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Pioneer outs DCS-FS30, DCS-585, DCS-590 DVD HTIBs
If you're into an all-Pioneer system, we'd suggest jumping into one of its Blu-ray HTIB offerings, but we'll just hope that these new DVD-centric offerings strike a lower price point that allows more people get started right away and attach a Blu-ray player to the HDMI inputs when their budget allows. Coming to the lineup -- at least in the UK -- are the 2.1-channel DCS-FS30 and 5.1-channel DCS-585 and DCS-590 systems. All kits are based (see that?) on a powered sub, but the configurations vary from there. The DCS-FS30 adds two height-adjustable desktop-sized speakers, and the DCS-590 is comprised of four tall speakers and a center channel, but things get interesting with the DCS-585 that comes with six small cube speakers -- two for center, the remaining four to be sprinkled around the room or stacked and put up front. Correct placement is so staid -- it's all about choices, see? More pics after the break.
London Calling Mobile Phone makes us long to be British
You know those red K6 telephone boxes that are such an iconic and unmissable part of any stay in London? Yeah, that's the inspiration for the mobile you're peering at above, just in case you couldn't guess. The so-called London Calling Mobile Phone is a fully-functional handset, packing a color LCD, SMS and MMS functionality, tri-band GSM connectivity and pre-programmed ringtones that include "Rule Britannia" and "God Save the Queen." We'd continue swooning if we had to, but we're pretty sure you're already whipping the plastic out to make this happen. Check the backside after the break, and tap the read link to get your £85.95 ($141) pre-order in.[Via Pocket-lint]
Pioneer BDP-LX52 & BDP-320 Blu-ray players get the hands on treatment
Already on shelves in their U.S. forms, Pioneer's BDP-LX52 and BDP-320 Blu-ray players are just now going on sale in the UK but Electricpig has already gotten some time with them. It seems they found their audio technology including the jitter-eliminating Precision Quartz Lock System rather impressive, though whether that audio setup is enough to convince buyers to separate themselves from £550 or £400 (respectively) for one of these remains to be seen. Anyway, there's plenty of in the wild pics, we know how much you like gazing at knobs and "BD-ROM BDMV" blinking displays, so we'll just leave you to it.
Liverpool wants to build 'games academy'
City councilors in Liverpool (England, UK, EU ... sorta) are planning on creating a "computer games academy" in the city. The Liverpool Daily Post reports the £5m facility would train students in art, coding and tech. As Develop notes, the area is home to SCEE Liverpool and Bizarre Creations, with 1,500 developers employed in the area.The city's enterprise leader, Councilor Gary Millar, hopes the academy will become a hub for well-trained potential employees and inspire people to "up-skill and get involved." It's a good thing for the UK, as the region continues to fight for tax breaks and develop more skilled labor for the industry.[Via Develop] [Image]
Wii Fit is UK's best seller for 2009 so far
Nintendo is king of the UK retail gaming jungle, according to ELSPA GfK-ChartTrack data. The House of Mario holds the top four spots for titles sold on the isles during the first half of 2009. Wii Fit Wii Play Mario Kart Wii Professor Layton And The Curious Village Killzone 2 Yes, surprisingly, Killzone 2 did take the fifth spot, beating out Resident Evil 5. ELSPA's director states that the figures indicate "gaming is now mainstream in the UK." And that a lot of people in the UK think they (or a loved one) need to lose 10 lbs.[Via VideoGamer]
UK Blu-ray sales up 231% over last year
The British Video Association is back with some more happy stats on how well Blu-ray is doing, claiming 3.1 million discs sold since the start of 2009. Still, even with a claimed 231% jump over last year's YTD figures, that hasn't offset a 9.5% drop in sales of DVDs. that should move the needle well past last year's figures, where only 1.5 million were reportedly moved by October, but we doubt that's much comfort to employees of the nearly 900 retailers that have closed this year. Even with consumers "continuing to spend money on the product" once they've experienced it, according to BVA director general Lavinia Carey, expect a greater focus on downloads to offer an alternative to piracy, though no word on when that can be expected.
UK moviegoers treated to industry's first interactive 3D game
Now here's a way to make us show up for the previews. O2 has evidently figured out that getting moviegoers involved in the action is a good way to get more fundaments in seats, and starting next week, the first in-cinema interactive 3D game will be rolled out in 20 Vue theaters around the UK. The title, dubbed Asteroid Storm, will rely on two overhead cameras that recognize hand raises down below. In short, moviegoers simply move their hands to direct a damaged spaceship out of an asteroid belt, but there's no word on whether or not "everyone's a winner." Here's hoping not, chumps.
