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.

Funny : Dog swallows Wiimote

Not exactly noteworthy news but I love the Wii and this made me laugh...

A family in the US town of Loveland became concerned when their dog started vomiting blood - something that the first aid chief on our floor will tell you "ain't quite right."

So naturally the dog was whisked off to the vet, where X-Rays revealed what appeared to be an old TV remote.

Vet-induced vomiting revealed that there were pieces of TV remote inside the dog's stomach, but there was something else in the pooch's tummy as well...

"The Vet started massaging the dogs belly and it just came flying out of the dog," said Marie Becknell. "I knew what it was right away by the color and shape of it. It was my son's video game remote." Yep, the dog had swallowed the boy's Wii Remote.

We're sure you'll agree that this is one talented dog, but instead of having him run around the living room, hilariously flailing the bat in Wii Sports, the family had the Remote removed.

"The dog spent the night at the Vet and boy's punishment for leaving the controller out was two weeks allowance to replace the Wii remote," said Mrs. Becknell. Don't him leave the SixAxis lying about...

Source



One has to ask, did the family have to move the dog around to play the games or see that the Wiimote still worked :)

Adobe Continues Blu-ray Support.

Adobe has announced that the latest version of their popular PC video editing software - Adobe Premiere Elements 4 - supports Blu-ray content. Adobe first announced Blu-ray support with the Apple OS-X version of this software, and has continued that support for this newest release. The software will optimize your video to Blu-ray standards in order to guarantee the highest video quality. Adobe Premiere Elements 4 is available now.

For even more on this.