Isaiah's Tech

So, the first 'official' review came out for Killzone 2. The Official Playstation Magazine has stated that it liked the game, a lot. They gave it a 5 stars out of 5 and even mentioned that it is a "powerful contender for the best game of 2009." This is pretty good news and i just hope that the magazine isn't being biased, since it is the Official Playstation Magazine and this game should be the game to go after in 2009, for Playstation 3 owners. I hope this game is all it's hyped up to be, even if i don't have a Playstation 3 by the time this comes out, which is very likely. Hopefully, we'll see more review's from other sites and magazines soon, since we can't base our whole point of view of the game on just one review, from the Playstation Magazine.

There is new rumour that says that the Blackberry Curve 8900 is going to come out a week earlier than scheduled. It is now reported to be releasing on T-Mobile on February 11. Unlike the [good-looking but terrible] Blackberry Storm, the Blackberry Curve 8900 will have Wi-Fi. The camera is also pretty decent at 3.2 megapixels. The release date for Canada is currently unavailable, but hopefully it'll be around the same date as when the US gets it. The Blackberry Bold is quite popular in Canada, so i wonder if this Curve will top the popularity of the Bold.

After my last blog post, i went to Wal-Mart and the mall near my place, Bramalea City Centre, with my mother. At Wal-Mart we got more Ferrero Rocher and i got myself some more sliced pineapples. Thanks to my girlfriend, who actually introduced me to such a good tasting fruit. Anyways, after Wal-Mart we went to the mall. I got hangers, for my clothes, and my mom sent some package to the Philippines or something, i think it was money. So, on our way home, i plugged my iPod into the radio in the car. I played "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith and we both sang the whole thing all the way home. And no, i do not listen to Aerosmith all the time, so do not ask why that's on my iPod. Anyways, we got home and as i was eating a Rogers Internet commercial came up. It's the commercial where one guy is on the computer and his friend is over his shoulder watching what he does. The friend on the computer shows the other friend a video, and what do you know, it starts buffering. The friend watching asks if he has Rogers and he says, "No, but look how fast it's going." When clearly, it is buffering and being utterly slow. The guy watching says, "You should get Rogers High-Speed Internet because it's the fastest." This is where my mom commented and said, "That's not true." I asked her, why she though that and she said because when she clicks on Chikka (some texting program) it takes forever to show up on her computer. I laughed and asked, "Do you mean when you click on the icon on your desktop, it takes forever to pop up." And she said, "Yeah, it takes forever because the Internet is so slow." I laughed really hard and explained to her that, her opening an icon on her desktop has nothing to do with the Internet. The reason that it took forever to pop up was because her computer is 9 years old now and running Windows 2000. She told me that she's going to get a new one and i told her to just wait until the new AMD's come out with Windows 7, since it will be a significant upgrade. If she gets a new computer, i know that, that's coming to me and i'm just going to give her this one that i'm using now. If i get a new desktop, i'll be ready for Starcraft 2 easily. Anyways, i just though i'd like to share that amusing story with you all. Time for me to play Hot Shots Golf Fore until i sleep. Have a good night everyone.

Killzone 2 Review (and picture): http://kotaku.com/5123687/the-first-killzone-2-review-is-in
Blackberry Curve 8900 (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/t-mobiles-blackberry-curve-8900-seemingly-pegged-for-february-1/

Let's start off the news with PC World's 5 best Macworld Rumours.

Numero Uno on the list is the talk of the iPhone Nano (see left side). Will Apple talk about the new iPhone Nano tomorrow at Macworld? I don't know, but, first of all, would it be a good idea? Everyone has their own opinion and i'm going to have to say that, hopefully, they don't announce an iPhone Nano. Why? Because i don't want to use a smaller version of the iPhone, i feel that the screen really sets it apart from it's competitors. If the iPhone had a smaller screen it would be harder to play games via application and it would be strenuous on your eyes trying to browse the Internet. Moving along.

Number 2 is the iMac Upgrades (see left side). A new rumour surfaced today about a new iMac with a "magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis, a new cooling system and a 65W, quad-core chip set ... with Snow Leopard-the next version of OSX-in mind. The new OS is supposed to optimize multi-processor cores." Wow, that was a lot of information. But, it does sound very good for the Mac. If this does end up being released, i expect that Mac's market share will increase even more then it has. Personally, i do not like the Mac's, but some people do and i'll respect that.

