2007-11-30
Posted by MobiG @ 2:42 pm
As the holiday season fast approaches, we’ve been getting questions from readers regarding which portable games console they should buy for themselves, their friends or their kids. It’s hard to believe that there are still people out there who haven’t decided on a side in the PSP/DS war, but here are a few factors you should consider before splashing your cash either with Sony or Nintendo.
 
Traditionally the Nintendo has been seen as the young-persons’ choice, but this year a range of “brain training” games has pushed it into the eyeline of the adult and even elderly market. The clever controls - undeniably more innovative than the PSP’s, with both the usual D-pad and buttons as well as a touchscreen and stylus - have given games designers more flexibility, and its backward-compatibility with Game Boy Advance titles mean there’s a healthy, and cheap, back-catalogue to choose from.
On the PSP’s side, however, are the media and processing capabilities which have made Sony such a contender in the lounge gaming market. While UMD-based movies may have bombed, the handheld can still play films and audio stored on Memory Stick or streamed wirelessly from a PS3. Recent sales figures from Japan show that PSPs there are being snapped up, with 250,000 sold in the four days following the redesigned Slim & Lite’s launch and, although it lacks the catalogue of classic titles, more recent games on the PSP - usually aimed at a teenage audience - score highly in reviews.
Both consoles have wireless, allowing for multi-player gaming, but the DS edges ahead a little with many multi-player games requiring only one game cartridge. Pair the PSP with a PS3, however, and you can make use of Remote Play, which lets you access media and games on your home console wherever in the world you have a WiFi signal. As for add-ons, the PSP can be augmented with a TV tuner, GPS, camera and more, but of course these are not necessarily cheap options and some require imports since not all are officially available outside of Japan.
Many find the DS better for impromptu gaming, with the handheld working well in snatched moments on buses and waiting in queues; on the other hand, some have accused DS titles of lacking the in-depth gameplay that is available on the PSP. It’s very much a matter of taste, and if you’re buying for anyone other than yourself then it could be worth asking them whether they settle down for longer periods or see themselves gaming more casually.
Of course, for some it will come down to price: the PSP Slim & Light comes in at $169.99 while the Nintendo DS undercuts it at $129.99. In the run up to the holidays retailers will be clamouring for your business with bundled games, cases, and the ubiquitous “travel pack” (which usually consists of a travel charger, some sort of case and maybe a screen-protector). Here at SlashGear we’d recommend the DS for younger or significantly older would-be gamers, who should be well catered for by the simple interface and drawn in by the quirky, easily-grasped games. For teenagers and media junkies we’d lean toward the PSP: its integration with the PS3 is fantastic, the games on offer are nicely biased toward those willing to invest time and effort, and it certainly has the power to see it supporting top titles for some time to come.
Which handheld would you recommend, and why? Let us know in the comments - but try to keep it focused on the hardware, and not let it get personal!
Relevant Entries on SlashGear Copyright © 2006-2007 SlashGear
Posted by MobiG @ 2:09 pm
Plans are to have a private public beta for the first week of December and then to release a public beta the week after that. Meaning the plans for a public release by January should still hold.
If you’ve been reading SlashGear for any time at all, then you probably have heard our underlying disgust with Vista as an operating system, its not because we are all Mac fanboys or because we are afraid of change, I know at least on my behalf I even gave the OS a try, and it just sucked, literally, the system resources from my system. And I kind of liked the things Vista had right, but if I can’t bring my brand new system out of a slow creep due to the OS, then something is seriously wrong.
Regardless, I am hoping deep down inside that SP1 makes it a truly usable OS again. I am using it again (for now) on a new laptop I just got, it came with Home Basic and I upgraded it to Home Premium, if all goes well with it, I might give it a go on my desktop again, but I doubt it, I like the control I have over my PC and how it works with XP.
Word is that if the Release Candidate that will be released to certain public beta testers in the first week, and everyone else the second week of December, works out then that could be what gets released. Also, you shouldn’t expect any speed gains from this update, just better/more compatibility and some bug fixes.
Windows Vista SP1 RC could go public in mid-December [via downloadsquad]
Relevant Entries on SlashGear Copyright © 2006-2007 SlashGear
Posted by MobiG @ 1:58 pm
Filed under: Handsets, China Unicom, Apple, OS X, China Mobile  Barely a fortnight after Apple began talking with China Mobile about getting the iPhone into the ginormous Chinese market, it seems that negotiations are off -- or still on, or something. Yesterday, Nanfang Daily reported that China Mobile's CEO felt that the "iPhone model was not suitable for China," but unnamed reporters suggested that the real reason behind the call-off was the inability for both entities to agree on -- surprise, surprise -- a revenue sharing model. Today, however, a report over at Bloomberg notes that Apple has in fact not ended discussions with China Mobile, and moreover, it was said to have "denied newspaper reports" claiming otherwise. 'Course, we've got two sides of the story here, and while Apple may feel that there's still room to negotiate, China Mobile may see things quite differently. Time will tell, we guess. [Via Macworld] Read - Nanfang Daily report Read - Bloomberg report Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments 
Posted by MobiG @ 1:34 pm
Zonbu, the company that brought you the uber cheap desktop that had a monthly subscription fee attached to it is now bringing you a notebook with the same deal. The biggest difference is you get a whole notebook instead of a dummy terminal with everything being based online.
