Apple have today announced a new feature for their iTunes Store called Complete My Album.

Now customers who have already purchased individual singles from a particular album can now purchase the entire album minus the cost of the songs they've already purchased. Whenever a customer buys a song, a personalised "Complete My Album" page will appear in the side panel of iTunes showing the reduced cost of buying the rest of the album.

We think it's a great idea and one that's sure to encourage more people to purchase complete albums (if indeed said album is any good) as opposed to just one or two songs.

Even though Apple isn't as such part of the music industry, it's nevertheless a refreshing display of lateral thinking from an industry that is so resistant to change they're willing to let their cash cows take a day job to pay the bills while they spend their time jumping up and down making sensationalist claims in the mainstream media.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 )

As promised Microsoft today launch their HD-DVD add-on drive for the Xbox 360 gaming console in this country.

It costs a measly $249 and for your money you get a stand-alone, external drive that attaches via USB to the Xbox 360 and allows users to playback high definition HD-DVD discs on a suitably equipped display. PC users can also benefit from the HD-DVD drive as it’ll happily plug in to any Windows-based computer — you will of course need to purchase the appropriate HD-DVD playback software however. Microsoft also includes a copy of Peter Jackson’s King Kong on HD-DVD and an Xbox 360 HD-DVD remote control.

According to Microsoft the HD-DVD drive is region free for movies. Region coding is of course one of the movie industries’ most misguided attempts at controlling international markets. It was easily defeated and ultimately a complete waste of time so it’s great to see this drive appearing without any such hindrances.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Microsoft has just now confirmed they are indeed releasing the much blogged about Xbox 360 Elite console. The new Xbox will be marketed as a premium model and will be placed above the existing bundles in the Xbox lineup targeting enthusiasts who intend to use the high definition and Media Centre Extender capabilities of their console to the fullest.

The specifications are the same as we reported yesterday; 120GB hard drive (this will also be sold separately), HDMI video/audio port and slinky black finish. In the bundle Elite buyers will also find a wireless headset and wireless controller (both in black of course), one month free subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold and an HDMI cable. Sony has irked many by not including an HDMI cable with their own HDMI equipped PS3 console.

New Zealand pricing hasn’t been confirmed yet but the Americans will be able to buy the Elite for US$479 at the end of April. Our release date is a slightly more vague "winter" but presumably even this premium version of the Xbox 360 will still undercut the PS3 by some margin due to the absence of a built-in HD DVD drive.

Even though the local press release mentions the availability of high-def movies and TV shows available for download via Xbox LIVE Marketplace these sadly remain a USA-only feature just as they do for the local Apple iTunes Store. This limitation is of course is nothing to do with Microsoft or Xbox LIVE as I’m sure they’d gladly sell us these shows if they were allowed… but that’s a rant for another day. Today, oddly enough for Sony, is all about the Xbox 360 Elite.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 6:27 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 )

While we’ve no hard evidence of sales other than what Sony are telling us they’ve sold, it seems the PS3 is selling very well indeed. This is hardly a surprise, after all, PlayStation owners are a loyal bunch and the machine itself is highly covetable despite the high price tag.

The Europeans have apparently soaked up 165,000 PS3’s while the Aussies have nabbed 20,000. Pre-orders of 7000 units in this country make the launch a roaring success for Sony and the confirm the PS3 as one scorching hot product.

These figures will go some way to sooth the bruises dealt to Sonys ego by the lacklustre launch events we reported earlier this week. Gary Wright over at Gameplanet tells us the PS3’s midnight launch at their Auckland store had just 15 hardy souls turn up. This compares rather unflatteringly with an estimated 150 fans who turned up for each of the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii launch nights.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 7 )

Rumours of a souped up version of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console have been doing the internet rounds for a wee while now. But hard evidence has apparently been found -- the fact the incredibly well informed Dean Takahashi of The Mecury News in San Jose has confirmed the existence of the Elite via his sources means it must be real. While Microsoft are themselves remaining tight-lipped we don’t imagine the announcement will be too far off given we’re smack bang in the middle of PS3 launch week. And don’t forget, the HD-DVD add-on for Xbox arrives on Thursday amongst a flurry of Xbox and Xbox LIVE related news.

You’ve gotta hand it to Microsoft, the way they’ve tackled the PS3 launch through a mix of cunningly timed product launches, guerilla marketing and internet rumoring has been quite sublime.

So just what is the Xbox 360 Elite? Well, the generally accepted feature set includes a 120GB hard drive, IPTV functionality and that all important HDMI port for high-def video and audio. It’s also black rather than white. The bigger hard drive is a no brainer, my 360’s 20GB drive is always at capacity thanks to all the stuff I download over Xbox LIVE, recently the free high-def South Park episode released on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace chewed through over a GB all by itself. The internal drive is still apparently a standard DVD drive -- a wise move on Microsofts part given the uncertainty over who'll be the winner in the burgeoning high-def format war.

