It's OK, you can have a quick peek

I’ve just been over at Kotaku’s house. They certainly did have some news going down over there. See that picture there? It’s what appears to be Windows Mobile 7. Do you see what else is there? XBOX Live. As Kotaku put it… that’s some tight integration, right on the home screen. Hot.

World Mobile Congress is happening today, soon. We’ll write something soon when more details about this platform synergy emerges.

"The End"

“I think you knew deep down that someday soon this would happen…” Said XBOX Live to Daddy XBOX. They were sat at a table in a cold, concrete room with fluorescent lighting.

Daddy XBOX just sat there… looking down. Quietly contemplating a response, but knew it was the wrong thing to do. About 20 seconds pass by… the silence getting louder as every second passed by.

Daddy XBOX: “… so, when”

XBOX Live (immediately cuts in): “April 15th.”

Daddy XBOX: “…”

Daddy XBOX starts walking to the door… slowly, with his head down. Just as he opens the door…

XBOX Live: “Listen, wait! …”

Daddy XBOX pauses, still with his head down and his hand on the door handle.

XBOX Live: “You’ve had a good run. An amazing 8 year run… you showed the world just what can be achieved with online gaming on the home console. You paved the way for MILLIONS of happy gamers getting online… and you have set the standard forever. Your legacy is only going to get greater as time goes on. You should be proud of yourself…”

Daddy XBOX stays silent for a few seconds… thinking…. then continues opening the door to leave. Just as he turns around to close the door completely, he lifts his head up and smiles at XBOX Live.

The door closes.

Even if you are a Sony PSN fan… some part of you can’t be agreeing to this. “Tester” is a PSN exclusive reality show, coming in the form of 10 unfortunately deluded individuals battling it out for a job at Sony as a games tester, over 8 episodes. That’s right… a games tester. If anyone knows the games industry, then they know that this is like being tested mentally and physically in a game show to win a lifetime of luxury… only to be thrown into a poverty-stricken slum in the far corner of the earth.

The games tester. The very bottom of the gaming industry… looking for their way into the bright lights and fast cars of the industry that’s bigger than Hollywood. The reality for testers? Not so much bright lights and fast cars. Not even “looking for their way into the”. In this day and age, where nearly anyone in a professional industry needs to have a piece of paper from a higher institution to prove it that they can do what they want to do, you may stand little or no chance of getting where you want to get to. Advantage? Sony.

I mean I don’t even know why they’re doing this in the first place. Is anyone going to watch this poor bandwagon-hijacking show? Does anyone actually care? I question the mentality of the contestants … whoring themselves to Sony’s sub-par PlayStation Network, allowing all the users of the network to judge them further. These contestants are the product of Sony branding… “proof-of-concept” of just how far someone is mentally and physically willing to go for the sake of the name “PlayStation” more than the damning job that lies at the end of it all – if they are even to get that far.

You can probably tell already, we have a real problem with the show. I don’t like Sony as a company, and this is possibly solid proof of just what they are capable of getting away with. No human should have to suffer physically and mentally for a brand such as Sony, just to achieve something that anyone can do. Most gamers, whether they are XBOX 360, PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii fans, are aware that the online gaming realm isn’t as forgiving as real life, and judges harshly due to the very nature of human competition.

I know that the gaming industry educated will see past the “Reality TV” element of this. Everyone else on PSN won’t – and that’s the problem.
I know that Microsoft know better. And for the record, I only knew of one company that would take their testers seriously, and offered career progression into design and management. Rare.

You can read Ars take on this too, by Ben Kuchera.

Ars – Sony’s Tester: mixing worst of reality shows with worse job

I just kept forgetting about Blu-ray

Poor PSN. It’s just low-blow after low-blow with these guys. Poor online performace in all sectors, and now this. I mean it’s understandable, after what went into forcing themselves upon us without consent when Blu-ray came along.

IGN’s mega-editor, Matt Casamassina, recently did an interview with Sony’s Peter Dille, who is Sony’s Marketing and PSN bossman.

