Podcast Summary
Steam Deck review and Galaxy S22 Ultra, plus Ukraine's tech impact: The hosts discuss the Steam Deck, S22 Ultra, and the serious impact of the Ukraine conflict on technology and connectivity. Late arrival allows for Steam Deck embargo discussion.
This week on The British House podcast, the hosts discuss various topics including the Steam Deck review, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, and the ongoing situation in Ukraine. Sean Hollister shares his thoughts on the Steam Deck, while Allison Johnson reviews the S22 Ultra. The hosts also touch on the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine on technology and internet connectivity. Despite being late for the show, they were able to discuss the Steam Deck embargo, which they couldn't have done had they not been late. The podcast is brought to you by Deloitte and State Farm, and the hosts discuss the importance of manifesting luck and abundance. The hosts also acknowledge the serious news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on technology and connectivity.
Steam Deck: A Powerful Linux Gaming Device with Proton: The Steam Deck is a portable gaming device running Linux with Proton, a compatibility layer for Windows games, offering a unique gaming experience with features like gyroscopic aiming and customizable touchpads.
Valve's Steam Deck, despite its Nintendo Switch-like appearance, is a powerful Linux computer capable of running Windows games. Valve achieved this by developing a compatibility layer called Proton, built on Wine, which allows many Windows games to run smoothly on the device. The Steam Deck offers a unique gaming experience with features like gyroscopic aiming, customizable touchpads, and a high-resolution screen. However, not all games are compatible, especially those using anti-cheat software. The Steam Deck is constantly updated, making for a challenging review process due to the frequent software changes. Despite the challenges, the Steam Deck offers a compelling alternative to traditional gaming consoles and PCs. If you're interested in gaming on the go, the Steam Deck might be worth considering.
Getting anti-cheat software to work on Steam Deck: Valve's efforts to implement anti-cheat software on Steam Deck face challenges due to decisions from game publishers and manufacturers, requiring significant time and resources.
The implementation of anti-cheat software in Steam Deck, a handheld gaming device from Valve, faces challenges due to the involvement and decisions of large game publishers and manufacturers. Valve has reached out to Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) and BattleEye, two major anti-cheat companies, to make their software work on Steam Deck using Proton, an emulation layer for Windows games. However, the process isn't as simple as just a few clicks, as important business decisions need to be made by these companies, which can involve significant time and resources. For instance, Epic Games, the owner of Easy Anti-Cheat and the company behind Fortnite, has decided not to enable the software on Steam Deck due to concerns about potential risks and the effort required. Additionally, some games may not work on the Steam Deck due to their specific requirements, such as the lack of a mouse cursor in certain titles. Overall, the process of getting anti-cheat software to work on Steam Deck involves more than just a few clicks and requires cooperation from game publishers and manufacturers, which can be a complex and time-consuming process.
Steam Deck: A Portable Powerhouse with Impressive Gaming Performance: The Steam Deck is a portable gaming device with impressive performance, comparable to a PS4 Pro, a high-quality touchscreen, and unique controls. Despite occasional bugs, it's a worthy investment for tech enthusiasts and gamers.
The Steam Deck, despite its bugs, offers impressive gaming performance comparable to a PS4 Pro or above, all while being portable and lightweight. Its 1280 by 800 touchscreen, though not OLED quality, is the best small IPS screen the speaker has seen, and the device's controls, including touchpads, touchsticks, gyroscopic aiming, and tactile triggers, add to the overall gadget nerd appeal. The device, which is 1.47 pounds and sculpted to minimize felt weight, is an ultimate gadget for those who appreciate the latest technology and are willing to deal with the occasional bug. The performance dip from running Windows games on Linux is minimal, and the device outperforms other portables in the market. Overall, the Steam Deck offers a great gaming experience on the go, making it a worthy investment for those who want to play high-quality games anywhere.
Handheld Gaming with Advanced Touchpads and Customizable Software: The Steam Deck offers advanced touchpads with pressure sensitivity, haptic feedback, and sound capabilities, along with a custom AMD chip and extensive software customization options, making it a powerful handheld gaming device.
