Computer Information - myOddPc
Toshiba gearing up to drop HD DVD?
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
We're not exactly sure what's going on in Toshiba land, but shortly after not-exactly-believable whispers made the rounds of the firm suddenly deciding to try its hand at making a Blu-ray player, we're now seeing reports stating that it will pull the plug on its beloved format "in the coming weeks." Citing unnamed industry "sources,"
The Hollywood Reporter is suggesting that the end may be nigh for the
HD DVD format. Jodi Sally, VP of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products, was quoted as saying that "given the market developments in the past month, Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of its recent price reductions on all HD DVD players." Of course, we aren't exactly equating said statement to waving the white flag or anything, but whatever the case, it seems the
death watch is in
full effect.
[Via
Home Media Magazine, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Nintendo estimates it lost $975m worldwide in 2007 due to piracy
Filed under: Gaming
We're always a little skeptical of
piracy impact numbers, especially when companies try to factor in things like "lost sales," which can't be adequately measured, but it's still interesting to hear how large the hit is estimated to be -- like Nintendo's recent filing with the US Trade Representative that piracy cost it and its partners some $975m worldwide in 2007. Saying that the popularity of the Wii and DS makes Nintendo an "attractive target" for
counterfeiters, the big N broke the problem down by region, highlighting its efforts to stem the tide and proposed solutions and regulations. We'd say that with
profits soaring and plenty of people
clamoring for hard-to-find systems, Nintendo could probably get back a little of that cash by finally getting some boxes on shelves instead of pushing for new laws, but hey -- even Mario's lawyers probably get sick of being paid in mushrooms.
[Image courtesy of
Nick Cueva]
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Wii 2 and Xbox the Third hitting in 2010?
Filed under: Gaming
Those pesky analysts are at it again, and this time it's serious: Evan Wilson of Pacific Crest Securities says we can expect a sequel to the
Wii in 2010, to be followed by a new
Xbox later that year. Obviously it's something on the minds of all three of the gaming hardware giants -- in fact,
Gizmondo probably has 2010 in its sights as well -- but there's really no telling at this point how accurate this rumor is. What we have heard are some conjectures before now that Nintendo has a shorter life cycle in mind for its graphics-impaired Wii. Also, Microsoft obviously made a huge bet this generation on hitting a year before the competition, and has done alright for itself in the process, so Microsoft might be looking for a repeat. There's no rumor yet on Sony's PS4 plans, but while the company has its hands full at the moment with its purported 2008 comeback, we're sure they're keeping this all in mind. Wilson also predicts a new Nintendo DS and PSP in 2010, meaning any way you slice it youre're going need a second mortgage.
[Via
Joystiq]
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AT&T's Centro unboxed to reveal green keypad -- wait, what?
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Boy Genius just grabbed himself one o' them
newfangled white Centros for AT&T for a good, old fashioned unboxing, and guess what? The keypad's green. Yep, we can't believe it either. Body's white, keypad's green. Seriously, we couldn't make this up. Before you run down to the store to pick up this $99 fashion statement, though, don't bother -- they're not on sale
quite yet -- it's still looking like the 19th is the date you want to circle on your calendar (or program into your
680, as the case may be).
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Modu CEO says all Nokia can do is pray
Filed under: Cellphones
While we certainly thought Modu's modular handset had promise when we played with it at MWC a couple days ago, the company's founder seems to think the little handset is about to shake things up in a big way -- in an interview with Israel's TheMarker Dov Moran said that "all Nokia can do is go the church on Sunday and pray." According to Moran, the Modu is based on the reverse of Nokia's build-it-all-in philosophy, which has led to stagnation in the Finnish company's devices -- "I've been to the Nokia booth, and it's boring. Same device only with 16GB instead of 8" -- and the Modu's flexible nature will combat that. We're not sure -- that N96 was pretty hot -- but we love a good rabble-rouser, and it looks like the staid mobile industry just found a good one.
[Thanks, Benhur; Warning: Hebrew read link]
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Penryn chips finally land in Dell's XPS M1730
Filed under: Laptops
We already saw Intel's Penryn lineup
invade Dell's XPS M1330, but now folks gunning for its (much) larger
sibling can finally get in on the new CPU action, too. That's right folks, effectively immediately, prospective M1730 buyers can select a 2.4GHz T8300, 2.5GHz T9300, 2.6GHz T7800 or 2.8GHz X7900 to run the show. Ready to claim one for yourself? Follow the read link below.
[Via
Laptoping]
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Lenovo's X300 gets photographed in the wild
Filed under: Laptops
Just in case Walt's
teaser shot and pages upon pages of
specifications weren't enough to satisfy your curiosity about the forthcoming X300, we've got a pretty good idea the photos waiting in the link below just might. Sure enough, we've come across a number of crystal clear (gasp!) shots of the yet-to-be-released ultraportable, and while it's totally devoid of
aluminum, we still maintain that it's undoubtedly sexy in its own way. Go on, you're just one click away.
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Computer Models Find Patterns In Asymmetric Threats
The Narrative Fallacy brings us a story about a project by University of Alabama researchers to develop a database capable of anticipating targets for future guerrilla attacks. Quoting Space War: "Adversaries the US currently faces in Iraq rely on surprise and apparent randomness to compensate for their lack of organization, technology, and firepower. 'One way to combat these attacks is to identify trends in the attackers' methods, then use those trends to predict their future actions,' said UA-Huntsville researcher Wes Colley. 'Some trends from these attacks show important day-to-day correlations. If we can draw inferences from those correlations, then we may be able to save lives by heightening awareness of possible events or changing the allocation of our security assets to provide more protection.' Researchers reviewed the behavior signatures of terrorists on 12,000 attacks between 2003 and mid-2007 to calculate relative probabilities of future attacks on various target types."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Comcast's FCC Filing Called Unfair, Not Good Enough
Shoemaker brings us a follow-up to Comcast's recent defense of its traffic management procedures. The companies involved in the original FCC investigation are not satisfied with Comcast's response. From Ars Technica: "Comcast made an aggressive defense of its policies, claiming that it only resets P2P uploads made during peak times and when no download is also in progress. Free Press, BitTorrent, and Vuze all say that's not good enough. In a conference call, Vuze's general counsel Jay Monahan drew the starkest analogy. What Comcast is really doing, he said, wasn't at all comparable to limiting the number of cars that enter a highway. Instead, it was more like a horse race where the cable company owns one of the horses and the racetrack itself. By slowing down the horse of a competitor like Vuze, even for a few seconds, Comcast makes it harder for that horse to compete. 'Which horse would you bet on in a race like that?' asked Monahan."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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US To Shoot Down Dying Satellite
A user writes "US officials say that the Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March. We discussed the device's decaying orbit late last month. The Associated Press has learned that the option preferred by the Bush administration will be to fire a missile from a U.S. Navy cruiser, and shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth's atmosphere. 'A key concern ... was the debris created by Chinese satellite's destruction -- and that will also be a focus now, as the U.S. determines exactly when and under what circumstances to shoot down its errant satellite. The military will have to choose a time and a location that will avoid to the greatest degree any damage to other satellites in the sky. Also, there is the possibility that large pieces could remain, and either stay in orbit where they can collide with other satellites or possibly fall to Earth.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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