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Playstation 3 to Gain DVR Functionality
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Sony’s Playstation 3 seemed to have a slow start when it was launched last November, but the pace is certainly picking up now. Their 1.80 firmware update in May added DVD and PS1/PS2 up-scaling to the mix, among other things, and since then the new updates have been frequent. Well now it seems that the PS3 will gain DVR capabilities in the new year, meaning you could record and playback your TV. Sounds good to me… even though I don’t have an immediate need for such a thing. It’s good to see Sony is pushing things in the right direction. Of course, better games wouldn’t hurt either.
“We’re also hoping next year – about the same time that Freeview launches its terrestrial broadcasting service (expected to be in March) – to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder.” Sure, why not, but we’re going to need a hell of a lot more than 80GB or 120GB of storage to make that thing useful for HD recordings.
Source: Engadget
Lost Planet Performance and DX10
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Capcom’s latest title, Lost Planet, was hyped all the way up until it was finally launched, both on the Xbox 360 and PC. PC gamers had a greater reason to be excited though, since the game officially brought a DX10 title that will put their 8-series and X2-series cards to good use. Well as Brent at Hard|OCP found out, running the game in DX10 mode is the last thing that should be on your mind. Sadly, I am not so confident in the DX9 mode either, but that’s mainly due to the mind dulling gameplay I found the game to have.
On the performance side it seems all video cards offer great gameplay in DX9 mode. Though, this game is very graphically intense and currently does require a lot of GPU muscle even in that mode. The GeForce 8800 Ultra was playable at 1600×1200 4xAA/16xAF with motion blur on “low†and shadows at “medium.†This certainly is not as high as the game can go; motion blur can be turned to “high†and so can shadows in DX10 mode. Even the mighty 8800 Ultra is showing signs of struggle with this new game.
Source: Hard|OCP
Remote Control Car Shoots for 200MPH
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Remote controlled cars are fun, there’s no denying that, but their overall power is a little lacking. That’s where Nick Maslowski comes into play, with his RC car which he hopes to reach an incredible 200MPH. The current record with his X2 has been 134.4MPH, so 200MPH seems like a lofty goal.
This little vehicle certainly won’t win any Best in Show medals, but the streamlined design, melt-resistant foam tires, and onboard stabilization system will hopefully enable it to cruise somewhere close to its theoretical maximum speed of 274mph.
Source: Engadget
Top 10 Yahoo! Properties
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ReadWriteWeb has another one of their popular Top 10 lists, this particular one taking a look at the top ten properties owned by Yahoo!. Yahoo.com is considered the number one website in the world according to multiple tracking engines, but that’s just the beginning. Services mentioned in the article include Yahoo! News, Flickr, Messenger, del.icio.us and more.
Most Web users probably use at least one Yahoo product on a regular basis. So as part of our 100 Days For Yahoo week, let’s take a look at 10 that are among the leaders in their particular market segment, or are particularly innovative. These are subjective selections, because it’s almost impossible to use objective criteria to judge such different web properties. So we encourage you to comment on what you think should be in the list, or what shouldn’t. Also note that the following list is in no particular order.
Source: Read/WriteWeb
Microsoft’s HD Photo Almost a Standard
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We posted back in March about Microsoft’s newest photo format, HD Photo, formally known as Windows Media Photo, although it’s tentatively being called “JPEG XR”. In short, it’s supposed to provide superb image quality without hogging half as much disk space. Vista already has support for the file format, although I don’t believe it’s being used other than internally right now. In the coming months, sixteen national standards groups will vote on whether or not the format will become a standard. If successful, and considering the fact that it’s set out to replace the JPEG format, it might not take too long before it becomes commonplace.
The “XR” in the name refers to the extended range of tones that the format can represent compared with traditional JPEG, one of many advantages Microsoft claims for the technology. JPEG can describe each component of red, blue and green color in a pixel with 8 bits of data; because cameras typically shoot images with 12 bits of data, that means conversion to JPEG typically throws away information a photographer might want, such as details in shadowed faces or the subtle folds of white clothing. JPEG XR can store 16 or 32 bits of data per color for each pixel.
