Just after New Year’s, the biggest digital media conference of them all, CES, descends on the Las Vegas Strip. 110,000 are expected, 2500 exhibitors, 250 conference sessions, 800 speakers.  The show floors run from Th 1/7- Su 1/10 but the action really gets started on Tu 1/5 with CES Unveiled and W 1/6 Press Day.  Press outreach has been tremendous with the winner of the most inventive lure thus far going to Shuttle (PC) who mailed mysterious hard copy invites to their press event via this cinematic ARG-styled website.  Needless to say it’s our first time covering CES, and we are very excited.  In prep for CES, Digital Living Room will be celebrating connected devices at Sun Microsystems, Santa Clara next week with related Tech Supper Clubs in LA, SF, SV. On the content side, HRTS is lunching with the showrunners of Modern Family, Glee, Mad Men, How I Met Your Mother and Rescue Me at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.  If you can’t make it live, try catching the stream. We really enjoyed covering their last one, Digital Chiefs.  Below are the guides.  Wishing you happy holidays!

Tu 12/15
DIGITAL LIVING ROOM
PSN, Sezmi, Epix, Y!, ZillionTV, Vimeo, ClipSync, Dolby, Panasonic..
Sun Microsystems, 4030 George Sellon Circle, Santa Clara 95054
12/14 Tech Supper Club-SF, Blumberg Capital, 580 Howard
12/15 Tech Supper Club-Santa Clara
12/16 Tech Supper Club-Santa Monica, Playground Media, 1813 Centinela
www.digitallivingroom.com

8:45  Welcoming Remarks

9:00  Competitive Landscape
An examination of how cable, satellite and telco providers are faring in the pitched battle for consumers.
- Ben Bajarin, Director of Consumer Technology, Creative Strategies
- Colin Dixon, Senior Analyst, The Diffusion Group

10:00  Keynote
- Susan Panico, Senior Director, PlayStation Network

10:30  3D’s Televised Future
3D television sets will be on display at this year’s CES, and models without glasses may be just a few years away. Jeffrey Katzenberg, for one, has said that 3D TV is inevitable.
- Joshua Greer, President and Co-Founder, RealD
- John Rubey, President, AEG Live
- Patrick Griffis, Senior Director, Technology Policy, Dolby Laboratories Inc.
- David Broberg, Vice President of Consumer Video Technology, CableLabs

11:30  Social TV
The connected living room makes seamless the interaction consumers are already having about their favorite programming over the Internet and on mobile devices. How long until Facebook Television?
- Blake Whitman, Community Director, Vimeo
- Itzik Cohen, founder and CEO, ClipSync
- Emil Rensing, Chief Digital Officer, EpixHD
- Bill Binenstock, Vice President and Manager, CBS.com
- Moderator: Michael Stroud, Founder, iHollywood Forum

12:30  Lunch

1:30- 2  Keynote
- William O. Leszinske, Jr., GM, Digital Home Group, Intel

2  Cloud in the Living Room
The ability to access any content, any time is fundamentally changing the dynamics of television watching and the economics of broadcasting and cable. As DVRs and subscription VOD become standard, are ad-supported television networks at a fundamental disadvantage? Can cable and satellite companies keep their iron group on the consumer’s wallet when a la carte offerings are available over the Internet?
- Pat Dunbar, Director, Advertising TV, Video & Music Business Group, Microsoft Corporation
- Mitch Berman, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, ZillionTV
- Mitch Weinraub, Executive Director – Business Development, Comcast Media Center
- Rob Schonfeld, VP, Pay Television and Interactive Media, Disney ABC Domestic Television
- Buno Pati, Co-Founder and CEO, Sezmi
- Moderator: Jimmy Schaeffler, Chairman & CSO, The Carmel Group

3  The Music Powered Living Room
Description: The music business has gone from wondering where the next paycheck is to how many ways can the same song be monetized. The new album is the Rock Star music pack and the new single is a mashup. This panel will explore how interactive music technology – from video games to mashups – are creating new revenue opportunities for the music, video game, video entertainment and marketing industries.
- Gilles Babinet, Chairman, MXP4
- Jason Henderson, Games Product Manager, Verizon Communications
- Jordan Greenhall, Co-Founder and former CEO, DivX
- Carmen Rizzo, two-time Grammy Nominee and electronic musician
- Moderator: Ephraim Cohen, President, Fortex Group

4  The Connected Living Room
The long-heralded integration between TVs, the broadband Internet, DVD players, game consoles, telephony, portable devices and wireless data is beginning to happen. What type of content will pull in consumers and what are the roadblocks to mass adoption?
- Russ Schafer, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Yahoo! Connected TV
- Alan Hoff, Vice President of Product Marketing, SeaChange International
- David Bryant, Senior Director of Java Marketing, Sun Microsystems
- Tushar Saxena, Director of Home Networking Technologies, Verizon Communications
- Moderator: Amy Friedlander Hoffman, President, Priority Digital Media

5  Venture Forum
Startups pitch products for the digital living room to a panel of venture capitalists and strategic investors
- Len Rand, Managing Director, Granite Ventures
- Brad McManus, Director of Investments, Panasonic
- David J. Blumberg, Managing Partner, Blumberg Capital

6  Reception

*****************************************************************
W 12/16  12-2
HRTS HITMAKERS LUNCHEON
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, 2025 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles
www.hrts.org
(1pm Live-stream: HRTS Online Video Central)

• Peter Tolan, Rescue Me
• Matthew Weiner, Mad Men
• Steven Levitan, Modern Family
• Ryan Murphy, Glee, Nip/Tuck
• Carter Bays, How I Met Your Mother
• Craig Thomas, How I Met Your Mother
  

*******************************************************************
Th 12/17 6-9
SGN MOBCLIX MIXER
Silicon Valley
(invite only)

******************************************************
Tu 1/5 – W 1/6, Th 1/7 – Su 1/10
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW
Las Vegas Convention Center, Hilton, Venetian..
www.cesweb.org

