The Pocketables crew keep teasing us with more visuals of a purported unbranded Android MID, this time throwing up a good size comparison in the form of a Sony VAIO P lurking in the background. Very little can be said at this point without exploding the story into wild speculation -- we'll leave that part to you, dear readers -- so we'll stick to the seemingly self-evident stuff. The above screenshot indicates SD expansion and phone capabilities, and there are a few more after the break that show off an impressively svelte physique. Of course without a substantiated source and millions of skilled Photoshop artists out there, these pictures could still be fake -- but aren't they pretty?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/17/m...still-no-name/ ...

With all due respect to Flava Flav and his giant clock, this is more my speed. Although I can't help but notice that the chain is too short to let him play it while wearing it.

http://gizmodo.com/5339012/game-boy-bling-awesome ...

With all due respect to Flava Flav and his giant clock, this is more my speed. Although I can't help but notice that the chain is too short to let him play it while wearing it.

http://gizmodo.com/5339012/game-boy-bling-awesome ...

etail told that the price of Xbox 360 Arcade SKU and several accessories are on the up
With the industry bracing itself for an RRP drop for the top-end Xbox 360 Elite SKU this week, it now looks as if the entry-level Arcade hardware could be in for a price increase.
At the end of last week it seemed that all the evidence was pointing to an end to the Xbox 360 Pro SKU and a price drop for the high-end Xbox 360 Elite offering.
But confusion is now rife in the channel with Microsoft seemingly confirming that the Xbox 360 Arcade console is going to see an RRP increase.
Leaked documentation and sources close to MCV last week claimed that the Xbox 360 Pro is being phased out, with the Xbox 360 Elite – a SKU that includes a 120GB HDD – dropping by £60 to take its place.
This belief was given further credence by an online listing from Argos claiming that the Pro had been ‘discontinued’ – though the retailer later claimed this was an error.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/35416/Conf...-price-changes ...

Microsoft revealed aggressive pricing for its upcoming Zune HD device last week, with plans to sell it for $219.99 - less than the price of an iPod touch. However, it seems the company is also planning to take on Apple in the mobile apps space, by enticing developers to convert their iPhone apps to run on its new Zunes.
At least, that's according to respected tech blog Daring Fireball, which quotes an iPhone developer as saying they had been offered "a bucket of money" to port their iPhone Twitter client to Zune.
Previous Zune models have been focused on music and video content rather than apps, although earlier this year, games were made available for the device too. Adding apps to the Zune Marketplace isn't a huge leap.

The Zune HD has been receiving unaccustomed praise from tech journalists and bloggers, but news that Microsoft is courting developers hints that the company realises a healthy app catalogue will be just as important as technical specs if it wants to take on the iPod touch.

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/290...r-Zune-HD-apps ...

Sony Computer Entertainment America has filed patents for software which is able to recognise emotions, including, laughter, sadness, joy, anger and boredom.

Uncovered by Siliconera, the patents are not limited to home consoles, although artwork filed by Sony depicts a PlayStation 3 and Bravia TV.

The patents may be related to Sony's PlayStation 3 motion-tacking technology, first revealed at E3 this year, which follows player movement and can detect facial expressions as well as spatial recognition.

The technology also sounds similar to Microsoft's Project Natal, and in particular Lionhead's demo of Milo and Kate – software that as well as following movement, can detect emotional responses through facial and voice recognition.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ition-software ...

Blizzard's Rob Pardo has questioned the precision technology of Microsoft's forthcoming motion-sensing device, Project Natal.

Microsoft claims the tech will be more precise than hardware currently on the market, such as the Wiimote and the MotionPlus add-on, but Pardo has said that after hands-on time with the device, he thinks it's still "imprecise".

"I’ve got to play with Natal a little bit, and it seems like the difficulty with it is still spatial recognition with moving your hands and doing things," Pardo told VG247.

Discussing new control methods for real-time strategy games - in particular using Natal to to drag and drop units using hand gestures - Pardo doubted that Microsoft's technology could match the accuracy demanded of the genre.

"You’d actually still need an interface that you could do that with, and Natal is still going to be pretty imprecise in the way Wii is today," he said. "I mean, I could see the future one day [allowing it], but I don’t know if Natal’s it. Maybe it’s a step towards it."

However, Pardo did admit that he's not looked into the possibilities of using Natal too deeply, and that Microsoft could have solutions to imprecision that he isn't yet aware of.

"I’ve thought about it for all of five seconds right now, so there could be some genius there that I don’t immediately see," he offered.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...tal-technology ...

The PlayStation 3 music video on demand service, VidZone, is proving more popular than online and broadcast TV rivals, claims its co-founders, with music labels flocking to the service to see their artists covered by the growing format.

And speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, VidZone Digital Media has revealed that part of an aggressive expansion will involve adding commerce to the service and rolling it out into new territories.

"In terms of the music we're receiving for the service we're getting offered a number of world premiers of music videos ahead of MTV, MSN or Yahoo," said Louisa Jackson, director of marketing for VidZone.

"We had to approach the major record labels to begin with but now it's a case of labels coming back to us and saying 'okay, how can you lead the music video strategy for the new music release of our artists?'. Which is really exciting because we've gone from watching a music video on TV to watching online, to a console where you're watching both online and in a broadcast environment simultaneously."

"By both gaming and music industry standards it's been a phenomenal success," she added.

The videogame business is once again taking the music industry into new, profitable markets, something that started with real artists featured on game soundtracks, and lead to projects like DJ Hero, which features an entirely exclusive soundtrack of remixes and mash-ups from producers and DJs.

"That's a key point with exclusives because the record labels have really seen the success of the VidZone platform and the scale of it," added Michael Russo, director of new business development. "And it's proving itself by the number of exclusives that we're being offered over other platforms, including TV."

Latest figures from VidZone put the number of music videos at 13,000, with over one hundred million views, and Russo admits the company is pushing to grow those numbers rapidly. "We have quite an aggressive roll-out strategy and we would expect the numbers to increase quite rapidly over the next six to twelve months," he said.

Although keeping plans under wraps, it's likely there will be commerce elements added to the service, although watching videos on demand will remain a free service on the PlayStation 3.

"We'll make some announcements in the near future about a number of different services and elements we're going to be adding. Some of which revolve around more paid for items associated with music," confirmed Russo. "We are exploring opportunities about interacting with other music related products around the music video. Whether they are available free or are charged is still being debated."

Although VidZone is operated by an external company, Sony still has close involvement in the service. An update in September will add new features, including viewing videos in 16 x 9 format, improved search functions and remote keyboard support – all of which have been requested by users.

Sony would eventually like to grow the service around the PlayStation 3 consumer, in a similar way to its thriving online SingStar and Buzz communities.

"It would be great to built the whole community aspect, if you look at SingStar and Buzz, it would be great if we could harness that within VidZone," offered Clare Sandford, European product manager for VidZone at Sony. "Whether it's the ability to share playlists with your friends or watch videos with your friends and make comments, there's plans to enhance it."

The success of the service caught Sony by surprise, admits Sandford, but it was always a project that was going have difficult comparisons compared to more traditional videogames.

"It was difficult to have expectations because it's kind of unprecedented," she said. "It's our first real music service so it's difficult to benchmark against other things. We've had other non-game music initiatives on a smaller scale but largely the only other thing we looked at which is a free application and service was Home. It was difficult to assess how well it would do.

"On the one hand it was interesting see what the reaction would be from the community by producing a non-game service and whether we should be actually putting money more into games rather than these features. But on the other hand with a free application there's that expectation that if it's free people will download it for at least a look. We're really happy with how it's done."

While the service is only currently available in a handful of European countries and Australia, expansion to other regions is a priority for VidZone.

"We will make some announcements shortly about territory expansion. There are plans to do that, but I can't comment any further," concluded Russo.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...t-music-rivals ...

The PS3 Slimpocalypse continues to play out like an establishing sequence from V: The Final Battle or something. "The world trembles at rumors retailers are told to clear off stock. Sightings are reported in the U.K., Germany, and now Sweden."

That Video Game Blog notes that the PS3 Slim has shown up on Swedish online retailer Discshop's site. It carries the following notation:

Efter många rykten verkar det nu som att det verkligen kommer en liten version av Playstation 3 i höst. Informationen kopierad från discshop.se! Beställ före 16.00. Leverans nästa dag. Passa på att bevaka nu så att du inte blir utan när vi öppnar upp bokningen!

Mer information kommer så fort vi fått mer bekräftat om den nya mindre Playstation 3 maskinen.

Which means:

After many rumors, it appears now that that is really a small version of the Playstation 3 this autumn. Take the opportunity to watch now, so you will not be without when we open up the booking! Information is taken from the disc shop.

More information will be as soon as we got more confirmation on the new smaller PlayStation 3 machine.

As I've said, I wish Sony would hurry up and put this thing out so we can get done with the PS3 Slim fakes and half-assed rumors. Of course, then we'll be on to XBox 360 Slim fakes and half-assed rumors. Or more fakes and rumors about console price drops.

But I do think Sony should give a free console to the GAFfer who provided that fake user-made image. It's done more than its share to tee up hype for this product.

http://kotaku.com/5338530/ps3-slimpo...es-into-sweden ...