Rumor: XBox360 will get a price cut??

This has been a long rumor, getting hotter after Sony's USD100 price cut for PS3's to be discontinued 60GB models.

The Hollywood Reporter recently is citing an unnamed source that seems to think the Xbox 360 is going to get a USD50 drop sometime in August. They go on to say that the pending price drop is because of the traditional sales doldrums during this time of the year (huh?) while other sources have pointed out of the proximity to "Halo 3" being launched in September.

Or it's because Microsoft is trying to revive the "Xbroken" with a price cut, as they are very close to being thumped by Nintendo Wii as the console market leader? We will know if this price cut is indeed a fact come August. I will not be surprised at all if Microsoft does indeed cut the Xbox prices to face up to competition, from Wii as well as PS3.

How this will affect prices in MY is anyone's guess as even Asian PS3s have not got any price cut announcement yet.

Saving your iPhone battery life.

For those of you out there who are absolutely rich and have landed yourself an iPhone, Apple's recently posted a completely obvious guide to getting the most out of your iPhone's battery lifespan. As an iPhone battery replacement will cost you to the tune of USD80 a pop, the guide is rather simple but very effective.

The trick is to putting your iPhone to sleep with the sleep / wake button when you're not using it. According to Apple, "You will still be able to receive calls and text messages while it is locked, but nothing happens if you touch the screen."

Very cool indeed. And now you have been informed.

PS3 Firmware 1.90 released.

For those of you that have a PS3, Sony have released the lastest firmware update for it, Version 1.90, which includes the following features/system updates (from the Playstation Blog):-

• Customization of the XMB wallpaper with your photos, whichi is one of the top three requests submitted to the blog's contact form. When viewing a photo, simply bring up the options screen by pressing the triangle button and selecting "set as wallpaper" from the options displayed. Additionally, you can now change the order of the games displayed under the game icon on the XMB.
• 
  Another new feature focuses on added communication elements: When you're sending messages to friends on PLAYSTATION Network, you can now use emoticons. These new bunch of emoticons can be easily accessed from the virtual keyboard. Also, another cool addition is, when an avatar is displayed during voice/video chat, the avatar will move in response to audio.
• 
  On the more technical side, you can now play AVCHD videos saved on a Memory Stick or digital video camera, and the added ability to upscale audio CD output from your PS3. Now, there are two requirements for this feature: the device you're outputting to must support a sampling frequency of 88.2 kHz or 176.4 kHz, and your PS3 must be connected to that device with an HDMI cable or digital optical cable.
• 
  You can now eject discs using your controller by selecting "Eject Disc" in the options menu after you push the PS button. Several other minor options will be included in 1.90 including a few new display options that will allow you to adjust your display while playing PlayStation, PlayStation2 and Blu-ray movies (1080p 24Hz HDMI output!!).

Of the new features, the best has to be the ability to play AVCHD videos from the memory stick, essentially you can view your HD recorded video directly from the PS3 itself without the need to transfer to DVD media. Next up is the ability to output your blu-ray movie to 1080p 24Hz signals, improving the details and the refresh rate of the screen to remove potential jaggies and motion blur.

Now go and point your PS3 to the PSN for the latest firmware download.

Sharp announces THX certified LCD TVs.

Sharp have announced what seems to be the world's first THX certified LCD TVs to hit the streets, the T Series AQUOS Full-Spec HD 1080p AQUOS LCD TV models in 65V- and 52V-inch screen sizes.

The THX Certified Display Program for home theater certification by THX Ltd means that the LCD TVs are able to replicate the exact visual display as it was filmed, by matching the best levels of brightness and contrast.

The T series offer "Full Spec" HD panel 1920x1080 with 120Hz display rate, 2500:1 contrast ratio, 3 HDMI inputs, DVI-I inputs, I-Link, 5 Japanese D5 imputs and 176 degrees viewing angle.

These build-to-order sets will be available in the Japanese market beginning September 1, 2007 with prices at ¥1,417,500 (RM40,000) for the LV-65TH1 or ¥840,000 (RM23,700) for the LV-52TH1.

Now how can I get my hands on a review unit......

SONY LCD TV KLV40-V300A outputs at 1080P!

I was walking pass a retail electronics store and my eyes came upon this LCD TV. This store has a PS3 running demos of blu-ray movies to show off Sony's LCD TVs, and I love to walk in to see the blu-ray movies in full HD 1080P output on Sony's X-series LCD TV.

