I fell in love with the gravity gun back in 2005, and I have a long list of games in my Steam account… games that sadly have sat unplayed since my transition to a Macbook pro in 2008. I’m not much of a gamer, but when I could get away, it was always to Black Mesa or Aperture Labs. I was a little bummed about the lack of OSX support, but there wasn’t much I could do about it and I quickly forgot about the Orange Box. A few months ago I decided to install Steam (Valve’s cloud-based gaming deployment system) on OSX via a WINE bottle but it wasn’t worth the drop in quality.

Last week, Valve discreetly released a series of teaser posters across the web, pointing to an eventual release of Steam and the powerhouse titles like Half-Life, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Portal for OSX. My interest was peeked, but there wasn’t any word on when. Clues pointed to the second half of 2010, when Portal 2 is slated to drop… nobody expected we’d get access as soon as APRIL!

thats like… next month. Serious. I’m gonna pee myself.

March 8, 2010 – Valve announced today it will bring Steam, Valve’s gaming service, and Source, Valve’s gaming engine, to the Mac.

Steam and Valve’s library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April.

“As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients,” said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. “The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services.”

“Our Steam partners, who are delivering over a thousand games to 25 million Steam clients, are very excited about adding support for the Mac,” said Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve. “Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge. For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play.”

“We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation,” said John Cook, Director of Steam Development. “The inclusion of WebKit into Steam, and of OpenGL into Source gives us a lot of flexibility in how we move these technologies forward. We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360. Updates for the Mac will be available simultaneously with the Windows updates. Furthermore, Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies, and so forth. We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients. The first Mac Steam client will be the new generation currently in beta testing on Windows.”

Portal 2 will be Valve’s first simultaneous release for Mac and Windows. “Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step,” said Josh Weier, Portal 2 Project Lead. “We’re always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac.”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vdvsx/ / CC BY 2.0

Android: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair. I still find it funny that all the major updates are named after deserts. I also find it awesome that a new foody statue is place on the Google Campus right before an update announcement. I do however, find it disturbing that the next update will probably be called “Flan.” Right now though, the desert on everyone’s lips is Eclair, also known as Android 2.0.

With the impending launch of the first Android 2.o device, the Motorola Droid, Google has let loose whats in the filling of Eclair. And boy is it rich.

Here are some of my favorite features:

• Upgraded contacts/email with Social skills - You can now add multiple email accounts and sync the contact lists together. A new API will allow developers to create add-ins for other networks (like Twitter and Facebook) that will sync to your main contact list (you can pick and choose who you want to merge, not an all or nothing feature like the Pre). A quick contact feature will provide easy access to all the communication methods of a contact by tapping the user’s picture. The Email app will fit all of your accounts’ email neatly into one inbox, a feature my boyfriend doesn’t like, but I do. He’s been betrayed by AT&T and the iPhone, it will take some time to convert him 100%.
• Supercharged camera app – The camera on my G1 is abysmal, but the camera app on 1.6 (Donut) made it a little better. Camera app  Eclair edition, adds support for hardware flash, color correction, white balance, scene mode, zoom control, and macro focus.
• Improved Virtual Keyboard – Another problem with Android is that the virtual keyboard sucks. For awhile I was using a keyboard replacement app called touchPal, which worked great, but it wasn’t native and hung up a lot. The reason the iPhone keyboard rules is that the screen is bigger, the keys are visually spaced better, and there is behind the scenes magic that makes the key press area bigger or smaller depending on what key it thinks you want to tap next. Eclair promises multi-touch support, better key press accuracy, and a better auto-learning dictionary. I’m already excited.
• A Better Browser – Included with a UI refresh are bookmarks with thumbnail views, double-tap zoom, and HTML5 with <video> tag support for fullscreen. That means when you come across an html 5 video element, you can tap on the element and it will play fullscreen just like any other video. Flash 10 is coming, so expect a full and rich browser experience on 2.0.
• Bluetooth Boost – Bluetooth is already enabled on Android, but there haven’t been any other profiles added besides Stereo headset support. Eclair adds OPP (Object Push Profile) letting you send files to and from, and P2p support, meaning you can play multiplayer games over a bluetooth connection. There is also phonebook access via bluetooth, good for those car sync apps that let you scroll through your contacts in the dashboard.
• Kick Ass Calendar – The calender app was always sweet before, but now it got even better with the ability to invite people to events, and to see the attending status of those invited.  It made no flippin sense why Android left that feature out so far, but I’m glad they had the sense to do it now.
• API’s API’s API’s - an API is a set of tools and functions developers use to add functionality. One of the notable additions to 2.0 is broad multitouch support, up to 3 fingers. That means that apps can include swipes, pinches, and rotations in their apps.

