Author: Stuart Dredge
Video Review: Halo 3 on Xbox 360
Yeah, so there's a new game out called Halo 3. It's a bit obscure, and it's not being promoted very heavily, so you might not have heard of it. The hero's called Master Chef apparently, and these TV-themed games are rarely popular, so..
Thankfully, the chaps on Xboxer have managed to track down a copy, and posted a video review of it to enlighten you. There's more shooting and less cheese sauces than I expected, but there you go.
Video Preview: Voice-activated Dalek for Doctor Who fans
Proper daleks don't respond to voice controls very well. You say 'don't zap me!', they ignore you and shout 'Exterminate!', and basically it's all a bit of a shambles. Ah well.
Shiny Shiny's Susi has found a dalek that's more polite, however. It's a voice-controlled dalek, which can react to movement, answer questions, and generally behave more like a decent, upstanding member of society. Check it out below:
Bah, that Radiohead website was fake after all
Sorry folks, the RadioheadLP7 site ISN’T after all an announcement about Radiohead’s next album. It’s a hoax that now points to a Rick Astley video on YouTube.
Still, I stand by my previous claim that Radiohead should cut out the middleman and sell their album directly to fans as a set of digital downloads. Fingers crossed.
RadioheadLP7 update: Radiohead management say hoax, site says come back at 11pm tonight
Okay, so I wrote about the mysterious RadioheadLP7 website earlier today, and suggested it might be Radiohead going it alone and releasing their new album as a digital download. Which is still my hope.
However, NME.com quotes Radiohead’s management as saying the site’s nothing to do with them (i.e. a hoax). However, the website itself has changed now, to a blank black page that you have to click and drag your mouse to reveal some hidden text:
RadioheadLP7: Is the new Radiohead album actually going on sale tomorrow?
There’s lots of buzz on the internetwebs about this website, which is called RadioheadLP7, and has a countdown to 9am tomorrow morning. The prevailing wisdom is that it’s from the band, and heralds a big announcement of the tracklisting, release date and label for the band’s next album.
But what if it’s even cooler than that? What if Radiohead – who are out of contract, remember – have decided to go it alone? They could easily have signed a deal with some innovative digital firm to sell the new songs online directly to fans, with a CD release following later. That’s what I’d do if I was in an era-defining band with this kind of contractual freedom, anyway.
Sony Ericsson patent reveals plans for sliding touchscreen mobile phone
What next for touchscreen mobiles? Everyone and their aunt is making one, including Nokia (albeit only next year). However, Sony Ericsson appears to be planning the next step, with a patent for a sliding touchscreen phone.
I say ‘seemingly’, as there’s no direct link to the actual patent, raising a slight concern in the back of my mind that this could be a hoax. Still, the idea is sensible enough, providing a balance between a full touchscreen, and the physical mobile keys that are still better for texting and dialling.
Why the iLike Facebook application is worth $287 million
Still think Facebook applications are just novelty widgets with no intrinsic value? Think again. A developer has just sold on eBay his Logbook application (pictured), which lets people catalogue their music, films and books and make money from Amazon sales.
The winning bid was £2,550, which doesn’t sound like much until you have a look at the application’s page on Facebook, and see it’s only got seven active users. That’s $364 per user, in other words.
Palm Centro $100 smartphone not that exciting after all
There’ve been internetweb rumours about the Palm Centro smartphone for a while now, but yesterday it was officially unveiled in the US. It’s a compact-looking handset with a full QWERTY keyboard, and is aimed at regular folk rather than business users.
The big thing is the price: $99.99 in the US, where operator Sprint has bagged a three-month exclusive on the handset. Besides that keyboard, the phone runs the Palm OS, and has a touchscreen, Bluetooth and support for push email and instant messaging. The camera’s only 1.3-megapixels though, which is disappointing for a consumer-focused smartphone.
Apple's iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store goes live for iPhone
Over in the US, iPhone owners are feeling gleeful today, after the release of iPhone firmware 1.1.1. Well, apart from the people who’ve unlocked their iPhones, who are probably feeling a bit anxious for good reasons.
But anyway, the reason for celebration is that 1.1.1 includes Apple’s iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store application, allowing iPhone users to purchase and download songs over the air. Appleblog TUAW has been trying it out, and is impressed:
Photos reveal life with an iRobot ConnectR robot
I’ve written about the launch of iRobot’s ConnectR robot already, but the company has released several photos showing just how the bot fits into your lives. Here goes…
The “Daddy might be holed up in another late night meeting with his secretary, but he can still log in to read you a bedtime story, kids” shot.
