« Food and Drink | Main | Music »
The PSP Phone From Sony and BT
The PSP is
set to become a phone, Internet browser and video conferencing tool thanks a
new deal between Sony and BT.
BT and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
(SCEE) have signed a four year deal to help transform the PSP by adding
wireless broadband functionality including high quality handheld video calls,
voice calls and messaging. The announcement confirms rumours that Sony was planning to expand the
PSP beyond its gaming and entertainment roots.
There are
24 million PSPs around the world, 8 million of them in EMEA. A deal like this
is certainly going to give some Apple honchos something to think about, just a month
before the official US launch of the iPhone.
BT will be
Sony's lead wireless communications 
partner across 102 SCEE territories but the
UK – for a change – will be the first the to get the new PSP extras. Whenever
it arrives, that is, since no date has been set. The technology used will based
on BT’s IP-network, 21CN, and will add BT Broadband and other ’softphone’
products to the PSP.
Sony
recently launched its clip-on Web-cam, the Go-cam [pictured] and it’s now good to know
that the PSP with added wireless broadband features, will be able to do more than just capture that video.
Steve
Andrews, BT chief, mobility and convergence, commented: “The PSP is an
excellent device for both gaming and communications, because of its high
quality screen and audio capabilities. With over 8 million PSPs shipped across
Europe, we are very excited by the opportunity to give customers a whole new
communications experience, connecting and seeing friends across the world
through BT’s technology.”
The First OLED Keyboard Costs £790
The long-awaited and elusive Optimus Maximus keyboard, featuring
innovative OLED displays on each of its 102 keys has just gotten its price tag:
£790.
The stunningly expensive keyboard from Russian designer, Art Lebedev,
has been the stuff of legend for the past two years and has undergone a number
of changes in its roller-coaster development. 
Most notably has been the
inability of its maker to stick to a deadline, with the keyboard arriving over
a year later than originally planned.
However, in three days time people with the best part of £800 to spare
will be able to pre-order the Optimus Maximus for delivery in November. The
small, 48 x 48 pixel displays under each key can be programmed using special
software to display different images.
The high cost of the keyboard has been attributed to the cost of OLEDs,
which worked out at around £4 per key. Only 200 keyboards are expected in the first run
but expect them to sell fast, despite the heart-stopping price tag.
We prefer the Steampunk Keyboard anyway.
news technology gadgets keyboard oled
Ground-breaking ‘Spore’ Delayed
Spore, the brainchild of Will Wright, the legendary creator of such
innovative titles as 
SimCity and The Sims, will allow players to create and
control the evolution of an entire race from their humble cellular beginnings
through to conquering space.
The bad news was dished up at a pre-earnings briefing, where it was
revealed that Spore will not impact on EA’s 2008 financial year, which ends in
March 2008. EA attributes the delays to quality control. EA CEO John
Riccitiello said:
“Spore is a title we have enormous confidence in. I've had the chance to
review the title three times in my short return to EA and it looks fantastic. I
will also tell you that its release will be right up to the bubble in Q4 [of
fiscal '08], if not sometime in early fiscal '09 so we don't feel comfortable
in forecasting it.”
Find out more about Spore here.
World’s Fastest Graphics Cards On The Way
nVidia has announced what many are claiming is the fastest graphics processing unit (GPU)
in the world for PC gamers and enthusiasts.
The new GeForce 8800 Ultra takes over at the top of the range from the
current GeForce 8800 GTX , already considered to be the fastest GPU on the block for use in high-end graphics cards.
The new card promises a 10-15 per cent 
performance boost but
you can expect to pay through the nose for the privilege since the new card
will cost around £450, or more, when it hits the streets in a few weeks.
It boasts a massive 768Mb of dedicated graphics memory and has been
specifically tuned to work with the latest DirectX 10 software from Microsoft.
DirectX 10-optimised games include Hellgate: London, Lost Planet, Crysis and
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, among others.
Still, £450+ is a lot to ask for a graphics card, especially when the existing 8800 GTX card is so close in performance terms. In fact, gamers can now now download nVidia's nTune tool for safely overclocking the GTX card, which can close the performance gap even more.
Sony Sacrifices Goat At Game Launch
Sony is hot water again this week after featuring a freshly slaughtered
goat at the European launch of its latest game, God of War II, last month in
Athens.
Characters decked out in furs, topless chicks and others gathered around
the grisly centerpiece where launch attendees were invited to fish around in
the goats stomach for offal to eat. In other entertainments, attendees got to
throw knives at targets and yank live snakes from pits with their bare hands.
The images of 
the event appear in the latest issue of the official
Playstation magazine but the uproar has led to many copies being withdrawn from
circulation. Animal rights groups and others have been up in arms, so to speak,
ever since the event.
A spokesperson for the International Fund for Animal Welfare said:
“We
are always opposed to any senseless killing of an animal and this sounds like a
gruesome death. We condemn Sony's actions. It is stupid and completely
unjustified.”
Sony issued the following statement:
“Sony does not condone or sanction
any inappropriate behaviour by its staff or sub-contracted staff. It has come
to our attention that at the God Of War II launch showcase, an element of the
event was of an unsuitable nature. We are conducting an internal inquiry into
aspects of the event in order to learn from the occurrence and put into place
measures to ensure that this does not happen again.”
