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Dolby Announces New In-Game Voice Tech to Boost Immersiveness

Paul Lilly — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:02:22 -0500

Dolby isn't necessarily looking to improve the quality of your voice while chatting in-game, but it would like your vocals to interact with the gaming environment in a more realistic fashion. That's the idea behind Dolby's Axon technology, a tool the company introduced today at the Austin Game Developers Conference in Austin, Texas.

The basic idea is that this new tool will make it possible to enable surround panning and distance attenuation, so that your character will sound different if, say, he's behind a wall or closed door as opposed to both you and your teammate standing next to each other in the same room. Think of Creative's EAX technology, only this time it's applied to your voice.

Voice fonts come part of the package too, so if you choose a female avatar, you can sound the part no matter what body organs you may or may not have in real life. And according to Dolby, its Axon software has been designed to consume very little bandwidth, capable of supporting thousands of users per server and able to scale across multiple servers.

No customers have yet been announced, and it's consumer interest that might ultimately decide how many developers jump on board. With the increasingly popularity of Skype and stalwarts such as Teamspeak, is the prospect of customized and realistic in-game chat enough to convince gamers to turn off their third-party voice-chat programs?

Hit the jump and let us know what you think.

PowerColor Launches World's First 2GB Videocard

Paul Lilly — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:17:24 -0500

You knew it would happen sooner or later, the only question being which company would be the first to offer a 2GB graphics card? PowerColor answers that question today by annoucing the world's first videocard carrying a 2GB frame buffer. Or more accurately, the world's first desktop graphics card packing 2GB of memory, as workstation cards have already reached that milestone.

The fat frame buffer will first appear on PowerColor's PCS HD4850 built on ATI's RV770 core and use GDDR3 memory instead of the newer (and more expensive) GDDR5. PowerColor advertises a "massive memory bandwidth up to 57.6GB/sec" capable of "providing faster graphical performance," though it remains to be seen what impact the additional memory will have on gaming performance. Along with the added memory, PowerColor also says the new card will utilize its Professional Cooling System (PCS), which the company claims will result in up to a 10C drop in temps.

PowerColor certainly seems exciting over its announcements. Question is, are you?

Quick! View the New Max Payne Trailer Before it's Gone!

Paul Lilly — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:05:52 -0500

A new trailer for 20th Century Fox's upcoming Max Payne movie has been leaked on the web, but if you want to see it, you'll have to be quick. The trailer's already been pulled from YouTube, but at least two other sites are still hosting the teaser.

The PG-13 flick opens October 17 and stars Mark Wahlberg as the main character (can anyone else picture Mickey Rourke playing the part 10 years and 50 pounds ago?), with a supporting cast that includes the likes of Chris O'Donnel, Beau Bridges, Mila Kunis, and Ludacris. Wahlberg looks to be a good fit for the videogame icon gone Hollywood, and here's hoping he can atone for his performance in The Happening.

Catch the trailer here or here while you still can, and post your impression below.

Daily News Brief: Who's Courting Circuit City?

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:07:04 -0500

Electronics chain has a new suitor, watch out for fake DFI boards, Sennheiser wants your old headphones, and more!

Daily News Brief: Canon's Digital Rebel XSi Two Weeks Away

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:05:28 -0500

Canon's updated entry-level DSLR gets a release date, Amazon takes pity on HD-DVD adopters, USB keys with malware, pills for gamers, and more!

Daily News Brief: Intel Announces Atom Processor Line

Paul Lilly — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:02:07 -0600

Intel's Atom boasts sub-1W power consumption, SPAM conviction upheld, Return to Dark Castle demo released, and much more!

Daily News Brief: Canada Mulls Internet Fee for Legal Music Sharing

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:48:18 -0600

Canadian Songwriters Association looks to legalize P2P music sharing, Ender's Game coming to gaming platforms, the ultimate revenge site, and more!

No BS Podcast #29—The "What Day Is It?" Edition

The Maximum PC Staff — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 13:32:29 -0500

No, it's not Friday already...it's a special Tuesday edition of the podcast. Different day, same tech news you love.

Subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/maximumpc/1337