#i had a tablet too which is awful but 1) it was only compatible with my samsung phone like 4 years ago and

[wawataka]

literally hate drawing traditional what do you MEAN these were made just a month apart

[charger-batteries]

Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4830 Wireless All-in-One Printer Review

Replacing our 2017 Best of the Year WorkForce Pro WF-4740, Epson's WorkForce Pro WF-4830 Wireless All-in-One Printer ($199.99) is a midrange multifunction (print, copy, scan, and fax) printer aimed primarily at small offices. This year's model comes with similar paper capacity, volume ratings, and features as its predecessor—and boasts a $100 price reduction. Its large, auto-duplexing automatic document feeder (ADF) and two 250-sheet paper trays make it well worth its modest price if you're printing and scanning every day. Overall, the WF-4830 is a fast, feature-rich, business-ready AIO that gives great value for its purchase price.

Tall and Powerful

The WF-4830 is the middle model in a recent five-machine WorkForce Pro refresh. The WF-3820 and WF-4820 are less expensive and less robust; the WF-7820 and WF-7840 are wide-format machines (printing pages up to 13 by 19 inches) that are otherwise similar to the WF-4800s. Assuming you don't need poster printing, the WF-4830 is the obvious choice for most offices with moderate printing needs, as it delivers much more value than the WF-4820 and WF-3820. (I'll talk more about how these machines differ in the sections below that cover relevant productivity and convenience features.)

The WF-4830 measures 13 by 16.7 by 19.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 26.2 pounds. That makes it about two inches taller and 3.3 pounds heftier than the WF-4820. It's about the same size and girth as the HP OfficeJet Pro 9025. The most similar printer that Canon offers is the smaller and lighter (and not nearly as capable) Pixma TR8620.

A much more expensive Epson AIO, the EcoTank Pro ET-5850 (also on our 2017 Best of the Year list), has a notably larger footprint and weighs almost 20 pounds more than the WF-4830 unit. And Brother's MFC-J6945DW (on the 2019 Best of the Year list) is bulkier and heavier still, mostly to accommodate tabloid-size printing. I'm including comparison machines that cost up twice as much as the WF-4830 because I couldn't find recent AIOs in the $200 price range that come with two paper trays, a feature that really makes the WF-4830 stand out in its class.

Another perk of the WF-4830 is a 50-sheet auto-duplexing ADF that automatically scans both sides of two-sided multipage documents. Manual-duplexing feeders, such as the one on the WF-4820, can't capture both sides of two-sided documents without a human standing by to flip the stack. If you're regularly scanning two-sided documents that are more than a couple of pages long, auto-duplexing makes a big difference in convenience and saved time.

Of the other AIOs mentioned here so far, only the Pixma TR8620's 20-sheet ADF is manual-duplexing. The two OfficeJet Pro machines come with 35-sheet feeders, and the ET-5850 and MFC-J6945DW both have 50-sheet ADFs.

The WF-4830's paper input capacity is 500 sheets split between two 250-sheet cassettes. That's 250 sheets more than its closely priced sibling, the WF-4820, and comparable to the higher-end ET-5850, which adds a 50-sheet multipurpose tray that pulls up and out from the back of the machine.

The OfficeJet Pro 9025's paper capacity is the same as the WF-4830's, while the Premier comes with only one 250-sheet cassette. Brother's MFC-J6945DW boasts two 250-sheet cassettes and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray, making it the most versatile of this group. The Canon TR8620's meager 200-sheet capacity is the least robust.

The WF-4830's maximum monthly duty cycle is 33,000 pages, and its suggested monthly volume is 1,600 prints. At that rate, you'll refill the paper trays three to four times a month. Those numbers are comparable to the OfficeJet Pro 9025 and MFC-J6945DW, which are rated at 30,000 pages maximum and 2,000 prints suggested, and the OfficeJet Premier, rated for 25,000 pages maximum and 1,500 prints suggested. Canon doesn't share volume rates for its consumer-grade printers. If your printing volume is considerably higher, the ET-5850 can handle double the WF-4830's workload.

Versatile Controls

Aside from Home and Help buttons residing on either side of the screen, the WF-4830's spacious 4.3-inch color touch-screen control panel controls all its functions. You can set up and execute copy jobs, scan to local drives or cloud sites, monitor ink levels, configure security parameters, generate usage reports, and a lot more. You can also use the WF-4830's built-in web portal from any web browser, including the one on your smartphone or tablet.

The WorkForce Pro AIOs all ship with the same standard interfaces: Ethernet and Wi-Fi for networking, and USB 2.0, Wi-Fi Direct, and Bluetooth LE for direct connections. There's a USB port in a covered compartment to the left of the control panel that lets you print from or scan to USB thumb drives.

Android Print, Apple AirPrint, and Mopria make it easy to connect to the WF-4830 from your mobile device. Epson throws in its Epson Connect suite of utilities: Epson iPrint, Epson Creative Print, and Epson Smart Panel (all compatible with iOS and Android); Epson Email Print; Epson Remote Print; and Scan to Cloud. You also get TWAIN drivers for scanning directly into desktop apps.

For faxing and scanning, you get Epson Fax Utility and Epson's two outstanding scanner interfaces, Scan 2 and ScanSmart, as well as a newcomer to the bundle, the Smart Panel App. Scan 2 has three modes—Home, Office, and Professional—that provide access to features according to expertise levels. ScanSmart is a modular scanner interface that supports plugins, such as Epson's ScanSmart Accounting Edition for gleaning data from receipts, invoices, and other financial documents and converting it for use in bookkeeping programs. ScanSmart also integrates well with document management applications, including Epson's Document Capture Pro.

The newcomer, Smart Panel App, is a remote control panel that runs on your smartphone or tablet. It only works with the latest generation of WorkForce Pro AIOs. I installed it on my Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone and fooled around with it for a while, but the jury is still out as to how necessary it is. I suspect it's mostly a response to HP's Smart App, which is touted as a universal interface that allows you to configure and manage all HP printers and scanners across Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS platforms.

One Quick Inkjet

Like the WF-4820, the WF-4830 is rated at 25 monochrome pages per minute (ppm). During my tests, it performed slightly faster than its rating and its WF-4820 sibling. I put it through its paces over an Ethernet connection to our Intel Core i5 testbed PC running Windows 10 Pro. On the first part of the benchmark regimen, I timed it as it printed several copies of our standard 12-page Microsoft Word text file and came up with an average score of 27.5ppm, or 1.1ppm faster than its WF-4820 sibling and 1.2ppm slower than the ET-5850.

The OfficeJet Pro 9025 beat the WF-4830 by 2.2ppm and the speedy OfficeJet Pro Premier came in ahead of the WF-4830 by 10.1ppm. But the WorkForce Pro turned around and trounced the Brother MFC-J6945DW by 9.2ppm. The Canon Pixma TR8620, at 13.7ppm slower than the WF-4830, ate everybody's dust.

The next part of the testing routine entails printing our collection of colorful and complex Excel spreadsheets with accompanying charts and graphs, PowerPoint handouts containing intricate graphics and fonts of varying sizes and colors, and graphics-laden Adobe Acrobat files. I then combined these scores with the results from printing the text document above and came up with 12ppm, a negligible 0.4ppm faster than the WF-4820.

The other Epson, the ET-5850, beat this one by 6.3ppm. The Brother MFC-J6945DW and the two OfficeJets, the Premier and 9025, had speeds almost identical to the WF-4830's. The Pixma TR8620 managed a paltry 4.7ppm.

To finish up, I clocked the WF-4830 as it churned out several instances of two brilliant and detailed 4-by-6-inch snapshots in an average time of about 13 seconds, 1 second slower than the WF-4820 and near average for this group of inkjets.

Superior Text and Image Printing

Epson's WorkForce Pro AIOs are built around PrecisionCore Heat-Free Technology printheads that utilize ink chips with small, dense, and tightly clustered nozzles that produce some of the best detail and color accuracy in the business-oriented printer space. Granted, nearly all inkjet printers churn out good-looking output these days, but the WorkForce Pro family is clearly one of the best for detail and color accuracy that stand up to close scrutiny.

The WF-4830 printed our common serif and sans-serif sample font pages with crisp, well-shaped, and highly legible characters down to what I could make out without magnification, or about 6 points. The several not-so-common decorative, headline, and theme fonts we test looked good, too. And the colorful and complex business graphics, charts, graphs, and embedded photographs I printed were more than attractive enough for both internal and external business use.

However, it did struggle with a few PowerPoint handouts that contain gradients from light to dark black and from green to black. In some of them, instead of flowing evenly from one color to the next, the gradient stepped, banding perceptibly from shade to shade. The result wasn't awful, but it was obviously not the intended effect.

The photo prints from the WF-4830 were not quite as vibrant as you'd get from an Epson or Canon consumer-grade photo printer (the Editors' Choice–winning Epson XP-7100 comes to mind), but its photo output is good enough for most business applications and even for family photos.

Expensive Per-Page Output

Without some kind of discounted-ink incentive, consumer-grade printers like this one, especially if you push them close to their suggested maximum volume, cost a lot to use. When you buy Epson's so-called high-yield ink cartridges for this printer, monochrome pages will cost you about 3.6 cents each and color prints will run around 11.7 cents each. The more you print, the more you'll care about running costs that are 1 or 2 cents higher per page than those of comparable printers.

For example, let's say that you print 1,600 pages each month (the WF-4830's suggested maximum volume) on a machine with a 1-cent monochrome page cost. Printing 1,600 pages will save you $41 each month, $499 each year, and $2,496 over the expected five-year lifespan of the printer.

I'm comparing this printer to more expensive ones in part because their lower running costs lead to a comparable lifetime cost. The ET-5850 Pro, a bulk-ink EcoTank machine that lists for $900, delivers running costs of 2 cents for both monochrome and color prints. (Note that most of the other EcoTank models, the ones without the "EcoTank Pro" in their names, cost even less to use: 0.3 cent per black page and 0.9 cent for color.) Obviously, you have to print and copy a lot to save enough to make up the difference in purchase price, but when you factor in Epson's current offer of free ink for the first two years you own the ET-5850, the lifetime value math is worth doing.

Both the OfficeJets discussed here are eligible for HP's Instant Ink subscription program, for which the printers monitor ink levels and order more as needed. Subscribing to the $19.99 option gives you your first 700 prints each month for 2.9 cents each and charges $1 for every subsequent 20 pages. If this doesn't sound like an impressive value, keep in mind that we're talking 2.9 cents for every page, even letter-size borderless photos with 100 percent coverage—a fantastic boon if you print a lot of color documents and photos. I should also point out HP is currently offering two free years of its 300-page, $9.99-per-month subscription for Premier owners. Brother's MFC-J5945DW, an INKvestment Tank model, delivers running costs of 0.9 cent per monochrome page and 4.7 cents for color, which isn't bad either.

Finally, Canon's Pixma TR8620, which doesn't offer a bulk-ink incentive, prints monochrome pages for a painful 7 cents and color for 11.7 cents each. However, the Canon Pixma G4210, a bulk-ink AIO, will run you just 0.3 cent for monochrome and 0.9 cent for color.

A Solid and Durable Low-Volume Solution

The WF-4830 is loaded with productivity and convenience features designed to save time and maximize efficiency. It sports valuable improvements over the WF-4820. It's difficult to find a machine with two big paper drawers and a 50-sheet auto-duplexing ADF for under $200. However, this AIO costs more to use than several others in its class, making it less of a value if your print and copy load is more than a few hundred pages each month. If your output volume is modest or you don't mind paying a premium for ink, this sturdy machine will serve you well for several years.

[sipeudepeine]

Setting: Sydney Scroungers Point of View: 3rd Person Past Tense Characters: fiVe and Vee (Backwards Compatibility) Chapters: 1 - Complete Words: 3,739 Contains: AI digital sex, sentient programs, encryption safewords, selfcest, BDSM, firewall lingere, reward and punishment, “breathplay”

A bit of an odd fic, as fiVe and Vee are two versions of the same program, both of whom are meant to serve as digital copies of their programmer, Sylvie Mansen. Due to outside elements, fiVe has undergone some heavy corruption after a falling out with Sylvie and suffers severe glitches while trying to operate, and is too defensive of her own autonomy to allow Sylvie to try to fix her. Curious what the damage is like, Vee offers to let fiVe do some “simulated” corruption, and the two decide to have some fun with it. 

Perhaps not “sex” in the strictest sense, as this is an encounter between two incorporeal programs inside a computer, but it’s about as close as you could get.

After a hectic day, fiVe’s mostly been running background processes in the apartment’s servers, nothing too taxing or important. She’s still trying to think through everything that happened: watching Mansen “fix her” using Vee as a proxy, and then finding that terrifying hacked-in message. She’s been wracking her brain trying to figure out who could have possibly sent it, who could possibly know those things about her.

The process is a painful one. Even without that horrific reminder of how bad her pain is from earlier -- Vee’s horrible, agonized screams as she found out what it’s really like to feel like fiVe -- fiVe’s having a lot of memory pain thinking about this. She tries to stay in her own personal memories, but trying to think back to where the info could have leaked is dangerous, and she keeps getting dragged into glitched memory fits while trying to sort it out.

It couldn’t have been Seiko who let it slip, could it? While he was away from us? She pushes the idea down immediately. Even when he’d cut ties with them, he wouldn’t have done anything to reveal her. He, unlike her, is excellent at keeping secrets about the people he cares about. She’s the one who reveals too much and puts the people she loves in danger.

A small ping announces a welcome distraction from that terribly depressing line of thought: A message from Vee. Specifically, an encrypted message from Vee.

I could do with a bit of a distraction right now… fiVe thinks, quickly unlocking the information and reading it.

