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Rumour: New Xbox Loop console to take on Apple TV

According to the online super-sleuth MS Nerd (the same guy who outed the codenamed “Xbox Loop” a while ago) Microsoft will be releasing a smaller, stripped down version of the Xbox 360. The unit is probably the one that codename Loop was referring to back in November last year. According to MS Nerd, it will be ARM-powered, have no optical drive, and will instead focus on “Arcade-style games” and Kinect apps.

The unit will supposedly be out towards the end of 2013 and will be priced similarly to the Apple TV media streamer, which is around $100 or just over R1000 here in South Africa. As far as the true successor to the Xbox 360 is concerned, Microsoft has reiterated that they have no reveals planned for this year’s E3. MS Nerd believes that we’ll only see the new Xbox after this so-called “Xbox Lite” launches next year.

It’s difficult to judge the validity of this, so take it with a pinch of salt. It doesn’t seem that unlikely and would probably be a good way for Microsoft to further penetrate the casual market. Would you want a stripped down, dedicated Xbox media streamer in your lounge? Maybe you wouldn’t, but that’s likely because you already have an Xbox 360. For those who are more into casual gaming, a competitively priced media streamer with links to Xbox Live Arcade and a host of casual Kinect apps just might be quite enticing.

Source: Reddit & TechRadar
Via: Joystiq

Posted by Miklós Szecsei Mar 27, 2012
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Tech: Windows 8 to support “Retina” displays

So people have been playing around with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview for a month now. And while I’m still going to delve into it in detail and bring info back to you, dear reader, there’s some rumours concerning the development of Windows 8 tablets that’s left me wondering. Right now, a handful of companies make screens that are used in Apple’s iPad. The iPad 1, 2 and iPhone 4 featured Apple’s “Retina” display technology, and brought joy to millions of people who bought them and simultaneously acquired bragging rights.

Go on, count 'em pixels, biatch!

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Posted by Wesley Mar 26, 2012
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News: Internet Explorer turns 3, still crashes for everyone

It’s telling that I’ve not had any browser history in Internet Explorer 9 on my Windows 7 system since I upgraded to service pack 1. I last used Internet Explorer extensively while still in school and university, restricted to those platforms thanks to the admins who selflessly gave themselves up to annoying every learner in the entire building. On numerous occasions I had to be called up by the system admin at college because I had found ways of getting around the limitation. Back then Opera was my preferred browser, offering a very neat USB install method that worked around all the security features of Windows XP. I stuck to IE 7 for as long as I could, as it was comparatively better in many ways than its successor.

You know where this is going...

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Posted by Wesley Mar 26, 2012
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Trials Evolution, Minecraft and more coming in “Arcade Next”

Mr. Xbox himself, Major Nelson, has updated his blog with some information regarding an upcoming XBLA promotion dubbed “Arcade NEXT”. As you all know by now, Microsoft likes to bundle together high-profile Arcade titles in month-long promotions – Arcade NEXT is one of those.

Starting from 18 April, there’ll be a new Xbox LIVE Arcade game hitting each week, ending on 09 May with Mojang’s super-mega-massive-smash-hit Minecraft. Coming along for the ride (or perhaps steering the ride in this case) is Trials Evolution – the platforming/racing/puzzle/strategy motor bike game that defies genre classification and dispenses controller-flinging rage fits at least five times per level.

Lionhead Studio’s Fable Heroes also makes an appearance as well as Bloodforge (a title I can only seem to say in a Strongbad voice). Hit the jump for a shiny video, dates, pricing and wonderful news for all you Achievement Whores out there.

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Posted by Miklós Szecsei Mar 23, 2012
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Review: Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows

Too many times I’ve opened up a computer to find so many things wrong with the way people look after them today. Dust build-up, smoke ruination, insect nests, multiple instances of those stupid Internet Explorer toolbars and a lack of a decent anti-virus. While I can jide my customers, friends and family for doing most of these things, it’s the last one that really gets my goat. I say decent, though, because many people buy a one-year license expecting great things – depending on your chosen suite though, you may find yourself wanting. But there’s a perfectly good alternative out there in the form of free anti-virus suites, and chances are they might even be better than your paid-for bloatware.

