The PSX iPhone emulator is getting ready to enter beta version. The PSX4iPhone is expected to feature enhanced screen scaling and screen placement. It might offer saving game option and support for memory cards. It may be compatible with approx. 75 percent games. Let us wait and watch for the upcoming Beta.
By: Grahm Skee on December 1, 2007 6:04 PM
The first Zune was something rushed to the market and it showed. The first generation Zune lacked anything outstanding; it really did not offer anything above what the competition was doing. The second time around I am seeing something a bit more impressive. The hardware has been updated and features have been added. The Zune is much more social this time around with the ability to share your listening preferences online. It has also tightly and seamlessly integrated podcasting and the wi-fi has finally been put to good use with wireless sync.
There is a lot of cool stuff going on with the Zune but there is a lot also that will be missed with the hardcore DAP crowd. Read on, let me show you what the Zune is all about.
The Zune 80 comes packed with just the basics: a proprietary USB transfer cable, premium earbuds, and the Zune 80 unit. The notable included accessory is the premium earbuds which, sold by themselves, go for $40. Are they worth that by themselves? Maybe, but I would recommend saving another $60-100 for a really nice set of IEMs- your ears will thank you and you will hear things in your music you never knew were there. But back to the included Zune premium phones; they are a more-than-welcome included accessory, sounding many times better than typical stock earbuds.
The aftermarket line up of accessories is pretty extensive; there are not only official Zune accessories, but many third party manufacturers are making anything from cases to speaker docks. If you are into accessorizing, there are plenty to choose from.
One notable accessory pack that I particularly like is the A/V Accessory Pack. This includes a dock with component and composite out, wireless remove (that works on the XBox 360 also), AC Charger, and A/V TV out cables. The Zune has a great TV interface and since it syncs wirelessly you can keep your dock next to the TV for charging and listening to. The kit sells for $100, a bit of an investment, but I think worth it especially if you are going to use the video out with any frequency.
The Zune 80 is very well built and will hold up well to scratches due to the materials used. The back plate is made of a matte finished metal, the face and buttons are composed of a solid matte plastic, and the screen is glass. Quite a bit of attention was paid in order to keep scratches and fingerprints off the device. None of the surfaces will scratch under normal use to slight abuse; however ,the screen can get quite smudged with fingerprints, but obviously that is the nature of glass.
Overall the design is top notch except for the antenna cover. On the top of the player the antenna needs a little bit of non-metal breathing space for the Wi-Fi. Unfortunately the design team decided to slap a piece of costume jewelry there. It’s a cheap piece of “gold plated” plastic that you might get out of a gumball machine. It is like slapping Pepboy hubcap spinners on a BMW. OK… you get the point. A much better choice would have been a flat black piece of plastic to match the rest of the player.
The 3.2” 320×240, 64k color screen appears to be the same screen as the first gen Zune 30; the same size, color tone, pixel density. So if you are familiar with the first Zune 30, you already know what the Zune 80’s screen looks like. For those who are not familiar, the screen looks really nice with colors represented well and good pixel response. The downside to the screen is that it does not look as crisp as some, since it is a QVGA screen stretched to 3.2” and black lines in between pixels are much more apparent if you look closely. It’s a good screen, just not anything to get excited about.
The user interface has remained unchanged since the initial release of the Zune. This is a good thing since the Zune interface is a very straight forward easy to use. I would have liked more buttons on the Zune, perhaps dedicated volume buttons on the side and/or a short cut button. However, this interface should not be changed in any way as to not disrupt the consistency though the generations of Zunes.
There is one minor improvement that they could get away with changing. There is a need of a short cut back to the “Now Playing” screen. There is a short cut for the main menu which is a long press on the back button. The natural place for quick access to the now playing screen would be a long press on the pause/play button, but this is occupied by the on/off operation. While I think the ideal location for the power switch would be integrated with the hold switch, this is not an option since the hardware does not exist in the hold switch. The next best place for the on/off would be a long press on the center button. Then the short cut to the now playing screen can be a long press on the pause/play button.
Another point I think got over simplified is the way the Zune is turned on. If the player is off of hold you can press any button to turn it on. I understand why it was done, for simplification, but what is not realized is that many people do not religiously use the hold switch. So allowing the Zune to be turned on with any button will drain the battery in many real world scenarios, such as tossing the Zune in your bag, back pack, or purse. Only allowing the Zune to be turned with a long press of the center button (or pause/play, the lesser choice) would alleviate this problem.
The GUI got a nice refresh from the first generation making menu options easier to read and really just more eye candy. The eye candy has done little to slow down the speed and fluidity of the interface; if anything, the smoothness of the GUI has improved. There are still the occasional menu slowdowns and hangs, but I notice this more when the touch interface is on.
One feature needed here is the ability to turn the menu animation on and off. Being able to turn them off would improve the button response time to zero, thus improving the overall usability. The best example of this is in the Toshiba Gigabeat T400. The T400 uses a near identical user interface both being built on Windows CE. Turning the T400 menu animations off makes the player much more responsive.
With the Macworld San Francisco 2008 approaching, rumors have started building up. Most consistent one being launch of ultra-portable Apple notebook computer.
The guys at Mac Rumors collected some data regarding the rumors. According to MacScooop, it will be a 12-inch ultra thin laptop with optical drive and dual core. It will be available for $1700-$1800.
According to Appleinsider, it will be 13-inch aluminum MacBook. It will have LED Backlit screen with NAND Flash and will not contain an optical drive. It will be a slim device with a 50% less weight.
CNBC says that the 12 inch, 50% thinner MacBook with NAND Flash and no Hard Drive will be available for $1500.
9to5 reported something strange about the notepad. They also said there is thinner bezel around the screen.
Looking at these reports, it can be supposed that Apple might unveil more than one product. Giving an idea of what might be possible; it can be presumed that it might arrive in January, 2008.
This little ThinkPad has unique features. There is a 12.1-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) LCD in CCFL (”outdoor display,” up to 400cd/m2) and LED backlight options. The Capacitive touchscreen also offers palm detection.
Technical Specs of the Latitude XT include Intel Core 2 Solo or Duo ULV at 1.06 and 1.2GHz, respectively, ATI Radeon X1250 UMA Graphics, Up to 3GB memory, 40GB or 80GB 4200 RPM drive, 120GB 5400 RPM drive, or 32GB or 64GB SSD, HSDPA or EVDO rev A., 802.11a/b/g/n options, Bluetooth 2.0, and gigabit Ethernet connectivity, ExpressCard54 and SD slots, 1394, VGA, (3) USB 2.0, Scroll wheel, biometric reader, TPM 1.2, super low profile power adapter.
Weighing 3.57 pounds (presumably without battery), this 1-inch thick PC delivers up to 5 hours battery life with standard 43WH pack, up to 9 hours with extended 45WH pack. It is Energy Star 4.0 compliant and runs Vista Ultimate.
So now regarding the price…You can get it at $2500.
Toshiba unveiled the new dynabook Satellite T31 notebook PC featuring a 15.4 inch display. The Satellite T31 comes in two models: one is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 2GHz processor and GM965 Express chipset with on-board video, while the other features a Celeron 540 (1.8GHz) GL960 Express chipset configuration. The laptop comes bundled with Windows Vista Business, but you can choose to use Windows XP if you want.
The display, at 1280×800 pixel resolution, is a widescreen LCD. The RAM leaves a lot to be desired for, at just 512MB, as is the 80 gig hard drive. But then again, this appears to be the entry-level model. For optical media, you get CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive. Rounding up the feature list are 4 USB 2.0 ports, an SD/MMC/xD/MS PRO memory card reader slot, S-Video output and IEEE 1394. The Li-ion battery offers a life of 1.3 hours (for the Core 2 Duo model) or 0.9 hours (for the Celeron model).
Measuring 362mm x 267.8mm x 33.5mm, the Toshiba Satellite dynabook T31 weighs in at 2.8 kg.
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