They had hooked the PS3 directly to Sony's V-series 40in LCD TV today and I had noticed that the movie playing was very sharp (Ultra Violet was playing). When they replayed the movie, I noticed that the output resolution was set at 1080P!! And my eyes nearly jumped out in disbelief, as I knew the V series cant output to 1080P.

Upon very closer inspection, this is the spanking new V-300 series, which replaces the older V200 series. I don't have the specs of the V200, but I know that its considered as the middle range of the LCD TVs from Sony.

The best feature to this V300 series is the ability to run 1080P resolution lines while having a native 1366x768 panel, effectively making it the highest output capable HD panel. Most LCD TVs up to now can only run outputs up to 1080i only, and this means that you no longer have to get a Full HD 1920x1080 panels to get 1080P outputs. This is very significant as Full HD 1920x1080 panels have to be bigger than 46in for you to fully enjoy the details and clarity.

So as the V300 has smaller panels (32 and 40 inches), you can enjoy the smoothness of a 1080P output on these panels. Best of all, the V300 prices are comparable to the older S-series, with 32inch model retailing at RM3999.00, 40inch at RM6,999.00 and the 46in at RM9,999.00 only.

Now if only Sony reps reads this and decides to loan me a review unit....

PS3 price cut only to clear 60GB stocks.

Sony's had announced yesterday that the recent price cut for the USD499 60GB PS3 will only be effective for all its current inventory. As Sony has an estimated 2 - 3 million inventory stocks, its expected to "fire-sale" its inventory within one year.

After Sony made this new announcement, it was clear that they are phasing out the 60GB models and replacing them with the 80GB models. This was similar to them removing the 20GB models from production earlier this year.

As I see it, they are trying to boost up the sales rate for the PS3, while moving to bring production costs lower. This is crucial as they will want to build a bigger user base for them to have keep big named games developers support, as well as to have exclusive games to the PS3. As staunch PS2 exclusive games developers have started developing games for the Xbox360 (games like GTA4 and Devil May Cry 4 comes to mind), Sony will be very eager to have a bigger user base to keep having exclusive games (Metal Gear Solid 4 is exclusive to PS3).

Having a bigger user base will also help boost demand for blu-ray products, which will lower production cost as demands increases. At the same time, as the PS3 is the cheapest blu-ray movie player in the market, increases in PS3 sales will equate to more blu-ray movie demands and that keeps the movie studios happy to stay exclusive to blu-ray.

My expectations is that once the current 60GB inventory have depleted, they would have gotten better and is producing cheaper 80GB models. By then, they may announce the 80GB to be selling at USD499, yet another USD100 price cut. I expect this announcement to come during E3 2008, or in Fall of 2008, which is the traditional shopping period for the holidays season.

Let me be the 1st in MY to predict this to happen, wanna quote me as saying it??

Also, please note that the 60GB price cut and the 80GB PS3s mentioned in this article is only for the North America region (US and Canada) only. No price cuts have been announced for PAL regions like Europe or Australia, or even in Asia. Will post the news if Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong decides to announce any new price or the 80GB PS3 Asian version.

LG Shine KE970 review.

LG Shine KE970, I had checked out this phone when it was just released, but had not the time to do a full review. Here it is, better late than never.

At 99.8 x 50.6 x 13.7 mm and 118 grams weight, LG's KE970 "Shine" does indeed, err... shine. With full metal body, the phone is slightly on the heavier side, but fits in my pants pockets without much bulge either. Sporting a clean face with minimal buttons, the first thing that strikes you that the mirror display is indeed very... errr... shiny (geez, pun is intended). With the phone not active, you will use it for checking your hairdo frequently, if you are as vain as I am.

The face is completed with two buttons and a roller bar at the bottom, with two touch sensitive buttons on its side. Sliding up the phone proves simple as the slide is very firm, but you will find that you may smudge the mirror face very easily. The keypad hidden underneath is a Razr inspired metal etched type, which are big enuff to accomodate larger male fingers. Scrolling is achieved via the roller bar, but its a one line per roll and not auto scroll if u hold down the roller bar, strange.

With 2.2 inches, the native of 320x240 is brilliant indoors, but can be a little difficult to see under the sun, with the screen being under the brilliant but smudge and oil magnet of the faceplate. Colors are lively, and the screen make taking pictures using the onboard 2MP camera a breeze.

