iPhone 4G: What to Expect

Iran's defence technology

Iran is much more developed their defense technology. Watch it....

The iSlate: What Apple doesn't want u to know

The iSlate: What Apple doesn't want u to know........
 

Sony X-Series laptop review

The Sony X-series laptop is a sleek, stylish device that delivers on both looks and performance. Pity about the high price...

Army of Two: The 40th Day: Video Game Review

Army of Two: The 40th Day may be shallow and derivative but it is nevertheless a fun, full-throttle shooter

Formats: Xbox 360 (tested), PS3, PSP
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: EA
Released: 15 January 2010
Score: 7/10

Dark Void video game review

Dark Void has all the right ingredients for an engaging tale of high adventure, but it's let down by bad design and lousy presentation.

Format: Xbox 360 (version tested), PS3 and PC
Developer: Airtight Games
Publisher: Capcom
Released: 22 January 2010
Score: 5/10

Nexus One: Too Much Hype, Not Enough Marketing

Poor Nexus One. Despite earning mostly positive reviews and becoming an obsession in the tech blogosphere, the Google phone reportedly sold just 20,000 units in its first week. That's just 10 percent of the Motorola Droid's debut sales.
If those figures are correct -- they're not official, but calculated in a roundabout way by market researcher Flurry -- there a few takeaways as to why the Droid had better early commercial success than the Nexus One. You could argue that in-store Droid sales trump the Nexus One's online-only distribution, or that Verizon Wireless is a bigger carrier than T-Mobile, translating to more potential customers.
But even if you could buy the Nexus One in stores, and on Verizon Wireless, Google's marketing would still be problematic. Google plans to focus its marketing efforts online, within its own pages, the Wall Street Journal reported. That includes Google home page promotion (though I don't see any at the time of writing this), search ads and a Nexus One channel on YouTube. It's a very Google-like outlook on advertising, where all you need is a little online message here and there to make an impression. Verizon, meanwhile, relentlessly used the Droid to bash the iPhone, and AT&T. It approached the stage with the cockiness of a professional wrestler And it worked.
Google's approach just doesn't stack up. Phones are more than just a purchase. They're your constant companion, probably for two years, and like it or not, they convey a message and a lifestyle. The Droid's lifestyle is that of a manly man who favors function over form, unlike that pretty princess iPhone. The iPhone's image is one of smug satisfaction: Can your phone do this?
Google's in a tough position with the Nexus One, because it can't really knock either of those phones. Obviously attacking another Android phone makes no sense, and iPhone-bashing probably isn't in Google's best interests, because so many Google services -- Search, Maps, YouTube -- are tied up in the iPhone. Verizon can get away with an anti-iPhone campaign, but Google, which is selling the Nexus One directly, cannot.
There's hope for the Nexus One. Perhaps Google's online marketing strategy will be a slow burn, sinking in over many months as word of mouth spreads. Verizon Wireless took the shortcut by bashing the iPhone, but the Nexus One has a long road ahead.

Source: PCWORLD

'Roxxxy', world's first sex robot introduced

New Jersey company TrueCompanion and Hines has developed the world’s first “sex robot”. The robot called ‘Roxxxy’ has different personalities and responds to the sense of touch.
Roxxxy, is a female robot which acts as a life partner or mate for those who can’t find the 'real thing'. TrueCompanion claims Roxxxy “can carry on a discussion and expresses her love to you and be your loving friend. She can talk to you, listen to you and feel your touch.”
TrueCompanion introduced its first robot, Trudy, in 1993.

Google Nexus One Vs. Apple iPhone

Promoting and directly marketing HTC's latest new Android phone under its own brand, Google has taken the fate of its Android smartphone platform into its own hands. How does the new "superphone" mass up to last summer's iPhone 3GS?

AppleInsider has presented a series of articles on how Android stacks up against Apple's iPhone OS as a platform in general terms. In this article, we'll consider the hardware specifics of the latest offering from Google's partner.

Meet your maker

While the tech press likes to say Google designed the Nexus One "with HTC," Google executives clearly gave all the credit to HTC at its introduction, saying "It’s inaccurate to say Google designed the phone. Peter [Chou] and his team [at HTC] built and designed the phone. Google is just marketing and selling the phone."

The phone is nearly identical to what HTC itself sells under the name Bravo in Europe, apart from the placement of its buttons. Google's impact on the Nexus One's specs is far less significant than even Microsoft's original Zune, which while being based on the Toshiba Gigabeat, was at least given a design update and noticeably different software that rendered it incompatible with other PlaysforSure MP3 players. In contrast, the Nexus One is very clearly a Google-branded HTC phone, and there are no intentional, artificial compatibility barriers with other Android platform devices.

HTC has a history of building higher-end PDA-style phones, often with physical keyboards, large screens, and envelope pushing hardware features. Most of its phones have been designed to run Microsoft's Windows Mobile, and are therefore targeted at that platform's core market of IT staff and gadget enthusiasts. HTC has served as Microsoft's primary licensee, building 80% of the Windows Mobile phones to reach the market (although many of these were sold under different brand names, just as Google is now doing with the Nexus One).

The company also built previous generations of PDA-style phones sold by Palm, prior to the debut of the new WebOS-based Pre. But HTC's history as the leading maker of Windows Mobile phones is what positioned it to be the first major manufacture to launch an Android phone, because Google targeted its relatively new Android operating system at hardware reference designs running Windows Mobile, in much the same way that popular desktop distributions of Linux are geared to run on Microsoft's reference design for Windows PCs.

