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A Casual Stroll to Mordor ending after 200 episodes
Among the serious and exciting news coming out of E3 this week, we're sad to hear that the long-time-favorite Lord of the Rings Online podcast and fansite A Casual Stroll to Mordor will be ending at the end of this month, just in time for the podcast's 200th episode. We once named CSTM our favorite MMO blog in 2010, and the site's quality hasn't dropped since. Fortunately, the podcast episodes will remain up at least until the end of the year and the site itself will remain hosted on the Middle-earth Network. If you've ever been entertained by Merric and Goldenstar on the show or have been helped by one of their wonderful LotRO guides, head on over to their farewell announcement post and let them know how much you've enjoyed what they do.
PhotoTrackr Plus brings geotagging to Nikon DSLRs, leaves your hotshoe open
Oh sure, Nikon's got its own solution for adding native geotagging to your existing DSLR, but the GP-1 dongle definitely has its drawbacks. Aside from sucking down around 4x more power than Gisteq's new PhotoTrackr Plus, it also eliminates the ability to use a dedicated flash in the hotshoe while capturing GPS data. Moreover, it has to warm up every time you turn the camera on / off, and there's just 18 tracking channels compared to the Gisteq's 44. Regardless of the back and forth, we do appreciate the PhotoTrackr Plus' ability to plug directly into the 10-pin terminal that few amateurs even think to recognize, though we do fear that the reliance on Bluetooth could cause issues if you stray too far from the transceiver. Still, this newfangled dongle is far superior to its past iterations, both of which simply logged data as you went and then added metadata after you synced the information with your images via PC; this dongle, however, embeds the data right away into every image. Better still, there's even a price advantage to going third party -- Nikon's aging GP-1 is pushing $200 on many webstores, while the Gisteq apparatus can be procured right now for $179. Take your pic, as they say.
$199 Nintendo Wii spotted in Best Buy ad?
First there was an alleged Toys R Us ad, and now we've caught wind of what's claimed to be a Best Buy spot showing the Nintendo Wii getting that long-desired $50 price drop, down just below the two Benjamin mark. Easily Photoshopped image? You betcha, so we'll just have to play wait-and-see as the evidence seems to mount up -- it's been a long time coming, after all, we wouldn't be that surprised given the oncoming holiday season and the recent downward trend in demand.
Ammo stacks in 1000, sells in 200
Whoo, boy. When the news came out that ammo was changing big time in the game, Hunters everywhere pretty much praised it -- no longer would we have to worry about carrying around tons of ammo, with one bag slot spent on just one consumable. But since then, things haven't been so peachy. First, we heard that consumable ammunition wasn't going anywhere, and then we noticed that none of the other changes were happening either. Then, ammo stacks were fixed to 1000 in a recent hotfix on the PTR, but now there's a whole other issue: while it stacks in 1000, it still only sells in stacks of 200. Which means you have to buy, and buy, and buy, and buy, and buy just to fill one slot. And what's more, Dresorull says it's not a bug -- we'll likely see this on the live realms.And as BRK points out, the "1000" stacks aren't even labeled on the PTR yet. He says you can fill your quiver with 28,000 rounds of ammo (of course, you'd have to hit buy 140 times just to do that), but what happened to the quiver changes? Aren't Hunters supposed to get that bag slot back in 3.1 anyway?It's all very confusing, and this smacks of a missed followthrough: the original Hunter changes as suggested were popular, but we're guessing something came up in their way (either the team was needed on another task, or some flaw in the system as designed kept them from turning consumable ammunition into a permanent item). Either way, we hope this gets fixed -- we know this is the PTR and everything is subject to change, but as it stands, it looks like we're getting a half-finished ammo system when patch 3.1 goes live.
ASUS: $200 Eee PC in 2009
Finally, the promise of the $200 Eee PC is, uh, promised again. Jerry Shen, apparently in a meeting with analysts, said that ASUS will launch an Eee PC priced at US$200 in 2009. He also said that 7- and 8.9-inch Eee PCs will be phased out of the market to be replaced by 10-inch models. Although that sounds like it opens the possibility for a 10-inch Eee PC for $200 we're not counting on it. Shen also noted that 70% of all Eee PCs are now loaded with XP (a latecomer to netbooks) and hard disk drives compared to 30% with Linux and SSDs. Microsoft, you win again.