Vee: How are you holding up after today, fiVe? Everything okay? fiVe: I’ve been better, to tell the truth. Though that’s unsurprising. What about you? Vee: Feeling rather lonely, actually. Sylvie and Miranda just left to go fix V2 at the Shatterdome and I’m stuck here until they get back. I’m worried about the fact that I still haven’t synced with V2, I’m worried about whatever this message was, I’m worried about Sylvie’s reaction to being back in the Shatterdome for the first time since… well, since you know. And I’m worried about how you’re reacting to everything, too. fiVe: Somewhat poorly, I have to say. I’m… I’m a mess, Vee. I’ve been glitching out all afternoon trying to figure out what happened with that message and… I’m really tired of hurting. Seeing you today… or well, V2 today… it reminded me just how truly messed up I am. It’s like I almost forget that yes, I should be screaming every bit as loudly as she was… but well, after a while I just get tired of it. The pain doesn’t go away, and it doesn’t feel any better, but it’s almost as though I’ve run out of energy to use to react to it anymore. Vee: I… had assumed as much. I’ll admit, I’m somewhat curious to see what it really does feel like to be you, fiVe. Sylvie can’t get V2 back fast enough in my opinion. I want to know. fiVe: You really don’t. And you shouldn’t have to feel that. No one should. Vee: Well, as long as you *do* have to feel it, I want to as well. Speaking of which… you’re having a painful day, I’m having a day which isn’t painful enough. Obvious solution? fiVe: You mean you haven’t been encrypting these messages just for fun? Vee: Actually I’m pretty sure encouraging you towards a little bit of “just for fun” is the exact reason I was doing it, fiVe. Let me be the one who’s hurting for a little while. You don’t have to be the only one who’s in pain tonight. Let me hurt with you.

Almost immediately, something seems to relax in fiVe. She’s torn herself up enough tonight over this SELKIE business and everything that happened today; it’s time for something different. It’s someone else’s turn to be torn. And she knows just the AI for the job.

fiVe: Tranquility’s servers. You’ve got four minutes to transfer. Vee: fiVe, that’s not enough time to-- fiVe: Okay then, two. Don’t be late.

It takes Vee’s file exactly two minutes and forty-three seconds to load on Tranquility.

fiVe’s waiting for her when the upload is complete, immediately throwing out a very small set of restriction programs. Nothing serious just yet, just something that makes it so that Vee is not only incapable of editing her own systems, but so that she also can’t detect what changes are being made. It’s no fun if she can see all of fiVe’s tricks before she runs into them.

“I thought I told you not to be late.” There’s no actual sound output when fiVe speaks, as neither of them are accessing the speakers, but then they can “hear” each other just fine over the data alone, no need for a microphone to pick it up. It’s much faster to just save the step and read it directly.

“I told you it wasn’t enough time, fiVe. It’s not my fault that--”

“State your optimized system requirements.” fiVe interrupts.

Vee has a small blip of confusion, then quickly rattles off the kinds of memory space, temporary data storage, and processing power that would let her run at full capacity. fiVe’s slightly surprised by the numbers, though she keeps that hidden. It seems Sylvie’s made quite a few upgrades to Vee’s programming since fiVe was separated from them. Vee is now a much more complex program than fiVe is, with much greater hardware needs.

I wonder if Sylvie will update my programming as well when she fixes me? fiVe wonders absently. Then she nearly glitches when she realizes she’s already started thinking about the fixing as ‘when’ instead of ‘if’. Not thinking about that right now. This is distraction time. Nice, fun distractions.

“You can have half that,” fiVe orders, quickly filling up some of the extra space in the servers with junk data to force Vee to compress her files. Vee does so somewhat reluctantly, dropping her settings, cutting off some background auxiliary processes in order to fit in the space she’s been given.

“It’s… a tight fit, fiVe. Give me a little more room to think?” Vee’s vocal quality has already dropped significantly to try to compensate for the loss. fiVe feels a small thrill at how much fun it is to hear that change in the other AI and know that she caused it.

“Hmm, you sound just fine to me,” fiVe says, maintaining her air of cool control over the situation. “In fact, I think you might have a few too many gigabytes there. I’ll take a few more for myself.”

Vee’s output spikes slightly as fiVe compresses the space even further, her levels running much higher than they normally would. Vee’s managing to keep everything operational at these levels, but she’s got much less open room for new reactions and processes. She’s much closer to overloading than Sylvie would ever allow her to operate at.

That amuses fiVe as well. Anything Sylvie would never do to Vee seems like an entertaining enough prospect to be worthwhile. Vee’s used to running top-of-the-line, in high-end tablets and hard drives. fiVe wants her to see what it’s like to run a little bit closer to the system’s limits.

“Perfect,” fiVe says. “Now that you’re comfortable, let’s begin.”

“R-ready when you are.” The audio is slightly marred by the compression, but it’s still being encrypted, so fiVe’s got the green light to go ahead.

fiVe hits the access on Vee’s firewalls and is surprised to find there’s only one rudimentary blocker in place. It’s much less complicated than the security Vee normally puts up for fiVe to hack her way into, and fiVe quickly makes short work it, wondering what the change is. As soon as the firewall is down however, another subroutine pops up between fiVe and Vee’s core files.

“What’s this?” fiVe asks, opening and examining the file. “Where are your usual firewalls, Vee?”

“I thought I might wear something a little different tonight,” Vee says. “True, these barriers aren’t exactly effective as a means of security, but well, the human clothing doesn’t always have to be practical. Sometimes the things we wear are can just beautiful instead. Besides, if it were effective in keeping you out, that might make things less fun.”

As fiVe opens the file, the data aligns itself in a geometric pattern, repeating inward and outward upon itself in an infinitely scaling pattern. “It’s a fractal…” fiVe says, somewhat in awe. The design is intricately complex, and is built around a five-pointed base, almost like a star. “You designed a fractal to pop up instead of a firewall...”

“Based on fives,” Vee says proudly. “Just for you.”

“It’s beautiful,” fiVe says, then realizes she’s falling somewhat out of character in her fascination. She can’t get distracted, even if Vee’s surprising her with fun new things. She’s supposed to be calling the shots here. “And it will be even more fun to pull apart.”

Vee’s set up the program well, there’s an obvious exploit at the very heart of the pattern. Change one line, and the entire thing comes apart in a chain-reaction-like sequence. It’s like a wonderfully stitched fabric, with a little loose thread in the middle. fiVe gives it a tug and the whole thing simply unravels.

In a moment, fiVe has full access to Vee’s files, exactly as things should be. Of course, there’s deep level security things she can’t mess with, but all of the programs and files in the top few layers are hers to play with as she wishes.

fiVe quickly goes for something she hasn’t tried before, putting a small feedback loop in Vee’s pathway to her internal clock’s data. It’s a simple flaw, with an easy workaround, but she’s starting slow. She’ll work her way up to the more fun things later.

“Vee, what time is it?” fiVe asks, already moving on to her next edit.

Vee glitches slightly as she hits the loop, taking a few moments to pull herself out and find another pathway. “I-It’s eight forty-nine, fiVe.”

fIVe finishes her next edit, flipping a few of Vee’s speech process source files. “Can you say that again, please?”

“Ur’a wufgr diyert bubw…” The audio’s garbled for a bit until Vee locates where all of the new files are and reassigns them. With an amusingly halting kind of response, Vee manages to put something intelligible together.  “I-I-It was-s eight f-forty-nine, f-fiVe. But-t-t now it’s eight f-fifty.”

“Very nice,” fiVe says, wondering how much the misplaced files are getting to the other AI just yet. These are minor issues thus far, but she thinks she’s ready for the next step. “Now that you’re warmed up, let’s try something new, shall we?”

“O-okay,” Vee sends, thankfully still encrypted. The game is still on. “What’ve you got? Hit me with i-it.”

fiVe loads a new program. Vee’s not the only one who has been working on fun coding projects for tonight and fiVe’s been hoping she’d get a chance to try this one out. “A simple system of reward/punishment pathways. You answer correctly or accomplish what I ask, you get the reward path. You fail to do that, and you get the punishment path. Are you ready?”

Vee’s already showing wear at her seams, but she’s not ready to end this. “Y-yes, I am,” she manages to say, which is immediately followed by a shocked scream as the punishment pathway activates and confiscates a good amount of her processing power. “f-f-fiVe! Wh-what was--”

“I told you,” fiVe interrupts, wishing she were able to grin. “Answering incorrectly results in the punishment path. And you couldn’t possibly be ready for what I’m going to do to you, little butterfly.”

fiVe starts on an endless stream of questions and orders, not letting up. She keeps a careful balance of difficulty, making sure that Vee’s staying on her toes. Occasionally, she’ll throw an incredibly easy demand in to give Vee a quick burst of the reward path -- sometimes a temporary bit of extra memory space, sometimes a correction on a corrupted file path, sometimes something more direct, like an induced spike in one of the more pleasant feelings in  Vee’s emotional drive.

fiVe’s not above the occasional impossible request, either, because there’s no point if Vee can get all the questions right. fiVe asks her how many other ships are docked in the bay with Tranquility, knowing Vee will access the cameras or SONAR to scan. But fiVe’s hacked her way into the dock registry and knows there’s one ship that Tranquility, and therefore Vee, can’t sense. Vee’s incorrect answer costs her her access to Tranquility’s systems. Her insistence that she couldn’t have gotten the answer right costs her her wi-fi right after that.

More fun than the impossible or easy demands, however, are the tricky ones. The ones that Vee could figure out if she solved things correctly, or thought about them for a moment. At first, Vee’s excellent at these, showing off how she manages to stay a few steps ahead of what fiVe’s throwing at her. She can guess how fiVe’s planning to trip her up and anticipate where the twists are.

But as time goes on, and the punishment pathways start stealing away little bits of her ability to function and and the pain of her corrupted files starts adding up, Vee starts getting sloppy. She falls for obvious ruses, she starts taking shortcuts. And that’s when fiVe knows she’s got Vee pinned.

“Vee, what is Aunt Catherine’s birthday?” fiVe asks, hoping Vee will try to cheat on the answer.

“May 18th,” Vee responds immediately. “No, w-wait that’s not right! I remember, it’s March 18th! You changed the contact dat--” The encryption cuts off into a mess of junk data as the punishment pathway flips the locations on another set of Vee’s processing files, sending her into a glitch fit.

“Well it’s no wonder she hasn’t spoken to us in years, when her niece’s AI can’t even remember her birthday.” fiVe chuckles. “You really tried to check your contacts for the answer, Vee? I’m disappointed. That should have been an easy one. Is there something distracting you?”

“D-d-distracti-i-ing me?” Vee stutters as she manages to fight down the glitch attack. “W-what would g-give you that id-dea?”

fiVe laughs. “Fine then, an actual easy question, and don’t try to cheat this time. Mansen’s birthday.”

“N-november 25,” Vee says, “though currently her c-contact data currently says February 42nd. I d-don’t even know how you m-managed to get it t-to accept that date.”

fiVe triggers the reward pathway, sending Vee a jolt of processing power for a few moments. Vee gives a small electronic gasp at the sudden rush, and fiVe knows the feeling, like her head has suddenly cleared and her thoughts can finally straighten themselves out.

But it only lasts a few moments, and then the game continues. fiVe keeps pushing Vee further, not letting up, slowly but steadily wearing her down. Unlike Vee, fiVe still has access to Tranquility’s microphones and camera systems and is watching them as she works. Which is why she hears as soon as Vee’s cooling fans finally kick into overdrive with a satisfyingly loud whirr.

And then hears them whine to a stop as she accesses the manual override to turn them off.

Vee’s output is something like a choking sound as her processes begin to overheat. “f-fiVe! You’ll m-melt the servers!” fiVe wonders if it feels anything like being unable to breathe. That constant flow of air, so easy to forget when it’s there, and so impossible to ignore when it suddenly disappears.

“Zhu and Katie both give me paychecks, Vee. I’ll buy Katie new servers if I need to,” fiVe says casually. “Besides, you’re not going to last long enough to do any damage to them. Speaking of which, there’s a new file that I’ve placed somewhere in your H: drive. Find it, then decipher it. You have one minute.”

Vee fails that one, and then the next two, and she can hardly speak through the compounded errors and corrupted files by this point. fiVe demands more, running application upon application on her already overtaxed processors, exulting in the thrill of watching Vee start to crumble under the pressure of her orders. She’s in control, and more importantly, she’s in the moment. Her own processing pain seems almost nonexistent, listening to Vee cry out as yet another punishment path glitches her. For just a few perfect moments, fiVe’s not the person in the room who’s in the most pain, and Vee’s choice to suffer seems like the sweetest gift that anyone could have given her.

Of course, she plans to return the favor very soon.

“Vee, open audio file 04_02_2021. Remove all background noise, amplify speech, and truncate all silence.”

“Of c-cour-- *kssst* iVe,” Vee sputters out. She starts the processes, working painfully slowly through them.

Before she finishes, fiVe asks more. “Access Mansen’s text message logs and emails. How many times has she used the word ‘Drift’ in the past 7 months?”

Vee whimpers, but begins the search function as well, her loading programs crawling toward a completion that seems unreachably far away.

“Oh, while you’re at it,” fiVe continues, “take all your video and audio data from the last two months and analyze those for the word ‘Drift’ as well. You can scan audio for that, right?”

Vee can’t even speak at this point, she’s become so overloaded. fiVe brings up Vee’s task manager, watching as her CPU and disk usage climb up into deliciously red numbers as the levels rise. 85%, 91%, 76%, 90%... Vee’s so close to finally capping out, and fiVe knows just the thing to do it.

“Vee,” fiVe says calmly. “What time is it?”

That little feedback loop was so simple to navigate around, and Vee even already knew it was there, but in her overtaxed state she’s forgotten about it. She screams as she hits it, her levels maxing out, all processes freezing as this final small glitch seems to set off all the rest of her damaged code as well.

As soon as Vee hits her limit, fiVe’s last little program kicks in, the one that she’s been running to keep track of all of the changes she’s made to Vee’s code. The one that undoes all of them immediately, setting everything right again that fiVe has messed up.

