Tag: Mobile Tech

Coffee Talk #342: Sony’s Android Tablet Ambition

Will the combination of PlayStation Suite and Qriocity lead to Sony succeeding in the Android tablet market? That seems to be what the company is banking on. Sony recently announced that it will be releasing…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Iranian terrorists taking over Sizzler steakhouses, currywurst, or Intelligentsia’s Los Inmortales El Salvador: Finca Matalapa Puerta Zapa, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Will the combination of PlayStation Suite and Qriocity lead to Sony succeeding in the Android tablet market? That seems to be what the company is banking on. Sony recently announced that it will be releasing two Android tablets later this year — a traditional tablet with a 9.4-inch screen and a funky folding tablet with two 5.5-inch screens. While Sony’s “style” will help these tablets appeal to the masses, it looks like the company is banking on its own services to help differentiate its tablets from the numerous Android manufacturers out there. Will this strategy work?

I need to think about it more, but my initial inclination is that these tablets will get lost in the shuffle. On the hardware side, a folding tablet doesn’t have the wow factor of 3D (LG G-Slate) or the practicality of a laptop dock (Asus Transformer). On the software and services side, Sony looks silly compared to Amazon and its aggressive Android moves. I know loads of people that love Amazon’s MP3 Store and several that love Amazon Instant Video. I don’t know anyone that thinks highly of Qriocity. PlayStation Suite has lots of potential and I’d love for it to take off, but a few sources within Sony have told me that the product is getting the bastard treatment internally.

What do you think of Sony’s Android tablet future? Will its slick industrial design, PlayStation Suite, and Qriocity help it rise above the competition? Or will Sony’s products end up being one of several Android tablets released in 2011? Leave a comment and let me know (please!).

EA Mobile Games Sale: Up to 90% Off!!!

EA is having a pretty excellent sale on select Android, iPad, and iPhone games. A lot of the games have been slashed from $9.99 to $0.99! I’m downloading Dead Space, Max and the Magic Marker, Scrabble, and Pictureka as I type. Check out the games and let me know if you pick anything up (please).

T-Mobile G2X Benchmarks

Here are some benchmarks for the T-Mobile G2X, which features a powerful 1GHz Tegra 2 dual-core processor. To get an idea of the phone’s performance, I used Greene Computing’s Linpack and Aurora Softworks’ Quadrant benchmark tests. The HTC Evo 4G, Samsung Epic 4G, T-Mobile G2, and HTC Thunderbolt (all running Android 2.2) were used for comparison. Each test was run five times and the scores were averaged. Here are the results.

Linpack Quadrant
HTC Evo 4G 33.4 1311
Samsung Epic 4G 14.209 1076
T-Mobile G2 33.267 1668
HTC Thunderbolt 36.529 1962
T-Mobile G2X 36.64 2535

First off, those scores on the Epic 4G were very strange. I expected it to do much better. I actually ran those tests more than 20 times because the numbers didn’t make sense to me, but I kept getting similar results.

The G2X’s scores were very impressive, but keep in mind that these are synthetic benchmarks. Real-world performance will vary depending on the task performed. While the Tegra 2 makes for snappy everyday use and blazing performance in games, the Android OS isn’t fully optimized to take advantage of its power. It is rumored that the next version of Android — Ice Cream Sandwich — will truly exploit the power of multi-core processors.

For now, enjoy the benchmarks for what they are — synthetic measurements that will be used in pissing contests.

Amazon Android Tablet By Samsung Coming This Summer?

It’s a sure thing that Amazon will deliver some sort of Android device in the near future. Nobody is sure whether it will be a tablet or a phone. Nobody is sure which hardware manufacturer will be making the device. Nobody except GDGT’s Peter Rojas, that is. He recently wrote:

It’s something of an open secret that Amazon is working on an Android tablet and I am 99% certain they are having Samsung build one for them.

All the pieces are there for Amazon. The company has its own Android store, video-on-demand service, and streaming music service. It’s already the leader in digital book sales. The company has an opportunity to shake up the mobile market by offering a comparatively cheap tablet, selling it at cost or at a loss and then making up for it with sales of digital apps, movies, TV shows, music, and books.

If Amazon releases an Android tablet by Samsung this summer, would you be interested in buying one?

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Coffee Talk #340: Are You Ready For What’s Next in Gaming?

Gaming is at a crossroads. Big changes in the business are already underway and even bigger changes are on the horizon. What do you think of all the change that’s happening in gaming? Will you change with it?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Steven Tyler dropping F-bombs on American Idol, Dr. Dre defeating Death Row, or your favorite Zamfir performance, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Gaming is at a crossroads. Big changes in the business are already underway and even bigger changes are on the horizon. Epic Games’ Dr. Mike “Busta” Capps recently chatted with Industry Gamers about the changes happening in the gaming business. While they’re exciting from a gamer’s point of view, they’re scary to developers and publishers:

We have not been this uncertain about what’s coming next in the games industry since Epic’s been around for 20 years. We’re at such an inflection point. Will there be physical distribution in 10 years or even five? Will anyone care about the next console generation? What’s going on in PC? Can you make money on PC if it’s not a connected game? What’s going on in mobile?

