"Of course the new Apple TV gets a teardown, silly," is what we would tell you should you have the audacity to question its inevitability. But alas, we're too busy analyzing every photo of iFixit's gallery to even dignify your raised eyebrow with an unprovoked response. The site gives it 8 out of 10 in its metric of repairability, opining it might be "the most eco-friendly set-top box of all time." With that sad, here are the big takeaways we're seeing so far: 8GB of storage provided care of a Samsung K9LCG08U1M NAND Flash chip, and the same one found in the iPad. Speaking of which, there's also the exact same markings on its Apple A4 processor as the iPad and new iPod touch, K4X2G643GE (not the same as the iPhone 4, as it turns out), the exact same Broadcom BCM4329XKUBG 802.11n WiFi / Bluetooth / FM chip as the iPad, and at 256MB, the same amount of RAM. Also interesting and of note are the solder pads near the side of the logic board, which look to be a perfect fit for an Apple dock connector. At any rate, with all that's under the hood, we expect the jailbreak community to have an absolute field day.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/29/a...age-256mb-ram/ ...

As a follow-up to this morning's announcement, we now have some shots of Nintendo's colorful new Wiimote. Still no extra details, but what we do have is confirmation from Nintendo that they are indeed building the Wii Remote Plus, which combines a Wii Remote with its Wii MotionPlus gyro add-on into one Wii Remote-sized package. We spotted the controller in a FlingSmash bundle last week, the telltale "smile" text below the Wii logo, and now all we really need is a price and a launch date. Hopefully we'll be getting all of these colors when this lands in the US as well, but since this is a Japanese presentation that Nintendo is making this announcement, we can't be too sure.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/29/n...tionplus-trac/ ...

Microsoft has claimed that it removed a processor from Kinect because there was "no need" to have it in the peripheral.

It emerged in January that MS had ditched a standalone processor in the camera - which some have claimed has subsequently affected performance.


Kinect now relies on the processing power of the Xbox itself - although the platform holder has claimed that it uses "less than one per cent" of the 360's motherboard.

"We didn't know how much processing Kinect was going to take at the start of development," Kinect creative boss Kudo Tsunoda told the new Xbox World 360.

"Obviously you don't want to lose any of the things that are important to Xbox customers. Graphic fidelity is something that Xbox has always been known for, and you want to make sure that you still hit that level.

"Forza is a graphical showpiece, and we had Forza with Kinect at E3... the graphic fidelity has actually improved in some areas from what they shipped with Forza 3. It's still running at 60 FPS and it's supporting Kinect, so there's just no need to have that extra processor."

When asked why Kinect detected less points on the player's body than it did last year, Tsunoda added:

"As you start building the stuff, you're like: 'Wow, to track everything in the human body we can do less points. That's just normal game development. Anything you do with games, you want the processing power to be used as efficiently as possible to get the experience that you want."

Kinect launches in the UK on November 10 and the US on November 4.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

The Apple Peel 520, a Chinese-developed product that drew the media's attention for being able to turn an iPod Touch into an iPhone-like device, is coming to America. The add-on device, which just went on sale in China, has been billed as a more affordable option for users wanting to get their hands on an iPhone, but lack the budget.

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/0...s-Into-iPhones ...

Pirating Android apps is a longstanding problem. But it seems to be getting worse, even as Google begins to respond much more aggressively. The dilemma: protecting developers' investments, and revenue stream, while keeping an open platform. Some have argued that piracy is rampant in those countries where the online Android Market is not yet available. But a recent KeyesLabs research project suggests that may not be true: 'Over the course of 90 days, the [KeyesLabs] app was installed a total of 8,659 times. Of those installations only 2,831 were legitimate purchases, representing an overall piracy rate of over 67%.... The largest contributor to piracy, by far, is the United States providing 4,054 or about 70% of all pirated installations...'"

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/09/...Piracy-Rampant ...

As some analysts begin to criticise Nintendo for what they see as a delayed February launch of the 3DS, EEDAR's Jesse Divnich has praised Nintendo for giving longer development time to its launch partners.

Jay Defibaugh, research director of MF Global FXA Securities, told the Wall Street Journal the release window was "a worst-case scenario" and he expected a ¥20,000 price point and 3G network connection.

But this ignores features of the 3DS, said Divnich, suggesting the hardware can match the multifunctionality of tablet, smartphone and other handheld technology on the market.

"The higher price point allows Nintendo to incorporate new features such as 3D movies, camera, and game support as well as incorporating a more robust online network to aid Nintendo in evolving their product from a single-use, games only platform to supporting the plethora of media and entertainment options that consumers have become accustom to using on their handheld devices such as the PSP, smart phones, and tablet computers."

The WSJ suggested Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told press today that the company wanted to get the system on shelves in time for Christmas, but decided it wouldn't be able to supply enough units if it launched in 2010.

