The creators of the adventure game Myst are seeking cash for a new game via Kickstarter.
Cyan Worlds is looking for $1.1m from the Kickstarter site to develop a game called Obduction.
The game-maker said its new title would be a spiritual successor to its earlier point-and-click adventure games Myst and Riven.
If Cyan reaches its funding target it plans to release PC and Mac versions of Obduction in mid-2015.
More info click here Kickstarter.
Sony has just released the XBA-H1 in ear headphones. They retail at a recommended £99 although you will find them for less on amazon for around £79. Below is photo showing wire and clip holder, pouch, box and optional hybrid foam ear tips.
Their specification are –
-Type – Closed, hybrid
-Power handling capacity 100 mW
-Driver unit Hybrid 2-way (9mm dynamic + Balanced Armature)
– Frequency response 5-25,000 Hz
-Sensitivity 105 dB/mW
– Impedance 40 Ω (at 1kHz)
-Cord type Approx. 1.2m, OFC Litz cord (Y-type)
– Plug- Gold-plated L-shaped stereo mini plug
-Weight 7g (without cord)
-Supplied accessories – Hybrid silicone rubber earbuds (2×SS/S/M/L), Foamed silicone earbuds (2×S/M/L), Cord adjuster, Clip, Carrying pouch.
The packaging of the headphones is excellent. You feel as if you are getting a premium product. You also have 2 types of ear tips in 3 sizes. The hybrid foam silicone tips offer more comfort. However, I found the bass was reduced. For some people this might be a preference but not me.
Ok, so you may be asking is there anything special about these headphones. The answer is yes. These are part of a new range of hybrid headphones from Sony. There is also the H2 and H3 in the range. The H3 cost over £200. So the H1 are the lowest priced in this new range. As I mentioned they feature hybrid drivers. That means they have a balanced armature and a dynamic driver. The principle is balanced armatures produce more accurate mid and treble tones but are not heavy on bass. For some this is fine. In fact, Sony surprised the world when last year it brought out a range of pure balanced armature in ear headphones. These received wide praise.
So the H1’s take the best aspects of a pure balanced armature design but you a dynamic driver for the bass. Dynamic drivers can offer much lower and more dynamic bass. If you look at the specs of the H1 you will see they drop low down to 5 Hz.
So using these headphones with my iPhone 5S was a real treat. Irrespective of genre these headphones displayed clarity , precision, soundstage and attack. The bass was precise and deep. But overall it is the sheer musicality and tone that leave you speechless. They are crazy good to the point you wonder how Sony produced them and at this price point. It also makes you wonder just how much better the more expensive versions in the range can be. Or even more to the point, why bother spending more.
I have used and owned a number of different headphones small and large, but in my book these are one of the best. And it is not just myself who thinks this. There are a number of people who has just bought these who are equally amazed.
Clearly there are better headphones at a much higher price point. But are they worth the extra money? That is the million dollar question!
BlackBerry BBM is now live on iOS and android.
iOS Appstore link click here.
Play store link. Click here.
The catch is you have to enter your email address and join a queue. No idea how long the queue takes but I will let you know when I get the go ahead.
Update – I had my confirmation email waiting after 6 hours. Accept it seems Blackberrys servers are down due to a temporary server error.
Update 2 – Blackberry announces 5 million downloads of iOS and android app.
Just a short piece on my thoughts on my iPhone 5S one month later. Just to recap I had spent 6-7 months using Android and Windows Phone devices and a wide selection. So here I am back full circle to the latest iPhone and iOS.
The 5S is a fast phone, great for anything one handed and is enhanced by my huge and I mean huge app and game selection. In fact, my iOS app collection is stronger than android and leaps ahead of Windows Phone options. Having such a strong selection means I can do more or play more varied games. And it is the apps and games where I realise I have found the pleasure again in using an iPhone.
iOS 7 plugs many of the gaps that were needed on iOS and then adds to making the iPhone experience second to none. The camera whilst only 8mp on paper takes some really incredible photos, and with just one touch. No fiddly settings. The battery life is better than that of my previous 5. The audio quality is considerable improved over the 5. IMO its the best Apple device for music quality. Touch ID means I always have a locked secure phone.
And using the Apple Eco system is a simple affair. What was amazing is not only is iCloud Backup the best solution on any platform, it happens automatically. It was great to restore my phone, and pull back all app data and game data. No need to replay games to my last position. That was great. And the last time I had an iPhone was 6 months ago.
Accessories. The 5S and my Sony QX10/100 lenses fit really comfortably on the phone. WeMo and Netatmo hardware all integrate nicely on the iPhone 5S. The M7 motion processor is tracking my movement without using battery. Neat.
