2005 has been an interesting year for Ployer.com - a few highs & lots of lows.. Lol.

I want to thank the 3 million unique visitors that have visited the site over the past year. Special thanks to the guys who bookmarked or check in regularly. Thanks to the folks who have sent products over for review or requested a review.

On the topic on Traffic

I recently upgraded to Mt 3.2 with the upgrade I used raw templates for about 20 days. I watched my traffic dip from 8k uniques per day down to 4,500k per day. While it is true that I have not been up to speed, not breaking stories, not getting links ...lol ... let me stop

In 2005 I did 3900 stories. received 5 comments.

Ployer's Biggest Story Google' Gmail expands

Ployer's Most Searched Term "Ployer" - I kid - Nintendo Revolution

I see great things for ployer.com in 2006. We have the Ployer Minis launching shortly. Hopefully 2006 will see a refresh in innovation for gadgets.

I am so bored with the same crap being recycled with one new feature. Apple I see you.....

In an interview with Yahoo Japan Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata hinted that the price of the Nintendo Revolution console will be less than $299, which is the cost of the Xbox 360's standard package reports the inq

While this is not a confirmation of that $149 price being throw around..... , its a start in that direction

As part of re-branding strategy, chip maker Intel Corp. is launching a new corporate and brand identity that will include a re-worked company logo, a change in the ubiquitous "Intel Inside" stickers, and a shift from the Pentium name for its micro-processors.

Intel's image change, to coincide with next week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is part of an effort by new Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini to push Intel into home entertainment. The company, whose processors run more than 80 percent of personal computers, is trying to gain a foothold in the consumer market to counter slowing growth in PC chips.

``Intel has been struggling to find a way out of PCs for the last six or seven years,'' said Eric Ross, an analyst at ThinkEquity Partners in New York, who rates the stock ``buy'' and doesn't own it reports Bloomberg. ``I never dreamed they'd drop `Intel Inside.' Their marketing has been exceptionally successful.''

The change in Intel's brand is the first step in a $2.5 billion marketing campaign, BusinessWeek reported earlier.

Intel also plans to introduce a new chip, which will be called ``Core,'' to complement its Centrino laptop and Viiv home entertainment components.

Samuel B Jones, chief investment officer at Trillium Asset Management, a leading Intel shareholder, said: “I understand why Intel would want people to understand that their focus is not just on PCs, but why abandon the existing branding? They have huge recognition globally and I’m not sure they need to go this far.”

Last night, while strolling through Christopher in New York, I came across some slutty ads for Sony's Playstation Portable, AKA the PSP.

The black-on-white graffiti shows cartoon characters riding the Playstation like a skateboard, licking it like a lollipop or cranking it like a Jack-in-the-box.

Like Sony, I thought it was pretty cool, others disagree

More PSP ad drama

CoolIT Systems Inc.has announced plans to show off a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show from Jan. 4 – 8, 2006.

The Microsoft Xbox 360 has been the topic of much discussion since its release on Nov. 22, 2005. Aside from its limited supply, many headlines have been about problems related to the excessive thermal output of Microsoft’s latest gaming console product.

To provide gaming consumers with a high performance option, CoolIT Systems touts the retrofit product that will transform the stock forced air cooling system with a state-of-the-art liquid-chilled system that employs the exclusive MTEC technology pioneered by CoolIT Systems.

Rain design has announced, iWoofer, a newl iPod speaker system. iWoofer is designed to make a striking impression for the eye as well as the ear, with unique combination of features like downfiring subwoofer and the smallest ipod speaker with radio.

Satellite speakers:
2 x 30mm Full range, 3Watts 4ohm with neodymium aluminum speaker cones
Subwoofer:
1 x 2.5” 6 watts 4ohm
Power Supply:
External AC Adapter (100-240V)
Dimensions:
4.6" x 6.7" (diameter x height)
116mm x 170mm (diameter x height)
Weight:
16.7 oz / 473.5 g

via

Nothing to say, here are images of what may or may not be of upcoming Motorola Rokrs. via

Seen at Engadget

Pioneer Electronics Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a high-definition Blu-ray DVD disc drive for personal computers

The new Blu-ray disc drive was aimed primarily at professional users like content creators or studios, who can use it to test and evaluate Blu-ray disc titles during the authoring process before replication reports Reuters

People with a TV tuner on their PCs could use the drive to record high definition TV shows and use it to view movie titles on Blu-ray discs as well as standard DVD media.