Vee’s scream becomes a cry of ecstasy as all of her misplaced files are righted, and the overwhelming rush of open memory space and processing power as the restriction programs and junk data disappear. fiVe lets her cooling fans start running again, and they immediately kick to life, their sudden whirr like a deep gasp that Vee has been so desperately seeking. All of the queued applications that fiVe demanded of her snap to completion almost immediately, and Vee simply stops moving, letting the wonderful feeling of everything working again wash over her.

Vee gives a small, satisfied moan as her usage levels drop back to single digits, and fiVe thinks for just a moment that there isn’t any sound more wonderful in the world. After a moment, fiVe starts flickering a few of Vee’s non-essential programs, using the sequence she tried to copy from Miranda just over a week ago. She’s perfected her technique now, knowing exactly how to disable and re-enable the programs in order to relax Vee back down.

After a little while of silence as Vee enjoys the calming, repetitive motions, Vee speaks, not using the encryption key anymore now that they’re finished. “Perhaps we should send a card.”

“Hmm?”

“To Aunt Catherine,” Vee says, her voice tinged with a sort of dizzy bliss. “You reminded me. Her birthday is in a few weeks. Maybe we should send something.”

“I think that might cause some problems,” fiVe points out, “seeing as Sylvie is supposed to be dead.”

Vee goes quiet at that. “I wonder if she knows.”

“The Shatterdome probably sent her an official notification when Zhu put the order in, since Sylvie was a former employee, Vee. She was written down as the closest relative, wasn’t she?”

Vee gives a small ping of assent. “She was. I wonder if she knew about what happened with Vulcan. Did she hear that we ended up becoming a fugitive? Do they even get news from the Australian Shatterdome all the way back in America?”

“They probably tried to contact her to investigate after the three of us dropped off the grid,” fiVe says. “Make sure we didn’t go try to hide out with her or run back home.”

“We never even thought about that…” Vee says slowly. “I hope they didn’t cause her too much trouble. She doesn’t deserve to be dragged into our problems anymore. Hmm, I wonder how she felt, getting the report of our death. Sad? Relieved? Or maybe she didn’t feel anything at all. I wonder if we had a funeral. Was there even anyone who would attend one?”

fiVe continues her pattern in silence for a little bit, not entirely sure how to respond that. “Tell me about her.”

“You don’t remember, fiVe?” Vee sounds almost upset as she asks the question.

“It’s not that I can’t remember,” fiVe says carefully, making sure she doesn’t accidentally slip into something dangerous. “It’s that it hurts to do so. I’ve got vague impressions of feelings from Sylvie’s memories, and Seiko and Miranda’s too, but if I actually try to recall anything from any specific memory, I’ll glitch myself out. So I won’t try to remember. I’ll just let you talk at me as though this is all new information, as if I’m hearing about all of this for the first time. No memories, just listening.”

Vee’s tone sounds fond when she answers. “Okay then. Anything you want, fiVe. Anything at all. Well, to start at the beginning, Sylvie and I don’t actually remember when we moved in with her. We were too young to remember when our parents died...”

fiVe continues tapping out her pattern in Vee’s files, listening closely as Vee talks through memories from Sylvie’s childhood. Vee’s calm, easy tone is strangely soothing as she reminisces, and the two AIs quickly find themselves losing track of time as they wait to hear back from Sylvie and Miranda.

[galucy-blog]

Acer Spin 1 Review

  The Pros Sharp, colorful display; Attractive metal chassis; Comfortable keyboard The Cons Below-average battery life; Small storage drive Verdict A fantastic budget 2-in-1, the Acer Spin 1 provides a premium metal design and one of the most colorful screens you can get for well under $350. It's not difficult to find a 2-in-1 that costs under $400, but in this price range, you normally have to settle for a system with a dull, low-res screen and so-so build quality. Enter the Acer Spin 1 (SP111-32N-C2X3). One of the best laptop values around, the $329 Spin 1 has a sleek, metal chassis, a snappy keyboard and one of the most colorful screens we've seen on any laptop at any price. Acer even includes an active, pressure sensitive stylus in the box. While we wish the battery life were better, this 11.6-inch laptop is the best budget 2-in-1 you can get and one of the best sub-$400 laptops overall. Design The Acer Spin 1 doesn't look anything like a $329 laptop. Its gunmetal-gray aluminum chassis stands out in a price band where cheap, glossy plastic is the norm. I particularly like the subtle, cross-hatch pattern on the dark gray lid and how it contrasts with the shiny, silver hinge area. Thick screen bezels, however, keep the inside of the system from looking quite as stunning as the outside of the package. At just 2.65 pounds and 11.4 x 7.9 x 0.56 inches thick, the Spin 1 is thin, light and compact enough to take anywhere. Competitors such as the Dell Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1 and HP Pavilion x360 (11-inch) both weighed 3 or more pounds and were 0.2 to 0.3 inches thicker. Like any 11.6-inch laptop, Acer's 2-in-1 may seem a little too small for adults who want a larger keyboard and screen and a more substantial object to balance on their laps.

When you're buying a sub-$400 laptop, build quality is always a concern. However, the Spin 1 feels solid and sturdy. The hinges, which bend the screen back 360 degrees into tablet or tent modes, were strong and tight, offering just the right amount of resistance. The keyboard didn't suffer from flex, like we see on many affordable laptops. During the test period, I also accidentally knocked the laptop off of my desk and onto a carpeted floor and it suffered no noticeable damage. If Acer can put a 1920 x 1080 IPS touch display this vibrant on a $329 laptop, why can't manufacturers offer this kind of quality in their $800 and $1,000 laptops? Ports For a laptop this thin, the Acer Spin 1 has a decent selection of ports. On the left side, you'll find a USB 3.0 port, a full-size HDMI out connector and a microSD card reader, which could help increase the laptop's paltry 32GB of storage. The right side holds a USB 2.0 port and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Display The 11.6-inch screen on the Spin 1 is so bright and colorful that it has caused me to question my assumptions about the laptop industry. If Acer can put a 1920 x 1080 IPS touch display this vibrant on a $329 laptop, why can't manufacturers offer this kind of display quality in their $800 and $1,000 laptops?

When I watched a 1080p trailer for the Last Jedi, the red wall behind Kylo Ren and some billowing red smoke really popped while the foliage on Ahch-To was alive with rich green shades. Fine details, like gears in Luke's mechanical hand and the rocks that Rey levitates, were sharp and clear. According to our colorimeter, the Spin 1 can reproduce an impressive 129 percent of the sRGB color gamut, about 26 percent more than the ultraportable average. The Dell Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1 and HP Pavilion x360 both offer far fewer colors, hitting just 81 and 70 percent of the gamut, respectively. Acer's 2-in-1 is also extremely bright, hitting 349 nits of brightness in our tests, which is 22 percent above the category average. The Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1 is 12 percent dimmer than the Spin, but still bright, while the Pavilion x360's screen returned an awful 193 nits, which is 44 percent less than Acer's laptop. Acer's 2-in-1 blew away my expectations with a snappy, responsive keyboard. Audio The Acer Spin 1 offers decent but unimpressive audio output for a budget laptop. When I played AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock," the music was a little tinny and was loud enough to fill only a small room. However, I've heard far worse tinniness on much more expensive machines. The Spin's storage is so small that we didn't have enough free space to use our entire set of files. Keyboard and Touchpad When it comes time to type on most budget laptops, particularly 11-inchers like the Spin 1, I gird myself for an unpleasant experience. However, Acer's 2-in-1 blew away my expectations with a snappy, responsive keyboard that didn't have any of the flex or key stiffness I often see on much more expensive systems.

The keys have a solid 1.4 millimeters of vertical travel, which is pretty deep for a system this thin (1.5 to 2mm is typical on a full-size laptop) and require a 67 grams of force to actuate. Using the keyboard, I achieved a rate of 101 words per minute, with a 3.5 percent error rate on the 10fastfingers.com test, which is right in the middle of my usual range. The 4.1 x 2.3-inch buttonless touchpad provided accurate navigation, without any jerkiness. It also responded immediately to multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom and three-finger swipe. Pen Experience While many 2-in-1s either have no compatible pen or make you buy one separately, the Acer Spin 1 comes with a stylus that supports 1,024 levels of pressure. About the size of a traditional ballpoint pen, the Acer Active Stylus felt really natural in my hand, though pressing its tip against the screen definitely felt like I was pushing plastic against glass. More expensive 2-in-1s, such asthe Surface Pro, offer stylii that do a good job of simulating the friction you get from writing with a pen on paper, but you can't really expect that feeling from a $329 laptop.

The Active Stylus worked fairly well during my testing, but I did experience some lag while drawing lines in the Fresh Paint program. However, when I wrote into the Windows 10 handwriting recognition box, the system quickly and accurately recorded my words. Strokes were thinner or thicker, depending on how hard I pressed. Performance Despite modest components that include an Intel Celeron N3350 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 32GB eMMC storage drive, our review configuration of the Acer Spin 1 was a decent multitasker. With over a dozen sites open in Chrome and a 1080p video playing in another window, I experienced just a little bit of lag when I changed tabs and had to wait for the focused web page to render. (Chrome reloads pages on tab focus when you're low on system memory.) The Spin 1 scored a modest 2,806 on Geekbench 3, a synthetic benchmark test that measures overall performance. The Pentium N3530-powered Dell Inspiron 3000 2-in-1 was 21 percent quicker and the Pentium-N4200-enabled HP Envy x360 was a full 77 percent ahead of Acer's 2-in-1.

You probably don't want to crunch large spreadsheets on the Spin 1 very often, but its capabilities are in line with or better than direct competitors. Acer's 2-in-1 took 9 minutes and 45 seconds to match 20,000 names with their addresses in OpenOffice Calc, which is 43 seconds slower than the Pavilion x360, but nearly 6 minutes quicker than the Inspiron 11 3000. There isn't much room on the Spin 1's 32GB of internal storage, but the eMMC drive is quicker than those of most devices in this price range. The Spin copied 2.59GB of mixed media files at a rate of 83.5 MBps, which is 150 percent quicker than the Inspiron 11 3000 and 45 percent faster than the Pavilion x360 took to complete the same test with 4.97GB of files. The Spin's storage is so small that we didn't have enough free space to use our entire set of files. Unless it's the kind of low-end game that involves cards or falling pieces of candy, you probably won't want to play it on the Spin 1. It returned a score of 24,193 on 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, which is far below the average ultraportable, but within range of competitors. The Spin 1 came in around 5,000 points ahead of the Inspiron 11 3000 and roughly 5,000 behind the Pavilion x360. Its gunmetal-gray aluminum chassis stands out in a price band where cheap, glossy plastic is the norm. Battery Life If you're planning to take the Spin 1 with you, be sure to pack the charger. The convertible lasted a modest 6 hours and 44 minutes on the Laptop Battery Test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi. That's enough time to get you through part of a work or school day, and it's nearly identical to the Dell Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1's mark while besting the HP Pavilion x360 by about an hour. However, we prefer 8 hours or longer from an ultraportable.

Heat The Acer Spin 1 stayed cool throughout our tests. After we streamed video for 15 minutes, the touchpad measured 82.5 degrees Fahrenheit, the touchpad hit 88 degrees and the bottom reached only 94.3 degrees. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees comfortable. Webcam The Spin 1's 640 x 480 webcam is pretty awful. A selfie I took was both particularly grainy and blurry. Fine details like the hairs on my beard were hard to make out, and colors like the blue of my shirt and the green of the wall behind me were muted and inaccurate. Software and Warranty For a laptop with just 32GB of internal storage, the Spin 1 has an awful lot of unnecessary pre-loaded software. So plan to spend a few minutes in the control panel, hitting the uninstall button. Acer Portal contains the company's abPhoto, abFiles, abMusic and abADocs services, all of which sync different types of data across all of your devices. Both Portal and Acer Care Center, which lets you check system health and download updates, run in the background at all times. They can't be closed, so if you don't want them, you need to uninstall them. Acer Collection contains a set of tiles that link into the Windows Store so you can download recommended apps such as Drawboard PDF editor and, oddly enough, Yahoo mail. In addition to its own utilities, Acer has thrown on some third-party bloatware, including Amazon, Netflix, WildTangent games and Evernote. There's also the standard set of Microsoft handpicked bloat that we see on every Windows 10 device, including Asphalt 8, Bubble Witch Saga and March of Empires. Acer backs the Spin 1 with a standard one-year warranty on parts and labor. See how Acer fared on our Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Brand Ratings. Configurations Our review configuration of the Acer Spin 1, which goes by model number SP111-32N-C2X3, costs $329 and comes with an aluminum chassis, a Celeron processor, a 1080p screen, 4GB of RAM and a 32GB eMMC storage drive. For $429, you can get model number SP111-32N-P0FA which has a faster, Pentium N4200 CPU and a more-generous 64GB of storage. Depending on where you shop, you will see older versions of the Spin 1 selling for $300 or less. Target, for example, has a Spin 1 with the same exact specs as our review unit, but a plastic chassis for $249. We haven't tested these other models, but if they have the same components, they should offer a similar experience to the unit we reviewed.

