Now that MotionPlus is out on the market, we need to know if it really lives up to it’s hype. That’s where comes in. They have posted a great review that goes over all the essentials: The hardware, software, and the initial games that support it. I won’t ruin the magic of this well done article, but I will say that I’m at least considering picking up Resort, and possibly TW10, even though the last golf franchise I purchased (and loved) was Outlaw Golf for the original Xbox.

If you’re still not sure about it, you can see a meta-review of just Wii Sports Resort over at Joystiq here. Figuring the game is about $45 and the adapter is $20, it is almost a no-brainer to pick up this game if you’re going to throw your money at Nintendo for the chance to do all those sports you either weren’t coordinated enough to do or didn’t want to look like a dork in public performing (so close your blinds!). From the looks and explanations given so far on your MotionPlus in-game movements, my suggestion is to get your parents to play and secretly record it.. This will make GREAT blackmail material years down the line.

Oh, while your at it, you MUST check out the latest Zero Punctuation on Resort. Yahtzee never ceases to amuse, and this game is perfect material for the crazy Aussie.

The real reason it’s an issue is because iPhone’s can’t multitask. It can’t run in the background like on Android or Blackberries, or even the Palm Pre if they make an app for that. So what can you do? You can make a new maps app that incorporates Latitude, since Google maps controls the map functionality of the iPhone, or you can make a separate app entirely, or finally you can make it a web app and call it a day. According to Gizmodo, they decided that the best course of action was to not confuse users, and just make a web app. I’m guessing the rebuilt maps app was out of the question because Mr Jobs didn’t want to push wide-scale update app to everyone, but that’s just my own guess.

No matter how bland this move is, Latitude is still a great app. It can actually help you trace a stolen phone if you’re feeling dangerous, and it also cuts down on worrying for parents not sure where their kids are… If anything I’d install it on their phone without them knowing and let it run! *cough*check your phones kids*cough*. Really,  it’s like everyone running around with Boost Mobile, only without the stupid rappers or armpit-hair-draggin’ hippies. Where you at?!

Thanks Gizmodo

As Gizmodo just reported, the announced updates for Xbox live, which will span over the course of the summer instead of coming all at once, include some very intriguing, as well as some pretty… well interesting additions to the experience.

First you have the intriguing: Games on Demand. Basically you will be able to purchase and download full games and their manuals from the comfort of your sofa. These games are linked to your Xbox live account, so you can delete them and download them again months later without having to ever repay. Sounds awesome!

The Next big thing include a magnitude of updates to Netflix’s capabilities, including but not limiting to.. Managing your queue with your controller (instead of only at a PC), Smoother playback when your connection isn’t so smooth, and Movie parties with your Xbox live friends… You get to, and I quote “sit together in a virtual theater with up to seven friends no matter where they are while your Avatars watch a movie, flirt or even throw popcorn at each other.” Obviously this will probably mean every party member will need a Netflix account, or at least that’s what I’m assuming. This would be much better if 1 person had the Netflix account and invited his/her friends to watch with them.

Other updates include Memory save timestamps, easier to view and read achievement interface, an Avatar marketplace, Game user ratings for every game on Xbox live, and Display discovery (which will make it easier for your Xbox to play and sound the best on your system).

Finally, if you were by chance wondering if there is ever going to be Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm or Zune video support on Xbox, have no fear! These capabilities are coming, just not in this round of updates. There are a whole slue of other or more detailed updates for what I said above, so go ahead and check out the full report over at Gizmodo.

Firstly, it was brought to our attention that veteran PSP’ers are going to have to buy all new equipment. The old PSP used the nice, common mini-USB for all it’s charging and connecting needs, but the new PSPgo uses a multi-use port, meaning all new accessories. Not even the power cord will work… yay for wasting plastic.

Secondly, as you are probably aware, the darn thing costs $249.99 retail, which is a far cry from what the original PSP is going for now.. for basically the same hardware in a smaller, more portable, and UMD media free package. Apparently Andrew House, a  Sony’s SCEE branch President has come outright and said there is a “certain premium” for owning the new hardware, and the price isn’t due to retail markups or research and development. Thanks Sony, for charging us just because.

Thirdly, there are rumors that a PSPgo App Store is in the works. According to Kotaku, they apps will cost around $2-6 U.S. dollars and have to be under 100mb. There are also rumors that while there will be games included in these apps, many will be non-game related. Looks like they are trying to step in on the mobile-app department that the iPhone/iTouch basically own and the Zune HD hopes to take a chunk out of this fall.

Lastly, Engadget was able to get a hands-on of the PSPgo outside of E3. Apparently it doesn’t look or feel cheap, which is great news considering the price tag You can go watch the video here.

Thanks Engadget, Kotaku and Gizmodo.

