Technology

FingerGaming.com - Gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch

I’m announcing my new website I’ve just finished putting together and now unveiling to the public, FingerGaming.com. FingerGaming.com is all about gaming on the iPhone and iPod Touch, now that Apple’s new App Store is open to the public and cranking out games every single day. Mobile gaming a rapidly growing industry, and FingerGaming.com is going to be a part of that by covering everything games on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The reviews, the main features on the site, will feature videos I’ve recorded of me playing these games, screenshots, price, link to the developer of the game, and of course my thoughts on the game itself.

Already we’re seeing a slew of very fun, polished, widely talked about games. You have my personal favorites, MotionX Poker, a dice poker game with achievements, dozens of dice you can unlock and use, and gameplay mechanics that take advantage of the iPhone (multi-touch, accelerometer support, vibrate, etc.) There’s also Galcon, a fast-paced space strategy game that is incredibly addictive and easy to pick up and play. Labyrinth is an age-old game, with a modern approach. It’s the wooden box in a maze with holes that you have to tilt the iPhone/iPod Touch to avoid. It’s simple for everyone to pick up and enjoy, with over 500 levels to play through, with more that you can download over time.

All of these games can be had for $10 or less, some are even free, such as the excellent Aurora Feint. Portable gaming has never been this powerful, and intuitive, and now it’s here. Visit FingerGaming if you want to be part of this wonderful new world.

Contour Design/Bluetrek SurfaceSound Compact

That bluetooth headset making you look like a douchebag? Contour Design/BlueTrek to the rescue, with their new SurfaceSound Compact. It’s a bluetooth-enabled speaker and mic that slides onto the visor in your car. It basically allows you to answer the cellphone (or any other device that supports bluetooth) and talk hands-free, plus it cancels out the background noise if you got a noisy car. It can be gotten for $65, about the price of your average flimsy bluetooth headset, without the douchebaggery.

I got serious gadget fever drooling over this. I think I’ll get one for my iPhone.

iPhone 2.0 Update and Apps Store

I’ve been having a field day with the new iPhone 2.0 firmware update and the new Apps Store that allows you to install all kinds of applications onto the iPhone (both 2g and the new 3g models.) I’ve recorded a video showing off some of these apps, mostly games (I am a gamer, after all.) You’ll have to forgive the buzzing sounds of the fan, I have to use powerful fans to keep my computer and room cool.

Click here to watch the video

In order of appearance in the video: Trism, MySpace Mobile, JirboSays, Pandora, and Super Monkey Ball.

Here’s my quick impressions of the apps I’ve tried so far:

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Nightlights for Nerds

I have a bevy of electronic devices in my room that basically function as nightlights. When I get up in the middle of the night, even as bad as my eyesight is, I can see where everything is without bumping into anything. Here’s a list of devices, and the type of light they provide in order of brightness and type of lights.

Throbber for steady dimming/brightening, Flickering for rapid on/off, and Steady for staying at the same brightness indefinitely.

1. Hava Platinum HD Placeshifter (Steady)
2. 8GB Sandisk Cruzer Flash Drive (Throbber)
3. 500GB Maxtor OneTouch External Hard Drive (Throbber)
4. 17″ Macbook Pro Notebook Computer (Throbber)
5. Xbox 360 Gaming Console (Steady)
6. Linksys WRT54G Wireless Router (Flickering)
7. 2Mbps/200Kbps Roadrunner Cable Modem (Flickering)
8. HDTV Cable Receiver (Steady)
9. Headphone Amp (Steady)

You can see a picture of my electronic nightlights here:

How to Record Xbox 360 Gameplay Videos

Recently I’ve gotten a lot of inquiries from people that visit MattPlays.com, asking how I recorded the games I’m playing on the Xbox 360. With this in mind, I thought I’d write a simple little how-to guide on how to record high-quality gameplay videos of you playing. Since it records the video to your computer’s hard drive, you can do what you want with it, upload it to a video service online, convert it to any format, burn it to a CD or DVD to share with people, etc.

For the record, this method will also work on the Sony Playstation 3. I have no idea if it’ll work on the Nintendo Wii, though. I’ll be going through this guide using the HAVA Platinum HD placeshifter device. Other methods involve the use of a capture card or external USB capture device. The benefit of a placeshifter is that it has other uses (such as watch your cable or TiVo anywhere), and it allows you to record at a higher quality, namely at a resolution of 720×480.

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The Gadget Nerd in Me

After having served me well for 5 years (bought in Feb 2003), I have replaced my Canon Powershot SD400 with a modern digital camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3. As I’ve been spending more time with family, and enjoying nature, I figure it was high time to upgrade to a new camera.

One thing I like with the new camera is the 10x optical zoom which is better than most digital cameras in its price range and class, and the fact that it records high quality movies at 848×480 for up to 30 minutes (on a 2GB SD memory card.) Not to mention pictures are higher quality and crisper compared to older generation digital cameras.

Which leads me into a line of thought I was thinking about the other day. I tend to adopt gadgets much sooner than anyone else does. My family always remark about the gadgets I’d show them, but eventually they end up getting them someday.

For example, I bought the first generation of digital cameras when they came out, they were big, bulky, had terrible battery life, the picture quality wasn’t that great compared to analog cameras, but the LCD screen, ability to store all pictures on a small flash drive, erase them on the spot, preview them, and so on really wowed everyone I showed it to. Fast forward a few years later and now I see everyone at our family gathering using a digital camera.

The same thing can be said for LCD monitors. I bought one when they first came out, even though they were expensive as all hell. A few years down the road and now people don’t even think twice about buying one; they even come default in every computer purchase from Dell, Gateway, Compaq, etc.

My aunt scoffed at my iPhone, saying it’s a toy with a touchscreen. But you just watch, all future cell phones will follow the iPhone philosophy in the near future. They will portable computers that does more than just make phone calls.

After all, I tend to be a barometer of the future in technology. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go try out the new hovertoilet I just bought.

Dell LCD Monitor - 2005FPW vs. 2007FPW

A few weeks ago I had to return my Dell 2005FPW Ultrasharp 20.1″ Widescreen LCD Monitor due to burn-in issues (which resulted in extended use, it seems.) Dell exchanged my monitor for a new 2007FPW monitor (A02 revision without the banding problem A00 had), which is the 2005FPW updated. While having the two together before I shipped off the old one, I decided to compare them to see what differences, if any, were between the two monitors. As it turned out, there were a lot of differences. Here’s the technical differences:

Contrast Ratio:

2005FPW: 600:1
2007FPW: 800:1

As a general rule, the higher the contrast ratio, the deeper and more accurate the colors are. For example, black looks darker and more uniform on the 2007FPW due to the higher contrast ratio.

Pixel Response Time:

2005FPW: 12ms (grey to grey)
2007FPW: 16ms (Unknown)

Dell’s technical specification didn’t really outline what the 16ms pixel response time for the 2007FPW, was it for black to white or grey to grey? Either way, it really doesn’t matter. Companies can be very misleading or outright lying with the numbers due to non-standardized tests in this area. They can use particular tools that favor their equipment to get the best number possible. I rarely trust stated pixel response times when it comes to LCD monitors, the only way you can tell is by using your own eyes, watching a fast-paced movie or playing a fast-paced game to see if there are ghosting artifacts using the monitor.

Viewing Angle:

2005FPW: +/- 88 (vertical) typ, +/- 88 (horizontal)
2007FPW: +/- 89 (vertical) typ, +/- 89 (horizontal)

Not much of a difference really, but one thing I do want to point out is that I don’t get the purplish tint when I view the 2007FPW from a side angle, whereas the 2005FPW had this problem. Another thing I noticed is that the height adjustment for the 2007FPW doesn’t go as high as the 2005FPW can, which is a drawback.

A few other differences is the outside of the 2007FPW has more silver and design to it, while the 2005FPW is more unassuming and plain. The footprint is less on the 2007FPW, while the 2005FPW had a half-circle thing. The 2007FPW feels a bit lighter, and has a thinner bezel. I’ve also noticed the 2007FPW outputs less heat off the top, which is nice, especially if you live in a warmer climate. Finally 2007FPW is said to support HDCP, which isn’t a big deal, but necessary for future-proofing monitors.

With all that said, it feels like I got a nice little upgrade from my old monitor. Games and movies look better, and I don’t notice any ghosting to speak of. The backlight bleeding was bad on the 2005FPW, although I grew used to it and didn’t see it anymore after a week of using it. The 2007FPW suffers from backlight bleeding, but it is significantly reduced and not a factor at all. I also didn’t get a single dead/stuck pixel, which is nice. While it was painful going through Dell’s so-called support to honor my warranty, I’m happy with the 2007FPW.

If you’d like to see the technical specs on both monitors, here’s the one for the 2005FPW, and here’s the one for the 2007FPW.