Posted by Admin On March - 28 - 2011
Let’s get a few things out of the way: Yes, the Nintendo 3DS’s splashy glasses-free 3D is impressive. No, it won’t make you cross-eyed or blind. Yes, the 3D effect you’ve heard so much about creates clever and often fascinating gameplay. No, the preloaded games and apps and snazzy new features aren’t slam dunks. Yes, Nintendo once again built a piece of gaming gear that takes big risks, though while some pay off, others remain unproven. And yes, for the $250 Nintendo’s asking, you’ll probably want to buy one if you’re a steadfast Nintendo fan.
But only probably. If Avatar 3D wasn’t your thing, if you couldn’t care less about stereoscopic 3D, if you’d rather not fiddle with fussy menus or social networking apps or 3D pictures you can snap and share with friends, the 3DS probably isn’t for you. Let’s get this straight, too: The 3DS may be less a gaming handheld than a totable multimedia center, only one of whose activities happens to be gaming. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Admin On March - 13 - 2011
Nintendo’s 3DS has another trick up its sleeve for its glasses-free 3D handheld: a deck of augmented reality playing cards included with each game console.
The 3DS’s rear-facing camera can read cards when placed on a table, generating games or other events on the screen with the real world as the backdrop. In a private demo at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, I played a target-shooting mini-game and faced off against a fire-breathing dragon, which required me to dodge by shifting the console — and by extension, my entire body.
Nintendo said six of these cards will be included at launch, but wouldn’t say whether it will sell more cards in the future. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Admin On March - 12 - 2011
You’re going to buy an iPad this year. And once you open the box and turn it on, you’re going to do exactly three things. You’re going to use it to surf the Web. And then you’re going to use it to check your e-mail. And then you’re going to dive into the wide world of applications.
And you’re not going to want to start off by downloading spreadsheet software. You’re going to want to try some games.
Which ones? If you’re a consumerist, you’ll read the reviews. If you’re the social type, you’ll ask your friends. If you’re into words, you’re going to buy Scrabble. If you’re a capitalist, however, you’ll ask which games are making the most money. Those, no doubt, are the good ones. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Admin On March - 9 - 2011
Time to shove Dell into the tablet spotlight once again. A company executive revealed that Dell’s 7-inch Android tablet is about to launch.
“It was showed off at Oracle World by Michael [Dell, chief executive] last week and we’ll be launching very, very soon-within the next few weeks,” Dell Greater China President Amit Midha told the Wall Street Journal. Midha said “a whole slew” of 3-inch, 4-inch and 10-inch devices will follow in the next six to 12 months, some running Android, others running Windows. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Admin On March - 8 - 2011
PlayStation 3 owners will finally be able to watch movies in 3D by October, Sony CEO Howard Stringer promised during his speech Wednesday at the Internationale Funkaustellung (IFA) trade show in Berlin.
The work on the 3D software upgrade is now complete, and the upgrade will be done by October, according to Stringer. Users who have a 3D-compatible TV set and PlayStation 3 will be able to watch 3D movies on Blu-ray discs, Stringer said.
Just like the PlayStation 3 gave the Blu-ray format a push, it may now do the same for 3D content and hardware. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Admin On March - 6 - 2011
Scooping speculators, Engadget claims it can exclusively reveal Sony Ericsson’s plans to introduce a brand new gaming handheld. What’s more, the handheld will run “Gingerbread,” the codename for Android 3.0, Google’s mobile Linux/GNU platform rumored to be deploying already this October.
Last we checked, Sony Ericsson was working on an Android 2.0-based mobile, code named Rachael, and due to be announced later this year. That phone is part of the company’s XPERIA series, and includes a Windows Mobile-based X1 model.
Engadget describes this obviously more powerful Android 3.0-based model as a cross between the Samsung Captivate and Sony’s own ultraportable PSP Go games handheld. Imagine the Captivate’s screen with the Go’s slide out gamepad, in other words–essentially one more iteration of the Sony’s Mylo personal communicator. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Admin On March - 3 - 2011
Sorry folks, but if you invested in a first generation iPad, your tablet is officially old news, behind the times, yesterday’s headline, and all that jazz. As expected, Apple officially announced the iPad 2 today during a much anticipated press event in which everyone knew what was coming. What wasn’t known, however, is what exactly would separate the iPad 2 from Apple’s first generation tablet, or how the pricing would shake out.
Most of what was leaked out ahead of the launch turned out to be true. The iPad 2 maintains the same 9.7-inch LED backlit LCD screen as the original, only now the magical tablet is 33 percent thinner as it measures a scant 8.8mm, and up to 15 percent lighter, depending on which model you go with. It has a new dual-core A5 processor that’s supposed to be twice as fast as the previous chip, as well as graphics performance that’s nine times better than the original iPad. Even with the performance upgrades, Apple says the iPad 2 comes with the same 10-hour battery life as the original. Read the rest of this entry »
