O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: Earth

  • Valve celebrates Half-Life’s 25th anniversary by posting the original game to Steam storefront at 90 percent off

    Valve celebrates Half-Life’s 25th anniversary by posting the original game to Steam storefront at 90 percent off

    If you were looking for some amazing “Half-Life” retro goodness to run on an older Mac for next to nothing, you’re going to like this.

    Marking the 25th anniversary of the game’s release, Valve Software has made Half-Life next to free for a limited time, although you may need to use older hardware to actually play it on macOS.
    The famed PC game Half-Life was released to the world on November 19, 1998. The groundbreaking first-person shooter introduced many new technologies and concepts to the gaming industry and enabled Valve to become a major force by creating the Steam digital storefront.

    As of this writing, the game is available at 90 percent off. Although marked down to an incredibly low $0.99 price point, Valve has warned that the software is “not compatible with macOS 10.15 Catalina or above,” due to Apple’s ending of 32-bit application support with that operating system release. Workarounds include playing the game on a Mac running macOS Mojave or earlier, installing Mojave on a separate APFS volume and booting to it, or using Boot Camp to launch the Windows version.

    The game is also available on Windows and Linux.

    The game places the player in the role of Gordon Freeman, a research scientist in the Black Mesa Research Facility. Following an accident, Gordon introduces an alien invasion to Earth, overrunning the facility and prompting a fight to escape. The game features incredibly immersive storytelling for a first-person shooter, as well as an in-game atmosphere and impressive visual effects. The story continued in Half-Life 2, a few episodic releases, and the VR game Half-Life Alyx.

    Half-Life requires mac OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of hard drive space to run. Graphics require an Nvidia GeForce 8 or higher, ATI X1600 or higher, or Intel HD 3000 or higher.

    If you’ve had a chance to download and play the game, please let us know what you think in the comments.

    Via AppleInsider and Valve

  • WWDC: Apple announces macOS Sonoma, highlights new features and changes

    WWDC: Apple announces macOS Sonoma, highlights new features and changes

    macOS Sonoma is coming this fall, was demonstrated on Monday at WWDC, and once again, the company has promised widespread changes and new features to its desktop operating system.

    The company highlighted the following major fixes and changes:

    • Interactive widgets which can be placed on the desktop: Widgets blend into your desktop wallpaper to not be obtrusive when you’re working, and with Continuity you can use the same widgets from your iPhone on your Mac.
    • Enhanced videoconferencing features: This includes Presenter Overlay, which allows the user to display themselves in front of the content they are sharing. Reactions let users share how they feel within a video session. Screen Sharing has been improved with a simplified process.
    • Private Browsing: This has been updated within Apple’s Safari web browser and provides greater protection from trackers and from people who might have access to the user’s device.
    • Profiles within Safari: Offers a way to separate browsing between topics, like having one for work and one for personal browsing. There’s also a new way to create web apps that work like normal apps and let you get to your favorite website faster.
    • Screen Savers: These feature slow-motion videos of various locations worldwide. They shuffle between landscape, Earth, underwater, or cityscape themes, similar to what you’ll see on tvOS.
    • Game Mode: As the name suggests, this is optimized for gaming and delivers an optimized gaming experience with smoother and more consistent frame rates. It dramatically lowers audio latency with AirPods and reduces input latency with game controllers, and it works with any game on Mac.

    The developer beta version was released on Monday, and Apple has stated that a public beta will launch in July.

    Please let us know what you think in the comments as we’ll have additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors

  • Rumor: Next-gen iPhone could offer communications via low earth orbit satellites alongside cellular networks

    Rumor: Next-gen iPhone could offer communications via low earth orbit satellites alongside cellular networks

    Apple’s next-gen iPhone might be able to forego having to be connected to either a 4G or 5G network, and could feature low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication technology to make calls and send messages, according to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

    In a recent note to investors, Kuo explained that the ‌iPhone 13‌ lineup will feature hardware that is able to connect to LEO satellites. If enabled with the relevant software features, this could allow ‌iPhone 13‌ users to make calls and send messages without the need for a 4G or 5G cellular connection.

    The handset reportedly features a customized Qualcomm X60 baseband chip that also supports satellite communications. Other smartphone brands are apparently currently waiting until 2022 to adopt the X65 baseband chip necessary to implement satellite communications functions.

    The chip could communicate with devices run as part of SpaceX’s Starlink portfolio. The company acts as an LEO satellite communications provider, although the LEO satellite communication service provider that is “most likely to cooperate with Apple in terms of technology and service coverage” is said to be Globalstar. Qualcomm has purportedly been working with Globalstar to support the n53 band in future X65 baseband chips.

    Kuo stated that the “simplest scenario” for offering LEO connectivity is if individual network operators work with Globalstar. This would mean that customers of a partner network operator could collaborate with Globalstar’s satellite communication service on the ‌iPhone 13‌ directly through their network operator with no additional contracts or payments required.

    Kuo added that LEO satellite communications is a technology comparable to mmWave 5G and that Apple could leverage both technologies for its handset. The analyst stated that Apple is “optimistic” about satellite communications and set up a specific research and development team to explore technologies related to it “some time” ago.

    Apple is though to have plans to bring LEO satellite communications to more devices in the future to “provide innovative experiences.” These may include Apple’s mixed reality head-mounted display device, electric vehicle, and other IoT accessories, according to Kuo.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors

  • Some macOS Monterey features will only work with Apple Silicon hardware

    Some macOS Monterey features will only work with Apple Silicon hardware

    You may need to snag the newest Mac hardware to run all the features present within Apple’s upcoming macOS Monterey operating system.

    A number of features are reported to require an M1 processor. These features include Portrait Mode, Live Text in photos, and improvements to Maps such as a 3D globe of the Earth and additional map details in major cities. Other features that will require Apple Silicon hardware are the expansion of text-to-speech to additional languages, as well as on-device and unlimited keyboard dictation.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer, MacRumors, and Macworld

  • WWDC: Apple previews tvOS 12, highlights Dolby Atmos compatibility, improved Siri support, Zero Sign-On feature, etc.

    Wrapping up the multitude of operating system announcements at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference Monday morning, Apple announced that tvOS 12 for the Apple TV 4K will include a slew of new features, including Dolby Atmos support and Zero Sign-on.

    With Dolby Atmos support, Apple will become the only box that is both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos certified.

    The Apple TV 4K will be able to offer a full 3D immersive audio experience when paired with an Atmos-supporting sound bar or receiver.

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