Tu 1/5
12-4  V Titian 2202, LVCC S229 – press room open
1:30  V Murano 3301-3 – ASUS press event
2-3    V Bellini 2105 – CEA US Trends
3-4    V Bellini 2105 – CEA Global Trends
4-7    V Ballroom – CES Unveiled: Best Buy, Hannspree, Lenovo, Powermat…
7-10   Sands Expo shuttle – StartUp Debut – VCs, press, eats, drinks, startupdebut@gmail.com

W 1/6
7:30-9            V Titian 2202, LVCC S229 -press room open
8-8:45            V Casanova 501 – LG press event
9-9:45             V Marco Polo 706 – Monster press event, V Sands 201 Netgear press event
10-10:45        V Casanova 504 – Toshiba press event
11-11:45          V Sands 206 Pioneer press event
12-12:45         V Sands 102 – Sharp press event
1-1:45             V Bellini 2105 – Casio press event
2-2:45            V Marco Polo 801 – Samsung press event
3-3:45            V Marco Polo 705 – JVC press event
3-3:45            V Bellini 2101 – Panasonic press event
8-10:30           LVCC N262 P2P Breakfast, N260 Paramount, BitTorrent, N262 Snacks
11:30-12:30    LVCC N261 NVP Saatchi, N253 SpikeTV, BBDO, MTV, N258 A&E, TwitVid
12:30                LVCC N262 Lunch
1-2                     LVCC N253 Lego, IMVU, Gaia, WW Biggies, N258 IODA, Napster
1:30-2:15        LVCC N260 Melike Amjarv, WB, BMI, SAG
2:30-3:30       LVCC N258 Discovery, Paramount, Babelgum, 1Cast, N253 ngmoco, N261 NBCU, MTV
3:30-4:15        LVCC N256 Qualcomm, Ericsson
4-5                    LVCC N253  Viximo WB, N258 Fandango, Flixster, Freeverse, N261 TiVo
5-7:30              LVCC N262 P2P Cocktails
4:15-5:30        LVCC Central Hall 14200 – Sony press event
6:30-7:30        Hilton Center – Keynote – Steve Ballmer, Microsoft
7-10                  Mirage Grand Ballroom – Pepcom Digital Experience
7:30-9            V San Polo 3401 – Light Touch Drinks

Th 1/7
8-5                  LVCC S229, V Titian 2202 -press room open
8:30               Hilton Theater – Keynote, Alan Mulally, Ford
10-6               Exhibit Hours
10-12             Hilton Shimmer Caberet – Jen-Hsung Huang, NVIDIA press event
10-11              LVCC S227 DISH press event, S224 4G Verizon, Samsung, Clearwire
10-12              LVCC N250* Autonet, Pandora
10:30             LVCC N264* CEA Outlook, , N255* Kodak, Scoble
10:30-11:30  LVCC N256 AVOD, TiVo, Panasonic, N259 DISH, Merv Griffin, Starz
11-12               LVCC N253* ABC, LeapFrog, Vtech, Build-A-Bear, Lunch
11:20-12:10  LVCC N260* 3D – WB, Disney, CinemaNOW, Dolby
12-1                 LVCC N254 Autonet, N259 Hearst, Rovi, N262* WaPo, N256 Roku, ZillionTV, Intel
12-1                 LVCC S224 EA, RIM, ATT, TI, Sony
12:20-1:10+  LVCC N260* 3D RealD, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Sony, N253* MyYearbook
1:30-2:15+    LVCC N250* CBS counting viewers, N262* CBS, Pampelmoose
1:30-2:30      LVCC N259 Lionsgate, YouTube, Davie Brown, FB, Fox, Discovery, TV Guide, N261 Fremantle
2-3                  LVCC N253* Cartoon Network, PBS, Nokia
2:30-3:20     LVCC N260* Y!, NBCU, Vizio, WB, DIVX
3-4                  LVCC N259 Interactive – Sony, Sharp, Y!, N256 LG, Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic
3-4                  LVCC S224 Netbooks – Lenovo, Laptop Mag, Intel, Microsoft, AMD
3-5                  LVCC N253* Toy Demos, KAPi Awards – Sesame Workshop
3:45-4:30      LVCC N250 Monetizing Content – Tubefilter, FOD, NBCU, CJP
4:30-5:30     LVCC N250* CESup Search – TiVo, CBS, CTAM
4:30-5:30     Hilton Theater – Keynote, Paul Otelini, Intel
5-6                  LVCC S227 – Sanyo press event
6-7                  LVCC N237* CESup Reception
7-9                  LVCC MGM shuttle* CESup Tour of CBS Television City
6-10                 Wynn Lafite Ballroom – Showstoppers (invite only)
6:30                 Mandalay Bay – Tech & Engineering Emmy’s, events@emmyonline.tv