Pictures taken on this phone is of acceptable quality for a 2MP camera phone. It uses a Schneider Kreuznach lens, autofocus, an LED photo light and a very small portrait mirror all at the back. Some of the camera's more advanced settings include the ability to adjust the focus mode, set a timer, add a color effect, adjust the white balance and even take multiple pictures in quick succession. You can also use the camera to shoot videos with digital zoom only available on this mode (no zoom in photo mode). Strange.

Shine has a built in music player supports MP3, WAV, AAC, AAC+ and AAC++ files, with an equaliser and even shuffle mode. Shine has 48MB built in memory and is also shipped with a 1GB micro SD card for more storage space for your photos and music. LG has provided an inline remote with a 3.5mm jack adapter should you prefer to use your expensive headsets for your listening pleasure. Very well thought of LG. But no A2DP stereo bluetooh support. This tri-band EDGE (no 3G) phone also has flight mode, document viewer, as well as a cool world clock that displays a globe. Battery talk time is at 3 hours, and 280 hours standby period.

Summary: Cool phone to show off to, but smudges way too easy to maintain its pristine look. Has very standard phone feature, but at RM1399, its a very cool phone to show off to.

Rating: 8/10

Monk Season 5 and Eureka Season 1 available now.

The latest DVD box sets to arrive here is Monk Season 5 (US release June 26th) and Eureka Season 1 (US release July 3rd)

Monk Season Five DVD set.


Adrian Monk (Tony Shaloub)is an obsessive compulsive disorder patient but is also a brilliant detective. He works as a free lance consultant to the San Francisco PD, who are represented by Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lt. Randall Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford). Monk's personal assistant was up till Season 3 was Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram left after a contract dispute) and was replaced by Natalie Teager (Traylor Howard).

Tony Shaloub carries the main character so well that he was nominated for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series every year since 2003 (he lost 2004 to Kelsey Grammer in Frasier) up to 2006. He is well supported by Ted Levine and the rest of the regular cast, who after 5 seasons have nailed the comedic timing very well. The plot and the reveals are done very well throughout the five seasons, and its still holding strong in this latest season.

Monk Season Five DVD set comes in four discs, includes all the 16 episodes of S5. This set has a bonus inclusion of the pilot episode of Psych (of a bogus psychic detective that still solves cases), which Season One DVD set was also released at the same as Monk Season Five DVD set (yet another series I look forward to having on DVD).





Eureka Season One DVD set.



Eureka is a small secret town somewhere in the Pacific Northwest of US. Built by President Truman with the help of Albert Einstien and other great minded scientist, this place is the residential for the nation's greatest thinkers, the "über-geniuses" working on the next era of scientific achievement, where they be able to live and work in a supportive environment. This town would never appear on any map and be unknown to the public, except those that were authorized to learn of it. Until Deputy US Marshall Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson) gets pulled in one of the many town mishaps, and eventually settles down as Eureka's sheriff.


This series have gathered much favorable review stateside, and is Sci-Fi Channel's top rated show in it's 14 years history. I have yet to view the episodes, so I wont be able to post any personal comments on the series yet.

Eureka Season One DVD sets ships in 3 DVDs containing all 12 broadcast episodes, as well as some commentaries on some episodes.

E3 2007: Guncon 3

Namco shows off its new peripheral, Guncon 3, for Time Crisis 4. This light gun is designed to be used with HDTV by deploying 2 IR lights mounted on the TV (you can place it on top). Surprise!! This is exactly how the Wii-mote works... so it seems that Nintendo did get the formula right! However, Guncon 3 has the placements of the IR lights at the left and right ends of your display unit, so if you have a huge HDTV or projector screen, you will have to stretch it very far.

New to the Guncon 3 is the added prong on the left side, making it two handed shooting action, again like the Wii Zapper. The main difference is that the Guncon 3 has the analog stick and two trigger button, essentially mapping six Sixaxis buttons to it (but without the Sixaxis' motion sensors).

While this seems comfortable for right handed gamers, I am wondering if Namco will issue a left handed Guncon 3 to cater to left handed players?? If they don't, they will alienated a small portion of gamers out there. While I still think that Nintendo got it right with the Zapper's from back setup, which will cater to both lefties and righties.

