Nintendo is rolling out two versions of the new Wii Party mini-game collection, one with an included Wii-mote controller.  Perhaps this package will be enough to boost sales, as it did for the Wii-Play release, resulting in that title hovering near the top of the sales chart for an extended period of time.

Or perhaps, it might be the not-so-subtle change in mini-game direction as Wii Party removes the emphasis of looking at the screen for play, breaking the fourth-wall and including the living room and other game players into the mix, as this information from Nintendo describes:


The whole family stars in its own electronic board game with Wii Party™ on Wii™ from 7 October 2010. Most video games require players to focus their attention on a screen. Now Nintendo brings the action into the living room with Wii Party, a game that changes the way people interact with other layers. Featuring 13 different party game modes and 80 mini games, Wii Party can be enjoyed by everyone in the family, regardless of age or gaming experience, and everyone gets to play with their own Mii character!

Sharing the instant accessibility of titles like Wii™ Sports, Wii Sports™ Resort and Wii Fit™, Wii Party offers non-stop fun and unparalleled variety as you, your family and friends grab up to four Wii Remotes™ and try your hand at a host of inventive and intuitive gaming experiences. To add to the enjoyment, select your personalised Mii character and see them in action like never before! With Wii Party, enjoy games that refine the traditional party videogame experience. For the first time, the action away from the television screen will be as important as what’s displayed on it, as House Party mode turns your living room into a pivotal part of the game play!

The Hide ‘n’ Hunt game will have you rummaging through cupboards and peering under the sofa as you desperately search for the hidden Wii Remote(s) before time runs out. If you can block out the laughter of whoever did the hiding, you’ll hear the occasional sound from the Wii Remote to give you a helpful – but sometimes infuriating - clue as to its whereabouts! Alternatively, tackle the Time Bomb game and see if you can keep a steady hand as you pass a ticking Wii Remote between friends.

On top of the new level of interactivity introduced by House Party, Wii Party also includes Party Games and Pair Games modes - both of which keep the varied challenges coming thick and fast as you cooperate or compete with fellow players. Within Party Games you can enjoy the likes of Board Game Island, a mini game filled journey to the top of a mountain that puts an exciting new twist on traditional board games.

If you’d rather work with another player than against them, Pair Games offer you the opportunity to do just that. As you collaborate in your attempts to balance out a boat or attempt to get a good friendship rating, you’ll need to be on the same wavelength to avoid doubling your troubles! With heaps of mini games to discover, and creative ways to play them made possible by the Wii Remote, Wii Party packs in enough fun to keep everyone entertained and coming back for more. With so much on offer, you might even struggle to decide what you should play next. Thankfully, your personal concierge Party Phil is on hand to make an appropriate suggestion based on your available time and specific mini game requirements.

There’s something for everyone in Wii Party, and you’re invited to get in on the fun!
Wii Party stand alone game SRP AU$79.95 / NZ $102.10*
Wii Party with Wii Remote SRP AU$99.95 / NZ $127.60* (available with Wii Remote for a limited time only)

If thumb drives weren't the size they are, they probably would never have got that name. But comparing the size of a MicroSD card with the typical thumb drive does make you wonder why the latter is so large. Some Bluetooth dongles and certain other USB devices are a fraction of the size of a thumb drive, so clearly it's nothing to do with the interface.

Anyway, storage specialist LaCie has released the MosKeyto, a flash drive that's less than 2cm long and weighs just 10g. At $A24.99 for the 4GB model and $A44.99 for 8GB the MosKeyto is at the higher end of the price range, but it isn't hard to find flash drives from other manufacturers at similar prices.

We're not sure what this mosquito is doing to the MosKeyto...

LaCie officials suggest the MosKeyto is small enough to be left plugged into a notebook being transported in a sleeve or case. If you're worried that an unplugged MosKeyto could be easily lost, there's a nylon strap allowing it to be attached to a keyring.

As a bonus, LaCie throws in 4GB of online storage from Wuala (free accounts normally only get 1GB, and 10GB costs $US29/year).

The Android invasion on Australia is set to push on with a new wave of stormtroopers — Samsung’s Android 2.2 Froyo-operated tablet. The company this morning announced that its Galaxy Tab device is set to arrive in Australia in the last quarter of the year and rival Apple’s iPad tablet.

“Following on from the outstanding success of the Samsung Galaxy S smartphone, we are excited to now be branching out into the tablet market to bring the Samsung Galaxy Tab to Australia,” said Tyler McGee, Samsung’s vice president of telecommunications.

“We believe the portability of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, combined with features such as front and rear camera, Flash support and telephone functionality will strongly appeal to both the consumer and business markets.”

