Based on Thanksgiving week numbers provided by Nintendo, an analyst has concludes that the Wii appears likely to have far outsold the Xbox and PS3 in November.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
The Vertical Motion Simulator trains all comers in capsule landings, helicopter flights, and even bobsled runs. Now it’s helping in the design of next-gen lunar landers.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
Microsoft has released its first figures on how well Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm have done on Xbox Live. They show substantial, though not huge, engagement.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
While big ARGs like I Love Bees and The Beast get most of the ink, there has been a steady stream of games built for very small audiences, without corporate sponsorship.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
A leading scientist, working with colleagues from several top universities, has pioneered computational analysis that rivals that of a cat’s cortex. The human brain could be just a decade away.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
Dell today confirmed plans to enter the smart phone business and announced partnerships with two of the world’s largest mobile operators.
Dell plans to distribute its new Mini 3 smart phones through China Mobile, the largest telecommunications company in the world with more than 500 million customers, and Claro, which serves more than 42 million people in Brazil as part of the America Movil network.
Entry into the smart phone category reflects Dell’s continued expansion into mobile internet products and services through value-added relationships with leading operators. Earlier this year Dell was the first mobile PC manufacturer to embed China Mobile’s 3G technology and services into its netbooks and quickly became the leading seller of netbooks through retail outlets in China. In addition Dell has existing agreements with other leading global telecom providers, including Vodafone in Europe; Australia/New Zealand, AT&T and Verizon in the U.S.; M1 and Starhub in Singapore; and Maxis in Malaysia, creating more opportunities to meet the needs of a connected lifestyle.
“Our entry into the smart phone category is a logical extension of Dell’s consumer product evolution over the past two years,” said Ron Garriques, President, Dell Global Consumer Group. “We are developing smaller and smarter mobile products that enable our customers to take their internet experience out of the home and do the things they want to do whenever and wherever they want.”
“This signals an important milestone in the long term partnership between China Mobile and Dell,” said a China Mobile spokesperson. “We are excited for Dell to be among the first manufacturers to introduce new technology based on the OPhone platform. We look forward to working with Dell as it brings innovative new products and services to add value to our customers’ lives.”
“As a leading innovation company in Brazil, Claro is proud of being the first wireless carrier in the world offering the 3G version of Dell’s smart phone. This confirms the Brazilian market strength and Claro as a leading actor in introducing new technology products and services to the country”, said João Cox, president for Claro.
The initial Mini 3 smart phones are designed around the Android platform to best deliver power, flexibility and customization opportunities for both users and carriers.
Dell’s Mini 3 smart phones reflect the elegant look and style that demonstrates Dell’s commitment to design innovation. Details of phone models will be announced on a partner-by-partner basis when devices are available in stores, anticipated in late November for China Mobile and year’s end for Claro.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Broadband Wireless Access
With total industry sales down 19 percent from a year earlier, things are looking bleak as the holiday season gets under way.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
According to Activision, its new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has broken the single-day sales record for an entertainment launch. In the first 24 hours, the new game earned $310 million.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
While it may be a shocker to some, the “resignation” of Lou Dobbs from CNN has pretty much been a foregone conclusion for a while. CNN as a network is floundering badly these days, unsure of it’s direction. But Lou Dobbs has been sure of his direction, going from a reasonably friendly Newsy guy to a nasty attacker who’s strident opinionated messages were just not hitting the mark.
While he is mostly not wrong (such as with the problems of illegal immigration in the US), his last few years have been marked with repeat returns to the same themes, often appearing to fill quiet news days with illegal immigration outrage stories that were often puffed up to make them bigger than they seem. Some people have suggested this has come as CNN has tried harder to compete with Fox news on the “strident shill” level, which is something that more liberal media seems very poor at doing. Instead of coming out as the champion of the average guy, Lou Dobbs started to come across to me more and more as someone with an axe to grind rather than a series of solutions. Certainly, his inferences that President Obama may not be American enough to be President didn’t win him any fans.
Lou Dobbs hasn’t said where is going to next, but he will still be on syndicated radio and is “looking at his options”. Some have suggested that he might end up at Faux News, where a strident axe grinding attitude seems to go over better. Read more of the story here.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Stuff Channel
According to a British magazine’s report, the highly anticipated hands-free controller could be available in November 2010 and cost as little as $50.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
In the wake of a decision by Microsoft to ban up to 1 million Xbox Live members for illegally modifying their consoles, Craigslist is now flooded with sales for the devices.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
Players who were caught modifying their consoles to play pirated games have been booted from the popular service.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
During the institution’s inaugural executive program, 20 students are getting an intense education in the exponential technologies that could shape their companies and industries for decades to come.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
As cheap, powerful automatic cameras and camera phones proliferate, the music industry–and its sports counterpart–have had to realize they can’t control fans’ ability to take pictures.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
It’s almost a traditional thing now, the Tom Cruise dead rumors seem to come up about two or three times a year, more often when he is doing something nutty. Recent stories have peopel from inside his camp reporting on his weeks of trying to use his Scientology powers to dominate door knobs and other inanimate objects. It’s sort of up there with his classic jump around on Oprah thing. Whatever the deal, there is no truth to Tom Cruise having a heart attack, Tom Cruise falling off a building, Tom Cruise falling off a cliff, or Tom Cruise dying in some other manner, at least not yet.
Xenu must wait another day, I guess.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Stuff Channel
I have been a lifelong racing fan, I can remember watching the highlights of NASCAR races on Wide World of Sports long before it became an every week, 12 hours per day extravaganza that is it today. In the last few years I have been less and less enamored with the product, and thought it was only me. But recently, I have noticed more and more people publically calling out NASCAR’s top series with names like NAPCAR and such.