Citroen concept car gets driven around UK, impresses Londoners
French car maker Citroën drove its "GTbyCitroën" concept car from the perpetually "coming soon" Gran Turismo 5 around London streets recently. It toured the the real-life version of a street track from the game and, wouldn't you know it, people everywhere were going nuts. Busting out cameras, mouths agape staring while the car rumbled past -- it's as if they'd never seen such a purty car before. Oh right! That's because they haven't ever seen the car before, because it's still a concept, unveiled at last year's Paris Auto Show as a collaboration between Polyphony Digital and Citroën. We have the full video after the break, but as you might imagine, it's not exactly nailing apexes and drafting opponents so much as slowly winding around pedestrian-filled British streets. With any luck, we'll have a more ... erm ... action-oriented video of the car soon for your viewing pleasure, as it'll be making an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming weekend.
Elonex launches £189 6-inch eBook reader through Borders UK
Elonex has been dabbling in small screen wares for quite some time now, so it's not a huge surprise to finally see it join the likes of BeBook, Sony and Amazon by introducing its very own eBook reader. Design wise, the 6-inch reader looks an awful lot like that played-out OEM model that everyone seems to start with, but hey, you won't find us kvetching about competition. The device is launching exclusively at Borders UK, and with that comes the new Borders eBook Download Store. With a 4GB expansion card, there's room for some 8,000 ebooks, and the 9 millimeter-thin frame ensures that this one won't bog you down too much. Interested consumers over in the UK can snap this one up right now for £189 ($311), and that price nets you 100 free ebooks, a charger, data cable and a great sense of pride.[Thanks, Sam]
Palm to disclose UK Pre launch details next week?
We heard way back at CES that a GSM Pre was in the works, but not until now have we heard who exactly in the world would be using it. According to confirmation received by T3, Palm is gearing up to disclose the whos, whats and wheres behind the UK launch next week, meaning that we've got seven days (give or take) to twiddle our thumbs until we know which carrier (O2 or Vodafone, most likely), how much and when it'll be available for purchase. We know it's agonizing, but at least you've a time frame to circle in your Trapper Keeper now, right?
UK ATMs set to offer WiFi access, free for BT and iPhone users
BT Broadband customers and O2 iPhone owners, rejoice -- some 2,500 ATM machines near you will soon be converted to serve as free WiFi hotspots, courtesy of BT Openzone and Cashbox, perhaps the most mismatched pair of commercial metaphors ever put together. The initial rollout starts with 10 machines this week and numbers are expected to steadily increase. Non-BT users and iPhone heretics wanting to join in the fun will have to shell out £5.88 ($10) for 90 minutes or a more reasonable £9.79 ($16) for 24 hours.[Via Tech Digest]
Freeview HD sets a date: December 2
Finally, after much delay, we have a date to expect Freeview HD service in the UK, at least for those in range of the Winter Hill transmitter (Manchester & Liverpool for sure,) it will go live December 2. elsewhere, you'll be waiting until at least 2010 to experience the joys of OTA HD as has been promised, but keep an eye out and the Beeb, ITV and Channel 4 should be coming your way. Anyone know if those New Zealand PlayTV Freeview HD adaptations will be back-compatible to the UK?
JVC GD-463D10 3D monitor pops up in the UK, brings silly glasses for all
After a showing in Japan, JVC's taken its GD-463D10 3D monitor to CEDIA in the UK, confirming that polarized glasses can make people look dorky on any continent. Otherwise the specs are the same, adjusted for a £8,000 price tag, though that's only a concern if you can grab one of the 2,000 JVC plans to sell, whether that's just for the UK or all regions though, is unclear. Just like its slender cousin, we're still waiting to hear when this hits the U.S.
