gadget news and reviews

Upcoming PSP Games: May 1

The following is the Offical list of games, as published by SCEA, that will be released for the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America for May 2006. Note: This was the accurate list of games as of 04.28.06, games may be removed and new ones may be added later. Check PlayStation for any future updates. Also search our archives for previous title releases.

• FIFA World Cup 2006 – Electronic Arts
• Astonishia Story – Ubisoft
• Field Commander – Sony Online Entertainment
• Guilty Gear Judgement – Majesco
• Lemmings – SCEA
• Monster Hunter Freedom – Capcom
• NBA Ballers®: Reboundâ„¢ – Midway
• Puzzle Challenge: Crosswords & More! – Crave Entertainment
• Race Driver 2006 – CodeMasters Software
• Stacked with Daniel Negreanu – Myelin Media
• Tomb Raider: Legend – Eidos

Past Links: PSP Games Released in April 2006
Related: PSP Firmware v2.70 Released | Stream iTunes Library To PSP

Digg Search Widget 1.70 4

The Digg Search Widget (DSW) v1.0, was originally released on March 6th, 2006. About a month after the launch successful of DSW v1.0, I am pleased to announce The Digg Search Widget v1.70! DSW now includes such features as Advance Search, Themes, RSS Reader, and Alerts. (see details below) As you must already know, the DSW runs off the Yahoo! Widget Engine (aka. Konfabulator) and now functions properly on both Windows and Macintosh computers. The main goal of the DSW is to help Digg.com users easily access a large variety of Digg content right from their desktop. Please download the widget and try it out. I guarantee you’ll like it. Read More

PSP Firmware v2.70 Released 22

On 04.24.06, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) released a major update (v2.70) for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Once PSP owners update their PSP, they will be able to playblack Macromedia Flash files through the WebBrowser and save Podcasts to the Memory Stick through the RSS Channel. Video Podcast support has not been added yet, but should be included in the next update. Full v2.70 ChangeLog below:

PSP Firmware v2.70 ChangeLog:

• You can now play Macromedia Flash content under [Internet Browser]. *Note that you must adjust a setting to enable this feature. A connection to the internet is required to adjust the setting.
• [Connection Settings] has been added under [Settings] in [Internet Browser].
• You can now save content added under [RSS Channel] on a Memory Stick.
• [Automatic] has been added as an option under [Rate] in [Location Free Player].
• [UMD Video L/R Button] has been added under [Video Settings] in [Settings]. You can now disable the channel skip feature of the L/R buttons. (This applies to UMD VIDEO.)
• A new file extension has been added to playable AAC formats.
• [Simplified Chinese] and [Traditional Chinese] have been added as options under [System Language] in [Settings] > [System Settings].
• [RSS Channel Settings] has been added under [Settings].

Read More

Apple – 17″ MacBook Pro 1

Today, 04.24.06, Apple unveiled a new 17″ MacBook Pro, which is about 5x faster than the original 15″ model. The new MacBook Pro has a 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo processor, a whopping 1680×1050 display, 1GB RAM, 8x Dual-Layer SuperDrive, ATI Mobility Radeon 256MB, and a 120GB Hard Drive. This new laptop will run you about $2,799, but the specs speak for themselves. Although many were hoping for a smaller and cheaper MacBook Pro, a larger and more expensive one was released. However, this may be popular for those that wish to have a powerful portable machine that can now run both Mac OS X and Windows XP. Overall this new addition is an exact replica of the previous 15″ models, which still exist, except this model has a bigger/brighter display and better hardware specs. The 17″ MacBook Pro still has all standard MacBook Pro features such as the iSight Cam, MagSafe Power, Front Row Remote, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc. If you do wish to purchase it, Apple will begin shipping them next week.

Links: Apple MacBook Pro | Apple Store
Coverage: Gizmodo | Engadget | TUAW | Slashdot
Related: Boot Camp | MacBook Problems

Simulation Gaming, ‘06 Style 6

2006 is a year full of high expectations from gamers. What with Xbox 360, Revolution, and PS3 all making their formal debuts, expectations have turned into demands. While taking a look at some games that would be released later this year, one of them in particular caught my eye: Spore. The game is made by the one and only Will Wright, the renowned creator of The Sims and Sim City. Spore is a new style of simulator game that lets you play “God” in more depth than ever conceived.

In Spore, you begin the game in a universe as a single cell. After swimming around and eating bits of food, your creature lays an egg. At this point you will be allowed to modify the creature that will be born by giving it new traits, abilities, and body parts. As the creature eventually starts to evolve, it leaves its area and enters a large ocean and eventually reaches land. As you may already see, this game has many stages making it nearly endless. The best feature in Spore is the variety of the creatures you will encounter. This is because the majority of the game is made by players just like you. Your Spore community will soon turn into full civilizations with technology starting. Even though these may have started out with primitive tools, some of these “Spore civilizations” may even end up surpassing those of today. Read More

Google Integration 3

After the recent release of Google Calendar, Google has decided to make navigating through their most popular products easier. Google has placed a small toolbar at the top left of Google, Gmail, Google Calendar, and a few other pages. Therefore, if you do wish to navigate between Google Calendar and Gmail for example, you no longer have to go through the hassle of opening a new window/tab and typing in a URL. This new feature is very handy and useful tools that will help people using Google’s products navigate to where they want to go faster. Not all Google Accounts have the feature added to them yet, but expect to see this feature on you Gmail or Google Calendar page within a few weeks.

