PS3 sales are slumping, but not as bad as the Wii's sales, which were cut in half.
(Credit: Sony)
Sony’s reported its latest earnings and, as expected, it continues to be hammered by the worldwide recession and strong yen, suffering a net loss of $390.5 million
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Originally posted at News – Gaming and Culture
In an effort to quell all sorts of kicking and screaming that resulted from an evidently erroneous report earlier in the week, an Acer representative has reportedly reaffirmed that an Android-based Aspire One is still on schedule for a Q3 release. If you’ll recall, we first heard of Acer’s intentions to dole out an Android-laden netbook during Computex, and now it seems as if those very plans are still perfectly on track. So there you have it, folks — no need to keep pounding those heart medications.
Filed under: Laptops
Acer reaffirms that Android-based netbook still coming in Q3 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nikon has announced three hot new products today, and if you have been paying any attention to the rumors, you’ll already know what they are. The biggest news is the new D300s, a video-capable update to Nikon’s top-of-the-range crop-frame DSLR, the D300. We also get a new entry level DSLR, the D3000, and a replacement for Nikon’s pro 70-200 zoom, called the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm F/2.8G ED VR II.
D300s
So, what’s new? A glance at the camera doesn’t give much away. On the outside you see a camera much the same as the two-year-old D300, and from the front it is pretty much indistinguishable apert from the “s”. Round back, though, things have changed. The rear now looks just like the D700, with the memory-card hatch button gone, replaced by an info button. There is also a grille which covers the speaker for video playback and the welcome addition of a separate center button in the main control d-pad, plus a dedicated “live view” button.
The screen has also been improved, and is now the same 920,000 pixel model as found in the D700. Finally, there is a microphone socket hidden under the flap.
On the inside, the biggest change is video, coming in from the same 12.3 megapixel sensor as the old model. It’ll shoot in motion jpeg format, like the other Nikon video-capable DSLRs, but also now in AVI, and it’ll do it at 24 fps and up to 720p. Also new is the ability to auto-focus while shooting video, using the slow but accurate contrast-detection method.
This video means you’ll burn through storage, and the D300s has an extra memory crd slot for you, adding an SD card to the existing CF. You can choose to mirror your images across the cards, use them consecutively or write, say, jpegs to one and RAW to the other, or still shots to one and video the other. Speaking of still shots, the D300s will now hit 7fps without an external grip (up from 6fps), and there is a new “quiet shutter” mode, which lets you rattle of shots without flipping the mirror back down between each of them.
In short D300s takes an already great camera, adds video and tweaks a few features. $1800, body only.
Product page [Nikon]
D3000
The second new camera is way down at the other end of the performance scale, although it manages to pack a lot in for such a cheap DSLR, and surprisingly doesn’t have video. Priced at $600 with the 18-55mm VR kit lens, it costs the same as the D60, and you have to wonder why anyone would still buy the D60, especially as they share the same 10.2 megapixel sensor.
The differences: 11 point autofocus instead of just three, which also brings “3D tracking”, Nikon’s name for spookily following a moving subject and staying locked on, a 3-inch screen (the D60 has 2.5 inches) and a new “guide mode”, which walks the user through the settings step-by-step.
This last looks great, especially in a camera clearly aimed at the first-time DSLR owner. You or I might spend hours, and a few battery charge cycles, digging through menus to discover what goodies lie inside. The normal user, though, is unlikely to stray from the “green rectangle” mode, so anything that stretches them and encourages experimentation is a good thing.
Product page [Nikon]
AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm ƒ2.8G ED VR II
Quite a mouthful, huh? The new pro-zoom replaces the well respected but flawed 70-200 ƒ2.8 lens. And before you ask: yes, the vignetting has been fixed. The lens also gets a “nano crystal coat” to reduce reflections, and has seven (count ‘em) ED elements to do the same thing. It also has upgraded vibration reduction (the VR II part) which gives up to four stops extra room before you start to get the wobbles. This combined with the fast ƒ2.8 maximum aperture throughout the range means super low-light shooting. $2400
Product page [Nikon]
AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm ƒ3.5/5.6G ED VR II
Finally, we have a new DX sized lens, the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm ƒ3.5/5.6G ED VR II, a superzoom with the new VR II anti-shake inside. $850.
Product page [Nikon]
BMW slapped $4,500 rebates on its two diesel-engine vehicles, the BMW 335d sedan and the BMW X5 xDrive35d SUV, that makes them about $3,000 cheaper than their gasoline-powered equivalents. Diesels usually cost $1,000-$3,000 more. BMW calls the rebates Eco Credits and the $4,500 amount, valid through August, happens to equal the most you get out of the federal Cash for Clunkers (CARS) program, which wouldn’t apply to the X5 diesel anyway since there’s a $45,000 eligibility cap on the price of the purchased vehicle.
BMW X5 diesel savings. With the $4,500 rebate and an $1,800 hybrid/diesel tax credit, the 22 mpg (overall) X5 diesel is $48,375 (with shipping but none of the long list of BMW options), $3,475 less than 18 mpg the gasoline X5 30i. Driving 12,000 miles a year, the diesel uses $500 less fuel because diesel now costs the same as regular (on average), $2.50 a gallon, while gasoline BMWs need premium, which costs about $2.75 a gallon now.