Video: UK Folding Plug concept could flatten that bulky British adapter
Of all the AC adapters stuffed into your personal item when globetrotting, the plug used in Merry Old England must surely be the most cumbersome -- its three copper prongs flung to the extremes of a giant block of plastic. That Victorian holdover gets a major re-do with this UK Folding Plug concept. The two horizontal prongs rotate themselves in-line with the top, vertical one, and the body of the adapter then folds in half, resulting in a thickness of about 1cm. Interestingly the plug would still work in either position, with a slimline power strip envisioned to accept three of these slender lovelies at once. It's positively brilliant, but is just a concept at this point, and while we don't have any news to pass along about its likelihood for production, surely some manufacturer will watch the video after the break and start churning these out by the millions.[Via Pocket-lint]
PEGI gets more official in UK, will be legal 'by Christmas'
Like a butterfly, moments before emerging from its cocoon, the European game rating system PEGI is now only months from becoming the UK game rating standard. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, PEGI chairman Andy Payne (no relation to Max, as far as we know) said that the fawncy new rating logos should be on packaging by the end of year holiday sales season.Due to government recess from mid-July to October 12, the Video Standards Council -- the folks in charge of PEGI in the UK -- can't be handed the reins of UK game classification just yet. "In terms of making it absolutely law ... that won't happen until the autumn at the earliest, and there's a whole load of things that have got to happen before that," Payne said. He does, however, expect the process to go through "before Christmas," so those of you chompin' at the bit to get your eyes on some new game classification stickers will just have to hope St. Nick's feeling generous.
Philips "fastest" BDP7300 Blu-ray player launches this month in the UK
Leave it to Philips to make these kinds of claims now that its hardware isn't coming over to the U.S., but apparently its still yet-to-launch BDP7300 Blu-ray player is the fastest loading one yet. No word on exactly how fast that is, but several UK sites are reporting the claim for this hardware, scheduled to hit shelves sometime later this month. What we do know is included is all the usual features like BD-Live, Dolby TrueHD and DTS MA, DivX and AVC HD playback, but until someone lays down £249 and grabs a stopwatch, just how fast it is will be a matter of contention.
UK government plans tax breaks for 'culturally British' games
The long battle for UK tax breaks for games industry pros may finally be over, with the government stating in its recent Digital Britain report that it "has committed to work with the industry to collect and review the evidence for a tax relief." Here's the kicker, though. In order to be worthy of these potential tax breaks, the games must be "culturally British."What this means is unclear, but games would need to be put through a test to determine whether they can be deemed "culturally British," in a way similar to the UK film industry. Certain British games, such as LittleBigPlanet -- whose narrator is a British national treasure -- and Fable 2 -- with its cockney characters and very English humor -- would be shoo-ins. Other games, such as Burnout Paradise, might need to make a few changes. Perhaps we'll see London landmarks like Big Ben or the London Eye introduced in a future DLC pack.
Sharp BD-HP22H takes a green approach to Blu-ray in the U.K.
The UK is getting its own taste of Sharp provided BD-Live Blu-ray playing tech with the BD-HP22H, complete with DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD and 1080p24 support. Still, to get buyers to come up with the £199.99 pricetag, its touting a 0.7W/standby 20W/playing energy rating. Buyers should be able to decide if that's worth a few quid later on this month.
GAME is doing well during hard times
UK retailer GAME continues marching on in these tough times, opening 23 new stores since February, bringing the retailer up to 1,365 locations in ten countries. Much like Gamestop, GAME isn't hurting financially, having brought in £126.5 million ($185 million) in profit last year.The company plans to spend £30-£35 million ($49-$57 million) integrating its latest acquisition, Gamestation, into the corporate family. Seems that the game retailers aren't hurting too bad.
PEGI becomes UK standard for ratings, other organization gains power to ban games
The UK government announced today that the PEGI system will become the sole classification standard for video games in the region. However, it's not that simple. The government also gave the power to ban games to the Video Standards Council, another independent system that has been around since 1989, who will apparently determine if games coming into the UK comply with PEGI ratings before giving it license to sell. The whole situation sounds even more confusing than the BBFC vs. PEGI issues that we've been reporting on for years. Speaking of the BBFC, the organization will no longer be involved in the classification of games, which is sad -- the group did give us some uncomfortable laughs over the years. We're still not exactly clear on how the UK's new rating system works, but according to Baroness Shepherd, president of the VSC, the group will exercise its "new power independently of the PEGI system, providing a 'fail-safe' for the UK - protecting children through PEGI and addressing UK-specific sensibilities by refusing classification of any game which falls foul of the Video Recordings Act. This decision is the right one for consumers in the UK." We'll see.Source -- PEGI becomes UK standard for game ratingsSource -- VSC given power to ban videogamesSource -- VSC given tough powers for non-compliance of PEGI system
