Category Archives: News

Nintendo Wii Remote Plus comes stateside for $39.99, bundled inside celebratory red Wii console

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We knew it was coming, but Nintendo has made it official.  The Wii Remote Plus (or the newly designed Wii-mote with the MotionPlus accessory built inside) is coming to U.S. Wii players for an exciting low price of $39.99.  Ninty confirms the Wii Remote Plus will become the new standard Wii-mote to come stuffed inside all Wii packages and bundles when it releases November 7.  It will come in the following tints: white, pink, blue, and black.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game, Nintendo decided to deck out the Wii in a red coat of paint for Japanese gamers.  Today I am happy to announce that the company who invented Mario is bringing the celebratory console to the States.  In addition to the red Wii console, the limited edition bundle includes a red Wii Remote Plus and matching Nunchuck, Wii Sports, and a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  The bundle costs $199.99 and ships November 7.

But the fun doesn’t stop there!  A special-edition Nintendo DSi XL bundle lands November 7, too.  The red DSi XL features three iconic Super Mario Bros.-themed graphics and comes bundled with a copy of Mario Kart DS and preloaded with Brain Age games and a Photo Clock.  It’s priced at 179.99.

Let’s hear it for the most iconic video game characher ever–happy birthday Mario!

[Via Joystiq]

Network TV says HALT! to Google TV

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Didcha get yourself a new Sony Internet TV or Blu-ray player or are you thinking about impulse buying the Logitech Revue powered by Google TV?  If you’re contemplating such a purchase did you think you’d have the ability to watch network TV content off their respective websites using the built-in Chrome browser?  Well you thought wrong, unfortunately.  Today the Wall Street Journal confirms that CBS, NBC, and ABC have blocked TV programming on their websites from being accessed on the Google TV platform.  NBC and ABC are allowing select promotional content to be viewed, but if you attempt to stream a full episode of The Office you will fail miserably.  And to top all this off, Hulu is blocked too; and not because it’s Flash-based–Chrome runs Flash content just fine–it’s the networks’ fault.  So what’s Google going to do about this?  In a word, nothing.  In more words: “Google TV enables access to all the Web content you already get today on your phone and PC, but it is ultimately the content owners’ choice to restrict their fans from accessing their content on the platform,” said a Google spokeswoman.  News Corp., for the time being, has not opted to block FOX content.

Why is this happening, you ask?  Well in the end it all comes down to making money.  And networks know TV ads bring in a whole lot more cashola than Internet-based ads.  Right now we’re stuck in this weird transition state where TV has snuck into bed with the Internet and just doesn’t know what to do next.  Here’s to hoping that something is figured out real soon.  Because I want my on-demand teevee streaming content this very second.  Boxee, good luck.

[Via WSJ]

‘Glee’ stars smokin’ hot in GQ spread

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To call the GQ photoshoot featuring Glee cast members Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, and Cory Monteith provocative is sort of an understatement.  The racy shoot has stirred some controversy this week.  Members of the Parents Television Council calls it a “near-pornographic display”.  PTC President Tim Winter says, “It is disturbing that GQ, which is explicitly written for adult men, is sexualizing the actresses who play high school-aged characters on Glee in this way.  It borders on pedophilia.”  Shortly after the PTC rage surfaced GQ issued a statement defending the spread.  “The Parents Television Council must not be watching much TV these days and should learn to divide reality from fantasy.  As often happens in Hollywood, these ‘kids’ are in their twenties. Cory Montieth’s almost 30! I think they’re old enough to do what they want.”  That is so true.  Montieth is 28, the especially sexy Michele is 24, as is Agron.  These adults can certainly do whatever they so choose.  And that’s the way Sue C’s it.  Now open the gallery below and flick through some sexy Glee goodness.  And if you like words, too, click here to read the zine article.

[Via GQ; EW; Deadline]

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Back to the Mac: iLife ’11, FaceTime, Mac OS X Lion, MacBook Air

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Today Steve Jobs hosted an Apple keynote presentation appropriately titled Back to the Mac.  In it he demonstrated the new version of iLife ’11, highlighting major upgrades to iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand; introduced FaceTime for the Mac; previewed the next version of Mac OS X; and unveiled two new MacBook Air notebooks.  It’s breakdown time.

iLife ’11: The latest version of iLife packs the usual suspects–iPhone, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD.  The former three have been given major upgrades in functionality.