Top of my wish list for the Elite Xbox 360? A quieter DVD drive, the current version is noisier than a front row seat at a space shuttle launch.

Oh, and in a correction to yesterdays story about beer, Microsoft and PS3’s, it turns out it was DB that sent the booze to Gameplanet not Microsoft. I’m guessing they saw the Microsoft stunt in the UK and thought they’d like a piece of that publicity action too.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 4 )

Microsoft’s Xbox division has been taking every opportunity to poke a little fun at their console counterparts at Sony as the Japanese giant launches its PlayStation 3 console in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Now, things have been a little flat in launch-land for Sony as midnight launches across the globe have apparently fallen on deaf ears. In New Zealand only handfuls of people turned up at electronics stores to collect their pre-ordered consoles at midnight as most preferred to stay at home and wait till a more civilized hour to pick up. Bloggers the world over have been reporting empty queues, tumbleweed-a-blowin’ and endless Microsoft pranks.

In Paris a waterside PS3 launch venue saw a giant boat float by with ”Xbox loves you„ plastered all over it. Here at PC World towers we received a vibrating box containing an Xbox 360 controller (poking tongues at the fact Sony removed the rumble feature from its new controllers). Although scoring another controller was a nice little bonus, we feel the guys down at the Gameplanet store in Auckland had a better score -- $480 worth of beer. That’s the difference in price between the Xbox 360 and the PS3 you see.

Very smarmy indeed you Microsofties. Check out the happy GP lads as they covet their haul of liquid gold as reported by NZGamer.com.

Actually, we're not sure who thought of it first but the whole beer-for PS3 thing was also done by Microsoft in the UK. A marketing technique I for one am all in favour of. Exactly how accurate it is we're not quite so sure of however. MS are using the $719 price of the standard Xbox 360 versus the $1199 price of the PS3. If you add in all the Xbox 360 extras you'd have to buy to bring the console up to the same spec as the PS3 ($949 for the HD-DVD bundle plus $150 for a wireless adapter) and you'd only end up with a couple of dozen DB's. That and you'd still be 40GB shy of hard drive space given the PS3's 60GB drive versus the Xbox 360's 20GB drive.

Still, as Steve Jobs will tell you... marketing doesn't necessarily have to have anything to do with truth.

UPDATE: Turns out it wasn't Microsoft flinging free booze around the place after all. DB were the generous souls behind this stack of free beer. They'd obviously seen the Microsoft stunt in the UK and decided they'd be up for some of that cheap publicity too. Nice one DB. Our delivery address is Level 1, 80 Greys Ave, Auckland...

Posted by Scott Bartley at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 )

Not so long ago ViewSonic gave the world the ViewDock which was, depending on your point of view, either a really expensive iPod dock with a free LCD monitor attached or a well priced LCD monitor with an iPod dock in the base. Now ViewSonic have performed their version of the Vulcan Mind Meld on a projector and an iPod dock to give us… the ViewDock PJ258D home cinema projector.

That’s right, now you can whack your iPod in the top of your projector and watch all your legally purchased iPod videos on the big screen (and let’s not forget charge your iPod at the same time).

$1899 buys a 2000 lumen, 1024x768 resolution DLP projector that weighs a measly 1.8kg, which isn’t much. This makes it ideal for travelling and the press release makes a point of mentioning the fact business users could potentially store their presentations on an iPod when on the road. It also has "direct off" functionality so there’s no need to shut down and wait for the thing to cool down… just unplug it and go.

Sadly we can’t tell you if it’s any good or not because ViewSonic declined our request for a review unit, but they sent us pictures which look nice.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Think flash memory is nothing more than a boring commodity item these days? A company called Tomato Flash is aiming to breathe a little life back into the market by launching a range of interesting and innovative memory cards. Tomato Flash is actually owned by LiteOn Group who through their subsidiary Dynacard actually manufacture millions of memory cards under OEM for various other vendors. So Tomato Flash is in effect the ”house brand„ being extablished to compete with their OEM partners.

Aside from the usual range of high capacity/high speed SD Cards and Compact Flash cards (they come in all sizes up to 8GB) Tomato also manufacture other variations such as miniSD and microSD, a flavor of memory card that are increasingly found inside mobile phones.
Tomato, however, takes things a step further by adding a host of adaptors and other innovative features to the product lineup, after all, who wants to buy a million different types of memory card to cover all your electronic gadgetry?

One of my favourites from the launch was the Combo SD card. A standard 150x, 2GB SD Card by day, at night this card doubles as a USB drive. Simply click the end cap off the back of the SD Card and there’s your USB connector ready to be plugged into any PC without the aid of a card reader. What’s more this one is also waterproof. Handy.

Also handy are the miniSD or microSD Tomato Flash cards. With these you also get a convenient SD Card adaptor or if you prefer, a MemoryStick Pro Duo adaptor?

