Is Halo 3 the most anticipated game ever? Given the fact almost every main stream news source on the planet is covering the Halo 3 launch in some fashion, the answer can only be a resounding yes. In fact, I doubt whether there’s been this much anticipation for ANY form of entertainment, let alone a game, since the Lord Of The Rings debuted back in 2001. For me, a 30-something gamer who has grown up playing video games, it almost brings a tear to my eye to see my humble hobby finally come of age in such a manner. Not that we gamers need mainstream recognition to somehow vindicate the thousands of hours we’ve spent in front of a gamepad of course. But nevertheless, watching Halo 3 represent computer gamers of all creeds (yes, even PS3 fanboys and hardcore PC-only gamers) on the world stage like this makes me feel like a proud Dad watching his boy learning to ride a bike for the first time.

Of course us Kiwis were again -- courtesy of our close proximity to the international date line -- first in the world to sample the delights of Halo 3 (well, apart from those lucky few who benefited from naughty American retailers who accidentally began selling the game last week). The official midnight launch event in Auckland saw the lucky kids pictured below become the first Halo 3 owners anywhere on the planet.

Other events saw early morning Aucklanders hammering away at a one ton block of ice in QEII Square to try and score themselves TV’s, Xbox’s and all manner of freebies. That frozen Legendary Edition helmet (pictured) was still locked tightly in ice when we left at 9:30, and that was after three and a half hours of frantic scratching. So close, yet so far away.

Posted by Scott Bartley at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's hard to argue with the grace and power of the iPod Touch. It displays photos and videos flawlessly, it gives you lots of innovative ways to navigate your music collection and its use of Wi-Fi is a quantum leap past that of any other dedicated music player. But after playing with it for a couple of hours, I can't help but wonder whether a music player really needs to be this much.

I don't mean this much money, though certainly $649 for 16GB of storage is a lot (the 8GB model is $479). What I mean is whether a player really needs to be this complicated, this powerful, this pretty. I think of music players as rugged, simple companions you can take anywhere, on a run or out camping. The Touch feels a bit precious. It's a player to gaze lovingly at and show off to friends, but it would feel almost sacrilegious to toss it into your backpack and run for the bus.

Perhaps that's just the Puritan in me, though. Certainly, if you want a music player that does it all — and with panache — this is the one to buy.

SLIM AND TRIM

The Touch is based on the iPhone, of course, but it's an iPhone on a diet. At less than a third of an inch thick, it seems considerably slimmer than the iPhone, which is about half an inch. That thin profile makes the Touch feel a bit fragile, though we haven't yet given it any torture tests as we have with the iPhone and new Nano.

If you're familiar with an iPhone, getting around a Touch will be cinch. It's got the same welcome screen with icons for Safari, YouTube, Calendar, Contacts, Clock, Calculator, Music, Videos, Photos and Settings. The new addition is an icon that takes you directly to the iTunes music store.

MUSIC OPTIONS

Touch the music icon and you'll find so many ways to look through your music you'll lose count. Icons at the bottom switch from viewing your music by playlist, artist, song, album and more. But that's not all. You can scroll through a list of music by flicking it with your finger. You can use an alphabet list at the side to get more quickly to an album beginning with N, for instance.

Or you can turn the Touch sideways and navigate using Cover Flow, the virtual Rolodex of cover art.

It's interesting, though, that there's no way to use the multitouch capability when you're looking through music. It's one finger only throughout.

Like the iPhone, the Touch has only two hardware buttons — the on/off switch and the one button that takes you to the home page. So what do you do if you're looking at pictures and song comes on that's way too loud? Double-click the home page button and basic music controls (volume, track forward and back and pause) float above the screen you're looking at. Once you've turned the music down, you can dismiss the controls and go back to what you were doing. Oddly, though, the controls don't come up if you're in the Cover Flow view, meaning there's no way to change the volume in that mode.

You can plug any standard headphones into the Touch without having to use the ugly adapters the iPhone requires. The audio quality seems about equivalent to other iPods I've used.

LOVELY VIDEO

Video looks fabulous on the Touch. In fact, videos from iTunes seem to be made for this size screen. On my notebook, they looked pixelated, but on the Touch, they looked like high-def.

Getting onto Wi-Fi was simple, especially because I violate all the rules and run my network without any encryption. The Touch detected my network, asked if I wanted to get on and worked flawlessly from then on.

The Touch's integration with the iTunes Music Store is well thought-out. When you first synch with iTunes on your computer, it grabs your account information, meaning that downloading a song doesn't require you to enter any of your billing data again. Touch a song, click "Buy Now" and all you have to do is type in your password with the iPhone-like on-screen keyboard. Within a minute or two, you can be playing your new tune. And when you next synch, the song will get copied to your PC.