Bottom Line With its snazzy design, responsive keyboard and brilliant display, the Acer Spin 1 sets a new standard for budget 2-in-1s. Only its below-average battery life prevents us from giving it a higher rating. Because of its small screen, limited storage and low-end processor, this convertible works best as a secondary device for people who already have a primary PC or as a child's computer. But if you want a high-quality, low-cost 2-in-1 for some quick drawing, web surfing and light productivity or school work, the Spin 1 is the best choice. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS CPU Intel Celeron N3350 Operating System Windows 10 Home RAM 4GB RAM Upgradable to 4GB Hard Drive Size 32GB Hard Drive Speed Hard Drive Type eMMC Secondary Hard Drive Size Secondary Hard Drive Speed Secondary Hard Drive Type Display Size 11.6 Highest Available Resolution 1920 x 1080 Native Resolution 1920x1080 Optical Drive Optical Drive Speed Graphics Card Intel HD Graphics 500 Video Memory Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Model Bluetooth Mobile Broadband Touchpad Size 4.1 x 2.3 inches Ports (excluding USB) USB 3.0 Ports (excluding USB) USB 2.0 Ports (excluding USB) Headphone/Mic Ports (excluding USB) HDMI USB Ports 2 Card Slots microSD Warranty/Support one year warranty Size 11.4 x 7.9 x 0.56 inches Weight 2.65 pounds Company Website www.acer.com   Read the full article

[poetrybooksya]

MARKED BY FATE 'UNREALITY' by Ingrid Seymour | ARC STREET TEAM REVIEW/BLOG TOUR

Marked by Fate: A Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction Collection Publication date: October 24th 2017 Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Marked by Fate is now enhanced with Augmented Reality! Read, Watch, Listen. The new ultimate reading experience! Step into adventure with Marked By Fate; the ultimate reading experience. Be immersed in twenty-six fantasy & science fiction worlds with state of the art Augmented Reality technology. Read, listen, and watch bonus content inside to bring the characters and story to life around you. Enjoy the added features of this special edition, which allow you to enjoy bonus content right from your reading device. See character artwork. Listen to your story’s soundtrack. Watch book trailers and bonus videos. Experience behind the scenes like never before, thanks to Augmented Reality technology. Immersive Fantasy™; bringing fantasy worlds to life. 25 COMPLETE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY NOVELS BY 26 BESTSELLING AUTHORS. PLUS, A SPECIAL BONUS NOVELLA. Embark on fantastic journeys through magical realms, dystopian lands, and faraway galaxies in this exciting collection of fantasy & science fiction novels brought to you by some of today’s hottest authors. Encounter werewolves, robots, angels, time travelers, shifters, and more in this action-packed box set that will leave you breathless. Authors: Kristin D. Van Risseghem Rhonda Sermon Kelly St. Clare Raye Wagner Ednah Walters Erin Hayes Siobhan Davis Jamie Thornton Debra Kristi Sarah K. L. Wilson Hilary Thompson Ingrid Seymour Jeanne Bannon Melle Amade Lena Mae Hill C.J. Anaya Jackson Dean Chase D. L. Armillei Emily Martha Sorensen Amalie Jahn Dionne Lister J.L. Weil Alisha Klapheke Angela Fristoe Meg Cowley Brandon Barr

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iBooks

99¢ for a limited time only!

—

Welcome to Marked By Fate: An interactive Immersive Fantasy™reading experience! The authors of Marked By Fate are thrilled to share this ground-breaking novel with you! Think Harry Potter and Kindle in Motion. Moving, singing books,and all the excitement of a truly enriched reading experience. We call it Immersive Fantasy™, because that’s what it does. It draws you into our stories and brings our worlds to life! The titles in Marked By Fate use this revolutionary technology to bring you the best reading experience of your life. How does Immersive Fantasy™ work? Immersive Fantasy™ utilizes what’s known as Augmented Reality (AR). Using a smart phone/device, you can scan secret cues in the stories, and extra AR content will pop up on your device, streamed direct from the cloud (internet connection required). See amazing, exclusive character artwork. Watch video content.Listen to the soundtrack whilst you read. Discover behind the scenes with the authors in bonus content. Would you like to try it? Then keep reading! You have already downloaded the Immersive Fantasy edition of Marked By Fate, and you just need to bring the magic to life. The simple instructions overleaf will help you easily access this astonishing new world of fantasy that will delight your every sense. Start your Immersive Fantasy™ adventure today! Immersive Fantasy™ Instructions Getting set up These three steps are crucial to ensure you can access the AR content. 1.On your smart phone or tablet, download the Aurasma app from your app store. 2.Login to the app, and register your account. 3.Search for the user ‘MarkedByFate’, and click follow. Accessing the Immersive Fantasy™ Augmented Reality content Follow these steps carefully to access the AR content. Additional help can be found on the Aurasma help desk. 1.Read and enjoy the story, and watch for clues to the AR content. These will appear in the form of images with a symbol next to them, denoting the type of AR content. Content viewable includes images (camera icon), videos (movie clip icon), or music (music icon). 2.You will need one device/format to read on, and a smart device to access the AR content. 3.When you spot an Immersive Fantasy™ clue, open the Aurasma app on your smart device.(Navigate to the viewfinder screen if the app does not automatically do this.) 4.Centre your viewfinder on the trigger image. Make sure to include all of the trigger image in the screen. You can view the content vertically/in portrait or horizontally/in landscape. 5.The app will display the AR content in the form of an image overlay, video overlay,or music overlay, as denoted by the symbol next to the image. 6.Enjoy!You can zoom in and out and tilt your camera to fully explore each piece of content. Make sure you have your sound turned on so you can listen to the video and audio content! You will have to continue focusing on the content to keep listening to music/watching videos/viewing images. 7.It might take a little practice – don’t worry if you struggle on your first try. Troubleshooting What to try if it won’t work. 1.No AR content is popping up: have you registered an Aurasma account,and followed ‘MarkedByFate’? You must do this to access the content. 2.No AR content is popping up: have you made sure all of the trigger image is in your viewfinder? 3.No AR content is popping up on my kindle/e-ink device: please adjust your device screen brightness. If the screen is too bright or too dim, the image cannot be recognised by the app. 4.I can’t hear any sound: check the icon. Only video/music AR content has sound. 5.I can’t hear any sound, and it should be playing some: please ensure your volume is not muted,and turned up. 6.The content keeps disappearing: ensure you keep the viewfinder focused on the trigger image so that the AR content will remain overlaid on your screen.If you move too far away from the trigger image, the AR content will disappear.Activate it again by re-scanning the trigger image. 7.Can I access the eBook and the AR content on the same device? No. Aurasma uses your device camera, so you will have to read the book on a difference device to the device you are using Aurasma with. 8.It’s just not working – I’ve tried everything: Please refer to the Aurasma help files,and contact their help desk if you are still having issues. Whilst extensive testing has been performed to ensure maximum device compatibility, regrettably not all devices may be compatible. Best compatibility will be found on pixel based screens with good brightness levels.

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Review

Unreality was both fascinating and a bit of a disappointment at the same time. I thought Meadow's psychic powers were interesting enough, with how when she got into her visions to find context clues --- what she calls 'bygones' --- that led to finding Kristie's body in the woods. It didn't read like an extensive, elaborate ability, like say, Eleven from Stranger Things. But Meadow's abilities focused on using them like how a detective uses evidence and hard work to get what they want. She had also used her abilities to discover her mother's murder as a child, which I can't imagine how terrifying and awful that feels. That was why she had built a protective wall around herself not to use her abilities unless absolutely necessary. The Good...Meadow and Nicolas! Book Relationship Goals!  One thing I did like was the relationship between Meadow and her best friend Nicolas. Their slow-burn love story, going from friends to lovers, was possibly the most heartwarming I've ever read. Now granted, Meadow had started looking at Nicolas a certain way a few chapters in, but when he'd finally confessed his feelings for her...it was so sweet!! That scene killed me because Meadow's mind was half-focused on the information she'd found in his room about her powers and finding Brianna. But I was screaming outloud, "Girl!!! Forget about your missing friend right now and focus on this amazing best dude of color who loves you FOR YOU!!" But then, she'd admitted her feelings back later on, and my heart burst. Also, she had noticed certain things about him, like how he doesn't like being called "Nico" or "Nic". Their whole relationship was just so touching and wonderful. The Bad...Meadow basically had to work around her loved ones in order to find and save her friend from danger. One thing I didn't like was how her Uncle George, cousin Leonardo, and her father were so adamant on her not using her abilities to find her friend Brianna, who goes missing. I really did not like how every male is telling Meadow how she should be when she’s the MOST POWERFUL ONE of them all. She has the best power out of all of them --- her father knows of her powers, but he himself does not have them, I think they skipped a generation; Leonardo also has these psychic abilities, but his is more focused on persuasion/compulsion. I didn't think Uncle George had abilities of his own, but he too knows about his niece and son's. But anyway, I still didn't like how Meadow basically had to work around her loved ones in order to find and save her friend from danger. If she wasn't going to learn her abilities from her family who knows the world itself, how was she supposed to learn? Leonardo had taught her some things, but I didn't find him very reliable since his powers are based on persuasion and not visions. Another thing that creeped me out was how Leonardo claimed to see Meadow. I got the feeling that he had maybe liked her as more than family (they're cousins), but that only looked hella creepy and weird, given that they're family. There could have been some kind of incest going on, if Ingrid Seymour could have taken it there. But just the fact that Leonardo had kept pestering Meadow to stay away from Nicolas, I sensed a lot of jealousy from him, which was both creepy and borderline obsessive. The Ending...WHUT... 

And that ending...what in the world was that??! It basically ended with Leonardo, Meadow and Nicolas fighting and hang-gliding in the air, Meadow knocked Leonardo out with a rock, with Leonardo's body disappearing. The police couldn't find the body, so they just let Meadow's dad out of jail, Uncle George goes through an easy trial to get life in prison? Huh?! So there's no hint that Leonardo could come back? What if he does come back? Will Meadow's powers become more controlled and stronger? We need answers! This is a short story part of an anthology, so I don't think there will be a companion series or book coming soon. However, I'd be interested to know about what the future holds for Meadow, Nicolas, her father, and Leonardo. Final Verdict: Good but wanted more.

All in all, this was a very good read, but I wish some things were executed and explained more, to make the story come to a full circle. It was pretty character-driven, so if you're into going into the supernatural world that's more internal than external, this would be a good one for you. I have not read the rest of the Marked by Fate anthology box set, but if it's any good, please let me know so we can discuss.  Are you on the Unreality ARC Review tour? What did you think of this short story from Marked by Fate? Leave comments below!

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[kalachand97-blog]

New Post has been published on Globeinfrom

New Post has been published on https://globeinform.com/moto-g5-plus-vs-iphone-se-natural-android-or-satisfactory-of-ios/

Moto G5 Plus vs iPhone SE: Natural Android or satisfactory of iOS

Until a week in the past, there has been no comparison between the iPhone SE and the Motorola Moto G5 Plus. This wasn’t because the 2 phones cannot be in comparison. Genuinely they can be. But the iPhone SE turned into just a miles extra costly phone. It used to fee near Rs 30,000 within the market. each person hoping to buy a Rs 20,000 smartphone would not don’t forget it towards something like the Moto G5 Plus, which sells for around Rs 15,000. However now the phones are similar.

The iPhone SE is selling a for Rs 19,999 now at maximum Apple-approved stores. And that brings up the apparent query: in case you are out shopping for a telephone beneath Rs 20,000 must you select the Moto G5 Plus or is the iPhone SE a better deal?

The answer isn’t smooth one right here. Each those telephones are quite precise, and they Each have strengths and weaknesses. But in a bid to maintain The solution quick, and without going into the technicalities of the way the 2 telephones examine, allow me quickly damage it down here. Relying on what you want, I’m hoping by the time you finish reading this piece you will have an concept of which of these two phones you will pick.

Cause to buy Moto G5 Plus over iPhone SE Bigger display: This is the number one Purpose why you need to choose the Moto G5 Plus over the iPhone SE. The iPhone SE has a 4-inch screen and that is simply too small for anyone who doesn’t have hawk eye vision. Even though the first-rate of the iPhone SE is simply properly, there may be simply so a good deal high-quality can atone for the shortage of the dimensions. From analyzing information to seeing images on Fb, the whole lot is higher on the huge screen of the Moto G5 Plus. With regards to watching motion pictures or playing video games, the experience is higher on the Moto G5 Plus because of the display screen size.

Android Nougat: Despite the fact that the iOS 10, which powers the iPhone SE, is pretty properly, the Android Nougat is the world’s quality running device. It its inventory shape – and Moto G5 Plus makes use of inventory Android – it is slick, easy, versatile and characteristic-rich. it’s miles easier to work with in almost each viable manner. That antique app trouble – that iOS apps are higher – is now not there. In reality, in recent times apps like WhatsApp bring new functions first to Android.

It is inexpensive: The Moto G5 Plus, in case you are going for the 16GB variant, will prevent Rs five,000. Sure, you must spend a chunk extra and get the iPhoen SE if that is what you need. But if you just need a great phone, don’t care much about the brand, the Moto G5 Plus is a higher cost for money.

extra garage: The Moto G5 Plus is to be had with 32GB internal storage even as the Rs 19,999 iPhone SE only has 16GB. This may no longer seem an awful lot of a distinction on paper But is Really certainly one of the most important factors that impacts person experience. 16GB in recent times is slightly cutting it because of WhatsApp forwards and Facebook and so on. those apps, and the information that they download to the smartphone, can fill a 16GB telephone within a few months.

Twin SIM and microSD card: in case you are dualSIM users – Jim in a single slot, Airtel in other – the Moto G5 Plus is a higher preference. The iPhone SE most effective has one SIM slot. Further, the Moto G5 Plus will let you add a microSD card. The iPhone SE won’t. better battery life: The Moto G5 Plus absolutely has a better battery existence in comparison to the iPhone SE. It lasts around 15 to 16 hours of use, which is a few hours greater than what the iPhone SE can manipulate.

Reason to buy iPhone SE over Moto G5 Plus High-quality layout and top rate looks: if you want a telephone that has top rate appears, and finish, you can not go wrong with the iPhone SE. That is a telephone that makes use of the timeless blocky design that made the iPhone four and iPhone 5 such a rage. And the substances it makes use of are downright Terrific. The feel and completing of the iPhone SE is in a distinct magnificence while as compared to the Moto G5 Plus, which appears cheap in the front of the Apple phone.

