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Category: Hardware

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Nintendo’s approach doesn’t look so bad now, does it, Sony?

$3.3 BILLION lost so far.  Wow.

PlayStation 3′s cost to Sony so far: $3.32 billion – Joystiq:
by Ludwig Kietzmann Jun 24th 2008 9:40AM

Having sold the system at price lower than the manufacturing cost, the PlayStation 3 was a $2.16 billion endeavor in 2007, with another $1.16 billion being lost in 2008.

The $3.32 billion investment, which includes the monolithic system’s complete development and introduction, “may not be fully recovered,” according to Sony. The manufacturer warned that should the PlayStation 3 fail to reach “favorable market penetration”, it would have a “significant negative impact” on the company’s profitability.

It’s pretty common in the console industry to sell the hardware at a loss (I believe Nintendo’s the exception), hoping to recoup your costs through software licensing fees and first party game sales.  $3.3 billion is a LOT of ground to make up, and Sony… you need to get your shit together, because there just aren’t enough PS3 exclusives to convince people to buy your system.

Check out my collection (not quite done documenting everything, yet):

Xbox 360:  28 games
PS3:  6 games
Wii:  7 games

My numbers are probably typical, but the fact that Nintendo makes money on their still-impossibly-hard-to-find-console makes all the difference.

I just can’t get excited about my PS3; even MGS4 doesn’t get me hyped.  I’m waiting for Little Big Planet, but that’s about it.  BluRay?  Oh yeah:  I got an AppleTV and spend most of my time watching the content in my iTunes library, instead of BluRay movies.

=/

categories Gaming, Hardware, Software

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Stringer: PS3 Was On “Life Support” : Next Generation

Wow.  Interesting, frank and open comments about just how close the PS3 was to failing, by Sony’s CEO, Howard Stringer.

Stringer: PS3 Was On “Life Support” : Next Generation:
By Kris Graft

“Two years ago PlayStation was on life support,” Stringer said during The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital Conference on Wednesday.

Lofty development costs for the console were nearly “catostrophic” for his company, he said.

Stringer said as early as January this year that PS3 was “out of the woods” after a rough launch, hindered by a high retail price tag, stiff competition from Xbox 360, and a slim games lineup.

As for the movie format war, Stringer said that if HD-DVD would’ve won, a reference to “Betamax 2” would’ve been engraved on his tombstone.

I love how honest he is about the fact that PS3 was in horrible shape, and just how dire the situation was.

categories Gaming, Hardware

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MacNN | Gartner: Apple ordering massive 3G iPhone numbers

Hm.

MacNN | Gartner: Apple ordering massive 3G iPhone numbers:
Apple may have already lined up the production of millions of next-generation iPhones, according to a Gartner analyst. Ken Dulaney says that based on talk he has heard from Asian sources, he believes Apple has placed an order for 10 million updated iPhones, equipped with 3G broadband.

3G on it’s own isn’t enticing enough for me to drop the cash for a new iPhone.  The killer app for me is Google Reader, by a LONG shot.  It’s nice enough that reader’s a really competent RSS aggregator, but the real reason I use it so much is that it reformats the stories I choose to read in a very stripped-down, ad-free format. 

None of the page’s banners (ads or otherwise) show up, no navigation buttons, no background images — just the text and any images included in the body of the story I’m reading.  It’s amazingly well done, and w/ only one exception, works perfectly.  When I’m reading on my phone, I’m generally away from my computer, sometimes out of wifi range, and never in front of a computer.  What I need in those situations is to be able to digest information quickly, w/ little need for a fancy UI.  Reader’s perfect for that.

Oh — and stripping out all of that data means that it’s performance over Edge is more than adequate.  3G?  Well, I’d of course LIKE faster speeds, but for my use, Edge serves Google Reader up “fast enough”.  I can’t justify the additional outlay of cash just for increased speed.

Dulaney speculates that the 3G iPhone may surmount battery concerns, expressed by the likes of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, by switching to an OLED (organic LED) display. This may not only result in less power consumption, but reduce the thickness of the phone even further.

Damn it.  If this is true (better battery life, thinner, sexy OLED screen, increased speeds via 3G), I’ll have a much harder time resisting.

*sigh*

categories Hardware

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Your development iPhone will self-destruct in: 4, 3, 2…. – iPhone Atlas

Ouch.

iPhone Atlas – iPhone guides, help, applications, news and more, updated daily.:
Posted 21 March 2008 @ 2pm in Development, News

With coders now being accepted into Apple’s iPhone Developer program and receiving the OS 1.2 beta software, we’re learning a lot — and it’s not all pretty.

As previously reported, Apple’s documentation states: “Once you install the pre-release iPhone OS on your device, such device may only be used for development and testing purposes until the final (GM) version of the iPhone OS is released.
[...]
Installing iPhone OS 1.2 also disables the phone’s radio, so you can’t make phone calls. That is, unless you unlocked your iPhone using an unofficial method prior to installation.

Well, while I have a hunch that this won’t always be the way of the iPhone development process, I’m a little bit worried about how long it’s going to take them to get it sorted out. 

