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Motorola Q11 turns up in Brazil ahead of launch
We've already had a pretty clear indication that Motorola's Q11 was nearing a release in Brazil and, according to ZumoBlog, everything is now set to finally get official tomorrow. That, however, hasn't stopped the site from getting its hands on the phone today, and it's thankfully snapped a few pics of it to give folks a peek at what's in store. Of course, the pics of the Q9 lookalike don't exactly tell the whole story, as the big news is added WiFi and GPS, and, unfortunately, a lack of 3G. Still, if that's a trade-off you can get behind, you can keep watch on the site for a promised video hands-on, and set aside the 899 Brazilian reais (or just over $400) it'll cost you to get an unlocked version of the phone.
Motorola Q11 shows up in Brazil's regulatory red tape
That Q11 can't be far off now that Moto's starting to send it through labs for regulatory approval, and ClubeCelular seems to have gotten the inside line on the latest Q as it happened through Brazil's hurdles. Unfortunately, a quick glance at the rumored specs (and a few glances at the unglamorous shots Moto sent with the phone's labwork) leave us scratching our heads as to why anyone would want this over a Q9: quadband EDGE, stereo Bluetooth, WiFi, miniSD expansion, a 2.5mm (yes, 2.5mm) headphone jack, and a 3-megapixel camera with flash. Besides the cam, we're not seeing what the draw is -- and we're particularly bewildered as to why Moto would think it was cool to leave 3G out these days, so we're hoping that particular spec magically materializes by the time the phone floats north (and no, Motorola, just because RIM thinks it can get away with leaving out 3G doesn't mean you should, too).[Thanks, eloy]
iPhone in 29 new countries; unlocked in Hong Kong
Our sister site Engadget reports that Apple is now offering unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong via its online store. HK$5,500 (≈ US$700) will buy you an 8GB model, HK$6,200 (≈ US$800) gets you 16GB. The Apple Store's terms and conditions limit sales to individuals in Hong Kong only, but who knows what the gray market will bring. Three Russian carriers will also begin selling unlocked iPhones on October 3, with the 8GB model selling for over US$900. In related news, 29 new countries will begin selling the iPhone, some today: Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Turkey and Venezuela. [Via IGM.]
Hands-on with DesbloqueioBr's iPhone 3G unlock
We just happened to be in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this week and when the news popped up that a group of Brazilians had unlocked the iPhone 3G, we just had to pop in to say hi. Like the Turbo SIM unlock for the original iPhone, this system uses a wafer-thin card that piggybacks on your SIM while in the phone. Of course, Turbo SIM needed some tools installed on the iPhone -- so Jailbreak was key -- this solution does not, just DesbloqueioBr's chip and your SIM. Paulo and Breno of DesbloqueioBr explained that the magic lies in the programming of the SIM adapter itself, by tricking the iPhone into believing a test SIM has been inserted, the iPhone allows service and then functionality is handed back to your SIM. We tested the unlock in our own FIDO locked handset with a local TIM SIM card, then in their AT&T set, and it worked perfectly in both. How much will this cost average Joe iPhone user? They were pretty tight lipped as to what the final pricing will be and how exactly they'll deliver the service, but we should hear more in the next few days. Check the vid of it all in action after the break.
Ubisoft opening new studio in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Ubisoft announced today that it'll open a new studio in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to GameDaily, this addition means the publisher now has studios on five continents (what, no Antarctica studio?). This follows the recently announced opening of a new campus in Casablanca, Morocco. The publisher hopes to get the studio rolling in July with about 20 developers and grow it tenfold over the next four years into a 200-member team. Ubisoft notes the new location will begin by working with other studios on "family-oriented titles" for consoles and handhelds.
New soccer/football MMO seeks to profit on Brazil's passion
A Chicago-based company called Interzone Entertainment will be publishing a new soccer MMO in Brazil in the fourth quarter of this year. The game is called Interzone Futebol, and of course it will at first be in Portuguese. Interzone says it will translate the game for other markets shortly, though.It's actually a pretty cool concept. It's not a team management game like most sports titles. Rather, it's a bit like EA Sports' quasi-recent Superstar mode trend. That it is to say, each player will control one athlete who improves and learns new moves over time. Every athlete on the field in every match will be controlled by a human player, and those players will be able to invite their friends to join them in the middle of any match.Interzone chose to launch in Brazil first because ... well, if you can't answer that, you don't know much about soccer. Or Brazil, for that matter.
