40Gb PS3 $699.00AUD RRP!

Well it seems that there was weight to my previous articles about a new PS3 surfacing. Even with the claims of JB Hi-fi store staff, some people just wanted to wait upon Sony to verify the claims. The funny thing was, Sony would deny any reports of a new 40Gb revision unit until October 5th where they now have not only confirmed but you can take a quick look at the unit (click on source for more).

Source

KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NEW 40GB & OLD 60GB PS3



The fact that this unit no longer supports PS2 game playback may upset many more than the issue of this unit not playing Super Audio CD's or known as SACD (didn't really take off) as Sony has always been about keeping their backwards compatibility catalogue. Playstation has around 15 years of gaming under their belts and 7-8 years were in the PS2 generation, fact is games are still in production for the PS2. One should note ALL PS1 games are compatible with the console.

Some other hardware features not found in this model when compared to the 60Gb & 80Gb (American and Japanese versions) configurations is that this has 2USB points and no card readers...

This console in my honest opinion is more for those not concerned with playing PS2 games but wanting a cheaper entry unit into Sony's next gen gaming. I am considering this purchase and hoping I can still pick one up for at least $650.00AUD as I stated in my last post on the matter.

It's one of the cheapest Blu-ray movie players on the market, plays High definition games, free online multiplayer, Wi-fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth, Mozilla Internet browser, Linux capabilities (can install Linux O/S distros) and an observation I made, it may also be using the new 65Nano Metre Cell & RSX chipsets which could explain why Sony have used less ventilation holes on this unit than its older 60/80Gb variations.

A good buy in my opinion!

Ten Tips for Buying TVs

A very imformative piece, I found this great for myself and for others when asking advice!

1) Right Connection – The first question Silver says shoppers should ask is whether the superstore or specialty retail store has a delivery service that will properly connect and calibrate your TV. “Ask if they understand how to make HDMI work, because ideally you should be getting that, but it’s still novel, still buggy,” Silver says.

2) Lighting Matters - Though it may be difficult depending on the shopping environment, make sure you can view the set in lighting similar to your home’s lighting. Is your room usually bright? Go LCD. Dark? Try plasma or a projector. In between? Microdisplays, especially for value in screen size delivered per dollars spent, Silver says.

3) Where’s the View? – Speaking of microdisplays, or rear-projection TVs (RPTV), there is a catch, Silver notes: limited viewing angles. LCDs and RPTVs don’t have as broad viewing angles as plasma, so make sure you can control the angle both horizontally and vertically if you’re considering those technologies, he says. “Room lighting and viewing angles are absolute considerations, and you can’t recover from a mistake there.”

4) Have Discs, Will Travel – Don’t rely on what the stores are displaying for movies; bring your own demo material. Suggestions: something real, something familiar. A digitized Pixar movie like Cars or Toy Story is easy to make look great, Silver says, but doesn’t offer real-life brights, darks and dynamic range of colors the human eye sees every day. “Charlotte Gray with Cate Blanchette, go to the very last chapter where there are bright scenes, dark scenes—challenging scenes. The original Matrix is spectacular in HD DVD, and Kingdom of Heaven is good in Blu-ray,” Silver says.

5) Sweet Concert, Man – Another telling piece of demo material? Concert DVDs. “They’re notoriously tough because they’re dark, and it’s not film-based, it’s video,” he adds. “Dark scenes in a concert shouldn’t be full of little wormy things moving around.”

6) Be Suspect of Specs – We can give you chart after chart of manufacturer specifications, but Silver says let your eyes be the true denominator. If you have five sets lined up in a row, look for the best black levels and truest colors, even if you’re weighing 720p-resolution HDTVs against 1080p models.

7) A la Mode – TVs are shipped in “torch” mode, according to Silver, where blues are accentuated and colors in general are oversaturated. Combat this by making sure your TV’s menu includes modes “that have the words pro, theater, movie and warm.”

8) Go Big – Silver’s simple rule on what size TV: The biggest you can afford. “We believe a big picture is 35-millimeter film,” he says. “Take all the rules you’ve ever heard [for measuring the ratio of screen size to viewing distance] and throw them away. I guarantee your screen at home is too small.”

9) Good Memory – Different content sources produce pictures that need varying levels of adjustment to look good on your TV, so check that it has discrete memory per input. That means your set will remember what settings go with what connection, whether it’s cable, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, Xbox 360 and more.

10) Darkness Rules – Since Silver can’t stress enough the importance of black levels in an image, we’ll say it again, this time with an analogy. He says to think about it like the differences of black levels in photography of daily newspapers compared with those of a monthly magazine.

Source

Australian 40GB PS3 unoffically confirmed (Confirmed by JB Hi-Fi store staff)

Australian 40GB PS3 unoffically confirmed (UPDATE: Confirmed by JB Hi-Fi store staff)

We've had word come through from a great source outside Sony that the 40GB PS3 is definitely on its way to Australia, and the release timing fits well with the Best Buy leaks discussed by the mothership.