F 1/8
TBD                AllThingsD short program
8-5                  LVCC S229, V Titian 2202 -press room open
8:30-9           LVCC N250* CESup Keynote – Ben Silverman, Electus
9-10:15          LVCC N250*  CESup Illeana Douglas, Thomas Schlamme, Show Money Prod, FOD, NBCU
9-11                LVCC N262* Mommy Tech – Good Morning America, Tina Sharkey, BabyCenter, N260 HBO
9                      Hilton Theater, Keynote – Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia
9-6                  Exhibit Hours
10:30-11:30 LVCC N250* CESup Scripps, NBCU, N253* EnergyTech
11                    Hilton Theater, Keynote – Dr Paul E Jacobs, Qualcomm
11:30-12:30 LVCC N250* CESup Ken Howard, SAG, Sony, LG, Nielsen
12-1                LVCC N262* MommyLunch – MySpace, N255* FCC Chair, N261 Bravo, HSN, N259 – FLO TV
12-1                LVCC S225 Powermat, S224 Handango, ATT, Intel, Samsung
1-2                  LVCC N262* Mommy Memorykeepers – Eye-Fi, Pandigital, N255* CinemaNOW, RealD
1:30-2:30+   LVCC N262* OnStar, Fox, N261 ZillionTV, Arts & Labs, N259 Metacafe, Redbox, JWT, Nielsen
1:30-2:30     LVCC S224 Untethering TV – Qualcomm, Broadcom, Sony
3-4                 LVCC S224 ION, FLO TV, MobiTV, NatGeo, LG, S225 Samsung
3-4                 LVCC N260 GPS Garmin, Telenav, Nokia, TomTom, N261 Lionsgate, MSNBC, N259 Blip.tv
3:30-4:15-5 LVCC N262* Marketing to Digital Moms/Gala Product Showcase – Kodak
4                     Hilton Theater – Keynote – Zhou Houjian, Hisense
4:30               LVCC South Hall EHX CE PRO reception
6-7                 LVCC North Hall – Kenwood press event
2:30-7:30      V Ballrooms 3001-3101 – Digital Media Insider sessions and awards party for
25 Digital Entertainment Executives to Watch
3                       V Casanova 501 – Shuttle press event, wearenotalienbware.com
5:30-8:30      Atomic Museum, It Won’t Stay in Vegas party
Paris Hotel, Monster 2010 Dealer Awards – John Legends Concert (invite only)

Sa 1/9
8-5                  LVCC S229, V Titian 2202 -press room open
9-6                  Exhibit Hours
10:30-11:30 LVCC S224 Revision3, N261 Big Fuel, N255* Last Gadget Standing, N259 InterTrust
11                    LVCC South Hall Lobby 3 CNET Stage – Best of CES
12-1                LVCC N260 Napster
1:30-2:30     LVCC N258 Warren Packard, DFJ, Kuk Yi, Best Buy, Intel, S224 Sprint, Comcast, Samsung
2:15-5:30     LVCC N253* Silvers Summit Gadgets – Fox
3-4                 LVCC N260 Netbooks – Harris Interactive

Su 1/10
8-3                 LVCC S229, V Titian 2202 -press room open
9-4                 Exhibit Hours

*FREE
** check KarenNet for party updates:  http://www.thomas-pr.com/01/ces2010.html

Miami and Buenos Aires-based La Comunidad has released a spot for the new Sony Cybershot, featuring the “Smile Shutter,” which automatically captures an image when your subject smiles – without having to press the shutter.

Watch, enjoy and leave your comments!

Client: Sony USA

Agency: La Comunidad Miami

A Sony PSP connected to an HDTV Sharp Monitor via component av cable.

For the past two seasons, I’ve been experimenting with the idea of showing and reviewing game video to my players at practices for instructional purposes. My players are between the ages of 9 to 12 and are heavily into video gaming such as Modern Warfare 2 and NBA 2k10. So integrating
video with a gaming device seemed like a perfect match for displaying our film footage from games.

In creating a solution I decided to use a handheld PSP, a component av cable, and an HD 19″ monitor. The specific hardware follows:

• PSP 2000 Console
• PSP Component AV Cable
• 19″ Sharp 720p LCD HDTV
• Sony 8 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo

Once I have the previous game encoded into an mp4 format I then connect the psp to one my macs via usb cable. I then copy the mp4 file to the memory stick on the PSP. The average size for an mp4 game file is about 200mb.

After disconnecting the PSP from the mac, I then connect the PSP to the HDTV with the component AV cable. On the HDTV, I select the correct input. And finally, on the PSP navigate to Settings > Connected Display Settings > Switch Video Out > Select ‘Yes’ when asked if you want to display output on a connected device? > Video > the mp4 game file.

To playback, fastforward, or rewind just use the navigational keys and video options on the PSP.

For a future direction, I look forward to Apple’s tablet being released in 2010. A tablet would eliminate the need for a stationary monitor and separate handheld device and merge the two together.

–Corey

Barnes & Noble says Nook is out of stock. The device will be available for new pre-orders only on January 15 which is even later than initially expected. We were waiting for Barnes & Noble to make the nook available again just after New Year’s Eve but that won’t happen anymore.

Sony said heavy demand for its latest e-reader and first Sony’s 3G reader, the Daily Edition, meant customers would receive their devices on a “first come, first serve basis” and shipments would not be guaranteed in time for the holidays.

Sony’s smaller non-3G Readers, the 5-inch Pocket Edition and the 6-inch Touch Edition are still available from $194.77 and $282.77 respectively.

I’m sorry for doing a bunch of short posts in a row, when I should be doing my longer ones, but I wanted to make a brief point.

I have seen several people linking to an ‘anti-X-Factor’ campaign, to get the track Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine to number one, in ‘protest’ against the latest X-Factor winner – whoever it is – getting the Xmas number one spot, as the Rage Against The Machine song has the chorus “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!”

This reminds me of a similar campaign last year, to try to get Jeff Buckley’s cover version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah to number one, ahead of the X-Factor winner’s version.

Now, I don’t have a ball in this game, not really caring who’s at number one since the last time I even looked at the charts was, I think, in 2001. But I would point out that this year’s campaign shares one curious factor with last year’s. Killing In The Name Of is published by Sony/ATV Music, and the recording is on Sony/BMG records. Hallelujah is published by Sony/ATV Music and Jeff Buckley’s Grace (from which the track was taken) is on Sony/BMG records.

All X-Factor winners get released through SyCo Records – a subsidiary of Sony/BMG records. And they record songs published by Sony/ATV Music.

This looks to me like an astroturfing campaign – Sony trying to use people’s anger at one Sony subsidiary to make money for another Sony subsidiary. Even if it’s not, I sincerely doubt that giving your money to the same people for a different song is actually going to have the desired effect of protesting against them. All it means is that by doing X-Factor they’re guaranteed *two* hits instead of one. Hardly a disincentive to keep making tha godawful programme, is it?

