Nintendo Announces First Public Sampling of 3DS

Today along with announcements mostly relating to earnings from Nintendo came word of plans for a public (!) 3DS demo event in Japan. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata noted that the event will be held January 8, 9, and 10 (three days over the weekend) on the outskirts of Tokyo at the Makuhari Messe convention center. If you’ll remember correctly, Nintendo held similar events for the DS and Wii in Japan as well.

Events surrounding the Wii and DS did tours of the larger cities of Japan while this 3DS event seems to be exclusive to Tokyo. You might not have to fly all the way there to get your hands on a 3DS early though, as Satoru noted that there will be “some things” planned that will allow people to play and sample the 3DS in their part of the country (Japan, of course.) So if you live outside Japan, maybe then you aught to get a ticket. If not, take a train, you know, or just hang out and you’ll get your try one way or another. This event is the first place any of the public will be able to sample the 3DS

Via : slashgear

Slumping Wii, DS sales hit Nintendo's earnings

Nintendo has endured an extremely difficult six months.

The game company lost 2.01 billion yen, or about $24.6 million, during the six months ended on September 30. During the same period last year, it generated a profit of about of about 69.5 billion yen. Revenue for the six-month period just ended was over 363 billion yen, representing a steep decline from the 548 billion yen revenue Nintendo posted during the same period in 2009.

Although sales are slumping, Nintendo said that a key reason for the steep decline in its financials can be attributed to the strength of the yen. According to The Wall Street Journal, the currency's appreciation over the past year has helped slice about 28.1 billion yen from its revenue.

But the Wii and the DS aren't helping matters either. Nintendo says it sold 6.69 million DS units during the six-month period just ended. During the same span in 2009, it sold 11.7 million DS units around the world. The company shipped 4.97 million Wii units between April and September, down from the 5.75 million Wii consoles it shipped last year.

More @ news.cnet

Nintendo Wii Won’t See Price Cut in Near Future, Focusing on Bundles

Even if Nintendo isn’t seeing the profits they’d like to, and Wii sales slumping, it looks like the company isn’t planning on making any drastic changes to the working model they’ve got in place now. They still believe that the $200 price point for the console, which already has plenty of extras in the box, is the right way to go. Instead, they believe that offering up console bundles is the way to go forward.

Satoru Iwata, President and CEO of Nintendo, had a quick conversation with the Associated Press, where he took some time to talk about the Wii, and where the company stands on its sales, and what they plan on doing in the near future. While a price drop may be what people expect for the holiday season, it’s not likely to happen. “Of course, we cannot say [a Wii price cut] will never happen, but we are not thinking of it for the near future.” Iwata added that Nintend is focusing their attention on customers who may have previously wanted to buy the Wii in the past, but haven’t managed to get around to it quite yet.

And, while a price cut may be an easy way to get more people to buy the console, Iwata believes they can reach the same goal with bundles. Currently, customers can pick up a white or black version of the console, which comes with a Wii MotionPlus and Nunchuk controller, Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort, all for just $200. And, beginning November 7th, Nintendo will release the 25th anniversary edition of Super Mario Bros. console, which features the “Mario red” color scheme. That bundle, which includes Super Smash Bros., will also retail for $200.

Via : slashgear

Hope Samsung puts an LED Flash in Nexus Two

Gizmodo reports that they spoke to their source who saw the Google Nexus Two in action. If you want to be read about what's going down on November 8, read this first. In a nutshell, Google has chosen Samsung as its successor to the Nexus brand of benchmark hardware that is certified to run Android in full capacity. The first iteration, the Nexus One, was manufactured by HTC. Anyway, so Gizmodo's tipster said it is very similar to Samsung's immensely popular Galaxy S smartphone.