The Samsung tablet includes telephone functionality and runs on a Cortex A8 1.0GHz Processor, with 16GB of internal memory storage and the ability to support 32GB of additional memory via an addi-in module. The tablet has 512MB of RAM.

Additional features include Flash 10.1, HD video playback with a wide range of supported format (such as DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263 and H.264), a 7 hour battery (based on HD video playback) and the texting/typing application Swype.

Sensors include gyroscope, geo-magnetic, accelerometer and light capability. The new tablet sports two cameras, a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera for face-to-face video calling and a 3 megapixel camera with LED Flash on its back.

Applications include the Samsung Readers Hub which unifies Kobo, PressDisplay and Zinio eReader apps and has 2 million books, 2,500 magazine titles and 1,600 newspapers available in a multitude of languages.

The display is a 7.0″ WSVGA (1024 x 600) TFT-LCD, which is smaller than the iPad’s display, but this means the Tab also has a more compact design with 190.09 x 120.45 x 11.98mm dimensions. At a weight of 380g the Tab is far lighter than the iPad’s 700g weight.

Connectivity details are Bluetooth 3.0, a 30 pin connector and Wi-Fi 802.11n. Networks supported are 2.5G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE) in the 850/900/1800/1900MHz ranges and 3G (HSUPA 5.76Mbps, HSDPA 7.2Mbps) in the 900/1900/2100MHz ranges.

Samsung will release pricing information and telco support closer to the launch date, however it is possible that Optus will be one of the first to jump on board — an executive hinted the telco may launch Android-based tablets this year.

Image credit: Samsung

Huawei says the phone will be priced between $US100 and $US200, depending on the market and the operator, but was unable to say whether this pricing would include any handset subsidy component.

According to Huawei, "Ideos redefines the 'entry-level' concept by combining high-quality hardware and software with a high price-to-performance ratio [and] will be released in a number of countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America and Latin America."

Huawei says it is in talks with Australian and New Zealand operators about local distribution. Total Telecom said this was the first time Huawei had announced a cellphone without first announced an OEM partnership with an operator, and it quoted Nicola Pilbin, Huawei's director of terminals for the UK and Ireland, saying "We are in discussions with a number of operators, and also in discussions for making the phone available on the open market."

Pilbin told Total Telecom that the Ideos had been co-developed with Google and had been slated to become the second and more affordable device in Google's own-branded range of Nexus handsets. However, after co-development on Ideos began Google closed its online phone shop and in July discontinued sales of the HTC-made Nexus One.

Total Telecom also quoted Pilbin giving a higher figure for the lower limit of the Ideos pricing than that quoted in Huawei's press release: £99 ($US152) v $US100.

The Ideos supports HSDPA at 7.2Mbps. Its inbuilt WiFi router enables up to eight devices to share that connection. It is available in black, yellow, blue and purple.

Huawei also announced three other Android-powered cellphones. The U8800 also uses Android 2.2 and incorporates a WiFi modem router but supports HSPA at 14Mbps. It has a 3.8-inch wide screen that "provides users with a broader field of vision and allows them to take full advantage of a multitude of features and Internet applications."

The U8500 has a 3.2-inch touch screen, optical track-pad and WiFi router but runs Android 2.1. The U8300 is billed as an entry level smartphone. It also uses Android 2.1.

Chinese manufacturer Huawei late yesterday said it was talking to carriers in Australia and New Zealand about local distribution of its new IDEOS mobile phone, which runs the latest version of Google’s Android operating system.

The IDEOS comes in several models and runs Android 2.2, also known as Froyo. The handset features a 2.8″ QVGA, 320×240 capacitive touchscreen, a 3.2 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and will support 3G speeds of up to 7.2Mbps as well as 802.11n Wi-Fi. It also comes with GPS functionality for Google Maps navigation and supports SD cards of up to 16GB for additional storage.

“Huawei is currently in talks with Australian and New Zealand operators about local distribution,” the company said in a statement issued overnight.

The IDEOS will sell for between US$100 and US$200, although Huawei has not yet said what the phone will cost in Australia, nor what mobile telcos it is talking to regarding distribution.

On paper the IDEOS may not support Telstra’s 850Mhz Next G network, as the device is listed as supporting the 900 and 2100MHz device bands, but there is a possibility the handset could be customised to suit Next G due to Huawei’s status as a global manufacturer.

Huawei also announced three additional Android-powered devices — its U8800, U8500 and U8300 models — however, it has not revealed plans to bring the handsets to the Australian market.