Magic, Dream, Hero, Passion

Google launched Android 1.0 in October 2008 with HTC's Dream (sold as the T-Mobile G1), then followed up with HTC's second generation Magic (the T-Mobile myTouch) last summer, and then the HTC Hero (also sold with slight modifications as the Verizon Droid Eris) last fall. It's therefore nothing out of the ordinary that the newly released Nexus One running Android 2.1 is also being sold under other HTC names in other markets.

Unike earlier HTC models, the new Nexus One does not pair the stock Android OS with HTC's "Sense UI," a user interface theme HTC added to the stock Android both to differentiate its offerings and to solve some rough edges in the Android interface, such as the look of its virtual keyboard. HTC also applies Sense to its Windows Mobile phones which makes HTC's Android phones look and feel more similar to the company's other products than to those of other Android makers, including Motorola's Verizon Droid and the upcoming Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.

Overall, this fractionalization has resulted in making the Android platform less similar to commodity Windows PCs and more like PlaysForSure devices in terms of being unique to their manufacturer rather than offering a largely identical experience between vendors. With Android 2.1 however, Google seems to be signaling the intention to fold in many of HTC's Sense improvements into the standard OS, which should help streamline the platform at the expense of HTC's differentiation.

The Android balancing act

It remains to be seen whether Google will continue to work to neutralize the differentiation efforts of its partners in order to strengthen the Android brand, or whether it will continue to encourage vendors to create their own look and feel independently, as Motorola did with Blur and Sony Ericsson is expected to do with its upcoming phone.

On the other hand, it is in HTC's interests to create reasons for customers to pick its phones over those of other competitors. The company already advertises its Android and Windows Mobile devices under the same ad campaign, direction attention to its own brand rather than to either licensed operating system. Further, at CES the company unveiled a new initiative to release a series of lower-end smartphones based on BREW, Qualcomm's proprietary alternative to Java.

That indicates that despite its shift from Windows Mobile, HTC isn't betting its future on Android. Additionally, it shows that Android itself doesn't do enough to allow phone makers to hit low price points. Successful Android phones require a fast processor and significant RAM and other system resources to be taken seriously.

Finding one operating system to span from the bargain bin to the high end has similarly been a challenge for Nokia, which uses its own simple Nokia OS, the more sophisticated Symbian, a full distro of Maemo Linux in its Internet Tablets, and Windows on its netbook. Samsung has also announced plans to juggle Windows Mobile, Android, and its own Bada platform. Most other makers also have a variety of operating systems, leaving Apple, RIM, and Palm unique in pushing one single OS.

Motorola has announced an intention do to this with Android, but is already facing a rather direct blow from Google and its new branding partnership with HTC. On the other side, Google is also planning to add its new Chrome OS into the mix as a way to enter the significantly different netbook market, which will splinter efforts by its current licensees who already have Android netbooks and tablets under development.

The company has also announced a clear intention to turn its hardware partners into commodity manufacturers, leaving Google with control of all the value across their products, much as Microsoft did to PC makers in the 90s. This is all a precarious balancing act challenge Apple doesn't face.

Android super-Hero

Unlike most of its Windows Mobile phones, which nearly always supply a physical keyboard, HTC's Nexus One builds upon the previous Hero/Droid Eris form factor to deliver something that's closer to the iPhone, but which still supplies a trackball pointer rather than relying on ubiquitous multitouch for navigation. The result is a something of a middle ground between the gadgety PC experience of Windows Mobile and the slick and refined appliance experience Apple provides.

In many ways, the Nexus One is HTC's answer to the Motorola Verizon Droid, which stole the spotlight this winter as Google focused on it and left HTC's Hero (Verizon Droid Eris) to serve as a runner up to be given away for free with Droid purchases. HTC's Hero was also relegated to running an older version of the Android OS, as Google launched Android 2.0 on the Droid exclusively.

As with the Droid, the Nexus One's hybrid design of being an iPhone-like touchscreen but still sporting a Windows Mobile-like array of touch sensitive buttons and a physical trackball results in the problem of making it easy to inadvertently fall back to the home screen while attempting to type. "we found ourselves consistently accidentally tapping them while composing an email or text message," Engadget complained. That review also said the unit's "[trackball] placement feels a bit awkward here, and there's literally nothing in the OS that requires it." In contrast, the iPhone 3GS uses a recessed home button that is difficult to hit accidentally.

The Nexus One now brings the Android 2.x platform to HTC's product lineup, although existing Hero/Droid Eris users will have to wait as long as this summer before they can obtain the latest update from their mobile provider. Apple regularly releases updates that all iPhone users can install as soon as they become available. Again, the layers of differentiation that Android partners are adding (like HTC's Sense, Motorola's Blur, and support for unique hardware) tend to complicate and slow the propagation of Android updates for users.

New Features

The Nexus One carries forward the basic iPhone-like design of the earlier Magic and Hero, adding a suite of new features such as a fast new processor, noise canceling audio, a better camera supporting 720p HD capture and playback initial reviewers have noted that HTC's camera works much better than the Droid's, which was plagued by focusing issues), a higher resolution screen, and a new OLED display like the Zune HD.

The display resolution of the Nexus One now almost matches the Droid, although it does so using an OLED screen. This may be why it uses a 480x800 resolution rather than the Droid's 480x854, adding some extra complication for Android developers who now have three different popular resolutions to account for on the platform (earlier models use the same 320x480 resolution of the iPhone).

As we noted in regard to the Zune HD, OLED technology results in a screen that promises to save power and which looks exceptional in low light. However, reviewers have actually reported that, like the Zune HD, the Nexus One's screen is terrible to the point of unusable in bright light, with Engadget writing, "Oh, and using this thing in daylight? Forget about it. Like most screens of this type, the Nexus One is a nightmare to see with any kind of bright light around, and snapping photos with it on a sunny day was like taking shots with your eyes closed."