I’ve been playing with the Android 2.0 Emulator inside the SDK, and so far I really like the additions. While I haven’t had my hands on a Droid to give it a real work over (the SDK Emulator lacks some key Google apps like maps, Gmail, and the Market), Boy Genius and Engadget are pretty pleased with the turnout. Plus, the biggest thing to be announced today was Google’s own GPS turn-by-turn navigation app, which immediately caused stocks of Garmin and Tom Tom to plummet.

Verizon’s first Google android phone will drop November 6th, for $199 with a two year contract. check out the Verizon Droid Mini Site to get a good look at this sexy new phone.

Not that I’m too terribly interested about the iPhone, but seeing as Verizon is set to carry at least 3 unique Android phones by early 2010, this bit of information came with a beard scratch and a “hmmmmm.” I was recently told very nonchalantly by an unknown informer, who happens to be a Verizon reseller, that the iPhone would show up in his store in February 2010. That’s all, nothing more.  Chew on it, and now let me get back to the imminent Android takeover.

The reason for the beard scratch is this: Android and iPhone are pretty much platform enemies.. and with the recent advertising campaign launched by Verizon, it almost seems like they are snubbing the iPhone completely. Rumors of Verizon carrying the iPhone have been out longer than the now true rumors of VZW getting Android; will VZW be the first step of the mass exodus for iPhone lovers fleeing the constantly overloaded AT&T Network? And if so, is that just a ploy to get them to eventually realize the iPhone isn’t right for them, and move to one of Verizon’s “Droids?”  The Carrier Wars are getting ramped up once again: VZW and “Droid,” T-Mobile and “Project Dark,” AT&T and “We’re still the best, despite when we aren’t,” and then Sprint with “Shit the Pre bombed, um hows that Android contract going?” 2010 will be the year of Android pushing its way into every carriers catalog, and I’m thinking that Windows Mobile will never be able to catch up, and the iPhone will become the Razr of Decade Two.

This is admittedly  biased, but give it a though, eh?

I’ve only managed to get one other person to “surf” with me on the Google Wave Preview. Its not that I don’t have a lot of friends, just none of my friends have invites. Therefore, I haven’t had a whole lot of chances to really interact, but I can definitely see where it’s going to be a pretty major tool in 2010. That is… if Wave launches in 2010. Robert Scoble booed the launch, calling it overhyped… I just think he’s a fat old overhyped complainer with too many friends and not enough who actually like him. Wave is extremely complex, and the possibilities are nearly endless for what it can achieve when complete.  For now, we just sit and tinker, patiently, hoping for more friends to play with…

And if you are reading this and still have no idea what Google Wave is, watch this most excellent of concise explanations below. And no, I don’t have any more invites. (via Gizmodo)

The second thing I woke up to, besides my Google Wave invite, was a pop up on my phone that said there was a new update available for Android. I was still groggy and more excited about Wave, so I clicked “update” and hopped in the shower.

Showered, caffeinated, and at work waitng for people to add me on Wave, I finally sat down and looked at all the new things in the DRC83, which I take to be Donut Release Candidate 83, AKA the first update to Android 1.6.

