The Digital Void of SPZ

Here at work I've been working for quite some time now on the Opera browser for the UIQ3 platform;

Ronneby, Sweden - Oct. 04, 2004
Opera Software and UIQ Technology, a fully owned subsidiary of Symbian Ltd., today announced that they have selected Opera to be the default browser in UIQ's UIQ 3.0, the new release of the UIQ Platform that is expected to be commercially available in Q4 2004.

It is quite the challenge, with it being Symbian 9 as well as UIQ having a whole new architechture, and recently the Sony Ericsson M600 hit the shelves making it the first UIQ3 device out there (closely followed by the P990). Here is a review of the M600, and some quotes related to Opera on it:

The M600 web browser is powered by the most advanced mobile browser ever created Opera Browser, Opera web experience in small screen devices is unmatchable, and if you looking for any mobile device with the best web experience always look for Opera logo in the box.

[..]

With the high-speed 3G mobile internet access you are in for a desktop experience in the M600 screen. I remember a lot of Treo users specially users trading in the stocks market use to complain a lot that they can’t access the java web-portal to see their stocks status, well, with the M600 Opera browser (with HTML 4.01, xHTML 1.0, CSS and Java script (ECMA script), WAP 2.0 support, and SSL/TLS security protocols) you can do just that, and amazingly the Opera browser support tab browsing as well just like in your Opera desktop version of the popular browser, so you can keep your stock market update page open and start a new page to check your email or open a page for each of your main stocks, now how cool is that!?

So make sure to check out some UIQ3 action if you have the opportunity, and don't forget that the Sony Ericsson W950i will hopefully be out Q4!

Those not following the mobile phone/device market that closely, and more in particular Nokia, may not know that a little while back they decided to drop us at Opera Software and start using their own "new" browser for their Symbian S60 devices. I for one still believe we have a superior product, and now that the new Nokias have started hitting the market it seems there are some that share our views.

I just read a funny article over at Reg Hardware, The Register's hardware section had the following to say:

A special circle of Hell needs to be created for the souls behind Nokia's new web browser. This is the fruit of the decision to develop an alternative to Opera Mobile based on the KHTML engine used by KDE's Konquerer and Apple's Safari.

[..]

This browser also sucks up all available memory from the phone - quite an achievement considering the E70 has 80MB of RAM. Three or four pages in to a session, the browser runs out of memory.

It has already been a little while since this years E³ finished, and this year there was alot of exciting news especially for the console market.

Sony released some more news on their PS3, for instance that the controller will be identical to the PS2 controller in form factor, without rumble but with gyro. It still is rather unclear what Sony will do to battle the 360's already growing advangate and market share, but hopefully for them it will be something ingenious. Their late start, combined with the fact that the PS3 will be quite expensive ($499 for a PS3 with a 20-GB hard drive or a $599 model with a 60-GB) as well as the uncertainty of how it will perform and look compared to the 360, means they have their work cut out for them.

The Nintendo guys finally brought out the Wii to show off some games and how the new controller layout and functionality will affect your gaming experience. A controller with light sensor pointing, built in gyro as well as built in sound and rumble should hopefully be a refreshing change and not just some whacky idea that never really worked out in practice. Of course now that it is official that Opera will be on the Wii I can admit to having already toyed with the controller for a bit

But perhaps more importantly for now, there was a lot of showcasing for upcoming titles for the 360 - some titles which have been in the making (and waiting) for quite some time now. Games like Gears of War, Too Human, Mass Effect, BioShock, Forza Motorsport 2, Halo 3, Prey, Lost Planet, Table Tennis, Brothers in Arms, Dead Rising ... to metion a few. Go here to have a quick look at the montage video showing off many of the upcoming titles.

Though I rarely use my PC for gaming anymore, there are also a handful of upcoming titles which have caught my attention, such as Spore, Crysis and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

I found this piece of news rather interresting.

Scientists have now paired up a six-legged robot with a single-celled organism which goes under the name of Physarum polycephalum. This slime, as it were, lives by a few principles; it shies away from light and prefers dark and humid places, and seeks out bacteria and fungi to engulf and consume;

The mould uses a network of tiny tubes filled with cytoplasm to both sense its environment and decide how to respond to it. Zauner's team decided to harness this simple control mechanism to direct a small six-legged (hexapod) walking bot.

The setup is quite interresting; Basically the robot has light sensors which remotely control how the slime is exposed to light. The slime is itself connected to circuits and when exposed to light, the circuitry will interpret it's reaction and send the information back to the robot which in turn moves away from the light that it is exposed to.

Perhaps not very useful in itself, but the implications for biotech and nanotech are most likely significant.

Another funny one is the cockroach controlled mobile robot.

QUAKE 4 PC TO HIT STORE SHELVES IN MID-OCTOBER

Mesquite, TX – October 3, 2005 – id Software™, Raven Software and Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) have confirmed Earth’s invasion of Stroggos with the announcement that QUAKE 4™ PC has entered manufacturing and will begin shipping to retail stores nationwide on Tuesday, October 18. The long awaited sequel to QUAKE II®, QUAKE 4 enlists gamers in the role of Matthew Kane, a member of the Earth Defense Force’s legendary Rhino Squad, to penetrate deep into the heart of the Strogg war machine and engage in a series of heroic missions to destroy the barbaric alien race.

“On October 18, QUAKE is dialing it up to 4.0 on the Richter Scale with this new chapter in Earth’s war against the Strogg,” said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software. “Fusing an epic war-story driven single player campaign, and fast-paced QUAKE III Arena® inspired multiplayer, QUAKE 4 delivers a gaming experience fans will be raving about for years.”

Developed by Raven Software and executive produced by id Software, QUAKE 4 begins only moments after the events of QUAKE II, with the Earth’s fleet launching a massive offensive to the planet Stroggos. As Matthew Kane, an elite member of Rhino Squad, gamers invade the alien stronghold, fighting alone, along side other Marines, and in mechanized walkers and hover tanks as they encounter the Strogg and their disturbing amalgamations of man and machine. Built on id Software’s revolutionary DOOM 3® technology, QUAKE 4 also features fast-paced multiplayer competition modeled after the speed style and feel of QUAKE III Arena.

For more information, fans can visit www.quake4game.com. QUAKE 4 has been rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB.

Ah yes! The time has finally come, now I just need to get my new computer together; My old CPU fried this summer so I was thinking of getting an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ to go with my ATi x800 PRO. I was hardcore into both Quake 2 and 3 so this is big news for me, let's hope it is pure pwnage!