Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Sony Ericsson has officially set into motion all the details about its F305 Motion Gaming phone,.  If the company has its way, soon your city streets and public places will be full of young people pretending to bowl and fish while oblivious to the strange looks from passersby.

The leaked details as seen previously here on Gadgetell are confirmed: compatibility with GSM and EDGE networks, a 2-inch TFT screen, 2-megapixel camera, stereo speakers and 10MB of in-phone memory. Motion-sensor accelerometers allow you to interact with gaming a la Nintendo Wii. Three games are pre-loaded: Bowling, Bass Tournament and Jockey, but 50 more are available via download at the PlayNow service. It hits the streets in certain markets in late summer/early fall; no pricing yet.

Some commenters on tech blogs are making the obvious Wii-mote related jokes about the need for wrist straps so F305’s don’t become accidental projectiles when you’re trying to nail that 7-10 split. Others, however, share my view that being unable to see the phone’s screen while (ahem) going through the motions may make for difficult gameplay. Developers could view this as a challenge; what about shaking the phone? A driving game like the one for the new 3G iPhone, where the handset is the steering wheel?

Read [Sony Ericsson]

If certain video and computer games are proving to have better stories, characters and production design than a lot of movies and TV shows, then the Sci Fi Channel’s latest announcement subscribes to the Don Corleone theory of business: keep your friends close but your enemies closer. The channel is joining with gaming company Trion to develop something that’s both a TV show and an online game. The as-yet-untitled show is expected to premiere on your TV and PC in 2010.

There have been many movie and TV-based games but the consensus among gamers is that most of them have sucked. And movies or TV shows based on video games have generally suffered the same fate (see Boll, Uwe.) But Sci Fi Channel officials are quoted as saying that their writers will work side-by-side with gaming designers from day one in the hopes of achieving what many industry observers have hoped would be the next chapter in interactive entertainment. As Sam Howe, Sci Fi Channel president, told the L.A. Times:

MORE »

Toshiba has unveiled two new powerful gaming laptops, the Satellite X205-SLi5 and the X205-SLi6. Both laptops are powered by Intel’s 45nm processors and offer NVIDIA SLi technology that is sure to delight hardcore gamers.

Both models of the X205-SLi laptops feature HDMI ports to allow gamers to play games on their 1080i high-definition HDTV display. For added excitement, Toshiba has thrown in an S/P DIF output port that gives 5.1 stereo surround sound when combined with Dolby Sound Room technology. The two Toshiba laptops come with Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 3GB RAM, 320GB-400GB hard drives that run at 7200 RPM, DVD multi-drives, wireless gaming features with Bluetooth V.20+EDR technology and a 1.3-megapixel webcam.

The X205-SLi5 and X205-SLi6 will sell for around $1,999 and $2,499 respectively. Ready to shell out that amount of money for your gaming pleasure?

Read [Toshiba Direct]

MSI must have received reactions from GX600 users that it decided to upgrade its gaming notebook to fully support the demand of today’s 3D games. The latest iteration of MSI’s GX600-Enhanced, which is how the notebook is now called, features Intel 45nm processing chips, increased memory and hard disk drive capacity.

What was previously an already powerful gaming right was made even powerful and resource-efficient with the new processor and a 3GB RAM and 320GB of hard disk storage. Gamers would definitely have a heyday playing their favorite MMORPG and other online games using the GX600-Enhanced.

MORE »

Product: Sandio 3D Game O2 mouse (aka 3D Motion Controller with Laser Gaming Mouse)
Price: $79.99
Rating: 5.5/10
Pros: A good core laser mouse, comfortable wrist attachment, programmable mini joysticks and cool lookin’ lights.
Cons: Not as plug-and-play as promised with certain programs. Programming interface is not very intuitive. Some ergonomic issues as well.
Overall: As a regular mouse, this works pretty well but the 3D components are more awkward than necessary. Only consider buying if you have a specific non-gaming 3D need, forgiving hands, a strong wrist and lots of patience.

In a 2D computer screen world, it can really become a pain in the wrist to try and navigate virtual 3D environments. Sure, VRML has pretty much dissolved from the world wide web but videogames, Second Life and even Google World still provide some pretty cool 3D goodness you’ll want to easily navigate.

Enter an innovative take on the computer mouse, Sandio’s 3D Game O2. It relies several mini joysticks that, when used together, are meant to help more naturally navigate through 3D environments. The concept may be great but the execution is a bit lacking especially for gamers.

Read [Gamertell]

Alienware has re-launched its Area-51 7500 into the Area-51 desktop which now supports the most robust gaming platform in the PC gaming industry. The Area-51 is now packed with NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI-based motherboard and NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 dual GPU single graphics card to deliver high definition PC gaming with high frame rates and smooth Blu-ray disc playback.

The nForce 790i Ultra SLI is the only nForce platform that supports DDR3 memory up to 2GHz. This gives out record-breaking memory speeds that support even the most graphics intensive PC games. The nForce790i motherboard is compatible with 1600MHz FSB Intel CPUs and allows unmatched visual computing through NVIDIA 2-way, 3-way and Quad SLI technology.

MORE »

Asus has launched its newest 24-inch LCD monitor. The Asus MK241H boasts native HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) support for full HD 1080p video playback. It is equipped with a 1920x1200 16:10 high resolution panel that delivers multi-channel audio and uncompressed digital video. Translating these into layman’s terms, the Asus MK241H would give gamers and multimedia users the ultimate gaming and multimedia experience.

Asus has even upped the ante of the MK241H by integrating a plug-and-play built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam for high-resolution video and array microphones for the much needed push towards optimum video and audio pleasure. The webcam, microphone array, stereo speakers and earphone jack makes the MK241H useful for video conferencing as well. 

MORE »

Dell has officially unveiled their latest gaming desktop, the XPS 630 which is intended to serve as a “mainstream gaming” machine. The XPS 630 features an Intel Core 2 processor, comes standard with 2GB RAM, a 320GB or larger hard drive, running Windows Vista Home Premium and either a single or dual nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB2 graphics card, depending on your configuration.

Overall the reviews seem positive and the XPS 630 should make any gamer without an unlimited budget happy with the game experience. Let’s check out some of the reviews:

MORE »

Toshiba has introduced the latest and the meanest version of its flagship gaming notebook series. The Satellite X205-SLi has a cogent Penryn at its heart backed by NVIDIA’s SLI graphics, which will combine to give you the crispiest gaming experience imaginable.

The X205-SLi’s processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 (45 nm) that clocks 2.1 GHz with a 3 Mb L2 cache. Besides the processor, the NVIDIA SLI graphics - with not one but two Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphic processing units - will make life a whole lot of fun for the professional ilk of gamers by rendering true-to-life graphics. The SLI graphics will give you brisk frame rates even at higher resolutions.

Read [Gamertell]

If you’re like me, you’re probably struggling to keep up with all of the tech news we pump out each day - let alone gaming and apple news as well.  So what’s hot right now in gaming?  The crew over at our “little brother” Gamertell’s got the skinny for you.  Check out the Gamertell’s top 10 posts from the past 7 days below:

1. Great game deals at Goodwill
2. Darkrai coming to America
3. Beanie Babies 2.0 take on Webkinz
4. Master System, Game Gear games coming to the Wii Virtual Console
5. Important Importables: Best SNES role-playing games
6. Saw IV inspires new Blockdot game Trapped
7. Important Importables: Super Dollfie dolls
8. Rumor: Smash Brothers Brawl demos coming to GameStops
9. Wii Virtual Console update for the week of January 28- Feb. 3, 2008
10. Exclusive Interview: Datarock’s Fredrik Saroea

And if you want more where that came from, go ahead and subscribe to their feed.  You won’t be disappointed.