Tons of really scary things… It used to be, ‘Well, of course PlayStation 3 will be successful because PS2 was amazingly successful.’ But can you say for sure that you know everyone’s going to jump to the next generation? I sure hope so — I’m going to try to make some great tech that will make everyone want to. But it’s scary.

If there’s anything that’s killing us [in the traditional games business] it’s dollar apps. How do you sell someone a $60 game that’s really worth it … They’re used to 99 cents. As I said, it’s an uncertain time in the industry. But it’s an exciting time for whoever picks the right path and wins.

Digital distribution, mobile gaming, and social gaming are challenging traditional game makers and publishers. These relatively new forces are also challenging traditional gamers. I’m reminded of friends in the ’90s that loved PC gaming, but couldn’t adapt to a console world. I’m reminded of friends that loved 2D fighting games more than anything, but couldn’t deal with the shift to 3D. These friends are no longer the gamers that they once were.

What do you think of all the change that’s happening in gaming? Will you change with the times? Or are you perfectly comfortable with the disc-and-console model? Will you resist change and hang on as long as you can? If you don’t like what the future holds for gaming, will you look for another hobby? As for me, no matter what happens in gaming, I’ll be like Jefe from The Three Amigos: “I’m still here El Guapo!”

Jesse Jackson Jr. Blames Unemployment on the iPad

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. delivered an inspired and amazingly uninformed rant on how the iPad is killing American jobs. This has skyrocketed to the top of the list of the dumbest things I’ve heard in 2011. Apparently the iPad is the scourge of book makers, librarians, Borders employees, etc.

Sure it’s made in China, but the millions of iPads sold in 2011 equals millions of dollars of tax revenue. American workers at thousands of retail outlets have to sell the devices. “Geniuses” employed by Apple have to support iPads after they’re sold. Thousands of people are employed by American companies to create and market iPad software. I could go on, but I think you get the point.

I’m going to watch the video again so that I can have a lovely migraine….

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Coffee Talk #337: Buying the Same Game Again and Again

2K has pulled a Nintendo on me. By that I mean that it has me on the hook for three versions of the same game. Hell, I don’t even remember how many times I’ve bought Super Mario Bros. for various…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Paul McDonald’s unfortunate exit from American Idol, Scarlett Johansson moving in with Sean Penn, or Manny Pacquiao possibly fighting Kermin Cintron, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’ve played more than a thousand hours of Civilization Revoltion for iPhone. I’ll play more than a thousand hours of Civilization Revolution for iPad. If 2K releases an Android version, I’ll buy that and play the hell out of it too. 2K has pulled a Nintendo on me. By that I mean that it has me on the hook for three versions of the same game. Hell, I don’t even remember how many times I’ve bought Super Mario Bros. for various Nintendo platforms.

Several of my friends have bought multiple versions of Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy IV, Chrono Trigger, etc. From the originals to portable versions to digital downloads, it’s kind of astounding that we’ve bought the same game over and over again. How about you? Have you bought the same game multiple times? Or are you free of this madness? If you’re among the afflicted, please list the titles (and platforms if you can remember them) that you’ve bought over and over again.

Today’s Poll: Gaming or Phoning While on the Toilet

Today’s poll was inspired by RPadholic Sandrock323. He mentioned that he never uses his Nintendo DS while…uh…making a deposit in the bathroom. He believes that his DS is too sacred. Do you agree? Is it okay to play some DS or PSP while doing the #2? How about web browsing on your Android phone or iOS device? Kindly take today’s poll and elaborate (hopefully not in a gross way) in the comments section.

[poll id=”111″]

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I can’t stop playing Civilization Revolution for iPad…but I must. I’ve only scratched the surface of Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP and I really want to play more of it. The game is so clever and stylish. It brings me back to glory days of point-and-click adventures. I’d also like to play more Final Fantasy III on my iPad. Unfortunately, it’s only optimized for iPhone, so I have to double the resolution. It still looks pretty good…and job systems frickin’ rule.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

HTC Sensation Sizzle Video

HTC has officially announced the HTC Sensation for T-Mobile. This super-hot Android phone previously went by the codename Pyramid. Packing a qHD 4.3-inch screen, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and a new version of HTC Sense, the Sensation should be…well…sensational!

I love the phone’s specs, but I wish it had a kickstand like the Evo 4G (Sprint) and Thunderbolt (Verizon). I’m positive that the phone will have T-Mobile WiFi calling (love this feature!) and hope that it will have Swype (need this feature!). I’m getting conflicting information on whether the phone supports T-Mobile’s new HSPA+ 42 network. Support for HSPA+ 42 would definitely take my eyes off the upcoming T-Mobile G2X and keep them glued to the Sensation.

Any thoughts on this hot phone and the accompanying video?