Living now on the west coast, I am used to waking up, checking my email and being greeted by new and interesting (though sometimes expected) pieces of news. Yesterday, I woke up to an email that was far from what I could have imagined. Along with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Bundle which is a great play to try and get people to purchase a Wii U by remaking a legacy title and presenting it as something new, Nintendo also announced the Nintendo 2DS. That’s right. The 2DS.
Now at first glance, it definitely sounds ridiculous. The Nintendo DS was a success so it spawned the Nintendo 3DS which brought 3D to handhelds. Even after a shaky start, Nintendo was able to pull it together and make the system a success. And now they announce the Nintendo 2DS. It will be a fixed unfoldable design and play the 3D content exclusively in 2D. What? Why take away one of the key features of the 3DS by removing the 3D?
If you want the latest news about updates and improvements to Google services, you won’t find a much better source than Vic Gundotra. As Senior VP of Engineering for Google, he’s privy to pretty much everything that happens at the company. And he likes to share.
So, when he touts a new update for Google+, we listen. In fact, that’s just what he did this morning. According to his post, the update introduces a new navigation drawer that is “more consistent with other Google apps.” In addition, notifications will now sync across devices so you no longer have to see the same notifications from device to device if you’ve already dismissed them.
You also get a new notifications tray with a bell icon that lets you know if there’s something for you to see as well as unread and read trays. So, some nice improvements. This update should start being availbe today for Android and the web with iOS update to follow.
For things like movies, TV shows and games, it’s pretty easy to get excited about a certain product when you see a trailer or other prmo-type material. Movies, TV programs and games are tangible things we have a lot of experience with so we pretty much know what we’re getting into. Then there’s something like Google Glass.
This is a product so different and, at the moment, so scarce, it’s difficult to really know what to think about it. Is it the “next big thing” or is it jus another fad that will disappear as fast as it appeared? Time will tell.
What does help answer this question, at least a bit, is all the videos and more Google are putting out about Glass. In this latest one, a pretty comprehensive ‘How To”, Glass’ features and use are explained in detail.
The video shows you how to navigate the UI with the side touchpad, adjust the display for optimal viewing, and put the device to sleep to help conserve battery. It also gives a better look at the whole experience than what we’ve seen so far.
We’re still not convinced that Google Glass is the “next big thing” and/or a “must have.” However, it is nice to see more of what Google has in mind for the product. Who knows, if they keep this up, they might just convince us after all.
As fans of Apple and its products, we love things like this. Sure, these kinds of results should be taken with a grain (or three) of salt, but still, it’s kinda cool to see and makes us love Apple stuff even more.
What are we talking about? Well, this week ZDNet reports that based on a new study from Soluto, which uses “data from its massive online database of PC crashes, hangs, and performance metrics to identify the 10 most reliable Windows PCs you can buy today”, the most reliable Windows PC in the world is a 13″ Retina MacBook Pro running Windows via Boot Camp.
How abou that? According to the study, the MacBook Pro is “at the top of the list” with other hardware like the Acer Aspire E1-571, the Dell XPS 13, the Dell Vostro 3560, the Acer Aspire V3-771 and Apple’s 15-inch Retina-equipped MacBook Pro taking the next spots.
What about other vendors like Toshiba, Lenovo or market leader HP? Yeah, they don’t even crack the top ten. Sad, but true.
So, if you need to run Windows and are looking for the best, most reliable hardware out there to run it on, guess you should get a Mac. We’re not really surprised. We could have told you that.
Like all good things done by Nintendo, it’s time for special edition hardware. With the Pokemon franchise being possibly the most recognizable mobile game in the world with its original GameBoy roots, Nintendo is bringing the pocket monster flair to their behemoth (only in terms of importance, not size) pocket based console.
Retailing for a cool $199.99, the Pikachu themed 3DS XL will come with a 4 GB SD memory card and be available in limited qualities. From the look of the above image though, it may only be the top of the 3DS XL that features the Pikachu treatment as the hinge appears white, meaning the actual body of the system may be white as well.
Today at a press conference in San Francisco, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced some new hardware that’s sure to be on many kids (and kids of all ages) Christmas lists this year. Among the most anticipated announcements was Apple’s new iPad, dubbed the iPad Mini, a smaller verson of its mega-selling iPad.
The company also announced new, improved iPad, updated iMacs, updated Mac Mini and much more. The biggest announcement, of course, was the ipad Mini. The new, smaller, iPad is only 7.2mm thick, 25% thinner than the larger iPad, and weighs just 0.8lbs.
It comes in black and white models, and it’s screen resolution is 1024 x 768 just like the first iPad and iPad 2, but the screen size is 7.9-inches. 4G LTE support is available for the cellular model, an Apple dual-core A5 processor, a FaceTime HD camera on the front, and 5 megapixel iSight camera on the back with 1080p HD video capture.
It starts at $329 for the Wi-Fi model and goes up from there. Still, not bad for what you get.
It seems the people who actually make parts for many of our shiny toys (like the iPhone 5) are up in arms again. This time, they decided to riot and, of course, there’s video. Approximately 40 people were injured and 20 were arrested and so far nobody is really sure (or they aren’t saying) what caused the riot.
Preliminary reports suggested the incident began after a security guard struck a worker during anti-Japan protests. The plant, which manufactures magnesium alloy components and LED lighting products, has been closed following the incident.
Other reports say as many as 2,000 workers were involved and according to Foxconn the incident was triggered by “a fight among workers from different production lines,” but the company noted it is “still investigating the cause of the fight and the number of people involved.”
I wonder if we’ll ever know what really happened? Our guess is probably not. Check out the video after the break.
Well, surprise surprise. It seems Verizon has decided that if you’re willing to pay for an iPhone 5, you should be able to use it on other carriers besides theirs if you wish.
What am I talking about? Well, according to a report, the iPhone smartphones coming from Verizon are unlocked and can be used with any GSM carrier in addition to Verizon’s network.
I’ll let that sink in a minute. Okay, but what does it mean? Well, it means you can slap in a SIM card from AT&T or, most likley T-Mobile or another GSM carrier in Europe or wherever, and use the iPhone 5 on their networks as well.
Unfortunately, you won’t get 4G LTE due to the differences in the way the carriers work, but you will get 3G and the ability to make calls, text, etc. Not bad. Not bad at all.
While the gaming world somewhat anxiously awaits the release of the successor to the PS3 (aka the cleverly named PS4), Sony has something over there in its right hand to distract you. What is this something you may wonder?
Why, it’s a brand new version of the PS3 of course. That’s right, today the company announced the CECH-4000 model. It will be 20% smaller and 25% lighter than the previous model and will also ditch the slot-loading optical drive in favor of a disc-tray that slides open sideways.
The new PS3 will come in two versions: a 250GB that will sell for $269.99 and a 500GB that will sell for $299.99. The 250GB model, which launches on September 25th, will be sold in a bundle with the game Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and will also come with a $30 voucher for digital content for the game DUST 514.
Interested in the 500GB version? You’ll have to wait until October 30th for that one when it comes out as a bundle with Assassin’s Creed III.
So, anyone interested in a smaller, lighter, tray-loading PS3 or are you just gonna wait for the PS4, which is expected sometime next year? Supposedly.
