:: digital introvert

Latest Max Payne 3 tech vid shows off bullet-time

Tom — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:00:40 +0000

With Max Payne little over a month away, Rockstar Games have posted the latest video in the ‘Design & Technology’ series. This time we’re treated to an in-depth look at the series’ signature move, bullet-time. Taking cues from The Matrix, bullet-time set the original Max Payne apart from every other 3rd person shooter. Judging by this latest video, Rockstar have honed it to the point of perfection! Check it out.

Watch this video on YouTube.

PS Vita needs games, and quick

Tom — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:14:40 +0000

After a fairly successful launch, and some pretty darn good launch titles, my PS Vita is dying on it’s dock. The seemingly endless wait for a quality title is reminiscent of the 3DS launch. Looking at the Japanese sales charts, the Vita is falling into the clutches of the ageing Wii, well below it’s older brother, the PSP.

Here in the UK, I’m sure everyone is waiting for Gravity Rush, but the 15th of June? I mean, that’s just ridiculous, the game has been out in Japan for months already. Metal Gear Solid HD? June 22nd. What do we have in the mean time? Extra levels for Escape Plan? Big deal. You have to ask yourself, what have Sony got in terms of in-house games? God of War? Gran Turismo?

The 3DS got out of it’s slump with some big hitting first party titles, namely Mario Kart 7 and Mario 3D Land. These were followed by the likes of Monster Hunter 3G, and more recently, Kingdom Hearts 3D and Kid Icarus: Uprising. From the mediocre to the meteoric, the 3DS is flying. It’s interesting to note, not a single Vita game makes it into the Japanese Top 20 software sales. Something Sony will have to seriously rectify if they want to keep the Vita focus on gaming.

Apple allow inside look at iPad production

Tom — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 23:48:52 +0000

Apple have been heavily involved in numerous stories regarding the working conditions within production company, Foxconn. After a spat of suicides and claims workers are poorly paid and get little sleep, Marketplace Shanghai Bureau Chief Rob Schmitz shows us what really goes in inside these factories.

Joking aside, here’s the video giving us a really interesting insight into life as a Foxconn worker. Hell, they even have their own football pitch. I’m definitely in the wrong job.

Watch this video on YouTube.

My Average Workday

Tom — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:04:33 +0000

I thought it would be interesting to show you what my average workday involved. Starting at 9:00am and finishing at 5:30pm, it’s usually just one big queue of (mostly irritating) people. Yes, I need a new job.

Watch this video on YouTube.

P.S. I chose the music track to annoy you.

New iPad turns up, first impressions

Tom — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:46:45 +0000

Unboxing pics are so last week, so here’s a brief rundown of my initial impressions of the new iPad. I sold my iPad 2 roughly 3 weeks ago in anticipation of a new release. I have to say I missed using it to read and eBay in bed. Laptops just seem so cumbersome these days! I’ve only had about an hour with the new model, so here goes;

New screen is a sensation. Crisp, bright, and utterly delicious.
Weight difference is noticeable but not a big deal.
Thickness increase not noticeable.
Reading in iBooks/Newsstand is on another level altogether.
Camera is a million times better, I love the shutter button on the right when in portrait mode.
It’s a screamer (as Apple love to say) – interface and app opening is lightning quick.
Un-optimized app icons are fairly noticeable, although text within apps is perfect.
Built-in speaker seems louder and delivers a more powerful sound.
Restoring from iPad 2 iCloud backup worked like a charm.
My iPad 2 16GB restore wouldn’t have fit on a new 16GB iPad due to retina apps being larger (glad I went for the 32GB).
Lower left-hand corner gets fairly warm after prolonged use under moderate stress.
Did I mention the screen?

Rockstar shows off latest Max Payne 3 video

Tom — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:20:56 +0000

Rockstar have posted the latest instalment in their ‘Design & Technology’ series for Max Payne 3. This time we’re treated to a demonstration of Visual effects and Cinematics. The video shows how the developers have gone about bringing the famous Max Payne graphic novel style storyboards into the modern day. Very reminiscent of something you’d see on the TV show 24. With each chapter released I can’t help but feel this game is going to be pretty damn special. I dare you to watch it and disagree.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Sleeping With The Enemy, iOS to WP7 – Prologue

Tom — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 13:15:00 +0000

The iPhone, the ultimate smartphone. The phone that revolutionised the category. I’ve owned each and every model since the initial release in 2007. Four years and five models later, iOS has flourished into the most recognisable mobile operating system in the world. But guess what, I’m bored of it.

Each year Apple has added hundreds of new features that makes the iPhone arguable the most feature rich phone on the planet. Thousands upon thousands of apps, notifications, the new iCloud, a fantastic camera, it seemingly has it all. Right in front of you though, it’s essentially a four year old operating system. It’s kept the same look and feel that was introduced back in 2007. It does everything so well, so cleanly, it’s become stagnant, complacent in my mind. I find myself opening the same few apps each day, checking the same things, looking at the same screens. This is in no way a bad thing to some, it’s a phone you can rely on to deliver in almost all aspects (battery life excluded). What I wanted though, was something fresh, something to work with, something different. I’d looked at Android phones, but to me they’re an alter-ego to the iPhone, the Dark Sonic to iOS’s squeaky clean image.

When Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) landed, I took note, it looked different, like a new challenge. The main problem was hardware, nothing noteworthy available. Then along came Nokia, and after their deal with Microsoft, the Lumia 800 was born from the ashes of the N9. It looked like a nice handset, built quality was great, the specs were up there with the best. Why not give it a go? Well I did.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be using my blog to post a diary of my usage, how life with Windows Phone compares to the Apple iPhone. Stay tuned.

Steve Jobs – A Tribute

Tom — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 21:36:06 +0000

After the sad news earlier this week I’ve had nothing but Apple nostalgia running through my veins. Like many Apple fans, Steve Jobs was someone to be admired, someone who related to the people. I’ve made this video short to remind us of why this man was just that much better than anyone else.

Watch this video on YouTube.

How-to: Upgrade Hard Drive In Late 2009 27″ iMac

Tom — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:41:35 +0000

If you’ve ever tried installing a new hard drive in one of these machines then you’ve probably already found it goes something like this. Step 1. Spend an age delicately removing that big ass glass panel and then screen, installing the new drive, putting it all back together (careful, no dust). Step 2. Coming to the stark realisation the hard drive fan is spinning like a mad man and your quiet and serene iMac has turned into something of a 90′s gaming PC. Time to take it all back apart again then.

The reasoning behind this oddity is the fact Apple started using the built in temperature sensor (that most hard drives contain) to monitor and adjust the fan speed accordingly. Now you may think, ok so if I replace the drive with the same make and model Apple used at the time then all will be ok? Wrong. I found out the hard way by buying an exact replica of the 2TB Seagate ST32000542AS drive Apple shipped as an upgrade option back in 2009. After installing this I still got the noisy fan syndrome, and this was because unless the drive is flashed with Apple’s custom firmware then the pins used for the temp sensor cable are infact pumping out hard drive rpm signals.

Is there any way around this? There must be something we can do!!? Well yes, there is. It’s a simple mod that will get your capacities up without that dreaded fan following suit.

1. I will assume you already know how to get into your iMac. You need a couple of suction cups to remove the glass panel without cracking it. The panel is held on by magnets around the perimeter of the machine. For a detailed guide in opening her up, then check this. NOTE: Unplug the power cord!

2. Once inside and the screen is removed (careful with the screen cables, especially the one in the top left!!) you will have access to everything and the hard drive is slap bang in the middle.

3. Here’s the clever part. We need to replace the current temp sensor cable going to the hard drive with an external temp sensor. Now there’s another drive in your iMac that is constantly getting monitored, and that’s your Optical drive. That uses an external temp sensor with the exact same plug on the end as the hard drive cable. Put two and two together and you realise we can buy a spare Optical drive sensor and stick it on the hard drive. Bingo.

4. The part number you need is 922-9229, I got mine from TheBookYard here in the UK. Google the part number and you should find a supplier in your locale. Check the picture above to see where I installed mine. It’s been working flawlessly for about a month now.

If you have any questions then use the contact page to get in touch.

How-to: Get Frontrow Working In Mac OS X Lion

Tom — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:54:02 +0000

If you’re reading this then chances are you’ve come to the stark realisation that Apple have callously removed our lovably simple media interface from its latest OS. Some say this was a move to sell more Apple TVs, some say it was just no longer needed. Either way, I used this feature almost every night to watch Movies and TV Shows in bed, hear me Apple?! Many out there believe it will turn up again in the near future via the Mac App Store. But, what about now? ~~What about today? Sorry, bad song.~~ There are other solutions out there that offer even more features, like apps to check Twitter, the Weather, and even play YouTube content. The trouble is, simplicity was key for me. I’ve tried alternatives, Plex, Boxio, XBMC, but none offer the speed and versatility of Frontrow. Too many menus to get to your content, too many bugs to rely on it to work every time. So what can we do about it? Well, we can restore Frontrow to usable state.

First of all you need to get hold of few files taken from Snow Leopard. Incase you’ve already upgraded to Lion, you can use this simple package installer to install all the necessary files – Download [Thanks to mac-hatter for creating the file]

Once that’s all done, restart your Mac and your Apple Remote should then be capable of launching Frontrow once again. Go ahead and run it, you’ll notice a problem, your iTunes Library is not visible under any of the menus. This is because Apple has stopped iTunes 10.4 and onwards talking to Frontrow. So what can you do now? Well the best workaround I found was to create an alias within your Movies folder.

1. Navigate to your Home folder > Music > iTunes, and create an alias to the ‘iTunes Media’ folder.

2. Drag and drop this newly created shortcut into your Home > Movies folder.

3. Launch Frontrow and go Movies > Movies Folder. You’ll notice your iTunes Media alias in the list. You should now have a list of all your iTunes content.

While not 100% effective, this is the best solution offered at the moment and I am sure to be using this until I can find a reliable and simple alternative.