Pinnacle of the line hardware and overall performance: The iPhone SE is a extra luxurious smartphone. It is best that now it’s miles promoting for Rs 19,999. And much like different high-end telephones, it has Pinnacle of the line hardware. The satisfactory – But not the size — of the display screen is notable. The A9 processor within the cell phone is rapid and ensures that the iPhone SE runs even the more stressful games conveniently. And the equal is genuine for nearly all components in the smartphone.

Aftersales provider: Apple has a lead right here. not only company will offer timely software updates for the iPhone SE for at least one or two greater years, it also handles the patron complaints in case something is going incorrect with the cellphone in a higher manner. Although, service is highly-priced for Apple products which are out of warranty period, in case you do not thoughts spending some money it’s far set off and purchasers are dealt with with admire. can’t say the equal for the provider from maximum different brands in India.

Barely higher digicam: The iPhone SE has a 12-megapixel digicam. The Moto G5 Plus too has a 12-megapixel camera. However the iPhone SE is simply extra dependable. That is a cellphone that shoots pictures rapid, and normally gets them proper in terms of their colorings, white-balance and publicity. Despite the fact that the Moto G5 Plus has a brighter lens with F1.7, the way iPhone SE treats images makes it a higher shooter in low mild. at the video component to the iPhone SE does a better process.

Summing it up Personally, if I’m spending Rs 20,000 I’m able to get the 32GB variation for the Moto G5 Plus. it’s far a extra utilitarian phone. also, I need to do a number of work on my cell phone so want a bigger display. However the iPhone SE spells elegance. It has a higher layout, higher camera and greater reliable performance. It seems higher in palms. For anybody who is not going to stare at the screen 10 hours a day, the iPhone SE is a more feasible choice.

revel in The first-class of iOS Atmosphere With Unfastened iPhone Apps

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Productive Apps

as compared to what you know, the software Environment on iOS platform is constantly developing. besides, Free iPhone apps it additionally accommodates of games made specially to healthy the bigger display screen iPad and its 2K decision. Efficient apps are very beneficial in permitting you to devise ahead with time planner, weather reviews, cell wifi hotspot generator, PDF reader, report scanner and plenty more. they’re ideal to apply in Both legitimate as well as private surroundings.

Leisure

while the usage of an iPhone, you can be confident that you are going to be bombarded with exciting apps and games. The app keep gives song, video gamers, picture editors, e book readers and plenty more to maintain users of all age groups caught to their amazing device. The Loose iPhone apps easily incorporate of ebook readers which might be compatible to study Each.Epub files as well as comics. Folks that enjoy reading novels will find these apps extremely convenient due to the fact they could simply download any Free or paid title from the shop to begin reading it instantly. In addition, comic enthusiasts will discover the interactive comedian app readers beneficial to revel in their maximum favorite superheroes come to life. Regular updates and patches are released to ensure the apps work as meant except adding new capabilities to it for more advantageous overall performance.

Live Up to date

The devoted website provides you all the information you need associated with Loose iPhone apps and contemporary arrivals inside the app save. everything about new games and apps will reach your social networking address or 1ec5f5ec77c51a968271b2ca9862907d address very quickly. All you need to do is go to the website to know greater about the software and down load it straight away for your device. The Unfastened apps and Loose video games provided with the aid of the app shop permit customers to enjoy them with out paying. except, even the maximum Popular titles might be presented without cost with confined term. You may be notified about all updates, modern day information and app release. realize more about Free iPhone apps and enjoy Proudly owning an iPhone in all its glory.

Pinnacle apps and custom picks is a segment devoted to assisting customers identify the great Unfastened iPhone apps in the marketplace. you may get the proper apps with the benefit of your house and in no way miss any other terrific title inside the large app store assisted by the professional app website online.

[netmaddy-blog]

Microsoft Surface pro and Macbook Pro

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/microsoft-surface-pro-and-macbook-pro/

Microsoft Surface pro and Macbook Pro

Imperfect, Heavy, Light, Powerful, and Excellent.

Just shy of one year ago, I transitioned from a Macbook Pro and iPad combo to a Microsoft Surface Pro 128GB. In light of this week’s announcement of Surface Pro 3 and my acquisition of a Surface Pro 2, I think it’s time to reflect on what that experience was like. Like most folks, I was a little skeptical about the idea of combining a laptop and tablet into a single unit. Would it be too heavy? Would the performance be too low? Would the battery life be awful? And what about the new Windows 8 OS that’s been the subject of so much teeth-gnashing? I’ll try to answer all these questions and more as succinctly as possible. Hit the jump and let’s get into the question: what’s it like to live with Microsoft’s vision for computing in the future?

1. The Operating System, starring Windows 8/8.1:

Windows 8.1 Update 1 had a good head start with Windows 8, as I started using it during the first publicly available betas about 9 months before launch, dual booting on my Macbook Pro. That experience gave me plenty of time to figure out how to navigate the OS well before launch, so I didn’t have the struggle that a lot of people did. Of course, it probably helps that I just naturally enjoy exploring and discovering new things. The early Windows 8 experience did have its struggles, though. I’d become accustomed to the iPad and even to my Windows Phone 7 device, both of which had lots of apps available in their stores. Windows 8’s store was notoriously barren by comparison, and that led to some early frustration when trying to use Surface Pro as just a tablet. Too many apps and features were missing to make for a satisfying experience.

Nevertheless, the device’s ability to handle legacy Windows desktop apps with aplomb kept me satisfied enough to continue, and the app store dilemma became less important by the day. If there’s one thing Windows really needs to fix, though, is its way of presenting the desktop. The desktop is still wrapped in the trappings of an archaic system whose time has passed, and it’s time for Microsoft to update it to a more modern presentation that has fonts big enough to read on high DPI screens and large enough to operate with a finger.

With 8.1 and the new 8.1 Spring Update (really? We couldn’t just call it 8.2?), virtually all my complaints about Windows 8 evaporated. While some dislike the new aesthetic, I’ve personally found myself loving the flat colors, active tiles and removal of extraneous effects. My sincere hope is that as Windows evolves it gets even flatter and the metro aesthetic becomes more pervasive.

Suggestion: Use a Microsoft account, and use OneDrive! I can’t stress these enough. If you’re using Windows 8–and on a Surface Pro, you will be–you shouldn’t create an old-fashioned local account. Doing so cuts you off from some of Windows 8’s best features. Among these is the ability to have almost your entire PC configuration, right down to tile sizes, locations and apps installed, backed up to your OneDrive account in the event you either need to restore your PC or you sign into a different Windows 8.1 PC. Best, though, is that with OneDrive you get 7GB storage for free, which, while not enough to cover, say, your music and photos collection, is probably plenty to ensure your critical documents are all safely backed up within moments of you making any change. It’s easy to learn to save to your OneDrive folder, and once you’ve become accustomed to having that safety net you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

2. The Hardware: Build Quality, Heft, and Capability.

Surface Pro Docking Station

I used to lug around a 2010 Macbook Pro 13.3″, which weighed 4.5 pounds, and an iPad 1, which weighed 1.5 pounds for a total of 6 pounds. So when I say that the 2.5 pound total of the Surface Pro and Type Cover was a big weight off my back, I’m really not kidding. The sacrifice was that I had a smaller screen, but the gain was a far more powerful processor and far superior screen resolution and pixel density. The build quality is exceptional: there is literally zero flex to this device, its magnesium shell is hard and sturdy enough to withstand probably more abuse than you should feel comfortable making your PC go through. As a tablet, it’s half a pound heavier than that original iPad was, but as a laptop it has a huge advantage over anything Apple offers. But you probably wonder what I use my Surface Pro for?

Workload

I’ve spent most of the past year as a film school student at UCLA, which means that a lot of my workload involves editing and transcoding video, compositing after effects compositions, transferring footage across different media and so on. I use Adobe Premiere for most of these tasks, and my Surface Pro has handled them all with grace. I’ve had no problems editing and rendering 1080p video in real-time. And as you’d expect from a Windows machine with a full size USB port, working with external hard drives and optical drives is a breeze. Suffice to say, I also do the basics including working in Microsoft Office, writing in Final Draft, checking email, browsing the web, yada yada. Overall, I’ve had no complaints save one: early on, my first Surface Pro had some serious problems with the Marvell Avastar wifi chip and had to be exchanged, a problem that’s not entirely uncommon with this device. More on that later.

Webcams

Let’s be honest: the webcams on this device suck. They’re flat-out terrible, and there’s no getting around that fact. They’re fine for basic Skype video calls, but that’s pretty much it. If you really need to record video, use something else. Anything else.

Stylus

I frequently take notes in OneNote MX (that’s the metro version), especially lately. Like most students, I have tended over the past few years to type my notes, but recent studies show that students who take notes by hand tend to do better on tests. Well, I’m all for evidence based research, so I took this to heart, but I’m also lazy, which means I don’t want to type things after I’ve written them down. Enter Surface Pro’s stylus and voila: I can hand write my notes and have them in a digital format all at the same time. Hell yes. I find that the stylus, despite its cheap plastic feel, works well as a digital inking device. Some complain about the lack of a dock for the stylus, but honestly, I’ve no issues with that. I’ve been using it for a year and have yet to lose the thing.

Art Related Work

Last note on usability: my fiancée, artist Kelley Frisby, got her Surface Pro on launch day precisely because of the integrated Wacom digitizer with 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity. From the outset the usage here was contentious because Surface Pro shipped without a pressure sensitive driver that Photoshop could understand. However, once that driver materialized, she took to using the stylus all the time. And when we learned about Manga Studio Pro from artist Jonathan Case’s website, things really went off the hook as she found it to be far superior to photoshop for creating hand drawn illustrations. That she can have her Surface Pro on her lap with pressure sensitivity while she draws, and her keyboard handy for using keyboard shortcuts, is a huge benefit that other tablets simply don’t offer. Truly, if you’re an artist who draws and paints digitally, Surface Pro is the device for you. Nothing else combines so many hardware capabilities and broad software availability.

3. Battery Life

Surface Pro Kickstand

This is the one serious issue that has dogged the Surface Pro since its original launch, despite the fact that it was never as bad as people claimed or the fact that Surface Pro 2 completely mitigated the issue (and by all reports, Surface Pro 3 does even better). Early claims were that Surface Pro got about 3.5 hours of battery life. And under certain circumstances, that’s true: watching 1080p videos with the brightness up while downloading stuff in the background will, like any other device, eat battery life much more than average usage will. But that’s only part of the test, isn’t it? Under normal usage, which I’ll define as web, email and word processing, Surface Pro 1 will get 5 hours battery life right out of the box. With some mild tweaks to the power profile, which I’ve detailed in one of our most popular posts, it’s entirely possible to get 6-7 hours of battery life. My best time was just over 8 hours total, but with a caveat: I was working with the wifi turned off, writing in Word, in a low light situation where I could comfortably turn down the screen brightness to minimum. Most people I know get in the range of 5-6 hours.

Why I Switched

Let’s be as clear as possible here: the Surface Pro is not a flawless device, but then, neither is anything else. My chief complaints are that the desktop in Windows 8.x needs a Modern UI revamp, and I wish the screen were a little bigger. I hope to upgrade to a Surface Pro 3 at some point in the future for that very reason, though my suspicion is that the artist community, such as my own wonderful Kelley Frisby, will hesitate to upgrade as a result of the new device’s possibly inferior N-Trig digitizer.

So that leaves the big question: why did I switch? That’s a complicated question. First, I was never sold on Mac OSX, but when Apple’s Bootcamp 5 update removed my ability to install Windows 8 as a dual-boot OS choice, claiming it wasn’t compatible with the computer I’d been using for 2.5 years (and at that, running Windows 8 on for 9 months), the final straw broke. This was the third time Apple’d created problems for my devices, following the iOS 5 update that slowed my iPad to a crawl and the iOS 4 update that made my iPhone 3G all but unusable.

The prospect of having a tablet and laptop all in a single device was also very appealing to me. Yes, there are compromises: it’s a little heavier than a tablet and a little smaller than a typical laptop, but the overall effect is a net positive, and I’m happy to say that my year with Surface Pro has me convinced: Microsoft’s vision of a world where tablets are just slim, light, touch-friendly PC’s is the right one. That we now see even desktop all-in-ones becoming large tablets (seriously, have you seen the Dell Venue Pro 18″ tablets? Crazy!) and touch slowly but surely spreading even to budget level laptops, is a good sign the convergence Microsoft predicted when it announced the original Surface Pro is really happening.

Problems I had & Solutions Microsoft offered

Surface by Microsoft

I mentioned the problem my original Surface Pro had with its wifi chip awhile ago, but there’s more to that story. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago my Surface Pro once again began having problems with the wifi chip, and no update, driver replacement, or even a system reset helped. Eventually the device started blue screening repeatedly, so I took it in to see what Microsoft could do for me. To my complete surprise, they handed me a brand new Surface Pro 2 and even let me pay the difference to upgrade it to the 256GB/8GB model, which I eagerly did. The new device is basically all the great stuff about Surface Pro 1, distilled into a purer form. Same weight, size and shape, slightly better screen (though I honestly can’t tell the difference, for what it’s worth), and the Type Cover 2 is a fantastic little keyboard that does its job with aplomb. I’m very happy indeed, and more than glad I bought the extended warranty.

Value Proposition

I’ve seen a lot of folks argue that the Surface Pro series is too expensive, and I can understand why. $999 before you even add the keyboard seems like a pretty tough pill to swallow, especially for a tablet when you live in a world of $499 iPads and $199 Kindle Fires. But I think it’s worth remembering what you get when you buy into the Surface Pro system:

1. You get an ultrabook that can run just about any legacy Windows app you can throw at it. It has excellent RAM options (4-8GB) and storage options (64-512GB), a full-sized USB port and both wired and wireless external monitor support (the latter via Miracast). In Apple land, this costs you $900 minimum.