Although you do still get all the online services, the custom OS, and the cheap price at the cost of a monthly subscription fee, you also get a fully fledged laptop. Its an Everex featuring a VIA C7-M 1.5GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, a 60GB HDD, DVD-ROM, 128MB VIA Chrome9 graphics, and WiFi in b/g flavors.
Not bad for $279 and $15 a month. I have yet to look at the contract terms, but I am sure there is something in there to keep you from buying the laptop and a month of service for under $300 and then ditching the service and installing your own OS. It is a good deal though for those who can’t be bothered to mess with things like off-site backups, virus software, and firewalls, this service would pretty much take care of all of that for you as well as connect you to a good amount of online storage allowing you remote access to your files and the ability to share them with friends and family.
Zonbu 15.4-inch laptop unveiled [via PCLaunches.com]
Relevant Entries on SlashGear Copyright © 2006-2007 SlashGear
Posted by MobiG @ 1:23 pm
So the BGR has some unconfirmed specs for the potential new RIM device known as the BlackBerry 9000 series. They say that one of the devices in that series will have at least these specs, but probably more.
Lets start with the screen which is either 480×320 or the other way around 320×480, no word whether it will be a touchscreen, or what will happen to the keyboard with that large of a screen. It is rumored to have a gig of on board storage, and an Intel XScale PXA270 processor running at 624MHz, which is a bit up from the 620MHz ARM processor in the iPhone.
Furthermore, it is said to have GPS and WiFi, as well as GSM and 3G via HSDPA. The camera is still sitting at the rumored 2 megapixels, but there is supposedly talk of a 3.2MP cam by the time this thing launches. Other than that, it will have all the features of OS 4.3 enabled, and possibly more whether it be through modifications to OS 4.3 or a totally new OS.
BlackBerry 9000 specs revealed, our early Christmas present to you [via boygeniusreport]
Relevant Entries on SlashGear Copyright © 2006-2007 SlashGear
Posted by MobiG @ 1:10 pm
Its not quite as small as a Mac Mini, and the pricing on a Mac Mini might be a bit more convenient too. The NOVA P22 is a 2-liter PC weighing in at 1.78 kilos.
It has a Core 2 Duo E6320, a gig of RAM, a 160GB HDD, and a DVD burner. It also appears to come with a media center remote signifying a possible TV tuner, and since it comes with Windows Vista, its probably Vista Home Premium or Ultimate to make use of the Media Center app.
The PC also has Bluetooth and Dolby Digital Live audio technology, which means it should be a great fit for your home theater set up. On a side note, at the same time as this announcement, they announced a Pink Asus Eee PC for sale in Taiwan. The Nova will cost you a hard-to-swallow $1020 USD if/when it lands stateside.
Asus Nova P22, Small but still not like an Mac Mini, and Pink EEE [via akihabaranews]
Relevant Entries on SlashGear Copyright © 2006-2007 SlashGear
Posted by MobiG @ 12:42 pm
This little headset has apparently won tons of design awards and stuff like that. Anyways, it comes in 8 colors ranging from pastel to somewhat metallic.
They last for an advertised 8 hours of talk time and 180 hours of standby time which is pretty amazing. They look nothing like a Bluetooth headset either.
The only thing I don’t like is the company’s site where you cant find a single picture from any other angle except in the flash ad on the front page where you can’t really see anything. But, they do have a picture of a model wearing one, and it doesn’t look too uncomfortable, which is good since that’s what some of their awards were for. If you want one, it will cost you $80, you can get it here.
The Flamingo: strut around in colourful Bluetooth headsets [via shinyshiny]
Relevant Entries on SlashGear Copyright © 2006-2007 SlashGear
Posted by MobiG @ 12:23 pm
Well, first off the parental controls that everyone threw a fit about not to long ago. Then add to that the Xbox originals and social networking features.
The new news is the news feed from xbox.com (maybe at some point we’ll be able to add our own RSS feeds) and you can get yourself a full profile with added info. Movie trailers are finally going full screen and more codec support for enhanced video (is the 360 getting the same DivX compatibility upgrade as the Media Center Extenders?).
Lastly, dashboard navigation is said to be easier with dedicated Game Store and Video Store buttons. We’ll find out everything in a few days on December 4th, until then, we’ll just keep making educated guesses.
Xbox 360 fall dashboard update deets [via CrunchGear]
Relevant Entries on SlashGear Copyright © 2006-2007 SlashGear
Posted by MobiG @ 10:52 am
 This affordable messaging phone features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Other features include a VGA camera, Bluetooth, speakerphone, and voice dialing.
Posted by MobiG @ 9:32 am
Sometimes when given choices like going to the museum and see some fine art or drinking beer and watching the game, we choose the less classy road. It may not be because we don’t want to walk around looking at things and struggling to understand them or it might be that we just want to imbibe some alcohol. If the latter is more your style then you’re in luck, there is a way to get the best of both worlds.
Artist Hannes Broecker has created the ultimate masterpieces for the drunk within us all. His ‘interactive’ artwork, found in Dresden, Germany, will inebriate and stimulate you. The wall-mounted containers are each filled with a different alcoholic concoction and ready to fill your glass as you pass. With service like that, these pieces are definitely worth a second look.
I hope this is a traveling show because I know of more than a few people who’d go see this with me. The only thing left to wonder about is: do they charge to sample the artwork, how many times can we ‘view’ each piece and what happens when the containers are empty?
Wall Art That Will Get You Drunk: A True Masterpiece [via Gizmodo]
Relevant Entries on SlashGear Copyright © 2006-2007 SlashGear
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