How important is the $199 Xbox 360?
Microsoft has long acknowledged that it considers $200 the "sweet spot" of console price points. Now that the manufacturer has finally hit that sweet spot with the new $199 Xbox 360 Arcade, we've been wondering exactly what kind of impact Microsoft can expect, historically, in its bottom line. Luckily, Matt Matthews over at Edge Online did all the heavy lifting for us over a year ago, looking at the effect of system pricing on sales numbers in the last generation of the console wars.The results, as you can see above, are pretty clear. Only 13% of original Xbox systems sold at the $300 price point, and a plurality of sales came at an eventual floor of $150. Sony's PS2 similarly only sold a quarter of its eventual installed base at a price greater than $200 (Nintendo's Gamecube never sold for greater than $200).Of course, history is an imprecise guide here. The original Xbox dropped under $200 within six months of its initial release, while the Xbox 360 went nearly three years (exactly 1018 days) before hitting the sweet spot. And while the original Xbox also had competition from Sony and Nintendo, it didn't have to compete with "premium" configurations offered by Microsoft itself. Still, we can't imagine being the first current-gen system to be available for under two Benjamins will hurt sales of the system. For now, the unanswerable question remains: Exactly how much will it not hurt?
Garmin Oregon PNDs make an early appearance
It's been a while since Garmin dropped any new gear on us, but it looks like we're about to get a whole new series of nav units soon -- Buy.com and Amazon just put up listings for the Garmin Oregon 200, 300, and 400. The new boxes are a little smaller and lighter than the Colorado series, with a rugged, waterproof casing, 3-inch 240 X 400 sunlight readable touchscreens, customizable user profiles, and the ability to transfer waypoints, tracks, routes, and geocaches between units. We're assuming pricing will change when these things get real, but for now the 200 is listed at $420 and the 400C is listed at $558. It's not exactly clear what the specific differences between the line is, except that the 400 will come in several flavors, with the 400C variant sporting BlueChart g2 marine maps for the coastal US and Bahamas. Hopefully we'll get some more details soon, as these bad boys seem ready to go.[Via GPS Tracklog]Read - Oregon 200 listingRead - Oregon 400C listing
Mio's Moov GPS units hit the States
If you've been waiting on the edge of your seat for Mio's new GPS satnavs to hit the States, it's time to break out the party favors. The PND-maker has just launched its Moov 200, 210, 300, and 310 touchscreen GPS units in the US, all equipped with SiRFstar III chips (with SiRFInstantFix II technology), pre-loaded maps of the US and Puerto Rico, and real-time traffic reports (on the 310 and 210). Prices range from $179.95 for the 3.5-inch 200, up to $249.95 for the 4.3-inch 310, and all four should be available on April 1st.
Garmin launches nuvi 2x5 series, complete with MSN Direct
If you thought Garmin had exhausted all possible options at CES, you thought wrong. Here at CeBIT, the outfit has rolled out four new navigators for your routing pleasure, starting with the nüvi 205 (3.5-inch) and 205W (4.3-inch). These siblings both feature a 333MHz processor, Garmin's own HotFix technology to get your position on the double, the famed "Where Am I?" feature and the ability to snatch traffic information via MSN Direct when used with an optional receiver. Additionally, these two are set to include map choices such as the contiguous United States, Canada or regional sections of Europe. As for the higher-end 255 and 255W (pictured), they'll be all too similar save for the maps, which promise "comprehensive coverage of North America, Europe, Australia or New Zealand." For pricing and availability information, click on after the jump.[Via GPSReview]
Yup, here's Garmin's CES lineup
Whoa, Nelly! Garmin just did the deed and loosed a swarm of details on its jam-packed CES 2008 lineup, and sure enough, there aren't too many surprises. We'll let the new nüvi lineup get us started. First up, we figured you Americans should know that the previously Euro-only pink nüvi 200 is headed your way in Q1 for $249.99. Next up is the currently unpriced nüvi 260W, which looks to boast the exact same features as the nüvi 260 save for that luscious 4.3-inch touchscreen that this one is rockin'. Right on cue, it's the nüvi 5000 ($799.99), which you can catch more on -- along with the now official nüvi 780 / 880 (pictured above) -- right over here. Hungry for more? Head on past the break. %Gallery-12588%
