Today's Specials Archives - Page 18 of 89

PlayStation 4 Coming in 18 Months?

You already know that Nintendo will have a new console (Wii U) in 2012, but what about its competitors? Well if Bitmob’s source is to be believed then you can expect a new PlayStation in about 18 months (Q1 2013). According to the site:

An anonymous source shared a quote with me, direct from what they described as a “high-level meeting” at Sony: “PlayStation 4 in 18 months.”

My source — who, I hasten to add, isn’t a neophyte, an outsider, a gossip, a fake, or a show-off — remains convinced for excellent reasons, and I trust that conviction. PlayStation 4 in 18 months. Done deal.

Some of you will recall that the PlayStation 3 launched in November 2006 and that Sony has been adamant about the console having a 10-year lifespan. Launching and supporting a new system would detract from that. Then again, Sony has had a rough (though still successful) outing with the PS3. Perhaps it might be wiser to start anew and learn from its mistakes this generation in order to dominate once more.

What do you think? What are the chances of the PlayStation 4 hitting in 2013? Is Bitmob’s source believable or is it just a bunch of hot air?

Source

Coffee Talk #393: Are Phones Getting Too Big?

At IFA 2011, several mobile phone manufacturers showed off super-sized models. I’m talking about electronics that some feel are too big to be considered a phone, but are too small to be considered a tablet. Two examples are…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Klatch’s Panama Kotowa Duncan, the soul-crushing struggle of job hunting, or AJ Burnett raising his game to mediocre levels, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

At IFA 2011, several mobile phone manufacturers showed off super-sized models. I’m talking about electronics that some feel are too big to be considered a phone, are but too small to be considered a tablet. Two examples are the Samsung Galaxy Note (5.3-inch screen at 1280 x 800) and the HTC Titan (4.7-inch screen at 800 x 480). Considering that some people feel that phones like the HTC Thunderbolt (4.3-inch screen) are too big, I’m curious to see how consumers will react to these larger phones.

As for me, I’m all for phones like the Galaxy Note. I love that it packs a large screen and a high resolution. Right now I’m alternating between the Thunderbolt and the T-Mobile G2x by LG. While the four-inch screen on the G2x is certainly large, lately I’ve found that I prefer the larger screen on the Thunderbolt. More than anything else, I use my phone for reading. Whether it’s web sites or emails, a larger screen and a higher resolution would make things easier and more enjoyable for me.

How about you? What do you think of phones featuring screens that are larger than 4.7 inches? Are they too big? Or could you see yourself rocking one?

Pachter: Xbox 360 Price Cut Needed to Beat PS3

I love Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. In addition to videogames, we can talk about WWE and gaming United Airlines’ frequent flyer program. That’s pretty much all I know. I also love that he’s so quotable. He recently told Industry Gamers that Microsoft needs to slash the price of the Xbox 360 in order to beat Sony’s PlayStation 3 this holiday season. Here’s the deal:

If Microsoft does nothing, I think PS3 will outsell Xbox 360. However, my friends at Microsoft are extremely proud, and they absolutely refuse to tolerate the possibility that the PS3 will outsell the Xbox 360. I think they have the ads printed for the Xbox 360 price cut, and will drop them on us the instant they see PS3 sales greater than 360 sales.

I know that the lot of you are split on Pachter. Some of you are fans of his brazen predictions. Some of you would love for him to pipe down a bit. What do you think of his latest claim? Is Sony’s momentum with the PlayStation 3 something for Microsoft to be concerned about? Is an Xbox 360 price cut necessary in 2011?

Source

The Justice Department vs. AT&T Means…

I spent a large part of yesterday talking to friends and colleagues in the mobile tech industry. As you’ve probably guessed, the hot topic was the Justice Department’s lawsuit to block AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile. Everyone I spoke to agreed that most people were taking the news of the lawsuit the wrong way; just because the Justice Department is suing, doesn’t mean that the deal is dead. However, opinions were split on how this is all going to pan out. Let’s look at a few of the possibilities.

