...and being under NDA, I'll try to inform as to what any beta tester can figure out on their own.
1. This is not a competitor to Cable/DSL, both are obviously better. This is targetted to those in the "sticks", outside of Cable/DSL range.
2. Yes, it will use some bandwidth of the DTV signal. Yes, that means that the full-res version of DTV won't be available. But when Cable/DSL expands, it will eliminate this market, leaving the DTV bandwidth ready to be converted back.
3. At the ClearChannel booth at NAB, this was advertised to broadcasters as a way to "help fund your DTV transition." Broadcasters are also wary of converting to DTV, because no one is watching it. (And no one is watching because no one is broadcasting...etc)
4. For security, IPSEC is used. Make your own judgements.
5. Yes, the modem uplink is slow. No, it is not intended for gamers to get great ping times. Yes, it is download-centric.
6. No, ClearChannel does not limit the usage (as of this writing). You can browse, read, download to your heart's content.
7. I don't know anything about pricing.
I'll try to answer more questions if I can. I can also be reached at: sykik(at)yahoo.com
Having recently purchased an AVC SoulPlayer, I'm quite impressed with its MP3 playback ability, and it's software updatability. Right now, it supports MP3, WMA, ASF, and normal CD audio. So, in short, I wouldn't even consider Ogg a contender until I can carry CDs of it around with me to listen to. (And yes, I have books on CD that have ~25 hours of audio and am quite happy with those).
For an AI class, I actually wrote an Othello-playing program. I modified it enough to have it consistently beat me, and have it completely customizable. As a test, I went on Yahoo games, and opened a "Reversi" game with my version running. I probably played 30 people before someone was able to defeat my program. I wasn't particularly interested in winning, but it was fun to see how well "my creation" fared in the real world.
After a quick browse through, I'm surprised that there's not a ".xxx", ".sex", ".pr0n" or similar in the list. With all of the filter discussions going on, having a separate tld for pr0n would make the filters a little more effective. And we won't mention the new pr0n-only search engines.
Personally, I feel that for games, the user interface should be intuitive enough so that any user can at least figure out what to do. Sure, a manual to help get the game installed would be nice, but after that in-game assistance and intuition should carry the user the rest of the way. This applies to some applications as well, though I do agree that there are quite a few that need a full manual.
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...and being under NDA, I'll try to inform as to what any beta tester can figure out on their own.
1. This is not a competitor to Cable/DSL, both are obviously better. This is targetted to those in the "sticks", outside of Cable/DSL range.
2. Yes, it will use some bandwidth of the DTV signal. Yes, that means that the full-res version of DTV won't be available. But when Cable/DSL expands, it will eliminate this market, leaving the DTV bandwidth ready to be converted back.
3. At the ClearChannel booth at NAB, this was advertised to broadcasters as a way to "help fund your DTV transition." Broadcasters are also wary of converting to DTV, because no one is watching it. (And no one is watching because no one is broadcasting...etc)
4. For security, IPSEC is used. Make your own judgements.
5. Yes, the modem uplink is slow. No, it is not intended for gamers to get great ping times. Yes, it is download-centric.
6. No, ClearChannel does not limit the usage (as of this writing). You can browse, read, download to your heart's content.
7. I don't know anything about pricing.
I'll try to answer more questions if I can. I can also be reached at: sykik(at)yahoo.com
Having recently purchased an AVC SoulPlayer, I'm quite impressed with its MP3 playback ability, and it's software updatability. Right now, it supports MP3, WMA, ASF, and normal CD audio. So, in short, I wouldn't even consider Ogg a contender until I can carry CDs of it around with me to listen to. (And yes, I have books on CD that have ~25 hours of audio and am quite happy with those).
For an AI class, I actually wrote an Othello-playing program. I modified it enough to have it consistently beat me, and have it completely customizable. As a test, I went on Yahoo games, and opened a "Reversi" game with my version running. I probably played 30 people before someone was able to defeat my program. I wasn't particularly interested in winning, but it was fun to see how well "my creation" fared in the real world.
After a quick browse through, I'm surprised that there's not a ".xxx", ".sex", ".pr0n" or similar in the list. With all of the filter discussions going on, having a separate tld for pr0n would make the filters a little more effective. And we won't mention the new pr0n-only search engines.
Of course you shouldn't complain until you actually read the article. The word they're using is "definitively," not "definitely."
Personally, I feel that for games, the user interface should be intuitive enough so that any user can at least figure out what to do. Sure, a manual to help get the game installed would be nice, but after that in-game assistance and intuition should carry the user the rest of the way. This applies to some applications as well, though I do agree that there are quite a few that need a full manual.