In addition to all the nifty memory cards Tomato also do a range of USB flash drives. The 1GB T1 USB Flash Drive they demonstrated isn’t up to Windows Vista ReadyBoost standards but ones that are, aren’t far away apparently.

The product lineup looks good and although pricing isn’t finalised yet they promise things will be ”competitive„. One thing’s for sure, demand for flash memory cards, especially high capacity models, is only going to increase.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 4 )

The PC World team visited Panasonic’s New Zealand HQ yesterday to have a look at the new line up of digital still and video cameras. Apart from braving a treacherous 25km taxi journey down Auckland’s southern motorway to the semi-rural climes of East Tamaki, we also risked life and limb by merely being in the near vicinity of the stupendously large 103-inch plasma (see Chris Keall Daily for more on this monster)which, if it fell on you with all 250 of its KG’s, would surely herald a swift and painless death.

Getting back to the digital cameras, Panasonic have refreshed or replaced numerous models in their Lumix branded digital still camera line up. We saw 11 new models all up ranging from entry level in-your-pocket numbers through to larger models featuring 12x optical zoom lenses. Each and every model includes Panasonics wonderful Mega O.I.S intelligent image stabilisation technology to eliminate that pesky hand shake problem from ruining all your snaps. Mega O.I.S also includes something called Intelligent ISO Control which detects low-light situations and movement and bumps up the ISO settings on the fly. This means you can snap away in dimly lit situations or capture jumping kids and other fast moving objects without a flash yet still have a high enough shutter speed to avoid blurry pictures.

Every model in the range sports either 6 megapixel or 7.2 megapixel sensors and zoom lenses of at least the 3x optical variety. Plenty of other operational refinements were on show too although as Panasonic continue to stuff more and more features into the low end cameras the distinctions between the various models tend to blur somewhat.

But Panasonic weren’t just about the still image, they also had a bunch of new video cameras to show off, including their very first high-definition units, the HDC-SD1 and the HDC-DX1.
The two new HD models sit at the top of the lineup and both cost in excess of $2500. Interestingly, SD1 records onto SDHC memory cards (a 4GB card gives 40 minutes of recording time) while the DX1 uses DVD discs.

Further down the line their standard definition range offers choices of Mini DV tape, hard drive, SDHC memory cards and DVD recording media. The 30GB hard drive-based SDR-250 can record up to 27 hours of video when used in LP mode.

With 11 digital still cameras and 12 digital video cameras all jam-packed with top notch features we came away a little overwhelmed by it all, we expect consumers will likely do the same. Our advice? Pick a price point and stick to it…that way you’ll narrow your choices down considerably when shopping and save untold confusion.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Seagate have announced a brand new notebook hard drive. While this isn’t usually something to get all excited about this one is at least a little different to most. Seagate however obviously think it’s quite the occasion if the name is anything to go by,they've called it Momentus.
It’s the first to incorporate their new perpendicular recording technology which allows for greater capacity while using less physical platters inside the drive. Not only that but it spins at 7200rpm making it a speedy rarity in the world of notebook hard drives. Combine this with a 3Gbit/second Serial ATA interface and we’re looking at a notebook drive that can level foot it with their desktop counterparts.
But the funkiest thing about the Momentus is the optional free-fall sensor that detects sudden changes in g-forces and will park the drive heads to prevent damage to your data should the notebook be dropped. It works in much the same fashion as the vibration sensors Toshiba has been adding to their notebooks for some time now but Seagate’s implementation means just about any notebook vendor and even home users wanting to upgrade their notebook hard drive can easily add such protection.
The drive is available in capacities of 80GB, 100GB, 120GB and 160GB and pricing hadn’t been confirmed at the time of writing.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 6:33 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

With the launch of PlayStation 3 just two weeks away, what better time for Sony to introduce a limited edition run of the PlayStation 2, in a fetching candy-floss shade of pink? You know, for girls. (Shame the entire thing hasn't been coated in glitter, as Nintendo did for its Pink Swarovski Crystal Nintendo DS Lite.)

The pink PS2 is released in NZ and Australia on March 15; PlayStation 3 hits March 23. We don't quite get the timing either, especially as ol' pinky was released in Europe and the UK several months ago. Perhaps it's because thousands upon thousands of European women have eagerly taken up gaming in recent months, having held back their lust for war strategies and 1st person shooters until they could finally purchase a console to match their pink-hued home decor. Perhaps not.

Other recent highlights from the "let's break into the lucrative female market by making a pink one" approach to consumer electronics marketing include: LG's pink chocolate phone; the Asus pink leather notebook (admittedly rather covetable, this one); even the C2 metallic pink Taser.

As for the pink PS2? Hold out till the 23rd, ladies -- black is the new pink.

Posted by Annabel McAleer at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )