Sony revealed the PS3’s pricing and release dates at a pre-E3 press conference held in Los Angeles yesterday. The system will come in two bundles. PS3 with a 20GB hard drive (confirmed RRP of AU$829) and one with a 60GB HDD (confirmed RRP of AU$999). The Australian launch date will come one week after the Japan release for Sony’s next generation games console. European territories and US will also receive the PS3 on 17 November. The almost simultaneous worldwide launch date is a stark contrast to Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which was released in Australia a number of months after its US release.
The PS3, which is based on the Cell processor, will play CDs, DVDs and include a Blu-ray drive. While the 20GB PS3 has all of the basic power and functionality of its more expensive sibling (including a Blu-ray drive), the 60GB bundle comes with card slots (Memory Stick, SD, Compact Flash), built-in Bluetooth, built-in 802.11b/g wireless, HDMI support, as well as ethernet compatibility. Further, it includes Dolby digital surround sound functionality and supports high-definition video up to 1080p.
The console also can run up to seven wireless controllers at once, and all PS3s will come with a built-in hard drive, either 60GB or 20GB. And finally, it supports USB, Sony memory sticks, secure digital (SD) and CompactFlash. Sony has also taken a leaf out of Nintendo’s book with its PS3 controller, equipping it with built-in motion sensitivity that can be used to control games.#.#.
Today I picked my new O2 Xda Atom from the nearest Optus dealer, after been waiting for nearly 2 months since I ordered. The Xda Atom is a PDA-phone with Intel PXA272 416MHz processor, 2.7″ TFT LCD display, FM radio, 2-mega-pixel CMOS camera, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and runs on Windows Mobile 5.0. I will be installing some applications soon and test it completely and will write a full review soon.
Calling themselves as political activists, a Massachusetts group has launched an effort to inveigle Internet Explorer users to switch to the Firefox Web browser.
In addition to talking up the strengths of Firefox, the site highlights a new Google AdSense program that offers $1 to online publishers for every referred netizen who downloads Firefox. The group identified itself as “four friends” on ExplorerDestroyer.com and said that Firefox is one of the most important software applications in the world as “it can play a big part in determining the future of the Web.”
According to the Firefox Four, the serendipitous announcement of Google’s Firefox referral program has set the stage for the open-source browser “to take back the Web.” .#.
Watch Steve Jobs introducing the very first iPod at a low key event in 2001. The rest is history.
Microsoft plans to jazz up its music player in Windows Vista, the company’s next operating system. But at least some of the new features will debut much sooner. The software, which will be built into Vista, is designed to offer better synching with portable devices, make it easier to scroll through long libraries of music, and be tightly integrated with Urge, a new subscription and download music service co-developed by Microsoft and MTV Networks. Microsoft is on track to release a Windows XP version of Windows Media Player 11 before the end of June, the company confirmed last week. Microsoft has said the XP version won’t have all the features of its Vista sibling, but the company won’t say which features will be excluded. The company also has yet to offer a public test version of the software. Check more details.
