Un nouveau serveur europen pour Silkroad Online

Si vous êtes un ancien de Silkroad Online, vous n'êtes pas sans savoir que ce MMORPG gratuit de grande qualité a longtemps souffert de démons dont il n'arrivait pas à se débarrasser : les goldsellers et leurs épouvantables bots, qui pourrissaient littéralement l'expérience de jeu. Joymax a pourtant fini par nettoyer ses serveurs internationaux et par rendre le jeu aussi attractif qu'il aurait toujours dû l'être. Mais du coup, les joueurs se bousculaient et la communauté européenne commençait notamment à se sentir un peu à l'étroit sur les quelques serveurs qui lui étaient dédiés.

Joymax a donc décidé de mettre les petits plats dans les grands en offrant aux européens un serveur flambant neuf répondant au nom d'Argos. Ce nouveau serveur devrait résoudre les problèmes de latence que rencontraient les joueurs aux heures de pointe. Afin d'y attirer du monde, l'éditeur précise que des events y seront organisés à l'occasion de son lancement, bonus d'expérience à l'appui. L'avenir s'annonce donc radieux pour Silkroad Online, qui a profité récemment de sa huitième extension, gratuite comme toujours.

Silkroad Online PC

E3 2011 Sony annonce Medieval Moves Deadmund's Quest

Lors de sa conférence pré-E3, Sony vient de nous présenter une sorte de Sorcery, mais dans un univers forcément un peu plus médiéval. Medieval Moves : Deadmund's Quest se jouera lui aussi exclusivement avec le PS Move, et devrait débarquer dans le courant de l'automne prochain, évidemment sur PS3.

Medieval Moves PS3

Duke Nukem Forever est termin !

Après 14 années à nous faire poireauter comme des nouilles, l'air narquois, se cachant derrière d'innombrables reports et autres faillites, il est normal qu'une partie de la communauté soit encore sceptique quant à la sortie de Duke Nukem Forever. Il faut dire que le dernier report du mois de mai en a fait rire plus d'un. Et pourtant, 2K Games annonce avec une certaine fierté que la plus grande arlésienne de la galaxie vient de passer au statut gold. Oui, plus de reports, plus de surprises, plus de suicides à la tronçonneuse : tout indique qu'elle sera bel et bien dans les bacs le 10 juin. Certes, quelques fortes têtes n'y croiront pas avant d'avoir inséré la galette dans leur console, mais il va falloir vous y faire : Duke is back in the place, for kick ass and chew bubble-gum !

Duke Nukem Forever PC

Duke Nukem Forever PS3

Duke Nukem Forever 360

Portal sous les feux de la rampe

Avec trois bouts de ficelle et une bonne dose d'ingéniosité, un groupe de fans a monté un petit numéro hommage à la série Portal. La vidéo suivante a été enregistrée sur la scène du Fanime 2011, la convention dédiée à la culture animé qui s'achève aujourd'hui à San Jose en Californie. D'accord, Portal n'a rien d'un animé, mais cela ne nous empêchera pas d'apprécier le talent de ces jeunes gens.

Portal PC

Portal PS3

Portal 360

Portal Autres machines

Portal : Still Alive 360

Portal 2 PC

Portal 2 PS3

Portal 2 360

Portal 2 Autres machines

LG Optimus 2X claims world's first and fastest dual-core smartphone

Update: The LG Optimus 2X will be available in Singapore in Q1 next year.

LG Korea today unveiled the LG Optimus 2X, the world's first smartphone with a dual-core processor. Along with more powerful multimedia features, the LG Optimus 2X's high-performance Tegra 2 processor makes for faster, smoother web browsing and applications and lets users multitask with virtually no screen lag.

Developed by NVIDIA, the dual-core Tegra 2 system-on-a-chip found in the LG Optimus 2X runs at 1GHz and boasts low power consumption and high performance for playing video and audio. Users will experience faster web browsing and smoother gameplay compared with single-core processors running at the same speed as well as instantaneous touch response and seamless multitasking between applications.

The LG Optimus 2X also offers 1080p high definition (HD) video playback and recording with HDMI output to external displays at full HD quality. The LG Optimus 2X can connect wirelessly to any DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) compatible digital device such as HDTVs for a console-like gaming experience that takes full advantage of the phone's accelerometer and gyro sensor. The smartphone also features both rear and front-facing cameras, microSD memory expandability, microUSB connector and 1500mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery.

