Archive for April 2nd, 2008
Listen now:
… source The Digital Home In a current column over at the The Times on the web, a guest contributor named Giles Whittell wrote one of the most ridiculous articles I have ever read on the subject of video games. And while he may be entitled to his thought, his belief that video games are the root of all evil and on par with “heroin and teenage parents” isn’t only sickening, but ludicrous. In his piece entitled, “Video games: I’ll never buy one”, Whittell outlines his hatred for video games and his utter lack of knowledge about what the form of entertainment really means to kids and society. “I hate video games, on or offline,” he spewed. “I hate the way they suck real people into fake worlds and hold on to them for decades at a time. I hate being made to feel hateful for saying so, and I hate being told to immerse myself in them before passing judgment, because it feels like being told to immerse myself in smack and teenage pregnancy before passing judgment on them.” Whoa. Calm down, Giles. Smack and teenage pregnancy? That’s a new one. Not too sure about you, but where I come from, smack usually involves a nose or a syringe. Oh and pregnancy, yeah, that usually involves something a bit more intimate than pressing buttons on a piece of plastic. But I digress. What is wrong with this character? Obviously this is a man that’s both misguided and misinformed about what’s really going on in the world of video games. … source The Digital Home
Apr
02
2008
 
BBFC listing indicates that GTA IV might have 7 hours and 43 minutes of cut-scenPosted by: admin in Gaming
According to the British Board of Film Classification’s entry for Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV, the upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title may have close to eight hours worth of cut-scenes. To be precise: “When submitted to the BBFC the work had a running time of 463m 0s.” That’s 7 hours and 43 minutes, folks. Yesterday, Rockstar had Ron and I out to their New York City office to get some hands-on time with their highly-anticipated title. I’ll be getting some hands-on impressions up before the weekend (along with some screenshots, which I believe to be “new”). For now, I must state that some of the pre-mission cut-scenes were pretty astounding. While we only saw a handful of pre-mission cinematics, the combination of believable animations and Rockstar’s traditionally killer script writing helped me connect with the game characters in a way that I never had with those found in previous GTA titles. So if there really do happen to be eight hours of cinematics (can I get a “holy crap”?), let’s be glad that they seem to be shaping up to be so damned good. While you all wait patiently for my impressions, I’ve included one of the (possibly) new screens that Rockstar has provided us. Enjoy.
Via Destructoid
Apr
02
2008
Get Sierra Online’s Battlestar Galactica XBLA game half-price this FridayPosted by: admin in GamingSierra Online has announced that the Battlestar Galactica game for XBLA will be half price — 400 Microsoft Points — this Friday, April 4.
Apr
02
2008
BlueAnt’s new Bluetooth accessory lineup - Blueant V1 voice activated headset, SPosted by: admin in Mobile News
The gem of their new lineup has to be the BlueAnt V1 Bluetooth headset. Not only does it keep the BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth headset's trim profile, but it packs in voice activation technology alongside all that dual-microphone, signal processing goodness. Want to check your battery level? Just ask the BlueAnt V1. Redial or call a particular contact? Just speak the command and the BlueAnt V1 will do you biding. The idea is to reduce the need to fiddle with little buttons and simply talk your commands. As Bluetooth headsets get smaller and smaller, on-device real-estate for buttons become more and more scarce and less ergonomic. The solution? Add voice activation. But, that's not all BlueAnt has to offer. Ben already mentioned the other offerings from BlueAnt, so let me just offer my thought on the Supertooth 3 and M1 Bluetooth speaker. I found that the Supertooth 3 was somewhat lacking in style. BlueAnt does it up with style on their Bluetooth headsets, but when it comes to this hands-free speakerphone, BlueAnt seems to have skimped. The Supertooth 3 is definitely ultilitarian and gets the job done to a “T,” it it just a tiny bland and unimaginative - minimalist design gone wrong, perhaps. The M1 Bluetooth Speaker is another story entirely. The speaker system connects to your A2DP Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone over, well, A2DP Bluetooth and streams music directly from your handset. Sound quality was seemingly good, but it was loud in the showroom so it was hard to gauge sound fidelity. Sound output, however, was breathtaking. In that crowded room, I could hear the music quite well - the BlueAnt rep said the volume was “only on 5.” The unit itself is sleek and made with quality materials - no cheap plasticy feel here. Now I just sit back and wait for the review units to come in. The next several months should be fun. 
