- Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Mobile Platform
- AMD Launches Ryzen PRO 7000 Series Mobile & Desktop Platform
- Intel Launches Sleek Single-Slot Arc Pro A60 Workstation Graphics Card
- NVIDIA Announces Latest Ada Lovelace Additions: GeForce RTX 4060 Ti & RTX 4060
- Maxon Redshift With AMD Radeon GPU Rendering Support Now Available
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Intel Begins Construction On Fab 68 In Dalian
Intel has announced plans to open up Fab 68, a 300mm wafer fabrication facility in Dalian, China. This major fabrication facility will cost $2.5 billion, effectively bringing Intel’s total investment in China to $4 billion. Once construction completes in 2010, it will offer 163,000 square meters of factory space and a massive 15,000 square metre clean room.
Of course this is not the first fab that Intel has situated in China. Along Fab 68 will be two current fabs in Shanghai and Chengdu along with other R&D centers scattered around China. With this new launch, Intel hopes to become even closer to achieving the goal of being one of the top three IT clusters in the Country.
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“The scope and scale of our global manufacturing network gives Intel the ability to provide customers with leading-edge, energy-efficient products in high volume,” said Craig Barrett, Chairman, Intel Corporation. “Fab 68 will have world-class infrastructure and be an integral part of our global manufacturing network while bringing us closer to our customers and partners in China.”
Source: Intel Press Release
Microsoft Launches Online Translation Service
Over the years, there have been few worthwhile online language-translation tools, namely because all of them offer foolish results. One I have relied on for a while though, has been Babelfish, which was actually one of the first such tools on the web. Microsoft, not being one to remain quiet in any category of web-service, recently launched their own translation service, “Windows Live Translator (Beta!)”.
According to Mashable, the tool makes use of Systran, a world-leading translation service that offers both live and automated translation. It’s a solid offering, but shouldn’t be used in any scenario of importance. “Techgage kicks serious butt.” translated to German comes out as, “Techgage tritt ernsten Kolben.”. Translated back to English comes out as, “Techgage steps serous pistons.”, which is so flattering, it might just become our new motto.
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As far as the actual quality of the translation goes, Microsoft uses Systran’s well known engine (Google is also using it), but also offers the option of using their own in-house machine translation service which works well with computer-related texts. It’s hard to objectively test how good Microsoft’s translator really is, but based on a couple of paragraph of text I’ve fed it, I wasn’t impressed enough to declare it much (or any) better than Google’s translation service.
Source: Mashable
Ultimate Game Player Survey
International Hobo Ltd is pleased to announce its new study into patterns in the game playing audience. Following the success of the company’s seminal DGD1 model, the subject of the acclaimed book 21st Century Game Design, we are now conducting a new survey in more detail than the original, from which we will develop a new DGD2 model of the gaming audience.
To take part in the survey, click here, or upon the Survey link in the site menu. As an added incentive, you could win the game of your choice (terms and conditions apply) just for taking part!
Is Microsoft Worried About the New iPods?
With Apple’s impressive showing the other day, should Microsoft be worried? No, but getting to work on an iPod threat would be a great idea. As CNET reports, Microsoft cut their Zune down to $199 the other day, but even then, it’s a difficult sell considering some of the new iPods in that same price range. The Zune could have been more impressive if it put it’s WiFi capabilities to good use. As it stands, the only thing it’s good for is swapping songs with your friends. Had they allowed similar functionality as Apple introduced in the iPod Touch, then things might be a little different.
If the leaks from last week prove true, then Microsoft is likely to have a tough time building excitement for their Zune 2 as well. I am far from being an Apple fanboi, but even I can’t discredit how great the new offerings look. For the first time, I’m actually considering getting an iPod in the months to come. The Zune and Zune 2 on the other-hand, don’t even look that visually appealing. Of course, competition is far from over, and Microsoft is not one to give up easily. Chances are good we will see some innovative stuff come out of Redmond sooner or later. Hopefully much sooner than later.
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Microsoft has been careful all along to say it expected a long, expensive, uphill climb in this market. The thing that makes it so tough for competitors is that Apple has shown itself willing and capable of taking its market-leading products, turning them on their head, and making them even better. The company did so a couple years back when it introduced the iPod Nano to replace the iPod Mini, its best-selling product at the time. And it appears to have done so again, replacing the Nano with a video version and the video iPod with the iPod Touch.