I really don’t care who gets to number one, and neither should anyone else as far as I can see – the singles charts have been pretty much worthless as a measure of either quality or popularity for a decade. But if you *do* actually want to scare Cowell and his paymasters at Sony, instead of giving them some money for a slightly different thing, why not buy some *real* independent music?

At CDBaby, for example, you can find all sorts of good stuff, including my own band, or the Tony Award-winning Stew, or the obscenely talented Blake Jones (and his band The Trike Shop).

Or, if you want something as shouty and rebellious as RATM, you could always try Seasalter Sounds, who put out the albums by my friends The Psychotic Reaction.

Or maybe you want something a bit more melodic? Try Now Sounds, an indie label run by Steve Stanley of the Now People, dedicated to soft pop of the 60s, but also releasing albums by the Wondermints.

Or perhaps you like your music experimental and proggy/pastoral? In that case, why not try Andy Partridge’s APE records, which puts out records by Partridge himself, the great Peter Blegvad, and Pugwash (whose leader is also in the Duckworth-Lewis Method) amongst others?

Or maybe you like spiky-but-jangly melodic powerpop? Why not try Not Lame Records?

If you buy from any of these (especially if you buy my music, obviously ), or any other true independent, you won’t be giving Sony a penny of your money, and you’ll be refusing to accept the false dichotomy of “Rage or X-Factor”. In other words, you really *will* be saying to Sony “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me”

(ETA I’ve been messaged on Twitter by one of the organisers of this who says “It’s not astroturfing, it’s me and my husband”. Fair enough. It’s still counterproductive though).

Salah satu software yang aku paling suka yang boleh di buboh dalam PSP ialah, Bookr. Bookr ni merupakan software yang membolehkan pemilik PSP membaca e-book; dan paling syoknye, ia boleh open hampir ke semua format e-book yang ada; contohnya PDF, PALMdoc, CHM, TXT, HTML dan DJVU.

Memandangkan minat aku untuk main game PSP mahupun PC semakin malap, maka software bookr ini adalah sangat heaven sebab aku boleh sumbat banyak e-book dalam PSP aku; dan selalunya dalam kegelapan malam sebelum tido aku baca e-book dalam PSP.

<<< Download Bookr V8.1>>

Software Bookr tersebut tidak memerlukan proses install yang rumit, lu orang download… extract dan kemudian copy and paste folder bookr terbabit ke dalam PSP lu di bahagian psp/game. e-book pulak lu orang hanya perlu copy and paste ke dalam folder bookr itu tadi. Open PSP lu orang dan pergi ke game dan pilih memory stick dan jika tiada game lain yang lu orang buboh dalam memory stick tu, maka ianya akan kelihatan seperti gambar rajah di bawah

memacam functions yang boleh diguna semasa membaca e-book guna bookr, antaranya setting background color, zoom in and zoom out dan beberapa lagi functions

Kepada mereka yang suka membaca tapi ada masanya tak dapat bawak banyak buku dalam sesuatu perjalanan yang jauh dan membosankan, maka software Bookr ini adalah penyelesaiannya; yang penting ada PSP. Bookr V8.1 ni compatible dengan latest firmware /BIOS untuk PSP.

untuk e-book pulak lu orang boleh google atau join aje website warez.. berlambak e-book lu orang boleh download.

p/s 1 : semua gambar dalam entri ni aku rembat guna google image dan ada kemungkinan aku dah edit satu atau lebih gambar yang terdapat dalam entri ni.

salud!

My new 18.4-inch I-dont-need-a-TV-ever gaming machine. Now all I need to do is buy a mouse and ask for permission to play all day, YAY!

Well these last two days gave me a bit of Down time to take a few more photos before we all get ready to pack up and head back to the UK, Only 6 days remain!

The Swings at the local Golf Club, not sure if these are that safe, kinda looked more like something from a nuclear holocaust

The Bar in the secure compound, just like being back in the UK

The inventor of the portable audio player is at it again with the new X Series Walkman, featuring a vibrant 3-inch OLED touchscreen, premium noise-canceling headphones, and 30+ hour battery life for music playback

Sony X Series Walkman

The good: The Sony X-Series Walkman is a solid device with a sleek, utilitarian design and a unique, engaging interface; it’s compatible with both Mac and Windows and supports podcasts from iTunes and videos from Amazon Unbox; it offers a plethora of features including an onboard Slacker app, integrated YouTube support, Wi-Fi, an FM tuner, and built-in noise canceling. The included earphones are nicer than average, the sound quality is excellent, and the rated battery life is superb.

The bad: The X-Series is expensive, and it’s a fingerprint magnet. The included app does not transcode much video adequately.

The bottom line: The X-Series is a superb choice for audiophiles who want a luxury device with an excellent touch-screen interface and plenty of other bells and whistles.

Sony X Series Walkman Features:
* Screen: 3-inch 432×240 OLED touchscreen
* Connectivity: 802.11b/g wireless
* Codec Support: WMV, MP4, H.264, MP3, WMA, AAC
* Promised Battery Life: 33 hours audio, 9 hours video
* Expansion: None
* Other: FM radio, web browser, digital noise cancellation, Slacker Radio
* Dimensions: 2” x 4” x 0.5” and 3.5 ounces

Today’s Featured Cause:
The Cerebral Palsy Network – The Cerebral Palsy Network makes their home in Olympia Washington We are a not for profit corporations listed with Washington State. Consisting of parents across the globe whom share a similar situation, Cerebral Palsy. In the past few years we have

Save yourself some money with coupon codes and and support The Cerebral Palsy Network by shopping with Donation Street. Today’s top money saving offers:

Best Buy- $20 Off Sony Reader Touch Edition Digital Book.
Skate Styles- 15% off
Ebags- 20% Off + Free Shiping on Orders over $100
Calvin Klein Jeans- 25% Off Everything
Wrapables.com- Christmas Nyokki buy one get one free
Reebok- Buy any EasyTone, get any NFL Jersey 30% off.
Ulta- $5 off any purchase of $10 or more
Logitech- Save 50% on Logitech Guitar and Drum Controllers

Enjoy big savings at the MSI-ECS Warehouse Sale on December 8-10, from 9am to 6pm. So if you’re looking to get yourselves (& your loved ones) premium tech stuff, get it from MSI-ECS! We promise big discounts and juicy bargains.