CBS is teaming with Yahoo Inc. for "Comedy Bowl," a week of free streaming of the network's Monday comedies "Two and a Half Men" and "How I Met Your Mother" on Yahoo TV.

The viewing marks the first time Yahoo! has streamed a full episode of CBS TV product in its entirety on the Web. The presentations will be commercial-free and come at a time when the major TV networks are exploring more elaborate content partnerships with a variety of online and wireless companies reports thestreet.

Digital-music veteran Rob Lord and a four other really cool people, have started Pioneers of the Inevitable, a new open-source startup.

Lord's company is building a piece of digital-music software called "Songbird," based on much of the same underlying open-source technology as the Firefox Web browser reports CNet.

Songbird programmers want to create music-playing software that will work naturally with the growing number of music sites and services on the Web, instead of being focused on songs on a computer's hard drive.

Songbird is a complete desktop media player or "jukebox" with a uniquely open approach to Internet digital media network services.

Songbird is developed by Pioneers of the Inevitable, a small, chirpy team of digital media innovators whose previous incubations include the Winamp 5 and Y! Music Engine media players and Muse.Net, a location-independent digital media network service acquired by Yahoo!.

Read More

Dead or Alive 4 for Xbox 360 will be released tommorrow for the lucky few xbox 360 owners. The new game takes advantage of the superior technology of Xbox 360, to redefine 3D fighter games.

Go wild with a new fighting system, larger tournament groups, detailed scoreboards and more. Form clans, or just enter the lobby areas to talk with other DOA fans. Best of all, the fighting system allows even more mastery and strategy of your favorite character -- including the most complex DOA countering system yet!

$59 at amazon

Sony, Japan has announced a new clear case to protect their steamy Walkman A series.

"CKH-NWA1000" for the 6GB HDD NW-A1000 and , 2 models "of CKH-NWA3000" for the 20GB HDD NW-A3000 portable media player. Price 2,800 Yen, & 3,000 Yen.

Palm One's Treo 700w will launch on January 5 according to reports. Users will be able to acquire the Treo 700w for $619.99 or for $499.99 after a rebate with two-year contract.

Treo 700w Features

240x240 color TFT touchscreen display
back-lit QWERTY keyboard
Bluetooth
built-in 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture
EV-DO high-speed data
Windows Media Player 10
SD/MMC memory expansion slot
built-in speakerphone

Happy Holidays.

Bryan

The Nautilus from British speaker company, B&W, is touted to offer a unique chance to hear music exactly as recorded - detailed, vibrantly alive, full of power and unhindered by speaker distortion or cabinet diffraction.

Already sought after by cognoscenti, it has been unashamedly designed with the serious audiophile in mind, not only because of its size and shape but also because of its active design – the crossover network is positioned between the pre and power amplifiers. This means that a full Nautilus system needs one stereo pre-amplifier and eight monobloc or four stereo power amplifiers per pair (amplifiers of 100W upwards are recommended, with 500W being the optimum for the low frequency drive unit).

Read More

Sean Alexander has posted a how to on his blog on how you could score an Xbox 360. via SeanAlexander

Microsoft has announced the Xbox Live Diamond Card. Well, here's what you're in for:

* Your own card: Did you sign up for a digital gamer card on Xbox.com? Of course you did. Now, how about a real, live, flash-it-to-your-friends card personalized with your gamertag? Ask no more! The Xbox Live Diamond Card is here. * That's not all: The card does much more. Xbox Live has partnered with your favorite stores, restaurants, and other retailers across the country for discounts and promotions exclusively for Xbox Live Diamond Card program members.* * It gets even better: Xbox Live isn't going to sit still, either. We'll continue to bring you new partners and more opportunities to use your Diamond Card. * The best part: The Xbox Live Diamond Card is free! It's our big thank you to our most loyal Xbox Live subscribers.