First and foremost, this entire debate is contrary to what Google's own Eric Schmidt has stated, when he showed his level of satisfaction with the Nexus One and said he was not interested in making a successor. One stated reason for the upgrade is the secondary video-call camera that the Nexus Two will have, which the Nexus One did not. The presence of this hardware is essential for Android 3.0 Gingerbread's video-chat feature - that reportedly works on the same protocol as Google Talk's web-based video chat client.

What that means in English is, it should be possible for you to video-call anybody on a PC too, and not just another Android phone. That trumps Apple's FaceTime, which works only within the Apple ecosystem as of now (i.e. Mac, iPhone 4 or 4th gen iPod Touch). Another reason for the switch to the Galaxy S based hardware, other than the Super AMOLED screen that makes you feel like you're on acid every time you look at it - its Hummingbird chip has three times the graphics processing power of the Snapdragon that powers the Nexus One.

But one thing that we absolutely missed on the original Galaxy S was the LED flash. Let's pray to all our Gods that Google puts that damn bulb in the Nexus Two this time.

Via : techtree

Nexus Two allegedly spotted in the wild. But is Google really readying a new phone?

This morning, Gizmodo – the same tech blog that published photographs of the iPhone 4, long before the it shelves – released a report on what it said was the latest Google handset. The Samsung-built phone, which Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan identified as the "Nexus Two," will apparently ship with a forward-facing camera and a 4-inch AMOLED screen similar to the one on the Samsung Galaxy series.

A couple of hours later, analyst Sascha Segan took to PC Mag to refute the Gizmodo rumor: Google is readying a replacement for the Nexus One, Segan confirmed. But after calling around to his "own set of shadowy, unnamed sources," Segan learned the phone "may not be called Nexus Two," and it may not be revealed by Google for quite some time.

"Excitement about the 'Nexus Two' comes in part from geeks who hope the phone will ship with 'stock Android,' which is Google's default build with no carrier or manufacturer extensions," Segan wrote. "An added frisson comes from the speculative idea that it will be the first phone with the next version of Android, known as Gingerbread."

The first Google phone, the Nexus One, was built by HTC, and released in January. The phone received a warm reception from critics, but Google reportedly sold only 135,000 Nexus One handsets in the first 74 days the phone was available – not enough to qualify it for iPhone-foil status. In May, Google began offering the Nexus One – which was previously available exclusively online – in selected retail outlets, in an attempt to gin up interest in the phone.

Via : csmonitor

HTC HD7 Review

The HTC HD7 wears its potential on its sleeve. The biggest of the first batch of Windows Phone 7 devices, at 4.3-inches it’s also one of the largest smartphones of any OS on the market. We’ve already given our approval to Windows Phone 7 in our launch-day reviews, and we were quietly impressed during our initial play at the HD7′s launch. Available exclusively on O2 in the UK right now, and T-Mobile in the USA from November 8, is the HD7 not just the biggest but the best Windows Phone 7 device around? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.

More @ slashgear

HTC HD7 Has Hidden microSD Memory Card Slot

It was initially thought that the Samsung Focus was the only Windows Phone 7 device that allowed users to replace its external storage, though you did encounter issues with the storage later. Now it turns out that the hotly-anticipated HTC HD7 can do the same too as users have found an SD card slot hiding under the Windows Phone logo. Apparently the card was even able to be replaced without encountering the storage error issue, though several factory resets and physical reinsertion of the card seemed to be necessary in order to make it work.

Via : ubergizmo

PSP 2 has 1 GB RAM, HD, packs more power than 360

Some new juicy bits of PSP 2 rumours have hit the net. Interesting.

Kotaku has posted a report which details that PSP 2 will support memory sticks and will have a processor which can stand up to that of the Xbox 360.

They have also stated that the device will have a larger HD display and and there will be a panel at the back of the console with a mouse trackpad, dual analog sticks and most interestingly, it will be UMD free!

They have also hinted that games can be stored on the memory sticks which is kind of confusing really. We will wait and see about that.