Cash & cheque payments are accepted. Purchases made with cheque can be claimed after clearing. Strictly no reservations, and it’s on a first come, first served basis. So show up early, be the first in line, and get your IT fix without overspending!

Review

Feature

Overview

Sony Bravia XBR Series KDL-40XBR9 40-Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV & Sony Component Home Theater System HT-CT100 & Sony BDP-S560 Blu-ray Disc Player Bundle

Specifications

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Dec 05, 2009 19:20:07

Cheap Price Watches Wireless Headphones

ATENCION: Los precios aqui mencionados estan basados en los listados por gameplanet y gamerush aunque cabe mencionar que no son los precios definitivos y en ciertas partes se pueden encontrar mas baratos o si en tu localidad no hay tiendas de este tipo los puedes pedir por medios como mercado libre o ir directamente por ellos a USA.

Asi que comenzamos

PS3

El catalago de PS3 para esta navidad trae titulos que si aun no los haz jugado esta es una buena oportunidad y para hacerlo ya sea por las bajas temperaturas o por que tienes vacaciones asi que si piensas regalar o regalarte un juego he aqui unas recomendaciones algunas obias otras no tanto.

UCHARTED 2 AMONG THIEVES

PRECIO 900 pesos

Que puedo decir de este juego que no se haya dicho ya si aun no haz jugado uncharted, esta navidad podrias aprovechar las vacaciones para darte un maraton.

drake y su pandilla vuelven a las andadas vas a desaprovechar la oportunidad de acompañarlos?.

LITTLE BIG PLANET GAME OF THE YEAR EDITION

PRECIO: 1090 pesos

Pese a que aqui en mexico siempre se aplica que a las ediciones del juego de año se les suba el precio por el contenido puedes encontrarala por fuera hasta en 850 pesos y adquirir casi 30USD en contenido que viene ya incluido en el disco asi que,  que estas esperando esos sackboys se enojaran esta navidad no dejes que eso pase y adquierelo.

GOD OF WAR COLLECTION

PRECIO: 780 pesos

Claro esta que el espartano favorito de sony no se puede quedar atras y antes leonidas esta kratos que en esta edicion de coleccion te hara revivir los 2 primeros titulos de la saga en un solo bluray con todo y remasterizacion, si ya lo jugaste esta es una buena oportunidad para recordar y si eres nuevo y no lo alcanzaste en ps2 que esperas esta es tu oportunidad para saber por que kratos es tan importante para la franquicia.

DEMONS SOULS DELUXE EDITION

PRECIO: 1390 pesos

Demons souls es de esos pocos juegos que pueden acabar con tu vida social con una dificultad que raya lo mamila un sistema de juego que se basa en los atributos del personaje y la distribucion de ellos, escenarios y mas de 100 horas de juego para completarlo al 100% hace de demon souls un juego que no solo te alcanzara para navidad sino que tambien te durara reyes y en un descuido hasta que entre el verano.

Aunque solo esta listada la edicion de lujo, la edicion regular ronda los 900 pesos aunque esta edicion puede ser de gran utilidad ya que incluye una guia estrategica (en ingles) que te puede hacer el trabajo mas facil.

XBOX360

El catalago de 360 es descomunal desgraciadamente no todos son recomendables o exclusivos pero hay mucho s que se salvan para esta navidad asi que si los vez hasta con ellos.

GEARS OF WAR 2 GAME OF THE YEAR EDITION

PRECIO: 800 pesos

Si en su momento no jugaste gears esta es tu oportunidad quizas la campaña no te dure mucho o no te convenza al 100% si cuentas con Live te mantendras enganchado al multiplayer y ademas esta edicion trae todos los mapas hasta el momento asi como el capitulo extra asi que con esto tienes gears para rato.

LEFT 4 DEAD 2

PRECIO: 1000 pesos

Si el primer L4D estuvo bueno esta esta aun mejor su nuevo sistema de director te hara el juego de cuadritos ademas de que se puede jugar hasta 4 personas (por no decir que es necesario jugar de 4) lo que le da aun mas enfoque al juego hordas y hordas de zombies mal olientes y hambrientos pueden ser tu regalo de navidad si aun no lo tienes esta es una buena oportunidad aunque siempre lo puedes encontrar mas barato en otros lugares.

FORZA MOTORSPORT 3

PRECIO: 750 pesos

Forza es para Xbox lo que gran turismo para PS3 asi que ambos no tienen perdida alguna si no fuiste fan del primero por su dificultad y su curva de aprendizaje frustrante este promete ser aquel que reivindique a este simulador asi que por que no darle una checadita.

HALO 3 ODST

PRECIO: 900 pesos

La franquicia halo no ha pasado por su mejor momento pero con odst da la pauta para lo que va a venir quizas no tenga los mejores graficos o siga siendo un halo mas con su arcaico sistema de juego que a estas fechas ya no convence tiene ese no se que, que hace que sea halo y su modo “tiroteo” es quizas los mejor del titulo asi que si lo vez mas barato que esperas adquierelo.

MULTICONSOLA

Asi es y si creian que ya se iban a acabar las recomendaciones para esta navidad es mejor que lo olviden por que aqui hay mas para gastar.

