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At last Pandora comes to Windows Mobile-well eventually

Pandora, the online music service which lets a user create virtual “stations” based of their favorite artist or tune, and lets the user refine said “station” via rating the music up and down. Pandora created the popular client for the Apple iPhone while leaving Windows Mobile phones waiting.

Well the good news is that Pandora is now working on a mobile client for Windows Mobile, so hopefully the wait for Pandora on Windows Mobile powered mobile phones won’t be too long.

This program could easily have been available for Windows Mobile two years ago as wmpoweruser shows.

Tom Conrad, CTO at Pandora responded with a letter… The good news is that we do have a team working on Windows Mobile versions of Pandora. Given my track record it’s probably best not to comment on the “when” but it’s certainly not a question of “if”.

At least for a small company like Pandora, the incredibly diverse mobile universe creates a real challenge with respect to where to place your limited resources. Without question the iPhone turned out to be a great bet for us. So far, the investment in feature phones has been a more modest success. We’re all optimistic that we’ll be able to find a iPhone-like success on Windows Mobile, but only time will tell.

Source – wmpoweruser and wmexperts

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Stream iTunes collection from anywhere with Simplify Media: videos

Simplify Media in an application which uses the desktop version of your PC or Mac to wirelessly stream your iTunes library straight to your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch which means the storage cap for music on your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch is basically removed.

But be quick and nip over to Simplify Media and download the application now as the first 100,000 Apple iPhone users to download will gain it for free, after that first 100,00 anyone wanting the Simplify Media application will need to pay .99.

The Simplify Media application also works over EDGE and 3G, and gives the iPhoner the option to listen to thirty of your friend’s iTune’s Library as well.

When using Simplify Media the user will be shown cover art, lyrics and artist bios associated with each song you choose. You can scroll via artist, track or genre.

Source – appleinsider via theiphoneblog

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Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution

The Wii version of this turn-based strategy game was canned, as the developers thought they wouldn’t be able to get a decent version of the game running on the system. So why they thought that the DS could is a bit of a mystery.

The DS isn’t renowned for being a 3D powerhouse, but it can still produce some nice 2D graphics - take a look at the recent Soul Bubbles for proof. Visuals must have been the last thing on the agenda here though - it looks like an ugly Game Boy Advance game, with dull maps and no flair to speak of. There isn’t any music in game either, which hardly helps the atmosphere side of things. The controls work well though; so much so that there isn’t even the need for a tutorial at the beginning.

At the start of the game you’re asked to pick a leader (Napoleon, Caesar, Lincoln, Edmonds etc) for your civilization, each of whom has their own advantages, such as starting off with the knowledge of writing or a wealth of gold. It’s your job then to lead your civilization through four eras - ancient, medieval, industrial and modern. How? By sending out your armies and settlers to explore the world, and occasionally having to choose between starting wars with neighbours or bribing them to leave you be. As time passes armies get stronger and bigger, technology improves and as you learn new skills and build new objects your civilization’s reputation grows.

Sounds good, right? Here’s the problem - there’s very little to actually do, other than navigate menus, make a few choices when prompted and send your men into out into the unknown. Battles are done automatically and it’s nigh impossible to play peacefully as neighbouring civilizations turn on you in a flash. I found that the best thing to do was to wipe out any nearby civilizations as soon as possible; when trying to play peacefully the game was usually over within twenty minutes or so.

It’s by no means a bad game. I just expected it to be a little more involving.

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Smart picks for entertainment-focused smartphones

Sony Ericsson W760

The Walkman is back — and this time it’s in the form of a smartphone. The Sony Ericsson W760 Walkman phone (5 with no plan; www.sonyericsson.ca) delivers a cutting-edge music experience with an intuitive interface for easy navigation, stereo speakers, FM radio and support for broadband-like HSPA speeds to download songs in seconds. Other features of this slider phone include a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS (with Google Maps) and 3-D gaming with motion-sensing control.