—
Apr
02
2008
Sprint’s Sierra Wireless Compass 597 is tiny and sleek - USB EVDO Rev. A modem wPosted by: admin in Mobile NewsIf there's one thing that gets attention in the tech-world, it's Apple products. So, it makes sense that Sierra Wireless wanted to leverage the MacBook Air's “hotness” to publicize their newly announced Sierra Wireless Compass 597 EVDO Rev. A USB modem. The MacBook Air initially got my attention. Then I noticed the yellow-lit USB dongle sticking out of the Air's notoriously slim and widely incompatible USB port. The Air's design necessitates that everything be as slim and small as possible, and as such, the ultra-portable notebook from Apple suffers from a too-small USB port - many USB dongles and flash drives just don't fit in the port. So, imagine my surprise when I saw this super slim USB modem stuck into the side of the MacBook Air!
Sierra Wireless has kept the formula simple with EVDO Rev. A allowing 3.1Mbps download speeds and upload speeds of up to 1.8Mbps, and built-in GPS allowing, well, GPS-related stuff. The included microSD card slot makes the Sierra Wireless Compass 597 a microSD card reader, too. The bright-yellow indicator light on the tip of the Compass 597 lets you know when you're locked on to Sprint's network, and adds some pop to the otherwise nondescript USB modem. Expect a Q2 2008 ship-date for the Sierra Wireless Compass 597. I'm waiting on my review unit to come in, so stay tuned to see how this slim little USB modem performs in the real world! 
—
Apr
02
2008
BlueAnt’s new Bluetooth accessory lineup - Blueant V1 voice activated headPosted by: admin in Mobile News
The gem of their new lineup has to be the BlueAnt V1 Bluetooth headset. Not only does it keep the BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth headset's trim profile, but it packs in voice activation technology alongside all that dual-microphone, signal processing goodness. Want to check your battery level? Just ask the BlueAnt V1. Redial or call a particular contact? Just speak the command and the BlueAnt V1 will do you biding. The idea is to reduce the need to fiddle with little buttons and simply talk your commands. As Bluetooth headsets get smaller and smaller, on-device real-estate for buttons become more and more scarce and less ergonomic. The solution? Add voice activation. But, that's not all BlueAnt has to offer. Ben already mentioned the other offerings from BlueAnt, so let me just offer my thought on the Supertooth 3 and M1 Bluetooth speaker. I found that the Supertooth 3 was somewhat lacking in style. BlueAnt does it up with style on their Bluetooth headsets, but when it comes to this hands-free speakerphone, BlueAnt seems to have skimped. The Supertooth 3 is definitely ultilitarian and gets the job done to a “T,” it it just a tiny bland and unimaginative - minimalist design gone wrong, perhaps. The M1 Bluetooth Speaker is another story entirely. The speaker system connects to your A2DP Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone over, well, A2DP Bluetooth and streams music directly from your handset. Sound quality was seemingly good, but it was loud in the showroom so it was hard to gauge sound fidelity. Sound output, however, was breathtaking. In that crowded room, I could hear the music quite well - the BlueAnt rep said the volume was “only on 5.” The unit itself is sleek and made with quality materials - no cheap plasticy feel here. Now I just sit back and wait for the review units to come in. The next several months should be fun.
—
Apr
02
2008
Sprint’s Sierra Wireless Compass 597 is little and sleek - USB EVDO Rev. APosted by: admin in Mobile NewsIf there's one thing that gets attention in the tech-world, it's Apple products. So, it makes sense that Sierra Wireless wanted to leverage the MacBook Air's “hotness” to publicize their newly announced Sierra Wireless Compass 597 EVDO Rev. A USB modem. The MacBook Air initially got my attention. Then I noticed the yellow-lit USB dongle sticking out of the Air's notoriously trim and widely incompatible USB port. The Air's design necessitates that everything be as trim and small as possible, and as such, the ultra-portable notebook from Apple suffers from a too-small USB port - many USB dongles and flash drives just don't fit in the port. So, imagine my surprise when I saw this super slim USB modem stuck into the side of the MacBook Air!