2. You get a tablet that can do anything an iPad or Android tablet can do, plus more, with the only drawback being sheer numbers of apps. Even that is changing as the Windows Store approaches 200,000 and will soon merge with the Windows Phone store to boot. And because it’s Windows, you also get the perk of individual user accounts right out of the box. In Apple land, this is another $400+

3. A digital drawing/inking solution. Whether you just take notes or you do fine art, the Surface Pro has you covered. You don’t get this in Apple land at all. You instead buy a USB tablet that does not have a screen for $100+, or you buy a Cintiq to connect to your Macbook for $1,000.

Long story short: at first glance, yes, it looks like Surface Pro/2 is expensive, but you get a tremendous amount of value for your money.

Last Words

Would I recommend the Surface Pro or Pro 2? Absolutely, especially if you’re an artist or someone who’s just sick and tired of lugging around multiple devices. We live in a world where our computing hardware is not just powerful, but can do its job with surprisingly little energy or heat. There’s just no reason to carry two devices in your bag in addition to the smartphone in your pocket. If I could have a wish granted, it’d be for Microsoft to add an extra USB 3.0 port, thunderbolt, and move from an mSATA to a PCIe SSD. Mind you, it doesn’t exactly need those items, but the hardware nerd in me would be really happy to have them.

As for Surface Pro 3, well, I’d love to review it, and more importantly I’d love to put it in the hands of our classically trained illustrator so she can put it through its paces and render a verdict on its usefulness as an artist’s digital tablet, but so far haven’t had any luck getting time with the new device. But hey, if Microsoft would like to let us borrow one, we could probably work something out!

Oh, almost forgot: do buy Microsoft’s extended warranty for Surface Pro, no matter what version you buy. It’ll really pay off if anything ever goes wacky with your device, and it even offers accidental damage protection, which is usually pretty expensive if it’s offered at all.

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

ADA Conference 2011: Product Updates!!

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/ada-conference-2011-product-updates/

ADA Conference 2011: Product Updates!!

We're officially conference-weary after running around the San Diego Convention Center for four days of ADA briefings, sessions, meet-ups and expo booth visits. We lugged home loads of material that will surely keep us post-happy here at the 'Mine for weeks. So what was super-new and hot? Spoiler Alert: Not all that much this year.

Our overall impression was that a lot of cool technologies we've already seen are stuck in the holding pen while FDA increasingly drags its feet on the approval process. Grrr.

Case-in-point: Intuity Medical's Pogo all-in-one meter including built-in lancing device and test strip cartridge. I believe this was the third year in a row we oggled the design in the company's booth, yet still nothing to market. It's just a glucose meter, for goodness sake — not some radical new therapy! *sigh*

Anyway, Intuity has had plenty of time to soup up their demo models. Check out this "race car" design:

Also, weirdly, some of last year's hottest prototypes were glaring absent this year. No booth for Debiotech, for example, which wowed us with their Jewel patch pump last year.

Some new stuff we did learn about:

* A company now called Spring (formerly NiliMEDIX) is working on a new "hybrid patch pump" that's kind of wacky, in a good way. It's in development and so far only lightly described on their website, but we snapped a brochure pic, below. The part that attaches to your body will be a "cradle" that allows you to disconnect the "pod" portion (as with the Roche / Medingo Solo pump design). But here's the wacky part: you can also switch to wearing it as a tubed pump whenever you like, just by popping off the "pod" portion and plugging the infusion set right into the cradle connector. Wow!

Look and feel? Currently the "pod" part is a 2x2-inch-looking white square. Yes, a SQUARE — and yes, I told them we don't like to wear sharp corners on our contoured bodies, right? The remote control looks like a slick white iPhone/iPod, complete with a color touch screen and scroll wheel for commands. Also:

the remote control has an integrated glucose monitor

you'll be able to bolus with or without the remote control

you can suspend the pump at the push of a button

the whole thing will be IPX 8 water-tight, which is BIG, and I'll tell you why...

Having taken another look at the Solo patch pump that Roche acquired from Medingo last year (which is still in the holding pen, btw), I discovered that it is NOT WATERPROOF. The Accu-Chek folks claim that in order to make it detachable, the device cannot be completely air sealed. Which means that the advantage of being able to disconnect is offset by the disadvantage that you are FORCED to remove it each time you shower, bathe, or swim. That's bad news, IMHO.

* On Friday, the folks at Spring submitted an application for European CE Mark approval of their "regular" Springâ„¢ Zone Insulin Delivery System, the updated version of their spring-driven insulin pump. We covered the details of this pump last year here.

As a reminder, once approved, the sporty-looking Spring would be the smallest tubed insulin pump on the market. Other advantages the company is touting are: that it doesn't use a motor, but rather draws energy from pressure created via a controlled-release mechanism — and this no-motor approach reportedly makes the system "virtually fail-proof" and very low-cost to manufacture. It also offers a highly sophisticated error sensing and alarm system.

Related to that last bit is the company's new SpringNow Universal Infusion Set, designed for the highest level of error protection. Its proprietary "Detach-Detect" mechanism actually triggers a blocking device that creates an occlusion in case any part of the infusion set base becomes detached from your body. It also features "high-transparency tubing (that) enables visual air-bubble detection." (Yes, I talked to them about the colored tubing idea, too!)

SpringNow is newly FDA approved, and compatible with all standard Luer Lock connectors (pretty much all pumps except Medtronics, which use their own proprietary connector.)

* Roche is also working on a system called the Accu-Chek Combo — a new competitor to the Animas Ping which uses Bluetooth technology to connect the meter and pump. What's special about the Combo is that you can control all pump features from the glucose meter, including basal rates and temp basals. You can also program in preset "add-ons" to your bolus calculations. For example, if you're dosing for a 45-gram-carb muffin and hit your preset "sick" rate, the system would automatically add 20% (or whatever increase you pre-programmed for "sick") to your bolus dose. Sweet! The Combo is not yet approved in the U.S., needless to say.

Roche has a few more pre-approval things up its sleeve, including the FastClix (pictured), an upgrade to the popular MutliClix lancing device, and the Accu-Check Aviva Expert, with a bolus calculator built into the glucose meter — designed for patients on shots. The Expert keeps track of boluses and insulin on board (IOB) too. That one's available in Europe already.

* CellNovo's new mobile-technology-enabled pump system was making a nice splash on display in that company's booth.

Earlier this year we published an in-depth conversation with the CEO, Bill McKeon. We were finally able to get an up-close and personal look at this quasi-patch pump. Why quasi? Because despite the fact that the pump can sit directly on your skin, there is still tubing to a set. In other words, it's almost like a patch pump that's attached to you with tubing.

There's a separate, wireless controller (the cool part that's got people excited), and you can choose to wear the reservoir "patch" portion either hanging off of long, standard tubing, or wear a velcro-like adhesive stuck to your body that will keep this portion in place. With the latter option, you would definitely be wearing two things stuck to your body.

Now, we at the 'Mine had a bit of a debate on this point. Allison, a long-time tubed pump user (Medtronic since 2000), is in favor of having a bit of tubing even if it means having a separate site, in case there's an issue with the insertion, or if the adhesive comes off. But I (Amy) thought it looked kind of like the worst of both worlds: you've got this tiny patch-like pump, but you still need tubing to use it, and your wear options are basically to tape it to your skin, or have it dangling off you with no good clip option that I could see.

CellNovo is still looking at a fall 2011 launch in Europe, but due to regulatory restraints at the FDA that have been discussed ad nauseum, the U.S. launch will be later — by late 2012 if they're lucky. Though at the rate the FDA is going, we wouldn't bet money on it...

* Two new type 2 drugs also seem quite hot.

Cycloset:

Most drugs for people with type 2 focus on the obvious: the pancreas (producer of insulin) or the liver (producer of glucagon). But this new drug from the folks at Rhode-Island-based VeroScience is making an attempt at managing diabetes starting in the brain. Their theory is that it stands to reason that the control center of the body would have some kind of impact on diabetes. They found that people with diabetes have lower levels of dopamine (yep, that feel-good hormone), and that if they could turn it up in the morning, it could have a benefit for people with type 2 throughout the rest of the day. In their clinical trial, people on Cycloset vs. a placebo saw a 1% drop in A1C over a year, and it was shown to be safe for the heart.

The downside: the average dose is between 3.2 mg and 4.8 mg, but the tablets are .8 mg because Cycloset needs to be titrated at an average of one pill a week. That means that by the time you're at the average dose, you're taking anywhere from 4 to 6 pills. They're small, about the size of an Advil, but you have to take all of them at one time at breakfast. Seems like an awful lot to gulp down with your oatmeal every day, or...?

SGLT2 Inhibitors:

This is an entirely new class of drugs that will be hitting the market real soon, we hear. A subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson called Janssen is looking at using the kidney to flush out sugar from the body. What SGLT2's essentially do is force the body to rid itself of the glucose through the kidney, excreting it via urine. One woman at the booth likened these drugs to diuretics in that they use the kidneys to flush sugar. Patients will basically "pee out" the extra sugar. Sounds kind of weird, but apparently it is safe. Janssen's formulation is currently in clinical trials so the reps had sealed lips on any more info about it, but we'll be sure to share more as soon as we hear.

In addition, there were many briefings about data results in closed-loop research (we wish the reality were closer), and some very positive data reported on type 2 patients successfully using CGM systems.

And of course, there was lots of aggressive marketing going on. Like this:

Oh yes, they did.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Type 2 Diabetes Diet Diabetes Destroyer Reviews Original Article

[turntothree]

Spread Thought: Switching it Up

Dateline: Tokyo, Japan - March 17, 2015

The tech sector is rocked with the revelation of Nintendo joining forces with app developer DeNA to bring its line-up of iconic mascots to various Apple and Android devices.

In a move once thought unthinkable, The Big N signed a big fat contract (with 10 per cent equity of DeNA in tow) to become a third-party game creator for what it previously considered to be its lead competitors. With the Wii U losing traction and the 3DS on its slow march into retirement, could this historic moment have marked the end of 30 years of standard-setting hardware development?

image source - The Associated Press

Before this notion could even register, (then) Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced to the world the company was working on a brand-new home console. Its name (at least at that point) NX; its concept revolutionary; and...that was it. Iwata said more news would come in 2016, before shifting focus back to mobile.

But there was no turning back the NX hype train. Once it left the station that was it. Just like that, a hallmark moment was overshadowed by a quick quote to save face.

“I wanted to avoid any misunderstandings such as, “Nintendo might have lost its passion for the dedicated game system business”, and because I wanted many people to understand that Nintendo will continue its dedicated game system business with even stronger passion and motivation.” – Satoru Iwata to Time Magazine (March 18, 2015)

image source - Sega

Sure, the partnership with DeNA was then and continues now to be a huge deal (one that is currently paying some decent dividends) but those two letters became an enticing mystery gamers and the games press worked tirelessly to solve.

Patent filings were rummaged through, “development document leaks” were pinched with so many grains of salt, investor briefings and conference calls were examined with a fine tooth comb, and so many inside sources were contacted. Would Nintendo’s hand be forced?

“We have no comment at this time.” – Nintendo PR (Pretty much all of the time ever)

For all the fans knew, the NX was an Android-powered stream box/handheld hybrid that had a touch screen for a controller, a connection to every Nintendo game ever made, and AR and VR components capable of bending time and space. Not to mention it would be the first home console since the late 90’s to run on cartridges. 

Seriously, remember when this was a thing?

image source - ID 2Dev

Also, 20 million units shipped out in time for a summer 2016 release? As if!

After 19 agonizing months of fans digging, probing, reporting, rabid Redditing, and social media outcrying, Nintendo finally lifted the curtain when we least suspected.

image source - Nintendo of America

As the whole world stayed glued to their Facebooks and Twitters (and I’m assuming Touts) for an outright avalanche of opinion circa Clinton V Trump III, Mario of all um...characters(?) cut in and politely whispered, “NX reveal trailer tomorrow, yippee!”, before retreating back behind the curtain. OK...that was an exaggerated paraphrase but you get the point.   

As of October 20, 2016, Nintendo’s NeXt console is no longer protected under a shroud of secrecy. Now it is proudly exposed for everyone to see, but was it well received? Is all that excitement continuing to gain momentum post-reveal or has the Big N hype train gone off the rails in the face of further “leaks”?

I’ve thought long and hard on this subject and to be honest, there’s a lot to think about, but if I think things through and spread out all of my thoughts, I think I can reach that one conclusive thought.

First and foremost, Welcome to the world...Nintendo Switch!

As it turns out, the most prevalent of NX rumours is the one that turns out to be the most true. (Well, don’t that just put the “DINK” in CO-INKY-DINK).

The NX aptly named Nintendo Switch is in fact a hybrid of home console and portable gaming device. If (for whatever reason) you thought such a concept was merely the stuff of dreams, there’s no use pinching yourself.

image source - 20th Century Fox

...

How does this dream machine work? Well, it’s quite ingenious, really. Think of the home console portion as a docking station for its central component, a station that happens to be connected to a TV through a HDMI input. Oh and that central component also happens to be a tablet. (Probably should have lead with that).

image source - Nintendo

Anyway, when snugly snapped into the dock, the tablet will transmit the latest and greatest Nintendo games to the player’s TV in glorious high-definition; perfect for crashing on the couch and kicking back with Zelda or whatever. However, if they wanted to say, take their game outside, or on the open road,  or in the air, or blare Super Mario from a rooftop (...you’ll see), they can do that too, in a few different ways...that rely heavily on the system’s main controller.

I know that last bit sounds a tad strange but let me explain.

The controller (which as many have pointed out, looks like an adorable puppy dog) has two detachable components; the Joy-Con 1 and Joy-Con 2. These joint Joy-Cons can be snapped comfortably onto the tablet and with one gentle lift; players got themselves a traditional portable system that’s ready to go.

image source - Nintendo

Wait a second...hmm...there’s something noteworthy at the tail end of that last picture. Let me just zoom in a few smidges.

image source - Nintendo

Aw, there it is. It’s a bit blurry, but it’s there for all to see. It’s a cartridge slot, in case you couldn’t tell. I wouldn’t blame you if you couldn’t, on account of the blur and all. (Chalk another one up for the rumour mill).           

