Plugged into the net – Technology, gaming and Apple news
Tech news is always a bit dry on the weekend so I found something a little off topic, but still interesting. These are not tricks, but rather things you can do…
(For an extra 10 seconds than you’re normally used to)
So I went and browsed the Internet for the most popular sites that would sell the 360 and had information about the stock. Unsuprisingly all of these, including Amazon, GAME, Gamestation and Dabs.com, have said that they cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas and they expect deliveries for consoles ordered now to be in 2006. Gamestation even says:
Due to unprecedented demand for stock across international markets, regretfully we will not be able to fulfil all of our XBOX 360 pre-orders on the intended release date of 2nd December 2005.
As you can see it will be hard to get a 360 before Christmas if you haven’t ordered yet. Even if you ordered early you may not get it shipped around December 2nd. It may take up to a week or more longer. Click on for more screenshots.
Continue reading ‘Other retail stores which can’t guarantee 360 deliveries’
As you can see from the above screenshot I just made HMV in the UK cannot guarantee pre-xmas deliveries of the Xbox 360. This is annoying, and they even say that if you didn’t order before September 7th (that is just as school began – over 2 months ago) won’t get their 360 until 2006. That is definite. What I am even more annoyed about is the fact that they have ramped up the price to £284.99 when the price at other stores like GAME and Gamestation is £279.99. It doesn’t include anything extra and you won’t get the 360 until next year if you order now. This is not a very good deal. But I wonder what other stores are like?
HMV Website (Xbox 360 order page)
From the people who brought you Smash My iPod they now bring you SmashMyXbox.com. People have donated money from all corners of the world to see the latest Xbox 360 getting smashed in front of people. They have photos and a video on their page showing how they went out and waited to get a 360. They also bought a huge mallet to smash it to pieces with. Then in front of a couple of people they threw the thing on the floor and smashed the hell out of it. Since they came out with their smashing of the iPod i had changed my mind. If people donate money to something they want to see then why not smash it to pieces. It makes great fun and the money isn’t wasted because people donated because they wanted to see it. I will now leave you with the link to the website. Look at the pictures and most importantly the video, I’m sure you will get at least a chuckle.
This is a really cool clock. It simulates pong, the left side being the hours and the right side being the minutes. Every minute the right side wins and every hour the left side wins. It goes on for 24 hours and then restarts. If only it could also display the date, but then you would need more pongs. There is also a video of it here (.MOV – 10.53MB). It really is cool. You need to watch the video.
I love the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was and still is one of my favourite movies and when I saw this I had to watch the trailer. Sadly it’s quite low quality but if you zoom in you can just about seen what is happening. It looks really exciting, but it looks like it will be coming out next summer, and that’s for the US. Why do the UK always get everything late?
video (2.8MB – .AVI – XviD Codec required)
If the link goes down post a comment and I’ll upload the video to the blog.
It looks like that CNN has made a mistake. They previously posted an article, which had an interview with the main man of Sony, Howard Stringer. It now appears that CNN has revoked this article. The article came from FORTUNE editor Peter Lewis and was published on the CNN Money website. It linked to a new interview with Stringer which has been published in Fortune magazine. It seems that in the original version of the article Lewis said that Stringer had told him that the PS3 would be priced between $300 and $400 (USD), and would launch in the middle of next year in Japan, followed by a US launch a couple of months later. It now seems that no such thing was mentioned in the original interview and CNN Money has now pulled the quotes, placing an addendum on the article which says that “Stringer has not commented publicly on how much the PS3 is expected to cost, or how soon it will appear in the US after the Japanese launch in spring 2006.”
So where did the information come from, then? The culprit appears to be a Hollywood Reporter article on another interview with Stringer, which appeared a few weeks ago and also appeared to attribute pricing and availability information to the Sony CEO. However, on closer inspection, the article was actually citing an anonymous source within Sony – a fine detail which the CNN article apparently missed, setting the whole rumour mill rolling once again.
To date, then, the only official comments on PS3 pricing have come in the form of admonishments from Sony Computer Entertainment boss Ken Kutaragi that the new hardware will be expensive – although some commentators feel that these statements are more an indication of Sony’s desire to keep the PS2 selling strongly than any real indication of PS3′s price point.
So they made a mistake, and a big one as a lot of gamers will suffer a big blow. They expected not to spend much on the PS3 after this rumor, but will their pockets still run deep enough for them to splurge out on a PS3, when it is launched. Even the launch date is still a myth, but whenever it comes out there will still be huge fans that will go and buy it, whatever the cost.
IO Data, a Japanese company, has released information that some models in their ‘HDP-U’ line have ‘picked up’ the “W32/Tompai-A” trojan.
What might be even worse is how IO Data Device handled the problem; they didn’t release the serial numbers of infected drives until some 14 hours after the announcement of the infection. We realize that even a good six sigma program won’t pick up every defect, but this kind of muck up should really never occur — and IO Data isn’t even offering a removal tool (yet). Apparently they expect you to use your own software or download a 30 day trial of Trend Micro’s software; thanks for the help, IO Data!
It seems scary that some companies can let this happen, after all they are big corporations with lots of money and power. But for me it doesn’t really matter as I have a Mac! Yay!
read more (Japanese)
On Tom’s Hardware Guide they have a good guide on introducing you to all the cables that are inside and outside your computer as well as general video cables you would use in your TV.
Every computer system, whether a desktop PC or a notebook, includes a bunch of connectors, both inside and out. Can you recognize each and every one of them? Relevant handbooks, when they’re even available, are often poorly worded or insufficiently illustrated. This causes readers to lose their orientation and leads to confusion and frustration.
This comprehensive advisor is intended to function as a reference, aimed at helping newbies and experienced users alike. With numerous pictures and short explanations, we’ll tell you all about the slots, ports, and connectors you’ll find on your PC, and what kinds of devices typically attach (or plug in) to them.
So if you think this is for you then check it out. Even if you think you know it all you may not. I, for one, wasn’t that sure on S-ATA cables, nor did I know that SPDIF stood for ‘Sony/Phillips Digital Interfaces!