Ok, so they’ve done this before with both the PlayStation 1 and 2, but this is their first hand-held so it only made sense to continue the trend. The weird part is though, that beside creating a sleeker and slimmer version of the PSP, they’ve done away with actual game media (for the PSP called UMD’s). While there is a full SD slot, there’s no way to get play your old games directly, which seems like an odd move, but is actually the wave of the future. Kudos to Sony for deciding to be the first name-brand hand-held to go nearly completely digital.

The good news for old PSP owners is that Sony plans to have a back catalog of around 300 games or more at least which will be available to owners of the original game via some download mechanic. The bad news is that it will apparently be a “short-term program” according to Engadget. They will still be selling the UMDs as well for old school PSPers who can’t afford the apparent $250 price tag on technology that’s been out on the market for years. Oh one other bummer.. while the price of manufacturing and distribution of the UMDs will be drastically lower, (since it costs next to nothing to distribute digital  media) the price for the games will be the same regardless. Booo, Sony… Boooo…. ok I forgive you. :searches online for preorders:

Props to Engadget.. holla. Visit their hands-on Gallery.. yummm

Courtesy of Zune.net

The new Zune HD, which I’m sure we’ll see more of at E3 next week, will apparently allow the sharing of data between your Xbox live account and your Zune. The Zune Marketplace has already been announced to be joining the Xbox live experience in a future patch, likely to go along with the new Zune. This will allow you to download videos (at the least) from the Zune Marketplace on your Xbox, as well as should allow downloaded content – possibly even XLA games – to be played on your Zune and visa versa.

The Zune HD will also be equipped with some sweet features, including

• 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display (multi-touch capable)
• HD Radio receiver built-in
• HD output (via a dock, sold separately)

It looks like the whole Zune Phone thought is still a non-issue, but that doesn’t mean this Zune won’t be a must-have. Head over to Engadget for their hands on look at the Zune HD, as well as Steve Balmer’s take at demoing.

Last month, Gizmodo informed us that Circuit City was bought out by a firm named Systemax Inc. This firm hoped to reboot the Circuit City brand as CircuitCity.com. Well, according to Gizmodo again, the re-launch may be coming in just a few days. More after zee jump.

It’s no longer there for some reason, and back to the standard “Circuit City is closed” page, but yesterday the site had a full page explaining the Systemax purchase and the plan of action. Also on the site was a video of the CEO of Systemax, Gilbert Fiorentino talking about what to look forward to on the site in just a few days. Since the site is no longer up, you can take a look and read all the goodies over at Gizmodo from their Screen capture. Thankfully I’m a genius and was able to track down the video below.

So whats that mean to you?  Well I doubt your left over gift cards will still work (if you didn’t throw them out back in January), but it looks like they’re going to try shake their technology surplus bums in what Amazon.com, Newegg.com, Buy.com, and Tigerdirect.com to name a few, already have a stranglehold on. The shipping pricing seems amazing for same day ($1.99), and they are regarding their support as World Class Customer Service. I don’t remember Circuit City’s store service ever being World Class, so I’m putting this as a hopeful positive.

The fact that they aren’t forced to have a B&M inventory to deal with means that the “New Wider Selection” will have the chance to be bigger than most assume. Since everything is in warehouses and not on the store shelves, they are able to hold more of the in-between items instead of just the low and top ends of the spectrum.

Also since there’s no B&M, there’s no “Cuz’ You’re Here” tax, as I like to call it.  Basically, many reasons online shops can outdo the prices of retail stores is because they aren’t paying anyone to rent the building/land their stores are on, or the shipping and transportation costs to get the items to the stores. Not to mention franchise fees etc etc. You ever wonder why a CD or DVD are always 2-3 dollars more expensive at a store in the Mall compared to Best Buy? It’s because that store is paying the mall premiums to be at the fingertips of all kinds of shoppers compared to a one-stop technology shop like Best Buy. And that, my friends, is why the only thing you should ever buy at a mall is a soft pretzel.

At the least, their prices to start will most likely be extremely competitive, so pay attention for the re-launch and don’t be afraid to go Christmas shopping early if you seem something outrageous, like if they start selling the transformer flash drive… drool.

The software (which has also crashed the MSDN and TechNet pages from downloaders already!!) will not expire until June 1, 2010. That’s over a year from the date of it’s initial release, which if you ask me, is a great marketing tool for Microsoft. For one, the longer the “trial,” the more people will want to test it out, because they know “I got all year to try it before I buy it.” If you put into account all of the hoopla over the initial beta release and later increase of it’s availability for a month, one can only assume this will be a great move for M$.

If you want more information about the new goodies in Windows 7 and how it stacks up, Engadget has released a great article about what all you will see in the new version. Damn, I wish I had an MSDN subscription.. but until then my beta copy will have to hold me over. Some of the things they’re talking about are Remote Streaming Media, XP virtualized inside of Windows 7 (Subject to your processor’s capabilities and some other mild system requirements) and Windows 7 “Starter Edition” along with it’s part with Netbooks. If you’re as interested as we are, it’s definitely worth the read.