You can get around the music store in a few ways — look at the latest featured albums, browse top ten lists for various genres or search for the name of the artist you're looking for. As you type, iTunes will suggest artists based on the letters you've entered so far.

BUT SHOULD YOU BUY IT?

Despite all that praise, I don't think I'd recommend a Touch to someone who's primarily interested in a music player. It's too expensive, feels too fragile and just does too many extraneous things. But if you want to watch a lot of video on your handheld, could use a mini-browser on occasion and are willing to pay a premium for gorgeous design, you'll love the Touch.

Posted by Jan Birkeland at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Lenovo is about to launch its ‘green’ ultra-small form factor desktop, the ThinkCentre A61e, in New Zealand.
The A61e, also known as the "Blue Sky", is the first desktop to be powered by AMD’s 45-watt Athlon 64 X2 dual core or Sempron single core processors and consumes about half the electricity compared with earlier models such as the A60.
Lenovo says this means A61e users will save an average of US$20 (NZ$27) a year in electricity costs compared with users of older PCs, and around 180kg in carbon dioxide emissions - the equivalent of two return flights from Boston to New York (four flights of 1 hour 15 minutes duration).
Michael Pierce, Lenovo director of environmental affairs told PC World that apart from the low-consumption processors, energy savings had also been achieved by using a more efficient, notebook-type power supply.
By using notebook (SODIMM) memory and dispensing with expansion slots, the A61e takes up 25% less desk space than the A60 and weighs in at about 3.6kg. Optional extras include a bracket which allows the system unit to be mounted on the back of a flat panel display and even a solar panel which Lenovo claims can be used to power the machine.
Pierce was unable to confirm New Zealand pricing and availability, saying this would be announced in a day or two. However the US retail price of US$399 (system unit only) suggests a New Zealand starting price of around $600.

Posted by Jan Birkeland at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Microsoft Hardware has revived its old joystick and gamepad brand with the launch of the Sidewinder Mouse, Microsoft’s first mouse aimed squarely at hard core gamers.
Now gaming is supposed to be fun, but serious PC gamers take this activity, well, very seriously, which is why Microsoft has gone out of its way to make this 5-button mouse customisable to the nth degree.
For example, three buttons are provided to switch between resolutions of 400, 800, and 2000 dpi. If you really must have 600 or 1800 dpi, then you can fine tune the resolution settings with software provided.

The mouse also comes with a set of weights that allow you to increase mouse weight by up to 35 grams in 5 gram increments, and no less than three separate sets of mouse feet. Each set of feet is made from different materials with varying glide characteristics, so you can choose between slippery, super-slippery, or John Key.
The Microsoft Sidewinder Mouse will be available from November at a recommended retail price of $149.

Posted by Chris Keall at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Is this the final stage of refinement for the hard-drive-based media player Apple now calls the iPod Classic? Judging by the tiny changes in this sixth generation, it very well could be. This latest update is all about capacity, with the $399 model jumping from 30GB to 80GB, while the $549 flagship model leaps from 80GB to a whopping 160GB.

What would you do with all that space? Well, that is the question, isn't it? After spending some quality time with a 160GB iPod Classic, I have a few ideas. A standard-def video library or a music collection stored entirely in Apple Lossless compression would work, but either approach has its flaws. More on that later.

I won't be trading in my 80GB video iPod anytime soon, but I've really grown to like some of the minor tweaks Apple has made to the Classic's interface.

Hardware refinements

Apart from the capacity upgrade, the Classic introduces a couple of hardware changes to the iPod lineup. The player's plastic face has been replaced with anodised aluminium, slightly rounded on the sides. You get the same Click Wheel control, the same dock connector and top-mounted headphone jack, and the same lack of voice recording and FM radio. Apple managed to shave a few millimetres off the depth of both the high- and low-end models, but other than that the Classic looks much the same as the last-generation iPod.

Turn the Classic on, and you'll notice the other hardware change: a new LED-backlit screen. It sports the same 2.5-inch-diagonal size and 320 x 240-pixel resolution as the previous version, but the expanded colour reproduction it offers was noticeable in my side-by-side tests with an 80GB video iPod.

Adjusted interface

Like the new Nano Video, the iPod Classic lifts a few new interface touches from the iPhone. The headliner is Cover Flow, a neat-looking way to flip through your music using the album art stored on the player.

Cover Flow's nice enough on a 4GB or 8GB player like the iPhone or the Nano Video, but in a music library big enough to warrant an iPod Classic it rapidly loses its utility. Scroll 30 albums or so in one direction, and the iPod can't keep up -- instead you'll see grey place-holder graphics until you slow down enough for the player to catch up. I'll stick to browsing by artist first.