At the same time, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, who has been using the phone for weeks, complained that he "found battery life to be woefully brief," and that users should "be prepared to keep this phone near a charger at all times," regardless of its rated battery life and the energy saving potential of its new display.

Google's Zune

In addition to OLED, the Nexus One also shares other engineering choices with the Zune. Unlike the iPhone and the iPods before it, which are all designed to power down the screen as quickly as possible the moment you stop interacting with it, the Nexus One debuts Zune-like flashy effects that assume you'll be staring at the screen even while listening to music. These include new interactive graphic background effects and music visualizers which require the screen to be on in order to notice them, an engineering decision that, like Microsoft's Zune, indicates more interest in delivering Vista-like sizzle than the practical, functional utility that Apple trends toward.

For Apple's products, anything that distracts from core features or doesn't add tangible value is a potential casualty. The company canned the latent audio recording features on the first iPods and initially delivered a simple black and white screen. The iPhone's user interface is rich with animation effects, but they are all targeted at enhancing its navigation and overall feel, not to decorate the screen with superfluous candy.

There are also more practical features the Nexus One holds over last summer's iPhone 3GS: the camera has an LED flash, which is handy when taking close ups in dim lighting; the camera also has a higher rated resolution, but that isn't necessarily an improvement when you're using a tiny CCD chip, as packing more pixels into a tiny sensor can result in more grain noise and greater file sizes without actually improving the shots you can take. The noise cancellation feature sound promising and valuable, and there's also a novel speech recognition feature designed to serve as an alternative to the virtual keyboard. Engadget called it "marginally successful."

The phone is also faster; it's rated to be significantly faster than the Droid, but only slightly faster then the iPhone 3GS when loading web pages. In JavaScript rendering, the iPhone 3GS actually came out ahead in some tests. One would expect that the very latest Android phone using the most advanced ARM processor available would perform significantly better than last summer's iPhone 3GS and just narrowly better than the Droid.

This indicates that Apple's software provides significant performance optimization, something that last year's Palm Pre also demonstrated. That model used the same chip Apple put in the iPhone 3GS, but failed to achieve the same performance. This does not bode well for competitors once Apple debuts its own optimized ARM cores under development within the company's PA Semi subsidiary.

Missing Features

Despite being almost a year ahead of the iPhone 3GS in an industry where performance and capacity can often double on an annual basis, the Nexus One doesn't do a lot of things Apple's phone did last year. Like the Droid, the Nexus One doesn't do hardware encryption, meaning that most Microsoft Exchange shops will refuse to support either model (unless you can convince your company to downgrade its default security policy). The iPhone 3GS does support Exchange's default policy settings, which require device encryption.

The Android OS also can't handle moving purchased software titles from Android Market into the devices' Flash RAM storage (which on HTC and Motorola devices, like other phones developed for Windows Mobile, is provided primarily on removable SD RAM cards). This results in a significant limitation for developers and for users who want to run sophisticated mobile apps such as games. Google as been aware of this issue for a long time, but only commented that it has plans to address it at some point in the future.

Until that happens, growth of the Android Market will be artificially handicapped as Apple's App Store juggernaut further establishes itself as the best way for developers to make money and for users to find the latest, richest, and most regularly updated games, serious applications, and software-integrated hardware peripherals. Speaking of which, the Nexus One doesn't have anything comparable to the iPhone's Dock Connector, which has given birth to an ecosystem of iPhone and iPod related peripherals. Instead, the Nexus One only provides a mini USB connector.

Microsoft copied Apple in creating its own hybrid connector supplying power, USB, audio, and video signals for the Zune, but also demonstrated how difficult it was to build momentum behind such a standard. Google, partnered with a variety of hardware competitors under Android, neither created a standard hardware connector for Android nor one for its own branded version of the HTC Passion/Bravo. There is a docking mechanism of some sort, but no details on when the dock will be made available and what capabilities it will have in the absence of a hybrid connector.

The iPhone 3GS also supplies a consistent multitouch user interface that is used throughout it bundled apps. Google has only added limited support for this in the Android OS, and apps that can make the most use of "pinch to zoom" type features don't consistently offer it to the user. That includes Google's own web browser, which has become a primary feature of smartphones. The Nexus One also lacks the iPhone 3GS' automatic focus, white balance, and exposure set by the user's touch.

The Network

It's often said that the biggest problem with the iPhone is its association with AT&T, at least in the US. That being the case, it's hard to see how the Nexus One improves upon things by either limiting users to an even less complete network on T-Mobile (which suffers from serious problems both due to its less penetrating higher frequency radio spectrum as well as its much smaller network, primarily concentrated in urban areas) or asking them to revert back to 2007 and forgo 3G service completely to use the phone unlocked on AT&T.

Google promises a Verizon version to follow, but hasn't said when, hinting only that it is likely around the same time Apple is expected to bring the iPhone to CDMA carriers using either a worldmode or separate CDMA chipset. The reason behind this vagueness is likely related to Google's efforts to balance its love between carriers and hardware partners. Users interested in the Nexus One but wanting a Verizon phone are directed to the Droid.

Of course, the iPhone is also limited to working on AT&T or in EDGE-only mode on T-Mobile (if users incur the risks involved with cracking the carrier lock). It remains to be seen whether Google can keep users satisfied with T-Mobile's network and avoid the same criticism Apple gets for partnering with AT&T. If it can, Apple may be more likely to offer a new version of the iPhone that works with both AT&T and T-Mobile's 3G networks.