Thanks Engadget

For example, below are the stats for the N110 and N120 (thanks to Business Wire)

N110 Notebook

• Dimensions: 10.27” (W) x 1.19” (H) x 7.3” (D)
• Intel® Atom™ Processor N270 (1.60GHz, 533MHz, 512KB)
• Genuine Windows XP Home (SP3) operating system
• 1GB (DDR2 / 1GB x 1) of memory
• 10.1″ WSVGA (1024 x 600) SuperBright© Glossy Backlit Display
• 160GB (5400 rpm SATA) HDD
• 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate
• 10/100 RJ45 Ethernet
• 3-in-1 Card Reader (SD, SDHC, MMC),
• Three (3) USB 2.0 ports
• Headphone-out,/Mic in; Integrated Mic
• VGA Out (15-pin, D-sub)
• 1.3 Megapixel Web Camera
• Six-cell (5900mAh) Lithium ion battery for up to 9 hours of use
• 3 W Stereo Speaker (1.5 Watt x 2 )
• One-Year International Collect and Return Warranty

N120 Notebook

Includes almost all features of the N110 except for the following:

• Dimensions: 10.71” (W) x 1.71” (H) x 7.4” (D),
• 3 W Stereo Speaker (1.5 Watt x 2 ) with Subwoofer
• Six-cell (5200mAh) Lithium ion battery for up to 6 hours of use
• 97% Full-size keyboard

Basically, the N120 will get you a bigger keyboard (and netbook for that matter), a subwoofer (for a better “multimedia” experience) and a worse battery (by 3 hours). Now here’s the part that makes sense: the price. The N110 is set to retail for $469 compared to the N120′s $459 price tag… So therefore it does cost less for the “higher” model. Some things just don’t make sense.

Now, as none of you might have known, back in December I bought myself a Samsung NC-10 model netbook. Kurt wanted me to write about it but I actually used it less than I expected and feared a post regarding my purchase would prove how much of a impulse buy it really was. To this day I still consider it one of the best impulse buys I’ve ever made, money wise (I did get it for 350 when it retailed for 499). But needless to say, the reason I didn’t use it is not because of it’s flaws, but rather my own.

The reason I bring this up is the N110 and N120 models are the predecessor to my NC-10 model, and there are a few minor bugs with it I hope are fixed on these new ones.

• For one, the combination of the touchpad’s size coupled with it’s unnecessary multi-touch functionality leaves much to be desired. If I had a dollar for everytime while scrolling on firefox suddenly my text started to get larger (the same as pressing CTRL + scrolling on your mouse), I’d be able to buy both the N110 and N120 with change left over.
• It’s also not always possible to know if you’re on the touchpad or “surfin the surface” as I like to call it to myself… when no one else is listening.

The bad news about this is that the touchpad looks to at least be the same size. We’ll see how it works when the reviews start popping up.

• Also, the sound is less than adequate. Maybe that “3 watt speaker” system will blow our socks off, but really I don’t think it was the speakers, just their placement. The sound felt like it was being bounced against whatever surface you place the laptop on first before it gets to your ears, so no matter how loud you set it, without headphones it can become a chore to listen to anything if there is any background noise.

Granted, I knew about both of these issues when I bought it, but it did have the best battery life at the time, and I’ve always been impressed with Samsung. All-in-all it was still a good purchase, and while I would still wait until the big sites start reviewing the N110 and N120 models, I would totally suggest taking a look at these models if you’re in the netbook market.

Thanks Engadget.

Now you may be asking what Near Field Communications is. If that’s the case, there’s always Wikipedia, but if you’re like me, you’d like a short explanation! Well then, NFC basically allows your phone to act like a Credit card or a pay-pass. NFC is comparable to Bluetooth, as it is a short-range communication technology, but it trounces Bluetooth when it comes to establishing a connection, which is done at-once in under 1/10th of a second. The speed is actually slower than Bluetoolh (424 kbits/s to 2.1 Mbits/s) and the range is much shorter, but since the data that will be traveling is much less than say your Bluetooth headset and your phone, no one will notice this. The range (20 cm) also packs the punch of strong security, and NFC can also work without the direct power to a battery source.. pretty neat!

This technology has been talked about for years, but it wasn’t until recently that it became an reality. Over 1,800 stores in Malaysia are able to accept phones as a payment option, and Visa has said (but has not cited examples) that this move will be the start of more true roll-outs, instead of continuing with more pilot programs. It may not be long until we start seeing America-sold phones and stores who are taking advantage of NFC.  My suggestion: make NFC the official payment method of the NFL, specifically the NFC But that was just too easy.

Thanks Engadget