For the most part, we'd say that Sony addressed the concerns of many when it introduced the PlayStation 3 Slim. The console was smaller, cheaper and easier on the eyes, and of course the 120GB hard drive didn't hurt matters either. That said, we know that the redesign didn't please everyone, and we've heard more than a few PS3 diehards complain about the new design. If it were you designing a newer, less expensive PlayStation 3, what would you have done differently? Kept PS2 backwards compatibility? Colored it white? Added HD DVD support? Don't be scared to get a little crazy -- besides, they call that "innovation" in the corporate world.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/30/h...tation-3-slim/ ...

Whoa, is that webOS 2.0 we see on the horizon? No, sorry, it definitely isn't -- but we can say with relative confidence that the upcoming Pixi will be shipping with a newer, slightly more feature-rich version of webOS than its Pre brethren around the world; if nothing else, Synergy supports Yahoo on the new model, as PreCentral observes. What remains to be seen is the exact version number that'll be shipping out of the gate -- recent DSLReports user agent logs suggest that 1.2.9 might be the gold build (for the record, the Sprint Pre currently rocks 1.2.1), but apparently there's some chatter going on about a 1.3 as well. Doesn't seem like much of a difference, but a 0.1 increment usually means more features, fixes, and changes than a 0.01 increment does, so naturally, we're pulling for a bigger number. There isn't any intel on what this mythical 1.3 might contain just yet or whether it'd be heading to Bell, Sprint, and O2 Pres, but we'll keep an eye out.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/31/p...sion-but-whic/ ...

Not to say "we told you so," but we told you so. Google won't be releasing its own Android hardware. Not now, not ever.

Head of Android development Andy Rubin states the obvious by saying it would be foolish for Google to "compete with its customers" who license the OS. In his own words, "We're not making hardware. We're enabling other people to build hardware."

This is how licensing OSes has generally worked, with the PC and Windows Mobile. (But not with the Mac during the clone wars, which eventually ended in cancellation.)

As CNET points out, Google sometimes plays a part in designing phones. Apparently the hinge mechanism in the G1 was added at Google's request. But that's a long way from designing a whole phone.

Phones like the Droid were also rumored to have been developed with Google helping along the way. As long as the trend keeps up, I'm sure Google will be perfectly happy to let Motorola, HTC and others spread their OS like the sneaky little world-dominating thing it is.

http://gizmodo.com/5394191/just-to-c...s-own-hardware ...

If I play anything this weekend, you can be damn sure that I'll be playing a copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, earning double the virtual money. A complimentary copy of the PlayStation 3 game arrived while I was away.

Away doing what? Away playing a video game for an upcoming review, two days that might have looked like two days off, but was two days worth of work. Work playing a video game, but still work. This weekend, I'll relax playing a video game or two.

I'll also take part of my weekend to play another upcoming PlayStation 3 (OK, multi-platform) game that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to mention. But it involves stabbing people. And that should be fun.

What about you? Playing anything you're permitted to name this weekend?

http://kotaku.com/5393787/what-are-y...g-this-weekend ...

News of a new, extra-large, extra-priced portable from Nintendo was met more with confusion than enthusiasm when it was unveiled this week.

The DSi XL has screens that are an inch bigger than the DSi, comes with a regular sized and extra large stylus and is closer to size of a netbook than it is to something you would want to squeeze into a pocket or purse.

But while Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says he envisioned the device, due to hit North America early next year for an undisclosed price, being used to expand the horizons of portable gaming from a single player experience to one enjoyed by a group, analysts and pundits don't seem to be biting.

Maybe that's because when Iwata unveiled the two-camera, two-screen DSi to the world earlier this year he said one of the prime reasons the company was rolling out the more customizable handheld was because they wanted to increase the number of their portables in a home.

The thinking went, if you put all of your music, all of your photos on your DSi and you customized it with special clocks and calculators you wouldn't want to share, you would want your own.

Now, almost exactly a year after announcing the DSi, Iwata unveiled the DSi XL, a device he says is designed specifically to do the opposite.