The Steam Deck, a handheld gaming device, offers highly responsive touchpads with advanced pressure sensitivity and haptic feedback, including sound capabilities. It also boasts a custom AMD chip with RDNA 2 graphics, providing impressive performance for its price. The device's large fan ensures efficient cooling without overheating. The software offers extensive customization options, including frame rate and CPU monitoring, but it may require time to configure. The device can be used as an Xbox-like controller with minimal setup, but also offers additional touchpads, gyroscopes, and back buttons for customization. The touchpads share similarities with the Steam Controller, but the learning curve is not as steep due to improved design and functionality.
Valve Index Controller's Customizable Design: The Valve Index Controller's customizable design offers users the flexibility to choose between touchpads or joysticks, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of games and providing a seamless gaming experience.
The Valve Index Controller offers a high degree of customizability, allowing users to choose between using touchpads or traditional joysticks, making it adaptable to various gaming experiences. The controller's design, with its touchpads positioned differently than in an Xbox 360 controller, may require some adjustment for users accustomed to the latter. However, the controller's ergonomic design and natural feel make up for this learning curve. Additionally, the hardware's flexibility ensures compatibility with a wide range of games, providing a seamless gaming experience without the need for extensive control remapping. The Valve Index Controller's configurability and adaptability set it apart, offering a versatile solution for gamers, making it a worthy investment for those seeking a high-performance gaming experience.
Customizable controller configurations on Steam Deck: The Steam Deck allows for extensive customization of controller settings, utilizing community-created configurations, but may not fully replace keyboard and mouse for complex tasks or certain genres. Challenges like bugs, crashes, and instability persist, but Valve remains optimistic and committed to addressing them through updates.
The Steam Deck offers impressive customization options for controller configurations, leveraging the work of the gaming community, but it may not fully replace the experience of using a keyboard and mouse for certain genres or complex tasks. However, the device faces significant challenges, including bugs, crashes, and instability, which have raised concerns about its readiness for the market. Despite these issues, Valve seems confident in its ability to address them through frequent updates, relying on the patience and understanding of its early adopter audience. Ultimately, the Steam Deck represents an exciting step forward in portable gaming, but it may not be without its growing pains.
Valve's commitment to community and continuous improvement: Valve is rapidly adopting new tech and continuously improving Steam Deck, offering early adopters a chance to be part of the development process, but potential for future upgrades making current product outdated is a risk.
Valve is committed to delivering a product that caters to the needs and desires of its community, even in its early stages. This was evident in their quick adoption of AMD FSR for the Steam Deck, as well as their ongoing efforts to add new features and fix bugs. Valve seems unfazed by the potential for releasing a successor, believing in the value of continuous iteration and improvement. For early adopters, this approach offers an exciting opportunity to be part of the development process. However, there's a risk that future upgrades may make the current product seem outdated. Ultimately, the success of the Steam Deck will depend on whether consumers are willing to embrace this iterative release model.
New portable gaming device: Initial issues, but enjoyable experience: User enjoys games despite initial problems, appreciates USB-C charging and looks forward to future improvements
The speaker, Sean, has had a positive experience with his new portable gaming device despite its initial issues. He acknowledges that the device had some problems, such as slow SD card transfer speeds and a formatting issue that caused one of the SD cards to break. However, he has enjoyed the games that he has been able to play on the device, which have worked consistently once launched. He also appreciates the convenience of the USB-C port being on the top of the device for easy charging while playing. Although he is ideological about not buying on potential alone, Sean has already invested hours into the device and is looking forward to exploring more of its capabilities in the future. Deloitte's message of innovation through connection resonates with Sean's experience as he has formed a connection with the device and is excited about the potential for future improvements.
Samsung S22 Ultra: The Ultimate Large Android Phone or Niche Product?: The Samsung S22 Ultra offers advanced camera features and sleek design, but its large size and high price tag make it a niche product. Meanwhile, the documentary 'Art Beats in Lyrics' highlights the growth of a cultural phenomenon in Atlanta's art scene.