iPhoto ’11 features a new full-screen mode.  With a click of a button (the green [+] located at the top left corner of the window), desktop applications, the menu bar, and other distractions disappear.  In full-screen mode you take advantage of more screen real estate when viewing pictures in Events, Faces, Places, Albums, and Projects.  Projects is a new way to view your collection of books and letterpress cards on a wooden bookshelf.  The ability to create custom letterpress cards is a new feature; 15 distinct themes are at your disposal to customize and order directly from Apple to send to relatives and friends.  When you go to create a book or letterpress card, a new dynamic theme browser in carousel style will be presented to you.  There are also a bunch of new slideshow themes including Holiday Mobile, Reflections, and Places.  Want to email a group of photos to a friend?  Now you can create and send an email message within iPhoto; no need to jump out and into a mail client.  You can choose from eight themes to customize how you want your pictures to be presented in the email.  And lastly there’s Facebook enhancements.  Within iPhoto you can now publish photos directly to your wall or to an existing album, and if your friends leave comments on your photos you’ll be able to view them in iPhoto.  You can also tag faces and browse all of your Facebook albums in iPhoto; no need to jump out and into a browser.

iMovie ’11 features new audio editing tools.  Detailed wave forms are color coded, so now you can see where audio levels are too loud or quiet and adjust them properly.  Also there’s a new single-row view that shows you your entire movie project in one horizontal row, making it easier to edit your soundtrack.  One-step effects are also at your disposal.  Adding visual effects like instant replay, flash and hold, and jump cuts at beats can be done with minimal amount of clicks.  The new People Finder feature works similarly to Faces in iPhoto; the software will analyze your video to identify the parts with people in them.  It also finds the close-ups, medium shots, or wide angles making it easier to find these specific shots during an edit session.  There are two new themes: sports and news.  And now you can publish your movies directly Vimeo,CNN iReport, and Apple Podcast Producer in addition to iTunes, YouTube, Facebook, and your mobile devices.  Last there’s movie trailers.  You can choose from 15 templates to create professional-looking movie trailers out of your clips.  Apple commissioned the London Symphony Orchestra to record (in Abbey Road Studios) and perform original tracks for you to use when creating movie trailers.  Outline and storyboard views make it simple to put together a movie trailer in no time.

GarageBand ’11 includes two new features called Flex Time and Groove Matching.  Flex Time allows you to fix timing mistakes on the fly; you can literally click and drag any part of a waveform to change the timing of a note or beat.  Groove Matching is described as “an automatic spell checker for bad rhythm.”  If one (or multiple) instruments appears to be out of rhythm, all you have to do is select the one instrument that has the perfect rhythm (called the Groove Track) and all the other instrument tracks will instantly match it.  A new feature called “How Did I Play?” gives you the opportunity to play along with a piano or guitar lesson, record yourself, and test how you’re doing in real time.  Like Guitar Hero, the GarageBand lesson will keep track of your performance with a performance meter and show you missed notes in red to help you perfect your skills.  A track progess bar will show you how better (or worse) you’re performing a particular song by date.  Finally, there’s new lessons for piano and guitar, as well as new guitar amps and stompbox effects.

iLife ’11 is available for purchase today at $49.  A family pack, which includes 5 licenses, goes for $79.  Keep in mind iLife ships free with every new Mac. Continue reading Back to the Mac: iLife ’11, FaceTime, Mac OS X Lion, MacBook Air →

Boxee Box ships November 10 to pre-orderers, November 17 to all

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The Boxee Box is coming! The Boxee Box is coming!  It’s been a long time coming, but the Internet streaming box built by D-Link is almost here.  The Box will start shipping on November 10 to those customers who pre-ordered it through Amazon in the U.S. or Best Buy and Future Shop in Canada.   Pre-orders taken in Australia/New Zealand and other countries across Europe will ship out “shortly thereafter.”  It will then become available for general public consumption November 17, and that’s if you’ve got the guts to drop a cool $299 for it.  The Boxee Box will run the latest Boxee 1.0 software, and this will roll out for PC, Mac, and Linux users at a “later” date.  Happy streaming!  Full PR after the break.