Well, the capper I guess was this past weekend’s race in Talladega, typically one of the wildest and highest speed races, where a combination of engine restrictor plates and aerodynamic tricks get together to make the cars run pretty much in a pack. The only way to get ahead most of the time is bump drafting, where the back car pushes the car in front, making them both move faster. After a terrible wreck at the end of the last race here, NASCAR outlawed this practice this time out. The results? Well, let’s just say that the drivers showed than about 450 out of the 500 miles of the race was meaningless, and paraded around single file in a freight train so dull that driver Tony Stewart was heard asking his crew to tell him something interesting so he didn’t fall asleep. The ABC commentators for the race could obviously see this race has turned into a snoozer, and rather than deny the truth, they repeated over and over the fact that NASCAR had diddled with the rules to make this happen.
Well, it seems that NASCAR doesn’t like when someone points out the obvious: NASCAR got all huffy and spokesman Ramsey Poston said that “ABC missed a lot of very good racing”.
News flash Mr Poston: There was no good racing. For the first 400-450 miles, it was follow the leader, let’s not use up our equipment, throttle off cruising so painful to watch, it was beyond understanding. The only thing that saved the race for most of the “fans” was that in the last 5 laps, the aero package and rules came together to destroy pretty much half the field in two seperate wrecks that both involved violent rollovers.
Don’t get made an ABC, they told the truth. NASCAR (or is that NAPCAR) needs to wake up and smell the coffee, look at all the empty seats and closed seating sections at the tracks, and remember that “it’s the racing stupid”, before they are shrunk back to being a regional series without national coverage. Ratings are down for a reason, and it isn’t because ABC says you are boring.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Stuff Channel
Today is droid day, the day that the Motorola Droid hits the marketplace, available through Verizon Wireless. This phone marks Motorola’s plunge into using Google’s Android operating system on a phone, a trend that seems to be getting stronger all the time. In fact, the hubbub over the Droid phone is putting the hurt on Blackberry, who’s new smartphone offerings are getting lost on the editing room floor. There are a number of reviews of the Motorola Droid Phone, and generally they look very positive indeed!
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Broadband Wireless Access
An interesting move by Verizon to put their broadband 3G modems into prepaid plans. The downside? It’s a pricey concept. Check this:
Verizon Wireless today announced three new Mobile Broadband plans that will be added to the company’s Prepaid portfolio. Customers will be able to get speed when they need it on the Verizon Wireless 3G network with pay-as-you-go plans for daily, weekly or monthly access. The new Prepaid options are ideal for those who need access for occasional or seasonal use whether on vacation, enjoying a weekend getaway or for students away at school. Verizon Wireless gives customers the following service options:
* Daily – $15 for 75 MB
* Weekly – $30 for 250 MB
* Monthly – $50 for 500 MB
The prices are certainly way out there, but might be entirely useful for the occassional traveler or someone trapped in a place for a day or two. Otherwise, it seems to be even more expensive than even the most outrageous hotel internet rates.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Broadband Wireless Access
This has got to be one of the weirdest lawsuits I have seen in a while. AT&T and Apple have been running Iphone ads for a while with the tag “There’s an App for that”. Well, Verizon recently started to roll out some new 3G phones, and decides to show how their network has superior 3G coverage over AT&T, with the cute but mocking tagline of “There’s a Map for that”. it is clear that Verizon has a significantly higher reach for 3G in the US right now, but AT&T is objecting, saying the commercials (using the image above) make it appear that AT&T has no cellular service at all outside of those areas.
I guess that big old “5X More 3G Coverage” taking about about 1/3 of the slide isn’t relevant. Sorry AT&T, but rather than spend the time suing, why not spend the time working on your network? Game set and match, and you are just giving Verizon even more exposure for their superior 3G coverage.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Broadband Wireless Access
In a world in which Disney defines its brand and the content it releases under its own name as being aimed at the broadest possible audience, Mickey Mouse is known largely as a feel-good, happy-go-lucky cartoon character.
But that’s not how Mickey was in the early days. Back in …
Originally Syndicated via RSS from CNET News – Gaming and Culture
I really enjoy reading the Techdirt blog mostly because it’s fun to watch Mike Masnick tie himself in knots trying to prove things. He is forever posting very speculative things, drawing conclusions that just aren’t obvious, and then to solidify these masterpieces of logic, he then quotes and links them in later posts, treating them like the god’s honest truth. It’s almost comical to watch him go at times.
Today’s stupidity is a UK poll from “third way” Think tank Demos that shows that shows that the 10% of the people they surveyed that download music buy more music in a year than the average person. This is the type of stuff Mike loves, because it is so full of holes that he can drawn any conclusion he likes and make it “stick”. First off, he calls it a study, which is a serious upgrade from a 1000 person one time phone poll. Then he goes on to rant
Those who engaged in unauthorized file sharing tended to spend £77 on media per year, while those who did not spent about £44. And yet file sharers are the enemy? And the industry wants to kick them offline so they discover less new content? How will that help?
It’s an amazing reach for a poll that reported such low numbers of file downloaders (only 10%, less than half the numbers reported pretty much every other poll and study out there), and fails to remove people who don’t buy music at all. It also doesn’t show any relationship between age group and activity, nor does it appear to reset the numbers to reflect the actual UK population. They also don’t account for the idea that this is a phone poll that a significant number of people attempting to hide their illegal activities might have actually lied about.
It’s meaningless numbers, pumped out by a group that is attempting to sway the UK government off of a Three Strikes plan that would kick illegal file traders off the internet. Mike Masnick latches onto it, and will in the future reference it as “file downloaders buy more music”, even though he knows it’s junk science polling at it’s finest.
Originally Syndicated via RSS from Stuff Channel