Reception

When Apple debuted the iPhone 3GS last summer, it all but silenced any talk out the Palm Pre, which up to that point had stoked lots of enthusiastic anticipation. Observers immediately shifted their attention to other potential rivals to the iPhone, and Android began receiving much of that attention. The Hero and then the Droid took turns basking in the Android spotlight last winter, and have now been eclipsed by the Nexus One, with general consensus being that this model is the "Droid-killer."

At the same time, Apple has continued selling its iPhone 3GS, shifting focus only slightly to the complementary iPod touch. Now Apple is stoking hype surrounding its expected Tablet launch, while continuing to sell and promote the same iPhone model. This pattern of Apple conquering new territory with blockbuster releases that occur only once a year while rivals throw handfuls of new models under its tank treads appears to be continuing with Android.

Google appears to be purposely fractionalizing its brand by pitting itself against each of its hardware rivals while also assigning Android credibility to Verizon with the "Droid" brand, and associating "with Google" to anyone who agrees to put its apps on their phone. While the iPhone brand has remained globally famous for going on three years now, Google is making Android an umbrella term that doesn't necessarily mean anything really good or bad while its partners also pick a variety of model names that will only apply to specific markets and or providers.

But the point of a brand is to associate a name with a strong reputation and consistent level of quality. It's not clear how Nexus One will do that for Google, no matter how much success it can generate before Android's attention spotlight shifts to another model. Additionally, by launching the marginally new HTC model with the hubris of "superphone" attached to it, Google risks associating itself with an embarrassing failure that will impede its ability to grab legitimate attention in the future, another similarity it shares with Microsoft's Zune.

Source: AppleInsider

Google Nexus One Specifications & Features

MSI launches two new Gaming notebooks-Bringing advanced processing technology to your notebook

Laptop specialist MSI launched its two latest GX series notebooks at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, purpose-built for gaming addicts on the move. The new GX640 and GX740 machines come equipped with a high-specification designed to run the latest gaming titles smoothly and with the portability of a notebook.

"In the months leading up to CES we've seen huge advances in software and hardware, including Windows 7 and the new Intel Core i5 Arrandale processor and Calpella platform.” At the world press launch MSI's president Joseph Hsu alleged, “We're extremely proud to announce notebooks that make full use of this technology to significantly outperform their predecessors."

The Taiwanese manufacturer's notebooks come with MSI's own Turbo Boost technology which diverts system resources, using Intel's own Hyper-Threading system, for the fastest gaming experience, no matter what background operations are running.

Machines Features:

• Built-in with Intel Core i5 Arrandale,
• Built-in with Window's 7 operating systems,
• Latest Graphics Media Accelerator HD system to run the latest PC games smoothly,
• ATi's Mobility Radeon HD 3D graphics card,
• Radeon HD 3D graphics card supports DirectX11 and renders game graphics in spectacular definition,
• 25.6" LCD screen,
• Five speakers, two above the keyboard, two along the front and a woofer to bring to life deep explosions in the base,
• GX series notebooks promise to make your games sound great despite the machines ultra slim proportions,

The notebooks shouldn't cause any humiliation if you flip one open in a trendy cafe having scooped Germany's iF Product Design Award - the design equivalent of an Oscar.

The W, A, S and D keys - vital for game controls - have been highlighted in red to make them easier to spot and a luminescent touch sonsor control panel and independent number pad also improve game control.

The MSI GX640 and GX740 notebooks will be available in the UK from March 2010 and prices start from £999.

Nexus One review

While Google’s Android has powered other phones, this is the first one where the search giant has specified the design. The pencil-thin Nexus One is built to feel like a genuine object of desire.

And the Nexus One offers features the iPhone lacks, too – the camera’s resolution is 5mp, compared to Apple’s 3mp, there are satnav capabilities built in that cost Apple users extra, and a fast processor means the Nexus One operates quicker than any phone currently on sale in the UK. Web-browsing is impressive, although in the UK is likely to lack the multitouch capabilities that have been available on previous versions of Android. Automatic online synchronization of camera photos is also impressive. It’s effective voice operation, for controlling the phone and writing emails, however, that is the most surprising feature. This is the first time I’ve seen a version of that technology that is genuinely useable.

In the burgeoning market for additional applications, however, Apple’s iTunes Store offers 115,000 compared to the 20,000 or so in Google’s Android Marketplace. That means that there are currently far more games, tools and clever tricks available to iPhone owners. As more phones start to adopt Google’s operating system, however, Android is likely to catch up fast. And while Android can run a number of Apps at once, the iPhone can’t.

Does the Nexus One feel quite as well put together as the iPhone? No, although it’s close enough to make no meaningful difference. What Android handsets can’t do, however, is plug in to your music collection as seamlessly as an iPod or an iMac. And that’s the biggest problem Google faces – an iPhone is a web-browsing, every song in your pocket, phone call making pleasure to own. It’s part of an entire ecosystem, with accessories, covers, speaker systems and even ties that are built to house iPods.

But the Nexus One does plug in effortlessly to the web, social media, email, calendar, search and contacts functions; perhaps the company that dominates web search should simply start making the computers as well.

CES 2010 Flashpoints: The platforms for the next decade in electronics

Every year, the Consumer Electronics Show is a gauge of the directions in which platforms are moving, a barometer of the evolution of functionality. In no doubt, we see ample of tidy toys, many of which wind up either being for kids or making us feel like kids. And definitely, we hear ample of slackly coupled metaphors that play to our need to be excited, like how a certain device unleashes connectivity or harnesses the power of disruption -- phrases that read like they were assembled using that word game you play with refrigerator magnets. The devices, known as tablet computers, have screens of between 7in and 10in in size, and dissimilar traditional laptops, they use an on-screen "virtual" keyboard, like that used by Apple's iPhone, rather than a physical keyboard.