Missing from it is the "kick-back" slider similar to the arcade action, which was replicated in the Guncon 1 (and from 3rd party manufacturers like Hori). Incidentally, Time Crisis 4 does not support any force feedback either.

Due to the sensitivity of the Guncon in the west, Guncon 3 for US and Europe will be in bright orange (as per pic above) while Japan gets the black unit. No price was announced during E3, and no mention of any bundle with Time Crisis 4 either, although I fully expect a standalone SKU as well as a Time Crisis 4 bundle with Guncon 3 (refer to TC1 for PS1 and TC2 for PS2).

E3 2007: Two new Wii accessories revealed.

During Nintendo's conference during E3, two spanking new accesories for Wii was revealed.

First is the Wii Balance Board (name not final). This aerobics step and scale-like device uses gyroscpoic sensor technology to detect your weight, movement and balance while standing on the board. This board will be shipped with the newly announced game Wii Fit, that encourages players (if you can classify users of Wii Fit as gamers, rather than exercisers.... haha) to have cardiovascular workout. Wii Fit will be available in Japan this holiday season, and in US sometime 2008.

Next up was the Wii Zapper (again name not final). A gun accessory for Capcom's Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (an on-rails shooter coming out soon), but the 2 handed, tommy gun like attachement came as a surprise. The Zapper is essentially a device to house the wii-mote and the nunchuk attachment into one device.

E3 2007: Metal Gear Solid 4

Metal Gear Solid 4, the game that is highly anticipated by gamers for the PS3, has its latest trailer shown during Sony’s E3 conference. Presented by Hideo Kojima himself, who informs the viewer that "I safely made it to E3.”

As Metal Gear Solid celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, Kojima announces that MSG4 will be the series’ grand finale and his last work on the series. The story of Snake will end, as well as all the plots, mysteries and other story elements wrapped up and concluded in this fourth and final installment. Kojima even stresses that he will be using his vast knowledge and experience in creating games to make this the worthy end to the series.

Kojima continues, "The game is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month -- and while I've been on the series for 20 years, this game will be the grand finale for the series. The story of Snake will end and this will be my last take on this series. All the mysteries, plotlines, and other story points will be revealed." “I'm putting everything I have into MGS4 and today I brought it with me. What we're showing you isn't a trailer, it's the game,” Kojima says, pointing out that while its was a trailer being shown, its running in real time and promises the game that you play “will be in this quality.”

The final announcement is that MSG4 will be released worldwide simultaneously in early 2008, exclusively for PS3. And oh…. the rumours that MSG4 is coming to the Xbox 360 is not true.

E3: PSP re-designed

During Sony's E3 press conference, a new, re-designed PSP was announced.

The new PSP will be 19% slimmer, weigh 33% lighter (190 grams by my estimate), batteries lasts longer (by how much it was not mentioned), and costs the same USD159 (after Aprils price revission). It also will have the ability to output high-quality video, to connect to a TV and thus share their photos and videos via the specific "Display" button on the PSP face. This mean that you can now use the PSP as a portable UMD/MP4 video player and photo display unit.

The new slimmer PSP will be available in September in 2 color versions, Piano Black and Ice Silver. Two new bundle packs were announced too: A PSP Entertainment Pack will include the Ice Silver version, Daxter, the UMD Family Guy collection, a 1GB memory stick, retails for USD199. Star Wars: Battlefront PSP Pack will include the new Battlefront game, Renegade Squadron, and the Ice PSP with Darth Vader printed on the back. And this Star Wars was introduced by Chewbacca on stage, woo hoo...

E3 2007 opened its doors

E3 2007, conducted by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), have opened its doors.

This year's event is being held from July 11 - 13 in Santa Monica, California, is only open to games industry professionals, journalist, and guests of exhibitors. While this has made the visitors to the show lesser, it offers a much closer and intimate view of the companies products being promoted.

I will try to post as much info from the show as I can get, as well as my opinions on its effect on gaming in MY.

Microsoft extending warranty on Xbox360 to 3 years.

Microsoft, publisher and maker of the Xbox 360 gaming consoles, have extended the warranty period of their console to 3 years.

It seems that Microsoft did research on the Xbox360's now infamous "three flashing of red lights" on its console, signalling terminal hardware failure. This research shows that almost 30% of Xbox360s fail (compared to 1% failure rate of Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii), which have prompted Microsoft to improve their parts and production process, as well as allocating a staggering US1 billion to repair the defective units out there globally.

