By Marcus Yam - Source : Tom's Guide

Despite the Nintendo DS being the best selling gaming device on the market today, all signs are pointing towards a new iteration coming soon.

According to MCV, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata will announce at a press conference tomorrow morning a new version of the DS handheld.

Just two days ago, a Japanese news publication reported that the next revision of the Nintendo DS would feature a camera and MP3 playback capability, turning it into more of a multimedia device instead of just a games player.

Such a move by Nintendo could be in an effort to recapture some of the market share lost to Sony, as the PSP device can be used for much more than just gaming. A retooled Nintendo DS could be enough to capture even more of the casual public, particularly those already in the market for an MP3 player.

MCV’s source apparently didn’t share any details, but it’s widely expected that Nintendo would launch new hardware in time for the busy holiday season.

Even with the release of an upgraded DS, it’s likely that Nintendo will run a two-SKU strategy throughout the near future. Nintendo could run the new hardware at a premium price, while dropping the current hardware to below its current $129, again targeting two levels of the market.

All will be clear by tomorrow morning, so stay tuned.

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By Jane McEntegart - Source : Tom's Guide

High demand for HTC’s G1 handset, available exclusively on the T-Mobile network and the first mobile phone running Google’s mobile operating system, Android, saw some customers disappointed this past weekend.

Those trying to reserve themselves a Google phone at the weekend were told that preorders were temporarily out of action. Announced by T-Mobile last week, it seems the combination of the touch sensitive display with QWERTY keypad, trackball navigation and mobile applications such as Google Maps Street View and YouTube grabbed the attention of the consumer as AndroidGuys reported that when trying to place an order on T-Mobile’s G1 webpage on Saturday, customers received the following message:

“Sorry! Due to the overwhelming popularity of the new T-Mobile G1, upgrades are temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”

All returned to normal not too long after and those wishing to place an order for the G1 can once again do so from the T-Mobile site. As a handset that’s largely expected to be stiff competition for Apple’s iPhone, it’s encouraging to see an apparent demand for the device. This isn’t the first cell phone people have compared to the iPhone and the fact that there is a genuine demand for it, suggests it may actually cut itself a decent slice of the smartphone pie.

At a price of $179 with a two year plan, it’s possible price is what’s driving the G1’s popularity at such an early stage. It’s likely those impressed by the handset have spread the word that it could present a little competition for Apple and others are simply following suit in what they believe to be a cheaper alternative to buying an iPhone.

All will be revealed come October 22 but it’ll be interesting to see how presales hold up until then.

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By Jane McEntegart - Source : Tom's Guide

Microsoft is up to its old tricks to try and garner itself a bigger a share of the search market. The company has announced a new system called SearchPerks, which allows customer to earn tickets which they can then exchange for prizes.

SearchPerks is another way in which Microsoft is trying to bribe, er, encourage users to use its Microsoft Live Search search engine. Sitting pretty in a comfy third place after Google and Yahoo! is not where the Redmond company wants to be and over the years they’ve tried a couple of tactics to lure users away from competitors.

In May the company announced it would pay users to use Live Search to shop online. Alright, so technically it’s a cashback savings deal with participating retailers but the idea is the same. If you search for a product on Live Search and it happens to be one of the 10 million products from over 700 sellers (including eBay, Barnes & Noble.com, Overstock.com, Sears, Zappos.com, and WPP) you receive a couple of cents off your purchase. Once that number builds itself up to $5 dollars you can cash it in.

SearchPerks is sort of similar. Users install a counter which then calculates how many times they use Live Search and awards “tickets” for each search conducted per day. The offer is running through until April and prizes actually seem pretty decent with video games and Air Miles on offer. While this is clearly another ploy to poach users, it’s probably going to work, at least for some people even if it is only open to U.S. users.

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By Aaron Heibert - Source : Tom's Hardware

Toshiba SpursEngine, released earlier this year is based on the same Cell processor technology as used in the Sony PlayStation 3 console.

The SpursEngine is designed to process high-definition (HD) video with its four Cell-cores.

