Do you know what you need? Do you know how much storage you want it to supply for you? Do you know what brand to go with? All USB Flash Drives are not created equal.
Start off by assessing what exactly you need this mini storage device for. Do you only transport text documents on it, and maybe a few pictures of friends and family? Or do you need to move movies around with it, lots of music, or large animation projects where the file sizes are ridiculous?
As far as quality items go, it’s pretty decent no matter what you go with. There are obviously superior technologies out there, but in general you’re going to be pretty happy with what you get. You will be more concerned with size. Yes, size matters.
So, if you’re say a college student, and you need to keep your research papers with you at all time in digital form, then you’ll be pretty happy with a 1GB to 2GB storage. Keep in mind you will only be storing smaller files. If you’ve just got text files on it, then it’s going to take you a long time to fill the thing. If you’re uploading all of your music to it, you’ll still be able to put quite a few songs on it, but it’ll run out a bit quicker that way. Remember that Flash Drives aren’t permanent storage devices and you can always delete files off of them to free up some space.
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Apple is on a campaign to conquer the technological world, with the iPhone leading the charge. For all its global success, however, the iPhone faces a formidable challenge breaking into the Chinese market.
Security Concerns
With its GPS-savvy technology, the iPhone has furrowed the eyebrows of security-conscious top brass in the Chinese governments. In most Western cultures, knowing where everyone is-at least where their phone is-isn’t that big of a deal. It’s really more of a novelty thing. To the Chinese, however, it poses an understandable concern. Apple’s way around this barrier would be to introduce an iPhone divested of GPS capability.
Bogged Down Talks
China Unicom is the primary telecommunication provider in China. As such, it is a mammoth organization, servicing the majority of China’s immense population with telephone service. Obviously, talking to an organization of such magnitude takes time, lots of it. The larger the organization, the slower the wheels grind. ‘Talks,’ whatever that means, between Apple and Unicom have been going on for months, and so far, no earth-shaking news items have been released. The fact that China Unicom is heavily influence by government leadership also compounds the issue.
 An iPhone clone, the CECT A380i iPhone Knockoffs
Probably the largest foe to the iPhone’s takeover is the ubiquity of iPhone imitations in China. China is no stranger to technology. The country manufactures most of the electronic devices on your desk right now, but they also design and develop them. Chinese techies are some of the most savvy, innovative, and intelligent developers in today’s tech world. With their know-how, they have made their own iPhones-far cheaper, and just as cool-looking. To be sure, piracy and copyright laws are being broken left and right. But finding and prosecuting the copycats is a problem too big and expensive for Apple to mess with. If Apple can get past security and power through talks, they may well have an iPhone in China. But its success may very well be challenged by the fact that everyone already has an iPhone…kind of.
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With all of the internet browser competition out there, it was about time Microsoft did another overhaul on the (un)trusty ol’ IE. With competition like Apple Safari, Opera, Google Chrome and especially Firefox out there, Microsoft needed to do something.
Firefox’s and IE’s browser use had been split down the middle for a little while, but recently, Firefox has been casting a shadow on the meek IE.
The new IE8 has some new features with it, and many that should put the user’s mind at ease while browsing the World Wide Web.
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There’s nothing new about a digital camera, or even one with WiFi connectivity, but the addition of the 3.5 inch touch-screen web browser makes the DSC-G3 something to talk about.
Mike McDonald from WebProNews Videos reported on this Cyber-shot® from CES 2009.
All you need is a hotspot to connect and login to your favorite photo-sharing website (YouTube, Picasa, Shutterfly, Photobucket, and Dailymotion). In just moments, from wherever you are, you can virtually have a live feed of images. Make your family and friends jealous as you share pictures from your vacation, while you’re on vacation. You can report back to work with the latest images from your assignment while you’re still on it. The Sony DSC-G3 Cyber-shot® Camera is an innovative approach to the photo-sharing world. In fact, this camera won the CNET® Best of CES 2009 award for digital photo and video.
 Some other features of the DSC-G3 include the 4x optical zoom Carl Zeiss lens, SteadyShot™ for stabilization of shaky photos, 4GB of internal memory and a smooth 30 fps (frames per second) for video recording.
There is so much power and ingenuity fit into a slim, compact design. Take the Sony DSC-G3 Cyber-shot® absolutely anywhere with you and it is guaranteed to be the focus of attention.
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If you’re a PC gamer, you’ve likely wished that you had a controller as versatile as the Nintendo Wii. Look no further, the developers at Cywee (sigh-wee) have created just that!