Other tiny tweaks help set the Classic apart from the previous iteration. Shuffle settings now appear if you press the centre button three times while playing music. Subtle font changes have modernised the look of the Now Playing screen, and album art now appears with a slight 3D rotation and a mirrored effect underneath.

Hop out to the main menus, and you'll see more album art floating gracefully on the left side of the screen, which used to consist of simple white space. Browsing through either albums or artists reveals more album art to the far left of the screen alongside each album listed.

Music and video playback

To my ears, the iPod remains among the best-sounding portable media players around, though I've tended to prefer Creative's players by just the tiniest bit in side-by-side testing. Audio codec support is the same, with AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, .wav, and Audible among the highlights.

The Classic's LED-backlit screen provides a small but noticeable upgrade in video quality. Again, we're talking about an incremental improvement over what was already one of the better 2.5-inch screens out there. In my experience, full-frame TV shows look great on the Classic's display, but I wouldn't want to watch movies on a screen that small. Anything letterboxed immediately becomes eye-strainingly tiny, and I can't stand pan-and-scan transfers.

As a portable video library, the Classic has taken a step forward, with progressive-scan output now possible through a US$49 Component AV Cable. According to Apple, the 160GB model can hold up to 200 hours of video at 640 x 480 resolution using either H.264 or MPEG-4 compression.

The Classic's rated battery life also receives a significant boost over that of the previous generation. The 160GB model clocks in at up to 40 hours of audio playback or 7 hours of video, according to Apple. (The 80GB model is rated at 30 hours of audio and 5 hours of video.) Again, we'll update this review once our own battery tests are complete.

Accessories: Are any left?

Continuing a long-standing trend with iPod updates, the Classic's box contains a little less than the previous player's did. (Remember when these things shipped with their own dock?) The casualty this time around: No more carrying case. I know, right? You're cancelling your order this very moment, aren't you?

Seriously, though, standard iPod earbuds and a USB cable are the only things rounding out the package.

What to do with all that space

Anyone looking to replace an older MP3 player should at least consider the 80GB iPod Classic. It's thin and well designed -- and, at $399 for an 80GB player, few competitors can match its value. Creative's 60GB Zen Vision:M currently lists for $589, for example.

If you already have a fairly current player like my 80GB video iPod, your choice is a bit more complicated. With 54GB of music compressed at around 256 kilobits per second, I already have a pretty large library on my iPod. But even adding a few video files and photos to the mix still leaves me with plenty of space on the player. I like gratuitous technology purchases as much as the next guy, but I'm still left wondering what I'd do with that extra 80GB.

I suppose I could re-rip most of my music in Apple Lossless. A 160GB player holds 600 CDs' worth of lossless-compressed tunes, more than enough space for my non-eMusic recordings. Still, I've done the tests before, and even on much better stereo equipment than I could afford, I can't always tell the difference between 256-kbps MP3s and lossless compression. On an iPod's DAC and even high-end in-ear headphones, that difference disappears completely.

So what about video? I'd think seriously about ripping more of my, uh, home movies on DVD, if I hadn't seen the iPhone and the iPod Touch already. Does anyone want to bet that Apple won't be bringing out a touch-based, wide-screen player with some serious storage in the near future? So why spring for the extra video storage now?

And that, I guess, is my bottom line on the iPod Classic: It's a great update, but I can't see any reason to buy one if you aren't already running out of storage on your current player. Apple made me think hard about it, though.
Eric Dahl

Posted by Ted Gibbons at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Steve Jobs today announced a total refresh of Apple's iPod range and added the new iPod Touch, a Wi-Fi device that's essentially an iPhone without the phone and sports a the same very cool touch-screen interface.

touch

He also unveiled a US$200 price cut for the top-end 8GB iPhone, the smart device he introduced to much fanfare in June.

The iPod touch, which mimics the iPhone's physical dimensions and 3.5-in. screen, will be priced at US$299 for an 8GB model and US$399 for a 16GB device when they go on sale in a few weeks, Jobs said. The touch is slated to ship in September.

Using his trademark "One more thing ..." tag line, Jobs also unveiled the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, a version of the company's digital music outlet that lets customers buy and download tracks directly to the player over a wireless connection. Prices and song selection are identical to the traditional iTunes, said Jobs. A synchronisation feature updates the user's Macintosh- or PC-based library of purchased music when the iPod touch is next slipped into its docking stand.

Although the 802.11b/g-compliant Touch got the bulk of the applause at Jobs' presentation, he also outlined changes to the three current iPod lines. The diminutive iPod shuffle received the least attention, with only new colours announced; it will remain a 1GB clip-on device that sells for $129, said Jobs.