DRAGON AGE ORIGINS (C.E)

PRECIO 1390 pesos

Si en su momento no fue de tu posesion, esta navidad podria serlo bioware trae uno de los rpgs mas profundos hasta la fecha en donde cada decision es importante si pensabas perder el tiempo en algun lugar fantastico dragon age es tu lugar

La edicion listada es solo la Collector Edition pero al parecer el precio de la regular (que es la que recomiendo a menos de que anden sobrados de marmaja) anda como en 1000 pesos o 1090 pero aun asi se puede encontrar mas bara si le buscan

ASSASSINS CREED 2

PRECIO: 900 pesos

La orden de asesinos vuelve pero ahora en italia desenmaraña la trama esta navidad y ayuda a ezio a encontrar la verdad y clavar unas cuantas dagas en las gargantas de sus enemigos, asi que si no lo adquiriste en su momento ese aguinaldo estara bien invertido

TEKKEN 6

PRECIO: 1090 pesos

La franquicia tekken gozo de sus años de gloria hoy trata de hacerlo de nuevo en este juego que explora la posibilidades de las nuevas consolas, si eres fan seguro ya lo tendras pero si ya te aburrio KOF XII o ya dejaste al fin de jugar soulcalibur o SF4 este es tu juego dale una oportunidad y trata de dominar su sistema de batalla veras que te llevara horas.

BORDERLANDS

PRECIO: 1090 pesos

Borderlands es uno de los juegos que intentan fusionar RPG y FPS y ya fuera de la licuadora les uedo una mezcla de lo mas extraña que resulta entrtenida y adictiva con tintes de L4D y escenarios grandisimos te dara horas de juego ademas de un modo en linea y uno co-op.

Para estas fechas debe estar mas barato por ahi asi que solo es cuestion de buscarle un poco.

WII

Aunque no puedo recomendar muchos titulos del catalago de wii hay algunos rescatables asi que si tienes wii y aun no tienes estos titulos es por que o tienes menos de 12 años o de plano no se por que mas.

DEAD SPACE EXTRACTION

PRECIO: 800 pesos

Pese a que su hermano mayor de consola es muy diferente este dead space tiene lo suyo, un shooter on rails para 2 jugadores que deberan escapar del USG ishimura y completar la primera parte de la historia, si aun no lo haz jugado que esperas no te decepcionaras.

MURAMASA DEMON BLADE

PRECIO: 950 pesos

Pese a esar listado en game planet este juego es realmente dificil de conseguir y por algo sera, de los creadores de odin sphere, muramasa es un juego que vale la pena ya sea por ser una pieza de coleccion o por su excelente gameplay si lo regalas asegurate de conseguir uno para ti.

MAD WORLD

PRECIO: 600 pesos

De lo mejorcito del catalago de wii que paso desapercibido por la forma tan infantil que se ve a la consola de nintendo plagada de pokemones, marios y perritos virtuales, si aun no haz jugado madworld trata de conseguirlo ahora ya que no tiene desperdicion es un juego relamente sangriento que te hara recobrar la fe en el wii.

BUNDLES (CONSOLA + JUEGO)

Asi es si no cuentas con una consola esta navidad con las rebajas en las tiendas antes del 24 podrias comenzar tu vida como gamer con alguno de estos paquetes.

XBOX360 SYSTEM SUPER ELITE

PRECIO 7000 pesos

La consola que salio en exclusiva para xbox no es solo una consola cuenta con varios agregados que la hacen mas que un paquete, ademas de ser un Xbox elite con un estampado alusivo a modern warfare 2 tambien cuenta con un disco duro de 250 GB (el mas grande hasta la fecha y exclusivo de este paquete) 2 controles negros, una diadema y el juego modern warfare 2 todo con su cable HDMI para que puedas llegar y jugar.

aunque parece que la edicion que venden en gameplanet carece de diadema pero el paquete original la incluye.

PS3 120GB(promo gameplanet)

PRECIO 6500 pesos

En estos momentos no esta listada niguno de los bundles diponibles en gameplanet (Uncharted , LBP,etc) aunque si piensas comprar tu consola en esta tienda, la misma te ofrece 1 promocion que te podria interesar la consola + un juego (al parecer el que deses) + un bluray (al parecer tambien el que quieras) .

Bueno hasta aqui llegan la recomendaciones navideñasno inclui PC por que oficialmente no es una consola tal cual mas que todo es multiproposito pero su catalago incluye todos los multi y varios de xbox asi que si son PC gamers ahi tienen tambien.

It was a great year at SEMA 2009. I went out to work and play with the Sony Gran Turismo project. We ran all over the show floor interviewing our GT nominees and checking out their rides that were up for best in class. Later that night the party went down at the Palms casino as we announced the class winners and I presented 1 of the top 5 winners with the “Best in Show” award. It was a long day with over 12 hours of craziness but it was an awesome experience. After hosting the awards that night I sat back and listened to The Offspring perform live and the party went on through the night.

http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/la-2009-orange-audi-e-tron/

I managed to catch this on TV and think this verision is amazing! Better than the original for me.

MG

Gaming Cabinet

Define STD: STD for The Underground Blog is short for Savvy Tech Dude/Dudette. The STD story is my attempt to share some insight into some of my practices, as well as others as to how they are using technology to make their life better, saving money, or perhaps bettering the environment. (Hopefully, I can find a female contributor… )

Frequency of Story: When it feels right.

Personal Comment: I really love the STD idea, and with topics so broad, I can go anywhere with this series. The question is, how far down the rabbit hole do you and I want to go?

In the meantime, I encourage all forms of interaction. Please sound off in comments, I’d appreciate it. If you have an idea, or want me to consider something different, I will. If you want to spread the word, be my guest. As time goes along, I’m asking for people to contribute, or if you want to be interviewed (I’ll protect your identity), then we can dig deeper. Please consider my offer, thanks!

You could say that this article was spurred by the release of many games over the past 2 months, and I thought now is the time to share some dark, inside insight of the minds of gamers.  In particular, the cleverer ones?

Do not expect me to go into hardcore detail on the methods or how certain mods work.  This article is simply an overview to get your tongue wet. If this article interests you to explore further means, by all means do so but make sure what you are getting yourself into.  The article below is a combination of many interviews with fellow gamers during my digital journey.  To protect the gamers, lets call the person in the story Jason Sensation. 

