2006 July - SlashGear

Archive for July, 2006

14% of DS Lites Broken?

Benjamin Nied, Jul 20th 2006 Discuss [0]

In what is surely more news that Nintendo really doesn't want to hear, Kotaku has done an unofficial poll in which they found that 14% of the participants had DS Lites with cracked hinges. The hinge issue, which we reported on Tuesday, occurs when the screen places enough pressure on the left hinge so that it cracks, starting as a hairline separation and gradually enlarging as time goes on. Nintendo has reportedly started offering fixes, but rather than recalling affected DS Lites, Nintendo is charging $50 a shot to fix this issue. With such a large percentage of units showing a problem, it's possible that Nintendo will eventually wake up to the fact that there are issues in the DS Lite's production, and offer a fix for free. Until that day, just hope that your unit doesn't show this problem. Or keep the Super Glue handy. [via Kotaku]

Samsung Begins Mass-Production of 8GB NAND Memory

Benjamin Nied, Jul 20th 2006 Discuss [0]

If current NAND Flash Memory sizes simply aren't big enough for you, then you're in luck. Samsung has announced that it has begun mass-production on 60nm NAND Flash memory chips, meaning that it won't be long before we start seeing these high-capacity memory in cell phones, portable media devices, and and 2G iPod nanos. According to Samsung, 8GB is now possibly by basically taking two 4GB NAND packages and putting them on top of each other. Read The Full Story

AT&T Launches Homezone Box

Benjamin Nied, Jul 20th 2006 Discuss [0]

While we sit and twiddle our thumbs waiting for AT&T to get their U-Verse IPTV service offered worldwide, the company has partnered with Dish Network to release a networkable DVR/home media center in order to tide us over. Dubbed the Homezone, the new set top box features Dish Network connectivity (duh), Internet scheduling capabilities that allow you to schedule shows online rather than from the box itself, and downloadable movies via Movielink for $4.99 a pop. Anyone in San Antonio or Ohio can rent one now for $10/month, but without anything that truly stands out as a must-have feature, would you really want one? [via Zatz Not Funny...]

Sony BWU-100A Blu-ray Burner to Ship in August

Benjamin Nied, Jul 19th 2006 Discuss [0]

Well it's nice to see the force behind Blu-ray finally putting out a Blu-ray drive. Sony has announced that its BWU-100A Blu-ray Burner will begin shipping next month. The drive will cost you $750 USD, which is the lowest price we've seen on a Blu-ray drive yet, and will be able to burn both 25GB and 50GB BD-R/RE discs at 2x, meaning it'll take around 30 minutes to burn a 25GB disc and 60 to burn a 50GB disc. Sony claims that their drive will also be able to burn most DVD±R/RW formats as well as CD-R/RW. Read The Full Story

Sony Takes Wraps Off Computerless DVD Recorder

Benjamin Nied, Jul 19th 2006 Discuss [0]

For those of us still without a computer with a DVD burner, or those of us who just want to plug in our camcorder and record DVDs directly, Sony has the answer for you. Say hello to the VRD-MC3 and the VDR-VC30, two new DVDirect recorders from Sony which allow computer-less syncing with hard drive-based Sony Handycams. Both units boast an impressive array of features, including a wide array of supported disc and memory card formats. Read The Full Story

Panasonic’s 103-inch Viera Gets Hefty Price Tag

Benjamin Nied, Jul 19th 2006 Discuss [0]

Panasonic's HUGE 103-inch plasma TV, which we covered last week, finally has a price tag, though any comments we've jokingly made about second mortgages/selling spare body parts to afford these sets may actually be true for this baby. The TH-103PZ600 will be out this September for the hefty sum of 6,000,000 yen. For those of you playing the home game, that translates to over $51,000 USD; people with that kind of extra coin lying around might be better off spending it as a down payment on a small country or a Lear Jet. Read The Full Story

DS Lite Screen Passes Impromptu Stress Test

Benjamin Nied, Jul 19th 2006 Discuss [0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNNNwK2XMzk Just in case you're concerned about your Nintendo DS Lite's screen being on the fragile side (especially after today's story about the hinges on the new handhelds breaking), these guys have decided to show you just how durable these little gaming devices are. Taking the liberty of using a store's display unit (they didn't specify which store, probably to save their asses from getting sued), the stress testers proceeded to press on the screen with both thumbs, trying to see how far the device would go before snapping. Read The Full Story

Wii’s Wireless Capabilities Unveiled

Ewdison Then, Jul 19th 2006 Discuss [0]

Read The Full Story

Macbook vs. Dell Latitude: Which is hotter?

Benjamin Nied, Jul 19th 2006 Discuss [0]

We've seen how the Macbook's excessive heat can be used to cook your breakfast (which isn't a good sign as far as computers go). But is Apple's little gem alone with this heat issue, or are other Core Duo-based notebooks running just as hot as Apple's well-publicized stove computer. Brian Krische wanted to know, so he put a Macbook and a Dell Laititude D620 to the test to see which laptop will scold your lap faster. Read The Full Story

Core 2 Duo Benchmarks and AMD Price Cut

Ewdison Then, Jul 18th 2006 Discuss [0]

Intel has had the NDA restriction for Core 2 Duo lifted for a while now, and benchmarks for the new chips have started popping up on the Internet. Most of the benchmarks suggest that Intel is taking back the CPU king crown, beating the AMD64 chips mightily. Core 2 Duo CPUs are priced very well and competitivly. Kyle from hardOCP posted a couple benchmarks in what I think is the most comprehensive benchmarking session so far. Kyle split them up into couple of sections: the gaming performance, music/images/movie performance, and power consumption. SharkyExtreme also posted Core 2 Extreme X6800 & Core 2 Duo E6700 Review and of course, let's not forget Anand's reviews. Read The Full Story

DS Lites Can’t Handle the Pressure?

Benjamin Nied, Jul 18th 2006 Discuss [0]

Well, with all the good press that Nintendo and the DS Lite have enjoyed thus far, some bad news was going to arrive eventually. Reports are coming in from all over the Internet that the new handhelds have some difficulty withstanding the pressures of opening and closing; specifically, a small crack appears on the left-hand side of the hinge, starting off as a small crack and gradually getting larger as the device is used more. Read The Full Story

Samsung Ships the HL-S5679W LED DLP

Benjamin Nied, Jul 18th 2006 Discuss [0]

If you've been waiting with bated breath for Samsung's 56-inch, LED-based DLP HDTV, you need to wait no longer. Samsung has begun to ship this $4,200 set to eager customers all over the world. Being LED-based, the set has a lifespan of 20,000 hours, meaning that the set is only good for 2.28 years of non-stop television. If this doesn't bother you (and unless you leave your TV on nonstop, the lifespan should be a lot longer than 2 years), the HL-S5679W also features 1080p resolution, a 4000:1 contrast ratio, analog and digital tunes, HDMI ports, and energy-saving features. So if you don't mind the limit lifespan, go grab one of these new sets and make your HDTV experience a worthwhile one. Product Page [via HDBeat]