In an attempt to sooth their existing customer base and stop them from switching to PS3 (now at USD499 with reduction of USD100), Microsoft have announced a global extended warranty of three years for all Xbox360 bought, irregardless of the date bought. Meaning that even if you bought the unit since launch day November 22, 2005, you will qualify to have another one year and 4 months extra warranty on your Xbox 360! Moreover, for owners who had paid for repair done on failed Xbox360s will qualify for a full refund of the repair.

While this is very good news for existing and potential new Xbox360 customers, this may not be good news to local gamers. For some of you out there that had bought a modded 360, you are not in luck as this new extended warranty and repair cost refund wont apply to you. Reason being you had voided the warranty of the unit by allowing unauthorised third party to disassemble your 360 to put in a mod chip, and as far as I know, Microsoft is not approving of modding their console.

So there you have it, if you are the few out there in MY that has an original unmodded Xbox360, you can rest easy that your unit now has a 3 year warranty (dated back to the date of purchase) and you can be assured that your unit will be repaired by Microsoft on their own cost if it fails on you. For those of you who had a modded unit, tough luck and buy original next time!

80GB PS3, and price drop for 60GB model

Its official, Sony has announce the news that many fan-boys out there are screaming for. With effect from today 9th July 2007, the 60GB PS3 has been price have been reduced to USD499, that's a USD100 off the launch price.

Also, an 80GB version bundled with Motorstorm have been announced too, and this version will be made available in August (in US) and South Korea (!!). This new version and bundle, as I believe it to be, will be usedto compete head to head versus the Xbox360 Elite, which ships with a 120GB HDD at USD499.

How this will affect the prices here in MY? Well, don't expect a drop in price from the retailers in MY just yet as their stocks are mainly parallel imports, meaning that their prices are fixed cost landed. I wont be waiting holding my breath, as the prices will only drop when the bring in new stocks from US at the new prices. But still, expect the prices to hover in the RM1500 price range sometime after August/September period. Will try to get some news about the Asian version soon (most retail PS3 units in MY and SG version are the Asian version).

I have foreseen the price drop, as the PS3 are not moving off the shelves in US and Sony desperately need to get back into the game. Moreover, their blu-ray movie discs are not getting as spectacular reviews as compared to HD-DVD, and that is hurting the PS3 even more.

With a lower selling price, Sony will take much longer to recover the losses each unit sold, but this will make the units more affordable as a premier gaming machine WITH a 1080p high def blu-ray movie player. With more units sold, game developers will see the PS3 as a viable platform for exclusive games (Liar is the exclusive for PS3 coming out in August). And with more PS3 sold, the demand for Sony's blu-ray movie discs will also increase and more units being sold.

All this translates to good news to consumers, especially if you have been waiting for the PS3 to be more affordable.

Apple's iPhone is out!!

Here comes the latest, hottest and most marketing hyped phone, the iPhone. Its from Apple, the makers of the oh-so-popular iPod, hence the similar naming moniker (!). The 4GB version retails at USD499 while the 8GB version is at USD599 (the same price as a 60GB PS3).

Now before you run out to get to the retail shops to get yourself one, its out in the US only. It requires a 2 year contract with AT&T, and if you dont activate the plan, your iPhone becomes a really expensive brick. And oh.... the ATT&T iPhone SIM card dont work with other GSM phones and vice versa, so you are pretty much stuck with activation.

So here's my take on the phone that has great features, but yet is lacking in some.

iPhone externals:

At 114mm x 61mm x 12mm, its fells right on the hands, and not bulky if placed in the trousers. On the top is an on/off button that doubles as a sleep mode button too. The same button will mute the ringer during an incoming call, while pressing it again will send the call to voicemail. Beside that, there is a recessed 3.5mm jack for the supplied stereo white headphones with button fro receiving calls and built in mic. Bad news as this allows only smaller headphones jacks to fit in the slot, meaning your more expensive Bose headphones may not fit in.

On the side is a volume control rocker as well as a ringer mute button (great for cinema goers), and on the bottom are a pair of speakers and the jack for sync dock or the USB battery charger. On the face, there is only one "home" button, that will bring you back to the top menu, irregardless how deep into the menu you are.

iPhone displays:

At 3.5 inches, the native of 480x320 pixel takes the whole front face of the phone's size translates into brilliant colors, sharp graphics, and fluid movements. Icons for phone menu, mail menu, Safari web browser and iPod functions are lined at the bottom of the menu, while other functions as camera, calculator and others are lined on top.

With no stylus, you handle the iPhone with your fingers which will lead to smudging of the face (much like the LG Prada). With some practice, you will get used to the onscreen keypad/keyboard and tapping numbers and messages will be easy.

iPhone features a multitouch screen that allows you to drag, scroll, slide and zoom (by pinching fingers apart). With built in motion sensors (Apple calls them accelerators), the display will orient itself depending on how you hold the iPhone. And with yet another sensor, the display will shut off when u put it to your ears to take a call.

Very cool stuff when you see it working.

iPhone's features:

iPhone only runs on EDGE for data. Its not even a 3G phone for the price you are paying it for. While it has WiFi support, no 3G means that you cant be using the iPhone for fast internet surfing outside a WiFi area. Which pretty much limits the phone's usage as a PDA or smartphone.

The phone book allows you to have 8 numbers per contact as well as emial and home addresses, as well as photo ID and polyphonic ringtone assignment. Yes, there is no MP3 ringtone feature either. Other standard functions as clock, calculator and notepad are available, but no voice dialling. It also has a document reader on board. It has Bluetooth 2.0 support, as well as SMS and email support for webmails as well as POP3 and IMPA4 servers, but no MMS.

It has a basic 2MP camera with no setting, no flash, no night mode, no self portrait mirror and you cant take videos with the camera, which pretty much limits it to just taking acceptable quality photos.

iPhone has a rated battery life of 8 hours talk time, 24 hours of music playback, 7 hours of video playback, 6 hours on Internet use, with standby time at 10.4 days. However, the battery is not exchangeable which means that you have to charge it every couple of days as you will surely use the multiple functions of the iPhone and not only one all the time.

The battery has an expected lifespan of 300-400 charges, upon which you will need to send it to Apple to change for a fee. I will prefer to have exchangeable batteries coz as a phone, its usually a more crucial part of life than an MP3 player like iPod, so i cant have the iPhone not alive while I drive to the nearest Apple center to have the battery changed.

Apple's Safari web browser works well as it displays webpages in its true form rather than the stripped down WAP format, but Safari does not support Flash or Java. Tap link to open new page, double tap to zoom in and out and moving your fingers around the page lets you pan the page. Very nice.

iPhone's iPod:

Within all the features and functions of the iPhone, the iPod function is the one most talked about. With all the features of a 5th generation iPod like music, video, podcast, playlist and content management via iTunes built in, the iPod function is a very much welcomed addition to the phone as opposed to having a simple media player.

Coupled with the iPhone's multitouch screen, the ablum artwork feature is a welcomed return to the iPod features. Scrolling thru your playlist while seeing the album artwork cover is very satisfying experience, similar to iTune's Cover Flow. Add to this is the ability to play the music via the built-in stereo speakers (although the sound is tinny and distorted) is also a welcomed addition.

Now, as with all features on the iPhone, there are bad news here too. Apple had removed option to drag and drop contents from iTunes library to the iPhone directly. You will be required to sync the phone every time you need new content on your iPhone. This severely limits the user friendliness of the iPod function, as the limited on board memory (4GB or 8GB) is share by the SMS/emails, phone book, photos, music and videos.

It also lacks an external memory support, and for a high end phone cum music player, it lacks A2DP bluetooth stereo support too.

Summary:

If you are looking at the iPhone for the smartphone features, it lacks 3G, replacable battery, MP3 ringtones, and features other mediocre functions. You will be better off with smartphones like O2 or Nokia N95.

If you are looking at it from the iPod features, it lacks the ease of drag and drop, no external memory and no A2DP bluetooth stereo support. You will be better off with the 5th generation iPod or could even wait for Apple to roll out its 6th generation.

However, if you are looking for a gadget that has both features (which will cover the shortcomings mentioned above), Apple iPhone is the heck of a cool looking gadget you will want to get.

Ratings: 7.5/10

For us here in Malaysia, lets see if Apple decides to launch it here in this region, eventually.

Samsung LCD TV Model LA37S8IBX

Samsung LCD TV LA37S8IBX

Lemme make things very clear, I don't work for MBf Cards nor Samsung. However, their latest joint promotion is really good not to be mentioned as it has gotten me really excited wanting to get myself one unit.