Source: CNET News
AMD Launches Gamer Site
If you thought the previous post was all of the AMD news available today, you would be wrong. According to the Inq, they just launched a gamers-specific website that mimics 3DFXGamers.com of old. Here, you will be able to view information on popular games, download drivers, enter contests, watch video and also chat to other community members. I have to say, the site looks pretty great. I’m not sure how useful it will prove overall, but at least it serves the purpose of friendly competition.
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If you’re old that enough to remember, 3dfxgamers.com was a community site that spot forums, reviews of games, giveaways of hardware and many more things that kept that site in high regard. 3dfxgamers.com was also the very first site yours truly was working on in the forums, managing the impossible and keeping the peace on newsgroups and later forums. For newsgroup admins of these days, no – we did not ban posting of HTML and big posts in the non-binary group. Our members loved seeing game developer desktops and so on…
Source: The Inquirer
AMD Details Strategic Open Source Graphics Driver Development Initiative
It was only yesterday that we posted about AMD’s “possible” opening up of their ATI drivers for Linux, and we sure didn’t have to wait long to find out it was absolutely true. In a press release issued today, AMD said that they will be releasing an information and development package next week that will support the HD 2000 and X1000 series of GPUs to the open source community.
Don’t be fooled… this is huge news and shows that both Open Source development and Linux are gaining some major headway. By opening up the driver, it will allow both AMD and outside developers work together to create a feature-rich and stable driver. By keeping it to themselves, there are many issues that can come into play. ATI hasn’t exactly had an outstanding Linux track record, but things are bound to pick up rapidly now.
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“With this announcement we’re demonstrating our commitment to respond to the needs of the Open Source community and adopt a consistent approach across CPU and GPU technologies. By supporting open source drivers on our industry-leading ATI Radeon graphics processors we accelerate innovation across the entire AMD platform.”
Source: AMD Press Release
KDE 4.0 Beta 2 Released
It’s only been a month since Beta 1 was released, but Beta 2 looks like it has come quite a way, as you will be able to see with the available screenshots on the official site. New since Beta 1 is an updated KOffice alpha release, new code gained from Google’s Summer of Code and various bugfixes all over. Most of KDE 4.0 has been feature-frozen, except for a few key features such as Plasma, a base for some killer applets.
I am a full-time KDE 3.5 user and have never had much of a problem with it, but it’s hard to not get a little excited for 4.0 especially after checking out all of the Beta 2 screenshots. While GNOME is clean and concise, KDE is looking to really add some sensible visual appeal to the next release. Will OS X finally have a real competitor in the GUI department?
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The KDE Community proudly presents the second Beta release for KDE 4.0. This release marks the beginning of the feature freeze and the stabilization of the current codebase. Simultaneously the KOffice developers have released their third Alpha release, marking significant improvements in this innovative office suite. Both KDE and KOffice have benefited from the Google Summer of Code, as most resulting code has now been merged.
Source: KDE.org
Lenovo Unveils $5,000 ThinkPad Reserve
Are you an executive without a laptop? Have $5,000 to burn? Lenovo’s ThinkPad Reserve edition might be for you. It’s most eye-catching feature is that it’s wrapped in nice leather. It’s similar in specs to their current X61, which offers a 2.2GHz processor, 2GB of ram, 160GB hard drive (also 80GB external), external DVD burner and a 12.1″ display.
The features don’t stop there though. One of the most important perks is the fact that it includes premium support, 24/7 priority service to their support staff and quick action to fix any hardware-related issues. For software, Windows Vista Ultimate and Office Small Business 2007 is included. With all of what’s included, it’s easy to see why it retails for such a premium, but it’s still a difficult price to swallow regardless.
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The Lenovo ThinkPad Reserve was constructed to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the ThinkPad line and only 5,000 units will be built. “The ThinkPad Reserve Edition was designed for the world’s most accomplished professionals, so it delivers the best ownership experience available. It combines expert personalized service, exquisite design and materials, and superior technology to surpass any notebook PC available today,” said Lenovo VP of Branding and Strategy Craig Merrigan.
Source: DailyTech
Early iPhone Adopters Will Receive $100 Gift Certificate
We posted yesterday that Apple lowered the price of their iPhone to $399, to much expected angst by all of the early adopters who essentially paid a $200 premium for owning the phone for two months. Well, the reaction was so intense that Steve Job’s stepped in and in an e-mail, noted that all early adopters would qualify for a $100 gift certificate to use at any Apple store, or online. Personally, I’d prefer cash, but it’s not as though most iPhone owners don’t ever plan on throwing more money towards Apple in the future anyway. Kudos to Apple for such a quick turn-around to remedy the issue.
