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With a couple of days before the E3, has been leaked some official shots of the new PSP-4000! It will be retailed as PSP Go, and won't have the UMD reader anymore! The user will be forced to download the games from the Playstation Store (not for free, of course) even though, as rumored some weeks ago, there can be a "subscription model" to download "unlimited" games. (Of course, when you cancel the subscription, the license of the downloaded games will be revoked )

The new PSP has the Bluetooth (as you can see from the led on the right side, also visible in other official shots), and the keys are retroilluminated, as you can see in this video. The keys and the keypad comes out from a slide, as in the Sony Mylo

Moreover, it should not replace the current PSP model, as Nintendo is doing with the DS and the DSi.

Honestly, I don't like at all this new design, the keypad and the analog nub looks so awkard. And then... where is the emotion of keeping a new, shrinkwrapped game in your hands? Paying $34,90 for a download... are you kidding?

After just a week, here is the new BootMii beta 2, the wonderful homebrew boot2 replacement.

What's new? There are a lot of added functions, here is a resume:

BootMii beta 2 (v0.9):

• SD card performance has been improved, decreasing the boot and the NAND backup / restore time
• backupmii accepts fragmented SD cards now, reformatting is not performed anymore. Old NAND dumps are still compatible.
• Introduced the INI variable “BOOTDELAY” to set the timeout for the auto boot feature

The Homebrew Channel v1.0.3:

• SDHC cards are working again
• SD performance has been increased again (regression was introduced in v1.0.2)
• HBC works on all system menu versions now
• Fixed rare hangs when exiting HBC

DVDX:

• Switched back to IOS < 37. While the SDHC problem for apps using DVDX has been fixed in libogc, there were also problems with USB keyboards under higher IOS versions

Installer v0.2:

• Installer now works on newer Wiis with boot2v4 (instead of rebooting at “Press 1″)
• Fixed reading of boot1/2 on Wiis with bad ECC data in that area
• BootMii as boot2 and IOS can now be uninstalled

You can install it using the same way of the beta 1

According to a recent interview to Dell, Windows 7 Ultimate will be more expensive than Windows Vista Ultimate. Well, Vista Ultimate in Europe was sold for 599 EURO, that was about $900(while in the USA, it was sold for "just" $399, what a ripoff!) how much will cost Windows 7 Ultimate? It is a bit strange, because Microsoft ad strategy is all about saying that Macs are more expensive than PCs, but, Mac OS X ($149), is SIX times more expensive than the european price of Windows Vista Ultimate ($900)!!

How much will be? We must sell our house to buy it? They will sell it in a jeweller's? What will be better, a diamond ring for girlfriend, or a shiny new dvd for our PC??

However, I know how to get it.

Reading RKP's blog, I discovered that the Coldplay has made available for download on their website the new LeftRightLeftRightLeft live recording, that was given for free at their Viva la Vida Tour, now also on legal digital download! This for say a big THANK YOU for their fan!

What a great artists!!!!

List of tracks:

1. Glass of Water
2. 42
3. Clocks
4. Strawberry Swing
5. The Hardest Part/Postcards from Far Away
6. Viva la Vida
7. Death Will Never Conquer
8. Fix You
9. Death and All His Friends

Download now!

  After cube-shaped and pyramid-shaped watermelons, are coming from Japan heart-shaped watermelons!

  Just in time for the Mother's Day, it could be a great gift!But, the price is 15750 yen ($160), that can be steep for almost everyone. This expensive fruit is the result of 3 years of experiments to reach the perfect shape, and the Kumamoto farmers that have created that, have produced just 20 of them this year. 

  For mom, everything is worthy, right? But, maybe is better to give also the receipt, otherwise your mom will certainly underestimate your gift.  

  In the picture, (click to enlarge) is represented the clerk in a Fukuoka department store (south Japan).

  If you ware wondering where you can buy it, is also available for international orders  How they will ship a watermelon?

  So lovely, right?

Bushing has just released the BootMii beta 1!

What is that? It is a software that will be installed on the Wii boot2 (or as an additional IOS, if you want), enabling you to commit advanced modifications on your Wii, independently from the firmware version.

Moreover, it has been released as "HackMii installer"; you can choose to install:

• The Homebrew Channel
• DVDx
• The BootMii beta 1 (for now, i suggest to not install this, if you are not keen on this kind of stuff)

Now let's talk about the most interesting stuff - how to install the Homebrew Channel on your 4.0 firmware

First, you need the bannerbomb exploit, then, you have to download the HackMii installer.

Extract the aad1f_v102.zip file from bannerbomb on your SD card, then extract installer_beta1.elf from the Hackmii installer, renaming it in boot.dol, and placing in the root .

Then, follow the direction on how to run bannerbomb, and, when the installation menu will appear, select the Homebrew Channel.

Then, you might be interested to know how to run backups from USB or SD. (Probably it won't be possible to do it on 4.0+ firmwares, as the CIOS installation will fail)

Notes for who is willing to tryout the BootMii:

• It has 3 functions: direct loading of the Homebrew Channel, ROM backup, ARM and PPC code loading.
• For now, is not possible to uninstall the bootmii.
• They have tested it only on 10 console - they feel it is safe, but there can be some problems.
• Since bootmii is loaded before the main OS, is not possible to use the Wiimote, only GameCube controllers and front Wii buttons are supported.
• For now, the IOS version is kinda useless
• On newest Wii, the installation can be troublesome
• If you do the ROM backup, you might be notice that your Wii has a lot of damaged sectors, this is normal: it looks like Nintendo used cheap components - it can have up to 80 damaged sectors...

