As ive set the scene nicely ill kick things off with the new OS, if you couldnt care less i'd advise you to skip the paragraph as i have more to comment upon than a tech update :) Basically OS 4.0 is for the new iPhone 4 (which looks and feels and runs frikkin amazingly!) but as i dont have £500ish quid lying around i wont be getting one :( So if it was for the iPhone why do iPods get it? This is a plain and simple streamlining issue, they add it to all iPods (touches) and phones so as to reduce their workload by only running one systemfor what is, essentially, the same piece of hardware. Enough with the boring stuff though! The main new features are the abilities to create playlists on your iPod, organise your apps into folders and a general visual spruce to make your "desktop" as it were to look more iPady. If you own an iPhone you also get the huge boon of multi-tasking, this wont arrive on iPod touches as they physically dont have the tech in the to handle it. Overall im very impressed with the update, the looks are very swish and make a nice change from the ageing desktop and the new animations that go with it are a nice touch. Folders are incredibly useful as i no longer have to flick through 10 or so pages of apps to find the one i want i can now store them in folders of 9 apps that relate (eg i have a folder for online, one for my fave games etc) Now i only have 2 pages which is a lot tidier and easier to manage. Creating and editing playlists on your iPod has been something i have wanted for ages as i have a playlist of my favourite songs so if ever i think of an addition when im out i can add it straight away, smoothly avoiding the epic failure that is my memory! There are a few other new features such as a spell checker which works just like the one on Word, underlining all your errors in red for you to treat as you will. All other features are only minor changes so ill move on to the multi-tasking. Ive had a play with this on my Dad's work iPhone (3Gs) and am very impressed, it allows you to do just what it says, ie you could be writing a text and quickly check something on Safari or be playing a game and change the music track. Its all very fluid and doesnt drastically hamper the iPhone's overall performance, within reason (it starts to struggle if you try and pile too much onto it at once). The only negative point about the new OS is that it gives the already weedy battery a full on thrashing, which is rather annoying to say the least! But hey overall the pros outweight the cons quite considerably :)
Next up is E3 that finished not too long ago. To those who are unaware E3 is the biggest gaming expo in the world held in LA where a lot of the years big reveals are unleashed at one of the big three's (Microsoft, Sony & Nintendo) personal conferences. Microsoft opend the show with a rather audacios presentation of Project Natal, as invisiged by Cirque de Solai. Here they had a big circus and announced some release titles and its name, Kinect. Yes i thought the name was lame too! The next day Microsoft had their conference where they spent the first half talking about Kinect and showing off some release titles (kinectimals, Kinect Sports, a fitness game from Ubisoft, a dance version of Rockband by Harmonix and a few others) although these appeared very casual they did show a lot of promise as well as hinting at the opportunities as possibilities provided by the new tech. With this then it is an encouraging step before the big guns start to announce some titles for the more hardcore gamer. After that there was not much to write home about, they showed off a bit of the new Call of Duty: Black Opps which looked good but nothing really that new. This was followed by a short talk about Fable 3 and another about Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Both look pretty awesome but again, nothing outstanding. To finish off their bit, Microsoft announced the 360 S a slimmer, sleeker, sexier version of the console with a 250GB HDD and the fastest wireless N adapter of any console built in. All this for the same price as a new Elite, so not too shabby. Its also worth pointing out that it is also a great deal quieter, has a smaller power converter and no red ring of death, so thats nice!
Next up was Sony who, in my eyes, was very dissapointing. They spent the first half hour talking all about 3D gaming which, if im honest, is a bit of a fad. However during this pitch they did announce Killzone 3 which, from the demo, looks amazing. Next on their list was their version of the wiimote, Playstation move. This showed some promise, with 1:1 motion tracking but it was let down by long calibration times and lacking in game promises. For me personally, the biggest dissapointment came next with a big inspiring talk about the PSP. Like everyone else watching i had my fingers crossed for what appeared to be the announcement for the PSP2. But instead it was all in aid of a brand new advertising campaign....Lame. The rest of their conference improved slightly announcing Steam is coming to the PS3 along with Portal 2, an exclusive Assassins Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer Beta and the return of Twisted Metal.
It was Nintendo that stole the show, however, with the brillient looking 3DS (without stupid goggles!) the returns of Kirby, Kid Icarus and Donkey Kong. Not only this but also a renevated version of Goldeneye on a real controller with Daniel Craig's face which looks like it will be one of the best titles the wii has ever seen. Finally they showed some very impressive looking gameplay from the new upcoming Zelda game which, with the motion plus add on rivals Playstation move's 1:1 control.
In DVD news ive been revisiting the Alien series and the Ocean films both of which i find hugely entertaining. Im expecting Alice in Wonderland to come tomorrow so that will be an experince as i have yet to see burton's version of the classic.
Thats all for this time see you soon,
FT
x
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