Software – Page 55 – Digital-Lifestyles

AOL’s New Stand-alone Browser

AOL are working on a new own-brand web browser just as the browser wars enter a new phase. Recently, Microsoft really has shot itself in the foot – it looked like the once-bitter war was over and that just about everyone had given in to browsing and authoring the web according to Internet Explorer… but then massive security gaffs prompted users to look elsewhere.

Let’s face it, no-one dumps IE because of a lack of features – Microsoft’s browser supports just about every technology available on the web today. Users migrate to other browsers because they’re sick of having spyware and malicious scripts installed on their PCs through the many still unfixed security flaws in Internet Explorer.

Microsoft’s loss is Firefox and Safari’s gain, and the forgotten conflict for the top browser spot has been reignited.

AOL Browser, as it has been imaginatively titled, is based around IE at its core, but introduces a number of new features. Amongst them is the currently fashionable, try it once and you’ll never want to go back, tabbed browsing feature currently employed in Firefox and Safari. Instead of launching a number of instances of the browser to view multiple pages, surfers can keep everything in one window and tab between them – and even tear off tabs to drag into a new window if required.

The new browser will also incorporate Microsoft’s pop-up blocker, introduced in recent updates. The blocker simply does not execute scripts that launch a new child window unless you specifically click on a link to do so. Power Browsing features let users zoom in and out of pages and use high contrast colours for the vision impaired.

No doubt AOL’s decision to base their new offering on IE was helped by their right to use Microsoft’s browser without paying royalties for the next six years, as part of a US$750 million (€604 million) anti-trust settlement won by Netscape.

The browser will not be integrated into AOL’s software, and won’t even be tied to AOL’s internet service and content, it will instead be available as a free download to everyone. This would bring the AOL branding to a much wider audience, and encourage surfers to try out AOL’s services and features.

Google has recently denied a forthcoming GBrowser, but let’s face it – if they managed to code a secure browser that supported web standards with proper Java and plug-in support, no-one else, Microsoft included, would stand a chance.

AOL

Tapwave Zodiac Joins European Market

Can’t decide whether to buy a DS, PSP, N-Gage QD or Gizmondo? Well, European gamers can not at the Tapwave Zodiac to their list of handheld consoles to check out.

The multimedia handheld will be available on the high street from 22nd October – and it’s at the expensive site end of the market. A 32mb Zodiac 1 will set you back UK£269.99 (€391), the 128mb Zodiac 2 will cost you UK£329.99 (€477). Its nearest functional equivalent, Sony’s PSP is expected to cost nearer UK£200. (€290).

Games, stored on SD cards, are priced at UK£29.99 and will include Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4, SpyHunter, DOOM II Duke Nukem Mobile. There will also be two compilation packs – Z Pak: Adventure, which will include Galactic Realms and Legacy; and Z Pak: Fun featuring Paintball, MegaBowling and Kickoo’s Breakout. More titles are promised for Christmas.

The Zodiac is built around an ARM9 processor and a ATI Imageon chipset, running PalmOS — and so is being pitched as considerably more than just a games machine: the hardware and OS used mean that users can play video, read ebooks and listen to music, and enjoy the huge library of Palm software that already exists. But will the public be willing to shell out for what appears to be a specialised Palm Pilot?

Nokia have already had their hands burned badly in the handheld games console market twice – and with two very compelling units from Sony and Nintendo, not to mention the Gizmondo GPS gaming, it’s going to be a very tough market for the Zodiac to survive in. Given that floor space is very expensive in the run up to Christmas, any new console will have to prove itself very quickly before retailers move it on in favour of something that will shift more units.

The Tapwave Zodiac

Sun and Kodak Settle Patent Dispute Out of Court – Software Industry Trembles

Sun and Eastman Kodak have settled a long running patent dispute with an out of court payment. Kodak has been chasing Java creator Sun Microsystems for the past two years, claiming that Sun’s wrtie-once, run-anywhere programming platform violates three patents owned by the film company.

Kodak, who don’t produce programming platforms, had been after US$1.06 billion (€859 million) in damages – or roughly 50% of Sun’s entire profit from its hardware sales from the three years from 1998 to 2001. Instead, they accepted US$92 million (€74.6 million) from Sun, without Sun accepting or denying Kodak’s allegations. From their behaviour, it certainly looks like they just harassed Sun until they were paid to go away.

The dispute revolves around three patents that Kodak acquired in 1997 from Wang Laboratories – specifically the way that one program can call another one to assist. This, they say, was similar to the way that Java works. That’s it – there was no identical source code, no dispute over look and feel: it was entirely down to the concept of one program calling another one to help. It’s actually similar to the way that all software works.

