QUESTION 6: SHARING MEDIA

Do I want to share media, between my digital devices, and display them on my TV with my console?

This is not a super important thing to most people however still an important consideration.

The Wii has an SD card slot for extra memory. You can also put an SD card from your digital camera (if indeed your camera uses an SD card) and view them on your Wii. You can also play with the pictures by using an editor built-in to the Wii.

The XBOX 360 is more of a media center as it can actually pull media directly from your computer using Microsoft's Zune software or if you have a Media Center PC. You can also plug in almost anything via USB to your 360 to play music and/or movies. The 360 can also play CDs so you can listen to music directly or import them onto your 360 for listening to whenever you want

The PS3 has a media card reader that reads almost every flash card known to man. It can display pictures, play movies, and play music. Similar to the 360, the PS3 can also play CDs and copy them to it's internal hard drive, however it does not import them as a proprietary format. Instead it will import as AAC or MP3.

QUESTION 5: DO I HAVE AN HDTV? IF SO DO I WANT TO PLAY IN HIGH DEFINITION?

These are important questions to ask yourself when buying your next console. High definition is in a couple formats as well, EDTV and HDTV. The resolutions include 480p (EDTV), 720i (HDTV), 720p (HDTV), 1080i (HDTV) and 1080p (HDTV). The most common of the lot is 720p. If you already own an HDTV you will want to make sure that it can handle at least 720p to get the high definition experience. 1080p is "full-HD" and is still ahead of its time. If you are looking into buying an HDTV look for at least 720p. Wow those where a lot of numbers.

The Wii only outputs to 480p but has a widescreen feature allowing your HDTV (if one has an HDTV) to upscale the picture without any black frames on the sides.

The PlayStation 3 outputs to 1080p through an HDMI connection. The only hitch to this is that not all the games out for the PS3 support 1080p so when you buy your games keep that in mind.

The XBOX 360 outputs 1080p but through a component connection. Here again, you have to keep your eyes open for games that actually support 1080p as many currently do not.

CELL PHONES: AND THE QUEST TO FIND YOUR PERFECT MATCH

Spring is (sort of) in the air and it's time to find me a new cell phone! I've been doing my research, and as any of our readers (or those who listen to the podcasts) will know that I , Cee, am not a total genius when it comes to technology - yes, even cell phones. My first cell was through Virgin, and it was a $79 (CAD) pay-as-you-go. I thought it was a good deal at the time, since I didn't really care about looks or plans - I just wanted something that could phone home. But now, after switching between the Virgin and a Telus "hand-me-down", I've come to a point in my life where I would like to purchase a fresh new phone.

Jeff, of course, is going to chaperon and guide me on this journey to find the perfect phone. So, don't be afraid. (Like I would tackle something like this on my own!)

I've done some research on the Internet and am narrowing down my search. Bell Mobility is reasonably priced, but the phones lacked some aesthetic qualities. Rogers Wireless is really expensive, however their phones are very sleek and sophisticated. Telus Mobility is similarly priced to Bell Mobility, and their phones are aesthetically pleasing. Virgin Mobile beats all the others in price, but the choices of cell phones are limited to only a few.

Choose wisely, young cell phone buyers. There are a lot of hidden costs - however, I plan to thoroughly investigate all four of the wireless providers: Rogers Wireless, Telus Mobility, Bell Mobility, and Virgin Mobile. I will post all my findings and my final decision on which phone
will be my perfect match in the next month.

-written by Cee-

QUESTION 4: IS ONLINE GAMING IMPORTANT

This tends to be one of the hottest topics between gamers these days and also helps to sell many games including the FPS and racing genres.

For the Wii online gaming is non existent as of yet but is promised in the near future. However there is wireless networking built in so you can use the consoles built-in internet browser to surf the web. You can also email other computers or other Wii consoles.

As for the XBOX 360 there is the Live service available for a monthly fee. Everyone who buys an XBOX 360 get a silver membership free and has the option at any time to upgrade to a Gold membership which allows online gaming and voice chat. The service is quite dependable.

The PS3 has the PlayStation Network or PSN for short. The PSN is in early stages of development there are a few things to on which to comment. The PSN is quite dependable when playing online but the hard part is finding people to play with. There are not a lot of people with PS3s right now but if you are playing Resistance: Fall of Man you won't have a hard time find people to play with.

NINTENDO CALLS IT QUITS FOR GAMECUBE

Nintendo has officially called it quits for it's previous generation console.