"Best Buy was getting a new shippment of Xbox 360's. So people started to camp out of the store the night before, hoping to grab one in the morning. Anyway, these teenagers thought it was funny to drive by and show off their Xbox 360 to everyone in line. They drove by like 5 times untill the 6th time, they accidentally drop the console. My buddy grabs it and runs away... via Technie Diva

Princeton , Japan has announced the "PSP-IPSH," a new 2ch active speaker for iPod nano/shuffle. The new speaker will be launched in January for 6,980 Yen.

The PSP-IPSH of no relation to Sony's PSP works like a standard dock/speaker. It charges your iPod, while making noise. Errr. is it just me of does the PSP-IPSH logo look like the PSP logo? Measures 176x33x99mm (width x depth x height), and weighs 235g.

Ipod Nano not included... via

Gaming stores in the US are taking orders for the Xbox 360 release of 2006, Halo 3. Some stores are already displaying banners and assorted goodies with Halo 3 logos, inscribed ‘Coming 2006 – Reserve yours today.’

This whole pre-order thing is going a little to far, Microsoft has been mute on the Halo 3 launch. The only hint the company gave was when Bill Gates said that the PS3 would ‘walk right into’ Halo 3 upon its release.

So that could be Spring or it Could be November 2006. Knowing Microsoft that will probably be November.

via

U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte has blocked a California law that would have made it illegal to sell or rent violent video games to minors, saying he doubted whether such sales could be banned even if the games were proved to cause violent behavior among children.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had signed the bill by Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, to ban the sale or rental of especially violent video games to children under 18 years old unless there is parental approval. The law was to take effect Jan. 1 reports Sfgate

In his ruling, Judge Whyte wrote that "games are protected by the First Amendment"--worthy of the same protection of free expression as books, films, television, or the press. He granted the preliminary injunction on the grounds that the terms of the law, which would include mandatory labeling of games deemed unsuitable for minors, would "likely" be ruled unconstitutional. The decision comes amid a political and cultural war over the content of video games, which last year accounted for $7.3 billion in U.S. sales and rivaled Hollywood box office receipts reports Reuters.

The motion for the injunction was requested by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) game-industry lobby and Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA), a game-retailer trade association reports GameSpot

"We are extremely pleased by today's announcement," said ESA President Doug Lowenstein. "For the sixth time in five years, federal courts have now blocked or struck down these state and local laws seeking to regulate the sale of games to minors based on their content, and none have upheld such statutes."

read More at Reuters

Reigncom, Korea’s leading Mp3 player maker, announced the launch of the sequel to D10 , iRiver D20. In addition to ebook reading, organizer functions and general a dictionary, the D20 supports MP3, WMA, OGG. Other features include line in, FM radio recording, and ability to view images on a 4.3-inch 480x272 color LCD.

via Engadget . Read More

Phone giant, Motorola is so excited about the new Motorola A1200 smartphone, they decided to show of the yummy smartphone phone, even though it is not completed. The A1200 will be equipped with a 2 Megapixel camera and weighs 95 grams! It has a 2.4” 240×320 pixels QVGA TFT screen and 8MB built-in memory. The storage space can be further upgraded by using the T-flash memory card up to 512MB.

The A1200 supports POP3, IMAP4, SMTP e-mail protocol, Word, Excel, Power, Real Player, MP3, MP4, AAC+ etc.

Read More at Phone Mag

Amazon is taking pre-orders for TomTom's new GPS Navigator for Motorcycles and Scooters. Priced at 1,099.99, TomTom RIDER boasts detailed street level maps for the entire U.S. and provides real-time access to traffic and weather information via wireless Bluetooth technology to help riders get to their destination.