IGN: On a semi-related note, you’ve got a few full PS3 games for download, but not many. Any plans to offer the entire catalog for download going forward?

Peter Dille: No, I don’t think so — at least, not any time soon. Part of the reason for that is broadband. We have an advantage with PlayStation 3 from an optical media perspective because a Blu-ray disc contains 50 gigs. Maybe this point will come at some time, but today to download 50 gigs of data before you play a game, you could probably go buy a car, bring it home, put your family into it, drive to the store by and bring the game home by the time you [could download it]. I think we’re on the forefront of digital distribution.

No, you’re not. You’re paid to say that, Peter. Your pissing away Sony’s finances on the PSN. On the flipside however, the PSN bossman has shown some intelligence by putting their heavily invested Blu-ray technology into the spotlight abit more, rather than piss that away too. Well done. You can read the full interview over at IGN.

IGN – End Bosses: Sony’s Peter Dille

Really? Are you being SERIOUS? Is this even REAL?! Have they got NOTHING BETTER to do than STATE THE OBVIOUS about an INTERNET BASED SERVICE?!

It must have been a seriously slow news day over at KDVR. So slow, that they allowed someone (Heidi Hemmat) with extremely poor editorial skills to go ahead and write and film this joke of an article. So why is it a joke of an article? Well lets start from the top. Actually, I’ve got a better idea. I’m going to copy and paste the article below – and rip it apart.

Before I continue, the excessively used line breaks are actually the way they have written this article.

DENVER – With their explosive sound systems and killer graphics, they are the video games kids are dying to play.

But XBOX live, Play Station 3 (it’s PlayStation 3) and even (you missed out “the” here) Wii have become a sexual predator’s playground.

That’s because the games are interactive (OBVIOUSLY), kids are matched up with players all across the country, they can talk to each other, do battle in cyberspace (do battle in “CYBERSPACE”?) and make friends.

The problem; often times (often times?) the players are adult posing as kids, luring children through headsets and instant messages.

“It was very scary” says Erica McWhorter. She was playing XBOX when someone with the screen name, Romantic Devil (Oh yeah? I’m sure you wouldn’t have been able to have even guessed the intentions here) started asking her personal questions through instant messages.

“He said, are you girl? How old are you? Do you have a web cam?” Then McWhorter says he asked her “if I wanted to see his private parts.” (LOL, is this sexual predator 15? “Private Parts”?!)

McWhorter reported the unwanted encounter to XBOX, and Romantic Devil was blocked from contacting her (Or she could have used the “Block Communications” button).

But it made McWhorter realize just how dangerous XBOX could be for a child (She has obviously never used the World Wide Web, or taught by her parents what a sexual predator is – stupid parents to me).

Video game Pedophiles have been arrested all across the country for everything from using XBOX to send nude pictures to arranging to have sex with a minor. The FBI says it’s one of the fastest growing crimes. (Proof or references please?)

“Sex offenders will go anywhere kids go,” says Jefferson County investigator Mike Harris. He says children are contacted by sex offenders through on line video games more often than parent’s realized.

“Children don’t always tell their parents because their afraid they will take the game away instead of trying to solve the problem.” (Sounds like a pretty stupid child to me)

The makers of XBOX (The makers of XBOX? You mean MICROSOFT? Have you EVER heard of them?) says parents can take control of the game by setting up what kind of games their children can play or by restricting access to XBOX live (Stupid parents again).

But police say it is important parent’s contact local law enforcement if their child is contacted by someone suspicious.

That’s because there are ways to track down criminals through cyberspace (LMAO – through “CYBERSPACE” again. And there will always be STUPID criminals out there that don’t know how to cover tracks).

Everything about this is just … pathetic. The message is valid, but stupid children, parents and news networks? Didn’t think they openly existed in this day and age.

