Sony Announces New PS3, Movie Downloads, Single Sign-On, and More

At Sony's E3 press conference today, the company released new information for the entire PlayStation product line, with news about the PS3, PSP and PS2. First, the PS3 will be sold in a new SKU, which some outlets consider replace all of the existing PS3 consoles, an 80GB model which will sell at $399. The PlayStation store now features movie downloads from Sony Pictures, Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, Funimation. Content can be bought online from a PC, and synced to the PSP.

New information about Home, which will offer "game-themed rooms," and what Sony calls "SSO" - single sign-on for the PlayStation Network, were also released. Infamous, MAG, DC Universe Online, and God of War III (in the form of a pre-rendered trailer) were also shown off.

Finally, a new PSP bundle will be released in the form of a new "Entertainment Pack." The package will include a silver PSP slim, 1GB Memory Stick, National Treasure 2, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, and a voucher for Echochrome. The bundle will retail for $199 and go on sale this October.

Source: Engadget

Nintendo Announces Three New Games, New Hardware

Though Nintendo's E3 conference may have not held as much flare as Microsoft's, the company did unveil three new games for the Wii: Animal Crossing, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii Music. Clearly in an attempt to create more demand in the casual market, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Music focus on bringing your Miis in new situations, which including jet skiing, and, well.. playing the drums.

New peripherals were showed off as well, the previously announced WiiMotion Plus, which adds 1:1 movement sensing to the Wii remote, and WiiSpeak, which is a speaker for voice communication that sits atop the Wii's sensor bar.

A lot of hardcore Nintendo fans were left disappointed at the company's ignorance to their own dedicated fan base, and the lack of an impressive or surprising showing. Even games that were heavily rumored to make a showing, such as New Super Mario Bros. 2, Nintendogs 2, and Kid Icarus for the Wii, were suspiciously absent.

Source: Engadget

Secret Android SDK Seeded to Select Developers, Concern Raises About Open Platform

When the Open Handset Alliance debuted, Google made the promise that the platform would be open source and free to developers. The community assumed at the time, and rightfully so, that the SDK would be available to everyone, without bias. However, at time went on and the dated beta development kit made more onlookers question the overall tangibility of the endeavour, many were left wondering what fate was left to the still unreleased mobile operating system. Unfortunately for those left to question, news broke today that will surely break some developers' hearts.

For whatever reason, Google has been giving out newer versions of the SDK to 50 developers who were finalists in the Android Developer Challenge under NDA. The dealing, which had been unearthed by accident as a Google employee mistakenly sent out a message about build 84853 of the SDK to a pubic mailing list, was awknowledged, but ultimately ignored by both Google and the developers involved.

I believe what most outraged developers are seeking is an explanation. The simple fact that no one was publicly notified of the existence of the newer builds, as Ars Technica points out, did a lot to crush developers' trust, and perhaps faith, in the platform.

Google vowed that its Linux-based Android mobile platform would empower enthusiasts and amateur developers, but today we have seen compelling evidence that this is an empty promise. Third-party Android application developers, who have grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of SDK updates, were shocked to discover that Google has been secretly making new versions of the Android SDK available to the Android Developer Challenge (ADC) finalists under non-disclosure agreements.

Source: Ars Technica

Intel Launches Centrino 2 Mobile Platform

Intel today has announced a major upgrade to their Centrino platform, which first debuted in 2003. Hard to believe it was that long ago, isn't it? Between then and now, countless technology advancements have been made, so we were in huge need of such an upgrade. What's new? Faster and more power efficient 45nm processors, upgraded WiFi connectivity and a whole lot more.

Let's start with the six new processors. On the low-end, there is the P8400 2.26GHz, which features 3MB of L2 cache. It shares the same specs and TDP of 25W as the P8600, at 2.40GHz. For the higher-end mid-range (contradiction? nah) parts, there is the T9400 and T9600, at 2.53GHz and 2.80GHz, respectively. Both feature 6MB of L2 cache and a 35W TDP.

The biggest processor launch is the X9100, a 3.06GHz Dual-Core offering, featuring the same general specs as the others, but with an unlocked multiplier. All six of the processors have (finally) been upgraded to a 1066MHz front-side bus.

Processors is not the lone upgrade, of course. DDR3 support has been added, which is not-so-surprising since we've seen announcements from memory companies for well over a month now. S-ATA 3.0Gbps, eSATA and even ATI Crossfire support is added. Wait... Crossfire support? Yes, Crossfire support. Found deep within the press materials is mention of this, and given recent performance from the latest ATI GPUs, this is worth getting excited over.

Also on the graphics front, "switchable graphics" is a technology similar to Hybrid Crossfire, where one integrated GPU can be paired with a discrete one. This isn't only to provide increased gaming performance, but also add to the power-saving aspect. This should really come in handy on large notebooks that generally eat up a battery like there is no tomorrow.

On top of all that, vPro has also been updated, along with the WiFi (450Mbps!) and products will be available soon. What we have to look forward to later this year are both Quad-Core offerings (though in small doses at first) and also a dual WiMAX/WiFi support, which would provide both kinds of support from the same module. The notebook forecast is looking good. Very good.

Source: Intel Centrino 2 Product Page

July 15th Tech Roundup

• Asrock Penryn1600SLIX3-WiFi - Madshrimps
• ASUS Maximus II Formula - HotHardware
• ASUS & Zotac Overclocked GTX 260 - t-break
• Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 - ThinkComputers

• ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB - Digit-Life
• ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 - Legit Reviews
• AMD Radeon HD 4870 X2 1GB - PC Perspective
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 - Benchmark Reviews

• Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 EPP2.0 4GB - Technic3D
• n-Tegrity Classic 1GB USB Stick - Top Review Shop

• Scythe Eclipse 2 Keyboard - Tech-Reviews
• Edifier R1200T Speaker System - ModSynergy
• mStation Orb iPod Speaker - ThinkComputers

• Scythe Orochi 10-Heatpipe CPU Cooler - Tech-Reviews
• Scythe Zipang CPU Cooler - Tech-Reviews
• Noctua NF-P12 Fan - FusionMods
• Coolink Chipchilla Chipset Cooler - techPowerUp

• BFG LS680 680W - JonnyGURU

• Apple iPhone 3G - ComputerShopper
• Jabra BT8040 Bluetooth Headset - BlueTomorrow