I’ve been waiting for an idea to hit me for an app that’d justify the $99 fee for application into the developer program.  I’ve installed the free SDK, but the Jailbreak community has filled every conceivable hole in the software lineup that Apple’s left open, so I’m at a loss for inspiration.  I may just write a simple app to get my feet wet and get used to the Cocoa Touch APIs.

categories Hardware, Software

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I AM tripping BALLS.

I NEVER thought this would happen.

Wow.  Thank you, Apple.  I now have yet ANOTHER great reason to get myself a Drobo.

Macworld | Update allows Time Machine backups on AirPort Extreme:
Update allows Time Machine backups on AirPort Extreme

by Jim Dalrymple
Mar 20, 2008 12:23 am

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s release of updates to Apple’s AirPort Extreme wireless base stations and Time Machine on Wednesday, users now have the ability to use disks attached to the AirPort Extreme as a Time Machine-compatible backup drive.

categories Hardware, Software

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C’mon EA… please get your shit together. Please?

EA customer support sucks Well, I’m not quite pissed, but more disappointed, really.

This is part 3 of an on-going adventure, where I try to get a replacement for my broken Rock Band guitar. Part 1 talks about how great the initial online request for help was. Part 2 explains that the human element doesn’t live up to the computer bits. This one expands upon Part 2.

Ok, to catch you up if you skipped the links, above: my Rock Band guitar’s strum bar broke, they sent me a replacement, but without the head (see the pic, above). When I asked for a replacement, they gave me a canned response that didn’t address my question, but eventually read the ticket and agreed to send me another guitar, leading us to this post.

Part 3. They sent ANOTHER headless guitar…

*sigh*

I’ve replied to their ticket and even sent them the picture, above. The guitar in the bubble wrap is guitar 3. Guitar 1 has a head (since it won’t come off), and guitar 2 is the headless, unwrapped guitar. Let’s see what they do this time.

categories Gaming, Hardware, People are idiots.

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All the studios are now Blu-ray…

Paramount was the last major studio to switch over, and now that they have, my inner-geek is looking to whatever’s up next.

Naturally.

I can’t help that. My brain just works like that.

So what’s kicking around in my gourd, you ask? Well, digital downloads. And Drobo. And faster bandwidth. T_T

Paramount officially Blu-ray (again) – Engadget HD:
Posted Feb 21st 2008 3:17AM by Richard Lawler

Michael Bay can breathe easy, Paramount (Dreamworks included) has officially gone Blu-ray. Two and a half years after announcing itself purple, and exactly five months after becoming HD DVD exclusive, this move makes all six major Hollywood studios Blu.

categories Hardware, iNet, Movies

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Remember when I said I wouldn’t talk about the high def war?

When I last spoke about the high def optical format war, it was in reference to Best Buy deciding to go blu ray. 

In that post, I said I was done speaking about the battle until the war was done.  It was tempting to comment on Wal-Mart going blu ray, but that was apparently the nail in the coffin.

My swearing off hd posts lasted…. one story.

R.I.P. HD DVD: Toshiba reportedly ends the war | Crave : The gadget blog:
by Matthew Elliott

Well, that’s it. Toshiba appears to be pulling the plug on HD DVD. Toshiba has not commented publicly, but a report on Japan’s NHK says Toshiba has made the decision to withdraw from next generation high-definition DVD production.

This news certainly doesn’t come as surprise to anyone remotely following HD DVD’s format war with rival Blu-ray. HD DVD had suffered a recent string of defections, with Warner, Netflix, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart all recently pledging their alliance to Blu-ray.

The NHK report says existing HD DVD products will remain in the market for a while, but Toshiba will stop further development of HD DVD.

categories Hardware, Movies

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Jeers to you, EA.

Headless GuitarEasy come, easy go.

While I had nothing but positive things to say about you about your support page when I needed to get my Rock Band guitar replaced, you dropped the ball just as you were nearing the end zone.

If you follow the link below, you’ll see some pictures of what I’m about to talk about:
Jafo’s Journal Home Page:

In short, the Rock Band guitar ships partially disassembled. You simply slide the head of the guitar over the neck and it clips into place. Permanently. No disassemble, Stephanie. Not too big a deal, as long as you don’t ever need to take the head off.

When I got home yesterday, I hurriedly grabbed my replacement guitar off of the doorstep so that it wouldn’t continue to sit and gather moisture in the downpour (the eave over my door kept it from being rained on, directly). As I opened the box, I saw that they replacement guitar ships w/o a head. =/

I added a comment on my open ticket asking them why I don’t have a guitar head, but I haven’t heard anything back from them, yet. C’mon guys… think it through, please.

categories Gaming, Hardware

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Best Buy’s pushing Blu-ray to the front – Engadget HD

Ok. I’m officially done talking about the high def optical format war until hd-dvd bows out.

Best Buy’s pushing Blu-ray to the front – Engadget HD:
Posted Feb 11th 2008 4:36PM by Richard Lawler

The HD DVD camp, still reeling after losing support from Netflix this morning, may feel flattened as Best Buy has announced it will officially promote Blu-ray as the HD format of the future. Starting in early March the store will showcase Blu hardware and software on it shelves and website, and switch from its current neutral stance, to recommending Blu-ray to any customers that ask. While “an assortment of HD DVD products” will remain, a vote of confidence from major retailers, following the majority of studio support, will make it impossible for red to recover.

categories Hardware, Movies

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