Source: USA Today
80GB Playstation 3 Available For Pre-Order
We knew the 80GB Playstation 3 would be hitting our shores, and it looks like EB Games may be the first to offer up a pre-order. Compared to the original PS3, the $599 seems great, considering it includes a larger hard drive and a game. Assuming the game can be had for $50, that means your 20GB gain is also $50. The ‘original’ console now retails for $499, so it’s up to you to decide whether or not Motorstorm and the extra 20GB gain is worth your $100.
It may seem a bit of overkill to pre-order a system that’s already available and hasn’t exactly been flying off shelves, but those who want to pay $600 for their game system as a matter of pride or only like a limited number of the PS2 games they own may want to act fast. — If some are to be believed, you may have less time to buy a $600 PS3 than you think.
Source: Joystiq
When Isn’t a Smiley Appropriate?
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When is it ok to use an emoticon, in this MySpace/FaceBook world? According to the New York Times… not too often. There’s a few real examples listed, one of which a woman’s business lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and was consoled with the help of a frown smiley. I agree with most of the article… like most things though, there is a right time and a wrong time for things. So it’s best you go scratch those emoticons off your resume.
In a survey of 40,000 users of the Yahoo Messenger instant-message program, 52 percent of the respondents were older than 30, and among those, 55 percent said they use emoticons every day. Nearly 40 percent of respondents said they first discovered emoticons within the last five years.
Source: NY Times via DownloadSquad
iTunes Store Tops Three Billion Songs
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Apple is having an outstanding year, breaking records and constantly adding to their fanbase. While the iPhones initial numbers were impressive, it doesn’t come close to the news that iTunes has just hit it’s 3,000,000,000th download. That’s quite impressive… and according to my rough math, that’s about $3,000,000,000 that the store has been responsible for. One billion was hit in February 2006, two billion in January 2007. Nine months for one billion and now seven months for another one billion. Five more for another billion?
CUPERTINO, California—July 31, 2007 – Apple today announced that more than three billion songs have been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com). iTunes is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store featuring a catalog of over five million songs, 550 television shows and 500 movies. iTunes recently surpassed Amazon and Target to become the third largest music retailer in the US.
Source: Apple Press Release
Alfa’s 8C Competizione To Be Released In US
Sure, “Gorgeous” is one word, but if it had a middle-name, it would be Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. Many car enthusiasts in 1995 were upset at Alfa’s stop to exporting cars to the US, but can now pop a cork at the fact that they are coming back. The first model is what you see below, first unveiled in 2003 and has hardly changed… a very good thing.
Offered here is a 4.7-litre V8, pushing out 450HP which slides the 8C right into the supercar category. 0-60 performance is not known, but it doesn’t matter. If you are in this car, you will want to go as slow as possible to give people a chance to stare. Start saving up your pennies now. All 20 million of them.
Source: Jalopnik
Logitech Unveils G9 Mouse and Revised G15 Keyboard
Last week, there was rampant rumor floating around the web about a potential G9 mouse from Logitech. After looking over all of the info, it looked completely fake, so I refrained from posting any news about it. Well it turns out that, it’s completely true, but some of the facts that floated around were slanted.
This mouse promises to take customization to a new level, which explains the reason for the design change. According to Logitech, the amount of adjustable features on the mouse, including software, is unprecedented. The mouse includes two grips, precision and wide load. Yes, it’s really called Wide Load. Each grip has a different feel, so it’s up to you to test both and settle on one.
1600DPI not doing it for you anymore? No worries, as the G9 goes all the way up to 3200DPI. Is that needed? Of course not, but you will definitely have the advantage in bragging rights. Also included is a custom-color LED, which is one of the coolest parts of the mouse. Choosing from a spectrum of hundreds of colors, you can choose the one that sets your mood. These LEDs show such info as battery-life and DPI settings. Lastly, the mouse borrows a feature from the G5 (weight system) and MX Revolution (two-setting scroll wheel) to help make this the most customizable mouse ever. I admit, I -want- one.
The G9 is not the only new product being unveiled today though. The popular G15 gamers keyboard is also getting an overhaul, which includes native support from the ‘most popular games’ for the GamePanel LCD screen which is backlit and has a 160x43px resolution. Whereas the original had eighteen separate ‘G’ buttons, the revised G15 includes only six, which can be shifted more than once to scroll through all eighteen. Also new is the look, which you can see in the photo below:
The G9 mouse will be shipping this month for an SRP of $99, while the G15 will arrive in October also at $99.
