iDunzo.com

Sony Announces New, Cheaper PS3

October 18th, 2007 by iDunzo

Sony Computer Entertainment America today cut the price of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console in the U.S. and announced an even cheaper model that will arrive before the holiday shopping season.

The top-line PlayStation model, with an 80 gigabyte hard drive, now costs $499.00 USD, down from $599.00 USD.

That effectively eliminates the lower-end model, which has a 60-gigabyte drive and has sold for $499.00 USD.

A new low-end model with a 40-gigabyte drive will go on sale November 2 for $399.00 USD.

Unlike the other PlayStation 3 models, the new one won’t be able to play games made for the PlayStation 2.

In a statement, Sony said this was due to a more extensive lineup of games of the PlayStation 3.

The U.S. launch of the 40-gigabyte model was widely expected, since Sony has already announced it for Japan and Europe.

By doing this, it narrows the price gap with competing game consoles, but the PlayStation is still the most expensive.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 costs $350.00 USD and Nintendo’s Wii costs $250.00 USD.

The PlayStation 3 has been trailing them both in U.S. sales, and the Wii has been a breakout hit for Nintendo, with more than 9 million units shipped.

Sony has sold 5 million PlayStation 3’s since they went on sale in November last year.

Posted in Gaming + Technology + Toys & Gadgets | 1 Comment »

French Law Means Unlocked Apple iPhones

October 17th, 2007 by iDunzo

The price is unconfirmed, but Orange, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in France, will have to offer an unlocked version of Apple’s device to comply with French law.

According to Orange’s French website, the company is obligated to sell an unlocked version of any handset which is also sold as part of a subscription package.

The International Herald Tribune reports on the law “passed in 1998 barring network operators from locking new devices to a network for more than six months”.

It’s unlikely that even Apple will be able to squirm out of this, so expect a libere iPhone sometime next year.

It looks like France could become the hub for GodPhone exports (expensive, $560 exports, but exports nonetheless.)

Posted in Apple + Technology + Toys & Gadgets + Wireless | Comments Off on French Law Means Unlocked Apple iPhones

Videogame Systems Top ‘Planned Gift’ Lists This Year

October 15th, 2007 by iDunzo

According to research by the Consumer Electronics Association, sales of consumer electronics are expected to top $22 billion this holiday season, with video game systems topping the list of gifts people intend to give to others.

Though consumers are expected to cut down on expenses like home decorations and travel, they’ll still be spending plenty on gifts.

Not surprisingly, video games made the top five most wanted items for teens, along with clothes, computers, MP3 players, and cell phones.

Adults who were hoping to get some kind of electronic gizmo for the holidays put game systems on their wish list beside MP3 players, laptops, TVs, and digital cameras.

Posted in Gaming + Technology + Toys & Gadgets | Comments Off on Videogame Systems Top ‘Planned Gift’ Lists This Year

Apple iPhone Delayed in Canada

October 14th, 2007 by iDunzo

In the U.S., the iPhone trademark is owned by Cisco. Apple chose to work out a deal with them and avoided legal torpedoes.

Apple did manage to get the trademark elsewhere, with filings in Singapore and Australia bearing fruit.

In Canada, however, the mark has long been owned by Comwave, a telecoms company in Ontario.

Apple tried and failed to register the name there—but Comwave, unlike Cisco, won’t play ball on sharing the name.

“The force they put into marketing would quickly make the brand Apple’s and not ours. Co-existence is not possible.”

-Yuval Barzakay – Comwave president

Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Yuval Barzakay added that it would effectively be hijacked by any such agreement:

What he’s saying, of course, is that is that everything has its price, but only if you want to buy it and he’s right.

Can you see Apple renaming the iPhone, or missing out on a market the size of California?

Posted in Apple + Technology + Toys & Gadgets + Wireless | Comments Off on Apple iPhone Delayed in Canada

Ugliest Product in Technology History

October 9th, 2007 by iDunzo

PCWorld have posted a top ten of “The Ugliest Products in Tech History“.

While the Zune might not really be the worst design ever, it somehow seems right to have the dung-colored box at number one, although maybe “number two” would have been more appropriate:

Somewhere along the way, though, Microsoft forgot to include the iPod’s sexy design, opting instead for a boxy plastic casing and a spectacularly unflattering brown color.

The other selections, however, are mixed.

Sure, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy deserves its place, and the Furby should have been euthanized long ago, but Motorola’s DynaTAC?

The $4,000 phone is a beautiful, sleek (and huge) icon. And how could any geek not love the stripped down honesty of the acoustic coupler modem?

You know the rules by now. Which is the real ugliest gadget ever?

I’ll start: The TiVo remote. It might work great, but it looks like a cheap dog toy. Answers in the comments.

Posted in Apple + Microsoft + Technology + Toys & Gadgets | Comments Off on Ugliest Product in Technology History

Powertune: Gibson’s Self Tuning Guitar

October 3rd, 2007 by iDunzo

Guitar maker Gibson has a history of innovation. The company is responsible for the Humbucker pickup and the legendary Les Paul electric guitar.

Now it is selling the Self Tuning Guitar, which actually has servo motors on the headstock to turn the tuning heads.

The Powertune system, developed over 10 years by German company Tronical, uses a set of piezo-electric pickups to determine the pitch of each string.

These are separate from the regular guitar pickups, which rely on the string vibrating in a magnetic field to cause a current.

The information for the pickups then goes off to the computer brain, which sends its instructions up the strings to the tuning pegs.

The system comes pre-calibrated for concert pitch, but you can tune one string yourself and have the guitar set itself around that.

Best of all, the Powertune can store custom tunings, from alternative open-string tunings for slide guitar to, well, anything you like.

A quick flick of the knob between songs will switch smoothly between them. The rig is an add-on for existing guitars, and will cost $900.00 USD.

And of course, guitar purists are already whining that “real” musicians should be able to tune their own instruments.

Posted in Music + Technology + Toys & Gadgets + Videos | Comments Off on Powertune: Gibson’s Self Tuning Guitar