The most popular scenario is that the acquisition goes through, but with AT&T having to make more concessions than originally planned. People that expressed this opinion believe that the lawsuit is just a tactic to weaken AT&T’s stance. Some believe that AT&T’s lobbyists (and the money behind them) are too powerful for the deal to completely die.

Number two on the list is that T-Mobile ends up with another company. While several people mentioned this possibility, the proposed partners were all over the place. Dream suitors mentioned include Sprint, Google, Cox Cable, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cablevision. The one issue with this scenario is that nobody thinks that T-Mobile can get anything close to the $39-billion offered by AT&T. Will Deutsche Telekom be willing to take a deal for significantly less money?

Oddly enough, the least popular possibility was T-Mobile giving it another go on its own. Some of you will remember that if the AT&T acquisition falls through then T-Mo receives a cool $6-billion — $3-billion in cash plus $3-billion in spectrum and roaming rights. While that’s a significant amount of money and assets, my pundit pals believe that it’s not enough to keep T-Mobile going. The company has been losing customers and is already less valuable than it was when the acquisition was announced. At best, my friends believe ~~the children are our future~~ that T-Mobile’s consolation prizes will be used to increase the price to its potential buyers.

As for me, I’m going with the first possibility. I think that the acquisition still goes through. The honest reason is that I don’t expect the government to do what’s right for American consumers. I’ve been conditioned to believe that money and special interests will trump doing the right thing. Am I being cynical? Certainly. Am I being irrational? I don’t think so.

What do you think of all this? How do you think the The Justice Department vs. AT&T will shake down?

Samsung Galaxy S II Announced for AT&T, Sprint, & T-Mobile

After months and months of waiting, Samsung has finally announced that its Galaxy S II Android phone will be coming to North America. AT&T and Sprint will be getting the phone in September, while T-Mobile’s version will be arriving at a later date. All three versions of the phone will be running Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread) with Samsung TouchWiz, have 16GB of internal memory, have an eight-megapixel rear-camera, and sport a two-megapixel front-facing camera. There are some distinct differences between the three models. Cue the Degeneration X music as I break it down!

AT&T: This model is closest to the international version. It sports a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus screen and a 1.2GHz dual-core Exynos processor, which is currently the most powerful mobile phone processor on the market. It’s using the Samsung Galaxy S II name and will be available in September.

Sprint: Dubbed the Samsung Epic Touch 4G, Sprint’s version of the Galaxy S II features a larger 4.52-inch screen, a larger batter, and a WiMax radio. It will be the first Galaxy S II out of the gate, hitting on September 16, 2011.

T-Mobile: Few details were revealed about the Samsung Galaxy S II for T-Mobile. Most experts believe that it will be hitting later than its counterparts and previous rumors pointed to an October release. There’s also a chance that it will not feature an Exynos processor. The word on the street is that this version will go with a Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core chip in order to be compatible with a modem that works with T-Mo’s HSPA+ 42 network. If that’s true then it will be interesting to see if consumers will be willing to sacrifice processing power for faster connectivity.

There’s no doubt that all three American Galaxy S II models will be excellent phones that sell well, but are they arriving too late? When the global version of the Galaxy S II went on sale in May 2011, it was unmatched and remained that way for the entire summer. September and October releases have a lot more competition, including the iPhone 5 and the (rumored) Nexus Prime. Hell, as I’m typing this there are a bunch of great phones being unveiled at the IFA 2011 trade show, some of which will be available before the end of the year and outperform the Galaxy S II.

My friend Shacknews Garnett and I were debating about this topic. We both believe that the phone would have killed in America if it were released in the summer. He blamed Samsung for bungling the launch. I believe that the stupid way the U.S. market works is to blame. The carriers want their own special flavor of the Galaxy S II and need time to ensure that their bloatware works on their custom model. Samsung is all about getting its flagship phone on as many carriers as possible, so it had no choice but to wait until the American carriers got their crap together.

Please let me know what you think about the American Galaxy S II line. Any guesses on the T-Mobile holdup? Do you think the phone is arriving in the U.S. too late? Is it Samsung’s fault or is it just playing the game it has to play in order to sell in America?

