Digital Technology for Digital Living.
October 06, 2004
Which DVD Format For Xbox 2.
Hot on the heals of the Blu-ray annoucement yesterday, we see some press about the competing format, HD-DVD, putting pressure on Microsoft to use the format for their Xbox 2 console.
HD-DVD is the other format competing to be the next high capacity media for everything digital. They even have a One Format Only campaign. HDDVD.org has a good summary of the competing formats and the major differences.
Link thanks to Joystiq.
Gadgets boy | Comments (0) | Console, Generalgadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
XBox Live Asia Pacific Usage.
According to a Reuters article, Xbox Live, Microsoft’s game network for their console, has an above average subscriber rate in the Asia Pacific region. 15% of people who own an Xbox in the region have played on the network, instead of the world average of 12%. There aim is 22% by the end of June 2005.
Gadgets boy | Comments (0) | Consolegadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
Blu-ray Disc Association.
Most gadget junkies will have heard of Blu-ray discs because of the recent press about the PlayStation 3 using the technology. Blu-ray technology uses a blue laser allowing for greater capacity, up to 50GB on a dual layer disc. Well in the last few months a gaggle of tech companies have strapped themselves to the Blu-ray Disc Association who had their first meeting yesterday. Provided the other DVD formatsdon’t get this level of traction, which from a historical point of view is likely, then the Blu-ray Disc may see wide acceptance in the next couple of years.
“We believe the BDA’s growth from 13 to 73 companies over the last three months reflects the depth of industry acceptance and support for the Blu-ray Disc as the next generation optical disc format”.
Among the members are Alpine Electronics Inc., Daewoo Electronics Corporation, Imation Corp, Infomedia Inc., InterVideo Inc., Konica Minolta Opto Inc., Memorex Products Inc., Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd., Sony BMG Music Entertainment, and TEAC Corporation. With Twentieth Century Fox on the board.
News from Designtechnica.
Gadgets boy | Comments (0) | Console, Generalgadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
September 27, 2004
Play Station 2 Model SCPH-70000.
Gadget Lounge wonders why Sony would redesign its current PS2 when everyone is more interested in their next generation game console, which is rumoured to be on the way late next year. We know they did it with the PSOne, but surely they’d want to focus all resources on the head to head battle between the XBox “Next” and the PS3. The only reason we can think of is that it’ll be later than next year, and their extending the shelf life of the current model.
Other than slimming it down (obvious from the photo), the new PS2, actually called the SCPH-70000, has built in ethernet and a dial-up port. However, they’ve removed the expansion slot, and given there is no internal hard-drive it means some games that require one, can’t be played on the new model.
Smart House has the release date for the mini-PS2 as October 29, though given the U.S. release date is November 1 and Japan is November 3, it makes us think the news might be wrong.
Gadgets boy | Comments (3) | Consolegadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
August 08, 2004
Modding An xBox.
Yesterday, Gadget Lounge had an Xbox modded. For those of you that haven’t yet taken the plunge, it maybe a worth while edition to your home entertainment center. Most people think of modding as a way of making “backups” of their games, but if you’re not thinking of the other benefits, then you are missing out on some valuable extensions to the platform. In fact it is unfair to call these extensions, when realistically the Xbox is a full featured PC which has been crippled so you can only use what Microsoft has mandated that you use. We see it as a way of giving the system back its true capacity.
(more…)
Gadgets boy | Comments (6) | Consolegadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
August 06, 2004
PS3 to launch with Blu-Ray.
Sony have announced that their upcoming PlayStation 3 will launch with support for Blu-Ray discs. The greater storage capacity of the Blu-Ray discs should be ever larger (and hopefully more impressive) games to the PS3.
Whether this spells the end for the HD-DVD format or know is anyone’s guess. Each format uses a blue laser to increase the density of data on the disc. Expect to see a Japanese launch in 2005, no word on arrival in Australia yet.
Ben | Comments (1) | Consolegadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
July 27, 2004
Grrl Geeks Fitness Coach.
We don’t normally cover games, but this one is a little different, and for the Grrl Geeks, since no respectable guy would buy this type of game, no we wouldn’t, would we. ResponDesign will be releasing Youself!Fitness for the PC and Xbox in November. Taking gaming from the kids room to the lounge room in the form of a fitness program, Yourself!Fitness gives a personalised training and meal planner. As you progress Maya, the virtual instructor, will adjust the training to meet your current level. If only I could do a virtual workout and achieve real results.
The “game” will help you assess your starting level, and continue to record your progress and will give you feedback on how you’re going in achieving the goals. The head reals at the possibility of plugging this into XBox Live and having fitness contests with your friends.
For the guys, if ResponDesign were to mix this with elements from BMX XXX, they’d have themselves a best seller.
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