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But even given the outcry, we definitely didn’t see this one coming. In another open letter to his people, Jobs states that he’s giving all iPhone owners a $100 Apple gift certificate (details to follow in the next week — it goes without saying this will only apply to people who bought before the price drop).
Source: Engadget
OCZ Intros Rugged ATV Thumb Drives
Although thumb drives are the norm, they’ve really only become popular over the past few years. Now, it’s second nature, and we are at a point where it’s difficult to purchase a normal drive. So, it’s no surprise when companies try something new, and give you a good reason to choose their products over someone elses.
Enter the OCZ ATV and ATV Turbo, rugged drives that are designed to take a beating. The goal of rugged thumb drives is not new… we’ve seen it from Corsair with their Voyager series for years. These ones have the speed to go along with it’s tough nature though, offering speeds of up to 35MB/s Read. We will be taking both new models for a spin in the weeks to come, so stay tuned.
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“The OCZ ATV series is designed to operate under harsh environments with its shock and water-proof design,” states Jacky Huang, VP of Product Management at OCZ. “Besides its all-terrain nature, we also built this device with all the latest storage technology to make it truly cater to the most performance-demanding power users with its fast read/write speeds.”
Source: OCZ Press Release
HP Announces Blackbird 002 Performance PC
Though it may be difficult to believe, it’s now been one full year since HP announced their surprise acquisition of Rahul Sood’s baby, Voodoo PC. In that year, we saw virtually no benefits to either side product-wise, but now HP has finally unveiled a huge gaming rig, the Blackbird 002. HotHardware has a first-look and makes sure to let people know that this is not due to Voodoo PC’s joining of the company.
The concept has been in the planning stages for quite some time, but there’s no doubt that Voodoo helped push it out a little faster. At least that’s what the “Voodoo DNA” badge is telling me. The machine comes in various configurations, but you can acquire one with a pre-overclocked QX6850 CPU that is overclocked to 3.67GHz, dual 8800 Ultra cards in SLI, 4GB of Corsair DDR2-8500 RAM, ASUS Striker Extreme, SoundBlaster X-Fi… ok I need to stop. This machine… I want it, and chances are you do as well.
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As you would probably expect from a high-end gaming machine powered by Intel’s fastest quad-core processor that’s been overclocked by more than 22%, 4GB of Corsair’s top of the line Dominator memory, and a pair of NVIDIA’s flagship 8800 Ultra graphics cards, the Hewlett Packard Blackbird 002 is simply a high performance machine. When you cram as many high-end components into a machine like this, it can’t help but be fast. And in a few of the tests the machine put up benchmark scores higher than any other machine we’ve tested to date.
Source: HotHardware
Apple Announces New Products, But You Knew About Them Already
There’s little doubt that you knew about all of these products already, and it’s no real help that we are posting about them an entire day late. I was just so ecstatic all day that I was unable to type up a news post. Really. Our friends at TheTechLounge have posted a report of all that’s new, including new iPods, Ringtones, more iPods, Starbucks partnership and more.
Big fan of the iPhone but are too cheap to afford one? You’ll be happy to know that one of the announcements was the price drop for the 8GB model: $399. Yes, the phones only been out for a few months but it has already dropped $200. You almost have to feel bad for the early adopters. Of most interest to me personally is the iPod Touch, an 8GB/16GB iPhone-type device… without the phone capabilities. It’s smaller than the iPhone, naturally, but includes the same great screen. Overall a great showing.
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Finally, the iPod touch. The iPhone minus the phone. People have been asking for one ever since they laid eyes on the iPhone (Ed – I wanted one ever since I first heard rumors of one, long before the iPhone). And Steve really delivered this time. The iPod touch’s screen and device dimensions are nearly identical to the phone, except that it’s only 8mm thick (or thin). The iPhone is 11mm thick.
Source: TheTechLounge
AMD Revamps Their Linux GPU Focus
In an attempt to improve their Linux support, AMD has refreshed their GPU support under the OS. The only word that comes to mind is “finally”, and I am sure I am not alone in that thinking. Our good friends at Phoronix have exhaustively posted content about the upcoming releases and also more information about what you should be expecting.