Divnich doesn't believe the February launch has anything to do with manufacturing issues, instead it's part of Nintendo's strategy of ensuring the system goes to retail with as much content as possible.

"We believe that a 2010 holiday launch would severely impact both the quantity and quality of titles that could be made available by November 2010," he noted.

"EEDAR believes there is both a short term benefit (by not placing a third new device into the holiday line-up for consumers) and a long-term benefit (by allowing publishers and developers additional time to create compelling content) in the selected launch timing for the 3DS platform."

"Historically, third-party launch titles have underperformed compared to their first-party counterparts, which is almost entirely due to the limited development schedules available to third-parties. By allowing additional development time through March 2011, a superior product line-up should be available at launch, something all gamers can appreciate."

Nintendo cut its projected sales forecasts earlier today, and reduced estimates for Wii and DS hardware sales for the financial year.

However, it did say it expects to sell around four million 3DS units globally in its first month of release.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-party-content ...

This autumn's Xbox Live update will allow Xbox 360 owners to video chat with PC owners using Kinect. Suddenly, £130 seems like pennies.

Marc Whitten, Xbox Live general manager, was "excited" to confirm the feature in an open letter published today.

But most of his address concerned the big-ticket additions of ESPN telly (for the US) and Zune music (for UK, US, France, Italy and Spain).

Announced last week, Zune music offers millions of songs for stream or download providing you cough up £8.99 for a monthly Zune Pass. That's on top of your Gold Xbox Live subscription. We later found out that if your Zune Pass sub lapses, all of the songs you've downloaded will be locked and inaccessible until you reactivate.

Incidentally, while part of the Zune Marketplace, Zune music will be separate to Zune video. A Zune Pass offers unlimited access to music, and music only.

Also coming in this autumn's XBL update will be a "refreshed" dashboard and new Xbox Live Family Settings, for those of you that use them.

"Every year we've pushed ourselves to deliver the best games and entertainment," wrote Whitten, "and I'm incredibly proud of my team and what we're delivering to Xbox Live this fall."

"Our goal is to continue innovating and delivering experiences that are meaningful to you. So you can enjoy the entertainment you want, with the people you care about, in a simple way. Keep playing, keep sharing, and keep pushing us."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-msn-messenger ...

A slew of well known and probably very rich developers have remembered the first PlayStation console on this, its 15th birthday.

Industry icons such as Lorne Lanning (Oddworld), David Braben (Elite, LostWinds, Kinectimals), David Perry (Gaikai, Earthworm Jim, MDK) and Guillaume de Fondaumiere (Heavy Rain, Fahrenheit) all offered GamesIndustry.biz a glimpse at what life was life back then; what it was to be a developer pitched to by the towering Phil Harrison of Sony Worldwide Studios.

"From a developer point of view, it turned a business that felt a little amateurish, into something that felt slick," recalled David Braben, now chairman of LostWinds and Kinectimals developer Frontier.

"I remember the original presentation from Phil Harrison to developers, of the new 'PSX' machine. It felt a little like unveiling of a new car. It was slick, professional, polished (with great imagery of an animated T-Rex).

"We haven't looked back since."

David Perry agreed: "It changed everything. Suddenly 3D wasn't just kind of possible (like the Genesis 32X), it was real and in every console.

"After that dinosaur demo the energy was incredible and Sony jumped in with both feet firing up all marketing cylinders. My hat also goes off to Phil Harrison who got on the road and really made sure everyone paid attention.

"Great hardware, great support, great games, it's no surprise that even 15 years later you still want to write about it."

And so we ask you, Eurogamer reader, what you were doing 15 years ago; what your favourite PlayStation games were; and what you feel the legacy of the PlayStation has been.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ones-15th-bday ...

Hot on the heels of its Japanese 3DS launch date and price announcement this morning Nintendo has confidently predicted it'll shift a whopping four million units of its handheld wonder during its first month on sale.

In the same breath, however, it cut its profit forecast for the rest of its financial year, which ends in March 2011.

Nintendo now expects $1 billion in profit for the year, down from an initial projection of $2.4 billion profit. How will it live?

The 3DS will go on sale on 26th February in Japan and March in Europe and the US.

This morning's news came as some disappointment to fans who were hoping for Santa to drop a 3DS down their chimneys this Christmas.

While Nintendo failed to reveal European pricing, some have already baulked at the UK cost suggested by the Japanese price: 25,000 yen (£189 at current exchange rates).

Nintendo said the strong yen, which reduces profits from overseas sales when brought back to Japan, and the timing of the 3DS launch were behind its decision to lower projections for the fiscal year.

Nintendo expects to sell 23.5 million DS machines, including four million 3DS consoles, for the year to March 2011, down from its earlier forecast of 30 million. It sold 27 million DS machines the previous fiscal year.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...in-first-month ...