Rumor: Konami VP mentions Castlevania Wii?
This is a pretty weird rumor, but perhaps the same could be said of all rumors. Apparently, Konami USA's Shinji Hirano made a reference to new Castlevania games on the Wii and DS during a press conference Tuesday in Sao Paulo. The weird part is that the event in question, according to Arena Turbo, was a launch for Grand Theft Auto IV and Iron Man. Is GTA IV even out in Brazil? Xbox.com says it isn't. And why would a Konami executive even be there making statements? So sketchy. Of course we can't find any reference to this event anywhere but this post and this GameTV post.But we've heard Wii 'Vania rumors before, and this extremely dubious one doesn't make the game any less likely. Maybe it'll get sorted out next week, as Hirano reportedly said.[Via GoNintendo]
Samsung bringing mobile TV to Brazil with V820L
Have 1,499 reais (about $904) to blow? Live in or around Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, or Rio de Janeiro, Brazil? Great, because Samsung has a little something it wants to show you. The V820L pivoting flip is a capable 3G phone in its own right, complete with Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel cam, microSD expansion, and a front-facing secondary cam for video calls, but it also adds digital TV reception for Brazil's nascent ISDB-T spectrum. The relatively expansive 2.6 inch display should be a boon for watching your favorite Portuguese-language programming on the go, though it sounds like the limited coverage could be a big bummer at this point until broadcasters have the time to build out the network just a bit. It sounds like carriers might subsidize the phone a bit to knock down that stratospheric price tag, but even so -- just how much do we want to pay for a few square miles of entertainment?[Image via Abril.com, thanks Marcelo R.]
Limited edition Renault Sandero to boast Nokia branding, N95
Nothing shows your complete and unwavering devotion to a handset maker like buying an ultra-rare vehicle with its logos on there, wouldn't you agree? Those vigorously nodding up and down (well, those vigorously nodding up and down in Brazil) can get set to grab a limited edition Renault Sandero, which will come "fully equipped with Nokia's navigation system and [undisclosed] car add-ons." The super-special Sandero will come stocked with an N95 and cost around €17,650 ($27,693), but you'd better hurry, as only 1,000 of these niche motorcars are being built. It's like Nokia heard your cries for letting the chance to nab one of those co-branded Twingos slip through your too-busy-texting thumbs or something.
Toshiba's Brazil unit peddling Blu-ray hardware?
While Toshiba still hasn't announced any new HD moves since withdrawing from the format war earlier this year, its Brazilian arm may be moving on with a hybrid HTPC. Powered by a Core Duo 6300 and Vista Home Premium, Semp Toshiba's Spectra packs a TV tuner and an optical drive ready for Blu-ray and HD DVD and should be available later this month. Society Eletromercantil Paulista merged with Toshiba in 1977 and has operated as Semp Toshiba in Brazil ever since, but it might be working a little more independently of its parent company than usual on this project, unless there are more Toshiba-branded Blu-ray products on the way. We'll keep this one on rumor status pending a more official announcement (or a significant improvement in our Portuguese skills.) Check out another image after the break.
