are you into technology?
Oh dear. Sony has had to recall its big new firmware update for the PS3 following reports that it’s managed to bring a certain number of them crunching to a halt.
The new 2.40 firmware patch was set to bring cool in-game access to the XMB (Cross media Bar) and trophy support but it seems all it’s delivered for some unlucky PS3 owners is a dead console. There’s forum talk that refers to the patch interfering with the PS3’s boot-up procedure.
Here’s what Sony has said:
 |
 |
Since we all know that time is money, I have no idea why this watch from Thinkgeek is called the Free Time Watch. What the hell is free about time? And that £45 price tag isn’t exactly screaming ‘Free’ either.
As watches go, the Free Time Watch is at least a little different with separate rotating rings indicating hours, minutes and seconds. The little white marks are meant to represent something like our planets orbiting the sun at different rotational speeds. According to the company:
|
|
There are plenty of day-to-day annoyances that get up our proverbial nose but one of the worst has got to be waiting an unreasonably long time to get served at a bar.
Whether it’s understaffing on the busiest day of the week or the penchant to hire village idiots with goldfish memories, something needs to be done.
Sure, robots like ‘Mr Asahi’ will put people out of jobs and cut down on social interaction but that’s tough luck frankly, we want a beer and we want it now.
|
|
If you’re into music you probably already know that the best way to get the most from your tunes with a pair of compact headphones is to opt for the in-ear ‘bud variety.
There’s no point spending hundreds of pounds on a top of the range model unless you get the fit right though, and to this end there are usually different sizes supplied.
These aren’t always built from the best quality materials and can obviously get lost, ripped or simply not fit correctly into your bizarrely shaped lugholes.
|
|
It may seem like a bit of a bit of a bum move but Hitachi is continuing to push the development of high-capacity hard drives and is currently working on a 5TB model set for release in 2010.
It seems clear that solid-state drives are the future of storage and their advantages are such than they’ll inevitably end up replacing the old spinning disc altogether.
|
|
Following the sudden defeat of HD DVD, Toshiba revealed last month that it will attempting to kick Blu-ray’s butt – again – by placing a special chip in its new DVD players that will upscale DVD video into HD video to rival that of Blu-ray.
This month we get a new logo [above] and speculation that Toshiba will be adding Internet capability to the new DVD players – and DVD movie disc content – too. The “DVD Download/DL” logo has been approved by the DVD Forum Steering Committee but we have no real information on what it will actually do. Will it make a difference in the never-ending HD spat?
|
|
We’ve had robots doing the whole jazz routine and even Honda’s ASIMO conducting an orchestra but now meet The Trons, a robotic rock band that’s becoming a bit of an Internet sensation.
The Trons are Ham (vox and rhythm guitar), Wiggy (single string lead guitar), Swamp (drums) and Fifi (keyboards, one hand working!), and with nearly 900,000 YouTube views, we could be looking at the next Arctic Monkeys. The maker describes them thus:
|
|
The mouse/keyboard control system for most PC games is second nature to most gamers but now someone is promising Wii-like control for those that like a more, er, ‘interactive experience’. Unlike the rumours about an Xbox 360 Wiimote and a PS3 Wiimote, this one exists.
Meet Stix, a Wiimote-clone if ever there was one and I’m sure some Nintendo legal sharks will be checking this one with a magnifying glass right now. Stix is a series of wireless, motion-sensing, touch-screen gaming controllers for the PC and Internet, allowing players to interact with online games as well as regular PC games with the Games For Windows badge.
Created by GoLive2, the independent gaming division of Playhut, Inc., the Stix 200 and 400 controllers will arrive in August. While the Stix 200 caters for casual gamers with support for online and 2D games, the really interesting one is the Stix 400 which the company says will allow players to ditch the mouse and keyboard for PC games. If it works, that is.
Brian Zheng, President, Playhut, commented:
|
|
Once you accept that we will never escape Star Wars merchandising, life get’s a little easier. Some merchandising is great while some of it beggars belief.
This time though, I’m in favour, with these official Star Wars styli for the Nintendo DS. After all, we’ve already had the unofficial Wii Lightsaber so why not?
|
|
Asus Eee mania is getting out of hand. We’ve had the Eee mini-laptop and the Eee PC and now we have the Eee Monitor.
Of course, it’s not just a monitor but looks to be one of those All-in-One PC thingies – a type of hybrid monitor/PC promoting a lack of power and poor upgradeability that I never got my head around. Still, it’ll give those offerings from HP and Apple’s iMac something to worry about.
|
|