From March Apple is likely to open its own tablet computer, alleged to be named the iSlate and competitor computer makers are thought to be keen to expose their designs ahead of any Apple press conference.

Freescale, A US company, has shown off a archetype device that could be used by other electronics manufacturers to create advanced tablet computers that will cost less than $200. The 7in touch-screen tablet turns on quickly and connects instantly to the internet via Wi-Fi or the mobile phone network, and provides a full day of battery life.

Dozens of other manufacturers will also use the Consumer Electronics Show to showcase their tablet devices. Notion Ink, an Indian manufacturer, will unveil its tablet computer, which runs Google's Android operating system and features an energy-saving 10in scratch-proof touch-screen, and will allow users to watch high-definition video on the move, and to surf the internet and send emails. Dell might also launch an Android-based tablet device, while gadget fans will be hoping that Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, uses his keynote speech on Wednesday evening to share more details about the Courier, a dual-screen tablet computer and ebook reader that Microsoft is rumoured to be working on.

"Missing link" between PCs and smartphones" Henri Richard, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Freescale, said "The PC has been stale in terms of its ability to innovate. Smartphones have been making progress, but they have limitations," he said.

Analysts at DisplaySearch expect the tablet computer market to be worth $3.5 billion by the end of the year, a significant figure for an emerging device category. "We're talking about a brand-new market," said John Jacobs, a senior analyst with DisplaySearch.

The tablet revolution is being driven by the growing ubiquity of wireless internet connections, and consumers' desire to surf the internet and watch videos on devices that are bigger than a smart phone, but smaller than a conventional laptop.

Glen Burchers, director of consumer product marketing for Freescale, said his company's tablet computer was aimed at people aged between 12 and 30, who wanted a web-friendly device with a bigger screen than a smart phone to surf sites such as Facebook and YouTube.

"The tablet is the newest category of mobile device, and we believe it has the potential to be the fastest-growing," he said. "Everyone who uses the internet finds value there."

Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2, Best Selling Game On Amazon

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the hugely popular video game which had sold 1.4 million copies within 24 hours of being released in Britain, has topped Amazon UK’s list of top selling items in 2009.

Amazon.co.uk has revealed that Modern Warfare 2, is one of the two video games, second being Fifa 10, that have gotten 2 slots in the list of top 5 best-selling items on Amazon this year.

Brian Mcbride, the managing director at Amazon.co.uk, said that "Clearly with the success of Nintendo's Wii console, many families have a games console somewhere in the house. It's no longer just for teenagers. Lots of the family sit around and play games."

Modern Warfare 2 which incidentally has received a 94 percent aggregate by Metacritic, edged out the DVD of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to get the top spot on the list which placed the DVD of Michael McIntyre Live 2009 on the third position with SanDisk 8GB SDHC Secure Digital Card and Fifa 10 getting the 4th and 5th position respectively.

Sony Ericsson W395 review

The Sony Ericsson W395 is a budget music phone that channels the music playing skills of the outfit’s Japanese parent, and stuffs them into a cheery handset with a low pricetag. But is it low enough? Read on and find out in our full Sony Ericsson W395 review.

If you’re in the market for a simple Sony Ericsson phone which will double up for your music on the commute, you’ll be right at home with the Sony Ericsson W395. Build wise, it’s a fun little phone to pop in your pocket. The slide is smooth and snappy, the keypad is quick for firing off SMS missiles, and the two megapixel camera is borderline passable for slapping on a PC screen. There’s no 3G though.

We love how the Sony Ericsson W395 echoes the look of Sony’s Walkman line more than any other phone from the mobile spin off, from the curved edges to the central track controls and dedicated Walkman button. The speaker is surprisingly good too, and the battery will go for more than a few days before needing a top up.

Beyond this though, there’s little new on the software front. There’s no Google Maps and there’s not even Facebook – all you can do is send pictures to Blogger.

You can probably guess what our main problem with the music oriented Sony Ericsson W395 is though. In fact, the only people who can’t are the design team at Sony Ericsson, who, even after eight long years have still not learned to put a 3.5mm audio port in, so you can use your own headphones.

The bundled buds don’t sound too bad, but are horribly plasticky, and come with a call answering toggle so high up the cord, it may well tug one of your buds out of your head. Oh, and needless to say, the memory card slot is Sony’s Memory Stick Micro format, so you can’t just swap out the microSD card on your current phone.

We’re tired of moaning about Sony Ericsson’s persistent design flaws now. There’s little wrong with what the Sony Ericsson W395 tries to do, but that limited feature set doesn’t quite cut it any more. If you’re already on a low end Sony Ericsson phone, there’s little impetus to upgrade here.