The news represents the first launch by Huawei of an Android handset in the Australian market, as well as a significant mobile phone push in general by the company, which has a strong handset presence in its home turf in China.

Up until this point Huawei has not focused on bringing its consumer line-up to Australia, preferring to work on larger deals for carrier network infrastructure behind the scenes.

It also comes as virtually every other handset manufacturer of note, apart from companies like Apple and Nokia which run their own operating systems on their phones, have recently started introducing waves of Android-based smartphones into the Australian market.

Even companies who have not traditionally focused on smartphones are getting into the game. Dell has been discussing its Streak mini-tablet with carriers, and Acer on Wednesday revealed plans to bring no less than five Android handsets to the local market.

Image credit: Huawei

Apple’s reality distorting September launch event has come and gone, with an Apple TV that I wrote about earlier, an update on when the iPad will finally see iOS 4.2 (it’s in November), when iOS 4.1 is due and new iPods.

While iOS 4.2 for the iPad is exciting, it’s much less exciting to see that iPad owners still have to wait until November to get it, although given the still relatively hopeless tablet competition (despite a swathe of Android 2.2 tablets being launched at IFA in Berlin as we speak), Apple can take its time here to make sure everything is right, and clearly it is doing so.

Of more interest to more people is iOS 4.1, and Steve Jobs promises that not only will this come out next week as a free upgrade for iPhones and iPod Touches that qualify (i.e. effectively no first gen devices), it will fix the Bluetooth bug, the proximity sensor on the iPhone 4 and the currently woeful iPhone 3G hardware performance.

Personally I hope it also fixes the SMS bug I remember from iPhone OS 1.x (or was it 2.x?), where one of the updates saw SMS typing become quite slow. A similar bug is in iOS 4.0.x, whereby starting to type SMS messages is fast, but once you go beyond say the first message length, message typing slows to a crawl.

This was, however, fixed before in earlier iOS versions, so hopefully it will be fixed this time with iOS 4.1, too – along with definite fixes for the very annoying Bluetooth bug that doesn’t always output audio to a paired, connected Bluetooth device, alongside the infuriating proximity sensor bug on the iPhone 4 which sees the screen come back to life so your ear can then touch buttons.

This proximity thing was one of the revolutions Apple introduced – it’s a shame they had to make users wait for an entire ".1" OS update to get such a fundamental thing fixed – but that’s Apple – sometimes they work real fast, other times, real slow.

The same goes for iPhone 3G owners who are prayin’ and a hopin’ Steve was absolutely correct in promising iOS 4.1 will return speedy performance to the iPhone 3G. I guess we’ll all know next week whether the clamour for iOS 4.1.1 grows louder – or softer.

The other big thing in the keynote, for me at least, is the new iPod Nano. Man, is this little gizmo cool or what! Jobs read my mind when he said one of his board of directors wanted to attached it to an wrist band to wear as a watch.

Far out – I do too. Or, at least, I wanna see what it looks like as a watch. Maybe it’ll be too big, but chances are it will be very cool and a swag of “watch band” iPod Nano wrist straps will soon flood the market. Perhaps iPod Nano necklace holders will, too.

AirPlay looks cool – I want to try it out and see how easily I can stream content from one iDevice to another, iTunes 10 still needs a massive “ease of use” redesign so multiple tasks can be much more easily accomplished at the same time, along with better management of libraries – but there’s always iTunes 11 or 12 for that to happen.

Continued on page two, please read on!

The iPod Shuffle gets it button-mojo back. Yay if you’re going to get one, but in my mind the iPod nano is the better choice, even if video recording and playback has been removed.

Which brings me to the iPod Classic, which some expected would be removed.

Nope – it’s still there, but didn’t make it into Jobs’ keynote. If you’re an iPod Classic kind of person, it’s all still there, but surely Apple will sell fewer iPod Classics this coming year than ever before?

Oh, and let’s not forget about iTunes 10’s inbuilt “social music network” called Ping. I wonder what Microsoft though about it considering Ping sounds a lot like Bing?

Frankly I’m not into the whole social networking thing, it’s a massive invasion of privacy (no matter what the stupid privacy settings) and it’s a publicly hackable database I’m completely disinterested in, so Ping excites me even less, but for those that love MySpace for its collection of musicians and artists, and for those that love their Facebook, a music social network built-in to iTunes is probably some kind of aural flash of Jobsian inspiration.

If that’s your thing, hallelujah, nirvana, slice of heaven and all that.

Me? I just want my iOS 4.2 for the iPad, a fixed iOS 4.1 for the iPhone and a desire to check the tiny iPod Nano out – along with a curiosity on when either sanctioned new apps for the iPod Nano will appear, or when hackers will jailbreak it to allow third party apps, even if Apple won’t!

