Author: Doug Groves

dougplanet.com is his personal blog, which is withering on the vine. If you poke around it, you’ll find out that he’s an animator and broadcast designer by trade, usually pushing pixels in either After Effects or Lightwave 3D. If he absolutely had to pick a favourite all time writer, it would be Harlan Ellison more days than any other. If you don’t know who Ellison is, then Doug weeps for you. Doug also likes long walks on the beach, mainly to collect improperly discarded medical waste for an undisclosed project of epic proportions.

Wind Mobile One Month In

January 18, 2010 Doug Groves angrychinesedriver, carrier, interview, smartphone, Wind Mobile3 Comments

In December, Wind Mobile’s launch promised to bring change to Canada’s mobile landscape. Second in line for that change was Kevin, who has also been vocal about the new carrier at his site angrychinesedriver.com . At the recording of the latest episode, he dropped by for a chat with Alex about Wind, where it stands today, and what he sees in the future. Once you’re done watching, check out his site for more viewpoints from, including this compelling rebuttal to a number of points.

Bayonetta may just make your head explode

January 18, 2010January 18, 2010 Doug Groves Bayonetta, review, Xbox 3602 Comments

Bayonetta is a new action game in the linear kill everything that’s thrown at you style of the Devil May Cry and Ninja Gaiden variety. There’s a lot of similarities especially with the former, given that both were directed by Hideki Kamiya, and from a purely game mechanics perspective, Bayonetta is certainly an evolution. Bayonetta is also a 10 foot tall witch with a sexy English accent, naughty librarian glasses and sassy high heel-machine gun shoes. Her hair would put Crystal Gayle to shame. In fact, her skin tight body…

SMS response to Haitian Earthquake incredible

January 15, 2010 Doug Groves donation, earthquake, Haiti, Red Cross, Salvation Army, SMS, Yele6 Comments

In the aftermath of the tragic earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday, there are a few mobile related events that show how enabling technologies can make a difference in the real world, either for one person or thousands. It was reported by Australian news yesterday that a Canadian woman who was trapped under rubble in the quake was able to send an SOS via text messaging to the Foreign Affairs Office in Ottawa, almost 3000 km away. The information was then relayed back to Canadian diplomats in Haiti who then…

Boxee Beta now public

January 8, 2010January 15, 2010 Doug Groves Boxee, Boxee Box, Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Windows Media Center5 Comments

As we’ve mentioned before, Boxee threw it’s hat into the settop box ring, and from the looks of what they’ve got on tap, it’s one of the better options. The announced Boxee Box hardware (made by DLink) will have HDMI out, and support 1080p video to your television, using the horsepower of Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chipset, and support a myriad of file formats, networked content and streams from online sources. The cut off cube look is just begging for a “Weighted Companion Cube” mod, and is actually small enough that…

2009 in review – rgb style

January 8, 2010January 15, 2010 Doug Groves Assassin's Creed II, Avatar, District 9, Drag Me To Hell, Hurt Locker, Left 4 Dead 2, Plants vs. Zombies, star trek0 comment

With 2009 a over week in the rear view mirror, we decided to take a look back at our favourite movies and games from the year, and present our top list. Instead of picking THE best movie and game of the year, we all made individual lists, then I tallied them up. Anything with more than one vote makes it on the list.

Bumptop appears on new HP TouchSmart convertible

January 6, 2010 Doug Groves bumptop, convertible, HP, tablet1 Comment

The Consumer Electronics Show is gearing up in Las Vegas, and with it comes literally thousands of new product announcements. There’s nothing better in January than looking at the geek toys you’ll be wanting NEXT Christmas. One of the announcements that caught my eye is HP’s TouchSmart tm2. The specs themselves are pretty solid. Windows 7 with a Core 2 Duo, ATI graphics in a fairly thin (but not truly slim) 12.1″ touchscreen which works with both fingers and stylus, and an expected 9 hours of battery life all for…

Nexus One Press Conference live stream

January 5, 2010January 6, 2010 Doug Groves google, HTC, Nexus One, uStream0 comment

Live video by Ustream Google and HTC are officially announcing the Nexus One at this moment. You can watch the live stream above and it should be archived for the future. Most of the hardware and software is what the rumours predicted, and there are some half measures to make stock Android function a little more like the Sense UI, though it’s not necessarily enough to make me happy. At this point, there’s no official word on whether the phone will see a general release, or remain a ‘dev phone’…

Dark Void demo launches this week

January 5, 2010January 5, 2010 Doug Groves Capcom, Dark Void, PC games, PS3, Xbox 3602 Comments

Whether you’ve heard of Dark Void before or not, if you have a PS3 or Xbox 360, this is your lucky week. Those who know already have the date bookmarked. If you’re not familiar with the title, Dark Void basically a 3rd person action adventure game, mixing that old-tymey art style of Bioshock with interdimensional sci-fi monsters. Like most 3rd person shoots, it makes use of a Gears of War cover mechanism, adding a vertical cover mechanic into the mix. Why vertical cover? Oh, probably because your character has a…

Telus HTC Hero Review

January 5, 2010January 5, 2010 Doug Groves Hero, HTC, HTC Hero, review, Telus5 Comments

Since the HTC Hero first launched outside of Canada earlier this year, the company’s take on Google’s Android has been the topic of much discussion. With the Hero, HTC has not only made arguably the first good looking Android phone (depending on your position regarding ‘the chin’, they’ve added their own software UI, known as Sense, on top of the OS. Before that, the only options in Canada were the HTC Magic and HTC Dream. Though solid enough, they lacked that ‘something extra’ one has come to expect with an…

James Cameron’s Avatar – Review

December 30, 2009January 5, 2010 Doug Groves 3D, Avatar, James Cameron, review0 comment

Alex and Doug sit down to review James Cameron’s first feature film in over a decade, and discuss some of the technologies used in it’s making. Long story short, Avatar is the first real ‘must see’ on the big screen in years.

Wind Mobile blows through town

December 17, 2009December 18, 2009 Doug Groves carrier, Wind Mobile, Wireless2 Comments

Yesterday, the newly minted Wind Mobile officially launched in Toronto, bringing with it a bit of a shake up in the Canadian wireless carrier space. They’ll also be launching in Calgary tomorrow. A few of the key differences between them and the incumbents: No contracts – you buy your device outright, and you’re not locked in. They currently only have 4 devices, but hope to expand that line up soon. Simple pricing structure – there are only 3 basic calling plans ranging between $15 and $45 dollars. Unlimited data –…

Communications Union want to stop Wind Mobile

December 14, 2009 Doug Groves CEP, Globalive, Tony Clement, Wind Mobile0 comment

Last week, Industry Minister Tony Clement stayed the CRTC decision preventing Globalive from launching Wind Mobile in Canada. As a mobile consumer, this is a good thing, even though it does raise the question of foreign ownership rule in the Canadian telecommunications industry. By making a special case for Globalive, Tony Clement was definitely sneaking a peek into Pandora’s Box. Now, it appears that the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers’ union wants to close that lid again. “This decision is a sellout of Canadian national interests and a betrayal of Canadian…