drop
Latest
Sony CEO says they're looking to 'refine' PS3 price
It looks like the madness we've known as the PlayStation 3's price point will soon become slightly more reasonable as Sir Howard Stringer, the über-boss chief executive of Sony Corp., told the Financial Times they are looking to "refine" the PS3's price. In the megaton interview, Stringer says that Nintendo has a "very good business model" and sees the Wii and PS3 are "complementary and supplementary" consoles.According to the Financial Times, Sony stands to lose $488 million in their games division this fiscal year as sales have been "lackluster" due to the price point and selection of software. Stringer says that the software situation should begin resolving itself by the end of the year and says, "That [price cuts] is what we are studying at the moment. That's what we are trying to refine."Analysts have talked about the PS3 price drop being around the $100 mark, which would make it the same price as the now deceased 20GB model of the system. But, for all we know Sony could shock us all and make the PlayStation 3 the same price as the Xbox 360 -- causing all manner of hell to break loose. And who would be the winner? The consumer, of course.[Via GameDaily.biz]
Are today's students getting enough gaming time?
There's an alarming epidemic facing high school graduates in this country. No, we're not talking about literacy or obesity or anything so unimportant. We're talking about video games. Get your priorities straight, people!According to a shocking report in the Dayton Daily News, the graduating class of 2007 is being distracted from important game-playing time by attention-stealing activities like "homework, jobs and extracurricular activities." That's right ... the promise of our future would rather do their homework than put in the important gaming time that will help them grow into mature and active adult gamers.What's worse, some of today's graduating seniors have a hard time envisioning a future that included normative social gaming. "If some guy was like 'You want to go on a date? We could play Guitar Hero,' and I'm 30, I'd be, like, 'No!,' " said one such lost youth. It's enough to make you long for the good old days when students knew how important a Pac-Man high score was to their future.[Via Gaming Today]
Min-E3 press conference confirmed, dated
We hath mourned the death of the one and true E3, but like a mentally handicapped phoenix, the new Min-E3 has risen from the ashes. And while the glitz, glamour, and majority of games will have vanished into thinnest air, the wondrous tradition of the press conference remains. All three players will attempt to outdo the other, yet again.This year, Nintendo is second on the list: 9:30 AM PST on Wednesday, July 11th. Prior to their engagement is Microsoft the day before, and Sony is naught but two hours later at 11:30. We expect solid release dates for at least one of Super Mario Galaxy or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, as well as more than a few surprises. C'mon, Iwata ... drop the bomb.
Slippery or not? The great iPhone slipperiness debate
Is the iPhone slippery? Will it drop out of your hands during use, crashing to the floor below and destroying your expensive purchase? That's the question raised over on Digg, which linked up this story about slippery iPhones. The story quotes Alexandrous Roussos, who wrote "the material used on the device's case makes it feel even more slippery than the iPod and will probably require the purchase of a protective skin or case so as to avoid unintentionally dropping it". Immediately the blogosphere split into two factions, debating whether the iPhone was in fact slippery or not. MyiPhone's Chris Barr writes that according to Brian Lam, an actual iPhone holder and toucher, the iPhone is not slippery at all. Wired reports that the iPhone might slip out of your hand. Me? If I get an iPhone, I'm buying a case for it--just like I bought one for my iPod and my cell phone.
AT&T and Verizon kick kid phones to the curb
In an announcement sure to make tweens scream and parents sigh, both AT&T and Verizon Wireless have seemingly simultaneously decided to stop featuring their respective kid-centric handsets. Folks interested in Verizon's Migo will now be shown LG's 3450L flip-phone instead, as the company claims that its texting abilities and Chaperone capability will lend itself to being an effective youth-oriented option. As for AT&T, its Firefly mobile will now be sold solely online, but there was no mention of what the carrier planned on offering when paranoid parents showed up looking for a highly controllable device in-store. Of course, both of these phones should remain available in other mass market channels for those still interested, but we're sure your nine-year old kid will be lobbying for something a bit more sophisticated in a few months anyway.[Via PhoneScoop]
PSP price cut U.S. only, includes Entertainment Pack
So, you want to buy the PSP, only have $220 and you're a big fan of Lords of Dogtown. Well, you're in luck! The PSP Entertainment Pack, which includes the UMD skate film, a 1 GB memory stick and ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails, has received the same $30 price cut as its little brother, the $169.99 Core Pack.But let's say that you want to buy the PSP, but you live in Europe. In that case, Sony has told GamesIndustry.biz that you're out of luck, as there's no European price cut at the moment. Yikes, Europe. Sony's retaliation for this little stunt was pretty swift and terrible, huh? This seems a little harsh, did you do something else to upset them? Just remember this lesson: If you buy a PS3, you get a free TV and a taxi ride home. If those 100 dudes are the only ones to buy it though, you keep paying €150/£100 for your PSP.[Via Engadget]
New epic mount drop found in BC
With all of the hoopla going down about the non-expansion patch today, you might almost forget that in a little over a month, we're still going to find a whole new world of items. And news from the beta front is that at least one of them is going to be a sweet new dropped mount.Tcher over on LJ posts (some strange looking) pics of what appears to be a new mount, and the World of Raids thread related to it confirmed it's a dropped red horsey, found on the first boss in the 10 man Karazhan instance (the boss' name is Attumen the Huntsman). The item requires level 70, but only a riding skill of 150, so it's likely this is your standard 100% epic mount, like the Deathcharger's Reins or the Bloodlord's dino. As you can see from the pic, it looks (and this is a technical term) frickin' sweet.But aside from the cool looking horse, this could mean a lot of fun other stuff for BC: we already know Blizzard switched the riding prices because they wanted to add more mounts into the game, and so it's likely this isn't the only mount floating around out there. Likewise, this thing drops from the first boss in an instance, while current drop mounts come off of relatively hard bosses (Baron, it could be argued, is the final 5-man boss in the game). Any way you slice it, it looks like this is just the beginning of cool mounts in the expansion (for everyone, too-- look at that cow riding the horse!)
