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Soulcalibur IV review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Fighting, Namco, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Here I am, about seven weeks after the launch of Soul Calibur IV, finally getting to bring you guys our thoughts on the game. Before we jump in, a bit of background on Soul Calibur IV. The game hit Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on July 29 here in North America, followed by a release in Japan, Europe, and Australia on July 31, and then finally the UK on August 1.This is the fourth installment in the Soulcalibur series, and it features a Story mode, as well as Arcade, Training, Museum, and Tower of Lost Souls modes. That last one is new to the series, and rewards you, as the fighter, for winning special battles. Also new to the series is the inclusion of a few characters from the Star Wars universe - namely, Darth Vader, Yoda, and the Apprentice.
The game comes just about three years after the release of Soulcalibur III back in 2005, and is the first Soulcalibur title to feature online play. Now, on to our review.
Click to continue reading Soulcalibur IV review
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A look at Google Mobile on T-Mobile G1
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Design, Google, Handhelds, Videos,
If you are curious about how Google services will work on the Android platform, Eric from Google is here to give us a look. Google products like search, maps, YouTube, Gmail, contacts, calendar, and Google Talk are all included in the Android operating system used by the T-Mobile G1. Basically, you sign in to your Google account once, and all your information syncs to the web. Any changes made on the web sync back to your phone. It’s like a free version of MobileMe - yeah, I said it. Check out the video above for a walkthrough of Google features on the G1.
We have seen some fairly strange timepieces in our time but this one has really lived up to the description. The Corpus Clock took a team of 8 about 5 years to create and was recently unveiled by Stephen Hawking on the Corpus Christi College campus. Inventor John Taylor said he wanted to “make timekeeping interesting.” The clock’s face is 4 ft. wide and gold plated. The grasshopper (aka Chronophage, which means time eater) atop it munches a minute every 60 seconds. Run by an electric motor, it will supposedly run for 25 years.
Read More 
| BBC
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Tantrum Throwing Alarm Clock
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smart Home, Misc. Tech, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
If you know someone who is nasty in the morning, what better way to get back at him/her than with the Tantrum Throwing Alarm Clock? When the alarm goes off, it lightly taps its arm, but if you don’t hit its snooze sensor within a minute, it will go slightly ballistic. If you sleep through that or ignore it, it will finally shut down after an hour. The clock can also dance to music from its built-in radio or your PMP, flash its lights, and swing its arms. Tap its head’s sensor and you get it to smile and tap its fists. When its eyes flash in red, it is time to change the TTAC’s 4 AA batteries or plug it into an AC outlet. At a size of 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 5-inches and a weight of 2 1/4 lbs., the naughty timepiece can be yours for $49.99.
Read More | Hammacher Schlemmer
This officially licensed, full-featured Portable Drum Kit for Rock Band is about to make its debut. The portable, lightweight gadget will work on almost any flat surface and has an ultra-thin navigation panel. Mad Catz claims that it can handle over a million strikes, in case you are counting. The kit includes a drum foot pedal, two 2-piece soft tip replacement drumsticks, and a 9.8 ft. cable. Pre-order the $59.99 kit to get email notification when it arrives.
Read More | Gameshark
Panasonic has joined the ranks of 22 other LiMo-compliant handsets. The FOMA P706ie will feature HSDPA networking support, 3G international roaming capacity, mobile TV support, and a 2 megapixel camera. They say it also has upgraded sound and voice clarifying features. The Linux-based mobile device will debut first in Japan. This is Panasonic’s seventh LiMo handset. If you would like to check the others, head over to LiMo’s website.
Read More | krunker
Nomad Portable Speaker
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
Based on a 1930 vintage design, the Nomad Portable Speaker is lightweight and very mod looking with its wood cabinet, leatherette handle, and tweed vinyl accents. The 11.25 x 7.5 x 5.25-inch device has a dedicated aux input for your MP3 player/iPod, a telescopic antenna, and on/off/volume and tuning knobs. With its electronic tuner, you can choose AM/FM/Aux input with a simple switch. An iPod/MP3 cord and AC adapter are included, but not the 4AA batteries it requires. The speaker can be pre-ordered for $72.00.
Read More | Urban Outfitters
Samsung has unveiled its point and shoot HZ1 with a 24mm wide angle lens with 10x zoom. At a size of 105 x 61.4 x 36.5mm, the camera also features a 2.7-inch TFT LCD (230k pixels) and a movie mode of HD 720p resolution at 30 fps. Included in the package is Samsung’s Digital Contents Management with Perfect Portrait System, face and blink detection, smile shot, self-portrait, red eye fix, and beauty shot. With no price or availability details out yet, it made its debut at the Photokina show in Germany.
Read More | Akihabara News
This morning, T-Mobile and Google held the press conference to announce the first phone to officially launch with the Android OS, the T-Mobile G1. You are going to hear a lot of people comparing this one to the iPhone, so let’s jump in to the feature set. The G1 sports 3G, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, a 3-megapixel camera, is based on a fully open-source OS. The Android OS gives you access to the Android Market (think of that as being similar to the App Store), as well as built-in support for Amazon’s MP3 store, for downloading music on the go. Even cooler, in our opinion, are the things that are real firsts in the mobile phone space - Push Gmail, and Google Maps with Street View.
You can pick up the T-Mobile G1 on October 22, at a nice price of $179.99 with a 2-year agreement. If you can’t wait to spend the cash, you can even pre-order one now at the G1 website. If you are over in the UK, it’s yours in November, while the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and Czech Republic will have to wait until sometime in the first quarter of 2009.
Read More | T-Mobile G1 product page
The App Store is a gamble for developers
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Editorial, Features, Handhelds, Software,
Earlier today, I received word that a second iPhone App had been denied access into the App Store, with Apple citing that the application duplicates existing functionality already found in the Apple ecosystem. This is beginning to become a problem, and if you aren’t seeing why, allow me to explain why this is so alarming to me. In case you hadn’t heard, a couple of weeks ago, an app called Podcaster was rejected by Apple for similar reason. The line of thinking there was that Podcaster, an app that would allow you to subscribe to and download podcasts while on the go, duplicated functionality already found in iTunes.
Now, if you’ve never used an iPhone, allow me to point out the absurdity. There is nothing on the iPhone or iPod touch that allows you to subscribe to, or even download, a podcast to your device. Sure, you can open the file in Safari, but that is not what we are talking about. That’s right, even if you enter the iTunes app, you will find right away that podcasts just aren’t there. So we have to then assume that Apple was referring to the iTunes desktop software when they said that Podcaster duplicated functionality. Really? Is that a major issue that a company decided to fix a gaping hole on the iPhone, even if that hole doesn’t exist on the desktop? Why, then, are there so many calculators in the App Store? After all, not only do we have a calculator as part of OS X, but there is a calculator that ships installed by default on the iPhone as well. It seems we have a double-standard here.
Click to continue reading The App Store is a gamble for developers
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