Obviously there are concerns amongst software companies that such vague patent claims might destroy the entire industry as companies turn to each other to extract licensing fees for vague and invalid patent disputes. Even if a claim is eventually thrown out, the entire process can be crippling to companies.

I believe that Kodak’s behaviour in this case is especially shameful given that the only reason they have a business in the first place is because they have relied upon the innovations and free exchange of ideas – from generous and insightful people who created the industry before Kodak even arrived. Kodak are old hands at this game given that, in the 70s, they themselves infringed seven patents belonging to Polaroid – an action that took five years for Polaroid to win.

A history of the innovations in photography

Sun’s statement on the dispute resolution

Nintendo DS’s Launch Line Up

Nintendo always make a big deal out of the software that’s available for their consoles when they launch – they know that the box itself isn’t any use on it’s own, and that customers need a compelling reason to walk out of the shop with a Nintendo console under their arm. The games company don’t always manage to get it right though – as was seen with the launch of the N64, and the US launch of the GameCube. Where were Mario, Samus and Zelda?

So, Nintendo have announced with great fanfare the titles that will be available around the launch of the DS – and whilst they’ve got a Mario title in there (they learned from that mistake then), not all titles will be in the shops on November 21st. Mario had better be, for their sake. The games announced are Madden NFL 2005, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf, the Urbz: Sims in the City, Ping Pals, Feel the Magic XY/XX, Raymand DS, Ridge Racer DS, Mr Driller: Drill Spirits, Asphalt Urban GT, and of course, Super Mario 64.

It’s disappointing that there will be no Animal Crossing, Zelda, Metroid or Advance Wars titles at launch, but Nintendo are promising that they will be along in the coming months. Nintendo need these titles to differentiate their handheld console from the forthcoming PSP which will have pretty much the same sports games on it. However, the DS has an advantage over the PSP when it comes to sports simulations games as it has two screens: for example in Madden NFL 2005, one screen will show all 22 players with the other zooming on the action.

With 120 titles in development for the DS, there certainly won’t be a shortage of software for it – and it’ll need every single game if it’s not to be trounced by Sony’s PSP.

Nintendo’s Launch Line-up

RealArcade Celebrates 150 Million Downloads

RealNetworks are celebrating the 150 millionth game download through their RealArcade service. Founded in 2001, RealArcade now serves about 1.8 million downloads every week, from a catalogue of over 250 titles. With RealNetworks claiming 45 million downloads of the Arcvade client itself, that means that the average user has downloaded just over three games each.

RealArcade’s games are aimed at casual, pick up and play gaming – you won’t find any Final Fantasy VIIs there as the company wants to cater to customers who just fancy a quick blast of something. Popular titles on RealArcade include Jewel Quest, Shape Shifter, and the favourite in August, Feeding Frenzy. I might download Insaniquarium Deluxe just for the title alone.

“Millions of everyday people are experiencing games for grownups because they find casual games to be simple, accessible, friendly entertainment for the whole family to play,” said Andrew Wright, vice president of games for RealNetworks Inc in a statement: “We’ve been able to capture a lot of that growth at RealArcade by offering a product that consumers consistently rank as one of the best on the Web.”

An internal survey from Real indicates that two thirds of Arcade’s customers are women, and two-thirds of those have children. Almost half of RealArcade’s users say they visit every day, showing that the site is definitely “sticky”.

RealNetworks quite research from IDC: “Against common expectations, this market isn’t comprised of the ‘typical’ gamer, but rather a diverse spectrum of players who would never consider themselves to be gamers. As a result, this market has grown explosively by successfully tapping into new markets,” said Schelley Olhava, of IDC. “Double digit growth rates in the paid downloadable games space alone will result in U.S. revenues of $760 million (€619 million) by 2007.”

The RealArcade platform is DirectX-based, making development of new games, and porting existing titles simpler, but limits the platform to Windows PCs only.

Real Arcade

GameTrak: Dark Wind Bundle Due for Release

Beat-em-ups have always been a bit of an odd genre for me: the highly kinetic action on the screen – punching, kicking, disembowelment – has always been strangely at odds with the frantic button mashing dictated by the controls. Well, those first two techniques anyway.

Now being beaten by your opponent simply because he saw a button sequence on the internet that you didn’t know about, or thrashed by your girlfriend because she can press the triangle button faster than you can is a thing of the past – now you can throw real punches at your on-screen opponents.

GameTrak have developed a new PS2 beat-em-up, Dark Wind, that will be bundled with their eponymous controller. The game makes full use of the GameTrak hardware to allow players to punch and block with great accuracy.