Kotaku also reports that the device has a whooping 1 GB of RAM ( you read that right), the current PSP has only 64 MB and even the Xbox 360 has only 512 MB of RAM!

There’s no confirmation from Sony regarding this as usual but the it’s only weeks before they reveal the device. Too much rumours flying around you know!

Via : gamingbolt

Leaked PSP Phone Images Show Dual Analog Controls?

We now have confirmation that the PSP Phone is indeed coming, and it could be even better than we first thought. Engagdet has released pictures of what appears to be a PSP with Android OS onto the internet (photo below). Nicknamed the Sony Ericsson-Z system, this could be the gaming phone speculated for months.

A lot of rumors can be confirmed by these pictures. The screen on the system seems to be around the same size as the PSP Go's screen and is indeed a touch screen. There is a touch pad between the two sets of buttons, containing what look like two raised sensors, possibly to provide dual analog control. It is a possibility that these would be a replacement of the current analog sticks; as seen on the pictures the touch pad does have two circles on opposite corners.

The system currently runs Android 2.x software but it is still believed that the Ericsson-Z system will be released running Android 3.0. Engadget reports that the phone sports some impressive specifications: 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 (a chip similar to the one found in the G2, but 200MHz faster), 512MB of RAM, and 1GB of internal storage. The only thing that came unexpected was the two cameras on this system, one pointing at the player and the other away.

Overall this system and phone looks simply beautiful and if speculations on graphics capability are correct, this could finally be the gaming phone many have wished for.

Via : pspworld

News Nugget – Acer Liquid Metal is nigh

t’s here – the Acer Liquid Metal is just back from the photo studio where these lovely shots were taken. And the 3.6in stunner’s been showing off its curves, 5MP camera and LED flash.

Beauty’s more than skin deep, though, and the Liquid Metal runs Android 2.2 (Froyo), does 720p vids and rocks along on an 800MHz chip.

Via : stuff.tv

ViewPoint asking 499 GBP for 10-inch dual-boot ViewPad tablet

Given its official launch in London yesterday, the new pocket-friendly ViewPad tablet computer from ViewPoint will soon be available for those tech consumers not enamoured by the likes of Apple’s hugely popular iPad or Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Tab.

Available in two screen sizes, the smaller ViewPad 7 comes equipped with a 7.0-inch WVGA capacitive screen, version 2.2 of Google’s Android OS, a multi-touch interface, a (somewhat disappointing) 600MHz Qualcomm processor, 512MBs of internal memory, front and rear-facing cameras, Wi-Fi and 3G network support, Bluetooth 2.1, AGPS, and data storage expansion via microSD cards.

Meanwhile, the larger ViewPad 10 includes a 10-inch capacitive multi-touch screen (1024 x 600), a swift 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 processor, 16GBs of solid-state storage, Wi-Fi connectivity (what, no 3G?), a modest 1.3 mega-pixel camera (front-facing), support for mini VGA, twin USB 2.0 ports, and microSD data expansion.

Beyond its sexy screen and thoroughly capable processor, the ViewPad 10 stands apart from its competitors thanks to being the world's first tablet supporting dual-boot access to either Windows 7 Home Premium or quick-loading Google Android (version 1.6). It’s worth noting that Intel’s Atom N455 does not support version 2.2 of Android.

Interestingly, the boffins at V3.co.uk note that the Windows 7 OS doesn’t come with Microsoft Office (or even a standard 60-day trial period), an apparent shortfall ViewPoint claims came about in order to help conserve drive space.

But what of the prices attached to ViewPoint’s tablet duo come November 1? Well, the 7.0-inch model will cost 399 GBP (approx. $635 USD), while the 10-inch version is tethered alongside the iPad and Galaxy Tab with a price of 499 GBP (approx. $795 USD).

Prospective buyers should also be aware that ViewPoint is offering a 100 GBP rebate to anyone willing to trade in an operational Netbook or notebook at time of purchase—although the hardware must not be more than four years old.

Via : thetechherald