Technology

Actor Corey Haim dead in Burbank at 38

BURBANK, California (AP) — the Los Angeles coroner’s office says “The Lost Boys” actor Corey Haim is dead at 38.

Coroner’s Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said Wednesday that Haim died Wednesday morning at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. she said an autopsy will determine the cause of death, and there are no other details.

Canadian-born Haim became a teen heartthrob with the 1986 film “Lucas” and 1987’s “The Lost Boys.”

His first role was in the 1984 hit “Firstborn,” in which he played a young child caught up in a family war. he then appeared in the 1985 television movie “A Time to Live.”

In recent years, he appeared in the A&E reality TV show “The two Coreys” with his friend Corey Feldman. It was canceled in 2008 after two seasons.

Actor Corey Haim dead in Burbank at 38

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THQ's Farrell: Cloud Computing Could Bring Gaming 'Roaring Back'

Despite the game industry’s recent financial hit, THQ CEO Brian Farrell believes “gaming can come roaring back” with emerging technologies like cloud computing, as well as the opportunities in downloadable games and the brand extension potential offered by social gaming.

Cloud computing-based gaming, by which real-time graphics are rendered remotely and streamed to the player’s screen rather than generated locally by a PC or console, has not yet reached mainstream consumers, but competing firms like OnLive and Gakai are racing to get the technology into players’ homes.

“We like this idea of games in the cloud,” Farrell said in an IGN interview. “Why do consumers need to pay for that computing power [of a dedicated console]? If the consumer is comfortable with digital delivery, why doesn’t that concept work where we can deliver great games and lower hardware investment in a digital world? I like that world, frankly.”

Farrell acknowledged that such a world would still need to involve retail in some way, and noted that the major console hardware manufacturers may resist such a move, but he remains convinced that whatever the future may hold, the “traditional cycle of massive upgrades for graphics…is over.”

“If we can get the hardware away from the TV and in the cloud and then start delivering small- to medium-sized bites for the right price point, gaming can come roaring back,” he said.

He said THQ is also keeping a close eye on the “hyper-casual” world of Facebook — but not with the intention of giving up its core game business. rather, one of THQ’s plans is to use social games as brand extensions, bringing its intellectual property into the social world to broaden the company’s reach.

“It’s just a matter of keeping that gamer engaged with your brand in each of those environments,” he explained.

And THQ is already known to be increasing its focus on the downloadable game space. Earlier this month, the company said it would significantly scale down two studios and reorient them towards downloadable games, with Farrell more recently indicating Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC will be the main targeted platforms.

“There’s a lot of things to like about digital. Piracy can be more effectively dealt with. Used games, which has been a huge threat to the industry, you know. [If] you own it digitally, hopefully at a lower price point, everybody can win,” he said.

“We’re doing it obviously on Steam now with all of our PC games. If first parties allow that, we’ll certainly embrace that, because if that’s what gamers want, that’s who we’re going to serve.”

THQ's Farrell: Cloud Computing Could Bring Gaming 'Roaring Back'

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iPhone Development: SmartPhone Comparison

I found this comparison of the current generation of smart phones to be interesting. Droid is shaping up to be a heck of a phone. I don’t think it’s going to pull a lot of people away from the iPhone, but I think it will do well and will probably be the biggest boost for the Android platform to date.

Are there really 10,000 applications on the Android Market now? I’m somewhat surprised that it’s that high. I think even if that number’s true (Googling finds me a lot of people regurgitating this same estimate from an unofficial source, but I can’t find an authoritative source for the actual number of apps in the store), that comparison doesn’t really represent the true differential between the App Store and the Android Market. Not even 1% of the applications in the Android Market have been downloaded over 250,000 times (including free ones!), and less than a quarter of them have even been downloaded even 5,000 times. By App Store standards, almost every app in the Android Market is a failure, including the best selling paid apps. That will change, but it hasn’t yet and it’s definitely a factor in comparing the phones. The App Store is, to put it simply, far more than 10x better than the Android Market.

