Meet the Nintendo DSi.

As expected, Nintendo announced its latest portable gaming device, dubbed the DSi, at its fall press conference. The DSi is not a game-only device, however, as it includes browsing capabilities, Wi-Fi, a 3-megapixel camera, and other enhancements that bring it more in line with Apple’s iPod Touch and iPhone and Sony’s PlayStation Portable products. In fact, the DSi is not considered a replacement for the current DS Lite line but a complement, or “third platform.”

The juicy DSi details, brought to us by the folks at Kotaku, include:

Continue reading “Taking aim at Apple and Sony, Nintendo announces new DSi portable media device” »

The real power of a Google phone and the Android mobile operating system isn’t just computing power, or search, or advertising, or maps. It’s the ability to connect people, places, and things like never before.

With the introduction Tuesday of the Google phone — dubbed G1 by wireless carrier T-Mobile — we’re  starting to see the potential disruption that Google and Android will bring in the coming year or two. It’s even greater than what Apple and the iPhone have already accomplished.

Together, the so-called Google phone and the iPhone are disrupting the mobile industry with innovative, powerful, handy devices, applications, and services.  Side by side, the Gphone and the iPhone have their differences but overall compliment one another, not compete with each other.

The iPhone is not unlike Apple, which is known for exquisitely designed hardware, user-friendly software, and a user experience like no other. The iPhone has a consumer, digital lifestyle feel to it, just like Apple products.

The Google phone, on the other hand, is not unlike “PC” in the famed “Mac” vs. “PC” television ads. This is not to say, however, that Google is Microsoft. Far from it.

The G1 — at least from what we’ve seen so far — has a “productivity” air to it, which is expected due to the nature of Google. The Android operating system, and the phone’s hardware, was developed first and foremost to showcase what Google does best — search along with Web applications like Maps, YouTube, Google Reader, Gmail, Calendar.

Continue reading “The real power of Google’s phone: connecting us to people, places, and things” »

Long rumored, finally here. Netflix is coming to the Xbox 360.

Netflix is coming to the Xbox 360. Xbox 360 owners and Live Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers will be able to stream online movies to their consoles at no extra cost. Netflix is the world’s largest DVD rental service.

The Xbox becomes the only game system that lets users immediately watch movies and TV shows steamed from Netflix. Along with the existing Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store, the Xbox 360 has more access to movies and TV shows on demand than any other device connected to the TV, according to Microsoft.

Xbox owners can also share Netflix movies with friends via Xbox LIVE party so you can watch “Super Bad” together. This will require an Xbox Gold LIVE account however.

Continue reading “Netflix is finally coming to Xbox 360, which is getting a dashboard makeover and Mii-like avatars” »

There’s a lot to like about Seesmic, the so-called video equivalent of Twitter, besides the charismatic founder Loic Le Meur, “in cloud” talent like Sukhjit and Giselle, and the people you meet “face-to-face” through video posting and commenting.

But there is one thing not to like: the lack of take-it-with-you mobility. To use Seesmic you’re mostly tethered to a desktop or laptop computer with a Webcam. You can use a cell-phone workaround like Shozu, but it can be cumbersome, working for some, not for others. Many people are hyper-mobile and participating in Seesmic is difficult, at least during the day.

This is all about to change. Over the next four to six weeks, Le Meur said following the Supernova conference, Seesmic will release its own bi-directional client for the Nokia series-60 phones including the N95. A hack for the iPhone 3G (jailbreaking it) will soon follow, as will a client for phones running Windows Mobile (and, it can be assumed, Android when they become available).

“In a few weeks we will have our own mobile client, which will let you have a full Seesmic experience,” Le Meur said.

The full Seesmic experience includes a two-way conversation. You record and upload video posts to the Seesmic Website (as well as other leading video sharing sites like YouTube and social network sites like MySpace and Facebook) that others can follow like Twitter. The community, including friends and strangers from all around the world, can comment on your post, and you on their’s.

Continue reading “Seesmic to release bi-directional mobile client in four to six weeks” »

This post is syndicated from ReadWriteWeb.

Loopt is the third location aware mobile social network to become available for the majority of U.S. smartphones . It joins fellow competitors Whrrl and Brightkite, both of which have already started to gain traction (see ReadWriteWeb coverage of Brightkite). However, this is not a market where the first one to debut on the smartphone will be the ultimate winner. Instead, in the wild west of the mobile social networks, the key will be adoption. This is an area where Loopt is making headway, having recently announced deals with all the major U.S. carriers and support for Blackberry smartphones.

Continue reading “Loopt: a location aware mobile social network” »

It’s no secret that we’re fans of the PlayStation 3. And with the news that Sony’s next-generation console will now offer game developers an easy way to integrate YouTube uploads, we’re gushing once again.

By taking advantage of YouTube’s recently updated API and tools, Sony has added support for the video sharing site to its Software Development Kit to allow developers “to create games that enable direct upload of in-game video captures to YouTube”. While a few titles on both Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s XBox 360 already offer the ability to save game replays and share them over the Web, it’s the first time that a games console has offered YouTube support as a built-in and officially supported developer feature.

Continue reading “PlayStation 3 games can now offer YouTube uploads” »

It’s hard to fault Peter Gabriel’s logic: We are overwhelmed by the amount of information and choice we have on the Web. But is his solution — a recommendation engine called The Filter — really the answer?

Of course Gabriel, the genius behind the British rock band Genesis and the solo artist who gave us such tunes as “Solsbury Hill,” “Exposure,” and “Games Without Frontiers,” thinks so as he and England’s Eden Ventures have invested $8 million in The Filter. They believe people are overwhelmed by the Web and can’t find good content because it’s buried out of sight.

“When you drown people in an ocean of information, you’ve got to give them navigation tools,” Gabriel told News.com. “I know that there is better stuff out there than what I generally am exposed to . . . So if I have a sort of intelligent ally working with me 24 hours a day, I think I have a much better chance of getting stuff that will entertain, excite, and inspire me.”

The Filter, originally launched as a music recommendation service about a year ago in Europe, re-launched today in private beta as a more complete solution. It will be available to the public sometime in May.

But there’s something about The Filter that bugs me. What separates The Filter from any of the other algorithm-based recommendation engines out there, whether a human is a part of the process or not — Amazon, iTunes, lastFM, Netflix, Imeem, Digg, Pandora, and many more?

Continue reading “Where do you get your recommendations on the Web? From a service like The Filter? Or from friends?” »

No matter how much we talk about Apple’s elegant iPhone or Google’s mobile initiatives, Nokia just plods along undaunted, doing its own thing. With the introduction today of N-Gage and Ovi, it sure feels like Nokia is on to something before anybody else.

Nokia, the world’s No. 1 handset manufacturer, has begun rolling out its N-Gage gaming service and the “Share on Ovi” media sharing site in limited form. N-Gage is the resurrection of the ill-fated phone/gaming device that debuted in late 2003, only this time N-Gage is software that is downloaded to Nokia phones. The application is essentially a portal, allowing users access to games and community features like Ovi.

N-Gage is currently available for N81 models, but it will also work on N95 and other Nokia devices through hacks. (Details are at all about symbian.)

N-Gage is the first version of Nokia’s new mobile gaming platform, and it offers a glimpse of how Nokia envisions mobile game play and, to a larger extent, how it views the future of entertainment.

Continue reading “Nokia introduces new N-Gage, hints at what’s to come” »

One of the highlights of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) each year is Bill Gates’ keynote speech, available here as a webcast. This year there were a slew of products and partnerships announced. It was less futuristic vision and more beta products and what’s coming in 2008. In other words, it was much less about Internet-connected fridges, and more about what you can do now on your Xbox 360.

By now everybody is familiar with Microsoft’s strengths: Windows, devices, ‘rich’ user interfaces, partnerships with big media and electronics companies. Over the past few years we’ve seen Microsoft morph into a ‘Services’ company too, where services are delivered over the Internet. Although the branding as Windows Live has been clumsy and confusing, Microsoft has still been able to slot its Services vision into the Windows and devices foundation. Hence Gates’ talk of “Services-connected devices running on the Web” and the “huge amounts of storage” that Microsoft is able to provide.

Continue reading “Bill Gates at CES: No web fridges, but you can watch TV on your Xbox 360″ »

Aside from supporting YouTube, the AppleTV is about as Internet-connected as a first generation iPod. This despite the device sporting an Ethernet connection, high speed WiFi, and running Mac OSX under the hood.

In comparison, TiVo’s Linux-based line of “broadband-connected” DVRs play host to a growing range of web services, which, as of today, now includes the photo-sharing sites, Fox Interactive Media-owned Photobucket and Google’s Picasa. TiVo previously offered support for the now defunct Yahoo! Photos, and many had expected the company to add support for Yahoo-owned Flickr as a direct replacement, so it’s with some surprise that they’ve chosen to partner with two competitors instead.

With the new update, TiVo subscribers can access their own digital photos hosted on Photobucket or Picasa, as well as those shared by friends and family, through their broadband-connected TiVo boxes. “Photos will be displayed at the highest possible resolution on each TiVo box, meaning TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD subscribers can see their memories in full high definition”, according to the press release.

Continue reading “TiVo points to AppleTV’s future” »

Microsoft’s Xbox Live has come a long way since it launched in November of 2002. Xbox Live started out as a multiplayer gaming network, but today the 8 million users with Live accounts do much more than just play games. Users can download movies and television shows, chat with friends, and more. Even Microsoft now describes the service as a “comprehensive unified online entertainment network”. Marketing-speak at its finest, but it’s true - Xbox Live is a key component of Microsoft’s connected entertainment vision. In this post we look at the state of Xbox Live today, and explore some of the ways Microsoft will likely enhance it in the future.

Continue reading “Xbox Live five years on - what’s next?” »

The unveiling of Microsoft’s generation 2 Zunes has largely been met with a lukewarm reception from analysts and pundits alike. And while it’s true that the new Zune lineup is at best evolutionary rather than revolutionary, especially when compared to the User Interface innovations found in Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, Microsoft has made some significant improvements — and, dare I say it, done a few things from which even Apple might learn a thing or two.

Continue reading “Zune 2: five things Microsoft did right” »