Sunday, November 21, 2004

HoustonChronicle.com - Review: Dual-screen system from Nintendo 

HoustonChronicle.com - Review: Dual-screen system from Nintendo: "'Touching is good' is the catchphrase of Nintendo's provocative $40 million advertising campaign.

On Sunday, the video-game giant will introduce its latest innovation, the Nintendo DS, or dual screen, which gaming fanatics around the globe have been dying to get their hands on. Surprisingly, Japanese gamers will have to wait their turn as the DS will become the company's first system to make its sales debut outside of Japan.

Small enough to stash in your cargo pocket or backpack, the sleek DS console is roughly twice the width of its Game Boy SP brother and flips open like a laptop to reveal its double-pronged visual attack with two 3-inch, color liquid screens (one on the lid, one below). The lower screen is touch-sensitive.

Each screen can produce remarkable 3-D renderings that outshine images generated on the Nintendo 64. And the dual display provides a more refined gaming experience.

The DS system comes with its own wireless connection, good for 30 to 100 feet (9.1 to 30.5 metres). So you can use wireless to play with other DS owners, as long as they are close. More extensive wireless options are promised for the future.

Its rechargeable battery delivers six to 10 hours of play on a four-hour charge.
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Friday, November 19, 2004

Playing Movies on a Photo iPod 



We picked up an iPod Photo the other day, and most observers have asked us “Can that thing play movies?” The short answer is no, only music and photos—but the longer answer is “sorta, but not really anything worth calling a movie”. In this week’s how-to we’ll show you how to “play” a movie on an iPod Photo by exporting frames of a movie, importing them to the iPod and playing them manually by click-wheeling through thousands of images, or even viewing 3d views of objects. Pointless? Yes. Will a lot of people try this and put movie trailers and porn on their iPod Photo? You betcha, and as always, we’re here to help.

Getting started

Saturday, November 06, 2004

Mattel's Juice Box Media Player for Kids - Digital-Lifestyles.info 

Mattel's Juice Box Media Player for Kids - Digital-Lifestyles.infoMattel are launching their new Juice Box media player on 17th October. The cute little gadget is intended to introduce kids between the ages of 8 and 12 to the delights of digital media.

Since the Juice Box will play MP3s, photos and video clips delivered through proprietary Juiceware media cards that store nearly three hours of content, you too can introduce your offspring to the frustration of proprietary formats and DRM schemes before they even get to secondary school. The cards will cost about US$10 (€8.11) for two episodes of an animated series, up to US$25 (€20) for a feature, and the format used is based on a technology developed by 4Kids Entertainment.

Initially, Mattel will be offering content from BMG Music, Cartoon Network, WWE and the Learning Channel for the Juice Box. If you don't want your audio and picture content to be locked into someone else's DRM, kids can buy a separate "MP3 Starter Kit" which comes with a standard SD card so they can play MP3s and view pictures from their PCs. No video though – and the kit will cost and additional US$45 (€37).

Full Story


Amazon.com - Click title for current pricing. Current: $59.95