Links: Google Calendar | Gmail
Related: MSN Calendar | Yahoo Calendar

Stream iTunes Library To PSP 173

Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a very popular device and has sold a few million units, but when compared to Apple’s iPod, the PSP lacks storage space. Luckily, the PSP has a built in WiFi card to make up for this disadvantage. With a few simple steps, all of which are included in this tutorial, anyone can stream any non-copyright music from their iTunes library to their PSP. To get started, you will need to have the following:

• PSP With Firmware v2.60
• Networked XP Home/Pro Comp.
• WiFi (802.11b) Network Router
• Apple iTunes v6.0.4 Installed
• Songs in iTunes Music Library
• At Least 1 Playlist With Music

The 5-Step Setup Procedure:

1) Download iTunes-PSP-Server.exe and save it to your desktop.
2) Disable any firewalls and/or keep port 8080 open.
3) Launch iTunes and then click on the iTunes-PSP-Server after.
4) In IE/Firefox open the page “http://localhost:8080″
5) Setup is complete if an “iTunes RSS Server” page appeared.

If the iTunes RSS Server page didn’t appear make sure your firewall has authorized “iTunes-PSP-Server.exe” to access the internet completely. You may also want to add a rule into your firewall to keep port 8080 open. The “black box” is the server, DO NOT close it. Read More

PlayStation Portable Schedule +

Although there was plenty of coverage on the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing on March 19th, it seems as though almost everyone missed one very important slide. The slide, screenshot above, was Sony’s Schedule for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). This slide outlined when and what SCEA plans to release for the unit throughout this year.

According to the chart Macromedia Flash support, downloadable audio through the RSS Channel, Chinese Fonts, and Libraries for the Camera/GPS should all be available in Spring 2006. SCEA then plans to release another update that includes a RSS Channel with Video and expand UMD video profiles by the end of Summer. Sony has already set September 6th as the launch date of the PSP Camera and October 6th for the PSP GPS module. Finally, one more update which allows Booting PSone games from Memory Sticks and having VoIP support should be released by the end of the year.

Lets hope that SCEA sticks to this schedule and release new firmware that open up the PSP to more content than restricting it like they have done in the past. Check back soon for more information and PSP news.

Related Links: PlayStation Business Briefing 2006
Other: Griffin iTunes PSP and iFM PSP

Soda Machine Hack 12

Most modern soda machines have little computers in them. The tiny RED LCD usually displays the data. The computer can be controlled by using certain buttons on the soda machine in different combinations. This can be used to check the temperature, see the amount of money (load and dump), and dump certain sodas. Will usually only work on newer machines that look like the one on the right. They need to have an LCD and also need to have some type of message on it “ICE COLD SODAS” This tells you it is running something.

1) Accessing the Menu: Press the buttons [4][2][3][1] one after another. It will be left to right in some machines and up and down in some so try both methods. Once you press these keys you will be in the “debug menu.� It should display ERROR or something similar.

2) Once you are in, button [1] becomes the back/exit type of command. Button [2] becomes scroll up. Button [3] becomes scroll down. And Button [4] becomes select/enter. You can now scroll through the features.

3) As you scroll through the menus you will see items such as SALE, CASH, VER, ERROR, and RTN.

4) What each item means: Cash- displays the amount of money in the machine. You will also be able to find more info on what was purchased how much for each item and are arranged by slot #s. SALE- shows how many drinks have been sold and how many from each slot. (slots are in same order as buttons so if button 1 is coke then slot 1 is coke as well.) VER- the machine firmware version. (pointless) ERROR- COLJ (Column Jam), VEnd (Vend Mechanism), Door (Door Switch), Sels (Selection Switch), CHAR (Changer Errors), Acce (Acceptor Errors), Sts (Space 2 Sales), and bVal (Vill Validators). (can’t do anything w/ this either, except clear the errors!) RTN- Returns back to normal menus, you can also do this by pressing on the coin return button or the back button. Also by holding a coin at the tip of the coin slot it will display the current temperature of the inside of the soda machine.

5) There above are the options that are usually enabled, but most other options are usually disabled if the owner (or maintenance dude) is smart. But if they happen to be enabled here they are: CPO- Coin payment mode, which will dump coins out of the machine. You will be able to specify the type (dime, nickel, ect.) and the amount. tvFL- tube fill mode, which lets you fill the machine w/ coins. (retarded huh) PASS- allows you to change the default password from 4231 to something else. PrlC- change the price of a drink! (1 cent!) StOS change what each button links to (so if some1 presses coke you can make it go 2 sprite.) COn- are machine configuration settings too much to tell just experiment. TIME- Set TIME. LANG- change language.

Page last edited November 2005.

Google Calendar Released +

On Wednesday (04/13/06) Google unveiled their latest product, Google Calendar. The new web-based application is open to the public, but is expected to remain in beta temporarily. Google Calendar, code-name CL2, helps track events, schedule appointments, and share them with others. This new service is completely intergraded with Gmail, allowing users to add events mentioned in messages to their calendar or emailing scheduled events to contacts. Google Calendar will also notify the user by email and/or SMS notifications if requested. Since Google Calendar supports iCal standards, it can import content from applications such as MS Outlook.

Main Features:

• Gmail Intergration – send events to contacts or save mentioned events
• Calendar Sharing – create public calendars or grant users permission
• Data Importing – import data from other applications (Outlook, etc.)
• Multi-Calendars – manage seperate calendars for work, home, etc.

Any calendar can be easily shared among others by either giving specific users access or by making it open to the public. The application will even schedule appointments with others not using Google Calendar through email. This new service is amazingly better and faster than both MSN’s and Yahoo’s services, which have existed for many years. Google Calendar will work in both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, but not in Safari. I suggest trying or at least testing this new service, as it is completely free.

Links: Google Calendar | Press Release
Related: MSN Calendar | Yahoo Calendar
Coverage: BetaNews | Weblogs Inc | TechCrunch