"Nintendo DSi LL is going to offer a new play style, where those who are surrounding the game player can also join in one way or the other to the gameplay," Iwata told analysts. "When you look at the home console video games you can understand that the fun of great games can be conveyed to and shared by those who are watching the player play."

While Iwata never really explained the seeming reversal of opinion, it is telling that unasked Iwata pointed out that the DSi XL wasn't designed just for seniors in mind. That, despite the fact that the DSi XL comes with an over-sized stylus and is pre-loaded with two Brain Training games and a Japanese dictionary.

Industry analyst Michael Pachter describes the XL as a "nice to have" but not "must have" item, one that won't drive sales.

"It appears to be geared toward people who want the latest model of every device, people who have difficulty reading, and people who can't hold a skinny stylus," he said.

But Pachter adds that he thinks that the DSi XL will eventually replace the DSi.

As for the notion of in-room collaborative gaming, Pachter doesn't see it being very successful. Instead, he says, Nintendo should concentrate on expanding their online gaming offerings, releasing more titles that allow DS and DSi owners to play online via Wifi.

Dan Ackerman, senior editor at Cnet.com, agrees.

"Communal gaming, and the very important social utility it drives, will likely come from people sharing the same experience, but on their own personal screens, like with FaceBooks games or local WiFi gaming," he said.

Nintendo was ahead of the curve in adding touchscreen technology to the DS, Ackerman points out, and he sees the increase in screen size on the DSi Xl as an acknowledgement that the iPhone and iPod Touch are becoming a juggernauts in the world of portable entertainment.

With rumors that the DSi will be getting its own video and audio chat program, another possibility for the DSi XL is that it could be used to try and tap into the same market as the increasingly popular, tiny and inexpensive netbook computers.

But Ackerman doesn't see that happening either.

"While the DS has definitely found a niche among older and other non-traditional gamers, I'm not sure it'll displace the growing popularity of Netbooks (or iPhones) as the default on-the-go entertainment/information platform," Ackerman said. "Especially as basic Netbooks fall below the $300 mark (or less with subsidized mobile broadband plans), and Netbook-friendly apps, such as Facebook games, skyrocket in popularity."

http://kotaku.com/5393593/can-bigger...rinking-market ...

News via http://www.xbox-scene.com/

We're currently seeing lots of discussions on our forums (like here or here) and on IRC about console/hardware bans again, so it seems Microsoft is busy with a new Xbox LIVE console (not gamertag) ban wave atm.

Right now we don't have a lot of details, except it doesn't seem to be linked to any particular FW version or drive model, as users with all type of FWs and drives report bans, while others with the same configuration still seem fine.

Report your status in the thread below.
More details soon ... ...

News via http://www.xbox-scene.com/

A new version of Nand Pro has been released a few days ago (sry for the late posting). It's a PC tool that allows you to read and write on the Xbox 360 NAND via USB or LPT with some simple wiring (for LPT at least).

From the readme/nfo:
[QUOTE]
This release fixes a bug when a sector fails to write, ie it will retry the block now.
Before it could corrupt the rest of the write. Reading was unaffected.
Also new feature, allows a "virtual nand device": Which is a RAW file, that nandpro pretends is a nand
It can then extract/inject individual blocks from a image, instead of a nand (ie no hardware)
For example you could inject a small xell into a large image with the following:
nandpro completerawimage.bin: -w16 xell.ecc ...

News/release from clizana


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News via pspita

The coder Zing Burg, author of the known tool RCO Editor, has released a new update for its new program RCOmage, PC application useful for manipulating files RCO GUI that integrates a user-friendly and indispensable for the creation of animated themes. This release, v1.0.1, fixes a few bugs in the previous version.
Following the full changelog and the link to download.

Changelog v1.0.1:

Quote:

- Fixed a crash when converting WAV-> VAG
- Fixed a bug related to the sound when converting WAV-> VAG
- Added the ability to compile the functions to read in stdin
- E 'can use \ to separate directories on Windows
- Slightly increased the speed of gimconv
- "- Xml-only" removed to the dump, use "- RESD"
- Modified slightly posts
- Fixed a bug related to XML
- Fixed a bug related to the creation of folders

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