Various changes have been made to Windows Phone 7 since the Technical Preview was released. These include improvements to the People Hub to filter Facebook contacts, directly 'like' posts, and quickly post a message to someone else's Facebook wall.

Windows Phone 7 has now been released to manufacturing, so all that remains is for Microsoft's partners to integrate the OS with their hardware and networks, then the first phones will go on sale in time for Christmas.

Terry Myerson, corporate vice president of Windows Phone, described the new software as "the most thoroughly tested mobile phone platform Microsoft has ever released."

Last week, the company announced that the final (ie, non-beta) Windows Phone Developer Tools will be released on September 16.

After much pre-iEvent rumourmongering that Apple would launch a brand new Apple TV dubbed the “iTV”, along with access to the App Store to bring a more sophisticated, app store compatible experience to your TV set and somehow turning your big screen TV into something like a giant iPod Touch, but this didn’t happen.

Yes, there were a range of other iThings launched, which we’ll get in a future article later today, but about all the rumourmongers got right was the introduction of US 99c TV show rentals, further doing away with the concept of actual “ownership”, with the US TV networks of ABC and Fox having come on board with a selected range of HDTV programming.

The Apple TV remains the Apple TV, but loses its built-in hard drive, become a “bare minimum” streaming device, able to stream TV shows, movies and photos from your existing PC, wirelessly or via Ethernet, to the Apple TV device, or via iTunes over the Internet.

The UK’s ITV channel/network will clearly be pleased – they had made noises that they weren’t about to roll over like Cisco did with the iPhone and iOS names, but with Apple not going down the iTV naming route – or at least, not yet – there’s nothing the UK’s ITV can really do about it.

Part of the Apple TVs appeal will be a focus on HD content, with HD in this case meaning 720P, not 1080P, and with the Apple TV now coming with an HDMI port as standard.

“First run” HD movies available to rent “on the same day as the DVD release”, TV shows in HD will be available to rent also, and aside from streaming content from your existing iTunes library on your PC or Mac, you can stream content from Google’s YouTube, Yahoo’s Flickr and Apple’s own MobileMe.

The new Apple TV is a bold move for Apple, allowing the company to cut the cost of the Apple TV from US $299 to US $99 (AUD $129) but it does change the nature of the Apple TV device from one of being another giant iPod that you have to “sync” to being a streaming device.

US users also get access to Netflix, but Aussies get the flick by Netflix when it comes to flicking through the flicks that Netflix offers US customers.

Basically, if you did want a “computing” experience on your big screen TV that also happens to let you surf the web, run software, run iTunes, play movies, TV shows, other content from iTunes and more – what you want for your TV is a Mac Mini, not an Apple TV.

The new Apple TV is really a streaming device, and if you’re streaming HD content from Apple, YouTube or elsewhere, then not only do you want a solid broadband connection, but also an 802.11n wireless network, if you’re not plugging it in via Ethernet.

Continued on page two, please read on!

For me, at least, it wasn’t the most exciting part of the presentation earlier this morning, despite the Apple TV being 80% smaller than the now “older” previous generation Apple TV - and as well as being totally silent.

The new iPods were much more to my liking, and will clearly be very popular globally, but that’s not to write off the Apple TV – after all, if you have a big library of content on your PC or Mac’s iTunes library and want an easy way to watch it on your big screen TV, the Apple TV makes that possible at a cheaper price than ever before.

So… Steve Jobs delivers a new reali-tv for the Apple TV and simplifies people’s expectations of the device, distorting its price and size downwards. Apple will probably sell a lot more of them now simply because it is a third of the previous price.

It’s not quite the magical and revolutionary update we all seemed to expect, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter.

Steve Jobs called it his “one more hobby”, and for those that were clamouring for an ultra simple Apple TV experience, this is it - but for those who wanted more, it isn’t, the also HDMI-equipped Mac Mini is probably in your future!

After some time hinting it would do so, Japanese electronics giant Sony has finally committed to bringing several of its eReader line-up to Australia, partnering with giant retail chain Borders to do so.

Sony’s 5″ Pocket Edition Reader and its 6″ Touch Edition will both come to Australia in “early September”, the company announced today. Both devices feature 16 level grayscale e-ink screen and 2GB of internal memory, are Mac and PC compatible and support a number of file formats.

The Pocket Edition will go for a recommended retail price of $229, while the larger Touch Edition — which has additional features, such as an audio player and the ability to take a SD/MS card for additional storage — will cost $299.