First, you can see what the new driver will be offering, complete with revamped control panel. If you want performance numbers, they have got those as well, for R300/R400, R500 and also tests with their high-end HD 2900XT offering. Lastly, is AMD going to open-source the fglrx driver? It’s hard to decipher, but it sure sounds promising! It’s great to finally see AMD coming out of their hole and getting appropriate drivers developed. NVIDIA has dominated Linux gaming for a while, but now they have some actual competition. Finally.
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The official AMD press release states: “In the coming months AMD also plans to accelerate efforts to address the needs of the open source community as well.” But what does this mean? Are they opening up the fglrx driver? Are they providing specifications? Are they just making a better binary blob so the open-source community will just want reverse engineer it more?
Source: Phoronix
Roxio Releases Easy Media Creator 10
The good folks at Roxio have just sent word that they’ve updated their popular Easy Media Creator suite of applications to version 10. I admit, I haven’t touched Roxio software since version 6, so I am sure a lot has changed since then. Version 10 includes many new features though, many of which we will cover in an upcoming review. Some notables include the ability to copy any of your songs/movies/tv shows from your iPod to your PC, ability to send videos to YouTube, camera photo fix-ups, Windows Vista-integration, updated Blu-ray/HD-DVD support and more.
As we found out last week, Nero is also updating their suite to version 8 and all the rage seems to be web-integration, especially with YouTube. I’ve been using that program for the past week and have been pleased with it’s performance/feature-set thus far. You can expect comprehensive reviews of both Nero 8 and Roxio 10 in the coming weeks.
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The latest version of Easy Media Creator is the ideal complement to Windows Vista. With a stunning new Aero user interface, it is easier than ever for consumers to manage their digital content from one project to the next,
whether it is burning a DVD or uploading videos to YouTube. Creator 10 also includes great new Gadgets for
Windows Vista, which make it incredibly convenient for users to capture internet and PC audio streams and
convert their media files into their preferred format for easy playback on popular mobile devices, like the iPhone or
Microsoft Zune.
Source: Roxio Product Page
LG Updating Dual-Format Super Blu Player
LG doesn’t care to take sides, which works out to the consumers favor. As we first saw at this years CES, they released a dual-format stand-alone player, meaning it plays both HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Obviously this is a good thing from most angles, since you have a much larger library to choose from, you don’t need two different players hogging up room and it’s simply more convenient.
According to Electronic House, they are planning to update their BH100 player (seen below) with a new BH200 player. Updated functionality is added, such as BD-Live, PiP for select titles and Blu-View. Output is 1080p at 60Hz and upscaling DVDs also uses 1080p. If you want one, you can pony up your $999 sometime next month.
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The player will support various A/V formats including MPEG-2, VC-1, H.264 video, MPEG1/2 audio, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS and DTS-HD audio. Also expect plenty of inputs/outputs including HDMI 1.3 out and a LAN Ethernet port for network interactivity. You won’t have to wait too long for this one. The unit will hit shelves in mid-October for $999.
Source: Electronic House
BioShock – DX9 vs. DX10
The guys at Hard|OCP are continuing their DX10 coverage with a fresh look at BioShock. Previously, they’ve taken a look at Lost Planet only to find that the benefits are non-existent, but luckily, Call of Juarez deemed itself worthy of some DX10 action. So with a major game like BioShock on the table, hopes were high that our DX10 cards would be getting a good workout.
Through their testing, they never found any real difference between GeForce 8-series and Radeon 2-series cards, a great thing if you own either one of the cards already. They include numerous comparison screenshots, including DX9 vs. DX10, and personally, I can’t really see that much of a difference at all. Though, the downside is that in DX10 mode, you lose anti-aliasing. Why 2K? Why?
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We believe that BioShock will ultimately be remembered as a great game with a few flaws, just like its predecessors: System Shock 1 and 2. System Shock’s initial release was marred by many bugs, and in an age in which people couldn’t just pop into FileShack and look for a patch. And yet, it is still remembered as one of the greatest shooters of all time.
Source: Hard|OCP
Microsoft Releases Silverlight 1.0, Linux Support To Come
Microsoft has released the first official version of their Silverlight “Flash-killer” runtime, which means we should be seeing more non-Flash-Flash-like content on the web soon. Originally, support was only slated for Windows and Mac OS X, but someone at Microsoft realized that Linux should be supported as well, as it should be. If you are to release a “revolutionary tool” that makes the web-experience even better, it makes little sense to exclude a large portion of the market.