Features:

* Bluetooth technology allows you to route voice commands and phone calls to your helmet
* Download real-time TomTom Plus services to the Rider via your phone's data connection
* GPS device designed just for motorbikes and scooters offers an intuitive, glove-friendly touch-screen interface
* 3.5-inch screen and integrated sun-visor
* Included mounting kit makes the Rider compatible with virtually any scooter or motorcycle

InFocus, the folks behind the 15K ScreenPlay 777,will release three front video projectors for the consumer segment from its Play Big projector series in the first quarter of 2006.

The Play Big IN72 will target mainstream consumers. Prices at US$1,299, the projector will feature 480p enhanced definition. The Play Big IN74 is for custom dealers looking to magnify customers’ large-screen viewing experiences including gaming, entertaining and movie nights. The IN74 will provide native 16:9 resolution in the United States as well as in Wide PAL countries. The projector will be priced at US$1,699. For the higher-end of the market, the Big IN76 is priced at US$2,499 and provides native 720p high-definition resolution.

Seen at Digi

After the success of Motorola's Razr V3, every new skinny handset is being compared to the steamy must have phone (hipsters). The new LG. 880 is no exception, even though the handset looks a mile away from the razr, it is touted as razr-like ... whatever that means.

Measuring 99x49x18mm and weighing 99g, the LG 880 appears to be thinnest 3G handset introduced so far writes Phone Arena. The tri-band GSM clamshell-designed device is also the first cellphone from LG to be equipped with an integrated antenna. The main features of the LG 880, which comes in Black, Sliver and the it color of the season (Pink), are as follows.

262k color display, Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera with video capture, two-way video calling, real time video sharing applications, 80MB expandable memory, USB port

Sony Computer Entertainment America is on track to accomplish their goal of six million PlayStation Portable units shipped to retailers in North America by the end of the year.

Back in October, SCEA boss Kaz Hirai predicted that the firm would reach six million units by the start of 2006; at that point, Sony had recently announced hitting 4.47 million units shipped in North America, as part of 10 million units shipped worldwide.

Speaking to Reuters this week, Sony spokesperson Molly Smith said that "we're mapping to that forecast... We're very comfortable with where we are," but did not clarify what, exactly, the forecast called for.

Tulip, the folks behind the first personalized lifestyle computer, called 'E-Go,' has announced a luxury E-Go of sorts.

TDIH touts E-Go as a premium quality product with unique quality components (new form factor motherboard) which distinguishes itself by its contemporary design and organic styling.

The new laptop is inlaid with solid palladium white gold plates in which thousands of cut diamonds have been set. The quality is V.V.S. top-Wesselton and the total weight is 80.00 Crt. Price $336,557

The handbag-styled E-Go's system is based on an AMD Turion 64 processor, ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics chipset, 1GB of PC3200 DDR RAM, 100GB SATA hard disk drive, and 12.1-inch widescreen WXGA (1280x800 pixels) display.

You also get a DVD-RW optical drive, touchpad pointing device, built-in Web camera, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 1.2, microphone, stereo speakers, ExpressCard, four USB 2.0 ports, 10/100Base-TX NIC, VGA and S-Video out ports, and SD/MMC/MS/MS Duo memory card reader.

Via. More

Samsung's featured packed WiBro Phone SPH-H1000 equipped with QWERTY keyboard made a big splash at the 2nd International ComBCon(Communication and Broadcasting Convergence Exhibition & Conference), actually I don't know what kind of splash it made, but I imagine, since it could be mistaken for a new iPod from far, people couldn't get enough of it.

With convenient QWERTY keyboard and network connectivity of WiBro, the SPH-H1000 is touted as a useful device for businessmen who need to move from place to place.

2.2-inch 260,000 colors QVGA TFT LCD helps to watch S-DMB service. You can watch video-clip, photos, and webpage with TV-out function. This model can be used as VoIP phone.

Seen at pannews

Fact: I am not sure where this rumor started.
Fact: Microsoft just seems to follow nowadays (not that this is a bad thing - once you do it better)

OK. Rumor Microsoft plans on launching a subscription-based Movie download service (think low rent Itunes [I kid) but for movies). The service would offer either unlimited downloads or one with a high limit for a flat monthly fee reports MacRumors

What would be really cool & a slap in Apple's face is if the service works on the iPod Video... I will go a step further ... wouldn't it be like so crazy if the service worked on the Sony PSP ... the would be like a double bitch slap....