The Nintendo GameCube, named for it's cube design is now discontinued.

The GameCube has been known for games like Super Smash Bros Melee and the Mario Party Series. The console has also been know for dismal sales and lack of online gaming.

Nintendo released the GameCube November 18, 2001.

All hope is not lost, however, as Nintendo's successor to the GameCube, the Wii, will play all GameCube games and is compatible with GameCube controllers and memory cards.

IBM ON THE CHEAP

I was searching around for a good deal today for good candidate to try out Microsoft's new Windows Home Server and I think I found it at last.

TigerDirect (note that we have no affiliation with TigerDirect) has a great deal going on to clear out a bunch of old off lease IBMs.

Specs include:

Pentium 4 2.4GHz
512MB of DDR RAM
40GB Hard Drive
AGP Slot
Windows XP Home

This comes all for a low price of $204.97 after a $70 rebate. This is all Canadian dollars people. That is a great deal. Now all I need to do is buy a new 200GB Hard drive for storage and we're set.

Click here to view the computer.

DOUBLE HELPING: QUESTIONS 2 AND 3

Question 2 is kind of short so I decided I would wait a day and release two at once. Here we go!

Is price point an issue?

If price is an issue than two out of the three consoles may not be what you want.

The PS3 and the 360 both cost over $299 ($399 in Canada). The Wii is a slick $50 ($100 in Canada) cheaper.

What kind of games do you like to play?

Traditionally, Nintendo has catered to the younger generation producing games like Zelda and Super Mario Bros. However there is still much to be liked about the Wii. In fact the first game you get with the Wii is Wii Sports. This is a collection of games that utilize the motion sensitivity of the Wii-mote. You can also use your old GameCube controllers with the Wii so your don't have to buy a classic controller right off the bat (except for the few virtual console titles that require one).

Following the first generation of the XBOX, the XBOX 360 is focusing on a lot more games of the first-person shooter, or FPS for short, variety. However there are some other competent titles to look out for if you enjoy racing (Project Gotham Racing 3) and adventure (Kameo).

Through the three generations of PlayStation the genre of Role-Playing Games, or RPG for short, has been the dominant figure. Whether RPG's will be the large piece of games released for the PS3 is unknown at this point but one thing of note is that Final Fantasy is still a PlayStation exclusive title. Other notable games on the PS3 now are Resistance: Fall of Man, and Genji.

QUESTION 1: IS THIS CONSOLE BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE

This is a great question to ask yourself. In the case of the PS3, the Wii, and the XBOX 360, they are all backwards compatible in some form or fashion.

The PS3 is compatible with almost all PS1 and PS2 games making it a great value and also giving you the ability to sell your old console.

The 360 is compatible with some of the old XBOX games and the Wii is only compatible with GameCube games (with the exception of the virtual console). Keep this in mind as you cannot assume that all your old games will work on these consoles.

NEW SERIES: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHEN CHOOSING YOUR NEXT GEN CONSOLE

Ever wonder what you should ask yourself when you look for a game console. Well we here at technobabble, after hours of contemplation, we have compiled a good list of things to think about. Over the next week or so we will put up a new question for you to think about and our reasoning behind it.

Happy Gaming!

GLIMMERING CONCEPTS

Here are some concepts from some of the manufacturers:

TAURUS FIVE HUNDRED?

Just a few weeks ago I heard some talk of Ford wanting to change the name of the new Five Hundred back to the Taurus. I thought at the time that it would be a stupid idea. Sure the Taurus had a clean track record but it is also know as the most boring vehicle out there.

Well guess what. Without a chance to even think about it (and probably the biggest announcement of the whole auto show) Ford has officially changed the name of the Five Hundred to the Taurus.

Bad move Ford and now I will never think about buying one. I don't want to be know as a guy driving the standard, boring Ford Taurus. Even my Grand Marquis sounds more exciting than that.

OLD OR NEW FORD FOCUS, YOU DECIDE

I have grown to tolerate the Ford Focus up until now but never really desired to own one myself. Well, Ford wants to change that so they changed the Focus.

On the top is the old Ford Focus (yes I blurred out my dad's face again) and on the bottom is the new Focus. You tell me what you think. I personally am about to, well, we won't get into that...

FORD IS A LITTLE "EDGE"Y ON THIS ONE

Sorry for the pun but I had to do it. The all new Ford Edge a great combination of sport utility and station wagon really. It has all the room of a station wagon and most of the height of a sport utility with the added bonus of cool design. Most of us call this class a crossover vehicle.