Novell’s lead Mono developer and GNOME creator Miguel de Icaza and his team will be the people responsible for porting it to Linux. As you’d expect, it will run atop Mono, and since Novell and Microsoft are tight like peas and carrots, it should be a reliable solution in the end. How difficult it will be to install on non-Novell distros is what I am curious about. Linux aside, Windows and Mac OS X users can grab the latest version off the official site and give it a test by finding compatible sites with their showcase.
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Microsoft now plans to work closely with Novell to ensure that Silverlight is fully supported on the Linux platform. In a blog entry, de Icaza discusses the scope of Microsoft’s involvement in Novell’s Silverlight development project. “We have had a cordial relationship with many developers at Microsoft for quite some time,” de Icaza writes in his blog entry. “Today we are formalizing a collaboration between Microsoft and Novell with the explicit purpose of bringing Silverlight to Linux and do this in a fully supported way.”
Source: Ars Technica
Male Brits Don’t Mind In-Game Advertising
Seeing advertising in video games was only to be expected, but now it’s gaining momentum incredibly fast. We posted the other day about Ubisoft’s releasing of ad-supported games, and many more are undoubtedly on their way. Personally, I don’t mind advertising if it actually adds to the experience, but those are usually sport games only. I don’t particularly want to see a McDonald’s ad while ridding mobsters down at the docks, or be offered a cold can of Coca Cola from a mystical fairy because I completed a small quest in an RPG.
According to a new survey by GameSpot and the Internet Advertising Bureau, only fourteen percent of men in Britain said that in-game ads spoiled the experience. Only 14%? That seems obscenely low. At least 90% of people I have talked to have said that in-game ads would spoil the gaming experience. You must be one tough bloke if you are able to ignore them.
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Forty percent said that ads added realism to the game, while 33 percent said they didn’t even notice the ads. Though just 28 percent felt the advertisement affected the brand, 64 percent of those felt it was a positive effect.
Source: Joystiq
NBC Begins Selling Programs At Amazon
It’s been quite an eventful week for NBC. Last weekend, they packed up their things and left iTunes only to launch a whack of media confusion. Why would they leave iTunes? Piracy aside, their just sitting there would make them more money. Now, either this deal happened really quickly, or this is the true reason for the move, but NBC has fallen into the arms of Amazon.
Amazon’s Unbox service already offers NBC Universal’s movies, so the addition of their television shows wasn’t exactly a difficult process. Prices are currently not known, but what is known is that NBC plans to allow consumers to download free pilot episodes of a few upcoming shows. After that point, episodes can be purchased each week, with a “bundle” available at the end of a shows season.
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Today NBC found a friend in Amazon, announcing a deal to sell the network’s digital TV content. Amazon already sells NBC Universal’s movies. NBC shows available on Amazon Unbox will include The Office, Heroes, and 30 Rock. They will also be selling content from their subsidiaries: USA Network, SCI FI Channel, Bravo, Telemundo, mun2, NBC Sports, and NBC News.
Source: TechCrunch
IOGEAR Releases Wireless USB Hub and Adapter
IOGEAR has begun shipping their Wireless USB Hub and Adapter, which allows you to wirelessly connect to any of your USB peripherals, such as storage, camera, printer, et cetera. As you can see in the image below, the unit itself is a glossy black and looks great, and it should be for it’s $199 SRP.
The usage is quite simple. This is an actual USB hub, so your needed peripherals plug directly into it. Then you take your dongle and use it on any PC in the house to access whatever is plugged in, since the hub essentially adds the device to a network. One of the key benefits of wireless USB is the fact that it’s rated for 480Mbps speeds. By comparison, 802.11g is rated for 54Mbps while 802.11n is 248Mbps. The benefits are there, but the retail price might cause a slow adoption.
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The IOGEAR Wireless USB Kit takes advantage of the UWB radio technology to deliver fast wireless communication between your computer and USB peripherals. The IOGEAR Kit wirelessly connects USB peripherals up to a 30-foot range of your computer. It enables wireless connection of many devices for transmission of video, audio, and other high-bandwidth data. Additionally, the wireless frequency range of UWB helps avoid interference with other wireless devices such as mobile phones, Wi-Fi networks and cordless home phones.
