Isaiah's Tech

We've all heard about those Internet-connected HDTV's at CES, but right now it's all about 3D. That is, 3D without the glasses. Using Philips' WOWvx 3D solution, the 3DFusion 3DFMax display was born. There is no word on the price, contrast ratio, resolution or availability, so be on the lookout for that on a future blog post.

Just like i predicted. With the spawn of YouTube charging its users with a fee for downloads, they are currently on the verge of killing all third-party downloading programs. In the near future, the only way you will be able to download YouTube videos are by paying, which is retarded. Everything is just based on money nowadays. It's a shame. How can Google let this happen? On a side note, Rinontherox (aka hiphoprox) got their account deleted on YouTube because of the whole Warner Bros. issue (most likely). I always watched their videos too, cause of Erin =D. But, their account was "suspended."

Sony is currently "looking for an 'evaluator/assessor' for a 'new game machine.' That is 'part of the PlayStation or PSP series and their peripherals.'" Wow, what could this be Sony? Could it be the Playstation 4? Or maybe the PSP 2? It could even be a PSPhone. Sony's getting our hopes up here and hopefully the "new game machine" will be one of the above. I'm hoping so, at least. I hope it's not some dumb PS3 add-on or something that imitates the Wii in some way.

Philips looks like they are finally ready to jump on the Internet-connected HDTV bandwagon. They are "readying" their Net TV module, which is a box thing. "The box will purportedly bring the web's best content to your HDTV through an easy-to-understand user interface, and the WiFi capability means that you won't have to run an Ethernet cable to your set." Engadget suspects that this Philips HDTV / home entertainment will be limited to Europe. That pretty much summed up what the box is and where it is coming out. Unfortunately, there is no price for the Net TV module, but it is said to be scheduled for an April release.

Remember the Philips Cinema "Ultra-Widescreen" 21:9 HDTV? The TV that "removes those black bars" from your HDTV DVDs and stuff. This "behemoth" is going to start shipping in June, but will cost a whopping $5,045 USD (€4,000). Talk about expensive, eh? If you can afford one of these, congratulations. But for us regular people, we'll have to look for something else.

3DFusion 3DFMax (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/20/3dfusion-debuts-glasses-free-3dfmax-display/
YouTube Killing Third-Party Downloading: http://www.pcworld.com/article/159907/youtube_combats_external_video_ripping.html?tk=rss_news
Sony Looking For New Machine Game Testers (and picture): http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/693414/Sony-Testing-New-Game-Machine-In-Japan.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=TheFeed
Philips Net TV (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/20/philips-net-tv-rumored-to-go-live-in-april/
Philips Cinema 21:9 HDTV (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/20/philips-gives-cinema-21-9-hdtv-a-price-and-release-date/

Recently, i talked about Intel winning the bid to work on the PS4's GPU and possibly even its CPU. Well, leave it up to Sony to dismiss all of these rumours. The Sony rep said that, "It's nonsense and quite possibly the best work of fiction I've read, since Lord of the Rings."

I feel that Square Enix needs to make this Final Fantasy VII remake for the Playstation 3. Apparently, it may be worked on after the completion of Final Fantasy 13, which will probably be by early next year, since some of us are getting it next year. The next question this articles mentions is when. When will the Final Fantasy VII remake be scheduled to release? Obviously, no one knows for sure. I'm sure that Square Enix doesn't even know themselves, unless they are hiding something from us. Anyways, looking at numerous statistics, we can see that Final Fantasy III's remake sold over 2 million copies. This is a key statistic because the original Final Fantasy III sold less than half of what the original Final Fantasy VII sold. This leaves one to question, how much copies of a Final Fantasy VII remake sell? A lot. In fact, many Final Fantasy fans say that Final Fantasy VII is the best Final Fantasy game to ever be released and i am one of those perople. Final Fantasy VII was an amazing game. I remember beating Emerald (without Underwater materia) and Ruby. I remember getting scared of Jenova, since i was only 11 years old when i played that game. But, that's what got my adrenaline rushing. Final Fantasy VII is an amazing game in all aspects.

On the 'wtf' news of the day, a car with a mp3-enabled car horn. You will be able to customize the sound of your horn to whatever song you want. Imagine all of the Lil Wayne songs that would be playing if everyone could do this. But, seeing how the DiMora Natalia SLS2 concept will cost about $2 million USD, i don't think we'll be seeing much of this car. That is, if it was ever actually released. This car is just a concept, although the company is very serious about the specs. No one knows for sure if this car will "ever see the light of day."