Number 3. Talks of a 32GB iPhone. It's self-explanatory what this is and it sounds good. More space for apps, but will cost more.

Number 4. This is regarding Picasa for the Mac. Talks about Google finally releasing Picasa for Mac's are stirring up. Picasa is a place where you can store a bunch of photos. Hey, i love Google, so why not do this? [Edited on Monday at 7:20 p.m.: Looks like Google didn't even wait until Macworld. Google has just released a beta version of Picasa on the Macs, courtesy of ZDnet.com. (link here)]

Last, but not least, number 5. An iPhone Elite or Pro. PC World mentions that this actually isn't a rumour and that it is a "fantasy." I blogged about it a couple of days ago (link). The iPhone Pro (concept) has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard that also has a D-pad and 2 buttons, A and B. Lots of GB's of space for apps and such, a better camera and a bunch of other stuff to make the ultimate iPhone. This most likely won't get announced tomorrow. But, it's a good idea and maybe one day, we'll see something like it unfold before our eyes. Maybe even literally.

I've already talked about Samsung's new LCD TV's that they are going to be unveiling at this year's CES. But, to add to that, it looks like they'll also be showing a new Blu-ray player that is only 1.5 inches thick (39 mm). This year's CES looks to be an exciting one and, like i've said many times before, i hope i'll be able to watch some live streaming of the event. I think that G4 TV will be showing CES 2009 on their channel. Unfortunately, i don't have satellite and i don't have it on Rogers... so i can't watch it. I'm hoping it's on the Internet somewhere, cross your fingers. If i do get to watch it, be prepared for a bombardment of blog posts, just like a bunch of other websites will be doing.

The Dell Inspiron 15 notebook is scheduled to be released for the end of this month starting at $600 USD. Finally, something affordable that i'm actually talking about. This notebook will have a 15.6 inch screen, will have up to 4 GB of RAM and up to 320 GB of hard drive space. It will sport Intel's Core 2 Duo and has an integrated webcam. Unforutnately though, it's Blu-ray drive is optional, meaning that if you want that on your Inspiron, you'll have to pay extra. I feel that this is a pretty good 'bang for your buck.'

Some new news regarding the brand MSI. This is actually the first day i've looked into exactly what MSI is all about. It turns out that MSI stands for Micro-Star International and is a brand, just like HP, Sony or Dell. I don't if it's just me or maybe i've been living under a rock for a while, but it was the first time i've actually heard of this company. Anyways, MSI is working on 2 different notebooks / netbooks. One being the MSI Wind U-Series and the MSI X-Slim 320. They are showing both of these models at this week's CES. "Their U-Series Netbooks include the U115 that will be capable of running both a SSD (Solid State Drive) and HDD (Hard Drisk Drive) at the same time using hybrid storage technology." The netbook itself will sport a 10 inch screen and will have a battery life of 12 hours. The other netbook, the U120, "will feature Intel WiMAX (which, i think, is faster than Wi-Fi) or 3.5G wireless solutions for mobile connectivity." The top picture on the left is the MSI Wind U115. The picture underneath the U115 is a side view of the MSI X-Slim 320. As you can see, it is really thin. At it's thickest point it is 1.98 cm and weighs about 2.87 pounds. It is very light, but still manages to pull off a 13.4 inch display. The MSI netbooks / notebooks seem to be consistent in keeping the battery life high, as this laptop will have a battery life of up to 10 hours. There are no official specs for this laptop, but it is rumoured to have "a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, 1366 x 768 resolution, up to 2GB DDR2 RAM, Bluetooth, [and a] 3.5G network card," just to name a few things. "It's coming second quarter of 2009 for about $800," of course, USD. I'll get you some more information about this on the weekend, if i can.

That was a pretty long post, it should keep you occupied for a bit. CES in a couple of days and Macworld tomorrow. How sweet is this week?

5 Best Macworld Rumours (and pictures): http://www.pcworld.com/article/156328/macworld_expo_preview.html?tk=rss_news
Samsung Blu-ray Player (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/samsung-to-launch-1-5-inch-thin-blu-ray-player-at-ces/
Dell 15.6 inch Inspiron 15: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/dell-introduces-15-6-inch-inspiron-15-notebook-starts-at-600/
MSI Wind: http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=1567
MSI X-Slim 320: http://www.engadget.com/tag/msi/