Sierra Wireless has kept the formula easy with EVDO Rev. A allowing 3.1Mbps download speeds and upload speeds of up to 1.8Mbps, and built-in GPS allowing, well, GPS-related stuff. The included microSD card slot makes the Sierra Wireless Compass 597 a microSD card reader, too. The bright-yellow indicator light on the tip of the Compass 597 lets you know when you're locked on to Sprint's network, and adds some pop to the otherwise nondescript USB modem. Anticipate a Q2 2008 ship-date for the Sierra Wireless Compass 597. I'm waiting on my review unit to come in, so stay tuned to see how this slim little USB modem performs in the real world!
—
Apr
02
2008
LG Booth tour from CTIA Las Vegas 2008 - LG enV2 VX9100 makes an appearancePosted by: admin in Mobile News
But, not to be one to come to the ballgame empty handed, LG brought out the successor to the LG enV, the LG enV2 VX9100. The new LG enV2 is slimmer, shorter, and sleeker than the out-going model. It's most definitely a lower-end handset than the LG Voyager, but still manages to do the whole lateral-flip, full-QWERTY keyboard thing in style. The external LCD is tiny, but the keypad is huge and easy to use. Open up the LG enV2 and you find a comfortable QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard is decent - the lack of decent character support (how long should it take to find the “.” key?) is a huge detractor. But, for text messaging fiends, the keyboard should be more than sufficient. I found that that the 2.4-inch internal LCD display is large enough to make extended text messaging sessions easy on the eyes, and the stereo speakers look like they'd do a good job with media playback. The 2 megapixel camera is decent and par for this range. Don't expect the LG enV2 to compete with the LG Voyager, but if you want a lower-end, smaller, and sleeker alternative to the Voyager touchscreen-monster, the LG enV2 should do you just fine. Verizon Wirleess will be the new home of the LG enV2. Massive Red will load up your LG enV2 with CAST Music and Video, VZ Navigator so you should have no problems getting your media-fix over the air. Expect to shell out $130 after two-year contract and $50 rebate. 
—
Apr
02
2008
Dolby Digital announces partnership with Nokia - shows off Dolby Surround SoundPosted by: admin in Mobile News
Enter Dolby Digital. Dusan and I mentioned the Dolby Digital surround sound signal processing application back at Mobile World Congress 2008 Barcelona. The technology is incredible and really makes movies and music come to life. Last we heard, Dolby was looking for manufacturing partners to load devices with Dolby's surround sound processing app for complete and rich out-of-the-box multimedia experience. Dolby's strength lies in their ability to take plain, old stereo sound and give it a 3D feel and increased depth - and now they're bringing their know-how to Nokia's Symbian platform. The Symbian booth at CTIA Las Vegas 2008 was small, really small. They didn't have much to show off, other than the Dolby Digital surround sound app. The booth rep said that Nokia is already gearing up to newer Nokia N95 8GB handsets with the Dolby Digital software already pre-installed. The application installs and runs in the background when viewing movies or listening to music. When paired with a decent set of headphones, the Dolby signal processing is really breathtaking. Look for new Nokia N-series handsets to begin offering Dolby enhancements in the near-term (according to the rep). 
—
|
|
Like a little, digital ant that can carry 50 times its weight, BlueAnt's new Bluetooth accessories pack a wallop into compact and sleek packages. BlueAnt showed off their new V1 voice activated Bluetooth headset with dual microphones and noise reduction technology, their Supertooth 3 Bluetooth hands-free speakerphone, and their M1 Bluetooth speaker at CTIA yesterday.
LG has one of the largest and most elaborate booths here at CTIA Las Vegas 2008. The booth is as tall as it is sprawling and there's a live DJ spinning house music in front of a statue of a naked angel. LG didn't have much to show in terms of new hardware (a woefully recurring theme here at CTIA LV 2008), but they did make their presence in the US market known - they were pushing their new slogan, “Living LG.”
Nokia and multimedia handsets. Mention one and most people will reflexively think of the other. The Finns are known for their N-series mobile phones that can take amazingly sharp and crisp photos, shoot high-quality video, and store gobs of media. Unfortunately, Espoo's expertise in surround sound processing is a bit lacking.