(Image source: http://blog.vortixgames.com)

[This is Jason Sensation's Story]

Just like any gamer today, we all started young in our gaming roots.  Maybe it was spurred by the invention of Atari, Jaguar, NES, SNES, or whatever gaming console that has graced your living room since the 80’s, 90’s, or 2000’s.  Jason Sensation was no different. Having grew up with the original 8-bit NES, and playing almost every single console (SNES, Sega Genesis, Saturn, Sega 32X, Virtual Gameboy, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, N64, PS1, PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Game Gear, Nomad, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Dreamcast, and lot of other forgotten devices) it is no surprise that Jason just loves games.

Would we be surprised if he owned many of these?  No, but it is conceivable that he did get a chance to play many of these sometime during his childhood to present day. Now I (Versatile) am a gamer myself.  I just love playing games as not only does it pass the time (in a good way), but it helps relieves stress.

In many circles, many claim that playing computer/console games enhances eye and hand coordination.  Don’t you think so?  I am sure there have been many psychological studies on this concept, and I believe that the gamers won in the test in eye/hand coordination when compared to the non-gamers in the same study.

To our parents or other people, they may not understand why we play games as much as we do.  Perhaps you know a friend that sat in front of his computer, TV, gameboy or whatever for hours upon hours?  In one way, it does seem like a waste of time, doesn’t it?  But yet for the gamer, he is immersed into the game world and has a passion to beat the game.  In these cases, the gamer is in the zone and the gameplay is so good it’s just hard to peel away.

Starcraft

(Image from: http://girlswhogame.files.wordpress.com)

Starcraft is a good example.  Did you know that at least 95% of the Korean population plays Starcraft?  It is no surprise that 10 years later Starcraft still lives in Korea, and it is still heavily publicized in tournaments and the top players are worshiped! Don’t believe me? Go on Youtube and see for yourself.

Where am I going with this?

In short, gaming is an expensive hobby.  Think about it. You need to buy the game console (or whatever parts for the PC to turn into gaming machine).  Next you need the games, and then any other accessories that enhance your gaming experience.

Even back in the 8-bit NES days, I vividly remember Ninja Gaiden 3 was at least $30 dollars at Toys R’ Us or even FuncoLand.  Remember FuncoLand?  It was the game store before it turned into GameStop basically. You can browse their selections, and ask to play a certain game on demand before you bought it. It was awesome, before they turned into corporate GameStop that you have today.

Anyway, gamers know that there is no point in having a game system if you can’t have the latest and best games out there.  With PS3 and Xbox 360 games easily $60 a pop, it can add up real quick.  Similarly, the same can be said for the PC too.

Now down the street lives Jason Sensation, and he owns a Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and a PS3.  His PS3 game library is not very large at all, maybe 5 games such as Little Big Planet, COD 4, Cod 6, Far Cry 2, and Bioshock.  What is more interesting is that for his Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360, he has a much larger library.

By larger, I mean at least 50+ games for both the Wii and the Xbox 360. He brags about it in class every now and then, and you start to wonder:  If he has a combined game library of approximately 100 games, $60 a piece (excluding tax and variances in pricing), his game library is worth 100x$60 or $6,000 dollars!  The funny part is, he doesn’t even have a lucrative, high position job?! WTF!

The secret:

Jason Sensation and a lot of “clever” gamers around the world are engaging in what is believed to be console modding. What is modding you ask?  In short, it allows the user to make a modification to their game console or handheld so it plays backed up games.

When I say backed up games, that means a backup copy of a retail game.  These backups can be created as simple as ripping a retail game to a blank DVD, or download the game image from the Internet and burnt to a DVD to play on the console.

Aren’t you surprised that Jason showed you his 208 disc binder of Xbox 360 games only to see all of them as Verbatim Dual Layer Dvds with black ink writing titles?  Where are the legitimate games you ask him?

He just smiles and says, “Hey look. Assassin Creed 2 is out in two weeks and I have it now. You want to play it or not?”  You quickly throw morals out the window and say , “Ah hell yea!”

So as you start playing Assassin Creed 2, you watch the method.  All Jason does is take the Verbatim disc, put it in the DVD tray of Xbox 360, and it loads it. Later that day, he shows you his copy of Modern Warfare 2 playing online, and he is not even banned?

How is that possible you ask him?  “It’s called stealthing of course.  It is a way to trick the Xbox Live system to believe you have a legitimate game and it doesn’t ban your account or your MAC address on your Xbox.”  You just stare at him confused, because all of this is so new and you didn’t think it was possible.  Yes, it gets better.

Jason shows you his Wii, and connected to it is a 1TB USB hard drive.  He shows you the menu and a list of all the games on his hard drive.  Your jaw drops, because he literally has hundreds of Wii games and ROMS to play on the system.  It truly was gamer heaven.

Jason quickly explains with the use of the Twilight hack which involves taking the Zelda game and loading a hacked save level, you are able to modify the console to load backed up games and homebrew programs.  In a way, it is just clever hacking for all the wrong purposes.

Ideally, people do this type of modifications to make legitimate backup of their retail games, but here we can see Jason is doing it for mischievous means, and so are thousands of people across the world.

The Xbox 360 can be modded? Any other systems?

In short, there are a lot of systems that can be modded. I am not going to go into all the methods, because it is quite an extensive and long list. Real short is how it can be done:

Xbox 360: Using CK3lite kit, it enables you to reflash the Xbox 360 to play backed up games.

PS3: No mods exist, sorry.

PS2: Use modchip, modchip, or exploited memory card to play backed up games.

PSX: Use modchip or codebreaker.

Nintendo DS: Use a custom NDS cartridge to play games off a microSD card.

PSP: Custom firmware using pandora battery.

Dreamcast: Uses a boot disc.