The Samsung S22 Ultra represents the ultimate evolution of large, high-end Android smartphones, but it may not be for everyone. With its impressive 400-megapixel camera system, advanced AI-enabled portrait mode, and sleek design, the S22 Ultra sets a new standard for smartphone photography and functionality. However, its size and high price tag make it a niche product, and some may find that the S22 Plus or other, more affordable options better suit their needs. Meanwhile, in the world of art, the documentary "art beats in lyrics" showcases the growth of the Art Beats and Lyrics cultural phenomenon in Atlanta. Founded by Chabari Graham and curated by Dwayne W. Wright, the event has become a must-see for thousands of fans. The film explores how Atlanta has shaped their individual pasts and their distinct roles within the event. When it comes to smartphones, the S22 Ultra's camera system is a game-changer, but it's important to consider if its features are worth the investment. And in the art world, the story of Art Beats and Lyrics demonstrates how a humble event can evolve into a cultural phenomenon.
Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra: Pushing Boundaries in Smartphone Camera Technology: Samsung's latest Galaxy S22 Ultra offers improved portrait mode and a new Expert Raw feature for serious smartphone photographers, but comes with additional costs for Adobe license.
Samsung's latest Galaxy S22 Ultra is making significant strides in smartphone camera technology, particularly in portrait mode and computational raw photography. The portrait mode photos, while not perfect, are more convincing than before, with improved hair segmentation and less of a "cardboard cutout" effect. Samsung's new Expert Raw feature, available only on the Ultra model, compiles information from multiple frames to create a high-quality raw file, making it a more viable option for serious smartphone photographers. Samsung has even developed a Lightroom app specifically for this feature, further integrating Adobe's software into the Samsung ecosystem. However, while the integration may be convenient, it comes with a cost, as users will need to pay for an Adobe license after the free trial period. Overall, Samsung is pushing the boundaries of what can be done with smartphone cameras, but users should be prepared for the additional costs that come with these advanced features.
Samsung S22 series improvements and limitations: Improvements include ad-free weather app and enhanced night photography. Limitations include non-manual night photography trigger and overwhelming camera features.
While there have been improvements in the Samsung S22 series, such as the elimination of intrusive ads in the weather app and the enhancement of night photography capabilities, there are still limitations and annoyances. For instance, the night photography feature is not manually triggerable and requires extremely dark conditions, which can be frustrating for users. Additionally, Samsung's approach to camera technology, which involves pixel binning and offering numerous features, can be overwhelming and sometimes result in less-than-ideal user experiences. Despite these concerns, the S22 series continues to offer impressive capabilities, particularly in the realm of photography. Overall, while there have been advancements, there is still room for improvement in terms of user experience and ease of use.
Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra: Advanced Camera Features, Overwhelming Software: Samsung's new flagship phone boasts impressive camera capabilities, but its software may be too complex for some. Dish Network aims to launch a fourth wireless network using O-RAN technology, with plans to cover 25 major metro areas by June 2022.
Samsung's latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, impresses with its advanced camera features, particularly the improved digital and telephoto zoom capabilities. However, the phone's software, One UI, can be overwhelming due to the abundance of options, which may not appeal to all users. Meanwhile, in the telecommunications industry, Dish Network is making strides towards launching a fourth wireless network using Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) technology, which has yet to be successfully implemented on a large scale. Despite some setbacks, Dish is optimistic about meeting its June 2022 goal to light up 25 major metro areas. Overall, these developments in technology showcase the ongoing advancements in both smartphone photography and wireless network infrastructure.
Shifting network infrastructure to the cloud with O-RAN technology: O-RAN technology aims to create a more open and competitive telecom landscape, but faces challenges like the lack of a fully functional fourth network and spectrum ownership issues.