PS3 firmware 2.00 hits tomorrow
Sure, 2.00 might sound like a magical milestone, but in reality there's not a whole lot here that's going to revolutionize your gaming experience, and sadly nothing yet to bring online communication and play to parity with Xbox Live and Xbox's handy dandy dashboard. That said, Sony is strengthening some of the PS3's unique features, like the new Remote Start function that lets you fire up your PS3 remotely when you're accessing it with your PSP, and playlists for music and photos. One of the biggest "additions" is DualShock 3 support, but that's so laughably last-gen that it's hardly worth noting. Sony is also packing in the ability to create and share your own Themes for XMB, and a news ticker that will eventually make way for the importing of your own RSS feeds. Sony also added a new XMB group to the main menu to pave the way for Home and other internets-friendly features, and -- oddly enough -- Canon printer support to really round out the package. The update will be available in the States tomorrow, November 8th.Update: PS3 Fanboy has some exclusive screenshots of the new interface.[Via Joystiq]
HP's iPAQ 110 and 210 PDAs get shipment date, prices
We know that you're all on pins and needles right now waiting to find out when you can get your hands on those new HP PDAs, the iPAQ 110 and 210, and how much it will cost you when you do. Well, you're in luck, because the company has just added shipping dates and pricing to its website, thus making your Fall plans a little bit easier. If you'll recall, both WiFi equipped, Windows Mobile 6 devices feature color TFT touchscreens, Marvell PXA310 624 Mhz processors, and Bluetooth 2.0. The devices will be shipping on October 8th, with the 110 selling for $299, and the 210 for $399.[Thanks, Speed]Read -- HP iPAQ 110 Classic HandheldRead -- HP iPAQ 210 Enterprise Handheld
HP unleashes iPAQ series 100 and 200 PDAs
As we've mentioned recently, HP has been readying a handful (no pun intended) of new iPAQ handhelds. Luckily, today we get to move from rumor to fact, as the company has officially announced the next wave of its mobile line. Along with new 3G phones and a GPS navigator, HP is launching the 100 Series "Classic" and 200 Series "Enterprise" edition (pictured) PDAs. Both models are based around Windows Mobile 6 Classic, and sport 64MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM, a Marvell PXA310 624MHz CPU, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, and color touchscreens. There are some notable differences between the two models, however, with the 100 sporting a 3.5-inch, 240 x 320, RGB screen, Mini-USB, and SDIO card slot, while the 200 sports a 4-inch, 480 x 640, 260k screen, 24-pin and Mini-USB connectors, plus SDIO and CF card slots. No word yet on pricing and availability, but you'll know when we do.
Gamestop slashes PSP Value Pack to same $200 as Core unit
If we had a dollar for every time we've heard someone complain about the PSP's price, we could probably afford one (we jest! LocoRoco fuhevah!), and it seems like someone has finally heard those pleas. The latest GameStop ad touts a newly slashed the price for the PSP Value Pack: $200, a full $50 off of its normal price, and the same amount of dollars the PSP goes for in the buff. No word if this is a Sony-originated price drop, or if GameStop was just feeling generous on the PSP's two year anniversary, but we won't look a gift horse in the mouth -- let's just hope a $150 PSP Core unit is soon to follow.[Via PSP Fanboy]
Nintendo to launch 200 million dollar ad campaign
Nintendo has this nasty tendency to make money with their consoles, despite often being seen as the "loser" in the reputed console wars. Their stock holders are generally quite happy, especially in recent times, and believe it or not, Nintendo has a war chest of something like ten bazillion yen. Certainly a large R&D budget went into developing Wii technology, but everyone knows that the system is essentially a calculated risk. Nintendo needs to push its new brainchild, and it needs to push it hard; thus the chest springs open yet again.A recent Bloomberg article states that Nintendo will launch a year-long, $200 million ad campaign for the Wii. Further, 80% of that money will be solely devoted to marketing toward non-gamers, attempting to expand their market into the coveted (and excuse the generalization) "old people and women" demographic. That's a whole heck of a lot of money to get the word out ... be sure to do your part and invite your baby boomer neighbors for a quick session of Wii Sports. [via Joystiq]