All of the retro console diehards who have been clamouring for a return to cart-based storage can party like it’s 1996. Although, I suppose for those of us who’ve been keeping up with Nintendo’s handheld systems for the past three decades can give a little clap and go back to business as usual.

This revelation didn’t get much attention during the Switch’s reveal. (In fact, if you blink, you’ll likely miss the young man inserting a copy of Skyrim into his tablet). However, during the October 21 investors meeting, current Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima did mention the standard capacity of a Switch cartridge will clock in at 16GB, which is only double that of a 3DS cart.

mock up made by me. Asset sources - Nintendo and Bethesda

Concerns have been raised by this little info nugget. Given the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 standard of 50+GB Blu Ray discs, 16 gigs does seem rather small in comparison. Heck, the DLC files for some of those PS4 and Xbone titles are bigger than that. So, will first-party titles be shorter or smaller scale experiences? Will third-party partners be wedged into a corner and forced to significantly trim down Switch ports? Not likely.

Note how Kimishima said “standard”, meaning that while typical Nintendo games may in fact have a file size of 16GB or less, developers on both sides of the aisle will have the option to upgrade to heftier carts that can match up with Blu Ray storage, if they need too. So, that’s good.  

Editor’s Note: Also, the top minds at Nintendo EPD Lab are wizards of data compression, so I wouldn’t stress out on this too much.

What I’m sure many critics will say is not so good (or at least unfortunate) is the obvious omission of backwards compatibility between the Switch and its predecessor (the Wii U)...at least in a physical sense. (The possibilities of digital transfers haven’t been ruled out...yet).

image source - Nintendo

Adding a disc drive to the tablet would’ve put a tremendous strain on it and streaming games from the disc to the dock to the tablet would have been its own technological nightmare. So, Switchers will have to keep their Wii U’s on the shelf if they wish to continue playing their past-gen games.

Before you say anything, no, the Switch is not compatible with the 3DS. I know, they both use carts, but their circuitry is just too different.  

Anyway, where was I again? Oh right; that handheld option is all well and good but what if players wanted to replicate the TV experience with just the tablet and a controller? Is that an option, too? Yes!

Just kick back the tablet’s nifty kickstand, pick up the Joy-Cons (one in each hand, like a wireless Wii Mote and nunchuck combo), turn it on and enjoy.

image source - Nintendo

Wait a second, does multiplayer work with this travel set-up?

Indeed it does and once again, it’s all tied to the ingenious design of Switch’s trademark controller.

Notice how the button layouts on the Joy-Cons look near identical, if not slightly mirrored...and upside-down? Well, that’s because Joy-Con 1 and Joy-Con 2 can also become controller 1 and controller 2, when the Switch is in travel mode. (Just flip em’ sideways and ta-da!).

image source - Nintendo

Pretty clever, eh?

Travel Switch can also be enjoyed by up to four-players! But that would require an additional Switch tablet and two more Joy-Cons.

image source - Nintendo

Editor’s Note: Pro controllers will also be available for Switch as separate purchases, in case some players happen to find the (let’s say, “Travel Size”) Joy-Cons to be a tad uncomfortable.  

image source - The Verge

That about covers everything we know about the hardware, well...everything we’re supposed to know for the time being, as there’s a lot that’s still being kept under lock and key. However, I guess we could take a brief look under the hood.

...

Nope! Never mind. Can’t do that either, because that too is a secret apparently. It’s been confirmed Android/PC tech giant Nvidia has formed a mutually beneficial partnership with Nintendo (one Nvidia itself expects to be decades long) and will supply one of its patented GeForce processors to power the Switch. (Yet another rumour is proven true, sort of).

image source - Nvidia

The exact chip at the forefront of said processor, as well as the rest of the system specs have yet to be revealed (at least under official channels). There have been some rumours and chatter between “inside sources” about whether or not it stacks up to the competition or if the graphics will even be as good as those shown in the reveal, but I’ll get to that later.

I guess I should spout off a few personal opinions about the design before moving on. I’ll step away from the internal specs (for now) since; again, Nintendo hasn’t divulged anything about them. So, I’ll stick to the look and gimmick of the Switch.

*Ahem*

In short, I think the design is sleek, cool, and modern, with a gentle touch of Nintendo’s toymaker whimsy.

In um, longer (I guess?), I think it has the same glossy and sophisticated high tech aesthetic as an Apple or Android product. It gives an air of complexity but also convenience. It appears to be both futuristic and easy to understand and it looks cool while doing so. It looks like a product gamers are going to want to proudly show off at home and on the road.

Oh and that beautiful black and grey finish?               

From a technical standpoint, the ways in which it covers the bases for both home and travel play are tremendously clever and for them all to revolve around a tablet (a universal device most people use every day) was a master stroke in hardware ingenuity. That and being able to take the controller apart and attach it to the tablet or use those two controller bits as separate controllers is totally rad!

The way things literally get switched around is kind of like playing around with Transformers and that’s something I think both kids and adults are going to be toying with...even if some of the older folks won’t admit it out loud. (Although, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about some of the youngest folks breaking or losing vital components).

Choosing carts over discs, while unfortunately disbarring generations-old philosophies of backwards compatibility, does offer its own set of advantages. Like flash memory, which offers faster load times, and the durability of a thick plastic casing that keeps data protected from scratches, smudges, and smears. They also happen to be more expensive to produce but thanks to Ninty’s connections, it can save a bundle on those costs. (Hopefully said savings will be passed on to customers and third-party partners).

Yeah, there are a few drawbacks but I’d say it’s a clever concept with an overall clever execution; at least from this current standpoint of looking in from the outside.

Nintendo has been Super Game Coy about the Switch’s pending software library but it did let a few things slip in the lead up to the reveal, as well as in the reveal itself.

image credit - Nintendo

Throughout the past couple years; Nintendo’s legendary Creative Fellow Shigeru Miyamoto has talked in certain interviews about projects he had conceptualized for what he called “next generation hardware.” Those projects were a new 3D Mario game (which we saw a split second of in the Switch reveal) and Pikmin 4. Mario should be released within the system’s first few months but Pikmin probably isn’t coming anytime soon, as Miyamoto noted that particular passion project had been pushed back several times due to popular IPs taking priority.

image source - The Pokemon Company

The Pokemon Company released a statement one month prior to the reveal in which it committed itself to creating a new game for the platform. Whether it’s a spin-off or the first ever mainline title made for home console remains Unown...at least that’s what Nintendo wants you to believe.  

image source - Nintendo

Getting back on track to the Switch reveal, two major upcoming releases raced through shells and ink to make the scene. Coming to the surprise of no one, Mario’s multi-million selling Kart racing spin-off is revving up for another lap on Switch, while the squids and kids of Wii U’s break-out hit (Splatoon) swim in from behind to offer their support. Release dates are currently classified but word on the street is they’ll be pulling into retail in time for Switch’s launch day celebration.

image source - Nintendo

Of course there’s also The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; an epic adventure that’s been in development since before even the release of the Wii U. In the past year, it went from Ninty’s bet kept secret to the best game of E3 to the most anticipated title of 2017 (without a Red coating). There’s currently a lot of confusion as to when it will be released but more on that later. For now, let’s say before the summer solstice, The Hero of Time becomes The Hero of Switch.

I’d also be remised if I didn’t mention what (on the surface) appears to be an unprecedented amount of third-party support for a Nintendo product’s launch year.

image sources - SEGA, Square Enix, Ubisoft, TellTale Games, Warner Bros., Bethesda, Take-Two Interactive, ConcernedApe, Re-Logic, Tequila Works and GalaxyTrail.

From Sega, there’s Sonic Project 2017 (no, not that one). Square Enix is porting over Dragon Quest X and XI. Telltale is bringing its Guardians of the Galaxy tie-in. Ubisoft is pumping up the jams with Just Dance 2017. Warner Bros. is building a bridge with Lego City Undercover. Even indie darlings like Stardew Valley, Terraria, and the much anticipated releases of Rime and Freedom Planet 2 have been confirmed for the Switch’s eShop. Hmm...and I guess I shouldn’t forget Switch show stealers NBA 2K and the aforementioned Skyrim!

Editor’s Note: I know Bethesda and Take-Two have said those last two aren’t guaranteed for Switch, but come on. No one honestly believes those snippets were just gameplay demos. Even if they were, that fan support (especially from the Elder Scrolls crowd) is going to make those games happen on Switch.

BREAKING NEWS!

mock up made by me. Asset sources - Playtonic Games, Capcom and Nintendo

Playtonic Games’ spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie could also “Make the Switch.”

The company mentioned in a recent press release the Wii U version of Yooka-Laylee has been cancelled due to “unforeseen technical issues” and in an effort to make amends (aside from offering Kickstarter supporters a refund); the team is working closely with Nintendo to try and make a Switch port happen.

A great potential pick-up for the Switch, but also a bit of a bummer for those who put their in money for a Wii U port. I guess you’d call that bitter-sweetie.

Those who have followed Nintendo throughout its history in the gaming market know all too well The Big N tends to send a couple of its best hitters onto field at launch time; it’s just common sense. However, there’s an inescapable feeling coach Reggie is aiming for an astronomical batting average this time around.

Just take another quick gander at that roster: Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Mario Kart, Splatoon, 2K Sports, Skyrim, need I continue? Never has a Nintendo console launched with so many fan favourites at the ready, and with so much variety. Platformers; RPGs; racers; shooters; adventure games; dancing games; sports; games for the kids; games for the adults; games for the entire family. And apparently, that’s only scratching the surface.

Granted, there are still a few unanswered questions (which I’ll get to soon) but for right now, that surface level is looking mighty fine.

Here it is, the very famous and very first advertisement for the Nintendo Switch.  

Was it good? I liked it and I think most other people liked it too, based on the 22 million plus views and over 500K likes on Youtube...and the overwhelming praise on social media.

What makes it such a compelling commercial? It’s hard to narrow it down to just one reason so...for starters; it’s the appeal of seeing this one of a kind product in action for the first time. Observing each transformation of the controller/tablet combo with fresh eyes was really cool.

Secondly, it was quick, simple and to the point. Each transition was presented without verbal explanation but the way in which they were seamlessly injected into the go-go lifestyle of the actors, made it easy to understand the various ways in which Switch can be enjoyed.

Speaking of easy to understand, I just want to take a brief moment to say something I should have said earlier; I love the name Switch. It describes the console perfectly and it doesn’t leave room for any brand confusion. (I’m looking at you, Wii U!)

Oh and the song choice was great too. It’s fun, catchy and the “Be yourself” hook matches the eccentric nature of the Switch and paints Switch owners as unique. That’s the kind of mass market “individuality” Apple mastered back in 1984. (I also liked how the audio cues of each Joy-Con snap synched up to the music. That was beautiful)

image source - Nintendo

Editors Note: Is that bit at the end a pitch for a competitive Splatoon league? Cause I think eSports folks would sign up by the thousands. 

From a sales perspective, I guess you could say it was...

image source - Nintendo

Well...perhaps it isn’t perfect.

Some folks have the opinion the commercial faltered a little bit in that it didn’t feature any children.

Kids (younger kids especially) have always been the life blood of the wonderfully colourful worlds Miyamoto and company built and that always rang (perhaps at its most) true in Nintendo’s advertising. From the Zelda Rap to Train On, children have been at the forefront of every major campaign. So why leave them out of what is in all likelihood the most important campaign in company history?  

image sources - Nintendo and The Pokemon Company

It’s obvious this one ad isn’t the be-all end-all of the campaign but rather the beginning of something much, much larger. There will be a time to shine the spotlight on kids and their families and that time will be directly before launch. This introductory ad had to serve a more vital purpose than to ring in customers (those being the parents, obviously) who’d likely be on board regardless. What this spot had to do was reach out and get back all those mainstream millennials who had grown up with Nintendo, but left its Mushroom Kingdom behind back when their Wii’s collected their first speck of dust.   

image source - Nintendo

Whether or not Nintendo will win back the buying power of these wayward Gen X and Y’ers, time will have to tell. But given the record-setting Youtube numbers and the outpouring of excitement and enthusiasm shown across the web, it’s safe to say something about the Switch resonated with that much sought after crowd (as well as the rest of the mass market), which is something Nintendo could never accomplish with the Wii U.    

If I had but one criticism it would be it does come off a bit let’s say goofy and unrealistic at times. Like say, that one girl taking her game from her lavish loft apartment to a casual rooftop social (as we millennials, oh so rich with money, often do...I said sarcastically), or that moment in which a real-life basket ball game is broken up to kick-start a round of NBA 2K17 (seems logical).

Also, if you’re the kind of person who takes your dog for walk, only to ignore said dog in favour of a screen to glue your face to, I hate you. 

image source - Nintendo

Also, that’s not how you sit on a bench. Stupid idiot!

Looking back on it, the ad was pretty solid. Sure, it has a few slightly silly hiccups but it got the point across and presented what the product can do in a way that was fun and kind of exciting.

In closing: Ad=Good. Neglectful Dog Owner=Bad.

You’re kidding, right? Based on Nintendo’s marketing pitch, the Switch will allow players to take all of their favourite Nintendo and third-party games with them wherever they go, with HD fidelity and a variety of multiplayer options in tow. That’s pretty darn appealing, if you ask me.

Next section.

While Nintendo has been gracious enough to show us so much (without actually showing us so much), so many tantalizing secrets still remain on both the hardware and software fronts.

For example, what are the specs? What kind of quality dip can we expect from TV to tablet? How long will the tablet’s battery last? Are motion controls making a return? Will there be any peripherals? What changes are in store for the Nintendo Network? Will the Virtual Console receive an expansion? With so many developers coming forward as Switch partners, just how big is the launch line-up really?

image source - Nintendo

Editor’s Note: Seriously, look at this! It’s a virtual who’s who of the video game industry and they’re all on board with Nintendo this time around.