Google has introduced yet another service, called Google Sync for iPhones and Windows Mobile phones. This looks like it will be in competition with Microsoft's MyPhone service. "The new Google Sync offering, launched in beta, will let phone users sync the calendar and contacts lists on their phones with their Gmail contacts lists and Google Calendar." Google is really taking their shots against Microsoft. Google Sync (vs MyPhone), Android (vs WinMo) and a Google OS[?] (vs Microsoft's OS). Google taking over the internet, at its finest. Going after the big dogs.

Is Archos on the hush, hush? Well, someone think so. Apparently, Archos is working on a new MID (Mobile Internet Device) or smartphone. It's not confirmed yet, but the said device will have phone functionality, support HD, a 5 inch screen (hopefully touch), have a 10mm thickness and will support Flash. The Archos device will run on Android and will have the same TI OMAP 3 processor that the Palm Pre has. Interesting news. But, it could be a flopper. I hope not.

The Sony Ericsson Hikaru looks like it will making its way to MWC. This phone has been rumoured to be around for a while now. It will be announced on February 15, right before MWC 2009 kicks off. So exciting. I might as well give you some background information about this phone, so that you'll be prepared. First off, it's going to be Walkman-branded. It will have an 8MP camera with LED flash, a 2.6 inch screen, 8GB of storage, Wi-Fi and GPS. "Additionally, it should be noted that it runs on the regular Sony Ericsson feature phone interface, and IT IS NOT a smartphone." Don't get them mixed up, Sony might get mad at you. Anyways, the 'Hikaru' will also have a kickstand at the back, kind of like the one the Nokia N96 has "but cooler."

Larabee in the PS4: http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Intel_Larrabee_in_PS4_No_Says_Sony/551-98718-581.html
Final Fantasy Remake (and chart): http://www.finalfantasyunion.com/news/final-fantasy-vii-remake-coming-to-ps3-when-not-if--337.html
MP3-Enabled Car Horn (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5149763/2-million-dimora-natalia-sls-2-features-worlds-first-mp3+enabled-car-horn
Google Sync: http://www.pcworld.com/article/159192/google_comes_out_with_mobile_sync_service.html?tk=rss_news
Archos Working on Android MID / Smartphone (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5149903/texas-instruments-spills-the-beans-archos-working-on-an-android-midsmartphone
Sony Ericsson Hikaru (and picture): http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_hikaru_shows_its_face_to_the_world-news-782.php

Pioneer has now left the plasma TV manufacturing business. Pioneer got hit by the economic crisis and just couldn't get back on their feet again.

It looks like Intel may be working with Sony for the next Playstation 4. Who knows when the Playstation 4 will be released, but that's not what i'll be talking about here. Intel is going to be working on the PS4's GPU and may also be developing the PS4's CPU as well. Intel really has their eyes set on the PS4 and they may even be willing to throw in a lot of money towards their Larrabee and Nehalem products. The Playstation 4 is said to be have a "10-year life span." Will the Playstation 4 extend this? Maybe to 13 years?

My estimations were correct about the Playstation 3. The good ol' Playstation 3 price cut will be coming around March. It is said be to in April. In March, Sony will finally be making profit with the Playstation 3, but with the price cut in April, they will be losing money again. Sony will then ship the Playstation 3's with the newer 45nm Cell chip sometime after April and will be gaining profit for the rest of 2009. These are speculations, but they sound correct.

Pioneer Leaves The Plasma Manufacturing Business (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5148562/pioneer-exits-tv-business-no-more-sweet-plasmas
Intel And The Playstation 4: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/693055/Intel-Inside-For-The-PlayStation-4s-GPUAnd-CPU-Too.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=TheFeed
Playstation 3 Price Cut (and picture): http://www.gamezine.co.uk/features/formats/playstation3/editorial-april-09-ps3-price-cut-almost-guarenteed-$1266659.htm

Google Street View has just captured a man walking around in the streets of America with a rifle. I don't really know what else to say, but there's the picture above for you. Only in America.

I talked about the recent PS4 leaks (here) and Sony has denied the rumours again. Yes, i know it's kind of old that every rumour about Sony just has to be denied all the time, but what can i do.

You must remember the Philips 21:9 Cinema HDTV. This 56-inch ultra-widescreen monster will unfortunately not be making it's way to the United States. This also means that it will not reach the Canadian market either. This TV, that i talked about here and here, is also the TV that removes the 'black bars' on those widescreen DVDs. It seems that Philips might actually dislike the US market. This TV was also nowhere to be seen at CES, which was in Vegas. Philips do you have something to confess?

This morning if you used Google search, you might have noticed that every search result displayed the, "This site may harm your computer" tag. Luckily, it was fixed this morning at 11:50 a.m. EST. The whole Internet was going crazy, so it seemed like pretty big news. Now imagine if the whole Internet was infected by malware. I think that would cause a disaster worse than our current economic crisis or the upcoming end of the world (scheduled for December 21, 2012).