[Via BoxeeBlog; Engadget] Continue reading Boxee Box ships November 10 to pre-orderers, November 17 to all →

Samsung Galaxy Tab coming to Verizon Wireless November 11 for $599.99 [Update: Sprint & T-Mobile details]

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If you’ve been hunting for an iPad alternative to satisfy your tablet needs, look no further than here.  Samsung’s Galaxy Tab will be sold through Verizon Wireless for $599.99 come November 11.  You want specs?  Oh, I got specs.  The Tab sports a 7-inch (1024×600, WSVGA) multitouch display, 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, rear-facing 3 megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus, front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, 2GB of onboard storage with 16 GB pre-installed on a microSD card (expandable memory up to 32GB), 802.11n WiFi, A-GPS, and a headphone jack.  It weighs 13 ounces and is 12 millimeters thin; Sammy says it can “easily fit into a jeans’ backpocket”, but I’m not so sure about that.  The display supports full HD 1080p video playback and the rear-facing camera can shoot up to 720p at 30 fps.  The browser supports Adobe Flash Player 10.1.

The Tab runs Android 2.2 (aka Froyo) with a tweaked version of Samsung’s TouchWiz skin on top.  Google Maps Navigation and Google Goggles come preinstalled, along with Swype keyboard functionality.  Apps like Qik and Fring are available to download in the Android Market and can be used for video chatting over a WiFi connection.  In addition to its custom skin, Samsung is throwing in some of their own apps they think will be useful for users.  The Media Hub offers a “vast lineup of critically acclaimed films and TV programs for rent or purchase.”  Samsung has partnered with MTV Networks, NBC, Paramount, and Universal Studios Home Entertainment to bring media content to Tab owners.  Purchased content can be shared with up to five devices that carry the Media Hub application.  The Social Hub “works with the user’s Messaging and Contacts to initiate the sending and receiving of information, whether it is e-mail, instant messaging, social network updates or SMS messages.”  Also, calendar information from portal calendars like Google Calendar and social networks can be unified into one calender view.  There’s also a Document Viewer & Editor that can open and make changes to any Word, Excel, Powerpoint or PDF document, AllShare DLNA Technology can stream content to DLNA-compatable devices, and Daily Briefing gives you access to updated weather, news, stocks, and schedules.  Accessories will be sold separately: keyboard dock ($99.99), desktop dock ($49.99), car/GPS dock ($99.99).

The Tab will eventually be sold through all major US carriers (including AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile), but it’s coming to Verizon Wireless first.  The Tab on VZW will sell for $599.99 with no strings attached, meaning there’s no required 2-year contract obligation.  You can access the Internet on it using WiFi, and if you so choose you can add an optional 3G plan and pay $20/month for 1GB of data.  Users can access  V CAST Apps, Verizon’s mobile storefront for apps, and the Tab will come preloaded with V CAST Music, V CAST Song ID, VZ Navigator, Slacker Radio, Kindle for Android, BLOCKBUSTER On Demand, and a game called “Let’s Golf.”  Text, picture and video messaging is supported, but voice calling is not.  I repeat, the Tab is not a cell phone.  It may look like an oversized Android handset, but it cannot make and receive calls in the U.S.

Look in the gallery below to check out the Samsung Galaxy Tab from all angles, and jump after the break to watch a 10 minute “official demo” of the Android tablet.

Update (10/25): Today Sprint shared pricing details for their version of the Galaxy Tab.  Sprint customers can purchase the Tab for $399.99 with an obligatory two-year contract and they’ll need to cough up $29.99/month for 2GB of data or $59.99 for 5GB.  Preorders start today and it releases November 14.

Update 2 (10/27): T-Mobile will sell the Tab for $399.99 on a two-year contract.  A $35 activation fee is required.  Goes on sale November 10.

Update 3: The Tab is also coming to U.S. Cellular, but price and a release date have not been detailed yet.

[Via Samsung; Engadget, here, here & here; IGN]

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab coming to Verizon Wireless November 11 for $599.99 [Update: Sprint & T-Mobile details] →

HP re-enters the smartphone race with webOS 2.0 & Palm Pre 2

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There’s no denying that HP has been a smartphone player for years.  The first iPAQ running an ancient version of Windows Mobile was first introduced in 2000.  But today marks a new era in the smartphone industry for HP.  In April HP aquired smartphone and OS manufacturer Palm for a cool $1.2 billion with the intention of clearing off the dust and starting fresh.  Before the aquisition, Palm had already invented the modern webOS interface and hardware to go along with it in the Pre and Pixi.  Under HP’s guidance and supervision, Palm is ready to show off a new version of webOS and a new Pre device.