Apple iPhone 3G

Available through Rogers for 9 (8GB) or 9 (16GB), the eagerly-anticipated iPhone 3G (www.apple.ca) smartphone combines all the features found in the original — music, photo and video playback, two-megapixel camera and Wi-Fi/GSM/EDGE for wireless surfing and downloads (including tracks from the iTunes Store) — but has added support for high-speed 3G (HSDA) connectivity, integrated GPS for directions and location-based mobile services, and support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. Oh, and it’s a phone, too. (Pictured on Page 1)

HTC Touch

Available through Bell Mobility or Telus, the HTC Touch (.99 on a three-year term; www.htc.com) is a Windows Mobile 6-powered smartphone offering smooth synchronization with a PC’s Windows Media Player and a 2.8-inch touch-screen with TouchFLO technology for fingertips to intuitively access media, such as music, audiobooks, podcasts, photos and videos (a 1-GB SanDisk memory card is included). Other features include a two-megapixel camera, mobile e-mail, hands-free speaker and the ability to view and edit Microsoft Office documents such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.

Nokia N95

What would you do with eight gigabytes of memory: carry 2,000 songs, 20 hours of video or tens of thousands of photos? You can decide with the compact Nokia N95 (9.99 with three-year Rogers Wireless plan; www.nokia.ca), which ships with the most memory of any smartphone in Canada. Along with its five-megapixel camera (with 20x zoom and MPEG-4 VGA video capture) and support for Nokia’s N-Gage library of 3-D games, the N95 slider phone also supports Rogers’ fast HSPA (3G) network including face-to-face video calling with other compatible phones.

BlackBerry Pearl 8120

Research in Motion’s (www.rim.com) first Wi-Fi-enabled phone supports Rogers’ “Home Calling Zone” feature, which lets you seamlessly switch between regular cellphone calls and Wi-Fi calls when in a hotspot. The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 (9.99 on a three-year term with voice/data plan) is also no slouch for entertainment seekers, thanks to its expandable microSD cards to store music, photos, videos and games; two-megapixel camera; and support for SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry that lets you watch your local TV anywhere in the world (Slingbox required). (Pictured on Page 1)

LG Vu

Similar to the iPhone, the LG Vu (9.99 on a three-year Rogers Wireless term; www.lg.ca) sports a high-resolution touch screen on its three-inch surface, but with subtle vibration feedback to confirm when you’ve pressed the soft keys. The LG Vu’s sleek body measures just 13 millimetres thick, svelte enough to keep discreetly in your shirt pocket or handbag, ready to pull out as you need it in more than 200 countries, as this quad-band GSM phone works around the globe. Integrated 3G support also ensures fast web surfing and download speeds. Photos or videos taken with the integrated two-megapixel camera/camcorder can be stored on removable memory cards.

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Yasumicon 08: Female Pyramid Head, fleshy anime boobs, and other cosplay

Sexy, disturbing, alluring and disgusting: I’m hot and bothered for She-Pyramid Head. Can you imagine what that scene in Silent Hill 2 might of been like if there was a role reversal? As slutty heiress once said … "That’s hot!"

Yasumicon, held annually in Florida International University, an anime convention organized by the campus film group Anything Goes Anime. Destructoid barely arrived alive with Comic-Con AIDS to snap a few pics of the cosplayers, give a panel on video game blogging, and eat everything that EpicSugarworks had to offer. Also featured in this gallery are the handsome ruffians the Mega Man-inspired music group Arm Cannon which brought the house down Saturday night.

Hit the gallery and experience all the wonderful geekery that Southwest Miami has to offer. See, its not just old people and alligators!

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G`zOne Boulder Phone

Verizon Wireless have introduced the G’zOne Boulder, a rough and tough push-to-talk phone built to military specifications to withstand shock, water and dust environments.
The G’zOne Boulder has a rugged design that meets military specifications - 810F standards for water, shock and dust resistance; immersion; vibration, salt fog; humidity; solar radiation; altitude; and low and high temperature storage. It comes with a built-in flashlight and electronic compass.

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Review: Magix Music Maker 14 Producer Edition music software

Tim Smith, Computeract!ve, Thursday 31 July 2008 at 11:15:00

Make music with your computer - no experience required

Music Maker is arrangement software: using it you can create music by arranging small snippets called samples and by recording instruments to go with them….

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