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Product Features of Digital Electronics Nokia N90

UMTS / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Optics and autofocus
Easy to use, high quality video - capture, edit, share
Unique 'twist & shoot' design
2.1-inch internal display with a resolution of 352 x 416 pixels and 262K colour depth

More Description of Digital Electronics Nokia N90

Facilitated by its two screens, the Nokia N90 features two ergonomic modes for instant photo and video capture. Simply twist the unique rotating camera barrel, and automatically the 2 megapixel camera is ready to shoot high quality photos, in a snap. A dedicated capture key and the cover display (128 x 128 pixels) of up to 65,536 colors as a viewfinder make the snapshot experience ever more effortless. Unfold and twist the main display (352 x 416 pixels), and the Nokia N90 is ready to shoot high quality video in MP4 format using the high-resolution (352 x 416 pixels) 262,144 color landscape display as a viewfinder. Dedicated record and zoom keys, including up to 8x digital zoom for video capture, provide for very convenient one-hand operation.
The Nokia N90 is packed with advanced camera features that ensure high quality photos and videos every time. With autofocus, pressing the shutter key halfway automatically focuses in on the target, after which pressing the key all the way captures the image with amazing clarity. Furthermore, the macro mode feature provides for striking accuracy when taking close-ups. ...

At the spry age of 20, classically-trained Koji Kondo joined Nintendo and, using 3 monophonic "instruments" and a "drum track" noise channel, composed some of the most memorable and everlasting theme music in gaming history, including all the Mario and Zelda titles (not to mention the seminal Super Smash Bros. Melee score, alongside a few others). So it is a little more than amusing to watch Kondo conduct his own work on the Wii Music Orchestrator at this year's E3.

Via Joystiq ...

A US-based research company firmly believes that a move into the handheld market is still a part of Microsoft's long term plan.

The firm, called The Diffusion Group, recently published a report which has the catchy title of On the Future of Portable Game Consoles: Analysis & Forecasts. It outlines how Microsoft is perfectly placed to get involved with the portable gaming market, in which revenues are "expected to reach $3 billion annually by 2008", and how it could be ready to do so in the next couple of years.

The important thing to remember is that this is The Diffusion Group's educated opinion rather than a leaked confirmation, but many maintain such a movie would make perfect sense. Microsoft's strategy to establish itself as the major force in the gaming market has included championing online gaming and beating both Nintendo and Sony to the punch with a next-gen console, so it seems the only thing left for it to do would be to muscle in on the handheld market.

It would also tie in with Microsoft's latest online service, Live Anywhere, which will allow for cross-platform gaming. At the moment, this is intended to unite gamers using consoles, PCs and mobile phones - with only phones providing any portability. But to really get across the 'Anywhere' aspect of the service, a gaming portable like DS or PSP would surely be needed.

Add to this the fact that J Allard, previously the face of everything Xbox, has been conspicuous by his absence recently, leading to further speculation that the Lex Luther look-alike is working on a pocket-sized Xbox.

All speculation of course - and unfortunately the only official line from Microsoft is "we don't have any plans to do anything in the handheld space", which is what Xbox Europe regional vice president Chris Lewis said at this year's E3. But it seems no matter how adamant Microsoft is in its denials, nothing will stop the speculation.

via gamesradar ...

Contrary to popular belief, not all hackers are pale kids who hole up in their parents' basements, listen to techno, and practice identity theft to pay off their energy-drink addictions. For some, the reason for manipulating computers and electronics echoes the words of George Mallory--"Because it is there."

When Microsoft's Xbox 360 hit retailers last November, it quickly became the hacking community's Mount Everest. And according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, it wasn't just because the machine was the newest, shiniest, coolest gadget of the 2005 holiday season.

"It's about overcoming the challenge Microsoft has set out there," Andrew "Bunnie" Huang told WSJ. Microsoft certainly touted the security of its machine during its development, claiming it would be nearly impossible to crack. "[Microsoft has] bragged about the security for the Xbox 360, so now it's like: Well, let's see," Huang said.

Huang was the first to crack the original Xbox back in 2001. Since then, an entire Xbox modding subculture has sprung up, with numerous developers creating dashboards and alternate, often Linux-based, operating systems for the console. Ads offering to physically mod Xboxes are a common sight on Internet classifieds sites like Craigslist.org, with hardware-heads often willing to swap out hard drives and flash BIOSes for a small fee.

While regular Xbox modding has become a cottage industry of sorts, no one has completely solved the Xbox 360 yet. Some progress has been made, though, and Huang thinks it's only a matter of time. "Things are different from a few years ago. The stakes are higher for Microsoft and the hacking community has intensified its efforts."

Via Gamespot ...

News from Gamespot

In January, Sony announced that its long-suffering Connect digital music service would be completely revamped with new functionality, including the ability to download movies, video, and games to the PSP. March was pegged as the date of the re-launch, but the month came and went without word of any new functionality.

Eventually that plan was scrapped, as a Sony representative told GameSpot sister site mp3.com that no major re-launch was planned, with the company instead opting to make incremental improvements.