Sony's PlayStation 3 Got Sales Boost From Final Fantasy XIII

Sony's PlayStation 3 got a boost from last week's launch of "Final Fantasy XIII" as Japanese consumers snapped up special-edition consoles to give the PS3 its best week since a relaunch several months ago, according to data released on Friday.
Sales of the PS3 totaled 237,086 units in the week of Dec. 14 of which about 92,000 units were a "Final Fantasy XIII" special edition offered by Sony, said Media Create. "Final Fantasy XIII," the latest installment in the long-running Final Fantasy series, launched on Dec. 17 so the figures cover its first four days on sale.
The weekly sales easily outpace those of recent weeks and are higher than those of early September when Sony relaunched the PlayStation 3 in a slimmer case and with a lower price tag. The PS3 sold 152,000 units during its relaunch week, according to Media Create.
The relaunch helped breath new life into the PlayStation 3 platform and push sales higher in the last three months. The PlayStation business remains a money loser for Sony but the company has targeted 2010 as the year it will return its gaming operations to profitability. The launch of games like "Final Fantasy XIII" plays an important role in this plan.
The "Final Fantasy XIII" software scored a major success for Square Enix with sales of just over 1.5 million copies over its first four days, said Media Create.
Sony is also attempting to widen the console's appeal.
Services such as movie rentals are being added to the PlayStation 3 and will be expanded next year with the addition of TV shows and other content. Sony has also pledged to offer a software update that will bring the capability to play back 3D content on Blu-ray Disc.
Sony's chief rival in the Japanese market, Nintendo, scored second place for the week. In the software chart its "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" ranked with 567,890 copies sold while the Wii console chalked up sales of 191,915 units, said Media Create.
Media Create estimates game software and hardware sales from point-of-sales system data gathered from around 3,000 retailers across the country.

Google's Nexus One Details: What We Know So Far

Google's pretty good at keeping its Web and search developments secret, but it's quickly learning that hardware's a different beast, as details on the Nexus One, a.k.a. the Google Phone, are leaking all over the Internet.

The Official Story

Google has developed an Android phone exclusively for its employees, for the purpose of testing and collecting feedback. An unnamed hardware partner has created what Google calls a “mobile lab” to “experiment with new mobile features and capabilities,” with employees around the globe chipping in. Everything else you've heard, from the name to the photos to the specs, comes from unnamed sources via the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Engadget, Gizmodo, Boy Genius Report and others.

The Specs

According to Engadget, the Nexus One measures a little over 0.45 inches thick, and has a 3.7-inch OLED touch screen. It could possibly run Qualcomm's 1GHz QSD 8250 “Snapdragon” processor, and has 512 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM and a 4 GB microSD card included, expandable to 32 GB. The camera has a 5-megapixel sensor, mechanical auto focus and LED flash, and could also include 2x optical zoom (this wasn't mentioned in a hands-on report from Gizmodo). Unsurprising frills include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, accelerometers and a compass.

The Interface

I'd recommend you check out the YouTube video, which was uploaded yesterday. The Android 2.1 interface isn't a dramatic change over Android 2.0, but it looks smooth given the shaky camerawork. A hands-on report from Gizmodo notes that the phone is considerably faster than the Droid, and even beat out the iPhone in multiple Web page loading tests. The screen is also noticeably better than that of the Droid, despite being the same size and resolution. This could be the rumored 1 GHz processor at work. Multitouch was not evident in the browser or map.

The Carrier

Reuters has reported that in addition to the usual carrier subsidy route, Google will sell the Nexus One unlocked and unsubsidized, but all signs point to T-Mobile as the carrier of choice. The HSPA 900/1700/2100 support cited in Engadget's specs suggest that only T-Mobile's 3G service will work on the phone, so AT&T users would be stuck with the slower EDGE.

The Price and Release Date

A T-Mobile source tells PC World that the carrier won't have anything to announce at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, so don't hold your breath. We don't know how much this phone will cost, and suggestions that the Nexus One will subsidize itself with ads are just speculation. A rumor at Android and Me says the price will be $199, but it's a vague report that doesn't describe how the subsidy will work. For all that we know about the Google phone, its business model -- arguably the most interesting thing about it – remains a big question mark.

Blu-ray Players for $300 or Less

As their prices fall, Blu-ray Disc players add streaming media capabilities to their already state-of-the-art high-definition image quality.

Today's Blu-ray Disc players do a lot more than play Blu-ray movies. Even so, they cost much less than they did a year ago.

Every model on our Top 10 Blu-ray Disc Players chart has an ethernet port for accessing Internet-based supplemental disc content via BD-Live. Seven of the ten support Web-based streaming media delivery.

Widgets and Web services are now a major feature of Blu-ray players. Rather than buy a dedicated box to handle streaming, you can buy a Blu-ray player that combines the pristine high-definition images of Blu-ray and the instant gratification of Net­flix On Demand, YouTube, and other Web content.

Through Netflix On De­­mand, Netflix subscribers can access their Instant Queue over their TV. Other streaming services that one or more players we tested accommodate are Pandora Internet Radio, PlayStation Network, VieraCast (which includes Amazon On Demand and Picasa Vudu), and YouTube.

You'll get far superior im­­age quality from a Blu-ray movie than from a streamed video, even if it's a high-def stream, but still the streaming options are convenient and worthwhile extras.

Every model on our chart can read digital images and music files from USB or SD Card; some can read AVCHD camcorder video and other video formats, too.

Price drops are another big development in this category. A couple of premium-priced models hit the $300 mark, and a handful come in at $250, but a typical player now costs $200.

All of the ranked models produced enticing high-def images, but we noted differences in image quality and (even more) in how the players handled standard definition. There, the Panasonic DMP-BD60K and the Sony BDP-S560 earned top honors.

Disney's A Christmas Carol video game review

This video game should be enshrined in some museum as a litmus test for just how far a release of this kind can coast on festive goodwill. Before one is able to dissect its value as a piece of entertainment, one has to take certain considerations on board. This is a game aimed primarily at children and it is designed to be consumed while the Disney animated feature it's based on is still fresh in their memories. It's not intended (hopefully) to be too challenging, nor is it meant to occupy a space in any avid gamer's collection. It's design and content seem to indicate that it's meant to be considered only as a marketing peripheral to the new Disney film. One could argue that, at the very least, it introduces its target audience to a story by Charles Dickens, and this is no bad thing. However, depending on your level of Christmas cheer this Nintendo DS game is either a disposable piece of festive fun or a poorly designed cash-grab.

