Earlier this month we reported that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 got a massive bump in sales thanks to the new 250GB version available in certain parts of the globe. Overall though, the last 12 months has seen the Microsoft console lose out heavily to the PlayStation 3 in sales, with the Sony product outselling it by four million units worldwide.

The figures mark a huge turnaround from this time last year, when the 360 outsold the PS3 by 1.5 million units in the preceding 12 months. The full figures show that Microsoft sold 10.3 million consoles in its last financial year, which ended June 30. However, Sony confirmed yesterday that it sold 14.3 million PlayStation 3s in the same period, pushing the machine’s total sales to 38.1 million. Continue Reading

Creative has announced that it’s launching new software for motherboards to give gamers better sound quality with onboard audio solutions. A company statement tells how the new Sound Blaster X-Fi MB2 software suite – a “powerful audio platform equipped with cutting-edge audio technologies” – will enhance onboard PC audio “to even greater echelons”. Greater echelons? That’s nearly as bombastic as the ‘Thor’ trailer from Comic Con. Nearly.

The new software studio will first appear on Asus mainboards including the ROG Rampage III.

Anyway, all this is achieved via features such as THX TruStudio Pro audio technology (which “creates unprecedented levels of audio realism, adds dynamics and punch to every gunshot, explosion and gaming sound”) and Creative EAX Advanced HD 5.0. The latter of which features “state-of-the-art multi-environment rendering and reverb modelling, delivering an amazingly realistic and immersive 3D gaming experience”. Continue Reading

SanDisk obviously thinks that good things come in bloody tiny packages if the company’s new USB flash drive range – the Cruzer Blade series – is anything to go by.

The Cruzer Blade – great name and good value. If you don’t lose the tiny yoke.

How small is it? Well, it’s about the size of a paper clip and weighs about the same as a penny. Continue Reading

Apple has announced an update to its iMac line, with Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors up to 3.6GHz plus new graphics including the ATI Radeon HD 5750. The range is now available with dual-core Core i3 and Core i5 chips and quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

The 27-inch iMac has the option of a 256GB SSD as a primary or secondary drive. The iMac SSD supports up to 215MB/s data transfer rates for faster startup and application launch times. An SD card slot on the iMac now supports the SDXC format to handle the latest high-capacity storage cards.

Full specs are as follows…

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Samsung Mobile Display’s partnership with HTC to provide AMOLED panels for its smartphones may be getting a little bit shaky. It’s been announced that before the end of the year HTC will start to use Sony-developed Super LCD (SLCD) panels for 3.7-inch screens on its smartphones

HTC has confirmed it with integrate SLCDs on certain devices, beginning with the Desire.

A DigiTimes report comments that Samsung Mobile Display (SMD) has been under fire of late as the supply of AMOLED panels have been running short of demand, leaving HTC with the easy decision to diversify its panel sources. The Taiwan-based mobile giants are also reportedly considering IPX panels from LG Display (LGD).

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Now, it’s not that we’re a sucker for all things 3D – in fact it’s becoming slightly tedious that barely a day goes past without outlandish industry predictions of how many 3D TVs will be sold this year or pretty pointless 3D gaming peripherals hitting the market – but news that Panasonic is about to unveil a consumer-level 3D camcorder definitely sits in the cool column.

Slashgear reports that  Panasonic is yet to provide details about the new model, but has confirmed a Tokyo press event on July 28th and that it will be far more in line with their current, 2D range in terms of bulk, than their existing AG-3DA1 professional 3D camcorder. Continue Reading

Microsoft may have been dealt something of a body blow by reports that the Asus Eee Pad – set to be released in 10- and 12-inch versions in early 2011 – will run a tablet version of Android after switching to the mobile OS from Windows.

The Eee Pad.

The news originates from an article on Netbooknews.de which suggests that the formerly Windows CE 7 Asus Eee EP101TC tablet is now sporting Android ‘Froyo’ 2.2 instead. Continue Reading

Those of you who see the world through green tinted glasses may be happy to see Asus’ latest offerings in the Bamboo notebook series. To be fair, it’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing ranges on the market and the new pair – the U33 and U53 – keep up that tradition.

Both clad in a mixture of brushed aluminium and “smoky-brown” bamboo; the 13.3-inch U33 and 15.6-inch U53 each get an Intel Core i5-430M processor paired with NVIDIA Optimus graphics, automatically switching between a GeForce 310M 1GB GPU and integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics. Continue Reading

One of the core points that Steve Jobs made at last Friday’s press conference over the iPhone 4 antenna debacle was that it wasn’t just his latest baby that had signal issues. Jobs said that smartphone makers such as HTC and Samsung faced similar problems with their handsets, and added that the antennae problem was “a challenge for the whole industry”.  His rivals however, disagree strongly.

An industry-wide problem or just a silly mistake from Apple?

Taiwan’s HTC said today that reception problems aren’t common on smartphones and Apple should address the problem on its own rather than blame competitors. “The reception problems are certainly not common among smartphones,” HTC chief financial officer Hui-Meng Cheng told the Wall Street Journal. “They (Apple) apparently didn’t give operators enough time to test the phone.”

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Near the start of the year LG announced its rather ambitious target of selling one million 3D TVs by the end of 2010. While there’s been no update on how that particular mission is going, LG is continuing to bet big on 3D as it announced this morning that the company is to raise shipments of 3D notebook computers by 30% in 2011.

Obviously feeling that 3D fever is still alive and well in the masses, LG has forecast that global sales of 3D notebook computers would increase five-fold next year to 1.1 million units and jump to 13.8 million units by 2015. Obviously a company full of optimists then. Continue Reading

Thin is in over at Acer, the low cost tech leaders have announced its new S1 Series LCD displays, ranging from 18.5 inches to 23 inches but also and measuring an itsy-bitsy-teeney-weeney 13mm to 15mm thick.

Whattup Slim.

“Designed from scratch to combine an eye-catching design with excellent video graphic performance, this series is a real jewel, including innovative display technologies to deliver crisp and clear images,” Acer commented on the newbies.

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One of the more reliable names in surround sound, Logitech has announced its latest system – the Logitech Z506. With a suggested retail price of €89.99, the Z506 set up has been designed to be connected to “nearly every entertainment device” including PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, iPod or a DVD player.

“The Logitech Z506 speakers can support nearly any home-entertainment configuration.”

The speakers offer 75 Watt (RMS), and can apparently connect to “two devices simultaneously”, while a statement from Mark Schneider, vice president and general manager of Logitech’s audio business unit added that: “We designed the Logitech Surround Sound Speakers Z506 so you can set them up the way you want to in any room of your home.” Continue Reading