The docs we've seen put the 40GB PS3 at $699, with a release date of October 11. If you haven't taken a closer look at the specs just yet because you didn't expect it to come this way, America's FCC revealed plenty of the more subtle hardware changes. -Seamus Byrne

(UPDATE - Wed, 4.59pm: A reader called up their friendly neighbourhood JB Hi-Fi and had the price and date confirmed by two separate members of the floor staff. So we're willing to call next Thursday a very safe bet for a new PS3. -SB)
Posted on October 3, 2007 12:30 PM

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PlayStation Home: 10 minutes Of New Video Footage

If you check out my previous post on Sony's 'Home' service which is much like Second Life I discussed some really neat features the service has on offer and also my take on the array of options and possibilities.

Well here is new footage of the PlayStation Home Avatar customization options and also new footage of the apartment wallpaper options a brief look at Home Square and a look a the proximity sound feature for video displays in home.

Video 1

Video 2

Thoughts and opinions...

Bungie Leaving Microsoft!? (RUMOR)

A huge rumor is floating around that Halo developer Bungie may be seperating from its owner Microsoft. However it is based on a email someone claims to have received from "A friend of mine who has someone close that works at Bungie". According to the email Microsoft is letting Bungie split as a thank you for the billion $ Halo franchise, with Microsoft keeping the rights to it. This rumour seems way too crazy to be true, as the loss for Microsoft would be huge. It's in the news and it's causing uproar all over the internet as it's doing the rounds.

seattlepi

The email is as follows :

"So heres my big secret. You should google Bungie + Microsoft + separation this week.
You know that big ol BILLION dollar franchise Bungie has created for Microsoft, to show their appreciate Microsoft is letting Bungie leave. Of course Microsoft gets to keep all rights to the Halo franchise, but as today Bungie no longer part of Microsoft. Ask anyone who works there to search the global address book, they're no longer in there. Microsoft was supposed to release the press release today but if they wait till the 10/6 the impact wont effect the quarterly results. However today is the actual official date and the day the NDAs expire, however you still didn't hear this from me."

"Apparently MS just wants Bungie to make Halo for the rest of their natural days, and Bungie doesn't like how MS is constantly trying to "handle" everything they do; the way they market their games, the way they interact with their fans (basically the fact that they do appreciate their fans), and how stingie they are with the profits (comparable to the rest of the industry). So as of today they are their own independent entity. They'll probably make Halo 4 for Microsoft, however hey are also free to create new intellectual properties for whatever system they want. (Even though they prefer the xbox platform)"

"What a way to say thank you."

Considering that Microsoft owns Bungie (they paid $50m USD for Bungie)I'd take this with two grains of salt.

PlayStation 3 getting holiday makeover!

Well this one has been through the rumor mill however it seems that this may have some legs to stand on.



From arstechnica.com:

In the meantime, you can see what Sony has done: the company has focused on reducing the cost of building the PS3 while also closely watching how sales of lower-priced units are doing. The time is ripe for a new PS3 model to hit the scene, and we strongly believe that the company is about to launch a $399 PS3 in time for the holiday season. We've been hearing rumors to this effect for some time, but now the evidence of a new PlayStation 3 configuration is almost undeniable: an FCC filing details a new model number for the system.

What this new model number means is impossible to know for sure; the FCC filing leaves out pictures to "avoid premature release of sensitive information prior to marketing or release of the product to the public." The product description tells us that there is no difference in the wireless configuration, CPU, or Bluetooth aspects of this new PlayStation 3. The information that details the differences has been conveniently left out of the released paperwork, for the aforementioned reason.

We also have a date to pin this information to: our sources tell us that the $399 PlayStation 3 hardware will launch on, or before, November 16. We're confident in this information, as our sources in this area have always given us accurate information in the past. The "sensitive information" in the FCC filing will go public 45 days from September 4, unless something changes.

In the race for supremacy Sony has fallen behind against the XBOX 360, many people have held back mainly due to price of the Sony Playstation 3 whilst others are not impressed with the games currently available.

One thing is for certain, I hope these PS3's (if the hype is true) will hit the shores of Australia sometime early next year as I'd honestly love to pick one up @ around the $650AUD mark like I did the XBOX 360 when that too retailed for $400USD ($650AUD).

More as it happens...

iPhone issues after software upgrade as promised.

An Apple software update is disabling iPhones that have been unlocked by owners who wanted to choose which mobile network to use.

It was announced earlier this week Apple said a planned update would leave the device "permanently inoperable".

Thousands of owners hacked their iPhones to unlock it for use with other mobile carriers and to run "unsupported" programs.

Apple requires iPhone owners to take out a lengthy contract with AT&T in the United States but there are a number of programs on the net that unlock the device for use with other networks.

What is truly upsetting is legitimate customers (who have not hacked their iPhones in any way) are also having problems. Many are blogging about it whilst others are posting on Apple's forums that the update is deleting contacts information, as well as photos and music.

People diss Microsoft for the things they do but at least MS have a different stance with hackers/pirates.

Comments are welcome.