Recent Comments:
Point/Counterpoint: Will a DS redesign be announced this year? {DS Fanboy}
May 14th 2008 3:44PM > I disagree that the technology is dated.
Denial of the fact. DS technology is dated - intentionally - to keep DS cheap.
On other side, its not that they can replace technology right now: DS only started gaining game library comparable to GBA.
> Maybe aesthetic improvements; thinner.
Let's not forget that compared to mobile phone, you have to hold DS in hands for some prolonged period of time. For many people DS Lite is already very hard to keep in hands - so thin it became.
On side of improvements, bigger battery, more robust design and better grip would be always welcome.
Olympus E-520 announced, previewed {Engadget}
May 13th 2008 10:52AM Actually, I tried harder this time and found two pictures to compare.
1. Kit IS lens for Canon 450D EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS (last diagram on page) - http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/canon_18-55_3p5-5p6_is_c16/page3.asp
2. Olympus E-510 IS test results (last diagram on page) - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse510/page15.asp
In-lens IS seems to be about twice faster compared to sensor shift. On 1/10 and 1/5 exposures Oly produced correspondently about 50% and 20% usable pictures, while with Canon IS lens on 1/13 and 1/6 produced correspondently about 90% and 60% usable pictures.
Olympus E-520 announced, previewed {Engadget}
May 13th 2008 10:36AM I'd love to see any decent comparison of in-lens IS vs. sensor IS.
I couldn't find any review comparing the Nikon/Canon vs. Olympus.
My colleague has E-510 and pretty happy with how it works.
Olympus E-520 announced, previewed {Engadget}
May 13th 2008 6:13AM Last I have checked, Nikon and Olympus were licensing info about their lens mounts and only Canon maintained the proprietary status.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EF_lens_mount#Third-party_lenses - info comes from Wikipedia, tread with caution.
How's Windows XP SP3 treating you? {Engadget}
May 12th 2008 4:58PM Well, I have clicked on usual "Download Updates" button, since then it is still trying to download it. Probably. Not that the damm Windows Update tries to tell you what and how it does. With all the money M$ has, they still can't make update tool on par with MacOS or Linux ones.
P.S. Or probably as the moronic Java update tool it waits for my link to be idle... *hint* BitTorrent *hint*.
MSI Titan 700 mini-PC gets announced {Engadget}
May 9th 2008 11:15AM Has DVI... MythTV?
But even with 2GHz, without decent video card you can't make it play nice with 720p.
Current crop of graphics cards compared, ranked by price {Engadget}
May 9th 2008 7:41AM They should have also included power consumption.
Even my good ol' 420W power supply isn't sufficient (if dedicated) to power any of the high-priced high-fps cards.
I was pretty appalled when I have seen that 3870 X2 power consumption is 400W at load. Though priced competitively at $400, one would need extra power supply just for the baby. It's bit better on nVidia's side - but not much better.
To be perfectly honest, the current run for the best performance leaves many customers as victims in its wake. They both - ATI, nVidia - should slow-down a bit and stabilize/improve what they have. And cooperate more with game producers so that games would run on current generation of GPUs - not on next next one. Considering that majority uses middle-range cards, that would make life a lot easier for many consumers.
But then, since most of buying decisions based solely on vocal minority of gamers who have a buck to drop on every possible upgrade, GPU manufacturers have no choice as to make the run for the obscure performance figures.
Seems like market is in unrepairable state.
Samsung launches Instinct promotional site {Engadget}
May 5th 2008 6:49PM I checked the F490 (European version) in shop and honestly didn't liked it.
The haptic thing isn't perfect and doesn't feel good - especially since touch screen is very unresponsive.
Scrolling works backwards what is very confusing Kind'a reminded me of first Microsoft mice with scrollwheel: they also claimed to scroll document, while everybody expect that it would move scrollbar. There it is logical - it is still very confusing.
Killer to me was the fact that phone is relatively thick. I'd say anything thicket than 10mm is too thick. I have one of the Samsung's slim phones now and the damm thing can be lost in any pocket - regardless how small the pocket is. But Instinct demands some dedicated space, what feels bad after having Z150 for 1+ year now.
Definitive plus for me over iPhone is that it supports DivX. That's one hell of omission on Apple's side. Something ubiquitous as MP3 must be supported out of box.
Yoto's M300 PMP plays just about everything, won't gossip about you {Engadget}
May 5th 2008 5:00AM Speaking about formats.
Which of wide-touch-screen mobile phones has DivX support?
I was quite surprised to find that Samsung's F490 (aka Instinct) doesn't have DivX on official list of features (in fact data sheet doesn't mention video playback at all) though whole internet says it does in fact support DivX. Same applies to LG's Viewty (and it is even listed on www.DivX.com).
Rockstar's Dan Houser disses casual gaming, explains process of rebuilding NYC {Joystiq}
May 4th 2008 8:56AM ""gamers still want games with production values and narratives that rival those of big-budget movies""
And that comes in after memorable quote from Steven Spielberg that making "big-budget" movies is in past: very risky business-wise and by trying to appeal to wider audience, core fans are lost.
This guy is slightly out of reality. Like most "hardcore gamers" are.
On other side, if we continue to draw parallels with movie industry, high-profile TV shows (which literally replacing movies e.g. Smallville) are pretty big. And notice that gaming industry is also lining up after the concept: e.g. Square Enix plans for WiiWare with small budget titles and DLC for them.
As otaku, to me better parallel is actually manga. They are deep. They are narrative. But they are cheap. And looks at the crowd of minions - hardcore fans - surrounding the mangas. But I guess the parallel is dead on take off: manga writers are normally one of the crowd of minions and they are inheritly close to the fandom community, discussing all ideas in open. But usual image of game developer is a cool nihilistic out-of-reality guy who is pissing on fans of his games and the fans accept his piss as mana or godsend.