This exquisite model is only available to MBf Cards holders only and you can get yourself one by the following options:-

1) Get 3 credit card slips with 5 as the last digit approval code in it, all within one month. Yeah, that's pretty easy to get.... NOT!!

2) Balance transfer minimum RM7500, then keep a minimum balance of RM7000 for 39 months!!! Downside to this, you need to keep paying the minimum 5% monthly repayment that equals to RM350. Meaning that you need to spend a minimum of RM350 each month to ensure you keep the required RM7000 balance in your account. Yeah..... that's pretty easy to do.... NOT!!

3) 0% Easy Payment Plan (EPP)
a) Get yourself a new MBf Credit Card, and then 0% Easy Payment Plan it, at a very affordable RM100 for 43 months (making the unit price of RM4300), or

b) Existing card holders pay RM100 for 39 months ONLY!! Or for RM162.50 for 24 months!!
Outta all the options as above, its the 0% EPP that attracts me the most. I am a MBf card holder, so I qualify to get the spanking new 37inch Samsung LCD TV at a super discounted price of RM3900!! Whoa.....

Moreover, this model is not available in retail shops out there. It's a 37 inch model at a price that is very close to the street price of the 32inch, which are being sold at a promotional price of..... RM3499. So for additional RM401, I get a unit with a much bigger screen display. Better yet, its only RM100 or RM162.50 per month.

Now all this will be not interesting if the said model is not attractive in features or display. Sporting a HD-ready 1,366 x 768-pixel Super Patterned Vertical Alignment LCD panel, this panel is rated to deliver a high 7,000:1 dynamic contrast and a 500nit brightness. Coupled these with a fast 8ms response time and industry-leading 178 degree viewing angle and it's customary DNIE picture-processing engine, Samsung has got itself an extremely powerful TV that's currently leading the pack in the entry level price segment.

Even better are the TWO HDMI ports, along with another two sets of analog component-video sockets at the rear. That's a total of FOUR 1080i-ready inputs to go with your HD-enabled playback devices (Blu-Ray DVD players, HD-DVD player, XBOX360 or PS3). Oh, there are also the customary S-Video and regular composite video at the side too.

I have to admit that I have not laid eyes on any display in any form from this LCD TV, as its an exclusive Mbf Card offer. However, I could view its bigger brother, the LA40S8IBX. The display is very impressive, no problems in displaying fast moving movie action scenes without ghosting, thanks to its fast 8ms response time. Colors are very sharp due to its high contrast ratio and details are very sharp. This is about as technical I will get into. Summary, the display is very impressive for a 40in model (street price of RM6499), and with a slightly smaller in screen size, the display will be equally impressive in the 37in model.

There you have it, my reason being excited. Impressive displays, 2 HDMI imputs, 37in screen at 32in prices. Best part of it all, 0%EPP at RM100 per month for 39 month.

MBf, expect an order to me real soon, and Samsung, pls send it to me soonest possible!!!

Modded PS3 available, in KL??

An extremely reliable birdy told me something very interesting early last week. I have been spending some time investigating this piece of information; I was in my extremely curious mode and tried to dig as much info as I can get from this, to verify its existence or to debunk it (much like one of my favorite shows on the Discovery Channel, Mythbusters). So with the help of several friends, this is what I found out. The info that got me so worked up was this:

PS3 have been modded, with games available for it, and its available in KL!

There are also 10-15 "DVD" games available for the modded PS3, and is available in two options: Japanese PS3 or US PS3 sets. More surprisingly, the Jap PS3 is black and the US PS3 is in WHITE! And to top it off, Jap PS3 retails at RM1300++ and US PS3 is for you to take home at RM1600++, bundled with one Original and one "compatible" (???) controller, and 10 DVD games!!!

Now I pulled my immediate gaming resources (meaning I called Kenny Gan of Wega Enterprise in Sungei Wang) to get to the bottom of this. I had suspect that he didn't know of it either, else he would have told me of it. He confirmed that he didn't, and that got me to look for the little reliable birdy to confirm her story. This lead to one crazy exchanges of SMSes and furious online chats just to confirm the story.

Long story told short, we got someone to help us do the legwork to confirm the existence of modded PS3s in KL, while I went online to verify that someone indeed have successfully done such a thing. It seems that not all stores selling PS3 are aware of this (like Wega Ent), and it seems only a handful do. A quick check in Sg Wang and Leisure Mall shows that these places are unaware, while its available in two undisclosed locations, for now. This is what I found out.