Coffee Talk #392: Bigger Disruptor — iTunes vs. Napster

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, whoopie pies sweeping the nation, Oscar De La Hoya’s admission of cocaine use + adultery, or Michael Vick’s sweet contract, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Two of my friends were arguing over which service disrupted the music industry in the bigger way, Napster or iTunes. The Napster backer believes that creating absolute anarchy and making music available to more people than ever is an unmatched accomplishment. He argued that Napster paved the road for iTunes’ success and put an emphasis on being the first change agent. The Apple supporter acknowledged that Napster was the first major agitator, but argued that iTunes had a more meaningful impact on the music industry. He believes that getting the music business to change its pricing model is more significant than the free-for-all environment that Napster created. He also thinks the combination of iTunes and the iPod, later joined by the iPhone and iPad, changed the way millions of people buy music.

The arguments were interesting and I’m still processing both sides. I don’t have my own opinion on the matter yet, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this debate. Please vote in today’s poll and expand on your answer in the comments section!

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Coffee Talk #391: Powerful Brands That are Dead or Dying

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, gratuitous use of chyrons, the scariest insect, or why my coffee beans are late, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

My tech writer friends and I were talking about brands that were powerful 10 years ago, but are dead or dying in 2011. Names like Dell, Nokia, and RIM came up. It wasn’t that long ago when Michael Dell advised Apple to shut down the company, Nokia was the leading high-end smartphone manufacturer in the world, and RIM’s BlackBerry platform was considered cutting edge. It’s crazy how much can change in a decade. These days Apple makes Dell look like a joke, Nokia is no longer a player in the high-end market, and RIM’s BlackBerry OS is considered an archaic piece of crap.

Other companies like Excite, Palm, and Yahoo! were discussed. I wanted to talk about gaming brands, but most of these guys don’t know anything about that world. That’s where you come in! Remember when the “big three” of gaming was Nintendo, Sony, and Sega?!? It’s crazy how Sega went from one of the biggest players in console gaming to a middling publisher.

What brands do you remember being juggernauts in 2001 that are dead or dying in 2011? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!

Razer Unveils “Blade” Gaming Laptop (Pics, Specs, and More)

Razer has taken the wraps off of its Blade gaming laptop and it looks hot. Packed with high-end specs, aluminum construction, and Razer’s unique Switchblade user interface, the Blade appears to offer a unique blend of performance, functionality, and style. While I don’t want to get too excited until I can get my hands on one, I’m loving the Blade on paper. Here’s some additional info from the press release:

Razer, the world leader in high performance gaming hardware, introduces the Razer Blade – a full aluminum chassis gaming laptop featuring true portability, incredible performance, and an all-new revolutionary user interface. With the introduction of the Razer Blade – a feat of modern-day systems engineering and technology, Razer is reinvigorating technological and design innovation for the entire PC industry, and encouraging gamers and developers to return to the PC as the primary gaming platform of choice.

Mobile systems developed for gaming today compromise on portability and form factor for game performance. While such machines run games well, they are over 2 inches thick and can weigh more than 10lbs. The Razer Blade measures 0.88 inches thin, less than half that of current mobile gaming systems, and weighs only 6.97lbs, achieving a balance between portability and performance – making it the world’s first true gaming laptop.

Developed in partnership with Intel, the Razer Blade features a fast Intel® Core™ i7 processor and a high performance NVIDIA GeForce® graphics processor. The hardware was designed to run the most demanding games of today without sacrificing the laptop’s portable form factor. The Razer Blade also does not compromise on screen size as it comes with an incredible LED-backlit high-definition 17” display.

The Razer Blade features the Switchblade User Interface – Razer’s multi-award winning, highly intuitive interface technology. The interface is comprised of 10 dynamic adaptive tactile keys for easier access of in-game commands, and an LCD capable of two modes: one mode that displays in-game information when a mouse is in use; and another mode that functions as an ultra-sensitive, multi-touch panel designed for gaming on the go.