Super Talent Ups DDR3 Ante… Again
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The DDR3 fight between manufacturers is now on. When DDR3 first launched in late May, the fastest kit on the market was courtesy of Kingston, settling in at DDR3-1375. Not too long afterward, Super Talent came and released an amazing DDR3-1600 kit. Then, OCZ beat out the competition with their DDR3-1800 kit. Well, it never ends. Super Talent regains the top spot with their latest DDR3-1866 kit. Of course, anything above DDR3-1333 speeds is probably wasted, but it’s fun regardless. Who will be first with a DDR3-2000 kit?
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of DRAM memory modules and flash storage solutions, today announced the world’s fastest production DDR3 kit. W1866UX2G8 is a 2GB Kit that is tested and guaranteed to operate at 1866MHz (PC3-14900) at extremely low latencies. The W1866UX2G8 Kit, the world’s first 1866MHz 2GB Kit (2x 1GB), supports ultra low 8-8-8-24 latencies. This Kit is built with the fastest available, carefully screened DRAM chips, and is hand tested as a matched pair on a dual channel Asus P5K3 Deluxe motherboard at its rated specs at 1.9 volts.
Source: Super Talent Press Release
Microsoft Works 9 to Be Ad-Supported
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Mary Jo Foley has news that Microsoft will launch their ‘budget’ office suite, Works 9, as a free and ad-supported product, similar to what Adobe plans to do with an online version of Photoshop. It’s unknown whether for sure it will be an online or offline application, but it’s likely to be the latter to better compete with Google Docs.
Nadella added that Works will be just “the first of the ad-funded software we are going to do.†When I asked for other examples of products might decide to make free and ad-funded, he mentioned Office Accounting Express — a product which is currently available as both a free download and as a component of certain Office Live paid subscriptions. He also said software downloads/shareware was another category ripe with products that could be free and ad-funded.
Source: ZDNet
Project Gotham Racing 4 Cities Revealed
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Despite being a PC hardware enthusiast, I am a huge console gamer and there is no genre I enjoy more than racing. PGR4 has many intrigued, and for good reason. It brings weather-effects into play and motorcycles… a huge step for the series. Joystiq has news of the official city list for the game which include Macau, Las Vegas, London, New York and even a Canadian level, Quebec. No surprise, but Nürburgring is back as well. As with most good news, there is some bad news as well:
The sequel to the Xbox 360 launch title will also boast weather effects, motorcycles and a Michelin-sponsored test track, with some of the returning tracks from the previous game seeing adjustments to enhance the flow of racing and prevent pileups. They will also be presented at a different time of day, though this aspect itself will not be adjustable. Posting in the official Bizarre Creations forum, a staff member noted, “You won’t see different times of day per city because this involves recreating all the textures again (one for day and one for night). Whilst this wasn’t a problem for our dev team, it was a problem fitting all this data onto a single DVD.”
Source: Joystiq
Original iMac Finally Dead?
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Dead in the sense that support has dropped, of course. Originally launched in 1998, the iMac was certainly a unique looking computer, which also happened to popularize USB ports. At that time, USB seemed incredibly impressive. September 18th is the day of doom, where support is dropped.. no parts will be available for purchase from Apple directly. This doesn’t mean that third-party vendors won’t have them, but chances are prices will go up, and parts will be harder to come by.
Come September 18 we’ll all be wearing black, mourning the death (or celebrating the life) of the slot loading iMac. Yes, the computer that brought USB to the masses and brought the Mac OS back into our hearts gets end of life’d on that fateful Tuesday. Once the 18th hits, Apple will no longer offer service parts or documentation to repair centers for this model iMac.
Source: CrunchGear
Teen Rebuilds Old PCs For Those Who Need Them
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Are you proud to be humble? Did you fix up 1,500 computers to give to deserving people? That’s what I thought. Jacob Komar has done just that. He created “Computers for Communities” in 2001 which means he comes close to fixing up one computer per day, saving it from hitting the landfill in the process. The story at ABC News is short, but sweet as they say. I have to hand it to Jacob… it’s quite commendable what he’s doing. I’ll be over in the corner sobbing about my own sad existence.