Xbox original: Softmod with AR MAX or modchip.

Gamecube: Modchip.

Is it right or wrong?

This article is not meant to be political in any shape or form. I am just simply opening your eyes to this dark side of modding.  PC gamers also participate too you know, because they are smart enough to know where to go onto the Internet to download the latest games, and then figure out ways to play these games online.  Type any hit game + hamachi and see what you find out.

*Modern Warfare and Hamachi

*Left 4 Dead and Hamachi

*Need for Speed and Hamachi

and the list goes on and on. You think the majority of people playing games on services like Garena, Hamachi, Tunngle, Gameranger, Wippien, and more are using legitimate games? My guess is that about 90% of them are using what is called cracked or illegal copies of the game.  Am I sure about this?  No, but when you start sitting in these conversations with the people, a lot of questions are about how to play game XYZ online.  Hmm, this gets you thinking…isn’t it possible these guys are asking the questions because they have a cracked copy?

Logically, if the game is legitimate, why are they asking how to play online? 0_0

Conclusion:

In summary, there are gamers out there who know the scene, and know how to modify their systems or use the Internet to their mischievous advantage to play games without having to pay for them.  In some cases, it is due to lack of financial funds, or just morals or even perspectives.

If game XYZ is $60, and the reviews are horrible, why would you want to pay for it?  Maybe you will download it to play through the sucky campaign, but isn’t that saying something to the developer?  Gamers are not going to fall for garbage time over time again.

Why did so many gamers sign a petition for Infinity Ward to add dedicated servers to Modern Warfare 2?  Why did Teknogods create an offline spec op co-op feature?  It is because the game developer screwed the community, and piracy is a way for the community to say “screw you” back to them.

Is it right? Maybe.  Is it wrong?  Clearly.  Will it ever disappear? No.

How about you?  Do you engage in downloading games or participate in console modding?  Why do you do what you do?  Sound off in the comments and let us know!S

]]> http://thealessandragallery.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/gallery-1/ Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:55:32 +0000 ynot1381 http://thealessandragallery.wordpress.com/2009/12/05/gallery-1/

Looking for a way to send Christmas greeting cards to your friends with an augmented reality twist? There are already three options for doing just that.

Sony Ericsson lets you create a virtual Christmas tree that features pictures of you and your (Facebook) friends that appears once you wave your mobile phone in front of a web camera. Though shown working with a Sony Ericsson phone, it probably works with any mobile phone, as long as its screen is bright enough:

ARWishes, on the other hand, is a web application from Inglobe Technologies (of AR-media fame) that lets you attach holiday related 3d animation to holiday related AR markers and send them as a greeting card to your friends:

ARWishes is not focused solely on Christmas greeting cards, and is set to capture the augmented reality greeting cards market (yeah, I made that up). It already features some new-year and birthday cards, and I guess Kwanzaa and Hanukkah cards are just around the corner.

If you prefer beer over eggnog, maybe sending branded Stella Artois holiday cards is the right choice for you (but you must be over 18 to create them). The best thing about Stella Artois application is that for each card sent, they will protect one tree from being chopped down.

Judging from Halloween, we can expect many more AR applications this coming Christmas. I’m willing to bet someone will create an application the puts a Santa Claus beard around your face, and I’ll be here to cover it, when it happens! Oh right, Microsoft and Ubisoft have done just that last year, and Talking Dog Studios have it covered this year:

Many thanks to Development Memo For Ourselves for finding the link to the ARWishes app. Also check out Ori’s coverage of 2008 holiday AR greetings.

In terms of great platforming duos, few names roll off your tongue like Ratchet & Clank: even Mario and Luigi or Sonic and Tails doesn’t sound right. The duo return to the PlayStation 3 for their ninth game, an epic intergalactic jaunt through space and time that the rest of us can refer to as Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time.

Separating our two lead characters for most of the game, A Crack In Time picks up shortly after Quest For Booty (the previous game) with Clank being abducted by the Zoni, mysterious creatures with an affinity for time and who are working with the villainous Dr. Nefarious. While Clank tries to attain freedom, investigating the mysterious “Great Clock” at the centre of the universe, best buddy Ratchet realises he may not be the last of his kind after all, and teams up with bumbling superhero Captain Qwark to find and save Clank.

Gameplay is similar for both Ratchet and Clank in the game, ultimately a 3D platforming game with some puzzle elements: Ratchet’s access to a multitude of weapons means that his levels involve some run-and-gunning (for the most part, the weapons are either auto-aiming or have a wide enough area of effect that aiming is unnecessary) while Clank is mostly dealing with puzzles. Both of our heroes, however, find their adventures hampered by a series of problems with the timestream: in some cases, this is as simple as providing the reason for moving platforms or environments that change as you move through them, but for Clank, it requires using little-known powers to manipulate time, effectively working with past and future versions of himself (also controlled, or more accurately “recorded” by the player) to solve puzzles.

The physics of Ratchet and Clank’s universe provide some of the greatest moments of the game, both for the temporal manipulations and Ratchet’s weaponry as well. Everything in the game is beautifully animated, even down to Ratchet’s fur, both in cut scenes and in actual gameplay. But the series and the game are at their best with dialogue and a narrative that both reference and parody other games and the science fiction genre overall, and A Crack In Time is no exception to this, with a rich epic storyline in which every little thing has some contribution to the plot.

Ultimately, fans of the Ratchet and Clank series aren’t going to be disappointed with A Crack In Time but as the final entry in a trilogy of games, it’s somewhat difficult to invest in the game if you haven’t played its predecessors. But the series has also earned its place among the legends of platforming, and even the most basic of playthroughs of this game will win the series many new fans for their next outing.

Zombie Rating: B+

Ratchet And Clank: A Crack In Time is out now on Sony PlayStation 3.

Casevac, originally uploaded by Doherty_UK.

Royal Air Force Engineers rush to launch a Helicopter to Get medical help to a Casualty.