastic, while the artists get free gallery space. Should the art sell, all proceeds go to the artist. It’s a win-win situation for the store and the artists.
While there are loads of vape shops north and (especially) south of Los Angeles, there aren’t that many in the city itself. I love that stores like The Vapor-Mart and the Vaping Ape LA have opened up within the last few months. Hopefully this is the start of a burgeoning LA vape scene. On a side note, my fine friend Paul and I often lunch near The Vapor-Mart, usually before a trip to the excellent Golden Apple Comics. It looks like our long lunches are going to get even longer, with good food, nerdy conversation, comics, and vaping on our agenda.
Last month, I caught up with Janty president and founder Ludo Timmermans during my trip to the Philippines. Recently, the company has been making waves with the MiD One — a potentially gaming-changing vaping device with the most advanced features I’ve seen. While Janty’s future is definitely exciting, I was more interested in helping vapers learn about its past. Janty is one of the most influential and copied e-cig companies in the world, but I don’t think it gets enough credit for its contributions.
When most vapers hear “eGo,” they think Joyetech. When they hear “RY4,” they think of Dekang as the originator. The original eGo e-cigarette and RY4 e-liquid are Janty creations (though some longtime vapers dispute the latter claim). These are huge contributions to vaping. The eGo is the most-copied e-cig in the world; it was one of the first devices to offer a significantly better experience than cig-alike products. RY4 juice is one of the most popular flavors ever made; the vast majority of e-liquid vendors have their own version and many offer multiple takes of this juice.
If you’ve been reading my videogame and comic-book articles then you know that I favor creators. In gaming, I care far more about developers than publishers. In comics, I care much more about writers and artists than DC or Marvel. With that in mind, it bugs me that many vapers don’t know that Janty created the eGo and RY4. These are extremely significant inventions that have improved and influenced the vaping industry. I hate to sound like a kiss-ass, but Janty should be recognized and lauded for these two notable contributions.
It was fun spending time with Ludo, learning about Janty’s history, and hearing tales of the early day’s of the vaping business. In the interview above, he talks about the origins of Janty, the creation of the eGo, and the creation of Ry4. He’s an interesting guy with a different approach to vaping. I admire and appreciate that he has an artistic view to vaping. It’s one of the reasons his company has become an innovator, but it’s also one of the reasons why the Janty brand isn’t as recognized as it should be. He’s always looking forward, looking for the next exciting thing. Unfortunately, that approach also caused the company to neglect things like copyrights and trademarks. That said, he has acknowledged his early mistakes and isn’t fretting about the past.
Spending time with Ludo off-camera was fantastic as well. He shared a lot of off-the-record story’s about the early days of the vaping industry (totally Wild West) and his career before Janty. I was surprised to learn that we had several things in common — playing music, working in video, and being in IMDB (his page and my page). His artistic background (and slight craziness) is one of the reasons Janty is bold enough to offer a product like the MiD One and the even bolder products the company has planned for the future. It wasn’t a surprise to learn that Ludo is an Apple fan — the products and the company. I believe that the vaping business needs more people like Ludo and more company’s like Janty. As the legendary Steve Jobs once said in a famous Apple commercial:
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.
Janty has a long, long way to go (especially on the business side) before people view it as the Apple of vaping, but I believe that it’s in a good position to do so. Unlike many of its competitors, I believe it has the attitude, inventiveness, and craziness to do something “insanely great.” I have no idea if Janty will get there, but I’ll be rooting for it on the sidelines.