I was at my sister’s elementary school and I found out that they were throwing away a whole lab of computers just because they were outdated. First, I was like, “Well, wow, they’re throwing all these away,” like, you know, “This seems like a waste.” And then I kind of thought about it and I was like, “Wow, well, there’s got to be kids that don’t have computers at home.”
Source: ABC News
Vista to Become Less Painful to Use
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Microsoft is gearing up to release a “Vista Performance and Reliability Pack” within the next few weeks. Not surprisingly, it has been leaked around the web already, but be careful what you download since it wouldn’t be difficult for malious users to include trojans and the like with the download. I’ll sit back and what for the official launch. Various things are improved, including video driver support and gaming visuals. Hopefully this will take care of other nagging features of the OS to hold us over until a proper service pack is released.
Microsoft has released to Windows Server 2008 beta testers two new hot-fix packs for Vista which aim to improve the OS’s performance and reliability in a number of categories, fixing many of the mass-reported performance issues in Vista, along with some unexpected improvements.
Source: TechSpot
False Alarm: Target Still Selling HD-DVD
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Well, it looks like the entire internet, including us, blew another report out of proportion. We posted the other day that Target decided against selling HD-DVD movies at their stores, but in actuality, they will still be selling them in the regular aisles. The difference is that Sony paid a premium to have their movies sold on end-caps, which works well for impulse buyers. HD-DVD is still safe.
It turns out that the Target ‘exclusive’ for Blu Ray is *not* an exclusive. Sony bought some end aisle placement (normal in retail) and just called it exclusive. Target WILL continue to carry HD DVD products. I am told to expect a comment from Target next week.
Source: Major Nelson via Engadget
What’s Coming Up On TG? Part 2
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Last week, we kicked off a new news feature, where we periodically keep you in the loop of what to expect content-wise on the site. This past week was particularly slow for various reasons I won’t get into, but next week will be back in full swing. Early next week we will be posting our review of ASUS latest top-end motherboards, the Blitz Extreme and Blitz Formula, DDR3 and DDR2 versions respectively. Are they good? You will have to wait and see. As it stands, I really think they should be called Bling Extreme. I mean.. they have a waterblock over the northbridge!
Last week we mentioned that Greg had a killer Synology NAS review on the way, which is still in progress because of a recent firmware upgrade that unlocked many new features. This is a review you won’t want to miss. My Gigabyte 8600GTS review is still in the works and should be posted this coming week if all goes according to plan. It will be a good read for those who are looking for a mid-range gaming card that’s passively cooled. Up until now, we’ve never posted a review for an m-ATX motherboard, but that will change shortly when Rory posts his review for Gigabyte’s and ASUS’ 690 motherboards, based on the ATI chipset.
We’ve only scratched the surface on upcoming content, so stay tuned as there should always be at least one review or article that will pique your interest each week.
Yet Another Retailer Chooses Blu-ray
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It’s becoming increasingly difficult to think positive about HD-DVD, because yet another retailer has gone Blu-ray only, that retailer being BJ’s Wholesale Club. Just the other day, Target announced they would be Blu-ray-only, and all of this comes just a month after Blockbuster made the same decision. HD-DVD is going to have to perform a miracle it seems to keep in the race.
Another blow to HD DVD came today as BJ’s Wholesale Club will bounce the format from its shelves in the fourth quarter according to VB, a Variety company. Just like yesterday’s news about Target going with Blu-ray players, if Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club went Blu-ray it’d be a much bigger deal, but BJ’s is a large company on the East Coast (particularly the North East). BJ’s will continue to sell HD DVD format products on their website.
Source: Joystiq
Kazakhstan DSL: $3,355 Per Month
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Whew, I am never, ever, EVER complaining about internet price again. Ars Technica reports that the land of Kazakhstan, made famous with the help of Borat, has DSL internet available for $3,355 per month. Yes, for the price of a nice BMW in the US, you can get DSL internet for one year in Kazakhstan. Bear in mind also that the average monthly wage is $399 there as well, which makes the number all the more extreme.