Toshiba’s first systems to include the SpursEngine are the Qosmio G50 and F40 notebooks, which were unveiled in June of this year. PC Add-in cards are slated to arrive soon, before the end of this year.

The SpursEngine is able to encode or decode HD video thanks to hardware based MPEG2 and H.264 codecs and can also upscale standard-definition video to high-definition on the fly without tying up the computers main processor. Card makers have hopes the SpursEngine will find its way to home PCs based on low-cost processors, such as the Intel Celeron – to offer high-end video capability.

LeadTek and Thomson both plan on introducing add-in SpursEngine based cards in the coming weeks. LeadTek’s card should arrive later this month, coming in at roughly US$286. Thomson’s cards should arrive by November and are expected to cost between US$375 and US$400. LeadTek recently showcased its card, the Winfast PxVC 1100 at the Ceatec Exhibition in Japan. The PCI Express card with 128MB XDR memory fits easily into a small form factor desktop and required only a very small heatsink to keep it cool.

A LeadTek representative manning the LeadTek booth claims the company hopes to use passive cooling for their cards versus a fan when they are released – this has yet to be finalized however.

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By Aaron Heibert - Source : Tom's Hardware

In a recent, very left-field action – six major studios have filed a suit against RealNetworks for their ‘brand-new’ DVD copying software. RealDVD.

RealDVD adds an extra layer of copy protection while somewhat crippling DRM. Movies backed up with RealDVD can only be played on one computer, effectively limiting the portability of standard DRM which brings one to think about why you would use this software anyways.

The usefulness of RealDVD is what makes these recent legal suits interesting. It is somewhat boggling what the six big entities figure they are going to lose out on when it comes to RealDVD. It is ‘possible’ that Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, Walt Disney and Sony are not happy with the potential misuse of DRM that RealNetworks is imposing with their added layer of extremely useless protection.

With the amount of freely available software available to perform the same functions with extremely less limitation, it is hard to imagine why someone would purchase RealDVD to begin with.

RealNetworks has apparently filed a countersuit which brings new light to the interpretation of Hollywood’s DVD licensing. Best case scenario? The best legal outcome would be to permit the use of crippled software like RealDVD – which nobody is going to pay for anyways.

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By Jane McEntegart - Source : Tom's Guide

Motorola has confirmed the suspicions of many in the blogosphere who claimed the company was planning devices for the Google-developed, mobile operating system, Android.

Speaking to BetaNews yesterday morning the company confirmed rumors that it was planning products that ran the OS, however the spokesperson refused to comment on rumors that Motorola was putting together an Android team consisting of as many as 350 people. "We’re excited about the innovation possibilities on Android, and [we] look forward to delivering great products in partnership with Google and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA)," Motorola said in a statement to BetaNews.

Speculation surrounding the company and possible Android devices hit the internet Monday when an Android developer told TechCrunch he had been approached by the company. The same source claimed Motorola was in the prosess of expanding its Android team, upping numbers from 50 to 350.

Times have been hard for Motorola as of late so the positive press coverage won’t go amiss. The company saw significant success with the introduction or its Razr line of handsets, which then turned out to be rather short lived. Motorola let go of over 2,500 of its staff in April. This was in addition to cuts of 7,500 made last year. March saw the company make the decision to split into two separate companies, one dealing with Mobile Devices and a separate arm for Broadband & Mobility Solutions. Motorola also made headlines in July when it filed a lawsuit against a former employee who went work for Apple following his departure from Motorola, alleging he had agreed not to join a competitor for a full two years.

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By Devin Connors - Source : Tom's Hardware

The last year has not been kind to AMD. Its 65nm Barcelona processors arrived several months late, and were already obsolete in many ways when compared to the Intel offerings at the time. To make matters worse, the Barcelona chips were also buggy, making the tardy offering even less desirable to consumers and PC manufacturers. All of this built up to AMD’s $1.2 Billion loss in Q2 of 2008, the same quarter Intel saw record-breaking gains.