Out of any phone, the 5S represents a smooth, hassle free experience over any current phone. Well nearly. iOS 7 has a few bugs. The 5S has reset itself a few times over the last month. Nothing serious and back in action 15 seconds later but not what I would have expected. I am not sure if it is iOS 7 or third party apps not fully updated. But as I install the iOS7 updates, the 5S becomes more useful and smooth.
And yet, despite having the perfect and best phone experience to data, the bloody Samsung Note 3 keeps calling me…..
But I can resist 🙂
Macworld has put together a comprehensive list of the top 66 games for iOS broken down in categories too.
It is worth reading all 8 pages. So real good selections, of which many are also available on android too.
For more info click here http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipad-iphone/masterclass/?articleid=3402134&pn=1
iOS 7 provided support for a new third-party accessory, game controllers. To use this feature, you need to both own an Apple-approved gamepad accessory and a compatible game from the App Store. There have been leaks of MFI hardware from Logitech and other manufacturers, but nothing has yet hit the market. Maybe more news will be revealed on October 22nd.
Some good news now. The Unity framework announced on its blog that the newest version of its game engine surfaces inputs from these controllers natively in the SDK. Basically, Unity is offering a wrapper between Apple’s Objective-C API and Unity’s own game logic code. The Unity framework powers thousands of games in the App Store. This will mean we will suddenly see an explosion of games supporting game controllers.
This will also spark the death of the Ninetendo DS and Sony PS Vita.
If I look back at my years in gadgets and tech, I had a crazy variety of tech and gadgets.
The tech of 10 years ago was buggy, but at the same time great to tweak and try to get it to do things it wasn’t meant to.
I used to think nothing of flashing a custom firmware on my HTC HD2 or future android devices. Sometimes several times a week. All in the pursuit of the latest and greatest performance. I even jail broke my iPhone 5 to get the bespoke custom tweaks on but reverted back after it crashed more often.
Move forward to 2013. Google is releasing android 4.4 and Apple has released iOS 7. Both are mature operating systems. And both offer a superb user experience. Which is good since now I just want my phone to work. I don’t except that if I spend £500 on a phone, even if it’s free on a contract, that it is acceptable to have a buggy phone that has many faults. I don’t want to start spending hours replacing software included by the manufacturers. I just want and now expect it too work. I also expect timely updates to fix any small issues. And I expect good after sales support.
So have you found your phone habits changing ? If so, how have they changed?
Apple make great products. But they make great products seem even better through great advertising and marketing.
The iPhone 5C is in my honest opinion is pure genius at highlighting this point. If Apple had simply kept the 5 unchanged and released the 5S, the difference between the 2 lines would be hardly recognisable. It would also not create a reason to move up the line to the 5S.
But my having last years phone, manufactured in coloured plastic bodies with a few tweaks to the battery and LTE bands, Apple managed to manufacture the iPhone 5 as the iPhone 5C for less money, but still charge a premium price. In the same light, this created a definite wedge between the design of the 5S. And then the 5S had a new colour and slightly different finish on all 3 finishes to further differentiate. For some reason and somehow, Apple made the 5S in Gold seem special.
But going back to the 5C, people are now buying last years model, in far greater numbers than they would have been if it had just been a 5 with £100 off the selling price.
The 5C will also sell well over Xmas and throughout the year. It is not meant to outsell the 5S, but in the course of time it might get close or even surpass it. Stories about low sales of the 5C are just hype without fact. It is last years phone so initial sales will always be stacked towards the Apple fans buying the latest.
I also know of many Apple fans who prefer the curved feel of the 5C over the 5S. Specs are so good now, colour might just be more important.
My final thought is that Apple have managed to take a 1 year old phone, give it a new colourful body, in a cheaper to manufacture finish and therefore sell for less without impacting profit margins, and sell it more of them than all the others companies except for Apple’s iPhone 5S. Genius if you ask me!
Nike has announced an update to their FuelBand, the Nike+ FuelBand SE, with enhanced connectivity, durability and Bluetooth 4.0. The black band has the options for a few accent colors that wrap around the inside of the band, which Nike calls Volt, Pink Foil, and Total Crimson.
The FuelBand SE uses new software in the device as well as Nike’s updated apps to refine the user experience. Available to pre order for $149.
And sorry, it is not available on android or Windows Phone. It is firmly an iOS Apple exclusive.
HMV is back. And this time it back with a new app for iOS and android. iOS link, click here.
The new apps let you listen to or buy tracks by scanning images of CD albums and posters or by tagging audio tracks thanks to Soundhound’s music discovery algorithms. Nice idea.
Gavin's Gadgets & Photography 