Sony’s Australian chief Carl Rose claimed digital reading had hit a tipping point globally.

“The digital reading revolution has come to Australia and will change the landscape of our local reading industry,” he said. “We’re anticipating strong consumer demand for eBooks and look forward to launching our Reader devices, which are lightweight, portable and provide a comfortable reflective display for the most natural reading experience.”

The statement said that Sony’s devices have been set up to provide “simple navigation” to the online bookstores of REDGroup Retail, which owns the Borders and Angus & Robertson brands locally.
The news comes as there has been an influx of eReaders into the Australian market over the past year.

Local retailer Kogan Technologies launched its own device over the past several months, coming after REDGroup Retail brought the Kobo eReader into Australia to widespread interest. Amazon also ships the Kindle locally, and smaller players like Laser also have a presence.

A key problem for local retailers remains getting better availability of eBooks for the devices. REDGroup Retail has vowed to push hard to break through the tricky licensing agreements required to make the content available in digital formats.

Image credit: Sony

Apple’s new line-up of iPod music devices unveiled overnight in the US will hit Australia next week, the company announced this morning, although the nation will have to wait a little longer for the revamped Apple TV.

The company’s new iPod touch — which now comes with many of the same features found in Apple’s similarly refreshed iPhone 4 device, such as an improved processor and video calling — will be available in Australia next week for recommended retail prices of $289, $378 and $499 for the 8GB, 32GB and 64GB models respectively, Apple said in a statement.

The iPod classic now has a 160GB model, which will go for $329.

Apple has also refreshed its iPod nano line, which now includes a touch display similar to the iPod touch and iPhone. The nano will also be available in Australia next week, selling for $199 for the 8GB model and $229 for the 16GB model.

The iPod shuffle has been slightly overhauled, with one notable feature being a “VoiceOver” button which allows customers to hear the name of the currently playing song and to switch between songs and playlists. The device will go for $69 locally, and comes with 2GB of storage.

However Australians will have to wait a while for the refreshed Apple TV device, which is now much smaller than the previous model.

“Apple TV will be available late this month for a recommended retail price of AUD$129 inc GST and can be pre-ordered beginning today on Apple’s online store,” said Apple in a statement.

Apple stipulated that its iTunes movie rentals facility is available in Australia — along with other countries such as the US, Canada, France, Germany and so on, but it remains unclear whether Australians will have access to the same level of content as the US, for example.

Licensing arrangements with content owners such as film, TV or even music studios have meant in the past that Australians have been limited in the amount of content that they have been able to download through Apple’s iTunes service compared with the US.

Image credit: Apple

It’s the first day of Spring — a fresh start — and a new line up of Android-based mobile phones has been announced for the Australian market. Acer revealed today that an army of five new Android handsets — the Liquid E, Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition, Stream and the beTouch E120 and E130 — is headed our way this month.

The flagship handset is the Android 2.1 Éclair operated Liquid E, which features a 3.5″ high-definition capacitive touch screen and Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The recommended retail price for the handset is listed as $699.

“We are thrilled to bring the Android-powered Liquid E to our customers in Australia,” said Nigel Gore, general manager for Acer Australia’s Product Group. “The Liquid E is a brilliant mix of innovative design, entertainment features and practical technology for boosting the user experience. Liquid E is sure to please the most discerning shoppers with its easy-to-use interface, long battery life, high-definition touch screen and host of other advantages.”

The handset is available as a special edition — the Liquid E Ferrai — which Acer touts as “the most exclusive smartphone in the world”. Available at a recommended retail price of $999, the handset features glossy red casing with chrome trim and a Scuderia Ferrari shield on the back. And if that didn’t make your skin prickle, the microphone is designed to look like a air intake.

The 11.2mm thin Acer Stream features will go for a RRP of $799, and comes with 2GB of internal memory, HDMI output and support for HD video recording at up to 720p.

The two entry level phones are the beTouch E120 and the beTouch E130, at a RRP of $399 and $499 respectively. The E130 features a physical QWERTY keyboard and both handsets are available in black or white. “The new range offers funky-stylish models for the young-and-restless to competent chic-savvy models for the business market that look as good as they perform,” the Acer statement read.

An Acer spokesperson was not available for comment in regards to providers the handsets will be available with at launch.

Image credit: Acer

The Acer Liquid E smartphone was revealed overseas earlier this year and announced locally today. Key features of the $A699 Liquid E include a Snapdragon CPU and the Android 2.1 Éclair operating system.

The name apparently comes from the phone's "ultra-fluid tactile interface," but the timing is unfortunate. 'Liquid E' is also a street name for GHB, the drug that AFL footballer Travis Tuck overdosed on late last week.