My concerns about Droid’s battery life don’t appear to be true if the numbers in this comparison chart are accurate. although the standby time for the Droid is noticeably shorter than the iPhone, the talk time is greater by a comparable margin. I’m also wondering if these are manufacturer’s claims, or real world results. I’m especially curious to see how the Android’s battery holds up when playing games or video on that big, beautiful screen. I really wish I could get my hands on one of these for a few weeks. Actually, at some point, I may buy a developer phone just to try and do a real comparison of the platforms from a developer’s perspective and also to see if there are any good procedures for developing apps for both platforms simultaneously. I probably won’t do that until I’m sure Android has secured the #2 spot, though, and the Android Market starts showing more commercial potential.

One thing I’ve heard from a few people, and the videos I’ve seen seem to support it, is that Droid’s use of hardware acceleration is really inconsistent. Certain things like video must be leveraging the GPU to work as well as they do, but many other aspect of the UI don’t seem to use it at all, which means things like scrolling or zooming often seem sluggish, at least compared to the experience on the iPhone. It’s a subtle thing, but the iPhone’s ubiquitous ability to leverage hardware acceleration really is a big deal, and one that’s not often mentioned in phone comparisons.

Also, I’m hearing mixed things about multitouch on the Droid. The best I can figure is that it does support multitouch, but doesn’t make very extensive use of it. It seems to be at least the case that the default browser doesn’t support multi-touch gestures like pinch-zoom, which I would find annoying. if anyone can clarify this for me, I’ll be happy to correct the post with the right information.

Other than the bigger screen, the iPhone and Droid are surprisingly comparable. In a way, that’s bad, though. I’m not sure that having a higher-resolution screen (which I’ve heard looks nice, but isn’t really noticeable unless you put the screens next to each other) and a higher-megapixel camera is enough. I was kind of hoping that Android would kick the iPhone’s ass in a few more categories, because that would be a great motivator for Apple. if the Droid is really trying to be an “iPhone Killer”, it won’t be enough to be as good as the iPhone. But, the smartphone space is big and growing, and the Droid doesn’t have to be an iPhone Killer to succeed. It certainly looks to be better than what Palm is offering, or any of the Windows Mobile devices that are available.

I will admit that Droid does look to be a pretty darn nice piece of hardware. if Motorola were willing to invest some time and resources into making Android’s interface more intuitive and less designed-by-committee and also was willing to throw some resources at implementing system-wide use of that big GPU they’ve got in the phone, they could have a real winner on their hands. They’ve got the hardware in place to challenge the iPhone, but it looks like they’re still falling short on software. even though they are falling less short than others, Software is still king, and until they get that right, they’re going to continue to be bridesmaids, and never the bride.

One row in this chart that I want to niggle with a bit with is the multitasking row. First of all, the iPhone does have muli-tasking. It has a very good preemptive multitasking kernel very similar to the one in our Macs. The ability to use it just isn’t exposed to third-party developers through the SDK. And, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

In the early days of the iPhone SDK, I was one of the loudest proponents of adding multitasking and background tasks to the iPhone SDK. There are whole classes of applications that would become possible if Apple did, and that’s all I was concerned about as a developer. But, you know what? now that I’ve spent twenty months with the SDK and know more about the current state of embedded hardware, I’ve come to realize Apple was right on this call. The time isn’t quite right yet. The tradeoff is such that you are doing most of your customers a disservice if you allow multiple applications to run. I’ve seen multitasking on the HTC Hero, the Palm Pre, and on a few models of Windows Mobile phones, and having multiple background apps running can really kill your performance and your battery life.

Sure, you can just quit those apps if performance suffers, right. Yeah, if you’re reading this blog, sure. But the iPhone isn’t a device targeted only or even primarily at tech-savvy people like developer. I’m reminded of when I would sit down at a certain family member’s computer and he would have every application he had opened since he last booted his computer. It never occurred to him to quit programs he wasn’t using. I suspect that there are more people like this family member than like you and me in the pool of potential customers. on a modern computer with virtual memory, who cares if there’s a bunch of unused applications open, since they don’t really have much of an impact. But on a phone? It still matters.