Bully ban means no virtual wedgies in Brazil
Brazil seems to be having a lot of censorship issues lately, but in terms of video games, Bully is the most recent victim.According to an Associated Press article, Judge Flavio Rabello recently ordered that Rockstar's controversial game be banned from the country. This means that Brazilian stores (both brick and mortar and online) cannot sell the software, nor can the title be imported, distributed, or promoted.So, why Bully over other violent games? State prosecutor Alcindo Bastos commented, "The aggravating factor is that everything in the game takes place inside a school. That is not acceptable." Yet, Bully isn't first game to be prohibited in the Latin American country; earlier this year, Counter-Strike and Everquest were banned as well.It's a shame when governments don't take the time to understand something before following a knee-jerk reaction. Perhaps bullying is a touchy subject, since the issue involves children committing violence against other children, but pretending it doesn't exist by banning media that portrays it won't solve any problems. Gallery: Bully [Via Game Politics]
Brazil bans Bully
No sooner does Rockstar finally succeed in getting Manhunt 2 unbanned in the UK than another Rockstar game gets banned in another country. This time around it's Bully: Scholarship Edition that's been banned by a Brazilian judge, as the AP is reporting.According to the report, the ban prevents the game from "being imported, distributed, sold or promoted on Web sites and stores" in the country. Brazilian distributors and retailers will have thirty days to comply with the ban, which came in response to a request from a Brazilian youth center. "The aggravating factor is that everything in the game takes place inside a school" said prosecutor Alcindo Bastas. "That is not acceptable."A Take-Two spokesman said the decision "will not have a material impact on the sales of this popular title." We're relatively sure this is not the last we'll hear from the publisher about this matter.
OpenMoko FreeRunner spied wearing new clothes
By the very nature of the organization, details of OpenMoko's upcoming FreeRunner are no secret -- quite the opposite, in fact -- but it's always refreshing to see the new kit out and about, doing what it does best (pictured here on the left). This image comes to us from the Bossa Conference in Brazil, where OpenMoko's Mickey Lauer talked up the Neo1973 successor, showed off the device bearing ever-so-slightly updated styling over its big brother (and over the model we saw at CES), and went over a laundry list of its impressive features. Three-axis motion detection is going to be a big win for devs and hobbyists looking to maximize the FreeRunner's potential, but other goodies include Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi (allegedly 802.11n, but that sounds a little optimistic to us), and a Samsung-sourced core humming along at a solid 134MHz better than the model it replaces. Would be nice if we could touch this thing at CTIA next month, yeah?
Nintendo turns to U.S. government to fight piracy
Having established that the United States is not rife with pirates, Nintendo has made a request to the U.S. government to assist in the fight against piracy of Nintendo products. The company has asked the U.S. Trade Representative to convey messages to other governments with rampant piracy issues, encouraging them to tighten their laws. Nintendo is asking, specifically, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, and Paraguay's governments to be more aggressive against software pirates. Nintendo is asking China to prosecute the large-scale producers of pirated materials, while Korean "service providers" on whose networks software is traded are the target of the censure in that country. Nintendo's complaints against the Latin American governments are much more interesting, as they call for an end to violence against anti-piracy law enforcement officials in Mexico, a crackdown on corruption in Paraguay, and the reduction of high tariffs on retail games in Brazil.Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo's senior director of anti-piracy, said "The unprecedented momentum enjoyed by Nintendo DS and Wii makes Nintendo an attractive target for counterfeiters." Nintendo estimates the lost sales caused by piracy to be around $975 million worldwide.
