Gizmo Cafe Blog
May 2007 - Posts
Apple launched iTunes Plus yesterday, the new version of iTunes (for which an upgrade to iTunes 7.2 is required) that sells DRM free music at higher bit rates. It all came out of recording label EMI's decision to allow its wares to be sold without copy
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I found this article on CrunchGear about Google's image search query. Apparently you can add a string to the query to limit your query to just face shots "&imgtype=face". This feature hasn't been officially announced by Google yet, but it brings face
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The winter of 2006 should have been a happy time for gamers. Two new consoles launched, and a third, already established, had released its first marquee title (Gears of War). Unfortunately, a sinister figure appeared amidst the holiday festivities,
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I've had a chance to put HTC's new mobile for Telus Mobility through its paces. The P4000 is the new Mobile Phone / Pocket PC from HTC it's the CDMA equivalent to the TyTn with a few differences in style. Where the TyTn is a GSM phone that uses EDGE for
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Beware the Best Buy boy. The massive electronics "big box" chain is on the wrong end of a lawsuit this morning, the result of allegations that the store used an imitation web site to deceive customers and reap higher profits for its wares. The
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Take Two's "Hot Coffee" scandal garnered Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the kind of attention few of us associate with the franchise. For the first time, it seems, the mainstream media (and anti-video game violence "crusaders" like Jack Thompson)
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Everyone's favorite right-wing lawyer Jack Thompson is at it again. This time the rather infamous anti-video game violence crusader is attacking Microsoft over its mega-anticipated Halo 3, set for release this September. Thompson is most "fired up"
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Talk about getting ahead of yourself, Nintendo. After dropping the ball with the development of its Nintendo 64 and GameCube consoles, the Japanese company is now predicting it will sell 35 million Wiis in the United States alone by 2012. That will
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By next Christmas there will be at least two competing Blu-ray/HD DVD combo set top players. The only one currently on the market is the BH100 by LG. It's a slim and speedy set top box but has a few rather wide shortcomings. By Christmas season Samsung
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There's a new trend in gaming these days. Yes, motion sensitivity has every Nintendo fan thanking the heavens (and, more directly, the holy Shigeru Miyamoto) – but that's not what we're on about. Instead, it seems the "Collector's Edition" is becoming
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"It's going to be a battle" says Gartner business analyst Bob Hafner speaking of the upcoming struggle over Internet communications. Both Microsoft and Cisco have vested interest in the Internet future of telecomm. Microsoft is the newcomer believing
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Recently, AT&T decided to dabble in next-gen gaming, splicing multiplayer video of Halo 2 against the Halo 3 beta. Developed by now-famous Bungie and considered Microsoft's Xbox 360 flagship franchise, Halo 3 will ship sooner than thought: September
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Microsoft's Windows Hardware Developer's Conference this year is all about Office Communications Server 2007. Jeff Raikes, Microsoft's business division president has said it's going to be the "most important communications tool since Outlook." This
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What's your reason for not working out? For some, it's an addiction to video games or television, while others simply find the entire sweating process, "icky". However, most reasons for avoiding physical exercise surround work schedules. Whether
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Much hoopla has surrounded Halo 3 of late, primarily because of the flood of beta videos now weaving their way through the web. With many clips flashing images of multiplay mayhem amidst the series' stirring soundtrack, it's no wonder Xbox 360 fans are
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I bet some of you forgot about the iPhone. No? Well, for those that let one of the most exciting products of 2007 slip into your subconscious, the handheld should be launching in the next four to six weeks. So, what's the word from Apple? Perhaps
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Apple, Microsoft and Adobe were served Cease and Desist orders from Media Rigths Technologies (MRT) and BlueBeat.com. The companies that brought us iPod, iTunes and Windows Vista Operating System are accused of failing to include copy protection measures
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According to rumors surfacing this past weekend, a Wii version of the much-anticipated EA and Harmonix game "Rock Band" may be in the works. Already announced for the more powerful Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, the primary draw to Rock Band has
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Emerging this morning is a Halo 3 multiplayer leak entitled "Betalicious", which appears to be an official one courtesy of fanatical Microsoft employee "Mr. Jukes". The video is essentially a compilation of multiplayer mayhem, boasting sexed-up graphics
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Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers says his company is deploying a heavy push into the consumer electronics sector. Get ready for DVD players and set top boxes with a network flair only Cisco can deliver. The question now is - will Cisco Systems name or one
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Although the PlayStation 3's online service is free – and thus, a grand bargain next to Xbox Live, averaging about $60/year – it lacks a few of the bells and whistles boasted by Microsoft's network. For one, Sony's console is void of a streamlined voice
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Back in March, Microsoft effectively teased all of its Xbox Live subscribers by shutting down service for fourteen desperate hours. Although many gamers hoped the time off was set aside for the much-anticipated Spring Update, most of the improvements
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Digg continues to risk a lawsuit from the AACS-LA by keeping the HD content hacking code up for over five days. The offending hex code appearing in the title of a blog post by Kevin Rose and has had over thirty six thousand diggs. But the real story
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Last week, Shigeru Miyamoto, the famous Nintendo developer behind the company's uber-popular Mario games, cracked Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People list. Buoyed by a flood of Wii fan votes, the designer was officially unveiled under the
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Being a Sopranos fan and HD-DVD owner, I absolutely refuse to muck up the following news with line after line of mobster clichés. Thus, this will be the one high-def blog free of "whacks", "hits", or "cement shoes". No, I'm going to report Toshiba's
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For those who've been interested in owning the Nintendo Wii since it launched last November, the pursuit has been something like hunting a great white whale. Although the equally anticipated Sony PlayStation 3 was the first to experience massive
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There has been some confusion over Windows Vista and how it relates to various audio formats. Vista does indeed have a reworked audio stack with a lot of cool new features like Room Correction, Bass Management and Loudness Equalization. One of the
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A week ago, the Gizmo Blog was flooded with visitors interested in supporting Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto's bid to crack Time magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People list. The publication opened its voting to the public this year, a concept
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For those cubicle creatures stuck in front of a computer all day – a la Office Space – online radio has become a buffer between the worker and monotony, even insanity. One of the most popular streaming music sites is the bandwidth baron Pandora.com,
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It seems Sony's answer for sluggish PlayStation 3 and PSP sales is to simply take their frustration out on the livestock. According to some pretty shocking reports coming out of the UK, the company recently held a party celebrating the release of the
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Gizmo is calling it the Digg Riot, the AACS calls it illegal. Articles on the Internet are publishing hex codes that compromise HDCP, the content protection DRM lorded over by the committee known as AACS. Digg pulled a story that had published the codes
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Although I'm hesitant to call the Wii drought over, it seems as though the spring time rapids are beginning to flow. After months upon months where would-be Nintendo fans had been denied a chance to own the motion-sensitive machine, retailers are
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It seems even mid-generation, unanticipated console releases are wrought with problems these days. Although it launched just yesterday into most retail outlets, the Xbox 360 Elite, boasting the largest hard drive of any system to date (120 GB) and an
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