Tuesday, April 8, 2014

SL® Go Beta: It's about time

There are some great services out there that allow us to stay connected to virtual worlds when we are away from our main computers. There are as many kind of users as there are people in virtual worlds. For Second Life at least there is a new viewer on the block The SL Go Launcher and while it is not for everyone it will be near and dear to creators, artists, business users and land management who need a high powered viewer on the go.

Really this should have happened a long time ago. Endorsed by Linden Lab but created by OnLive a leader in bringing computer games to full versions for mobile devices through the power of the cloud. It feels like the full SL experience because it is the full SL experience.

What SL® Go seems to be offering is  the holy grail of virtual world viewers for mobile. This was a dream for some power users for a very long time. A full feature viewer for mobile that is beautiful and functional and then came the sticker shock.

SL Go is starting to have some sensible plans. $1 dollar an hour, 5 dollars for 5 hours and $9.95 per month.Steep for some but those of us who have the right need set this is amazing.

While it will  become the right mobile solution for some of us, your mileage may vary. Ultimately anything you can do in SL you will be able to do in SLgo. That seems to be the mission anyhow and there is already a plethora of things this viewer does that are going to take mobile SL to another level. 

A few weeks ago I was disappointed with the enrollment plan for SL Go. they wanted to charge "as little as" $2.50 per hour for a full second life experience on tablets and mobile phones.  They have been listening to the community and have made this a viable premium viewer option.

  
For many people this service might seem like overkill for what you might need  your Second Life to do on a tablet or smaller mobile device. However, I gave it a second look because of my own involvement as an artist.

As an entertainer this viewer as it stands now allows me  a draw distance of 512 meters. I can see all my HUDs and I use at least 8 of them while performing.  In short, I can do a complex show that controls elements all over a sim and I can do it on my Galaxy Note 3, which is a 5.5 inch phablet or my Asus MEmo which is a 7 inch tablet.

This viewer does really does allow us to explore the world in full detail including particles and high quality graphics. It also is living up to it it's promise and giving us a full user experience and is working very well for a beta.

It is packed with controls to better maximize  your viewer for the smaller spaces. 

The cost for now is 1 dollar an hour USA which can be purchased in both 1 and 5 US dollar transactions. I am going to go with 10 dollars per month for now as this is how we support a project like this. 

This really is a giant step in the evolution of the mobile viewer. There is a time and  place for different tools.

For some people this might be the viewer they keep 5 dollars charged up on for when they need to be at a special event and really see fine detail. Opting to use Lumiya or another alternative for day to day mobile use.

For me paying 10 dollars a month will allow me to do a lot in cafes and around the city.

This won't be for everyone but I see it as a win. 

It took me a while to have an open mind about this product and I do hope it  gets developed and becomes a tool we can use in any virtual world or a even a local server. Dream with me! 



I snapped this long shot of me in the store while I was on in world on my phone.

I plan to do some shows while I am on the road and really give this app a push.  I think for now I am falling in love with it. 


Hugs and Fishes,

Tuna

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Look out DC Here we come!

The Tunaverse is moving to a new fishbowl.

Next month Shava and I will be moving to the area around Washington DC as she is now the Privacy Evangelist for Blackphone. https://www.blackphone.ch/ It's a huge opportunity for us and a big change from Salem.

We have a month full of packing and moving madness but I will take breaks to get odd with all of you. Have I mentioned how much we hate moving?

I will keep this short and sweet for now.  If you live in the area please let me know.

Hugs & Fishes,

Tuna