Owning a Windows Mobile mobile, is like a torture. As an owner of a Samsung i600 (Known in the USA as AT&T Blackjack - Windows Mobile Standard 6.0 - no touchscreen) and of a Sharp WS003 (Windows Mobile Professional 5.0 - with touchscreen), i can easily affirm that both standard and professional devices are NOT optimized for real-life usage. Very long loading times, useless on-screen-keyboard (unless you have the precision of a neurological surgeon), and "broken" software (I mean: it is not polished and refined). This is mainly because Microsoft gives to manufacturers a "raw" operating system, and they have to add, polish and refine functionalities at their own expenses. Photo management? You do it by yourself. MMS? Do it. Wi-fi and Bluetooth stack? We give you a basic one, if you want you can enhance it by yourself. Accelerometer, GPS and so on? They will be invisible to the default system, you have to write your own drivers. 

So, many manufacturers, has sold Microsoft "plain" operating system, like my old MiTAC Mio 8390, an awful mobile with a lot of bugs; while others, like Samsung, has splurged on third-party licences, to make look Windows Mobile more refined.

Nowadays, with the iPhone, Android and the very promising Palm Pre, the smartphone compatition is becoming very interesting, so Microsoft has finally decided to innovate his Windows Mobile, virtually unchanged since 1999. 

On the Mary Jo Foley's blog, there are the supposedly leaked specs of the new Windows Mobile 7 platform, codenamed "Pink phone". Those are the minimum requirements that every device must have, codenamed "Windows Mobile 7 chassis 1":

Core requirements:
Processor: ARM v6+, L2 Cache, VFP, Open GL ES 2.0 graphics HW (QCOM 8k, Nvidia AP15/16* and TI 3430 all meet spec)
Memory: 256MB+ DRAM, 1G+ Flash (at least 512MB fast flash – 5MB/s unbuffered read @4K block size)
Display:  WVGA (800×480) or FWVGA (854×480) 3.5” or greater diagonal
Touch: Multi-touch required
Battery: Sufficient to meet Days of Use LTK requirements.
Controls: Start, Back, Send and End are required (soft controls allowed as long as they are always present).

Peripherals:
Camera: 3MP+, flash optional, 2nd camera optional (VGA resolution sufficient)
GPS: aGPS required
Sensors required: Light Sensor, Compass (3 axis, 5 degrees, 100 Hz sample rate), Accelerometer (3 axis, 2mg resolution, 100 Hz sample rate)
USB: High speed required, 20 MB/s transfer rate.
BlueTooth: BT2.1 required, must run MSFT BT stack, CSR BlueCore6 or later recommended.
Wi-Fi: 802.11B/G required, must run MSFT Native Wi-Fi stack, Atheros 6002 or Broadcomm 4325 recommended.
Connectors: Micro USB and 3.5mm Audio required.

Options:
FM tuner:  If tuner HW is present it will be detected and supported by the Media application.
Haptics
SD Card (Micro SD recommended)
DPAD, qwerty or 12/20 key keyboards all optional

The new Wii exploit known as "bannerbomb" has just been released, and is ready from download from the official website!

This hack is compatible with almost every Wii out there, and using it is plainly straightforward, you just have to download the aad1f_v102.zip file, and extract it on an SD card. (The ZIP file contains a folder named PRIVATE, don't rename it or move the content in another position)

After this, you have to add an homebrew executable, named boot.elf or boot.bin, placed in the SD card root.

Then, go to the Wii settings, Data Management, Channels and then SD (top left). After doing this, insert the card.

Now, it should happen one of this 3 possibilities:

1. You are asked to "Load /boot.dol", select Yes, and the desired homebrew will be loaded
2. Otherwise, it can appear a dialog - complete the survey
3. Or, it can freeze. In this case, there are two reasons. One reason is that maybe you selected a wrong section; maybe you are in the SD menu (from the main menu), or in the saved games menu. Otherwise, as noticed by bushing, your Wii is one of those "strange" Wiis, so try to download another version, like aad20_v102.zip, aad22_v102.zip, aad1e_v102.zip or aad26_v102.zip

What homebrew we have to install?

Obviously the homebrew channel! Download it from the official website, choosing ".DOL (For usage with Twilight Hack & other booting methods)"

For extract the file, you might need 7-Zip (free) or Winrar (shareware)

Please note: if your firmware is the 4.0 version, you have to wait bootmii for installing the homebrew channel. There is another hard way to install it, by downgrading the firmware, but is risky and I don't recommend it as it can render your Wii useless

Have fun!

For any problems, drop a line on the forum (signup not required)

After installed the homebrew channel, you might be interested to know how to run backups from USB or SD card

According to Microsoft, from next week, they will release gradually 10 "fake updates" on Windows Update, to check about problems, and testing distribution in large scale

So, don't worry if you see all of this updates coming out so quickly… those are not real fixes

Look at this interesting comparison between various Disney animation movies:

That's impressing, the dancing scenes are practically identical between the movies. This is because of the usage of the Rotoscope to create  realistic animation. If nowadays, for making realistic movements in 3d animations, are used real actors that are wearing hundreds of sensors, at that age, the actors were filmed, and then every frame would be drawn by hand. Disney's Snow White is one of the first movies to use this technique.

Another example of rotoscoping is A-ha's Take on Me music video: