Isaiah's Tech

With the announcement of the Nintendo DSi LL / XL this morning, the PSP-4000 rumours have started up yet again. This is likely because the PSP Go sales have been pretty underwhelming so far - similar to the PS3 at launch - because of its high price tag. PSP-4000 will bring back the UMD, but I doubt it'll sprout another thumb stick.

According to the latest rumour, there will be a PSP-4000. We already know about the PSP Go, but this one will be a little bit different - more like the PSP's we already know and love. This one will be a part of the PSP-1000, PSP-2000, and PSP-3000 line-up; it'll be the direct successor to the PSP-3000, and this means that it will have the UMD slot. This comes from a source who told us about the PS3 Slim earlier this year.

Personally, I think Sony is doing this because there could be a lot of people out there that don't want their UMD games to go to waste. Maybe it'll also feature a sliding screen? We'll just have to wait and see.

[Crunch Gear]

The new PSP 2 has apparently been confirmed according to the latest rumours. This is definitely the juiciest rumour of the day! The PSP 2 will be UMD-less, have dual thumbsticks [finally!!!!], and will be shown off and handled at this year's E3. The sliding screen will have touchscreen capabilities (hopefully multi-touch). In addition to all of these rumours, the last and possibly most important rumour of them all is the release date. The PSP 2 is said to be available before this Christmas!! Kids, make sure to have this on your letter to Santa! I don't like the whole going UMD-less because I'm not a fan of buying stuff online, but if it has to be done then let it be. Although I'm wondering if this is too little too late for Sony and the gang. What do you think?

[Crunch Gear, Kotaku]

The Samsung Q2 PMP (not to be confused with the Samsung Q2 UMPC) has busted its way onto the scene. It was announced quietly and is pretty decent. The Q2 has 50 hours of audio playback, a 2.4 QVGA screen, a built-in microphone, FM radio, and has your choice of either 8GB or 16GB of storage. Unfortunately, it's lacking WiFi and Bluetooth, so the iPod Touch is clearly going to be the favourite here. Sorry Samsung, maybe next time.

Ruslan Kogan, maker of the Kogan Agora, has just shown a prototype of his new and functioning netbook. It clearly is running the gOS (Google OS) Android and is also called the Agora (same as the handset, confusing huh?). The 10-inch netbook sports the N270 Atom, 1GB of RAM, 160GB HDD and a 3-cell battery. The upgraded model, called the "Agora Pro" will have 2GB of RAM and will even throw in a 6-cell battery, which is much better. The Agora netbook will run Android, as well as Windows 7 when it is released. The netbook to me looks fairly plain, but the attractive point is definitely the price. The Agora and Agora Pro will be released for just $499 AUD ($320 USD) and $549 AUD ($355 USD), respectively. This is cheap. Both models are expected to be available next month, so this will be the first running netbook with the Google OS. Celebrate good times!

Citroen is teaming up with Sony to make an SUV-like vehicle that will be PSP-themed. "The Citroen C-Crosser Exclusive PSP will of course, come with a PSP - a Slim, as it turns out. It will also come with two games, a Pro Duo, and a 4GB memory card. It will also come with a hefty price tag of EUR 33,930 (US$ 43,340)." This is kind of stupid and will be obsolete soon, since there are already rumours of the next update to the PSP. Y'know, the one without the UMD. Too little, too late Citroen. Sorry.

On a side note, I have noticed that Blogger has 2 new features: e-mail and mobile posting. This won't be of use to me because what's the point of e-mail posting if I can just go directly to the Blogger website? I don't know the point, but I'm sure Blogger does. E-mail posting will be pointless to me, but I've decided to add it just in case. Luckily, I have the option to save the e-mail post as a draft, so that i can edit it later. Mobile posting, on the other hand, will be of no use to me, since it costs me $0.15 CAD to send a damn text.

Samsung Q2 PMP (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/12/samsung-sneaks-q2-pmp-onto-the-scene-with-50-hours-of-battery-li/
Kogan Agora Netbook (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/12/320-kogan-agora-netbook-gets-the-hands-on-treatment-aussie-sty/
Citroen's PSP-Themed Car (and picture): http://ps3.qj.net/Citroen-making-PSP-themed-car/pg/49/aid/129427
Blogger picture: http://www.vwnw.co.uk/

Always Innovating (a brand) are working on the Touch Book. It looks like a cross between a netbook and a tablet. You can mount the screen onto the keyboard to make it into a netbook or you can unmount the screen to make it a touchscreen tablet. This is an awesome design and quite futuristic (more on that later). When in the "netbook mode" you can lay out the keyboard and screen flat, so that you can mount it on a fridge, if you'd like. This machine will run using the Linux OS which will drive a few people away from the device. Always Innovating is claiming this device will run for 10 to 15 hours and they also mentioned that it's ARM-powered. It also weighs less than 2 pounds, will ship in the Springtime and will have a starting price tag of $299 USD which, i think, is pretty cheap. You can view the image gallery here, via Engadget.

Another HTC phone being released on WinMo may turn you off, but it's the HTC Maple. It's the successor to the old HTC Cavalier. It has a landscape QWERTY keypad, a trackball, and what HTC is calling the "Inner Circle." It "seems to aggregate communication with people you care about depending on the time of day and day of week." HTC talked a bit about it at MWC, so it would only makes sense that this would be what the hell they were talking about. No price or release date yet.

I'm going to call it the PSP-4000 and not the PSP 2 because the new rumours of the slide-out PSP screen will reportedly have the same hardware. This would necessarily make the "new" PSP a "complete" upgrade. "The screen is supposedly the same as the PSP-3000, with the only difference being that it can slide. When in the 'closed' position, the unit will be 'significantly smaller in width' and most controls will be inaccessible; however, should button-only games like LocoRoco will be playable while in this state." I think this is kind of dumb and my friend points out that Sony should consider placing a second analog stick onto the updated PSP (kind of like how the picture is). The PSP-4000 is rumoured to be released by the end of this year, just in time for Christmas. I think this new PSP is fairly lame, since it will go UMD-less. 100% digital is not for me. I don't like ninja-ing my mom's credit card.

This picture is what Microsoft thinks will be the future. The picture ranges from "lots of Surface action -- extending from tables to walls and beyond." It seems like a pretty expensive concept to me and who knows when this will be available. 3D projectors and touchscreen walls, yeah man. You will even be able to view your stocks on the windows, now how cool is that, right? You can see a video about it here if you scroll down, via Engadget.

Always Innovating Touch Book (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/02/touch-book-from-always-innovating-harbors-removable-tablet-netb/
HTC Maple (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/02/meet-maple-htcs-cavalier-successor-caught-in-the-wild/
PSP-4000 (and picture): http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/02/rumorang-psp-4000-details-leaked/
The Future According To Microsoft (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/02/microsoft-shows-a-glimpse-at-the-future-of-computing-and-the-peo/

Remember the Kogan Agora that i just finished talking about. Well, the new model will be dumping the QWERTY keypad for a 3.8-inch full touchscreen. It will still run on Android and may have the same hardware as the old model Kogan Agora (picture). "This is owing to the fact that the Android OS on which the device is based will get the on-screen keyboard with the cupcake update." Good news or bad news? I still wish it could, at least, have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but it looks like that won't be a possibility.

California looks like they want to legalize marijuana, for real. "Ammiano is trying to solve California's budget problem by legalizing marijuana." With a catch, of course, taxing it [marijuana] too. Ammiano goes on to mention that "California always takes the lead -- on gay marriage, the sanctuary movement, medical marijuana." Looks like all of that California Sticky Green (weed) you have, may be taxed soon.

You should all know about Sony's attempts to look for "new machine game testers" and here's where the rumours begin to spawn. First, i heard about the likes of a PSP-4000 and that it will have a sliding screen. And now, a PSP 2. This is not surprising, but it's also a possibility. The picture that you see is an "artist's PSP 2 concept" so don't jump to conclusions. The "mastermind" behind Earthworm Jim had a tweet this morning that said, "I hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank goodness, they've removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive. I'm excited!" He could've made this tweet solely based on the rumours, but could it be a possibility? Could this be the truth? Huh, Sony? Speak up and stop lying to your fans now. Tell us whether your PSP-4000 or PSP 2 is in the making. Maybe they will announce it at E3.

OLEDs move aside because we're talking about flexible touchscreens here. The world's first, in fact. "ASU's Flexible Display Center and military partners have developed the very first display with a flexible touchscreen." This sounds amazing, but they say that this technology probably won't be around for another 18 months. It will probably be longer than that, seeing how long it is taking for OLED to go mainstream. But still, it's good to look forward to.

Kogan Agora (and picture): http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Kogan_Agora_to_shed_QWERTY_Keyboard/551-99288-893.html
California Legalizing Weed: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/693492/California-Lawmaker-Wants-To-Legalize-and-Tax-Marijuana.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=TheFeed
PSP 2 Rumours (and picture): http://vgtribune.com/rumor-shiny-entertainment-founder-says-psp-2-will-not-have-the-stupid-battery-sucking-umd-disc-drive/
Flexible Touchscreen Display (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5159896/university-claims-to-have-developed-worlds-first-flexible-touchscreen-display

LG's new LH70 HDTVs are almost available... in Korea, that is. The 2 models are 42 and 47 inches and are just 39.7mm and 40.9mm thin, respectively. The HDTVs will have a 100,000:1 contrast ratio, 120Hz technology (to get rid of the blurring that you probably barely notice), 2ms response time, a USB port and will apparently have Bluetooth. There is no word on the price or availability and the chances of this coming out of Korea is slim, but I still hope it does.

Remember when Microsoft's prototype got stolen at MWC? Well luckily for Microsoft, they were able to wipe all of their "secret" information off of that phone shortly after it got snatched. Looks like the thief was in for a surprise when he went to go look at Microsoft's secret information. Deuce on you!

Late last week, Sony was looking for "new game machine testers." Well, rumour has it that this "new game machine" is the PSP-4000. The revamped PSP will have a sliding screen (similar to the picture, but is NOT what the new PSP will look like), but will unfortunately consist of NO new hardware. Seriously Sony!? What's the point? A (hopefully) "more-pocketable" PSP with a sliding screen? The price of this "new" PSP will probably increase too, so i don't see the point in this at all.

Go to this link, if you want to read up on some of the new features that will be in Firefox 3.1. On a side note, Firefox 3.1 will not be available in the first quarter of 2009.

LG LH70 HDTVs (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/23/lg-unveils-42-and-47-inch-bluetooth-lh70-hdtvs-in-korea/
Stolen WinMo 6.5 Phones: http://i.gizmodo.com/5158760/stolen-windows-mobile-65-prototype-phone-wiped-remotely
Next PSP (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5158803/new-psp-to-feature-sliding-screen-same-guts
Firefox 3.1: http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/02/mozilla-demos-impressive-firefox-31-features-at-scale.ars

So, today was a wicked day. It started off kind of slow, as i got up late for class again. I got up at 9:15 today and got to school at about 10:30. Usually, this would mean that i've missed all of first period and about half of second period. But instead, there was a mass today. So, i only missed first period. Second period was pretty slack in Advanced Functions and i tried to help Robbie study for our Chemistry Test. Anyways, for lunch i was in the library as usual and then i studied the whole time. Robbie was there asking some questions, but it was cool. Had the test for Chemistry next period and phew, my studying definitely paid off. The test was pretty easy, i'm not gonna lie. So, after school i caught my 2:50, 61 South bus and i was off to the mall.

So, today after school, i went to the mall. I met up with Ashlee, Nikki and Richard at HMV. Ahh, i had an amazing 5 tacos, mm, soft and hard [That's what she said!]. Ashlee and her constant "jizz in my pants." Richard and his sarcastic jokes. Nikki and her... boringness. Joking, Nikki and her dodging and her choosing out clothes for Jeff, which took long, by the way, but i still love ya. So, me and Ashlee were stealthing our way around the mall, so that neither Richard nor Nikki could ever find us. We did our stealthing / invisibility twice. Me and Nikki had a rough patch that lasted about 12 minutes, but it was all good afterwards =). And, i finally found the gift for my mom. I've been looking for it since last year, when it was about 70 bucks. Luckily, it was on sale for 29.99, thank the good Lord. I got her the Bourne 3-pack thingy, it's a box set, i guess. So, it was already around 6 p.m. and me and Richard never really got to talk much, and it sucked. But, it was good that we had our quite lengthy talk before i had to leave, since Ashlee and Nikki took forever in Ardene's / Icing / Claire's. After that, i had to take my long ass bus ride home, almost 2 hours long. My iPod died when i was about 2 minutes away from home and it made me sad because it was the first time my iPod has actually ever died =(. Techy news time, all of your favourites.

Dell has stirred up some rumours that they may be releasing a laptop that is "both lighter and thinner than the Macbook Air." An analyst also states that Dell might even be able to sell their Adamo for $400 cheaper than the Macbook Air. This is amazing. Did i ever mention that i'm a Dell fanboy too? Yup, my computer, monitor and the TV in my room are all Dell. So, i am the Dell + PS3 + Google fanboy. They should all just hook-up with each other and make something good for me. But, anyways, i think this is great news for Dell. Competing with the Macbook Air would be a good idea. I just hope it has much better specs than the Macbook Air and that the $400 price difference is actually real.


More and more rumours from Motorola. As you can see (above and to the left) are more new pictures about possible Motorola phones coming out in 2009. The silver one above looks better to me than the one shown on the left side, but not something i'd get. Personally, i love black phones, hence my Nokia N81. Anyways, the phone above clearly has a metallic finish. Kind of boring, since all of the phones that Motorola 'may' be coming out with have no current specs. Release that spec sheet soon Motorola, come on. Boring stuff.


Recently, i've been talking about the PSP-4000 and the PSP2 lately and Sony has denied these accusations yet again. Sony says that, "We can't think of any major improvements that would necessitate a PSP-4000 model." So, there you have it folks, don't look forward to a PSP-4000. Sony has also denied that they are working on a PSP2, they have said that these rumours are "flat-out false [and that, there are] no plans for a PSP2 are underway." Basically, no PSP-4000 next year and no PSP2 following after that. Sad news, but it's okay. Sony should really focus on selling their PS3 and also on making Playstation Home and the current PSP better.

Since there isn't a PSP2 or a PSP-4000 in the works. Time for me to get my PSP-3000. Why? Final Fantasy, that's why. Final Fantasy Dissidia which has been stirring all the buzz in Asia is now going to be released in North America on the PSP in mid-year 2009. This game will contain characters from every single Final Fantasy game, omg. Not every single character that has made an appearance in Final Fantasy, but pretty much, all of the main characters. The article mentions that, "Familiar friends include Cecil (FFIV), Bartz (FFV), Terra (FFVI), Cloud (FFVII), Squall (FFVIII), Zidane (FFIX), and Tidus (FFX). The baddies include Golbez (FFIV), Kefka (FFVI), and Sephiroth (FFVII)." I actually haven't played every single Final Fantasy, but i have played and beat most of them. I haven't got the chance to play FFII or FFV. Anyways, this game will be an action / fighting game. Omg, i can't wait for this. Now, i desperately need a PS3 and PSP. Please God, send down my WoW secret answer so that i can level my 4 level 70's to level 80 and then sell it for a nice huge chunk of money and please God, help me find a job very early next year. Man, this game will be insane, i can't wait for this. I'm getting all excited, i even think i might 'jizz in my pants.'


Hey, guess what Canada? We're expected 50 cm of snow by Sunday. How much fun will that be? Just in case you didn't know, i hate the Winter and i hate the snow. I'm out for today [possibly]. You know what that means. It's WoW time!

Dell 'Adamo' teaser site: http://www.adamobydell.com/
Dell 'Adamo' (picture): http://gizmodo.com/5113604/dell-adamo-could-be-lighter-thinner-than-macbook-air
Motorola Phones (and pictures): http://gizmodo.com/5113024/first-smartphones-now-feature-phones-motorola-leaks-more-2009-handsets
PSP2: http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/exclusive-sony-psp2-rumors-bogus-no-new-handheld-gaming-gadget-coming-sne
PSP-4000: http://www.pspworld.com/sony-psp/news/psp-4000-unlikely-009603.php
Final Fantasy Dissidia (and picture): http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/691862/Dissidia_Final_Fantasy_Coming_2009_Contains_Characters_From_Every_FF_Game.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=TheFeed

I have some important WoW news. Today's PvP'ing went much better than last night's PvP'ing. Although, i did lose an Arathi Basin 2000-0 tonight, i actually got the hang of the Death Knight. So, last night i let out my frustrations by making a quick post about how WoW fails. I gotta give credits to those at Blizzard though, they did make one heck of a game. This is clearly evident in the 11 million players worldwide. Anyways, my PvP experience today was much better than last night. I took Dan's advice and i decided to actually use cooldowns today and it worked out. I realized this when i beat another DK 1v1 in the middle, for the flag in EoTS (Eye of the Storm). I just simply outplayed him. That's when i realized that, hey, i'm not that bad. I still got the occasional gang rape, as was expected, but it's okay. I played much better today. I got used to my keybinds and got more familiar with all of the Death Knight's moves and it was a pretty good day. I'll be back on WoW after this post.

Some news about Square Enix. The makers of the popular Final Fantasy series, are set to announce the release of a new MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) at E3 in 2009. An MMO is basically, World of Warcraft. I'm pretty sure they're the most addicting type of games that are out. I really hope this does not turn out to be a major flop like Final Fantasy 11. Square Enix's last attempt at the MMO world wasn't all too successful. I actually played Final Fantasy 11... It was really stupid. I played Final Fantasy 11, before i played WoW, but it was just terrible. Just a waste of 150 bucks (Game + HDD + 3 monthly payments). I can't picture people playing an MMO on the console, it just doesn't seem right. But, Square Enix might have taken a step in the right direction. Word is, that this new MMO, named Rapture, will be coming out on the PS3, Xbox 360 AND the PC. This may be what gamers are looking for, but will it already be too late? I believe E3 is in March and by then, i hope that Blizzard finally announces what kind of MMO they are currently working on. My bet is on Blizzard coming out on top, since they are the kings of MMO's (Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo). But, i still have to give props to Square Enix for trying. I love you Square Enix, please release Final Fantasy 13 soon.

This next post was actually supposed to be in my first blog, earlier today, but i completely forgot about it. The PSP 2 (concept picture, to the left?) and the PSP-4000. Although, Sony has denied both of them as being just rumours, that doesn't stop the public from releasing more and more news about it. Rumour has it that the PSP-4000 will be coming out sometime in 2009 and that the PSP 2 will be following soon after. The PSP-4000 is, basically, PSP 1, version 4. A little over a month ago, the PSP-3000 was released, so that gives about 1 year in between PSP-3000 and PSP-4000. Don't forget that these are just rumours. People are claiming that they are already making PSP 2 games, which is interesting. Can't wait to see what other kind of news we'll be hearing about the PSP, but be on the lookout.

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook. It definitely grows fast [That's what she said]. But seriously, there are 300,000 - 400,000 new users, everyday. But, lately it's actually been increased to about 600,000 - 700,000 users everyday. By March, Facebook may even hit the 200 million user mark, which is incredible. Taking a look at this graph (below), shows how many users are on Facebook and it's growth is just overwhelming. Hopefully, it doesn't turn out to be the next Myspace, which has died up here in Canada.

Square Enix (and picture): http://nl.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http://www.gamecloud.nl/nieuws/1506/square-enix-kondigt-nieuwe-mmo-aan-tijdens-e32009/&lp=nl_en&btnTrUrl=Vertalen
PSP 2 (and picture): http://gizmodo.com/5111192/rumor-psp+4000-in-2009-psp2-games-already-in-development
Facebook (and graph): http://www.insidefacebook.com/2008/12/16/facebook-now-growing-by-over-600000-users-a-day-and-new-engagement-stats/