There's an ongoing effort to shift network infrastructure to the cloud using O-RAN technology, with AWS being a key player. The goal is to create a more open and competitive telecommunications landscape. However, there are challenges, such as the lack of a fully functional fourth network and issues with spectrum ownership, which may hinder progress. Despite these hurdles, there's optimism that this technology will lead to a more flexible and efficient network infrastructure. It's important to note that while the potential benefits are significant, the implementation remains a work in progress.
Apple's Expected Release of New M2 Chip for Laptops: Apple is releasing a new M2 chip for laptops to keep up with competition and offer consumers a reason to upgrade.
Apple is expected to release an M2 chip to keep up with industry competition and innovation in the processor market. This follows the release of the M1 chip, which has been praised for its superior performance. Apple cannot afford to fall behind Intel and AMD, as they risk losing market share. The release of a new chip also provides a reason for consumers to upgrade their laptops. The naming of the chips, with the more expensive models having lower numbers, could create confusion. Additionally, there are rumors of a new MacBook Air with an M2 chip, and a possible event in March where new Apple products may be announced. A product like Spotify's Car Thing, which connects a phone to a car's audio system, highlights the increasing integration of technology into various aspects of our lives.
Choosing Between Advanced and Basic Technologies: Simple vs. Complex: Considering both advantages and disadvantages is crucial when deciding between advanced and basic technologies. While advanced options may offer superior features, they can also present challenges like installation complications or theft risks. Conversely, basic technologies, though lacking advanced features, could provide unique experiences or cost savings.
While technology can offer ultimate gadgets like seamless car stereo systems, sometimes the simpler, more affordable options can come with their own challenges. For instance, an inexpensive car stereo system might be easy to install but could obstruct the AC vent or even get stolen. The speaker system in an old car, though lacking advanced features, could provide a cherished audio experience. The discussion also touched upon the infamous incident involving Elon Musk and the SEC, highlighting the complexities and potential consequences of tweets and public statements. Overall, the conversation underscored the importance of considering both the advantages and disadvantages when choosing between advanced and basic technologies.
Navigating Contractual Obligations and Ethical Dilemmas in Digital Journalism: Judges can infer contracts from digital communication, raising concerns for journalists about potential risks. Anonymous sources and companies pose challenges to maintaining transparency and objectivity. Journalists must navigate digital complexities while upholding journalistic standards and ensuring disclosure.
The digital world can lead to unexpected contractual obligations and ethical dilemmas for journalists. During a discussion on Decoder, a law professor pointed out that judges could infer contracts from Discord logs and tweets, raising concerns about the potential risks of digital communication. The Verge team shared their experiences of dealing with anonymous sources and companies like Pornhub and Truth Social, highlighting the challenges of maintaining transparency and objectivity in journalism. Despite the challenges, they emphasized their commitment to rigorous journalism and the importance of disclosure. The team also shared their excitement about a new art director and their recent award wins. Overall, the conversation underscored the importance of navigating the complexities of digital communication while upholding journalistic standards.
Exploring the origins of Atlanta's cultural sensation, Art Beets and Lyrics: The documentary showcases the journey of Art Beets and Lyrics from a small art show to a cultural phenomenon, highlighting the roles of its founders and the influence of Atlanta.
"Art Beets and Lyrics," a new documentary on Hulu, highlights the journey of a small art show in Atlanta that transformed into a cultural sensation. Directed by Bill Horace, the film delves into the backgrounds of the event's founder, Chabari Graham, and curator, Dwayne W. Wright. The documentary reveals how Atlanta influenced their lives and their unique roles within Art Beets and Lyrics. The documentary follows Jabbar, W, and several artists as they prepare for AB&L's 20th anniversary tour, attracting thousands of fans at each show. Jack Daniels, Tennis and Honey, and Cult co-produced this compelling documentary. Please remember to drink responsibly while enjoying Jack Daniels' whiskey, a 35% alcohol by volume beverage from their Lynchburg, Tennessee distillery. Jack Daniels and Tennessee Honey are registered trademarks. (2024, Jack Daniels, all rights reserved.)