HP webOS 2.0 boasts a load of new features.  The big ones include: (1) “True multitasking” & Stacks – You can move back and forth between apps and they’ll remain the exact state you left them in; Stacks keeps related items (or cards) together making it easier to manage open applications.  (2) Just Type & Quick Actions – Just Type is Palm’s name for universal search; starting typing and the device will automatically search your phone’s database and the Internet for related content.  This is open for developers to experiment with; they can integrate with the search function and add their own user-customizable shortcuts called Quick Actions.  (3) HP Synergy – After signing into your Facebook, Google, Microsoft Exchange, LinkedIn and/or Yahoo accounts, the information from these services will automatically populate your phone, allowing you to connect seamlessly to multiple web services.  You have the control to choose what gets pulled from the cloud and stored on your phone–contacts, calendars, messaging, etc.  This feature will also be open to developers, allowing them to cull data on your phone if you allow it.  (4) Exhibition – When you plug your phone into a Palm Touchstone Charging Dock the Exhibition app will launch automatically, and it will display what you want it to while it’s charging (a Facebook photo slideshow, the day’s agenda, etc.).  Developers will be granted an API to display aspects of their existing app experience or create specialized apps for use when the phone is charging.  (5) Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta – The web browser will support Flash content.  Other notable features include: unified messaging, text assist (spell check, auto correct), HTML5 support in browser, a customizable launcher, integrated Quickoffice suite, and support for Exchange,VPN, Bluetooth keyboards, and SPP peripherals.  The Palm App Catelog will be accessable too, with Facebook 2.0 and Skype Mobile featured at launch.

There’s the software.  Let’s talk hardware.  The Palm Pre 2 looks nearly identical to its older sibling.  It boasts a 3.1-inch (480 x 320, HVGA) multitouch display, 1GHz processor, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, 16GB of internal storage, built-in GPS, ambient light & proximity sensors, an accelerometer, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR,  a 3.5mm headphone, and battery that promises five-and-a-half hours of talk time.  The “sleeker, streamlined design” features the same slideout QWERTY keyboard and touch panel along the bottom.  All in all, it’s a slimmer, faster Pre running a mildly tweaked version of webOS.

The software definitely looks compelling; what I’m most worried about is the hardware.  The specs are simply on par with what’s on the market today, and the design looks very aged.  Palm had much time to develop new hardware to release with webOS 2.0 and what they came up with is nothing to call home about.  It’s 2009 hardware packed with 2010 software–not the most ideal of situations for a company excited to breakout into the heated smartphone competition.  Pre 2 feels like Pre 1.5 (or arguably what the Pre Plus should have been when it released last January).

Palm Pre 2 running webOS 2.0 will be available this Friday in France from the SFR mobile carrier.  It will arrive in the States and Canada “in the coming months” on Verizon Wireless (US).  Pricing details have yet to be disclosed.  Existing webOS users will receive an update to the latest version also “in the coming months.”  And if you’re a developer, you can purchase unlocked UMTS versions of Pre 2 in the US to start building apps.

Look below for still images of the Pre 2 and webOS, and hop after the break for an under ten minute video tour of the new platform and official PR.

[Via HP; Engadget]

Continue reading HP re-enters the smartphone race with webOS 2.0 & Palm Pre 2 →

Apple reports 2010 Q4 earnings: “highest revenue and earnings ever”; Steve Jobs calls out Google & RIM

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As 2010 nears its end, it’s time for companies to share how well (or poorly) they performed during the fourth quarter of the year.  As is the norm for Apple, Inc., Q4 has been another record breaker for them.  Apple posted a record revenue of $20.34 billion and net quarterly profit of $4.31 billion.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a revenue of $12.21 billion and profit of $2.53 billion.  Says CEO Steve Jobs: “We are blown away to report over $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings-both all-time records for Apple.  iPhone sales of 14.1 million were up 91 percent year-over-year, handily beating the 12.1 million phones RIM sold in their most recent quarter.  We still have a few surprises left for the remainder of this calendar year.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 3.89 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 27 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 14.1 million iPhones (representing a 91 percent unit growth); 9.05 million iPods (representing an 11 percent unit decline); and 4.19 million iPads were sold, succeeding the number of Macs sold!  That’s some crazy stuff right there.  And as for Jobs’ “hobby” that is Apple TV?  The new model sold 250,000 units over the course of its first 18 days on sale.

Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2011, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $23 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $4.80.  Saying this was a tremendous quarter for Apple is a huge understatement.

