Computing – Page 11

What the CRTC taketh, the CRTC giveth (to Bell)

November 3, 2010November 12, 2010 Doug Groves Bell, CRTC, net neutrality, Teksavvy, throttling, UBB, Usage Based Billing2 Comments

It was only two months ago that the CRTC made a surprisingly positive ruling in helping innovation in the Canadian internet marketplace, though I was somewhat skeptical. In August they announced that incumbent DSL and cable providers, aka the big guys (Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Videotron), had to provide 3rd party ISPs with access to their networks, at a price level of 10% above cost. Part of this reasoning was in the ruling itself… Agreed that a duopoly of telephone and cable retail Internet access services is insufficient, and that…

Minecraft hits 500,000 in sales prior to Hallowe’en update

October 29, 2010February 7, 2011 Doug Groves indie games, Markus Persson, Minecraft, Notch, PC gaming5 Comments

[ED Note: Minecraft has now racked up over 1,000,000 sales.] Minecraft, the indie sandbox game from Markus “Notch” Persson, has racked up 500,000 units sold as of about an hour ago, according to the real time counter on the top of the Minecraft home page. As of this writing it’s sitting at 500431. Though the game was first released back in July of 2009, the game, which is still in alpha stage, has seen a surge of popularity in the gaming community since late summer of this year. Minecraft is…

2 million Dead Rising and counting

October 28, 2010November 2, 2010 Doug Groves Blue Castle Games, Capcom, Capcom Games Vancouver, Dead Rising 2, Microsoft, PS3, Sony, Xbox 360, Zombies3 Comments

No, the zombie apocalypse isn’t on us yet. Dead Rising 2, developed by Blue Castle Games for Capcom, has sold over 2 million copies since its release last month, which puts it on track to outsell its predecessor by a fair margin. I’m ashamed to say that as a zombie fan I have yet to play the sequel, which gives players a chance to destroy the undead in a number of creative ways, including making their own weapon combos by duct taping such disparate items as chainsaws and paddles together….

Acer announces new Aspire Predator

October 28, 2010October 29, 2010 Doug Groves Acer, Aspire Predator, PC gaming, Radeon 55703 Comments

For those interested in full sized gaming rig that looks like it means business, without the the near $2000 starting price, Acer has announced their Aspire Predator. Think of this as the baby Predator, the little brother to their high end rig they announced back in the summer. The new Predator has many of the same core internals, but helps keep the cost down by getting rid of the 3 graphic card option, though it does sport available PCI E x1 slots. It’s also a slightly smaller, more subdued case,…

Chumby now available in Canada

October 27, 2010October 28, 2010 Doug Groves Chumby, Chumby Classic, Chumby One, internet alarm, Linux, open source, Sony, Sony Dash1 Comment

After years of waiting, the Chumby store is now taking orders from Canada, at a price of $120 US for the Chumby One. If you’re not familiar with Chumby, it started out about four years ago as a modified Linux OS customized to run on small screen hardware, specifically the Chumby hardware. The hardware itself is about the size of an alarm clock, but with a 3.5 inch colour touch screen, with the Chumby Classic encased in a soft leather and plastic casing, while the newer Chumby One in a…

Fallout New Vegas Review

October 26, 2010November 1, 2010 Raj Bethesda Softworks, Fallout, Fallout New Vegas, Microsoft, ohmpage.ca, PC gaming, PS3, review, Sony, Xbox5 Comments

Two years ago we fell in love with Fallout 3. It was a marvelously rich experience full of atmosphere and wonder. Now the wasteland is back with Fallout: New Vegas from Obsidian Entertainment. In this new title we’re transplanted to the west in and around what was once Las Vegas before the nuclear war. There is a lot to explore here so we’d better get started. It’s difficult to review this title without comparing it directly with Fallout 3. They have so much in common that playing Fallout New Vegas,…

Netflix dominates Canadian bandwidth usage but that’s okay

October 26, 2010October 28, 2010 Doug Groves ars technica, Netflix, Sandvine, streaming media3 Comments