Now that the Xbox 360 has bombed ( I kid), Internet gaming gossips are speculating on the release date of the PlayStation 3 following an announcement in the US Playstation Magazine stating that Unreal Tournament 2007 would be available on the PS3 when it launches spring of 2006. I have heard spring so many times I am starting to believe it, at the every least Japan should have the Playstation 3 spring 2006.

And chances are, we should have the PS3 in America in time for thanks giving 2006.

Oslo based Asono has announced the DAB1, a new digital radio .

Microsoft this week released a December Community Technology Preview of Windows Vista, Build 5270. The new version includes a variety of improvements to security, performance, and the user interface. It also includes updated versions of some of the applications that will ship with the operating system reports PC Magazine

The Community Technology Preview features.

Windows Defender- an update to Windows AntiSpyware.
BitLocker – protects data that are at risk from being stolen or lost.
Device Driver Locking – System administrators will be able to block installation of external hard drives, USB flash drives and removable storage devices.
Parental controls – a more effective way to control usage of computers and the Internet by children.
Improved Firewall – includes both inbound and outbound firewall filtering
Internet Explorer 7 – this feature was included in the previous CTP version but this time round it provides added security for international domain names.
Additional features include an updated Windows Media Playe (Windows Media Player 11)r, a Windows Media Center and a caching algorithm called Superfetch.

Read More at Earth Times - Images at Impress.co.Jp

Softbank Corp. and Yahoo Japan Corp. said on Monday they had formed a company - " TV Bank Corp" - to broadcast television programmes via the Interne.

The two companies said the joint venture, TV Bank Corp., would operate a new streaming video service called "Yahoo!Doga", which aims to be a portal site for about 100,000 different programmes including movies, sports and music shows as well as drama series from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea reports Reuters

iRex, spinoff of Philips has announced the ER 0100 , a new portable electronic device specifically for
reading applications. ER 0100s' stable, high-brightness display
makes for excellent readability both indoors AND outdoors.
The 8.1-inch (diagonal) monochrome Electronic Paper
display contains 1024 x 768 pixels and supports 16 levels of
grey (160 dpi).

ACME Game Store CO-owners Jason Jones, 34, and Jonathan Bryant, 44, as well as Pei "Patrick" Cai, 32 could face up to five years in prison for hawking hacked Microsoft Xbox systems.

According to reports, the men sold Xbox systems that Mr. Cai had modified with chips and hard drives that allowed users to copy rented or borrowed games onto the console for future play. Prices ranged $US225 ($300) to more than $US500 for the modifications, depending on the extent of the modifications and the number of games preloaded onto the hard drive reports Reuters

US prosecutors charged the three men with one felony count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and to violate the US' Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Mr Jones and Mr Bryant demonstrated the modified Xbox game consoles in their

"Probably the first question people ask when reading this review is whether the Creative Zen Vision:M has a better screen than the video iPod. After all, Mr. Hoo should have already dissected the Apple's, and came up with countermeasures before hitting back. Putting the video iPod next the Zen, the Creative seems to take the lead with the colors on the 2.5� QVGA screen being very vivid and vibrant. The LCD's contrast is excellent. There's just a bit too much color saturation than necessary, causing some finer details to wash away."

Read More at everythingusb

Amadana, Japan is offering this sleek Air Purifier to help you breathe easier.

The Amadana Air Purifieris equipped with a "high-performance HEPA filter" and "Ag (silver) Air filter" that catches 99.97% of dirty air-borne micro particles such as cigarette smoke and pollen. With double filters, your space will be clean and pleasant.

read more

In addition to the new LaVie LR700D , Nec Japan also announced the VW970/EG & VW900/EH HD TV, DVR and PC systems . The VW970/EG features a Pentium D 820 (2.80GHz) & two 300GB HDDs. The VW900/EH features a Celeron D 346 (3.06GHz)processor & a 400GB HDD. Memory 512MB - OS: Windows Media Center Edition 2005 - HD TV Ready
A startup time of only 2 seconds for the TV mode (after a complete shutdown)

via

Nec Japan, today announced the Nec LaVie LR700D, and 900 notebooks featuring Intel's new Yonah chip-set.