The Liquid E is also available in a $A999 Ferrari special edition.

We'll present Acer's words on that model without further comment:

It is not merely a luxurious smartphone or status symbol; it is an object where obsessive attention to detail ensures its owner a uniquely rare experience.

Above all, it flaunts a bold yet elegant design: the glossy red casing with chrome trim makes it a true pleasure for the eyes. The front is dominated by a spacious 3.5", hi-resolution capacitive touchscreen, while the back sports the legendary "Scuderia Ferrari" shield with details in carbon fibre, while the redesigned microphone recalls the "air intake inlet, lending it a powerful look to keep it in pole position.

A Ferrari-branded case and Bluetooth earpiece are optional extras. The company has previously marketed Ferrari-branded notebook computers.

The other new phones from Acer are the $A799 Stream (slim, Wi-Fi, Dolby mobile, 720p video recording, HDMI interface), the $A399 beTouch E120 (Android, GPS, Wi-Fi), and the $A499 beTouch E130 (QWERTY keyboard, Android, GPS, Wi-Fi, 150mAh battery).

3D televisions went on sale in Australia several months ago, complete with glitzy launches involving dancing girls, complicated lighting sets and fast-paced music. But have the sales figures delivered on the hype? Are Australians really buying 3D TVs or not?

Yes, according to the manufacturers of the technology. But retailers remain reluctant to release sales figures several months on — meaning the true picture of how the third dimension is affecting Australian loungerooms remains elusive.

“The demand for 3D TV from consumers is really strong and certainly from our retail departments it’s really strong so certainly from initial kick off we’ve seen a really great demand from 3D,” says Matt Pearce, Panasonic Australia’s product manager of its TV division.

Pearce attributes the early success to sports fans impressed with a National Rugby League promotion where State of Origin games have been broadcast in 3D.

Sony also claimed to have experienced strong sales of the new consumer technology, “Very well. Very well. The only issue is we could sell more if we had more,” said Craig Jackson, senior product specialist at Sony Australia.

“Demand is actually outstripping supply which is a good thing, obviously, for the future of 3D. Obviously the more we can bring in the more we can sell.”

The Sony executive said he believed the industry did a very good job earlier this year of raising awareness of the new 3D technology before the new TV models hit Australia, noting the heightened level of awareness probably drove what he said was the strong level of uptake from consumers.

Jackson said that 3D sports content — such as The World Cup and State of Origin — earlier this year really cemented the decision for some people. “When it was coming over the air all they had too do was plug their TV into the wall that really made people think: ‘Well, this is something we will be doing in the future and I need to be thinking about this in my next TV purchase’.”

Samsung was also positive about the performance of its 3D TV product range. “Samsung’s range of TVs with integrated 3D technology across LED, Plasma and LCD are all selling extremely well,” said group senior product manager — AV Evan Manolis. “There was significant excitement in the market around the arrival of 3D technology and, being first to market, Samsung was able to lead the field and convert this consumer buzz into sales,” he said.

Manolis said that the drive behind consumers seeking out the 3D technology — to try and buy — was the “carefully planned, significant above and below the line 3D marketing campaign” in place, which he said helped drive consumers into retailers asking to experience and purchase 3D technology.

“Consumer research we conducted prior to launch anticipated a high demand for 3D technology; even so, in the early days after launching, sales exceeded our forecasts and expectations,” he said. Manolis added that consumers were initially driven to retail outlets to experience 3D but were “equally sold” on other features such as Samsung’s internet and social media integration and PVR functionality, for example.

Retail giant Harvey Norman and consumer product tracking company GFK were not prepared to to make a statement on the technology’s success or lack of it at this stage, with GFK stating that it was just too early. JB Hi-Fi was slightly more open, but did not offer figures to support a statement backing Sony’s claim that demand was outstripping supply.

“Unfortunately we unable to share any numbers with you,” said JB Hi-Fi marketing director Scott Browning. “However we are seeing increased customer interest in the category and it would be fair to say that demand is outstripping supply at this stage.”

Panasonic said it was too early to determine the demographic of 3D TV consumers but Samsung took a shot at it.

“Tech savvy consumers, first to market adopters of new technology in the 25-45 age bracket,” said Manolis. “This demographic is quite time-poor, so we have found in our research that they are also attracted by the PVR functionality that our TVs offer, allowing them to watch programs when they want, rather than when they are broadcast.”

All of the manufacturers have a few 3D TV models on the market at the moment, so which ones have performed well?