Donut adds all the features they said it would: updated quick search box, multiple screen-size support, CDMA support, text-to-speech API, and a totally refreshed Android Market.

Updating the phone was quick, but the initial reboot took about 2 minutes for me. A few widgets crashed (calendar, unread SMS count), I was prompted to turn on Location sharing for Google, and the G1 went a little wonky. After a few more minutes, everything seemed to run fine. Overall speed seems to have improved, and the new Power Control widget is nice, letting me turn on/off wifi,bluetooth,GPS, sync, and brightness right from the home screen.

Android 1.6 also fixes a little pet peeve of mine. Previously, when you updated an app, the Market only told you what version you were upgrading to. Now it also tells you what version you are upgrading from. Trivial information for some, but for people who keep track of revisions and changelogs, this will be much loved.

I wasn’t expecting the upgrade so soon, but TMoNews  sheds a little light on the subject:

Select G1 handsets at 12AM Eastern Daylight Time tonight will receive the Donut update. Next, after a 24-hour waiting period, T-Mobile will extend its deliciousness to MyTouch3G handsets–that is, if there are no hiccups (meaning no bricked phones). Then, if all goes well, the rest of the users will start seeing the trickle down effect, regardless of handset.

Has anyone else gotten the update?

I consider myself a loyal follower of The Google, so it was an expected surprise to wake up to my Google Wave Preview invitation. I’m still waiting on being able to test Wave locally on buffawhat.com… I’m sure those invites will roll out in time. If you don’t know what Google Wave is, its essentially an open source communication and collaboration tool that I believe will change EVERYTHING. Check out this introduction below, explains it a lot better than I can.

I have a few invitations available for the preview, like 4 left. Comment on this post and I’ll send them as they come. and if I get more, I’ll go down the list. You don’t have to put your email in the actual comment itself, I’ll pull it from the form in the backend. I would suggest giving me your gmail/google acct as you’d probably have a better experience that way. Get ready to “surf” ya’ll!! (I really really want that to be the new term for Google Waving… help me spread it)

And if you already have a Google Wave Preview account, add me to your contacts if you’d like. The email I’m using is buffawhat [at] gmail.com

Update:: Just so you know, Google has this to say about the invitations:

Invitations will not be sent immediately. We have a lot of stamps to lick.

Essentially, that means you may have to wait a bit for an invite to drop in your box.

Today is the day that Google will let loose 100,000 invites to the new and hardly finished communication service that is going to change the world: Google Wave. Like me, everyone is clamoring and refreshing their inbox to see if they get an invite. as of writing this post, it is a quarter to 4pm…

But, in Sydney AU, its only a quarter to 6am. Why does that matter? Well, the Google Wave team is based in Sydney and they just aren’t awake yet. Stephanie Hannon, project manager for Wave says that the invites will be out later in the day for us Stateside folk…

via mashable

How do you know if you’ll get an invite? You don’t. But if you signed up for the waiting list a while back, or use Google Apps, you might have a good chance.

It was no surprise to Android fans that the HTC Hero was coming to Sprint, but what we didn’t expect was the makeover.  The version of the HTC Hero coming Stateside this October will lack a chin, making it look closer to the MyTouch than the European GSM edition. I’ll say, it doesn’t look horrible, but I was really hoping we’d get some GSM 3G action with teflon coating so I can fondle it softly… erm..