The GameTrak controller itself consists of two sensors which can be attached to limbs or a prop (like that Samurai sword you’ve always wanted) and can measure with an accuracy of up to 1mm in a 3m cube. The controller can be used with many different genres of games – GameTrak themselves suggest golfing and lightgun games. I just can’t wait to see if it’s compatible with Freak Out. A USB peripheral, the controller may end up being used on XBox and PC games, as well as the PS2. The Dark Wind bundle will cost UK£69.99 or €99.

The controller won the Most Innovative Product award at the Leipzig Games Convention and has certainly stirred a lot of interest in a market that is starting to take notice of different types of games controllers, particularly in the wake of the success Sony has enjoyed with EyeToy.

Exotic controllers have become popular in arcades of late – indeed, when consoles can reproduce arcade cabinets exactly, cabinets are turning to controllers to make them stand out. Modern arcade cabinets now have swords, revolving seats, footballs and denim-clad buttocks as controllers to give an experience that console games don’t provide. Since the first light gun came in to the home, consoles are always quick to adopt what’s going on in the arcade – and the GameTrak will be able to emulate many current controller and game styles. Though I don’t expect to be wandering home with that buttock thing under my arm any time soon.

But I will soon have some bongos, and that’s even better.

GameTrak

Duke Nukem Forever Crawls Slightly Closer; New Development Tools for the PSP

Think Half Life 2 is taking a long time? Well, spare a thought for those poor souls waiting for Duke Nukem Forever – the whole affair reminds me of the “Apocalypse When?” headlines when Coppola was working on his Vietnam film. Rabid fans of the first person shooter series will be pleased to hear that a physics engine provider has been chosen, and so hopefully the new game will have the same detail and level of interactivity as its 3D predecessors.

Physics for the world inhabited by the Snake Plisskin-inspired eponymous hero will be supplied by Meqon, a new company in the physics middleware market.

George Broussard, CEO of 3D Realms commented on the choice: “We evaluated several physics SDK’s and Meqon was really fast, had the cleanest interface and integrated into our game very quickly.”

The original Duke Nukem shot to fame in 1991, but it wasn’t until 1996’s Duke Nukem 3D that players discovered the joys of shooting fire extinguishers and laying traps that the series reached legendary status. Since then 3D realms have had a number of hits, including May Payne and of course Wolfenstein 3D.

3D Realms

Meqon

In other gaming news, SN Systems have released a development kit for Sony’s PSP handheld. Their ProDG tools are available to registered developers on the PSP hardware, and include a compiler, assembler, linker and debugger – with full integration with .NET.

Andy Beveridge Co-Founder and Director of SN Systems said in a statement: “It’s been a very exciting time for us, getting hold of the new hardware and seeing what it can do is always fascinating. We’ve put a lot of hours into this latest line of ProDG and we’re really pleased with the results. It doesn’t stop there though; developers choosing ProDG for PSPTM are going to have a few more toys to play with in the near future, I just can’t mention them all right now.”

The development tools are backed by Sega’s Yuji Naka, R&D Creative Officer: “ProDG for PSP has rich functions and is very stable while keeping up with fast changes of development environments. SEGA is very satisfied especially with the fact that important functions such as .NET integration, fast compile speed, and good GUI of debugger are equipped from the early version.”

SN Systems

Roobarb and Custard in the 21st Century

Roobarb & Custard 30-something nostalgics, rejoice: a new series of Roobarb and Custard is in production. IP owners and new series Executive Producers, A+B Productions have started work at Monster Animation Studios in Dublin. To be distributed by Celador, Roobarb and Custard Too uses hand-drawn and hand-animated cells coupled with modern production processes to produce a cartoon that is faithful to the original series.

Hardcore R&C fans will be relieved to hear that there is no dodgy computer graphics work in the new version, and that the classic look has not been messed around with. Having done a side-by-side comparison with an early animation sample, I was very impressed by the R&C Too, and was keen to find out how they managed to recreate the distinctive look of the original. Adam Sharp, co-founder of A+B Productions told us “We’re using innovative ways to bring back the classic feel the original hand drawn series had.”

I spoke to Gerard O’Rourke at Monster Animation Studios about the painstaking process that A+B and Monster went through to get the correct look and feel: “Everything is hand-drawn. It’s then traditionally scanned into a computer and digitised. It’s then animated by hand, using a graphics tablet and is then rendered using a combination of Photoshop and Painter to achieve that marker pen feel. From there it’s composited together in After Effects – and then it’s over to post production to do the sound.”

And how did they reproduce the wobbly lines? “They recreate the drawing a number of times – when it’s played back if gives you the wobbly lines. Because you have to replicate the drawing a number of times, you have to do extra and copy them and offset them,” Gerard told us.