Rumour mills were correct, however, in pegging the iPod nano for a redesign. The new nano is shorter and wider than the second-generation models, and it sports a 320 x 240-pixel, 2-in. screen rather than the older device's 1.5-in. display. Jobs bragged about the visuals, saying, "We've achieved this with a screen with the highest pixel density we've ever shipped, 204 ppi [pixels per inch]," he said.

The new nanos are priced at US$149 for the 4GB model and $199 for the 8GB version, a $50 price cut for both storage sizes.

nano

Jobs also briefly talked up the original iPod, now dubbed "iPod classic," which will be available in 80GB and 160GB versions equipped with hard drives, rather than flash RAM, for song and data storage. The new classics, available in silver and black, will sell for US$249 and $349.

classic

In other announcements, Jobs said that current iPhones would be updated later this month to let their owners access the iTunes Wi-Fi store, and he revealed a partnership with Starbucks that will provide free iTunes access -- but not general Wi-Fi -- within the coffee chain's stores. That arrangement will be rolled out in stages, with approximately 600 Starbucks outlets in New York and Seattle online on Oct. 2.

Finally, Jobs dropped the lower-end iPhone from Apple's inventory, and slashed the price of the remaining 8GB model. "We want to make iPhone even more affordable for even more people this holiday season," said Jobs. "So we're going to do something about that today."

The new price for the 8GB iPhone, starting Wednesday, will be US$399, a $200 price cut, he said.

As usual, Apple's US online store was taken offline earlier Wednesday. Presumably, when it returns, it will sport the new iPods and the new price tag for the iPhone.

For more information visit apple.com

Posted by Ted Gibbons at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Imagine two people walking into your office on a relatively slow news day. One is the Pope, and the other is carrying the first hacked iPhone that works on the Vodafone network. It's pretty clear who you’d want to talk to first.

John Ballinger, director of IT company Bluespark, received the iPhone as a gift from one of his clients, Vivienne. The phone was purchased in the US and found its way to John’s desk a few days later, he then proceeded to take apart and unlock the phone in a few hours.

"I was so excited when I made the first call and sent the first text message," says Ballinger. ”It took me over an hour just to take the phone apart, it is so beautifully built and no space is wasted. I used an online how-to guide, but I never realised how incredibly small the components were."

Ballinger says he needed help with the hack, but no soldering iron was required.

"You need these incredibly small needles to perform the hack. I brought some normal needles with me, and they were way too big and blunt, which gives you an idea of how small the components are."

Using a Norwegian based how-to guide, Ballinger managed to unlock the phone by installing certain software and performing a work-around on the hardware.

We quickly got our hands on the iPhone and had a play with the different features. We confirmed that everything worked, including trying conference calling and texting. We also had a play with the brilliant camera feature of the phone, and I for one was surprised at how easy the touch screen was to use.

While the iPhone operates happily on Vodafone’s network, there are certain features that have not been hacked yet. GPRS, the email client and the voicemail inbox have yet to get the treatment. The iPhone also does not natively support 3G

Posted by Jan Birkeland at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

What's a family to do when they can't find a Wii on store shelves this Christmas? Buy a Wii-esque looking PS2 bundle instead complete with karaoke game, two mics, and white controller.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Or at least that appears to be the thinking (not to mention the timing) behind Sony's white PS2 as Nintendo's Wii continues to outsell the competition.

Sony has announced plans for a limited edition "Ceramic White" PlayStation 2 bundled with SingStar Pop, two USB microphones, and a single white Dual-Shock controller. The package should launch in November.

Granted, Wii doesn't own the patent on the colour white; that one belongs to Apple. And even though Wii similarities abound, the announcement shouldn't take anything away from the PS2. To date the system has sold an unprecedented 117 million units worldwide. In fact, PS2 is still the second best selling console in the world some seven years after its initial release.
Blake Snow

Posted by Ted Gibbons at 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New Zealand Rugby Foundation is plugging into the cyberspace phenomenon of online networking with the launch of its website www.rugbyfoundation.com.

Much like global networking sites Facebook and MySpace, the website allows members to create their own profile space and search for old rugby mates. A number of high profile rugby players are already members including Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Troy Flavell, Jerome Kaino, Derren Whitcombe, Daniel Braid and Sam Tuitupou.

The Foundation's website is part of NUM8ER - the Official Supporters Club of New Zealand rugby. NUM8ER, of which Buck Shelford is the patron and founding member, is an online rugby community for all fans of the national game.

The Foundation’s CEO Andrew Flexman says the website caters to a new generation of rugby fans.

"Rugby is a big part of New Zealand across all age groups, but we have recognised that not all rugby networking occurs over a quiet beer in the clubrooms anymore - hence the website," he says.

Posted by Ted Gibbons at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)