KDVR – XBOX a sexual predator paradise? (Paradise? – LOL)

You heard this?! The boy has been bitchin’ about Abode, and Google. Calling Adobe “lazy”, and Google’s motto (don’t be evnil) “bullshit”. That’s right lades and gentlemen… bullshit. Bull…shit. He said it. I mean after the whole fiasco with Google’s Eric Schmidt leaving Apple’s board of directors for obvious reasons (read: Nexus One), Apples top dog has gone off on one.

I won’t ruin if for you. Boy Genius has some more. Oh yeah, you know if you see that Steve Jobs? Tell him to stay off the crack.

Boy Genius – Steve Jobs disses Adobe and calls BS on Google

My mate Nick, quite rightly said last night “what’s the point” to my question of what he thought of the iPad over XBOX Live. Alot of other people are thinking exactly what Nick is thinking. What’s the point? It doesn’t even have a full web browser which, upon finding out, really ticked me off. I mean… that’s just adding insult to wanting the relatively taken for granted task of browsing the standard web. I know, I know… there are a million thousand reasons to not want a full web browser without flash and how iPhone OS is “absolutely perfect” so why use something different.

Not me however. Give me the HP Slate. Gizmodo written a crackin’ article, the “Slate Showdown“, which included a side-by-side comparison of the up-and-coming slate computers. I’ve included the side-by-side comparison after the break, or, you can check it out over at Gizmodo.

Image: Gizmodo

"X: I'm BACK baby!"

It’s been a while since the last (non-Canadian) one, but X is back… and I’m sure it’s back for a damn good reason. Hot on the heals of our last article about the Zune uprising, I predict that this year’s “X” will bring playable Natal games, just games, and hopefully some information on my own prediction of the Zune service slowly taking over.

A few days ago, Microsoft sent out Media alerts that “X” is making a return – and you can’t help but think that they’re going to make this year a big one. With some seriously A-list games on the horizon and this year and their Natal technology due for release this year – I wouldn’t be surprised if they had some tricks up their sleeve. I mean, for an event that was previously put on hold for many reasons, they have got to be coming out with something large to warrant being “X” back… right? Right?

“X” is returning, to San Francisco on the 11th of February… just for 4 hours though… but still, Bring It.

Zune. Microsoft Zune. How much do you know about Microsoft’s media and hardware delivery platform? Probably not too much. What purpose does it actually serve you as the consumer? What does the future hold for their relatively quiet service? And why is 2010 an important year for Microsoft? Redmond is planning an invasion… and we’re starting to see just what this year has in store.

Since November 2005, Microsoft have sold 39 Million XBOX 360s worldwide. That’s sold, not shipped. That’s a lot of Microsoft controlled and branded hardware in peoples homes. Microsoft also launched their Zune portable media player, to which it received a luke-warm reception, in 2006. Since then, Microsoft designed and released two more versions of their Zune portable, each clearly showing lessons learned from Apple – with the most notable being their Zune HD. Only around 3 Million have been shipped so far… and that can partly be blamed for their decisions to release these devices in the US alone. But they wasn’t too bothered by that, it seems. They just… kept doing their thing, even without making much of a return.

Over the last 6 months, a few noticeable things have been happening. More and more news of Zune-related news have been making it out on to the world wide web, including talk of Windows Mobile 7 (aka WinMo 7), and the XBOX Live Marketplace being re-branded to Zune Marketplace. Right there, Remond have pushed the Zune brand into 39 Million of their products… if that isn’t a hint of what is being planned here, nothing will be. The XBOX platform is a perfect way to create awareness and target the demographic they want, as they have control over the look and feel of the operating system – something they can change this any way they want, when they want.

Then there is the Zune Phone. It’s one of them things… it’s all up in the air. No solid proof. No nothing… just static in the blogosphere – only just making out quiet, murmuring voices. But there is one thing for sure… Microsoft have fallen way back in the mobile software world. With Windows Mobile 6 hanging on for dear life, Symbian became the king of mobile phone operating systems. Microsoft didn’t seem, oddly enough, too bothered about this. Then came the day that the iPhone was announced, running a cut down version of OS X, sporting a beautiful user interface and engineering. Microsoft shit themselves. iPhone OS was only in version 1.0 … but it still pushed Windows Mobile 6 out the window. Threw it out the window, infact.