Google Street View (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5143274/google-street-view-completes-tour-of-real-america-with-dude-carrying-rifle
Sony Denies the PS4 Leaks: http://gamingfront.net/story-165-.html
Philips 56-inch Cinema HDTV (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/31/philips-56-inch-cinema-21-9-hdtv-not-for-americans/
Google Marks the Internet as Harmful (and picture): http://lifehacker.com/5143489/google-marked-every-site-as-harmful-this-morning

The creators of Warhammer, Mythic, have announced their first expansion. Warhammer is currently competing with World of Warcraft in the MMO world. If you happen to play Warhammer over World of Wacraft, this is good news for you. The new expansion will be named "Call to Arms." Call to Arms "will feature two new classes - the Orc Choppa and the Dwarf Slayer - and a new dungeon called 'the Land of the Dead.'" It looks like the expansion will not be sold in retail stores because it will be available for download in March. Take that World of Warcraft, which makes you pay for every new expansion. I would still choose World of Warcraft over Warhammer any day, if i had the money.

THQ looks like it will be shutting down soon. THQ has been in a lot of trouble recently. It started out with the shutting down of 5 studios a couple of months ago. It's kind of sad to see where their WWE Smackdown vs Raw franchise will go because i actually enjoyed playing that game. On Sunday, i was actually playing Smackdown vs Raw with my cousins, since they came over. I used to play Smackdown vs Raw and i created many characters using their 'Create-A-Wrestler' option. I had around an 80:20 win-loss ratio online, so i guess i was alright. Those were the good old days.

This Asus LCD monitor that you see on the left side is what i will be talking about in this paragraph. The VK266H has a 20,000:1 contrast ratio and has a 2ms response time. This LCD monitor was just released in India. This 25.5-inch 1080p HD LCD monitor also has Asus's SPLENDID technology. "The SPLENDID technology uses a color engine for video content property analysis and then automatically optimizes image quality in any usage scenario." It sounds good to me. This monitor is very impressive, spec-wise. It also has HDMI input, a 170 degree viewing angle, stereo speakers and even a 2.0MP webcam. It has an amazing design and if you can get your hands on this, i suggest that you go for it.

The good old Sony Playstation. Apparently, the plans of the next Playstation were leaked. The Playstation 4 will use the same CELL technology that the current PS3 is using. It will be about twice as powerful as the PS3 and their goal by 2011 is to have a completely silent CELL. The Playstation 4's production costs are said to be cheaper because of the small 45nm chip that they are going to be using. The article is really hard to understand because it was translated from Japanese. But, if you want to read it, you can click on the link below.

Warhammer's First Expansion (and picture): http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172524
THQ in Trouble (and picture): http://ps3.qj.net/Rumor-RIP-THQ-/pg/49/aid/128502
Asus VK266H LCD Monitor (and picture): http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Asus_Intros_VK266H_LCD_Monitor_in_India/551-98327-581.html
Playstation 4 Leaked: http://gamingfront.net/story-156-.html

After my last exam on Monday, January 26, i will be starting my new blog. The new blog is expected to take the layout that i have on this current blog. Meanwhile, this blog's layout will change. I'm foreshadowing this blog to have a layout consisting of 3 columns. I'm also going for a more techy look, hopefully i will be able to fulfill that. I look forward to my new blog and what i will be writing about. I hope that some of my readers will go and check it out too.

We have not heard anything about the World of Wacraft movie in months. But finally, Blizzard community manager, Nethaera, steps up to the plate and mentions that it is still in production. Although, he did not give any more information about the movie, it will still be interesting to check out this movie. I'll probably watch it with my girlfriend, even though she won't have a clue as to what's going on. She also won't be reading this anytime soon, so it's pretty safe that i am writing this here. I can't wait to see how high-resolution it will be. Maybe if this WoW movie is a success, we might even see a Starcraft movie, but that's just my wishful thinking. I can't wait until this is released, which will probably be in 2010 - 2011. I hope it will be worth the wait.

Yes, that is a giant Wiimote that you see on your left side. This would cause massive amounts of injury to another child. Thankfully, it is just an edible chocolate cake. This custom cake [$360] was made for a 9-year-old boy's birthday. "The chocolate cake with mousse filling was coated with (edible) rolled fondant, depicting the Wiimote's buttons in perfect detail-including even a properly shaped expansion port in the bottom." But, i disagree just a tiny bit, since the 'A' button is not clear like the controller's is. This is still a sweet [tasting] cake. A near-perfect duplicate. I now want a PS3 cake for my 19th birthday. Very childish, i know.

The upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive, Halo Wars, will be playable on February 5th. For now, only in a single-player demo. The release date will be as follows: "Feb. 26 in Asia, Feb. 27 is Europe and March 3 in the Americas." Canada may not be on the list, but its release date, up here, will also be on the 3rd of March. Personally, i am not a fan of RTS's (Real Time Strategy's) on consoles because they are better and much easier to play on computers / laptops. It's all about Starcraft 2 for me because i don't even have an Xbox 360.

Yves Guillemot of Ubisoft has just said that they are preparing for the new console generation, which they expect to hit consumers in between the years of 2011 and 2012. Ubisoft are looking to "take advantage of a company that could bring more technology to us, or new brands so we have now enough to help us to grow the company." I'm pretty sure what he said does not make complete sense, since his English is not that great, but i'm sure you get what he means. It's either that or some typos from IGN, but i trust IGN enough. Anyways, look out for the Xbox 360, Playstation 4 and the Nintendo Wii 2 because it may be in the near future.

WoW Movie is Still in the Making (and picture): http://www.worldofwar.net/blog/comments/wow-movie-still-going-ahead/
Giant Wiimote Cake (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5137897/brooklyn-pastry-chef-crafts-perfect-gigantic-wiimote-cake
Halo Wars Demo (and picture): http://kotaku.com/5138022/halo-wars-is-golden-demo-drops-february-5th
New Consoles Expected in 2012: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/947/947671p1.html?RSSwhen2009-01-23_013500&RSSid=947671

Last night, i slept a bit before 4 in the morning, not playing WoW, since Daniel changed his keybinds and i was too lazy to change them back. Anyways, so i woke up at around 11 a.m. and called my girlfriend. I looked outside and realized that there was no way i was going to get to her house today. We originally planned to go to the mall to finish our Christmas shopping, but that didn't work because of how much snow dropped. The snow must've started at around 5 or 6 in the morning because it didn't start snowing when i fell asleep. Anyways, because of the snow i couldn't leave the house, so i decided to go back to sleep. I woke up at around 2 or something and read my Google Reader. I picked my articles for the day and soon after my girlfriend woke up. I shoveled the snow off my driveway but before that, i took a picture (see above). Kind of a blurry picture [thanks to my Nokia N81], but you can clearly see a crap load of snow, hence why school was canceled today. Anyways, after i shoveled i put the salt on the ground or whatever, so that any incoming snow would melt. Little did i know, that it wouldn't work today. Anyways, i took a shower while my pizza was baking in the oven. After i finished showering, i ate my pizza. After about an hour of slacking, changing my blogger theme and all that stuff, my mom calls me. She tells me that she's right outside the townhouse gate and that her car got stuck in the snow. So fail. But anyways, after i came to the rescue, i was back inside my warm, comfy house. I was about to start playing WoW on my priest when i just realized that i must first blog and rearrange my room, which will take a couple of [dirty, dusty] hours.

Anyways, moving on to Google. They are now being more aggressive and are trying to push many users away from Internet Explorer. "When users log into their Gmail using Internet Explorer a red text link appears at the top right of page saying 'get faster Google Mail.'" When you click on that link it takes you to a "Google answers page" that ends up suggesting that you should change your browser to either Google Chrome or Firefox 3.0. This is great because now Gmail users around the world will hopefully be switching their browsers to other faster ones like Chrome or Firefox. These people have to realize that there are faster and more efficient ways to surf the Internet. If everyone realized this, IE's market share would be much lower than it currently is. It's good that IE's market share has actually dropped to under 70% recently. Maybe the change is coming soon.

Sony has been denying this for a long time now, so again i am going to state that Sony denies plans on an upcoming Playstation 4. That's basically the whole story, but it just saddens me. But, it's also good that they're not focusing on a next console, since they still have to figure out ways to sell their current system, Playstation 3. Maybe they can even outsell the DS somehow with the PSP, but that doesn't look like it'll happen. Moving on.

There is a rumour spreading that the T-Mobile G2 will be coming out on January 26, 2009. I agree with the author who says that he doesn't believe it because the G1 has only been out for a few months and to have the G2 release so soon, would be insane. But, anyways, the rumours state that the second Google phone, the G2, will have a full touch screen, a 5 megapixel camera and a bunch of other stuff that i'm too lazy to name. No pictures have surfaced, but it's really unbelievable. If new rumours surface, i'll talk about it, but, i don't think the rumours are true.

How does my new layout look? Tell me. I want to know your opinion.

Google and IE: http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/google-pushing-users-away-from-ie--496216
Playstation 4: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sony-Says-There-Are-No-Plans-For-a-PlayStation-4-100430.shtml
T-Mobile G2: http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2008/12/19/rumor-t-mobile-g2-coming-january-26-of-09/