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Posted by Wesley Mar 19, 2012
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Bethesda, Lionhead and Ready at Dawn all hiring for next gen

This generation, like others before it, will eventually disappear into obscurity, only to be replaced with a new era of shiny hardware designed to slowly but surely obliterate your bank account. Some might be of the opinion that there’s still a lot of life left in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but others are all too keen to move onto something new and more powerful.

In the last few days, numerous developers have posted job openings for positions in teams working on games for “next generation” or “future generation” hardware. Those developers include Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder of Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 3) and Ready at Dawn (PSP titles God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta) – both explicitly requested for people to join teams working on unannounced titles for next gen hardware.

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Posted by Miklós Szecsei Feb 28, 2012
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Kinect powered shopping trolleys. Seriously.

You know, I really love Kinect; not as a gaming peripheral, but for all the other cool stuff people are using it for. Microsoft has just demoed a shopping trolley that sports a tablet-like screen and a Kinect sensor right where you’d normally stick a screaming kid. Given the choice, I think I’d take the screen and Kinect.

It is very much a concept because, well, I can’t see many shops opting to spend this much money on shopping trolleys. It is, however, a totally neat concept because it’s slathered in science-fiction awesomesauce.

The trolley is motorised, meaning it’ll dutifully follow you around the shop like some well-meaning astromech droid. Instead of R2 like chirps and squeaks, it’ll actually be able to talk to you and mark stuff off your shopping list the moment you place things in the trolley. It’ll also add the contents of your trolley to your store account, thereby negating the necessity for cash checkout desks and all that revolting queuing ordinarily associated with a visit to the grocery store. Hit the jump for all of this in action.

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Posted by Miklós Szecsei Feb 28, 2012
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Review: Stardock Objectdock for Windows

I’ve always been a huge fan of the way Apple manages its user interface. I love the “clean” feel the UI gives to the power user, and the desktop in particular always looks great no matter how many times you look back at it in the day. I’m a Windows user at heart and will always be – I just work better compared to the other platforms, and I’ve tried both Mac OS and Linux for some time; neither of which offered me what I wanted or was comfortable with.

Skinning Windows 7 wasn’t the answer either – I always ran into problems with the hacked interface at one point or another and I usually uninstalled the app later because my OS always felt bloated after a while – mind you that was under XP, but that’s a moot point these days (I may have loved it then, but it’s a crappy OS today). A couple of years ago I stumbled onto an app that gives me the best of both worlds (well, sort of).

Enter left: Stardock's Objectdock!

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Posted by Wesley Feb 13, 2012
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Preview: Nokia’s Lumia 800

With the release of Nokia’s latest brainchild locally, the Lumia, it looks like the brand may receive some extra deserved attention even in the face of the monumental feat Accenture has achieved upgrading all Symbian ^3 devices to Symbian Belle this last week. But while the name remains the same, will the Lumia win over the hearts of existing Nokia fans, or will it draw in some newcomers?

It’s easy to spot the pedigree of the Lumia 800 – it shares the same polycarbonate shell as the N9, along with the removable battery and Corning Gorilla Glass. The screen is curved to give a premium feel to the user and also sets it apart from Android phones in terms of useability – you could operate the phone’s features without looking in some rare cases. Not that it actually matters much, but it sounds pretty cool.

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Posted by Wesley Feb 09, 2012
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Deals of the week

Bargains are always a subjective thing for many. That old saying “one man’s trash is another’s treasure” really fits here. But I do know a good deal when I see one, and I’ve taken the liberty to post the most impressive ones I’ve seen this week up here – who knows, maybe you’ll like one?

AMD Phenom X6 1055T AM3 @ R1270 from Prophecy

Edging out all the Llano-based quads and the FX series, here is one of AMD’s most capable chips for under R1300. The Phenom X6 series does a very good job of standing up to Intel’s Core i5 and i7 series, losing out to the newer Sandybridge chips and older high-end Nehalems. While not the speed demon people hoped for, it’s got long enough legs to run around other quad-cores with room to spare. Get a decent cooler and clock this baby up to 3.5Ghz stable and you won’t be thinking of upgrading for a good two years.

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Posted by Wesley Feb 08, 2012
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