Most users (and only four percent of the country even has access) hook up through state-owned Kazakhtelecom, a company not concerned with competitive pricing for its services. An unlimited dial-up plan costs about €82 ($111) in a country where the average monthly wage is €292 ($399). As for DSL, an unlimited 1.5Mbps connection costs €2,458 ($3,355) a month, and doesn’t even included the required ADSL modem. Want a 6Mbps cable connection? It’ll cost you, to the tune of €16,144 ($22,032) a month. As the OSCE report drily notes, this is more than a thousand times the price of such a connection in Western Europe.?
Source: Ars Technica
Rockstar Developing Exclusive Franchise for Playstation 3
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Playstation 3 owners finally have a good reason to get excited: Rockstar is creating an entirely new series exclusive to the console. Microsoft pays $50 million to Rockstar for exclusive rights to extra GTA IV content, and Sony gets a complete series, just like that? Sounds like a sweet deal. Of course, details of the series are scarce. No name, no genre and of course, no screenshots. Has there been a horrible Rockstar game lately though?
Everyone knows to have success in this business you need to look ahead, identifying the talent and titles that are going to give consumers new kinds of gaming experiences that help set the bar for the rest of the industry. Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that. We have had incredible success with the GTA franchise and are happy to continue to offer those titles on our platforms, and even more excited about what’s to come from the current and future relationship between our companies.
Source: Playstation Blog
Microsoft Drops Add-In HD-DVD Price, Adds Free Movies
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Although HD-DVD is having a rough time proving itself lately, neither Toshiba or Microsoft are willing to give up without a fight. In an effort to push the format, Microsoft has announced a $20 price drop for the player, which will occur on August 1, landing it at $179. To make that sweet deal far sweeter, there will also be a deal tied to it that offers five free movies, from a selection of fifteen. Considering each movie costs a minimum of $20 to begin with, that means you essentially get the player for $79. Not a bad deal… at all.
While the add-on player has come bundled with a single HD DVD disc in the past, this new five disc promotion extends the HD DVD camp’s “Perfect Offer,” which was previously exclusive to consumers buying Toshiba HD DVD players. The program allows consumers to choose five HD DVD titles for free from a selection of 15 popular titles through a mail-in offer.
Source: High-Def Digest
Another Blow for HD-DVD, Target Chooses Blu-ray
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Blockbuster made huge news last month because they stepped forward and chose Blu-ray as their format as choice. Immediately, consumers wondered who would be next to jump on the Blu-ray train, and apparently that will be Target. This is a blow to HD-DVD, although they still have room to prove themselves. One thing is for sure… Sony is not regretting their decision to include Blu-ray capabilities with their PS3.
Target would not say why it decided to sell only Blu-ray players in stores. Sony is paying a fee to have its products featured in the end-of-aisle display, called an endcap, although Sony executives said the retailer contacted them about the decision. “We are not proclaiming one format vs. the other as the preferred consumer technology, and software will continue to be available to our guests in both the Blu-ray and HD DVD format,” Target spokeswoman Brie Heath said.
Source: Forbes
Xbox 360 Version of GTA IV is the “One To Buy”
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We mentioned back in June that Microsoft paid Rockstar $50 million to have exclusive rights to GTA IV’s exclusive content, and apparently Rockstar themselves are saying that there specific reason for owning the PS3 version. Microsoft plans to sell the extra episodes via Xbox Live, because quite frankly, they want to see that $50 million again.
“They’re identical games,” Simon continued. “We’re not hardware makers, and we’re not like a pawn between these companies, we try not to be as much as we can. We make great games for people to enjoy on whichever system they want. But I guess if you want the complete experience with the episodes, then yeah, you should buy the 360, I suppose,” Simon said.
Source: GamesRadar
Ten Free Self-Destructing E-mail Services
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Ever want to send someone an e-mail discreetly? Ever want to sign up for some internet service that “requires” an e-mail address without giving your real e-mail? Of course you have. But where to look? Tech blog ThinkAbdul lists ten sites that can help you out. Visit, create a fake e-mail, do what you need to do, and the e-mail will vape after a certain amount of time. Simple, and effective.
An embarassing email sent years ago might come to haunt you today just when you thought it must have been deleted permanently. Self Destructing emails delete the original message once it has been read by the recipient. While they are not completely fool proof, for example, someone can take a photo of the message with the camera, the record on the Internet does not remain.
Source: ThinkAbdul