Based on a mobile-optimized microarchitecture and 65nm process technology, “Yonah” is designed to provide power management capabilities and enhanced performance for multiple demanding applications and multi-threaded applications.

The LaVie LR700D other features include Intel Mobile 945 Express, a 100GB HDD, a DVD+DL burner and a 14" 1400x1050 screen.

via - Seen at Impress.co.jp

Online retail giant, Amazon.com is taking pre-orders for Creative's new Zen Vision: M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player. The $329.99 iPod clone is getting solid reviews for it's multifunction abilities.

Features:

* Compatible with Windows XP (SP 1 or higher)
* Stores up to 120 hours of movies, tens of thousands of photos, and up to 15,000 songs
* 2.5-inch high-definition LCD screen
* Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery provides up to 14 hours of music
* Integrated FM radio and recorder, voice recorder

Computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard, which has previously backed Blu-Ray exclusively in the war of the next-gen DVD formats, has announced that it will now also support HD-DVD reports GB.

HP had requested that the Blu-Ray Disc Association commit to including two features already locked down for HD-DVD - Mandatory Managed Copy, which allows consumers to legally copy video content, and iHD, said to offer greater interactivity and ensure "a more compelling user experience when recording HDTV programs." Although the Blu-Ray camp agreed to adopt MMC, iHD has not been approved

"By joining the HD-DVD Promotions Group and continuing work with the Blu-Ray Disc Association, HP will be in a better position to assess true development costs and, ultimately, provide the best and most affordable solution for consumers," the company said in a statement.

Microsoft has announced plans to cut support for IE for Apple Macs. The software giant advised Mac users of Internet Explorer (IE) to switch to rival browsers such as Apple's Safari.

Microsoft initially said it had stopped work on the browser in June.

No more security updates will be provided as from the New Year. The browser itself will be removed from Microsoft's Mactopia site and no longer be available for download.

Sony Japan has announced the RPU-C1833, a new Chameleon Eye Camera that t features a 180 degree field of vision. The Chameleon Eye Camera RPU-C1833 designed for use at ATMs etc, measures 1.5 x 1.2x 1.1 inch and weighs just 2.3 ounces. Other features include a 3 Mega Pexel camera with a frame rate of 16 fps. Available March 2006 for $900.Seen at Gizmodo . Read Press Release (jp)

Japanese carmaker, Nissan is showing off a new six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive sports car that will come with a built-in Xbox gaming system and driver-integrated cockpit. According to Gadget Buzz no word on whether this Xbox system is based on the new Xbox 360 platform or how it works. I imagine if the Xbox 360 takes off like say the iPod this concept car could be paving the way for that Xbox 360 option on new cars.

via Gadget Buzz. Image Cnet

If you had plans to pick up a 1GB iPod shuffle for a pal this season, you will need to return to the drawing board. Apple Insider is reporting that the 1 GB iPod Shuffle is sold out.

The $129 iPod is "Sold out for holiday," Apple said in a message on its online store. New stock of the original flash-based iPod is not expected until "mid-January." Not surprisingly, mid-January is also the time Apple traditionally unveils its latest consumer products at the Macworld Expo trade show in San Francisco. This year's festivities are set to kick-off on January 10th.

What to expect, people hawking shuffles on ebay for outrageous amounts of money.

PS .. Becareful on ebay you might end up with this

Chris over at CNN took the Nintendo Revolution controller for a spin

Shaped like a television remote control, the Revolution controller uses internal sensors to translate your wrist, arm and hand movements on screen. It's easy to use, but takes a few minutes to adjust your playing style. (I initially found myself waving my arms wildly, resulting in the onscreen pointer whizzing back and forth at blinding speeds.)