JB Hi-Fi’s Browning said, that currently, brand success could not be determined as Samsung was the only manufacturers to supply 3D TVs “in any material quantities”. He said until Panasonic, LG and Sony offered 3D TVs in material quantities — which he expects to be soon — a market leader could not be determined.

“We have seen significant sales of both our 3D Series 7 LED and Plasma TV ranges, but the recent launch of our Series 8 LED TV, with pinpoint dimming technology has also allowed us to further grow our market presence in 3D LED,” said Panasonic’s Pearce.

“We have seen the 55” screen sizes in 3D LED sell extremely well, and with 3D plasma, all screen sizes (50”, 58” and 63”) are selling very well. 3D is all about the ‘big screen’ experience which is why larger screen sizes are proving most popular with consumers.”

Sony’s Jackson acknowledged the availability of its models. “We’ve got three, although a couple of them are in very limited supply at the moment,” he said. “The HX model is the one we have; That is what most people would have seen if they had gone to a Sony Centre or Harvey Norman and other retail stores. That’s the one we’ve got the most stock of and that’s one the one people would be familiar with.”

Panasonic is confident 3D TV is here to stay.

“3D TV will become the norm. At the end of the day, the TV is all about picture quality, color reproduction and how the TV performs when watching sports, high definition movies and gaming,” said Manolis. “3D is a feature of the TV which allows you to experience 3D TV, movies and gaming, and as more content comes out, this will drive 3D uptake even further. In 2011 you will start to see 3D technology broaden out across the flat panel TV market, rather than just at the premium end of the range.”

“I think what is probably the big one now — we will start seeing a little bit more of sort of noise and excitement is 3D games … the next step for 3D is the interactive 3D,” said Jackson. “You can watch a 3D movie and watch it like you are standing in front of it and see what’s going on. But if you are holding a controller and controlling the action, you really do feel like you are inside what’s going on. I think gaming is next boom like sport was earlier on the year — that’s really going to take off now and run with 3D.”

Jackson said that after the boom of 3D movies — December and March — and the levelling out of the 3D gaming, that is when Sony could “start to focus more what is in store in terms of TV”.

Pearce said that 3D was a massive focus for Panasonic and that the critical point for 3D was “getting it as immersive as possible”. “The most important part of that is the bigger screens of 3D. It’s really important to build a really compelling big screen experience,” he said, adding that Panasonic will introduce 65″, 58″ and 54″ models in September — in time for the football finals.

“One of the big drivers is gaming,” Pearce said. “Gaming, movies and all those types of things gathered together to make sure the full content offering is available to consumers.”

Browning stated that JB Hi Fi could see the staying power for the new consumer technology. “JB Hi-Fi sees a future in 3D technology across a wide spectrum of products including TVs,” he said.

However, with 3D video games set to be the next big thing in 3D TV — especially with the Sony push of the PS3 console — JB Hi Fi did not see any correlation between consoles and TVs sales. “At this stage we are not able to attribute any growth in consoles (especially given that most PS3 consoles are already 3D enabled via firmware update),” said Browning.

With nobody prepared to release hard numbers about 3D TV sales in Australia, it is hard to know what impact the new technology is really having on the local market. But one thing is for certain: Everybody and his dog wants to make sure the consumer knows the technology is out there, and at this stage positive vibes are emanating from every player in the market. Whether this sentiment will translate into sales — only time will tell.

Image credit: Delimiter

A general rule for electronic components is that smaller is better. Image sensors are one of the exceptions.

One of the complaints about some earlier digital cameras with high megapixel counts was that they didn't produce better photos than those of ostensibly lower specification. The issues include increased 'noise' resulting from cramming more imaging pixels into the same amount of space without otherwise improving the technology used.

Benefits of larger sensors include the collection of more light, reduced noise, and more accurate internal focussing.

And so Canon has developed what it claims to be the world's largest CMOS image sensor. With dimensions of 202 by 205mm, this isn't a component that's going to turn up in a consumer or even prosumer camera any time soon.

Where it is likely to turn up is in video cameras for recording the night sky or nocturnal animal behaviour. This is because it can capture an image in one-hundredth of the amount of light required by a 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor, which means it could be used to capture 60fps video with just 0.3 lux of illumination (approximately half the brightness of a moonlit night)

The size of the sensor presented various technical problems - see page 2.

The company points out that the sensor is approaching the limit of a 300mm silicon wafer, and is 40 times the size of Canon's largest commercial CMOS sensor (the 35mm full-frame sensor used in the EOS-1Ds Mark III and EOS 5D Mark II.