It seems highly surprising that Sony management could be that clueless
about the launch plans for one of its biggest titles.
[More]
playstation sony console games PS2
Gamers Get Hi-Tech Bean Bag
The traditional
Bean Bag has well and truly been pimped with the arrival of the Slouchpod
InterActive XT gaming chair.
The
Slouchpod is essentially a Bean Bag with a lot of in-built functionality,
including a digital control panel for controlling games consoles, MP3 players,
TVs, DVD players and stereos. 
To bring all that gaming and audio to life
though, it also boasts a pair of 5Watt speakers and a 10W subwoofer.
In terms of size it’s almost 80cms wide by a 33cms high and is "fire retardant to UK standards", which is reassuring since your butt will be the first to know about any electrical faults. The bag comes in six flavours from black, red, white and cream to the more lurid lilac and pink.
You may also need to save a little harder since this futuristic Bean Bag will set you back £299.
Nintendo Wii Still Thrashing The PS3
The woes of the PS3 continue as the console minnow, the Nintendo Wii,
continues to be the star seller in the US, and around the world.
According to the latest sales figures from NPD, US consumers snapped up
259,000 Wii consoles in March compared to 199,000 Xbox 360s and just 130,000
PS3s. However, none of the above were the biggest selling console.
That coveted position went to 
Sony’s last-generation console, the PS2,
which sold 280,000 units last month, thanks to some price cuts and the launch of
the highly anticipated God Of War 2 game, which sold over 830,000 copies in the same
period. This is not the first time that the PS2 has outsold its shiny new
successor.
The PS3 figures show that Sony only managed to increase sales in March
by a disappointing 2% over February. A
Sony statement said:
“We continued to find ourselves supply constrained in March due
primarily to the shift in manufacturing focus to the PS3 PAL version to support
the launch of the system in Europe.”
The Wii has so far sold a massive 5.8 million units globally and Nintendo plans to sell 20 million of them by this time next year. This is possible, but only if Nintendo manages to sort out its own chronic console shortages.
Lord Of The Rings Goes Online
World of Warcraft may be the Sauron of online roleplaying games (RPGs) but
there’s a new band of Hobbits in town hoping to drag a few million players into
a new world.
The most eagerly awaited online RPG, Lord of the Rings: Shadows of
Angmar, launched 
yesterday and hopes are high that millions of fans of
Tolkien’s books and Peter Jackson’s movies will take up the quest.
In development for four years, this is the first online game based on
Tolkien’s world and invites players to enter the world as an elf, dwarf, human or hobbit. The game environment
looks stunning and players will have more than enough chances to fight back the
Orc and goblin hordes, stand toe-to-toe with a cave troll, tackle the Witch
King, meet Gandalf the Grey or stop for a few flagons of ale at the Prancing
Pony.
David Solari, Vice President and General Manager of Codemasters Online
Gaming said: "It’s great that the many, many fans of this incredible game
can begin their heroic adventures through Middle-earth. The response so far has
been nothing short of stunning and we’re hugely excited about launching this
unique game and look forward to it having a profound effect in the
market."
Out now, the standard edition of the game costs £25 online, with
30-days free play, after which a montly fee applies. There’s also numerous special and limited collector editions too.
games lord of the rings PC online
HDTV Sales Set To Soar
Seeing as you can barely find a fat CRT TV on the High St. anymore, it’s
not surprising that high definition TV (HDTVs) sales are set to rocket.
According to Strategy Analytics, sales of HDTVs and high-definition (HD)
video devices will jump 158% in 2007 to reach 28.1m units. By 2012, 70% of
European homes will own at least one HD-capable telly, up from just 8% in 2006.
In addition to that, most HDTV customers will also buy a HD set-top box, movie
player, games console or digital media player too.
“Europe's high definition TV transition is well under way,” says David
Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics. “European consumers are
beginning to buy HD-capable devices in huge quantities and there is a terrific
opportunity for content providers and distributors to meet the growing desire
for HD programming.”
The report compared adoption forecast models across different emerging
HD device segments. It also claimed that by 2012, 44% of European homes will
own HDTV receivers, like set-top boxes or integrated digital TVs. By that time 27%
will have HD digital media players, 26% HD disc players, and 15% HD portable
devices.
Asda May Sell Cut-Price HD Players
Supermarket chain, Asda, could soon be selling cut-price high-definition
(HD) DVD players if a rumoured deal by its parent company, Wal-Mart comes off.
Wal-Mart has reportedly inked a $100 million deal 
with a Chinese
manufacturer to supply it with 2 million high-def players, which it will sell at
the knock-down price of $199 – or £100. That’s less than a third of what the
cheapest Toshiba player costs. However, since much of this news is coming from
Asian sources, it’s not exactly clear whether or not the players will be HD DVD
or Blu-ray machines.
The players will come from Great Wall Corporation in China, with parts from Taiwan’s Fuh
Yuan and Japan’s TDK. Broadcom will supply the system-on-chip decoder. Asda has been working hard to boost sales of electronics equipment and it's highly likely that some of those players will make their way over here.
If, true, this deal could
radically change the nature of the high-def format war, not least by opening the
door for more, cheap players to arrive on the scene. If the Wal-Mart player is
HD DVD, it would certainly help that camp close the gap with Blu-ray, which
seems to be edging ahead – especially now that the PS3 is here.
