Ramblings of an Internetaholic

Hello again… This I should have written a couple of weeks back when the news in here was actually new. But as I’m a lazy ass I didn’t write it. And I should really write this as sevaral posts but as I’m a lazy ass I’m writing this all in one post

Well where to begin? We have had some really cool things announced and released in the past few weeks and as most of this stuff can be found somewhere else I’ll write a basic intro and give links to the related sites so you can read more about it if u want to.

Project Natal

Lets start with Microsoft. At the E3 Gaming convention that was held recently Microsoft dropped a bomb on the game console world with the unveiling of Project Natal. Microsoft has been keeping this under wraps until then and I have to say, I was blown away. Project Natal is a peripheral you can connect to an XBOX 360 to have a completely new gaming experience. In a nutshell the future you will be playing games without a controller only using your body as the controller. Watch the video below and you’ll see for yourself.

When I first saw this I had my doubts. Is this accurate enough for a worldwide commercial release? But some of the worlds leading tech bloggers got their chance to experience Project Natal backstage and based on their reviews Project Natal is definitely ready. Microsoft has taken gaming to a whole new level and Nintendo Wii MotionPlus and Sony’s EyeToy have no chance of keeping in a level playing field with Microsoft (Even though they try to downplay it. ). This is definitely technology we haven’t even dreamed about. You can read some of the reviews of Project Natal in the links below.

Gizmodo – Testing Project Natal : We Touched the Intangible

Kikizo | First-Hand with Natal: Why it’s a Bigger Deal Than Critics Think

Palm Pre

This phone generated a lot of hype when it was first demonstrated saying it was the iPhone killer and whatnot. Even though it didn’t sell half as well as the iPhone it does bring some competition to the table with its new WebOS. The demo of the Palm Pre can be seen below. It’s a bit lengthy though.

This was a pre launch video at MWC 2009. According to most reviews the WebOS is impressive. But the Palm Pre’s construction leaves something to be desired. (I read somewhere that you could cut cheese with the Pre’s bottom edge ). And even though an official SDK hasn’t been released yet homebrew applications are showing up online. Gizmodo has put up a nice review matrix for easy comparison of what everyone is saying about the Pre. You can see it from the below link.

Gizmodo : Palm Pre Review Matrix – What everybody is saying

Google Wave

Now this is the product I’m really excited about. Did you know Email was invented almost 40 years ago? Trust me. It was. Google thought “How would email be if it were invented today?“. And following on that idea they created Google Wave. It’s a rich environment for users to share messages, pictures, videos and more. Google’s demonstration video can be seen below. But I warn you. It’s a hour and 20 minutes long.

For those who do not want to waste the time you could have watched a movie or something the highlights of the show can be found in the below link.

Lifehacker – The Google Wave Highlight Reel

Did I mention this is going to be Open Sourced? Well it is. Google wants everyone to implement this open standard much like email is today. Google is currently giving developers who want to develop extensions and such for Wave access to Wave at www.wavesandbox.com. If you’re interested you can fill out a form and hope for Google to approve your request. FYI its still very buggy and requires refreshes now and then

iPhone 3GS and iPhone OS 3.0

Been debating with myself whether to put this here or not. But the hype this announcement created when Apple finally unveiled it at WWDC 2009 was too hard to ignore. Apple is making its way to creating a real phone now. Now it has SMS forwarding, MMS and Video recording too. Amazing huh?!?

Anyway, Apple has improved the hardware somewhat as well. The iPhone 3GS (S stands for speed) comes with a 3.2MP Autofocus camera that can also capture video with VGA resolution @ 30FPS, a faster processor, hardware 3D acceleration and more RAM. Here’s the iPhone 3GS complete feature guide from Gizmodo.

Gizmodo – iPhone 3GS Complete Feature Guide

Despite all the hardware and software improvements the iPhone 3GS is still far from perfect. My main complain is “WHERE THE HELL IS MULTITASKING??”. I mean, come on. Is that too much to ask for? Other phone manufacturers had that like 8 years ago. This is where the Palm Pre really outshines Apple with its multitasking capabilities.

Hmm. I guess that’s it for today. I’m really tired as well. You can thank me for telling you stuff you already knew about in the comments below … Cheers!!!