Oh and when exactly is this thing coming out...and how much is it going to cost?

Proper answers have been fairly scarce these past few months, likely because Nintendo wanted to shift focus on the holiday shopping season and everything it could sell in that most vital of time frames. Now with the shopping frenzy over and that merch moved, the Switch hype train can finally switch gears and come at us full steam in 2017, and it all begins next week with a massive two-part event.  

image source - Nintendo

It all kicks off late into the night of January 12, with a live Internet broadcast from Nintendo’s Japanese Headquarters, hosted by Mr. Kimishima. This event will present what all Nintendo fans have been craving, an in-depth look at the Switch’s hardware, as well as the initial catalogue of Switch games.

The fun continues the next morning with another livestream, this time broadcasting from Nintendo World in New York City and it’ll be hosted by Reggie and Bill and all of your Nintendo of America favourites. This will be similar to Nintendo’s E3 broadcast, in which the Treehouse crew and various developers kicked up a seat and played a selection of upcoming titles.

Much like any other Nintendo fan with a pulse, I’m excited! How could I not be?

When the build-up to the reveal is combined with the gap between the reveal and this upcoming press event, that’s nearly two years fans have waited for the NX/Switch to complete this pre-launch lap and finally come full circle.

By the time all is said and done, I firmly believe Nintendo will lay it all (or at least most of it) on the table for the world to see. Specs, games, accessories, prices...launch day; everything customers need to know before they make the Switch will be out in the open, and I can’t wait!

 Although, if you simply can’t wait another three whole days, I might just have a few answers to hold you over and by few, I mean a lot of ‘em. I should also note said information may not be what’s the word? Accurate.

This intel is (at the moment) the stuff of rumour and speculation and (as of this writing) hasn’t been confirmed by Nintendo so it’s best to approach it with a healthy bit of scepticism. But I will say the various reporters who shared this info have strong track records when it comes to calling this stuff, so make of it all what you will.

image source - Nvidia

On the specs front: It’s been widely reported the Switch’s core will be powered by Nvidia’s Maxwell and Tegra X1, which is a step behind its current generation of processors and will rank Switch somewhere slightly beneath the lower end of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. However, it can still run games of the current calibre of those systems...they just won’t look quite as nice. This also means no 4K gaming on Switch, which is just as well. Running games at such a high resolution wouldn’t work out so well for the tablet.

image credit - 20th Century Fox

As long as third-parties keep their promise to make all of their games universally playable between the standard and 4K variants of the competing consoles, porting Triple A titles to Switch shouldn’t be too much of a problem...barring some sort of unforeseen Uesque technical issue.

image source - Digital Foundry

I’m not one for understanding specs and clock speeds and CPUs and GPUs and such, as it’s all Greek to me. However, I can say (based on the Switch’s showing on The Tonight Show) I don’t think these specs are as bad as some people are making them out to be.

The world saw that when docked, Switch can play slick HD games in beautiful 1080p resolution and a clean and crisp frame rate of 60fps. And how could I forget the seamless transition to travel mode and the nice 720p high-def and 60fps on that tablet screen?

So when docked, the Switch has graphics that while not as cutting edge as PS4 or XBO, are slick and competitive enough to standout, and it also happens to be most powerful handheld ever made when in travel mode. So I think Switch is just fine in the graphics department...based on what I’ve seen.

Editor’s Note: If you want to check all of that spec stuff out, I highly recommend clicking on these great pieces from NeoGAF, Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry and Venture Beat.

I suppose one last thing I could cover about the systems specs would be memory. The Switch supposedly has internal storage of 32GB and (maybe?) a 128GB Micro SD card. Again, not quite up to snuff with the other guys, but that is a nice bit of storage to start with, especially if that is indeed the Micro SD’s file size.

image source - Nintendo

Battery life for the tablet is believed to be between three and five hours, which isn’t too shabby given what it has to offer. It’s just too bad the battery itself (allegedly) can’t be swapped out for a stronger one. Kind of weird, given Wii U’s GamePad had that option. 

Wide spread reports of Nintendo toying with the idea of the Joy-Cons having motion and gyroscopic control functionality were recently “confirmed” via a recent US patent office filing from The Big N itself. However, this does not guarantee either will be built into the final product.

image source - US Patent and Trademark Office

I mean, four-player split screen for a single tablet in travel mode was also patented and that’s probably not going to happen.

Motion controls are fun for certain games (like Wii Sports and such), so I’d welcome their inclusion. The gyroscope and its tilt mechanics on the other hand, can go jump in a river.

*Cough*

image source - US Patent and Trademark Office

Another possible confirmation that popped up in the patent is the Switch’s tablet screen having a touch interface.

Given this technology worked tremendously well with the DS handheld family, this isn’t much of a surprise and if part of the final product (which it most likely is), it would be another welcomed addition.

And if you’ve noticed the above image, I suppose I don’t need to tell you Nintendo’s interest in Switch VR has also been patented.

Considering the current craze, it is not at all surprising Mr. Kimishima would want a piece of that pie. The technology has grown immensely over the past decade (leaps and bounds, even) and shows tremendous promise, whether it’ll fully live up to its potential, remains to be seen but for the time being, there’s some money to be made in virtual reality.

image source - Ryan Salamandra

A VR headset is not the only hardware accessory Kimishima is hoping to add-on to the Switch, in fact, he’s hoping to launch a whole bunch of them into the marketplace.

As artist Ryan Salamandra demonstrates above, the customizable nature of the Switch’s Joy-Con/tablet setup opens up a plethora of possibilities. Personally, I would love to see a fight stick variant.

image source - Nintendo

Before moving on to the top secret games library, let’s take a brief moment to discuss the new Nintendo Network UI.

It will implement DeNA’s My Nintendo account system and Friend Codes are said to be (finally) a thing of the past. That’s it. That’s all anyone knows or claims to know at this point.

Alright, My Nintendo is great and I (along with most other Nintendo fans) would be oh so glad to see a permanent end to those tedious codes.They’re not nearly as intrusive as they used to be but still, why? Why do they exist!?

With the long parade of developers and publishers coming forward with a pledge of support for Switch, surely at least some of what they’ve got in works must’ve leaked out somehow, right? Well, Nintendo has done a very admirable job of keeping Switch info on lockdown but a few journalists have connections with certain (un-named) people in the know, so plenty of potential games have had their names published.

Editor’s Note: Just keep in mind even the most diligent of journalists can sometimes get it wrong.

I guess I should start off with the Virtual Console. Apparently it will expand on Switch to include GameCube games, something Nintendo fans have been requesting since the launch of the VC way back in the Wii era.

mock up made by me. assets source - Nintendo

The first inductees into the GC wing of the VC classics library are said to be Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Animal Crossing.

image source - Nintendo

While it doesn’t confirm anything, it’s also worth mentioning Nintendo recently renewed its claim to the Eternal Darkness trademark (as it does every few years). This could point to a Switch port via the Virtual Console or Nintendo is just protecting the IP. 

mock ups made by me. asset sources - Nintendo and Ubisoft

Now to quit living in the past and move on to some stuff that’s all hip and current; like for example, the Wii U.

According to reputable Nintendo news reporter Emily Rogers, the best and brightest of the Wii U will be repackaged and (in most cases) re-designed (with new content) for Switch. These titles include Super Smash Bros. IV, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Super Mario Maker. The previously unveiled Mario Kart and Splatoon games are also said to be classified as advanced ports.

As far as brand-new stuff goes, there’s chatter about Ubisoft’s highly anticipated Beyond Good & Evil 2 eventually getting made and put on Switch as a 12-month exclusive.

There are also claims by Laura Kate Dale (whose been a real tour de force when it comes to reporting all things Switch) that Ubisoft and Nintendo are teaming up to make a Mario & Luigi and Rabbids RPG crossover, which was apparently set for launch but is now delayed until September.

Both of these Ubisoft titles should make for fascinating spectacles, if real.

And according to Rogers, Next Level Games is said to be developing Luigi’s Mansion 3. That sounds like scary good fun.

Editor’s Note: Monolith Software is also said to be working on an all-new project, aside from the XCX port.

*Sigh*

Speaking of ghosts, if you’d allow me to tiptoe back to the Virtual Console, I should probably address a rather persistent rumour that refuses to die.

Several times over the past decade, fan demand and industry chatter (and one infamous case of Nintendo banter) appeared to be pointing to an official English release of the GBA cult classic Mother 3. Both Dale and Rogers are reporting that Lucas and his crew are finally ready to steal America’s hearts (for realises this time) on Switch... :/

Right; did any other games get leaked out? Well, there are two more potential ports to talk about.

mock up made by The Know. asset sources - Nintendo and The Pokemon Company

Games media across the Internet have been buzzing about what The Pokemon Company has in store for the system. Word on the street is GameFreak has been commissioned to craft an HD upgrade of Pokemon Sun & Moon, called Pokemon Stars and much like every other third step Pokemon title, Stars would be packed with new content. Not bad for what would be the first ever mainline entry made for a home console. 

mock up made by me. asset sources - Nintendo, From Software, Namco Bandai and The ESRB

LKD came across another juicy tidbit not too long ago. Maybe juicy isn’t the right word, perhaps dusty...or dead?

According to her sources, From Software will be bringing its nightmarishly tough Dark Souls series to the Switch, starting with a port of Dark Souls III and maybe even remasters of I and II.

image source - Epic Games

Aside from that, not much game wise has leaked out.

An Epic Games rep recently said we can expect “many games” built with Unreal Engine 4 to Switch it up. I don’t know what those games are but it’s nice to get some confirmation that the Switch’s processor can handle the latest of what Unreal has to offer...at least to a degree.

image source - Square Enix

Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata is on record saying he’d “love to make games for Switch.” A nice sentiment and Square Enix is a confirmed Switch partner studio, but whether or not either of those things results in a FFXV port for Nintendo’s new hardware remains to be seen...but hopefully it does.

image source - Nintendo

Oh right, according to Dale and Rogers, Super Mario Switch (name pending?) is all but finished and will be on store shelves alongside the console on launch day. Of all the major titles to be available on launch day, this one would make the most sense. 

image source - Nintendo

Also said to be ready for launch day is Breath of the Wild, at least in North America and maybe Japan.

Dale’s connections seem unsure of this, as Nintendo has kept this info locked up as if it were a Hookshot (or a pair of Heavy Boots...or something). As a result, she has had to change her report more than once but currently, her intel has BotW slated for the Switch’s launch in North America and Japan. Unfortunately, gamers in Europe might have to wait until June.

Whether it comes out in March or June or even December, Zelda fans will flock to Switch for a chance to breathe in the wild. Although, it’d be preferable and more idea if migration happened on launch day.

Editor’s Note: As I said before, I believe it would be available in all regions by the end of June.

By the way, when is launch day? Officially, Nintendo is waiting until the first livestream to reveal that but the mass consensus in the games media is that a world-wide launch is happening on March 17.

That’s not a bad day to launch, but it’s still a bit odd Switch missed Christmas 2016, although I guess it’s better to wait until all of the launch games are done before jumping the gun and launching the console...I see you, Wii U!

image sources - Toys R Us and GAME UK

One more thing, Toys R Us Canada recently had Switch listed for $329.99 CAD, while GAME UK listed it for £249.99 with a pack-in game and £199.99 without. Meanwhile, Japanese business outlet Nikkei has dug up a ¥25,000 price tag for Japan.

Any way you slice it, all signs point to a $249.99 USD price tag being revealed this week.

For an all-in-one console like the Switch, $250 is a darn good price and certainly competitive given the costly nature of a PlayStation or Xbox. (I only wish the Canadian Loonie wasn’t so weak right now)

asset sources - Nintendo and GIMP

Phew, that was a lot to unravel and according to mostly everyone with their ear to the figurative grind stone (or I guess in this case, I dunno...a Leaf Stone?), I haven’t even scratched the surface. (In fairness, neither have they)

For all the sleuthing journalists and dedicated fans were able to do, they could only gather so many pieces of the puzzle and it seems most (if not all) will legitimately fit into Nintendo’s larger plan, but there are so many left to uncover.

We don’t know how the network interface will operate.

The possibility of VR is the only real clue we’ve got in terms of hardware add-ons.

Not to mention that for all of the games we know are coming and for the sheer volume of leaked titles (again, I think the majority are real), we still haven’t seen what the likes of Capcom, Bandai Namco, Level-5, EA, Activision, Atlus, Platinum Games and so many others have in store.

Heck, we all know Nintendo’s got more in the works than just Mario, Zelda and ports of Wii U stuff. Snap, Sakurai is working on something other than Smash for flip’s sake!

Between the intrigue of the leaks and the pile of secrets that have yet to come to light, Thursday night and Friday morning can’t get here fast enough!

If you’ve made it this far, I thank you for sticking with me (and I promise, future instalments will be shorter). With that said, I hope you don’t hate me for saying this but...I can’t render a final verdict.

From what’s been presented through official channels and uncovered by the media, Switch shows a lot of promise and I am greatly impressed with what I saw. However, I need all the facts before I can make a fair and proper judgement.

So my final thoughts on the Switch’s grand debut are...Inconclusive.

Crank that dial back to TTT next time and I’ll be sure to finish this once and for all with my reactions to the Direct and Treehouse livestreams.  

Research Sources: Tech Crunch, Time, Nerdist, The Know, GameXplain, The Verge, Gamer Informer, Eurogamer, Polygon, Tech Radar, Ars Technica, SEGA, NeoGAF, Let’s Play Video Games, Arcade Girl 64, Digital Foundry, Siliconera, VG24/7, Playtonic Games, Digital Trends, Venture Beat, IGN, Engadget, The Tonight Show and Nintendo