HTC Hero is a full-featured smartphone with Wi-Fi capability, a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with pinch-to-zoom capability and a fingerprint resistant coating, integrated GPS navigation, and trackball navigation. Additional features include:

• Stereo Bluetooth^® 2.0 Wireless technology
• accelerometer, light sensor and home screen widgets for improved usability
• multimedia capable with microSD slot (32GB capable, 2GB included)
• Sprint TV^® with live and on-demand programming
• NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile^SM
• easy access to social networking sites, including Facebook^®, Flickr^® and Twitter
• visual voice mail for quick and easy access to specific voice mail messages

Notably absent from the specs are any mention of Flash, something the EU edition boasts. I’d assume the Hero would have it, seeing as it runs the HTC Sense UI, but we’ll just have to see. Pick yours up on October 11th, for as little as $179 with a two-year service agreement. Hit up Phandroid, who has a bit more enthusiasm then me for more details

When Google Voice dropped for Android I was stoked, excited, thrilled. To celebrate, I purchased a new number to use, and downloaded the app from the Android Market. I had toyed around with GV, a well written 3rd-party app, but something like Google Voice I’d really like to be fully supported from Google. Imagine my dismay and disgust when I found out that Google Voice app only supports gmail.com accounts and nothing else. unable to even test the service, I moped, complained, and bitched. I had a Google Voice account for my nate at buffawhat.com account for almost a year, but managed to get another invite to test it on my gmail.com acct. The app worked, but if I couldn’t use it on my Apps account, I didn’t want to use it.

Low and Behold, this week Google updated the Google Voice app on the Market, finally allowing all Google accts to use the app.  Besides this new feature, you can also set the refresh intervals in your inbox, and SMS messages now auto-capitalize.

Google Voice is free, but you still need to have a Google Voice acct to use this app. If you signed up for an invite, but never got one, keep waiting. Google is going down the list, and its a pretty big list (even though I signed up for my second invite and got a response within a couple months).

While the Android SDK may be a stellar tool for developers, its also holds a very useful tool for bloggers: the screen shot utility found in DDMS. If you recently upgraded your Mac to Snow Leopard, you may have noticed that DDMS no longer works , instead terminal outputs something like this:

11:17 E/ddms: shutting down due to uncaught exception
11:17 E/ddms: java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: /tools/lib/
libswt-pi-carbon-3236.jnilib:  no suitable image found.  Did find:
/tools/lib/libswt-pi-carbon-3236.jnilib: no matching
architecture in universal wrapper
        at java.lang.ClassLoader$NativeLibrary.load(Native Method)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary0(ClassLoader.java:1878)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadLibrary(ClassLoader.java:1771)
        at java.lang.Runtime.loadLibrary0(Runtime.java:823)
        at java.lang.System.loadLibrary(System.java:1045)
        at org.eclipse.swt.internal.Library.loadLibrary(Library.java:123)
        at org.eclipse.swt.internal.carbon.OS.(OS.java:20)
        at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.createDisplay(Display.java:943)
        at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.create(Display.java:923)
        at org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Device.(Device.java:118)
        at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.(Display.java:754)
        at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.(Display.java:745)
        at com.android.ddms.UIThread.runUI(UIThread.java:330)
        at com.android.ddms.Main.main(Main.java:97)

I’m no java expert, but a quick Google search exposes the problem and reveals a solution:

The SWT library uses a native component that must be loaded by the VM.
At this time we only provide the 32bit version.
I’m guessing that in Snow Leopard the default VM is now 64 bit instead
of 32 bit.

To change this go in Applications folder, then Utilities, and launch
the “Java Preferences” app. You’ll be able to set a 32 bit VM as the
default one.

Eclipse 3.5 added support for 64bit SWT on MacOS, so we’ll migrate to
this to support 32/64 bit on MacOS.

Xav

If that still doesn’t do it, you’ll need to open up DDMS in textEdit and head to this line:

# Mac OS X needs an additional arg, or you get an "illegal thread"
complaint.
if [ `uname` = "Darwin" ]; then
    os_opts="-XstartOnFirstThread"

And add “-d32″ where shown:

# Mac OS X needs an additional arg, or you get an "illegal thread"
complaint.
if [ `uname` = "Darwin" ]; then
    os_opts="-XstartOnFirstThread -d32"

Done. you should be able to run DDMS and take screenshots to your blogging heart’s content.

Thanks to Foo and Xav for their help in that thread.