While the game's level of appeal may be open to debate, the paucity of its content isn't. The game's story mode takes just under an hour to beat and once that's been done there's precious little here to keep anyone entertained. The game follows the events of Dickens' classic tale with the player occasionally being called on to solve the odd puzzle to move the plot along. This involves shifting items on the screen around in a certain order with the stylus. There is usually one solution, or one sequence of events required to unlock the next stage of the story, so once the story mode has been beaten, there's very little reason to play it again. The puzzles are a mixed bag. Most of them are insultingly easy, but there are a couple which have solutions that aren't immediately obvious. In these instances, however, this is sometimes a due to a fault in design; one example of this occurred when we had to tickle Scrooge's feet and while placing the stylus exactly on the right point produced the desired effect, moving it a fraction of an inch to either side produced a dialogue window.

As A Christmas Carol's main story mode unfolds, the player will come across a selection of mini games. These are based around arbitrary activities such as playing cards, flicking coins and making Christmas dinner. The design of the mini games is patchy. The card games are quite good and the cooking game isn't bad. However, some of the games are frustrating and badly designed – stand outs in this regard include the snowball fight and coin flicking games which involve zipping the stylus across the screen with varied results. Another example of a poorly designed game involved using the stylus to tap out notes on a fiddle which felt muddled and unresponsive. As hit and miss as these experiences are, however, at least they don't hold up the game because, unlike the other puzzle games, players don't even have to beat the mini games to move the story along.

Aside from the main story mode, there's very little on offer. Players can replay the story mode's mini games separately, either by themselves or in multiplayer (pass the DS) mode. There's a selection of spot the difference puzzles packaged as an advent calendar and finally, the game also contains a copy of the original story in its extras section (along with the game credits and the cheat code entry point). The game looks the part. The animated sequences are nicely rendered and the character art faithfully represents one's expectations; Scrooge is a hunched miser, the Cratchits drip with wholesomeness and piety and the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future look like a cherub, Brian Blessed and the Grim Reaper respectively. However, none of the actors from the Disney film supply their voice talents for the game. The main story mode, instead, is narrated by Charles Cecil (of Broken Sword fame) who does a very solid job.

As nice as it all looks and sounds, however, one can't help coming back to how lightweight this game is. Even for a title aimed at a younger audience, Disney's A Christmas Carol is an anorexic package which offers very little in the way of replay value. The puzzles and mini games aren't challenging enough to be entertaining the first time round and once all the solutions have been worked out there's no reason to play it again. Ironically, the content which offers the most reward is the story upon which the game and the movie are based, and you don't need to pay full price for this video game to get hold of that. Players with low expectations may enjoy playing through this game a couple of times, but it will probably test the Christmas spirit and patience of anyone else.

Top 10 most anticipated video games of 2010

10. All the games that were scheduled for 2009

While 2009 was a fantastic year for games, we were rather shocked to see so many of the titles that were ear-marked for release this year get shuffled into next year's schedule. Chief among these were four titles which featured in our list of the most anticipated games from 2009 , God Of War III, BioShock 2, Heavy Rain and Alan Wake. Despite the delay in their release, all of them still look very promising. The games starring Kratos and Mr Wake were unveiled at E3, with the former looking satisfyingly brutal and bloody, and the latter showcasing a lot of crushing atmosphere filled with nerve-wracking thrills. Heavy Rain, for its part, is still garnering handfuls of praise for its mature approach to emotive video game storytelling, with, thankfully, not all of its plot details becoming common knowledge. The real surprise, however, is BioShock 2. When news of a sequel to 2K's highly acclaimed steam punk shooter emerged, it caused many to wonder out loud how it could possibly live up to the impossibly high storytelling standards of its predecessor. We can confirm, having been allowed some hands-on time with it, that fans of the original should start getting excited. BioShock 2 combines improved gameplay with even loftier literary ambitions than BioShck and, if our experience is anything to go by, it's set to be one of this year's best games.

9. Splinter Cell: Conviction

For a while there, it was beginning to look like gamers had seen the last of Sam Fisher. The latest instalment of Ubisoft's premier stealth title had endured a dispiritingly lengthy development period. The only results of this as shown to the public were a couple of previews in which the game's protagonist could be seen wandering around an inner city park covered in grubby clothes and shaggy facial hair. However, after yet another re-think, Splinter Cell: Conviction seems back on track. At E3, we were treated to a lengthy preview and Ubisoft's new game didn't disappoint. The emphasis on stealth is still present but the addition of the 'mark and kill' feature, low-tech equipment and Sam's overall darker demeanour makes Conviction feel like a far more brutal vision than previous Splinter Cell titles. We can't wait to get our hands on Conviction, but in the meantime, the memories of one of video game's most enduring heroes emerging from the shadows at E3, filled with fresh promise, will hopefully tide us over until the game's day of release.

8. Rage

id Software's new shooter has been in the pipeline for about two years now and news has begun to emerge that the game will finally see the light of day next year. The game's development and its march towards release has apparently been unaffected by the fact that its publishing rights have changed hands; ZeniMax Media, who own Bethesda Softworks and who recently bought id, picked them up off EA, who is now completely out of the picture. This will be music to the ears of shooter fans as Rage is id's first original game in over a decade and it's also the first to make use of the company's new Tech 5 engine. The game is set in the not too distant future in which the impact of a gigantic meteor has turned the earth into a post-apocalyptic hellhole. Rage is pitched as what a video game would look like if you crossed Mad Max with Fallout 3. Gameplay looks set to involve driving as well as shooting and the trailers currently making the rounds depict an exciting world filled with eccentric characters, vicious gangs and insane mutants. Rage's pedigree makes it look promising; after all this is a shooter produced by the people who brought us Doom and Quake, so what could possibly go wrong?