Brazil ban on Counter-Strike, EverQuest goes into effect
A ban on the sale of Counter-Strike and EverQuest in Brazil has gone into effect. According to AFP, the ban was ordered by federal court in October 2007 but is just now being imposed. Said judge Carlos Alberto Simoes, the titles encouraged "the subversion of public order, were an attack against the democratic state and the law and against public security." (Just so you're clear: EverQuest is an attack on democracy, but censorship isn't.)Of course, the ban is just on the sale of the two games. Each title is about nine years old, with their latest respective sequels (EverQuest 2 and CS: Source) released in 2004 - not exactly the most timely censorship. By that timeframe, World of Warcraft has about five years left before Brazil drops the banhammer. Let's hope Blizzard can get out Wrath of the Lich King before 2014.[Via CVG; thanks, Vitor]
A Brazilian court bans EverQuest
In a classic moment of governmental insanity, word has gone out that a court in the Brazilian state of Goias has put a ban out on Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest. The consumer protection agency for the country has apparently picked up on the ban, and is noting it on its official website.Kotaku readers have been writing in to that site, expanding on this decision and a similar one that has been handed down on the tactical shooter Counter-Strike. This ban technically applies to the whole country, as decisions made in one court system are technically the law of the land throughout Brazil. A reader noted that at the moment only the state of Goias is applying the ban, as other court leaders seem to think the decision may be flawed.Fascinatingly, EverQuest isn't even commercially released in the country of Brazil. Even more interesting, reader comments seem to indicate this is a forced ban: copies of the game reported being 'taken' by the police. The ban (on EQ, anyway) seems to stem from the moral ambiguity of many of the quests:As for EverQuest, Procon states that it "takes the gamer to complete moral conflict and 'heavy' psychological conflicts; for the tasks that are given to them could be bad or good. (...) Violent videogames that use violence are capable of forming agressive individuals, making it evident that is strong its influence on psyquism, reinforcing aggressive attitude against certain individuals and social groups".Further commentary is available at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
LG goes global with KF600, says it "cannot compete" in the low end
Well, that certainly didn't take very long -- that Venus-esque piece from LG, the KF600, has already broken out of China for launches in Brazil and Turkey. At around $350, the dual-screen "touch navigation" slider is far from entry-level -- and that's just the way LG likes it, apparently. The company has gone on record saying that it's all but ceding the low end of the mobile spectrum to Nokia and Samsung, instead focusing its efforts on the $300 range globally as the key to reaping "stable and strong profits." With the Chocolate and Shine series seemingly doing so well across the globe, we'd venture to guess that might not be a bad niche for LG to fill.
Philips enters the notebook game in Brazil
Details are pretty sketchy right now, but it looks like Philips is set to release its first two notebooks in Brazil in December. The two models both fall on the smaller end of the scale, with an 11-inch magnesium alloy model rocking a U2400 Core Duo, a 120GB disk, 1GB of RAM and a dual-layer burner for R$5499 ($2477), and a piano black 13-inch model (pictured) sporting a T7300 Core 2 Duo, a 120GB disk, a dual layer burner and 2GB of RAM for R$3,999 ($2165). We're still looking for model numbers, but Philips says these were developed "specifically for the Brazilian market," so don't expect to see them turning up Stateside anytime soon. Check a pic of the 11-inch model at the read link.[Thanks, Felipe]
Mike the emotional robot, transforming RoboCar on display in Brazil
By way of Tech Digest, we caught wind of that angry-looking fellow you see pictured above on the left. Why is he so pissed? We wish we could tell you: all that's known about "Mike the emotional robot" created by computer science and electrical engineering students at Brazil's FEI Mauá college is that its LCD "face" changes color based on mood (red for anger, green for happy, and orange for sad), though how those moods are determined is beyond us or the press release announcing Mike's public unveiling. We should know more sometime after today, though, as this is the start of the Robótica - International Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Fair in São Paulo, where Mike will be displayed alongside other bots and techie attractions like robot sumo and RoboCup-style tournaments, the old Hug T-Shirt we've seen in several iterations, and most promising of all, RoboCar the life-size Transformer (pictured right). If any of our Brazilian readers are brave enough to risk Mike going all Itchy and Scratchyland on you and your fellow attendees, we'd love for you to send in some pics and details (via our Tips form) from what sounds like a dangerous-but-fun gathering.[Via Tech Digest]
Brazil's first Intel Classmate PC given to o presidente
The odd public relations battle among the various manufacturers of super-low-cost laptops is heating up once again, with Intel ceremoniously delivering Brazil's first Classmate PC to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (presumably it will not be his primary machine). The low-power Classmate -- competing with OLPC's XO and Encore's Mobilis for a bulk contract and presumably lucrative support deals -- was part of an initial lot of 30 machines for government eggheads to play with, and will be followed by a donation of 800 units sometime next month. Unlike the $150 XO, the Classmate is a multi-hundred dollar machine with some fairly decent specs -- for its class, at least -- as it features a Celeron M CPU, 256MB of DDR2 RAM, and 1GB of NAND flash, among other "luxuries." With this seemingly heated competition to provide cheap notebooks to the children of Brazil, it's amusing to think that along with teaching them about coding, writing, and web surfing, these little gadgets will also bring them another proud tradition of developed countries: the OS war.
