Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Our sister site Gamertell has spotted an interesting freebie at Target retail stores. The chain is putting out a Speed Racer-themed gift card that comes with a 60+ MB USB 2.0 Flash drive built right in. It is one of those gift cards you fill with money to give to someone else, so it’s essentially free if you happen to forget to fill it before you take it home. (*wink*)

The Flash drive is preloaded with 50 MB of promotional files including the usual wallpapers, printable coupons, movie files and a videogame cheat code for the upcoming release of May 6, 2008, release of Speed Racer: The Videogame. You can, of course, keep or delete the files as you wish and simple have a nifty fat credit card sized Flash drive with a Speed Racer skin.

Read [Gamertell]

Microsoft finally ended the industry speculations on whether the Xbox 360 will be supporting Blu-ray technology or not. Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for the Xbox 360 told Reuters that Microsoft is negotiating with neither Sony nor the Blu-ray Association for a possible Blu-ray Xbox 360 integration.

Greenberg also said that the Microsoft Xbox 360 will continue its current Live online service which allow Xbox 360 fans to rent hundreds of movies online, which even include HD movies.

“We’re the only console offering digital distribution of entertainment content,” Greenberg said.

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Apple has conned over a million people to watch its video on last weeks SDK announcement.Ok, maybe “cons” is a bit harsh.  Apples video was up after most of us had already written about it and spilled the beans on what the video held.  But that didn’t stop the 1 million plus see Steve and Co. talk about the SDK for themselves.  Judging from the numbers, the iPhone is still gaining fans.  Check out this graph of what Apple is holding up as excitement for the SDK:

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A Microsoft spokesperson stated via phone interview with Financial Times that there are “no plans to introduce Blu-ray.” However, discussions between Sony and Microsoft have been confirmed by Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics US President.

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Imagine if your TV was strong enough to withstand any Wii-mote strikes, you could then indulge in your favorite Wii games wholeheartedly without worrying about accidentally damaging your expensive TV. Panasonic has unveiled a new line of Wii-proof plasma TVs at its HD Networking Conference in Valencia, Spain.

Panasonic claims that the plasmas can resist up to 4 joules of energy, which is enough to protect it from a flying Wii-mote unless it is purposely thrown with great force…

Read [Gamertell]

PS3 sales have picked up the pace in the UK and, for the last four weeks, has outsold the Xbox 360. Sony has also confirmed to Market for Home Computing and Video Games (MCV), a leading British industry journal, that PS3 has gone past the 1 million-sales milestone in the UK and at a rate faster than its antecedent console, the PS2…

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This new PMP made by Gemei, is called the United States X900 and comes with a few cool features that are sure to come in handy wherever you are and whatever you are doing. As you can tell from the picture, you can see a gaming like design. At first glance, it looks more like a gaming controller rather than some sort of PMP. The gaming interface, is just one of the few cool features of this PMP.

Let’s begin with the PMP aspect of the United States X900. It comes with a nice 4.3-inch touch screen, and plays AVI, MPEG4, MP3, WMA, and FLAC. Now, regarding the gaming aspect, the cool thing here is that the game pad is attachable, so if you don’t need it for something, you can easily detach it. It uses an ADI chip, which should allow for NES and SFC gaming. Furthermore, it can even act as a GPS if you add on the GPS receiver. So far, with its audio and video capabilities, gaming, and GPS, it is sure to keep you entertained and keep you from getting lost. Lastly, it comes with an FM tuner, an e-book reader, and it can use SD cards for up to 4GB of memory. Unfortunately, no word on pricing or availability as of yet.

Via [PMP Today]

It seems that Sony Australia wants to spread the word about their products. They are planning to do so by giving away the 40GB version of the Blu-ray playing video game device with the purchase of a Sony TV.

The TVs you can purchase are the 1080p XBR, X or W BRAVIA LCDs.  The W series BRAVIA starts at 3,000 Aussie dollars, while the PS3 retails for $700.

To me, this seems like Sony’s way of selling more TVs, as they only lose a fraction of what they make back with each TV sale, but its still a nice option to consider, especially if you are already in the market for a new TV.

Read [Sony AU]

Shopping for gamers can always be a bit difficult if the shopper is not familiar with the available platform games and the specific tastes of the individual.  However, with this helpful guide, shoppers can manage to wrangle up a great holiday gift for any Xbox 360 gamer on their list, getting by knowing only the basics about the types of games the individual gift recipient enjoys.

When shopping for Xbox 360 players, it is important to look at what has happened this year (2007) with Microsoft, since this will help to determine what games are available, how sought after specific games are or have been, and what games are exclusive to the Xbox 360.

After 2 years, Microsoft has made a number of strides with the Xbox 360 console.  Not only outselling PS3 games in Japan, but also managing to make a profit for the first time, gamers of the Xbox 360 platform are likely to love game gifts this season.

Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV are some great action games that are doing well with the Xbox 360.  Not only that, but Microsoft has managed to nab exclusive rights to the latest installment of the Grand Theft Auto series.  If your gift recipient is one who appreciates tactical maneuvers or car chases and action, these are going to be some potential gifts to consider.

Other games that left Sony to partner up with the Xbox team include Ace Combat 6, Final Fantasy XI and the to-be-released games Resident Evil 5 and Devil May Cry 4.  If you are looking to purchase any of these games, it is important to be aware that the only platform they will be available on is the Xbox 360.

For some more in depth information regarding the games mentioned above check out our sister site Gamertell.

Best Buy currently has a nice offer for those looking for a video game, you can save $10 on purchases of $30 or more. This is very nice deal from Best Buy and I’m sure many will use this coupon. All you have to do is print out the online coupon and bring it with you when you go to the store. This deal is good up until November 28, so you better hurry. Also, there does not appear to be any restrictions as to what games you can buy, unfortunately it is not valid for consoles, special order, or clearance items.

Read [Best Buy] Via [Gizmodo]