Now more questions about the Connect service have arisen. According to a report on GameSpot sister site News.com, Sony Corporation of America chief technology officer and Connect advocate Phil Wiser is on his way out of the company, effective Friday. Wiser will reportedly be replaced by Sony senior vice president Steve Bernstein. The article also details a frequently contentious relationship between Sony and Kinoma, an external media company whose chief executive had been put in charge of the Connect project.

It's unclear what impact this will have on the system's planned addition of support for the PSP. A Sony representative declined to speak with News.com for that story, while GameSpot's own attempt to get clarification on the status of Connect's planned PSP support has not yet been answered. ...

Larger hard drives for 360 on the way - but Xbox compatibility not a priority

Microsoft may consider releasing a larger Xbox 360 hard disk in future - but is unlikely to continue devoting significant resources to making Xbox games work on its next-gen format, according to comments made by the firm's games boss Peter Moore.

Speaking to UK website Kikizo at E3 last month, Moore said that "there's going to be a time when we need to look at what we're doing [with hard disks] - but no announcements now".

"We continue looking at the hard drive, we're looking at the behaviour of what people are doing with their hard drives," Moore had said. "Clearly when you have a million downloads you start looking at what you need to do."

Less promising was Moore's take on backwards compatibility - something Sony claims will be fully functional from the outset on PS3 and conversely something Moore believes doesn't really matter to Xbox 360, despite the furore last E3.

"Nobody is concerned anymore about backwards compatibility. We under promised and over delivered on that. It's a very complicated thing... very complex work. I'm just stunned that we have hundreds of games that are backwards compatible," he said.

That doesn't mean we won't get more backwards-compatible games - indeed, "more are coming" - but "at some point, you just go, there's enough, let's move on, or people aren't as worried about a game being backwards compatible - and I like to think we've upheld our end of the bargain in making at least two or maybe three hundred games backwards compat."

Microsoft came under fire at E3 in May 2005 for its doublespeak over the backward compatibility issue, with the firm declining to commit at the time to any details of how much of the Xbox catalogue would work on the new system - although company spokespeople at the time were adamant that its ultimate goal was to achieve full compatibility.

Via Gamesindustry ...

One of the videogames industry's most persistent pieces of vapourware, the Phantom Game Service, is still "moving forward in development," according to the company responsible for the as-yet unseen product, Infinium Labs.

In a trading statement released yesterday, Infinium claimed that the service - described as "the first end-to-end, on-demand game service for delivery to the living room" - is being licensed to PC manufacturers at present.

However, the reassurance came even as it emerged that the often-controversial company, which has been accused of existing purely in an attempt to reap investment cash and has been investigated by the SEC over irregularities regarding the promotion of its shares, is being sued by former boss Kevin Bachus over alleged unpaid wages.

Infinium first touted the idea of the Phantom Game Service - and the Phantom console which would act as the head-end in the living room - over three years ago, and has charged headlong through ever release date it has set itself since then.

This time around, the firm is taking no chances - and the trading update gives no indication whatsoever of when the service might actually launch.

Not that this stops Infinium from missing deadlines; the company also revealed in the same update that its plan to release the Phantom Lapboard, a combination keyboard and mouse device which was originally envisaged as the controller for the Phantom, has seen the launch date slip from "mid-2006" to October.

The firm's new president and CEO, Greg Koler, remained upbeat in the statement. "We are on a fast pace crossing over the threshold of manufacturing and marketing our first product, the Phantom Lapboard," he commented. "Everything is on schedule for first arrivals of the Phantom Lapboard this October in the US market."

However, with the firm's losses now running at almost $70 million since its inception and not a single product on shelves or revenue-generating deal in the bag, it remains to be seen how much more patience the investment community will afford to Infinium - especially in the wake of the high-profile collapse of another industry albatross, Gizmondo.

Via Gamesindustry ...

Just in case you live in some strange, contrary world, eagerly awaiting June 27 so you can rush out and pick up the original, futuristic breeze block-style DS instead of the sexy new Lite, you might be interested to hear that reports for Japan are suggesting Nintendo's put the kabosh on production of the original handheld.

Website Gamefront.de is reporting that Japanese retailers have not recieved shipments of the original grey machine for over a month now, while DS Lite output remains consistent. Many are taking this to mean that Nintendo's finally ditched the DS's ugly sister in favour of the newer model - which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, although the speed it's happened following the Lite's release may raise a few eyebrows.

Nintendo has yet to confirm reports, although we suspect it'll only be a matter of time before the company phases the original handheld out across the globe.

Via CVG ...

PCs are about to have their peripherals packed up in suitcases, hastily handed crumpled fivers, a packet of cola cubes and unceremoniously booted out of the front door as they're usurped by Sony's PlayStation 3 in the home.

Well, that's the image Sony's Phil Harrison has conjured up anyway, opining that, due to the gubbins in the next-gen console, the home PC is history.

Harrison dropped this bombshell in an interview with German publication Der Spiegel, claiming that it's the non-videogaming functions and the available processing power afforded by the operating system - Linux-based - resident on the PS3's hard drive that'll make PCs redundant.

We believe that the PS3 will be the place where our users play games, watch films, browse the Web, and use other [home] computer functions," Harrison explained. "The PlayStation 3 is a computer. We do not need the PC."

Obviously this is no bearing at all on Microsoft's plans for Windows Vista...

Via CVG ...