Now, in an effort to right itself in the CPU market, AMD has begun manufacturing its next generation of processors. Shanghai, a 45nm quad core processor, will be available by the end of 2008, beating original expectations. As per its usual strategy, Shanghai will be available in server processors first, followed shortly by desktop varieties.

In order to gain ground on Intel in performance, these new Shanghai based chips will have three times more cache (6MB total) than previous processors, as well as the third iteration of HyperTransport. AMD claims these additions will boost performance by as much as 20 percent while lowering power consumption. Following the release of the Shanghai processors, the 45nm Deneb desktops processors will hit store shelves in early 2009, followed by Istanbul server processors (six-cores) later in the year.

This could be the boost AMD needs to stay competitive with the house that Moore built, but how will these new offerings compare to the six-core Xeon processors already shipping from Intel as well as the Core i7 chips expected later this year? Only time will tell.

Check out AMD’s full plan for most of 2009 right here in an earlier report.

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By Marcus Yam - Source : Tom's Hardware

Just as how the innovation of Wi-Fi has freed laptop users from being tethered to an Ethernet cable to roam freely within the proximity of a wireless router, a new initiative by 16 companies hopes to make laptop users connected online nearly everywhere they go.

The new initiative, dubbed “Mobile Broadband,” is mastered by the GSM Association and will help ensure a hopefully uniform experience to those looking for connected computing in a laptop.

“Mobile Broadband is like a home or office broadband connection with one crucial difference: freedom. Freedom from hot spots, freedom from complexity and freedom from security concerns,” said Michael O’Hara, CMO of the GSMA.

The 16 companies currently a part of Mobile Broadband include: 3 Group, Asus, Dell, ECS, Ericsson, Gemalto, Lenovo, Microsoft, Orange, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Telecom Italia, Tellasonera, Toshiba and Vodafone.

In the first step in of the plan is to have mobile carriers and PC makers pre-install Mobile Broadband into a range of notebook PC will be ready out of the box. Such computers will be identified by Mobile Broadband branding, which will also be promoted by a global media spend of more than $1 billion in the next year.

“This commitment is manifested in a service mark that we expect to see on several hundred thousand notebooks in the shops by the holiday season,” added O’Hara. “The Mobile Broadband badge will assure consumers that the devices they buy will always connect – wherever Mobile Broadband is available – and that they can expect a high standard of simplicity and mobility.”

With the growing infrastructure for high-speed wireless coverage, it’s only a natural progression that a network that can now supply data will serve more than just cell phones. The real question will be capacity, as users of the iPhone 3G on the AT&T network are already experiencing congestion.

Should Mobile Broadband prove to be a success, the technology could be extended to consumer devices, such as digital cameras to instantly upload photographs, or to MP3 players to download new songs.

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By Marcus Yam - Source : Tom's Guide

While the current console generation is just hitting its stride, talk has already begun regarding what comes next.

According to What They Play, Nintendo is currently showing to developers early presentations of the next-generation Wii. The new system is supposedly set to arrive sometime in 2011, making it 5 years after the release of the current Wii.

Those with HDTVs know full well that the Wii doesn’t put out clean, crisp images that compare to the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. The next Wii will expectedly come with high-definition output — in fact, some developers are calling the next-gen system “Wii HD.”

The current name used by developers, codename or not appears to be indicative that the next-generation system won’t be a radical departure from the current setup. Clearly, Nintendo snatched the lead away from the more technologically advanced competition with its easy-to-use controller scheme, and the company would be crazy to mess with its winning formula. What that in mind, the Wii HD will likely be a heavily upgraded console that won’t stray too far from the Wii’s present appeal.

As What They Play points out, Nintendo’s spending on research and development has more than tripled since the release of the Wii. Some of this can easily be attributed to Nintendo simply having more resources to pour into future projects, but it also shows that the company is keen in maintaining the lead that it has established.

Perhaps a more interesting question is whether or not the Wii’s comparatively simplistic hardware will be able to carry the momentum for another three years until the next Nintendo console arrives. HDTVs are finding their way into more and more homes, and with Microsoft and Sony already reacting to the casual gamer space with their high-definition consoles, the current Wii could have a hard time keeping pace.