Check out this video from WebProNews at the CES 2009:
Cywee Z is a versatile 3-D motion sensor game controller that can be adjusted to accommodate several styles of games. According to the Cywee blog, you can use it in 4 different ways.
- Stick position: for tennis and golf type games.
- Gun position: for shooter and combat games.
- “Inverted” Z, Rotated position: for use as a steering wheel, or a slightly different angle for aviation games.
It seems that no matter the style of your game, this controller will be able to deliver.
The Cywee Z is not just for gamers! It can be used as a mouse as well. You can move away from your desk and the confines of traditional mouse-use to relax. How wonderful to not have to sit in a desk chair! Of course you’ll need a larger monitor for this functionality to be useful at a distance. No sense in stepping back from your monitor if you can’t see it anymore. You’ll also need some place comfortable to sit that is strategically placed in view of your computer.
So, you can be comfortable and use it, and move around and use it, but what about cost? Well, if you don’t have a large monitor then you’re going to have to get one if you want to move away from your screen. This doesn’t sound like a big deal for the more intense technology buffs/gamers/computer users, unless of course you’re strapped for cash. Most people are struggling with money nowadays, given the state of the economy. Even though prices have dropped, large monitors or televisions with monitor capabilities are still not cheap. In fact, the Z itself is not cheap either. At about $120 (NT$3990), it is likely one of the most expensive controllers you’ll buy. Although, if you’re willing to spend a chunk of money on a new game, or drop a couple grand on a superb monitor/television, then what’s another 120 bucks? That’s a drop in the bucket if these electronics are important to you.
As fun as this controller would be to have, the current financial state of everyone really hinders excess purchasing. It’s really hard to say how well the Z will do. Although, since it’s not just for use with one game or system, perhaps people will decide that it is worth buying. As long as the Z is as fluid and easy to use as it looks, I’m sure it will get a lot of hype, and become quite the popular little PC controller.
Good luck to you, Cywee Z!
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Filed under: Features, Indie
With the IGF finalists announced, game makers only have a short while longer to find out the best of the best in indie games from last year. From the best overall game to the one with the most impressive art, there’s several different categories for indie game designers to aspire to be the top of. This week we’re going to take a look at a few of the games that have made it to the finals.
One of the lesser categories in the IGF is Technical Excellence. While still important, it doesn’t receive as much attention as some of the other categories. This year, though, there’s a lot of excellent entries in this category. They are all great on each front, but they truly shine in their excellent technical achievements over everything else. These are the games that push the envelope forward and show just what we can do with personal. So take a gander at what these independent developers have to offer to you. You won’t be disappointed!
Continue reading IGF Finalist Showcase: Technical Excellence
IGF Finalist Showcase: Technical Excellence originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: RPG
There have been rumors for months that Lionhead Studios was planning to release a PC port of their acclaimed Xbox 360 fantasy RPG Fable II. The original Fable did indeed get a Computer version about a year after the original Xbox version came out.
But it looks like a Computer version for Fable II is still just a rumor for now. According to a post on the game’s official message board by Lionhead’s community manager “Woody”, “We’re not working on a Computer version of Fable II… If this changes we’ll make sure you know about it on our website(s)” While that statement doesn’t rule out such a port in the future it does seem to state that it’s not currently in active development.
[Via Shacknews]
No Fable II Computer port…for now originally appeared on Huge Download Blog on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Downloads, Demos, Features, Hands-on, Mac, Action, Screenshots
While the Mac gaming market seems to bear a preponderance of puzzle/hidden object titles, there are still a few gems that pop up now and again to reward the faithful. Enter: Caster, from Elecorn. Caster is an action shooter that features a pretty effective sense of speed and a VERY effective induction of simulation sickness. This may be the title that finally forces me to test whether or not ginger or dramamine will work to combat the apparent-motion-related nausea that this game causes, because I enjoyed playing it enough that I may want to purchase it. Why? Read on!
Continue reading Mac Monday: Caster
Mac Monday: Caster originally appeared on Huge Download Blog on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Simulation, The Sims 3
One of the year’s biggest PC games looks like it will miss its long announced release date. Edge Online reports that Electronic Arts has now removed the previous February 20 release date for The Sims 3 from the game’s official web site. It now states it is coming “in 2009″
In a statement, EA says it is “evaluating the launch window.” for the game, adding “The game looks great and in the near future we’ll have more information.” There’s no clear word on why the game would be delayed but it could be a big blow to EA which is counting on sales of The Sims 3 to help prop up its already troubled financial issues.
Sims 3 release date now in question originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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