“The old version was done in the 70s, and you’ve probably heard the stories of them getting unemployed brickies and everyone they could find to work on Roobarb and Custard – and the reason they had that look that the markers had run out was because the markers had run out! They didn’t use animators all the time, but it did create its own feel and look – and we’ve been trying to increase the production values but not lose the charm of the programme.”

What about people who may be worried that it’s just a Flash update?

“We don’t want people to think that it’s a Flash project, because Flash can tend to be very flat and internet-based, but it is a great animating tool. But it really is only a tool like Word and Excel. It’s how you use it afterwards – take the different functions out of it and then use them with your own techniques and methods. We’ve taken all our software to its limits and used all the libraries and tools that we could get.”

Gerard seems very pleased with amount of care that A+B have been putting in to the new series: “Richard Bryers is narrating the series again, he’s doing all the voices. Grange Caveley, creator and writer has written all the new scripts.”

“It’s very much Roobarb and Custard 1974.”

Monster Animation

If you just can’t wait for the new version of Roobarb and Custard, here’s a selection of can-buy products from Amazon
DVD: Roobarb And Custard – The Complete Roobarb And Custard [1974]
VHS: Roobarb And Custard

PassAlong Networks Launch Innovative Music Referral Service

PassAlong Networks have launched what should not be dismissed as YAMS (Yet Another Music Store). They are starting with a 200,000 track catalogue and increasing to 500,000 by the end of the month.

There are two interesting parts to this one. Firstly, they actually encourage people to pass music around, and secondly they’re using multiple sales channels for the music they are representing, including eBay. While they’re not the first company to sell via eBay, they are the first to offer eBay-ers tracks from the major labels. They will also be selling via their own site at PassAlong.com.

The passing of tracks is very exciting and something that we’ve been enthused about for a long time. Our logic – what is the most ideal sales person? A passionate one, and you don’t get much more enthused than a band’s fan.

PassAlong allows links to songs to be passed to others via email, instant messaging (IM) or Web sites/blogs and to thank them for the viral spread of tracks, each track that is passed on and purchased by the receiver earns credit for the initiator of the transfer.

The content that they launch with, is protected and they are initially using Windows Media DRM (WME) but are keen to point out that they have (wisely) designed their systems to work with any DRM system or music format.

In October, the company will launch its Discover Music service, which will allow users to publish playlists for others to view, and in turn purchase. Following this, their future plans include offering white-label digital music stores.

PassAlong Networks are a Nashville, Tennessee-based company who were founded in 2002 and are now a 60-person startup. Dave Jaworski, who entered the world of technology at a pre-public Microsoft, after some time spent in radio, heads them.

It is very refreshing to see a company that appears to really understand the music consumers’ drivers and natural enthusiasm. We’ll be watching them with interest.

PassAlongNetworks

PassAlong.com

Nintendo DS debuts in US on 21 November

Announced last January, the Nintendo DS goes on sale in the US on 21 November and in Japan on December 2nd, with a price tag of $149.99 (~£84, ~€122), while Europe must wait until early 2005.

The Nintendo DS has heralded a season of innovations. It will be a two active screen portable gaming device (building on their game & watch dual-screen history), and the first time such a launch is happening outside of Japan. A new level of sophistication incorporating voice recognition and multi-player wireless features has been brought to the handheld game console market. As well as the touch screen allowing for touch input using a stylus, and embedded microphone for voice recognition control, it has chat software that caters for up to 16 simultaneous users. A flip-top cover protects both screens, while two speakers on the unit’s face let you hear virtual surround sound.

At 148.7mm (5.85 inches) wide, 84.7mm (3.33 inches) long, and 28.9mm (1.13 inches) tall, the Nintendo DS has a wireless range of 30 to 100ft (nine to 30m), so that multiple users can play multi-player games using one DS game card.

While it is not meant to be successor to the GameBoy Advance, it can play games from the current
GameBoy Advance series. New games will come from 100 different companies, while Nintendo itself is developing 20 titles.

If you have no more spare cash after splashing out on the Nintendo DS you can still get stuck in immediately because it comes with a free software feature, PictoChat, embedded in the system hardware. PictoChat allows you to write messages using the on-screen keyboard or the stylus, and send them wirelessly to other DS users nearby, as well as getting started on text chat. The Nintendo DS doesn’t snooze on the job either. When in sleep mode it will wake up if it senses another DS in transmitting range.

Nintendo will have a battle on their hands as Sony will be releasing the equally heralded portable entertainment device, the PSP.

Nintendo