Online streaming services are clearly starting to take hold in the minds of mainstream consumers, and if bandwidth usage is any indicator, Netflix is leading the charge. Shortly after launching their streaming only service here in Canada, Netflix accounted for 95% of all Canada’s network usage duing the peak time of about 9:30pm, according to broadband analysis firm Sandvine. This is an absolutely staggering number, but not surprising given the amount of pent up demand for just such a solution. Combined with a free month trial, it’s no surprise that…

Rogers Galaxy S Captivate finally available

October 25, 2010October 26, 2010 Doug Groves Captivate, Galaxy S, Galaxy S Captivate, Rogers, Samsung, smartphone, superphone3 Comments

It’s been a LONG time coming, but Rogers has finally made the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate available. Originally announced back when Sammy made the big Galaxy marketing push in August, it’s taken quite some time for the Captivate to hit Big Red. The Captivate ships with Android 2.1, but will get an update to 2.2 Froyo sometime between November and ‘early 2011’. The Captivate features Samsung’s 4 inch Super AMOLED scree, a 5 MPixel camera with 720p video recording and a 1GHz processor, and will start at $149.99 on some…

Rogers Samsung Focus: Hands On Video

October 25, 2010November 9, 2010 Doug Groves hands-on, Microsoft, Now hub, Samsung, Samsung Focus, smartphone, Super AMOLED, superphone, video, Windows Phone 73 Comments

When Windows Phone 7 launches in North America in early November, Rogers will be carrying the Samsung Focus, which is the thinnest of the launch devices. The Focus is very much in the styling of Samsung’s Galaxy S Android phones, including the absolutely stunning 4 inch Super AMOLED screen. One of the other traits the Focus carries over from the Galaxy S line is the light, plastic body.

Bell Samsung Galaxy Tab: Hands On Video

October 22, 2010October 28, 2010 Doug Groves Android, Android 2.2, Apple, Bell, Canadian, ebooks, eReader, Froyo, Galaxy Tab, google, Google Android, hands-on, iPad, Kobo, North American, Rogers, Samsung, tablet3 Comments

Although no official launch dates are announced, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is set to appear on both Rogers and Bell here in Canada, probably by the end of November. We had a chance to get our hands on one, and came away suitably impressed. The Android based tablet, seen as the second mainstream device in the tablet behind the iPad, sports a 7 inch 1024×600 display using Samsung’s Super LCD screen technology, making it about half the size of the iPad. Unlike the silver back of the European version, Samsung…

SteelSeries to help WOW addicts grind with ‘Superior Ergonomics’

October 20, 2010October 25, 2010 drsquid Blizzard, BlizzCon, Cataclysm, Ergonomic, Gaming, mouse, PC gaming, Steelseries, World of Warcraft4 Comments

With Cataclysm, the latest expansion for World of Warcraft, coming to destroy many peoples lives all over again on December 7th, SteelSeries has decided that if you are going to be grinding for 72 hours straight, at least you can do it with the best MMO mouse you can buy. The SteelSeries World of Warcraft® Cataclysm MMO Gaming Mouse (now that’s a mouthful!) is the second WOW mouse that they have produced, and improves on the ergonomics and button layout of that mouse, yet still keeps the trick glowing suit…

Acer releases new Aspire Z all-in-one and Revo nettop

October 15, 2010October 16, 2010 drsquid Acer, all-in-one, Aspire, Atom, GeForce, Hardware, HTPC, Intel, ION, multi-touch, nettop, Nvidia, Revo, Window Media Centre, Windows 74 Comments

When the Acer Aspire Revo series of mini desktop computers were released last year they were some of the first in a new generation of PC’s dubbed nettops. The Revo was one of the first nettops to pair the low powered Intel Atom CPU with Nvidia’s ION chipset – ION integrates a GeForce 9400 graphics card allowing net-tops equipped with it to function as a set-top box connected to your TV to play back video content. Using Window Media Centre or XBMC the Revo was a great little PC, sadly…