stations

The rumors were true, almost to the letter. Sony Europe has confirmed the existence of a new entry-level PlayStation 3. Scheduled to hit stores on the Continent on October 10, the new PS3 has been stripped down to hit a lower price point: it's got a smaller 40GB hard drive, no built-in flash media reader, and two (rather than four) USB ports. But the biggest change appears to be the loss of backward compatibility with PS2 games. Sony's release specifies that "[t]he new model is no longer backwards compatible with PlayStation 2 titles, reflecting both the … Read more

Next to guitars--real, virtual or something in-between--the most popular musical instruments we've seen on Crave are drums. From fingertip pads to several types of rollaway versions, percussive gadgets appear to be everywhere. But they usually don't look like a cookie sheet.

That's what the "Ion Digital Drum Station" resembles, though ThinkGeek nevertheless claims that it has "eight natural feeling, velocity-sensitive drum pads." They also come with their own sticks, headphones and MP3 inputs to help create custom tunes, or you can just play along to programmed patterns with 233 sounds available … Read more

The official announcement of the vibration-enabled Dual Shock 3 controller for the PlayStation 3 was the biggest news from Sony's otherwise lackluster Tokyo Game Show keynote address. Since the broad strokes of the original announcement, GameSpot was able to glean some additional details on the new controller--and get some hands-on testing of the unit as well. Here's what they found: … Read more

One of gamers' biggest beefs with the PlayStation 3 will soon be a thing of the past. At the kickoff press conference for the Tokyo Game Show, Sony Computer Entertainment President Kaz Hirai confirmed longstanding rumors that a rumble-ized version of the PS3 Sixaxis controller is on the way. The Dual Shock 3--which looks essentially identical to the existing Sixaxis PS3 controller--will hit Japan in November, then make its way to North America and Europe early in 2008. Devil May Cry 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4 are two of the first 11 games that will support the new Dual Shock's vibration function, and existing titles can be retroactively updated to support rumble via online updates.

Other notable announcements from Hirai's keynote:… Read more

Logitech today unveiled the successor to the AudioStation--the Pure-Fi Elite High Performance Speakers. While any major updates over the AudioStation aren't immediately apparent, the Pure-Fi Elite maintains its LCD display, touch-sensitive buttons, wireless remote, digital AM/FM tuner, line-in jack, and video out (via composite or s-video) support for your photo or video iPod. Behind the grilles are two-way satellites, 1-inch dome tweeters, and 4-inch woofers--although it doesn't look like these grilles are removable like how we saw on the AudioStation. Unfortunately, one thing we wanted to see added to the system, an alarm clock, is surprisingly … Read more

The common wisdom is that gas stations make almost no profit off the gas itself (the gas companies make a ton of profit, of course) and must have side businesses like garages and, above all, snack shops to turn a profit.

What if you were to turn that equation on its head and add a "filling station" to, say, a Starbucks? That's the intriguing possibility raised by an article on SFGate about Hyatt Hotels and Tesla Motors, the Google-founders-financed electric car start-up. (It's also been written up on CNET News.com.)

"Hyatt will install Tesla … Read more

As I've mentioned before, I believe Sony is in for a rude awakening with its PlayStation 3. The company's expectation that video game consumers will flock to the PS3 because of its technical prowess was disastrously incorrect, and the notion that Sony can sell hardware that is too expensive and difficult to develop for is something it has yet to address.

And while some Sony fanatics have called me biased, I assure you, I'm not alone in my assertion that very little can save Sony and the PlayStation 3.

Yoichi Wada, president of game publisher Square Enix, told reporters Friday that Sony must change its strategy if it wants to see the release of the PlayStation 4. According to Wada, "Sony first unveiled the PS3 as a mighty home electronics product. Then, after some badgering from game companies, it shifted the position of the console closer to a game machine. (The future of the PS3) would be tough if its marketing strategy is not straightened up."

The verdict is in: one of the most important video game developers in the business is saying the PS3 is in trouble. Isn't that enough for Sony to overhaul its entire strategy?… Read more

Sony and a technology site are using a conference to show off a confluence of next-generation, monopoly-bypassing technology: a Sony Playstation 3 videogame console running Linux and Firefox as a foundation for Web-based "Office 2.0" applications.

IT|Redux, a site run by blogger and tech adviser Ismael Ghalimi, is showing off the system at the Office 2.0 Conference in San Francisco. IT|Redux is the show organizer.

Sony called the conference a great opportunity to "showcase the PS3 system's computing power and productivity capabilities."

"Installing Linux and Firefox on the PS3 enables … Read more

You have music, and you have a personal music player. You likely haven't purchased either from Philips, but the Dutch electronics maker wants to be the relay guy that passes music from your device to a home or office audio system.

The best example of Philips doing that is the BTM630, a Bluetooth-enabled desktop audio system with a lot going on. An iPod dock/charger is embedded in the top, along with an SD card slot and a USB port. The slot-loading CD drive on the front can be used--besides playing music--to rip audio files that can then be … Read more