Normally this is where the Apple quarterly earnings post would conclude, but El Jobso couldn’t contain his excitement over the record breaking numbers so he decided to jump onto the conference call (listen to it here) and share some thoughts.  Charged thoughts on the competition.  Some choice quotes:

On RIM’s business model: “[iPhone] handily beat RIM’s most recent quarter.  We’ve now passed RIM and I don’t see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future.  They must move beyond their area of strength and comfort into the unfamiliar territory of trying to become a software platform company.  I think it’s going to be a challenge for them to create a competitive platform and to convince developers to create apps for yet a third software platform, after iOS and Android.  With 300k apps on Apple’s app store, RIM has a high mountain ahead of them to climb.”  “I think at least now it’s a battle for developers, and a battle for the mindshare of developers, and a battle for the mindshare of customers, and I think right now iPhone and Android are winning that battle.”

On Google’s Android “openess” & fragmentation: “Google wants to characterize Android as open, and iOS and the iPhone as closed.  We think this is disingenuous.  Unlike Windows, which has the same interface on every machine, Android is very fragmented.  Compare this with iPhone, where every interface is the same.”  “Twitter client TwitterDeck recently launched their app for Android.  They reported that they had to contend with more than 100 different version of Android software on 244 different handsets.  The multiple hardware and software iterations presented developers with a daunting challenge.”  “We think this open versus closed argument is a smokescreen that hides the real question: What’s better for users, fragmented versus integrated?”  “We are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter how many times Google characterizes it as closed, and we believe that it will trump the fragmented approach, no matter how many times Google characterizes it as open.”

Continue reading Apple reports 2010 Q4 earnings: “highest revenue and earnings ever”; Steve Jobs calls out Google & RIM →

Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie leaves Microsoft

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In an email to company employees, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie will be leaving the company after an unspecified transition period.  Ozzie joined the company in 2005 when Microsoft aquired his Groove Networks.  In June 2006 he was named Chief Software Architect, filling the position former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates had occupied before he left the company.  Ozzie is well known for his work in the cloud, and in the company letter Ballmer commends him for “position[ing] [Microsoft] well for future success.”

As a company, we’ve accomplished much in the past five years as we look at the cloud and services. Windows Live now serves as a natural web-based services complement to both Windows and Office. SharePoint and Exchange have now decidedly embraced the cloud. And by conceiving, incubating and shepherding Windows Azure, Ray helped ensure we have a tremendously rich platform foundation that will enable app-level innovation across the company and by customers for years to come.

Ozzie’s reason for departure is undisclosed, and Microsoft has no plans to fill the “unique” CSA role.  Click the source link to read the letter in full.

[Via Microsoft; Gizmodo]

Xbox.com is getting a facelift, Avatar customization & WP7 support on the way

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Xbox’s Major Nelson announced that Xbox.com will be undergoing a “massive facelift” tomorrow evening.  Besides the UI overhaul, the redesign promises to include support avatar customization and Windows Phone 7 games support.  Straight from the source:

  • Browser based Avatar editor: Edit your avatar and preview avatar items before purchase
  • Combined views for messages, friend and game requests
  • Improved notification of your account subscription
  • Leverage Family Reports to understand what your family is doing and how they are using LIVE
  • Play web games with your Xbox LIVE friends on the web or on Windows Phone 7
  • Marketplace: More powerful search and more intuitive ways to browse and filter

The website will be down for maintenance tomorrow, October 20 at 5PM ET and when it comes back you can expect to explore all these exciting new features.  For now, look in the gallery below for a sneek peek.

[Via MajorNelson]

Kinect’s launch portfolio includes 17 new games

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With the launch of Microsoft’s controller-less motion capture accessory Kinect for Xbox 360 just around the corner (it releases November 4, people!) Xbox’s Major Nelson has spilled the deets surrounding the sizable launch lineup.  Of the 17 new Kinect-enabled games, 4 of them come from Microsoft Game Studios and have that Wii-casual edge to them.  These include Kinect Sports, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Joy Ride, and Kinectimals.  Other notable launch titles includes Sonic Free Riders, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 The Videogame, Harmonix’s Dance Central, and Ubisoft’s Your Shape: Fitness Evolved.  Look after the break for the entire “portfolio” of games, including pricing (ranges from $39.99-$49.99) and release dates (all available during launch month).

[Via MajorNelson; Microsoft] Continue reading Kinect’s launch portfolio includes 17 new games →

Netflix goes disc-less on the Wii, too

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And just like that the trifecta is complete.  Netflix subscribers can now access their movie and TV show content on Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and now Nintendo’s Wii, without inserting the instant streaming disc.  Sure you can’t access anything beyond your Instant Queue and there’s no HD/5.1 surround sound support, but Wii owners should rejoice in this step in the right direction.  Hop into the Wii Shop Channel to download the Netflix app to your Wii Menu for quick and easy access.

[Via Engadget]