Naturally, the Blade uses the customary black and green colors found in other Razer products. I’m anxious to get my hands on the machine in order to get a sense of its build quality For now I’m digging the Blade’s looks. Check out the image gallery below and let me know if you like the Blade’s aesthetics.

[nggallery id=70]

I know that a lot of you are spec whores, so here are the Blade’s digits:

Price: US$2799.99

Availability: North America Q4 2011

Product Specifications:

2.8GHz Intel® Core™ i7 2640M Processor

8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory

17.3″ LED Backlit Display (1920×1080)

NVIDIA GeForce® GT 555M with NVIDIA® Optimus™ Technology

2GB Dedicated GDDR5 Video Memory

Built-in HD Webcam

Integrated 60Wh Battery

320GB 7200rpm SATA HDD

Wireless Network 802.11 b/g/n Compatible

16.81″ (Width) x 10.9″ (Depth) x 0.88″ (Height); 6.97lbs (Weight)

Again, I’m trying not to get too excited…but I can’t help it! The Razer Blade is the most exciting non-Apple laptop I’ve seen in years. Keep in mind that I was reviewing laptops for PC Magazine and Computer Shopper in the ’90s before I started writing about games. It’s extremely rare for me to be this jazzed about a Windows laptop and here I am drooling over the Blade. Ha!

How about you? Any of you ladies and gents interested in the Blade?

[Updated at 2:21PM PDT with the promo video below.]

The Sad, Sad Tale of “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair

Grantland has posted an outstanding article that chronicles the marital and financial difficulties of “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Shane Ryan covers more than 20 years of Flair’s life…and it’s depressing. Keep in mind that I’m a huge Ric Flair mark and consider him to be the greatest of all time, no matter what WWE says. Like most articles on Grantland — the Bill Simmons project that has quickly become one of my favorite sites — it’s a well-written piece, but a lot of the details made me wince.

I already knew some details of Flair’s marital problems, but I had no idea he was so stupid with his money. I was genuinely sad when I read that Flair used his old championship belts as collateral for loans. I was even sadder to learn that he used the Rolex watch that he received from Shawn Michaels — a gift to commemorate their outstanding match at WrestleMania XXIV — for the same purpose. I was at that match and the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony that featured Flair’s induction. The watch represented all the emotion from that weekend — which was supposed to be Flair’s “last” match — and it’s sad that Flair has been reduced to using it for collateral.

Anyway, I highly, highly recommend reading the whole article when you have a chance. If you do, please leave a comment here and let me know what you think!

Source

Coffee Talk 390: PC Gaming is Not Dead, It’s Just Changed

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Minka Kelly and Derek Jeter breaking up, hurricanes, or NY bagels, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I hate the question, “Is PC gaming dead?” Of course it’s not. As long as people are using PCs, they will also use them to goof off, and one of the best ways to do that is gaming. I was reminded of this stupid question when Razer took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal that proclaimed PC gaming is not dead. It’s just a teaser for a product announcement later today, but it plays on the whole PC-gaming-is-dead thing.

Just to make sure we’re clear on this issue — PC gaming is not dead! Don’t believe me? Well, ask John Carmack. He’s exponentially smarter than either of us. He recently told Gamasutra:

When you look at all the MMO money on there, there’s still a lot. And when you include Facebook games and stuff like that, and all the web games.

It’s just, I think people regret the migration of the hardcore action game, which clearly has taken a move towards the consoles. But gaming on the PC, there’s probably more hours of PC games going on now than there were five years ago.

While there might not be as many “enthusiast” games on PC as there used to be, there are more people spending more hours gaming on a PC than ever before. The market has changed and the audience has evolved. There are casual-game publishers that are being valuated in billions of dollars (USD). With all the people participating and all the money to be made, I don’t see how anyone can think that the PC market is “dead”.

Normally, I would ask for your thoughts on the question of, “Is PC gaming dead?”, but Carmack just owned the question. Of course I must end today’s column with this: And that’s the bottom line, because John Carmack said so!!!