And then came the iPhone development kit. Cue thousands, and thousands, and hundreds of thousands of applications. Absolutely everything and anything was pouring onto the now infamous App Store, and people were purchasing in their millions. It was time for Redmond to take action… but it was already too late. With Symbian and RIM already releasing major upgrades to their established and claimed mobile market… Microsoft were wondering what to do with their… Windows Mobile 6.

Lets start cutting the long story short. Windows Mobile 6, became Windows Mobile 6.5. The insult to WinMo fans out there was in the name itself – .5? Point Five? Why even bother?! Then they tried a re-brand: “Windows Phone”… didn’t help. Thankfully, we have something else to sooth the pain inflicted upon us by Microsoft… WinMo 7. At this point, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Microsoft already had a tried and tested beautiful, user friendly, aesthetically pleasing, multi-touch user interface that makes even OS X fans jealous… Zune HD’s user interface.

Since the start of the year, it’s becoming more and more apparent that Windows Mobile 7 will be based on the user interface of  Zune HD. It might even be called the “Zune Phone”. It will have some serious software capabilities – as the achievements made by Apple, Symbian and RIM to name a few, have shown what exactly can be achieved on a mobile phone. It will have XBOX Live integration, and utilise it’s existing media delivery platform to rival iTunes. Microsoft have been forced to be creative – and it’s going to happen.

Lets takes a step back here, and look at the bigger picture. Microsoft are the world’s biggest software company – lets not forget this. They could have released a brand spanking new mobile operating system if they wanted to… but they didn’t. Things have happened over at Redmond… but it’s happened incrementally, slowly, and quietly. First they pushed the Zune brand out to the XBOX Live Marketplace and its 39 Million consoles. Then they released a portable media device… and revised it again a further two times and have ended up with a polished, stunning portable device platform with solid hardware, multi-touch screen and 720p output… but kept the device just within the USA. Since then, WinMo 6.5 has had just a semi-polished UI pushed out… it seems that Microsoft are testing the water and studying the consumer for something.

Microsoft have laid the foundation in millions of devices, computers and media players for the Zune onslaught that will face us this year… and it may all kick off in February at the Mobile World Congress 2010. As I write this… I’m seeing more news that sites are publishing and users are stumbling upon about the Zune service. This year could see Microsoft transform and merge it’s entertainment and mobile platform into one monstrosity of a service. It is just one division after all at Microsoft… the Entertainment and Devices division.

Wikipedia – Zune HD

Boy Genuis – Windows Mobile 7 time line

Stripped and Naked

I woke up today, earlier than usual, feeling good. Usually I brush any particular reason off to be happy in the morning and see what comes my way… but I came into work and was presented with the news that George Hot (GeoHot) had hacked the PS3. You might be thinking… “yeah so what, the PSP has been hacked many-a-time” … but this isn’t an ordinary hack…

This is a total hack. An everything hack. Far beyond the common firmware and modchip hacks. The PS3 has been forced open, bearing all. Granted, it’s taken just over 3 years for it to be done… but the achievement of such a hack can allow anyone to do potentially anything they want with the system being exposed in the way it has been opened up.

“I have read/write access to the entire system memory, and HV level access to the processor, in other words, I have hacked the PS3. The rest is just software. And reversing. I have a lot of reversing ahead of me, as I now have dumps of LV0 and LV1. I’ve also dumped the NAND without removing it or a modchip.”

Being able to dump the data from both Levels of the CPU cache, and be able to access non-volatile memory (NAND, not RAM) is effectively like someone being able to read your mind… and find out just exactly what’s going on in there, and what you know. Although GeoHot hasn’t disclosed exactly how he has managed to do it, we imagine he eventually will eventually spill the silicon beans into how it was achieved… after all, such a feat isn’t a quick solder here and there. It will be interesting to see what Sony do to respond to this. Cue firmware hardware update.

GeoHot’s Blog