Teenagers will be pleased to hear that Bungie will be making a big announcement at the Tokyo Game Show next week. Will it have to do with Halo 3 or will it be an entirely new game? Most of the news outlets are saying it’ll be an extension of Halo 3, possibly even an expansion of some sort. Either way, you need to shave those freshly grown pubes, drink your first cup of coffee and get ready to game.
Over the weekend, Kotaku posted a report from Nikkei Net suspecting Nintendo of planning to release its next incarnation of the Nintendo DS. There is speculation that the new DS will include a built-in camera and music playback as well as improved wireless functions. According to Nikkei Net, the new version is expected to be priced below $190 dollars.
As of now, Nintendo has yet to confirm anything and until an official announcement is made from the company itself, I won’t believe a word from anyone. However, the built-in camera sounds like a Nintendo idea. This will give them a chance to shit out the next line of Wario games that revolves around taking pictures. Oooh, sounds fun!
The rumor that Amazon will be launching a music and movie store for Android-based cellphones has been confirmed by Vince. Like Vince mentions, this will make Amazon a direct competitor to Apple’s iTunes Music Store. The Apple advertisement team is probably hard at work making up some nice bashes they can throw in Amazon’s direction. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this one plays out.
Oh snap! Today will mostly consist of news about Google’s Android platform and the T-Mobile G1 smartphone. The latest rumor to hit our inbox involves the almighty Amazon.com and content distribution. Apparently, Amazon could be releasing a music and movie store just for Android-based cellphones. That would instantly make Amazon a direct competitor to Apple’s iTunes Music Store and we’re not talking sibling rivalry here. Right now it’s too early to tell if there’s truth to this but hopefully, come the end of the day, we’ll really know what’s up.
We previously reported to you that T-Mobile was rolling out its first 3G network in the US. Launching in New York and a few other select cities, the slow-rollout has proven to be a success. Now rumors are flying around that T-Mobile will finish deploying its entire 3G network come October 1st.
Details are scarce for the most part, but here’s the scoop:
According to the source, the carrier will bring 3G data coverage to its 27 top markets, including the cities that have already benefited from the recent soft launch of the faster mobile data protocol.
T-Mobile can only go up at this point. Let’s hope the 3G it offers is widely available. Otherwise, it’s curtains.
The ultimate eco-rumor has been making its round this morning. Nikkei biz daily in Japan is reporting that the next-gen Toyota Prius, due out in 2010, will have solar panels to power accessories and amenities like air conditioning and the radio. Getting excited ’cause you were thinking about getting a Prius? Not so fast.
Apparently, only high-end versions of the 2010 Prius are receiving the solar panel treatment. To boot, Toyota is exploring the option of charging a costly premium for the paneling. For now, we’ll have to wait and see whilst Toyota barrels ahead in the auto industry.
From a classic Pha post on TechCrunch, commenter Chuck Watson alerts us of the following:
Super Secret Insider News –
AT&T has decided to lower their credit score requirements for the first several days of the iPhone 3G sales. They want to get it into the hands of EVERYBODY they can. So if credit has been an issue for you in the past it may be worth the try this time around.
Could it be true? AT&T has had a pretty strict policy for deadbeats with low credit scores. I can definitely see the company looking the other way for a few weeks to reel in new iPhone 3G customers.
Word on the streets is that Motorola has picked out a name for their next line of phones. The creative RZR and KRZR seemed to really take off, so there’s no reason why the new multimedia phones “Moto ZiNE” shouldn’t take off either.
Rumor has it that the new ZiNE line will feature a Z10 sucessor featuring a massive touchscreen, WiFI, GPS and an 8 MP picture snapping machine with optical zoom, supposedly in conjunction with Kodak. Our hands are eagerly awaiting such a device. Only a matter of time until we see some leakage. — Andrew Dobrow
According to Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury News, Microsoft’s successor to the current XBox 360 “Falcon” motherboard will be named Jasper–and it will feature a 65-nanometer ATI graphics chip and smaller memory chips. This should go a long way in reducing cost and the heat issues that have plagued the platform since it’s launch.
If this information is correct, we will have to wait a year for another 360 price drop and a system that is truly reliable. A little too long iif you ask me. But if you want to play Halo 3 now (and believe me you do) you had better bit the bullet on this one, or get some nerdier friends.—Sean Fallon
UPDATE March 29, 2007: Nokia 5700 3G swivel music phone is for real.
Exactly one month ago we showed you a design mock-up of an unknown XpressMusic swivel device from Nokia, last night we received a better and more official picture of the phone, supposedly to be called the 5700. Now we’re sure that the camera (with LED flash) is indeed on the swivel end, and we would predict that this should run on a s40, and a QVGA screen.
There have been debates whether this phone would turn out to be another S60 FP2 device with a revamped music interface that was not ready at 3GSM, we really doubt that because of the lack of application key over the fixed side, it is extremely unlikely to have the S60-characteristic menu key below the 2 softkeys AND the dial/hang up buttons. Take note that the keypad has 2 sides, one with the usual alphanumeric keys, the other with music buttons as shown on the design mock-up diagram. We’ll keep you updated when we have more news. –Sam Chan
[Thanks Marcel]