A quick check on the internet does reveal that someone has successfully done it. YouTube have numerous video proof of playing "back-ups" on a PS3 (but you have to take it with many pinches of salt to believe some of them). Some of these videos are so blurry and many can be taken as fake, but there are a few seemingly genuine videos that looks very real.

My legwork source have verified that he has personally seen the modded PS3 and the "DVD" discs and they do run on the modded PS3s. Some titles available are Oblivion, FIFA, but don't take my word for it as I have not seen the titles with my own eyes. Only black PS3 (supposedly Jap PS3) are seen in stock and no WHITE PS3 (supposedly US PS3) can be found.

The modded PS3s sold in KL are of the cancelled 20GB variants. 20GB PS3 have been cancelled since last 2006 and are no longer in production. It has a smaller HDD size,does not have WiFi nor a built in card reader as compared to the 60GB big brother that has. The US retail price for the 20GB is USD499 versus USD599 for the 60GB one. The games are indeed available in DVD format, but the library for it is pretty much limited. I have not personally seen the titles, so i cant comment about them here.

So there you have it. Its TRUE, modded PS3 have landed in KL, and yes, the prices are indeed as cheap as I was told. BUT, I had many doubt and issues with those modded PS3 that keeps me from running to the store to get one unit of my own right now. I will put them up in my next post.

What's new?? Modded Wii!!!

While I have been away since the begining of this year, several key gadgets have arrived in KL, some to much fanfare while some making a more quiet entrance.

Firstly, a modded Nintendo Wii (hereafter to be known as Wii only) has hit the stores in KL, way back in April 07. What this means is that Wii have been cracked and chipped to play pirated games. While WiiKey and its many clones have been available in the market for few months now, it has only recently showed up in MY.

There are two types of Wii systems in MY, the Japanese version and the US version. Most of the units sold here are of the Japanese varient, as its about RM300 cheaper than the US version. So whats the difference??

There are two main differences, firstly is the language. Japanese Wii have menu screens in Japanese, while the US version has an English for its menu (duh!!). Note that the Wii does not have options to change language unlike the PS3. So if you got yourself a Japanese Wii, you are stuck with Japanese menu. While this may not be a very big deal to many, I would go for the US version for the friendliness of the the menu. As I cant read Japanese, this limits my ability to change the preset options of the Wii, like the sound output, the video output, the internet connection setting, the Wii Connect24 options, the many Wii Channels setting, and even the cool blue LED lights at the DVD slot. I want full control over my unit, and this alone makes the RM300 seems worth it.

However, if you got the Japanese system and have limited command of the Japanese language, there are many system FAQs out there online, so you can learn the menu setting, what buttons means what and what to do to change the settings on your Wii. One good site to start is www.gamefaqs.com. If I am up for it, I may post the settings here at a later date.

One other difference to the Japanese versus the US version is that the latter comes with Wii Sports as a bundle. Now as pirated versions of Wii games are available at a fraction cost of the original softwares, this may seem insignificant. Still, its a good bundle to have for free.

Most stores will sell you a Japanese Wii, so if you wish to be able to read your Wii settings in English, pls specify that you want the slightly costlier US Wii. The current market price is RM1199 for the Japanese Wii, and its RM1499 for the US version. The pirated games retail for RM15 each, they can be found in most stores around KL.

For my blog readers, head over to Wega Enterprise (LG floor, in front of Parkson side entrance, opposite Michael Ling hair saloon), look for Kenny Gan and tell him Steven (thats me!!) sent you. He will give you a better price (for the Wii only) than the retail price as above.

Back from my hiatus!!

I have been missing from my own blog for a few months time. Something bad happened to my brother, he was infected by dengue and was warded few days after my previous entry. Long story short, he was warded into a hospital, turned very critical that had him staying in ICU for over a month, and took him another few weeks there to recuperate. He has since been discharged and is recovering at home. He is not at his optimal, but we are working to get him back to normal.

For all those who knows me and my family incident, those who had helped me pray for him, those that had help me get blessing for him, those that had just thought of us during this time, I wish to THANK YOU with all my heart, and wish all the good things in life for you.

I will contribute to this blog more, and try to make it a bigger and more informative site for gadgets (that i can get my hands on for review) in Malaysia.

Thank you for your continued support.