Source: IOGEAR Product Page
Intel Sued Over Dual Core Name
I am already confused. Intel has a Dual Core brand? It doesn’t matter, because all that matters is that they are being sued by a company known as DualCor, simply because their name is far too similar to that of Intel’s Dual Core technology (AMD also sells Dual Core processors, but whatever). The DualCor name was created in December of 2003 and established in May 2004. Intel apparently knew of this as early as December 2003.
Something tells me that this lawsuit is not going to go very far.
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DualCor makes proprietary technology, it said, which improves the processing power, efficiency and portability of computers by using several CPUs working together. It trademarked DualCor on the 14th of May 2004. In the complaint it said that Intel knew about the DualCor name as early as December 2003. Intel’s “use of the name ‘Dual Core’ is likely to cause confusion, mistake or deception among consumers as to the source quality and nature of DualCor’s goods,” it alleged.
Source: The Inquirer
AMD Releases Barcelona Pricing
AMD has sent out prices for their upcoming Opteron Quad-Core configurations and DailyTech once again has the scoop. For their 23xx-series two-way processors, pricing will begin at $206 for a low TDP 1.7GHz while top-end will be $372 for 2.0GHz and a 95W TDP. Pricing for the multi-way offerings are found in the image below. The highest-end 2.0GHz settles in at just over $1,000 while the “low-end” is close to $700.
Clock for clock, Barcelona is likely to have a rough time clobbering Intel’s Xeons in benchmarks, but as we have found out in the past, we can’t compare equally-clocked processors of different micro-architectures. One fact that’s difficult to ignore is that these prices jump in drastically, which hopefully means that there will actually be a noticeable performance increase with a small frequency boost. Otherwise, $230 for a 100MHz boost seems like a bit much.
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On the multi-way side of things, AMD has four quad-core Opteron 8300 models ready for launch – the 8350, 8347, 8347 HE and 8346 HE. The multi-way models have a $688 cost-of-entry and top out at around $1,000. Unlike the Opteron 2300 series, the 8300 series HE models command an approximate $110 price premium.
Source: DailyTech
Sony Quietly Releases 1.92 Firmware
I’ll give credit to Sony for one thing… the fact that they are not afraid to release the occasional firmware update for the PS3. As PS3 owners, it helps us feel like we are being taken good care of. I do have one lingering issue, however. Why release a new firmware update and then wait an entire day to let everyone know what has been updated?
That’s essentially what happened over the past few days. The update was released on Tuesday and just last night, a new post was made on the official Playstation Blog explaining that the main fixes were for compatibility and playability, referring to PS1/PS2 games. It’s also mentioned that a special site will be implemented in the near future that will allow you to search for compatible games. Are there really that many non-compatible games? I have never run into an issue with any of my previous-gen PS titles.
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As Kotaku, Joystiq and others are pointing out, we’ve released a minor firmware update (version 1.92) for the PS3. This update focuses on some PS3 compatibility and playability issues for select titles. A search site for looking up compatible titles is also in the works, as soon as it’s live, I’ll publish a link to it here.
Source: Playstation Blog
Palm Cancels The Foleo
According to a blog entry by Palm CEO Ed Colligan, the Foleo will not have a chance to have a first breath of commercial success. The Foleo was designed to be a compliment to your smart-phone, in the likeness of a small laptop. Essentially, it would allow you to comfortably handle tasks without squinting at a small device.
The good news in all of this is that they are going to shift all of their attention to their next-generation software platform, aka Linux-based products. This is not the end for Foleo, however, as Ed goes on to mention that Foleo II will be based on the upcoming platform.
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While the Foleo was and interesting idea, we think the execution was poorly timed and not in-sync with the way the Treo line of smartphones is likely headed. By getting Treo updates out the door faster, Palm will show that it’s not the stagnant company many think it’s become.
Source: CrunchGear
Xbox 360 Chatpad Hands-On
Engadget has received a copy of the new Xbox 360 Messenger Kit and thought they’d give it a spin. I have to say, this is by far one of the most ridiculous gamepads I have ever seen. Ever. The Xbox 360 controller looks like it has a massive tumor… that happens to be lettered and numbered. I can understand the usefulness of such a gamepad, but I am not sure I could handle living with myself while using such a contraption. What’s wrong with voice chat again?
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The Chatpad is a little difficult to get on and off, but once engaged it fits perfectly on the controller (duh), and feels like a seamless extension. Unfortunately there are two awkwardly placed screw holes on the underside, but you’ll learn to ignore ’em. Players with longer fingers may be annoyed, this thing kind of prevents finger-wraparound.
Source: Engadget