7. Halo Reach

Halo: Reach has the potential to be the defining moment in the franchise that established Microsoft's position in the console wars. When it was announced earlier this year at E3, details were scarce, but as 2009 draws to a close, the rumour mill has been working overtime. Set before the events of the original Halo titles, Reach follows the adventures of a team of six SPARTAN II soldiers during an epic battle in the war against the Covenant alien alliance. Seeing at it's a Halo title, we're going to go ahead and assume that the FPS action will be present and correct, that the multiplayer will be fantastic and that the story will be in keeping with the hokey space opera that has run throughout all the Halo titles. We already know it looks great, and really, we expect the best from Reach. After all, Halo was the game that established Bungie, and if the rumours that it's the developer's last outing with the Halo franchise are true, we can be sure they'll want to go out with a bang.

6. The Last Guardian

When The Last Guardian was finally revealed at E3, the beautiful footage of a young boy and his gryphon-like companion left nary a dry eye in the house. The soaring soundtrack tugged at the heart strings, and the burgeoning friendship between boy and creature captured the imagination of all in attendance. Who are they? Where are they going? And are those arrows protruding from the gryphon's back? Style, emotion and magic. Three things you can rely upon from a Team Ico title. Agonisingly little is known beyond that trailer, but given the developer's pedigree with Ico and the magnificent Shadow of the Colossus, we're expecting another wonderful ride.

5. Super Mario Galaxy 2

This was one of the two get-out-of-jail-free cards that Nintrndo played at its press briefing at E3 2009. Until one of the company's American head honchos announced that Super Mario Galaxy 2 (and a new Metroid title) were on their way, the presser was being chalked up as a damp squibb. Once the applause died down, expectations began to soar and they haven't come down since. The original Super Mario Galaxy is widely recognised as one of the best video games ever made for this generation of consoles and the prospect of its sequel is enticing to say the least. This could obviously work against Nintendo, because Super Mario Galaxy 2 will have to live up to such impossibly high standards. However, with the inventive minds of Nintendo's best developers hard at work, we fully expect the sense of wonder we had playing the original to be faithfully rekindled.

4. Starcraft II: The Wings Of Liberty/World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Blizzard is famous for taking ages to churn out its video games; Every IP that it releases into circulation is the result of years of developing, testing and tweaking to make sure it will satisfy the exacting standards of the Blizzard faithful - who are very used to waiting. This year, their patience will be rewarded because if BlizzCon 2009 was anything to go by, 2010 is going to be a busy year for Blizzard. The Anaheim Convention Centre which played host to Blizzard's annual party this year was filled with mad whoops and thunderous applause when company executives announced that not only would Starcraft II ship in the new year, but a new World Of Warcraft expansion pack was on the horizon. Fans have been waiting for over a decade for the second installment in the groundbreaking RTS sci fi game, and WoW players will line up in droves for Cataclysm - which is scheduled to tear apart the world of Azeroth later this year. Now, if Blizzard can get just Diablo III out the gate before 2011, they'll have accomplished an incredible trifecta.

3. Bayonetta

Bayonetta is a bespectacled witch who looks like a cross between Sarah Palin and a dominatrix from a high-end leather club. She carries a gun in each hand and firearms are attached to each of her stilleto clad heels. Her body is covered with a catsuit made from hair , which can transform into a dragon and attack foes. Every single thing about her is madder than a bag full of spanners, and if you can believe it, she is the least insane aspect of the game she inhabits. Bayonetta is a Japanese-made fighting game which boast an utterly insane, yet self-aware plot, amazing animation, a cheesy soundtrack and arguably the best control system for a game of this type. We have to recommend it because is so over the top, it's down the other side, through the earth's crust, straight through its core and out the other end. Then it blasts into space.

2. Red Dead Redemption

No one knows whether Rockstar Games has drawn a line under its Grand Theft Auto franchise, but we do know that its next open world adventure isn't set in Liberty City. For its first big release of 2010, the British developer has applied its extraordinary world-building talents to the Wild West in Red Dead Redemption.Rockstar has gone all out in its latest release; the game turns players loose in the great American wilderness, in which they’ll encounter wildlife, bandits, ghost towns, isolated farmlands, mountain ranges, rivers and frontier towns populated by settlers. In short, the living, breathing Wild West. There is, of course a plot, which tips its hat to classic Western conventions, and from what we've seen so far the the writing is as strong as in the best of Rockstar's titles. What ultimately blows us away, however, is how breathtaking it all looks. The pain-staking attention to detail in the look and feel of Red Dead Redemption makes the world it presents utterly believable and completely immersive. The year hasn't even started yet, but we're confident that based on what we've seen, and Rockstar's unimpeachable track record, Red Dead Redemption is going to be one of the best games we play in 2010.

1. Mass Effect 2

The finale of Mass Effect left the galaxy in turmoil. As Commander Shepard, it's up to you to stave off the ongoing threat of the 'Reavers', an AI lifeform hell-bent on destroying the species of the Citadel. BioWare's space-opera enthralled millions of gamers with its exquistely detailed galaxy and gripping tale. It wasn't without its technical quirks though, and BioWare have spent the last two years polishing the engine to within an inch of its life. Visually, it glistens, while the third-person gunplay has undergone a much-needed overhaul. But at the heart of it all is that bewitching space yarn, crammed with politik and intrigue, action and romance. This next chapter of the saga can't come soon enough.