Canon used the "cleanest of cleanroom environments" for the production process to minimise image imperfections and dust, company officials claimed. This would presumably be particularly important in order to achieve an acceptable yield as only one sensor is produced per wafer. Multiple copies of more conventionally sized chips are produced from each wafer, so even if one or two are rejected at the testing stage the entire wafer hasn't been wasted.

Another technical obstacle that had to be overcome was the design of a circuit that would allow sufficiently fast readout. Normally, enlarging a sensor leads to slower I/O performance.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 mod chip lawsuit could be just the first of many gaming giant-initiated cases in Australia, according to a lawyer who defended a client against Nintendo in a similar case earlier this year.

Late last week Australia’s Federal Court slapped a temporary ban — which expires tomorrow — on a handful of local retailers selling or importing hardware — commonly known as “mod chips” — that allows unauthorised software to run on the popular PlayStation 3 console. The court also ordered the chips to be handed over to Sony while the case was running.

The situation echoes a similar case earlier this year, when law firm Berrigan Doube defended a local distributor against a lawsuit by Nintendo, in which the Japanese gaming giant was attempting to stop the retailer from distributing the R4 cartridge, which allows unauthorised applications and games to run on Nintendo’s handheld DS console.

The Nintendo case ended in a settlement to Nintendo to the tune of $620,000 without the judge coming to a finding — and, according to Berrigan Doube director John Cheng, similar cases may go down the same route.

“If history is anything to go by, I envisage many more cases to be settled in favour of the gaming giants before a court is given a proper chance to consider and decide on these highly contentious matters,” he said in an emailed statement this afternoon.

In the Sony case, the defendants have vowed to fight the Japanese company no matter the cost.

“This is not OzModChips versus Sony,” wrote retailer OzModChips on its site after Sony won the injunction. “This is not OzModChips, Quantronics, Modsupplier versus Sony. We would go as far as saying that it is not even everyone in Australia versus Sony.”

“This will affect everyone that plans to buy such a device worldwide. It already sets a dangerous precedent. Everyone that was using OtherOS, everyone that has had a faulty PS3 laser … and those interested in PS3 custom firmware and homebrew applications. We cannot do it alone, we need the support of everyone in the homebrew community, the media, engineers that understand the inner workings and anyone else that can provide support.”

Cheng said the defendants would need to have unusually strong backing to take on a company like Sony.

“It will take an extraordinary person to really take the fight to the gaming console companies due to the significant resources required and the personal risks attached to defending the allegations raised against them,” he said.

Legal analysis
When the Sony case arose yesterday, online commentators immediately raised the spectre of a similar case back in 2005, Stevens v Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment.

The landmark case saw Sony allege that a Mr Stevens had breached a number of laws by selling mod chips and unauthorised games for its PlayStation consoles. However, the High Court found that Sony’s hardware did not constitute what is called a “technological protection measure”, meaning it wasn’t illegal to break through it.

The case was hailed as a victory for freedom of consumer expression, but Cheng today said the Australian legal situation had been confused since the judgment.

Should the current Sony matter proceed to final judgment, these legal proceedings will offer the Australian community clarification with respect to the uncertainties in Australian copyright law.

Cheng said he believed Sony was likely to argue in court — as it did in the prior Stevens case, and as Nintendo did this year in its own case, that the PS Jailbreak device infringed the copyright and trademark of the technology embedded in Sony’s PlayStation console, and maybe even that the PS Jailbreak was a circumvention device which unlawfully circumvents its protections.

The defending retailers, the lawyer said, would likely argue that not only was the PS Jailbreak software — which is applied through a USB stick — not a circumvention device, but that it was actually designed and used to increase the functionality of the PlayStation 3 — and accordingly, Sony’s technology should not be protected.

“In addition,” said Cheng, “the respondents may also argue that the PS Jailbreak does not contain Sony’s copyright material.

“If it is established that the PS Jailbreak does contain copyright material belonging to Sony, the respondents may argue that the PS Jailbreak is a legitimate device which enables time shifting’ broadcasts and format shifting copyright material and rely upon the exemption to infringement of copyright, being the region coding exemption.”

Cheng finally noted that the defendants may also have to argue that the PS Jailbreak did not infringe upon Sony’s trademarks.

If the defendants do attempt to fight Sony on the matter, they will likely be in for a tough road. But, according to Cheng, until someone does fight one of the big gaming giants, the issue may never be resolved in a legal sense.

“Until a decision is received from the Court on the subject matters raised in the Nintendo case and now, the Sony case, we are likely to see more cases being brought in the future by gaming console giants against individuals and companies that import and sell mod chips in Australia,” he said.

Image credit: włodi, Creative Commons