Apple slashes Cinema display prices, too
A number of observant TUAW readers have also noticed that Apple has (quietly) slashes Cinema display prices with the introduction of the Mac Pro. There were rumors of Cinema updates before WWDC, but it seems that Apple simply wanted to give our pocketbooks a break with the $500 increase in the Mac Pro's price. Cinema display prices now look a little something like this: 20-inch: $699 23-inch: $999 30-inch: $1999 (what a drop!) Unfortunately, I can't even get into the EDU store so I'm not sure how much better prices are for students yet. Ultimately, these prices should look a bit more appealing amidst criticism of what some say are slightly overpriced LCDs.
Price drop blues: 360 Premium for $352.51
If you're still wallowing in self-pity because Microsoft shot down rumors of a 360 price drop, this deal might cheer your cheap ass up. Overstock.com is letting premium systems go for the low, low price of $352.51 after applying a 12% discount for first time customers (At least they were. See below). It looks like you can save another 5% by signing up for their affinity credit card. Now whip out the plastic like a real American and be glad you're not selling a kidney to afford a PS3.Update: Damn -- It sold out while I was typing this post. Maybe they'll re-overstock. In the mean time, anybody want to buy a kidney?[Thanks Clayton A.]
Apple Store UK lowering prices?
We're receiving tips that the Apple Store UK has begun quietly dropping prices on a few of Apple's products. Specifically, both versions of the iPod nano are reportedly down £10 each, while the 1.66 Ghz Mac mini has been lowered £70. The iMac is also alleged to have received a price drop, though reports don't have prices for comparison. Again, I personally can't confirm these reports, as I live in the US and typically shop in that store, so take this with a grain of salt and try to keep speculation within bounds. [thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
No price change coming soon, says Microsoft
Not that the current prices are that bad, but seeing the cost of the 360 drop even more could potentially solidify the rest of the market for Microsoft come November.That's what a lot of people have been saying, at least. But Chris Lewis from Microsoft has said that such a drop won't take place. "We have no plans to make any price adjustment. ... we have a great value proposition." No argument there. Cheap gamers may have been holding out for a price cut, but anyone who really wanted a 360 would have already invested by now. If you're one of those thrifty people though, you may as well go ahead and bite the bullet because it doesn't look like Microsoft will be offering the console for any cheaper than it already is any time soon.
Sandvox 1.0 official release
I'm really glad to see all this innovation in WYSIWYG web editing software, and from my experience, Sandvox from Karelia Software is poised to lead the pack. Yes, I've been going on about how excited I am about the iWeb 1.1 update, but after playing with Sandvox's beta editions, I'm going to give this official 1.0 release a good run-through, as it offers quite a bit of power and some nice tricks that other products like RapidWeaver and iWeb can't claim.The feature that impresses me the most about Sandvox is their innovative "Pagelets" feature. Pagelets are small chunks of rich content that you can simply drag and drop around your site's theme. Don't like where your blogroll is? Just drag its pagelet somewhere else. Pagelets in the pro version can also allow you to insert your own HTML and even PHP code into any portion of your site or sidebar. Speaking of site themes: Sandvox's are stellar, and a bit more creative than iWeb's. Sandvox comes with two dozen themes, with more available.Sandvox also does a lot of the, dare I say, 'standard' WYSIWYG web design-ish stuff that I've come to expect on the Apple platform. You can drag your audio podcasts into a Sandvox site and get them submitted to the iTMS, as well as drag images from iPhoto, etc.Overall, despite lightning striking twice for Karelia Software, Sandvox looks like a solid product that presents a strong array of features for the WYSIWYG designer that demands a little more from their web design app.
Review: iWeb's enhancements are exactly what it needed
In the most recent iLife '06 software update that Damien mentioned, iWeb understandably received the largest bump of new features and bug fixes; after all, it is the latest to arrive at the iLife party. Considering that I've been pretty vocal about my gripes with this otherwise fantastic addition to both iLife and .Mac, you can imagine my enthusiasm for Software Update to work its magic asap.After tinkering with the new features in iWeb 1.1 like blog comments and drop-dead simple photo album page creation, I thought I'd post a quick review of what's new, as I think iWeb is finally starting to fit into its role of a strong, WYSIWYG 1.0 application from Apple.
Access iPhoto and iTunes libraries with a simple Automator action
You could also file this under "fantastic Automator actions that Apple should've advertised when Tiger was being released."A post at macosxhints has discovered a simple Automator action you can use to open panel containing your entire iPhoto or iTunes library (pictured), complete with albums/playlists, DnD and even search abilities. This is for all those times you groan at having to start iPhoto just to grab an image or two. Bonus points for the iTunes library action: songs are playable from this panel.Check out the macosxhints post for the drop-dead simple 3-step process (it's really only two steps) for creating this handy panel.
