e back. The special Zune will be loaded with 244 pieces of media, including the soundtrack to the game, behind-the-scenes footage, and concept art. The Zunes will be loaded with 120GB and will cost around $280, which is good since the original 120Gb Zune is only $250. Andrew’s Take: I think that the Zune is one of the best mp3 players on the market and now with their addition of the Gears of War 2 Zune that I, being a huge Gears of War fan, can’t wait for this to come out as well as the game.There is so much hype about the iPhone, but why do they make it out to be so great when there are similar phones out there that are capable of the same exact things? Life’s Good came out with their Dare phone, which is similar to the iPhone, though not as sleek. Another iPhone competitor is the Samsung Instinct, which is just about the same size as the iP
hone. The Instinct has some great options that the iPhone also has; for starters, of course it has a touch screen. The phone also has the capability of e-mail, web browsing, photo viewer, GPS navigation, touch typing, music and video players, and web applications. The Instinct has a 3.1-inch touch screen with a resolution of 240 by 320. Priced at $150, it’s cheaper than the iPhone, but the only catch to this phone is it requires a two-year contract with Sprint. Andrew’s Take: I wouldn’t mind actually owning one of these phones; they are very sleek and nice looking, and very inexpensive. My only problem would be the two year contract. I would really make use of the web browser since I use MySpace but it does not support flickr, Facebook, and Picasa, which is also a catch to some users.
hone. The Instinct has some great options that the iPhone also has; for starters, of course it has a touch screen. The phone also has the capability of e-mail, web browsing, photo viewer, GPS navigation, touch typing, music and video players, and web applications. The Instinct has a 3.1-inch touch screen with a resolution of 240 by 320. Priced at $150, it’s cheaper than the iPhone, but the only catch to this phone is it requires a two-year contract with Sprint. Andrew’s Take: I wouldn’t mind actually owning one of these phones; they are very sleek and nice looking, and very inexpensive. My only problem would be the two year contract. I would really make use of the web browser since I use MySpace but it does not support flickr, Facebook, and Picasa, which is also a catch to some users.The new Xbox Live experience will be released in November. The new Xbox Live experience will add a bunch of additional features like Netflix, Blockbuster, your own virtual avatar, a brand new dashboard, and TV from some of the biggest broadcasters. If you are currently signed up or want to sign up with Netflix you can now stream movies from your Xbox to your TV. The virtual avatar will allow you to create a virtual you or you can create something else that you think looks cool. The gamer tags are still going to be there but there will just be another one that represents you and they will be represented in the Xbox Live Arcade, Live part, and some retail games. The dashboard will be built right into the Xbox Guide; every feature is available rig
ht from the dashboard. Microsoft is making another new feature that will allow you to copy your games onto the hard drive to allow quicker load times; the disk still has to be in the drive to prove you own it, but the drive will not spin. Andrew’s Take: Personally I think they should leave the dashboard the way it is and just add the new features to the existing dashboard. And what they did with copying the disk to the hard drive is a great idea. I really think that will make the Xbox 360 over the top in the console ratings. And for the Netflix users, that will make it so much easier to play movies. Now you don’t have to wait in the mail for the movie to arrive, or you don’t have to sit at your computer and wait for the video to load.
ht from the dashboard. Microsoft is making another new feature that will allow you to copy your games onto the hard drive to allow quicker load times; the disk still has to be in the drive to prove you own it, but the drive will not spin. Andrew’s Take: Personally I think they should leave the dashboard the way it is and just add the new features to the existing dashboard. And what they did with copying the disk to the hard drive is a great idea. I really think that will make the Xbox 360 over the top in the console ratings. And for the Netflix users, that will make it so much easier to play movies. Now you don’t have to wait in the mail for the movie to arrive, or you don’t have to sit at your computer and wait for the video to load.