The LG Optimus 2X will be available in Korea next month with countries in Europe and Asia to follow. The phone will initially be released with Android 2.2 (Froyo) and will be upgradeable to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The upgrade schedule will be announced in various markets in due course.

Source: Korea Newswire

Intel launches its new performance 520 series of SSDs

Intel has finally launched its 520 series of SSDs – previously codenamed Cherryville – its first SSD with a SandForce controller and a model set to replace the Marvell powered 510 series. The question is if this will make Intel a "me too" SSD manufacturer or if the company has managed to bring anything to the table.

Early reviews are revealing that Intel has its own firmware for the SF-2281 controller which is used in the 520 series and as such Intel is claiming to have abolished some of the issues that have plagued SF-2281 based SSDs, although its not entirely clear as to what extent Intel has done this, as its early days yet. What Intel has done is integrate support in its own SSD Toolbox for the 520 series of SSDs which means that theres no problem with Intels RST drivers, something that apparently can be a problem with SandForces own toolbox.

Looking at some of the first benchmarks, specifically from Anandtech in this case, it looks like Intel has managed to tweak the SF-2281 firmware to work well with its own NAND flash and although the 520 series is far from the fastest SSDs in the market, the 60GB drive manages to do remarkably well, especially when compared to larger drives which generally performs better due to the way SSD controllers generally offers better performance when additional NAND flash modules are being utilized. Intel seems to be a market leader in 4KB random writes, bettering Kingstons HyperX drive with over 40MB/s comparing 240GB models.

Where Intel doesnt compare so well, albeit still ahead of Kingstons HyperX drive is in sequential read tests and here the new 520 series actually falls behind the older 510 series and other Marvell based SSDs. When it comes to incompressible data the 520 series doesnt do so well either and here the lower capacity 60GB model is really suffering, especially in terms of write performance, falling behind even the good old X25-M, albeit a 160GB model. Overall this is very much a "me too" product from Intel that performs really well where SandForce controllers have traditionally performed well to start with, but doesnt really stand out from the competition elsewhere.

However, as far as a consumer alternative, the 520 series is quickly losing any appeal when you start looking at cost, as Intel is asking for US$149 for the 60GB model, US$229 for 120GB, US$369 for 180GB, US$509 for 240GB and finally US$999 for the 480GB model. This makes even Kingstons otherwise highly priced HyperX models look cheap at around US$205 for the 120GB SKU and US$420 for the 240GB SKU. Its clear that Intel isnt aiming the 520 series towards consumers with this kind of pricing, but we have a feeling that Intel will be selling plenty of drives nonetheless.

Source: Intel

Nokia Teams With Microsoft Digital Media Format Support

Microsoft and Nokia agreed to long-term collaboration on extended digital media format support. This collaboration includes support for Windows Media® Audio, Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) 10 and Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) on music oriented Nokia handsets, and including support for Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Digital Rights Management and the MPEG Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) family of codecs in Windows Media Player via a plug-in.

Agreement between Nokia and Mircosoft, announced at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, includes long-term collaboration on support on Nokia handsets and Windows Media Player. This dual-technology-stack support from both companies will further broaden the range of music enjoyment choices for consumers and delivery options for content owners and service providers, as well as ensure easy device connection and content flow between Nokia handsets and Windows XP-based PCs.

The mobile music service from Nokia and Loudeye is based on the OMA DRM and MPEG AAC standards and enables a wireless operator's customers to search, listen, download and pay for music using an operator branded music application on their mobile device. Windows Media Player is used for the PC component of the music solution, and wireless operators will be able to brand their music service when it is integrated into the Windows Media Player.

"This agreement makes it easier for consumers to download music they want to listen to, without having to worry about whether or not the file format is supported - it's all about enabling choice without compromising compatibility," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Multimedia Business Group, Nokia. "The broad reaching popularity of Windows Media Player, its comprehensive feature set and support for service integration made it a natural choice for us when looking at the PC component of the mobile music solution we are offering to mobile operators."

"Microsoft and Nokia recognize that interoperability and ease of use are crucial to delivering a seamless consumer experience and enabling digital music to be enjoyed on the move," said Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "This agreement marks the beginning of a collaborative effort that will greatly enhance the mobile phone as a personal music device, and help realize our vision of digital entertainment anywhere."

Starting immediately, operators can provide their customers access and download of music using the mobile music solution from Nokia and Loudeye, allowing instant access to purchase content through Nokia handsets or Windows XP-based PCs. By supporting MTP on their handsets, Nokia is ensuring consumers have a simple and easy sync experience with their phones when transferring music to and from Windows XP-based PCs using Windows Media Player.