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By Devin Connors - Source : Tom's Hardware

Could Sony be planning on using an upgraded Cell/B.E. in the PlayStation 4?

When looking at the three major home gaming consoles on the market today, the Sony PlayStation 3 packs the most advanced hardware. Utilizing the Cell processor, a joint venture between Sony, IBM, and Toshiba, the PS3 out-muscles both the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft. While this doesn’t necessarily mean it will have the best library of games or highest sales numbers, it’s nice knowing you’re the only console on the block that offers a Blu-ray drive as well as a processor that’s still considered advanced even several years after release.

So advanced, in fact, that Sony may use it for the brains of its next console. The PlayStation 4, expected to be on store shelves sometime in 2011, will use a slightly upgraded Cell processor, according to unverified reports. With an expected core increase from 8 to 12, the new Cell chip will maintain something close to its current 3.2 GHz clock speed. The next Cell will also be based on the newest manufacturing tech, 45 nanometers, and could use a variation of DDR3 memory. The PS3 uses Rambus XDR memory, which is exceptionally fast, but also hits the wallet pretty hard. According to Electronista, Sony may get around the speed problem with DDR3 by grafting it directly onto the Cell processor, eliminating a lot of latency.

The move to a smaller and more robust Cell chip seems logical, but even if Sony decides to return to the drawing board with the PS4, the next Cell chip is still being worked on by Sony and friends, so look for it to end up in other devices like HD-friendly laptops. However, by the time 2011 rolls around, the Cell may be down to something even smaller than 45nm...perhaps 32nm or 22nm may be the magic number.

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By Michael Brown - Source : Tom's Hardware

If Keith Mullin has his way, we might soon see a sixth food group in the USDA’s Food Pyramid: Cognitive Performance Snacks. Mullin calls his invention "Gamer Grub" and maintains that it is “formulated to boost your brain and speed reaction times.”

Gamer Grub will be available in four flavors considered to be popular with gamers ("Strategy Chocolate," "Action Pizza," "Racing Wasabi," and "Sports PB&J" (that’s peanut butter and jelly to the uninitiated), but two features will set this snack apart from the chips, pizza, popcorn, and similar snack foods on which gamers are known to subsist: a proprietary mix of vitamins and other supplements, and a unique “delivery system” that will enable one to consume the product in the midst of gaming without leaving one’s fingers, keyboard, and mouse slick with grease.

The delivery system comes in the form of flip-top lid on top of an ergonomically shaped plastic container that is easily gripped with one hand. The supplements range from Vitamin A (for improved eyesight) to Magnesium (for the maintenance of muscle and nerve functions) to Choline (for muscle reactions). While the Gamer Grub website seems to make these claims in a tongue-cheek-fashion, it also provides citations to scholarly research to back its nutritional claims.

Mullin, a sometime gamer himself, originally developed the Gamer Grub concept for a General Mills’ snack inventors’ contest. The cereal-maker declared Mullin’s entry a winner, but ultimately decided against manufacturing the product; so Mullin decided to develop it himself. This is not his first invention.

“I work in product development,” Mullin told us when we contacted him this morning. “I’ve invented and licensed several toy products, and I invented a pet toy called the Bark-N-Bat. This is the first time I’ve done a food product, and it’s definitely exciting.”

Mullin describes Gamer Grub as a “functional food,” a concept he says he did not invent (here’s Wikipedia’s definition). “Functional food is basically a food product that enhances a lifestyle or a health condition,” Mullin said. “It’s a very large food category.” Mullin also advised us not to confuse his product with the category of food supplements. “The difference between a supplement and a natural food,” he said, “is that the FDA generally recognizes the ingredients in a natural food to be safe.”

Gamers attending the “E for All” videogame event in Los Angeles later this week will be able to sample Gamer Grub, and Mullin promised to ship some product directly to us, as well. We’ll let you know what we think of it. Everyone else will have to wait until the product reaches retailers’ shelves some time in 2009. Mullin has not yet settled on a retail price for the product.

Note: This story was updated October 1 with a link to the Gamer Grub website and pricing information.

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