At some point in the near future, it will make sense on phones, too. But for now, given the hardware limitations, more people will have a better experience if they don’t let developers write background processes or let users have more than one app running at a time. Battery life will be longer in real world use, performance will be better, and there are relatively few applications that can’t get by without this ability.

Frankly, I’ll be honest. I hope Droid fails for a completely selfish reason. I want to see Verizon get the iPhone. of all the cell phone companies I’ve used, they were the least obnoxious and had the best service. if they got the iPhone, I’d go back to them in a heartbeat, even if I had to pay a termination fee to cancel my AT&T contract. at present, I just don’t see the Droid betting better by enough to lure me away from the iPhone as either a consumer or a developer.

Ah, enough Saturday night rambling. I’ve got to go finish Chapter 10 which needs to be finished by the end of the day tomorrow.

iPhone Development: SmartPhone Comparison

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer review (Xbox 360)

Ads by Google’; } } //only display the google bottom unit if there is no chitika ad document.getElementById(‘top_unit’).innerHTML=s; } //–> What workedDestruction 2.0 is amazing

Bad Company 2’s “Destruction 2.0″ system lets you do everything from shooting fire holes through cover to completely destroying structures and watching them come crashing down in the most convincing manner I’ve seen on a console to date. if you’re taking cover inside a building, a tank can completely obliterate the wall you’re hiding behind with one blast, so you’ve got to be smart and know where you’re headed next. it adds a unique element to the “Rush” multiplayer game type, where you have to plant charges on objects in buildings and stop the enemy from defusing the charges. You might be tempted to level the building to wipe out some defenders, but where are your teammates going to hide when they’re planting and defending the charge?

Tactics and teamwork, not twitch

Only the most elite players will be able to survive for long on their own, and a team who actually plays like a team will always win over a bunch of lone wolves trying to rely on their reflexes. You can “spot” enemies and they’ll show up on the maps of all your teammates, the assault class can drop ammo for their teammates, medics can drop medical kits to heal or use defibrillators to revive their fallen teammates, and engineers can repair damaged vehicles – and in all of these cases, you’re rewarded with experience points for doing so, which means many people who otherwise wouldn’t are now playing like a team.

Grounded in reality

While you unlock extra weapons and gadgets as you progress through the ranks, there’s no “perks” that allow people to perform logic-defying (and ultimately fun-defying) feats like running around stabbing people from ten feet away, which is in stark contrast to Modern Warfare 2. (There’s also no kill-streak rewards that give the players who are already dominating the match additional high-powered ways to keep dominating.)

Dedicated servers

EA’s long-running arrangement with Microsoft means that bad Company 2 (like all EA-published games) can use dedicated servers. this removes the “host advantage” problem found in every non-EA shooter to date and offers a far more level playing field. Having said that, I have experienced intermittent latency/lag issues – just not in nearly every single game, like the competition. this makes me think that there may be a limited number of servers in countries outside the US, and once they’re full, you’ll end up on a server in another country with less-than-ideal latency. I contacted both EA and DICE to ask where their servers are, but had not heard back at the time of publication.

Unmatched scale and depth

There’s only four game types across ten maps, but they’re all unique and highly tuned. There’s 15 vehicles on land, sea and in the air, including several different tanks, boats and helicopters, an ATV, a Hummer, and a controllable (and lethal) UAV. Unlocking new gear is a slow but steady process. the maps are truly massive, and will take a very long time to learn inside out. and of course, I’ve already talked about how much the Destruction 2.0 system adds to the gameplay.

What didn’t workVoice chat only for your squad

You can only use voice chat with your squad, which is a maximum of three other players out of the 12 on your team, and quite often, no one. As a result, most people end up using Xbox party chat rather than in-game communications. this means that if you’re not playing with friends, you’re not likely to hear anyone, which creates a lone-wolf dynamic that almost every other aspect of the game is set up specifically to punish. Not being able to communicate to a teammate that you’re an engineer who can fix the badly damaged tank he just drove past you at 40 miles an hour is incredibly frustrating.