Nintendo wasn't kidding when it said it wanted to change the way people play, though

Visto Corp, a maker of software for wireless e-mail, said on Thursday it filed a lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. for infringing Visto patents for technology that support e-mail on mobile devices. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, was made a day after Visto licensed patents belonging to NTP, the company that is engaged in a patent challenge to Research in Motion. The NTP case could shut most service to the BlackBerry communications device reports New York Times.

Visto said it is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Microsoft from "misappropriating" technology from Visto and its co-founder developed nearly 10 years ago. Microsoft's wireless e-mail product, Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology, will be introduced in the spring.

Motorola's steam Q smartphone has been approved by the FCC. The Q will be initially available with CDMA networks support and will be released by Verizon Wireless.

In only 0.45” thick body, Motorola have put 1.3 megapixel camera, QVGA display, Windows Mobile for Smartphones Operating System version 5.0, and slot for miniSD cards for memory expansion. And this is not all - the Q even features full QWERTY keyboard on it.

via

Internet Giant, Google Inc. has introduced a music search feature that will provide more information about artists, album cover art, reviews, and links to stores where users can download a track or buy a CD.

"One of the things Google wasn't good at that consumers wanted was music," said Marissa Mayer, the company's vice president for search products and user experience. And because a huge number of users' searches fall into the music category, Google decided to alter its engine to serve up results reports Washington Post

The music search feature is prominently placed above the main search results in what Google calls its "one box" area. When a user enters a music-related search in Google search box, the resulting search returns information about the artist, a few albums and a picture, when available, above the standard search results reports CNN

A search for the Mariah Carey, for example, brings up a Mariah Carey album cover, other albums, and links to more search results.

The list of online stores where users can buy the tunes in question include Apple's iTunes, as well as rivals like Microsoft's MSN Music, Amazon.com, and RealNetworks' Rhapsody reports MSNBC

For the CD retailers, Google receives data feeds of the inventory and only returns a link to a store if the item is available, SearchEngineWatch said.

"It makes a tremendous amount of sense; this is an extension of [Google's] search capabilities" and will be a natural place for consumers to look when they're trying to think of songs or shop for music, said Mike McGuire, research director for Gartner Inc. "It gets people to move from CDs to online."

The music search feature was developed as a side project by a Google engineer, Google spokeswoman Megan Quinn said.

If a report in Japan's Jiji News service is to be believed, Microsoft has entered final stages with Toshiba and other HD-DVD backers on the development of an HD-DVD capable Xbox 360. The company is looking into the possibility of releasing the updated version of the hardware next year reports IGN

Previously, Microsoft Japan representatives have suggested that HD-DVD will be a part of the Xbox 360's future, albeit for movie playback only.

A group of crackers called Team PI Coder says it has discovered the basic workings of Microsoft's Xbox 360 file system reports BBC. The information has helped the group dig out the raw data from the console for 13 Xbox 360 games.

The data is said to be similar to current generation Xbox games.

"Once you get past the protections and down to the raw bits on the disc, it's just the standard xboxdvdfs, however the offset and layer breakpoint are different," the group wrote in release notes.

In response Microsoft said its console had several security systems in place that would prevent pirated games being played on it.

Apple iPod enthusiasts are going crazy with Wireless/Java iPods speculation following an announcement by PortalPlayer - the company that makes iPods for Apple - concerning their acquisition of a small private wireless-technology firm.... and how 2006 will be all about wireless

Rumors/speculation of a wireless iPod is not new, with previous comments by Motorola execs as well as Apple patent images depicting a wireless iPod reports MacRumors

The last time Steve Jobs spoke on the subject, he claimed that Bluetooth for the iPod isn't a good option due to sound quality and headphone recharging issues.

PortalPlayer also announced that it has licensed Sun Microsystems' Java™ Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) technologies to be included in its personal media player platforms, which are expected to be released in the first half of 2006. The agreement will enable PortalPlayer customers to add Java applications such as games and productivity tools to next-generation personal media players

via MocoNews