Although we think we’ve seen it all for netbooks, the Nokia Booklet 3G does have some features that deserve some respect, especially coming from a company that is accustomed to working on significantly smaller mobile devices. Looking strangely like a Macbook with black trim, the Booklet boasts an aluminum body packed with powerful innards. As measurements go, it is appropriately netbook-size, and lives up to its name, “Booklet.” It is less than two centimeters thick. The screen is a modest 10 inches (with 1280×720 resolution).

Nothing is too stand-outish about the computer’s speed. The Intel Atom X530 is a nice processor, but won’t be wining any races real soon, clocking in at 1.6GHz. 1GB of memory and a 120GB hard drive are relatively ho-hum for a just-released netbook.

Where Nokia’s Booklet 3G really leaves its mark is in the realm of mobility. What the device lacks in muscle it more than makes up for as a full-orbed connection machine. To power such impressive connectivity, you can expect your device to go without charging for 12 hours. That’s more than an average day’s work, which would almost compel you to leave the charger back at the hotel room. Way to go, Nokia.

The long battery life powers a raft of cool connection tools, too. It has 3G-ready action, as the name suggests, giving it powerful appeal as the 3G network expands its reach across the globe. The device connects using high-speed packet access mobile broadband, and, of course, an 802.11n Wi-fi connection. Oh, and some of the Booklets will have internal modems, too. With all those options (including Bluetooth) you shouldn’t have to worry too much about staying connected. As well as the nearly-omnipresent connectivity, it is integrated with A-GPS. Not unaccompanied, the GPS ties in very nicely to Ovi Suite, which among other things can give you a police-like mapping system to know where you’re going and how to get there.

I figured initially that Google Chrome sets a number of possibly pretentious claims though on testing I did confirm:

• Speed and ease of use
• Being able to Drag links to the search box
• Recently bookmarked pages appearing in thumbnail visual form on a tab for easy selection
• Like Firefox, you can drag tabs and arrange multiple tabs
• Warnings if a site may contain malware or phishing techniques
• Bookmarking can be done at the press of a button
• Less cluttered appearance, much easier to use
• Inconspicuous download manager that sits on the bottom of the browser
• Incognito feature for private browsing, remaining anonymous on the web

With different types of browsers comes a new challenge to add value to a user’s browsing experience. Versions for the Mac and Linux platforms are being developed in-house. Increasing security warnings in the browser can help protect PCs that are inadequately protected. Version 2 of the browser brings the claim that it fixed a lot of the crashes occurring in the initial release.

A multithreading feature should make the browser more stable. One aspect that can be annoying with Firefox, Opera and IE is that when one browser crashes – you lose the lot. Ok, Firefox will recover the windows but is still perplexing when all close down. In Chrome, only the tab that crashed will close and not the whole browser so other tabs will be ok.

Phishing and Pop-ups are dealt with very smoothly. Phishing warnings occur in the tab so you can decide if you wish to view the site or not. Pop-ups appear at the bottom of the screen so you can decide if you wish to view them. That is a nice unobtrusive feature.

Some of us like to have a lot of browsers open and if streaming ads are occurring, this can be very taxing to the available memory. I do notice a vast decrease in speed generally on my PC with 3 gigs of RAM and a dual core processor when lots of tabbed Firefox windows are open. However, the same windows did not reduce the overall PC or browsing speed in Chrome.

There is a site offering plug-ins and themes for Google Chrome to create your own versions of the attractive browser at http://www.chromeplugins.org/.

Apart from an initial installation error (solved by simply trying again), all has been fine. Browsing is simple and non-quirky. I can open various web sites and switch quickly. I would be telling fables if I said that I am no longer using Firefox though for web surfers, I would say that it’s worth a look.

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.

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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This update adds more features to the current Call of Duty: World at War mod tools. Continue reading for update notes.

Download Call of Duty: World at War Mod Tools v1.1b Update (4 MB)
Download Call of Duty: World at War Mod Tools (1.1 GB)
Check out all Call of Duty: World at War downloads

Continue reading Download: Call of Duty: World at War Mod Tools v1.1b Update

Download: Call of Duty: World at War Mod Tools v1.1b Update originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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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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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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While all of us are still waiting for the long awaited PC-Mac version of Braid to be released, its creator Jonathan Blow is thinking about creating his next game project. In a recent chat with Gamasutra, Blow gives a hint as to his next game (which even he admits might change).

Blow is quotes as saying, “It’s an RPG right now, a 2D RPG that I’m working on.” However don’t get too settled into that concept because Blow then adds, “Next month, it could be a Pac-Man clone or something.” But it seems like the 2D RPG is something that Blow wants to do at the moment, saying, “My newest game I started is looking very promising. I’m very excited to do it.” Meanwhile the PC port of Braid is due out sometime in February or March.

Braid creator thinking about new projects originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like many other states, Oklahoma wants to give some tax breaks to game developers in order to encourage the start of new high-tech business. Game Politics reports that a new bill for that state’s legislature would give such tax breaks..but there’s a catch.

The bill, if passed into law, would keep those tax breaks away from any game that is rated M or higher. Apparently the restrictions were at the instance of state senators, many of whom voted for 2006 law that would have restricted sales of certain games to minors (that law was thrown out in a court battle in 2007). It remains to be seen if this bill will be passed.

Oklahoma bill would keep tax breaks from M-rated games originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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