No effort to balance games

I’ve seen a team of ten with three people around level 20 (which I’d guess to mean something like 50 hours of play since the game launched last week) go up against a team of ten with eight unranked players (which means they’ve played for less than an hour). They were unsurprisingly beaten swiftly and without a challenge. I’ve also found myself on a team of two, against a team of four. the servers made absolutely no effort to add players to our team while we were unrelentingly punished by the other team for 45 minutes.

Throws players into the deep end

The campaign isn’t nearly enough training for the multiplayer games. As my friends buy this game and jump online, the first question is always “what’s going on?” (and not as in the “how are you?” version of the question). It’s clear that many players still have no idea you can actually defuse a charge once it is planted by the enemy – and with the voice chat issue I mentioned above, you can’t even tell them. Helicopters in particular have a learning curve like a brick wall – every time you’re on a level with helicopters, you’ll see at least one teammate jump in, fly for a couple of hundred meters and crash spectacularly into a mountain or building. a couple of training scenarios that you can run through offline would be a big help.

Issues with servers

Over the weekend there were extended problems with the servers, originally with PC and PS3, then on the 360. I’d hoped that things would be smooth sailing from there, but last night I experienced the dreaded “Cannot connect to EA Online” message again. it does seem odd that EA and DICE ran a beta over several months, and a multiplayer demo for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that saw 2.5 million downloads, but are struggling to keep up with demand.

Spawn camping is prevalent

If you’re not familiar with the lingo, this means the defending team can sit in the attackers base, where defenders reenter the game (or respawn) after being killed, picking them off as they respawn. It’s annoying enough before a team of four playing against a team of two start doing it. this would be incredibly easy to stop, with an existing game mechanic (you can’t leave certain areas of the map at all times, or you’ll die after 10 seconds).

Worthy?

If you’re into online warfare, you simply cannot miss this game. It’s that good.

If you’re relatively new to online warfare and don’t have friends already playing who can show you the ropes, it might be a little tough to get started here, for reasons I’ve already covered.

If you’re only looking for a fantastic single player campaign, you might be a little disappointed. I wouldn’t say it’s been bad at any stage, but it’s missing some of that edge-of-your-seat factor present in other shooters (including one that it has unashamedly borrowed from). I’ve only gone back to it once after my initial session, and that was when the multiplayer servers were down. (Looking over the review excerpts at Metacritic, it appears I’m not the only one that’s found the single player campaign a little lackluster.)

If you’ve got access to multiple platforms and can’t decide which version to go for, DigitalFoundry has a stunningly in-depth look at the differences between PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. (They also perfectly sum up my thoughts on bad Company 2’s 30 frames per second versus Modern Warfare 2’s 60 frames per second – a gaming experience of this magnitude simply could not be achieved at 60 frames per second on this generation of consoles.)

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer review (Xbox 360)

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Google providing in-stock information about nearby products

Google is launching a product search feature for certain smart phones that allow you to see whether an item is in stock nearby.

If you have an iPhone, Palm WebOS phone or any Android smart phone, just go to Google.com and do a search for an item. Select the “more” link and then select “shopping.”

Within the shopping search results, you’ll see a blue dot next to the item if it’s in stock at a participating retailer nearby. Participating stores include Best Buy, Sears, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, or West Elm.

You can then follow an “In stock nearby” link to the seller’s page, where you can see if it’s in stock or has limited availability. I tried this for Wii Fit Plus and got a listing of mostly Best buys throughout the Bay Area where the game is in stock. unfortunately, the nearest store to me in San Francisco was the sixth entry. but it works if you’re willing to scroll through the list a little.

You’ll need to enable the location feature on Google and you have to be in the U.S. for this to work. but it’s a nice little addition that can help you track down items without having to wonder if they have it. Google will need to get more retailers on the program and it looks like they’re trying to get more of them on board.

Posted by: Ryan Kim (Email) | March 11 2010 at 11:06 AM

Listed Under: Google

Google providing in-stock information about nearby products

Technology

Actor Corey Haim dead in Burbank at 38

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THQ's Farrell: Cloud Computing Could Bring Gaming 'Roaring Back'

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iPhone Development: SmartPhone Comparison

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer review (Xbox 360)

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Google providing in-stock information about nearby products

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