Such a shame, no? As has become all too common in the uncertain world known as ASUS’ R&D lab, it looks as if yet another promising product has been canned before it ever had a chance to truly live. After the aforementioned company’s P6X58 Premium motherboard set the world ablaze just over a week ago, primarily due to the USB 3.0 sockets shown there on the left, the mainboard has reportedly been canceled for reasons unknown. According to a report over at The Inquirer, an ASUS spokesperson claimed that the mobo had been shelved “not for any particularly interesting reasons,” leaving us to wonder when we’ll ever see a motherboard equipped with that so-called SuperSpeed magic. Our true emotions are captured nicely in the video just past the break.
[Via HotHardware]
Continue reading ASUS kills USB 3.0-laden P6X58 motherboard for reasons unknown
Filed under: Peripherals
ASUS kills USB 3.0-laden P6X58 motherboard for reasons unknown originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In this case, the definition of “portable” has been stretched slightly. The iConic 100 LED screen has more in common with a billboard than a television, with a surface area of 100m². The screen is actually high-def and can play back 720p video.
From there, the numbers get even bigger. The display is 12.8 meters long and 7.2 meters tall. That’s a 578-inch screen, if my math is correct, and the TV takes a half hour to set up once it has arrived. And how, you are no doubt asking, could this be called portable? That’s the trick. The Iconic comes on wheels. Giant, flatbed trailer wheels which hook up to a truck, making it technically “portable”, despite weighing 33,000Kg. It even comes with a generator so you don’t have to find a socket to plug it in.
So, is this the world’s largest portable TV? Actually, no. There’s no built-in tuner, so really it’s just a big ol’ screen.
Product page [Adi. Thanks, ]
It’s a little hard to believe that we’ve gone two whole months without a new device from Digital Cowboy, but at long last, the Japanese wrangler is hitting back with a striking new piece of consumer electronics goodness. The DC-MCNP1, which falls neatly into the Movie Cowboy family, is a 2.5-inch NAS drive at heart, but aside from giving you access to files on its diminutive internal drive anywhere in the world, it also streams a plethora of file formats to your HDTV. The HDMI / composite video outputs should take care of the vast majority of ya, and the USB 2.0 socket provides an expansion option for those needing to hook up an external HDD. An Ethernet port is built in for network access, but those who’d prefer to cut the cord can certainly plug a wireless adapter into that USB socket and pray continuously to the signal gods above. If you find yourself in Fukuoka next month, give this one a look if you’ve got ¥19,900 ($209) to spare.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Digital Cowboy’s DC-MCNP1 2.5-inch NAS doubles as media player originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Czech hacker Josef Průša took a look at his useless three-cell MSI Wind battery and wondered why it didn’t have a USB socket in the side. Surely it could power smaller, less thirsty devices than a netbook? After popping the case with a knife, he discovered that there was actually plenty of room left inside. Enough room, in fact, for a USB port and a voltage regulator.
It turns out that there is enough power in the 12 volt battery charge an iPhone twice, although of course you can use it with any USB-powered device. It also turns out that the power conversion, stepping down from 12 volts to 5 volts, generates a lot of heat, so Josef upgraded his passive-cooling device (a heatsink) to a bigger one, bringing the temperature down from a toasty 120ºC to a more manageable 70ºC, and punched through the stickers covering some existing holes in battery case for better air flow.
It looks like a simple hack, and damn useful too. As my wonderful and generous editor Dylan Tweney mentioned, it would be better if it worked with the battery still in the laptop, but still, I’m going to give it a try with my own spare Wind battery.
USB iPhone battery pack from MSI Wind battery [Prusadjs. Thanks, Josef!]
Joby has announced the brand new Gorillamobile, a small, ball-and-socket-jointed tripod specially made for mobile devices. Or has it? Some of you may have noticed that it looks a lot like the Gorillapod Go-Go, and in fact hitting up the old Go-Go product page takes us directly to the Gorillamobile page.
So it looks like Joby hasn’t come up with a new product after all, but a rebrand was a good idea – after all, who would buy a camera tripod for a phone? The new site shows the iPhone in all kinds of non-photographic situations: hugging the bars of a stepper at the gym, for example, or clamped around the handlebar of a pram.
The “new” tripod fixes to devices in one of three ways. If you have a camera with a tripod screw, that will work. There is also a suction cup which will even stick to rubberized surfaces and finally you can permanently attach an adhesive clip. All three then slide into the head of the ‘pod. This will be great for holding an iPhone steady while shooting video. It is also $5 less than the “old” model, at $30.
Product page [Joby. Thanks, Greg!]
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While it seemed that all was going well for the Big N, it looks like those jovial times are finally coming to a (temporary) end. In an earnings report filed today, the company posted a 66 percent fall in quarterly operating profit on “slowing demand for its Wii console and a stronger yen.” It’s not so much the profit slide that’s surprising, but the sudden admission that Wii demand has finally (finally!) slowed from a raging boil to simply piping hot definitely caught us off guard. Still, Nintendo maintained that it would sell 26 million Wii consoles before the year was out alongside 30 million DS handhelds, the latter of which has seen momentum slow due to “increased competition in the handheld business from Apple’s iPhone.” Now, we’ve known for some time that the suits in Cupertino have always viewed the iPhone as a game console, but to hear it called out as such from an entity not named Apple is another matter entirely. Maybe it should reconsider that whole “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” thing? Nah.
[Image courtesy of QuiteCurious]
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds
Nintendo finally sees Wii demand slowing, calls iPhone a DS / DSi competitor originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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