As most of us know the first crossover Ford came up with was the Ford Freestyle. It never sold well and I believe it was due to the fact that it looks like a Ford Explorer or Expedition was put in a really large vice and squished to half the height.

Ford has learned from its folly and designed an all new crossover and they deemed it the Edge. It really is at the edge of Ford design with a big shiny grill and aggressive design.

It's good to see ford still has some design left in them.

FORD HAS A HYBRID TOO

OK so I had to blur the face of my dad, but if you look real close you might still be able to tell what he looks like.

Anyways, Ford felt a little jealous about Honda and Toyota having so many hybrids so they took matters into their own hands and made their own unique hybrid. The Ford Escape Hybrid.

The Escape Hybrid gets about 10 more MPG than the normal 4 cylinder Escape and doesn't sacrifice and room inside for it.

The new 2008 Escape Hybrid (and it's not hybrid versions) really look great inside and out.

The only drawback that I see with the Escape Hybrid is it's price. It is a good ten grand more than its base model. That's quite a jump in price. If you work the numbers I don't think the Escape would really make any difference in money consumption. Yes you would be using less gas but still spending more on it because of the cost of the Hybrid.

HYBRID ON THE CHEAP FROM HONDA

A lot of the automobile manufacturers are looking at better ways to make vehicles more efficient. As we know the aging internal combustion engine just isn't and never will be efficient by design and many companies, including Honda, have started build hybrid vehicles.

Hybrids use a combination of gasoline and electric motors (sporting a battery) to power the car in the city and on the highway. Most hybrids leave most of the city driving to the electric engine (the gas engine only powers on if the battery is low or if you go over 50km/h) and the highway driving to the gas engine.

Honda has several hybrids on the market now and the Honda Civic is no exception. Surprisingly, the Civic really doesn't show that it's a hybrid until you see the battery (or the hybrid logo on the trunk). The interior and exterior are exactly the same as the normal Honda Civic and it includes all the same features (power windows, locks, CD stereo and so on).

Not only does the Honda Civic Hybrid get 60 MPG (city) and 66 MPG (highway) it only costs a mere $26 000 dollars (and that's Canadian Dollars folks). That is an amazing deal.

FIRST PIC: FERRARI 360 SPIDER

OK. This isn't the first thing I saw at the auto show but this is the first car of which I took a picture.

This is a 2003 Ferrari 360 Spider (which bears a striking resemblance to the Ferrari Challenge Stradale minus the roof).

No real tech to speak of in this beast but it is one of my favourite cars ever made (favourite being the Challenge Stadale).

Oh and by the way, this was not shown by Ferrari, rather a rental company was showing this off to advertise that it only cost $799/day to rent this thing here in Canada. Boy, considering the car I have now only cost $1000, I think I'll hold off on that.

FRESH IN FROM THE 2007 CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

So I just got back (quite literally) from Toronto and wanted everyone to know that I will be posting my thoughts on this year’s auto show tomorrow. I have a lot of pictures that will take some time to downsize and post.

Stay tuned. You won’t be disappointed.

WII PLAY OR NOT

Nintendo has released another game for the Nintendo Wii that uses the Wii-mote to play games.

Wii Play is an collection of nine mini games that you use the Wii-mote's sensing controller to do things in games. The different mini games included are Shooting Range, Find Mii, Table Tennis, Pose Mii, Laser Hockey, Billiards, Fishing, Charge! and Tanks!.

So what do we really get? A collection of extremely short games that are fun for about 15 minutes each, maybe.

Shooting Range is a port if Duck Hunt from the NES all except it isn't. Nintendo too Duck Hunt and turned it into a five round shooting fest with a few birds and a heck load of other things flying this way and that.

Find Mii is a great puzzle game but gets boring as you keep doing the same thing over and over again. Basically you need to find same or particular Miis in a crowd of other Miis. wahooo.....

Table Tennis was the one I was really looking forward too but Nintendo dumbed it down too much. All you have to do is move the paddle around. No flicking. Just moving from one side to the other.

Pose Mii is really challenging. Basically you need to change you Miis shape to what you see on screen as fast a possible.

Laser Hockey. Well not much to say about it besides it's a neon coloured air hockey table.

Billiards is OK when you can get the Wii-mote to work with it.

Fishing was way too easy and just didn't feel like that much fun. When a fish bit all you had to do was pull once.

Charge! is hilarious. If Nintendo had other tracks to this mini game I'd be playing this game all the time. Charge! is a mini game where you ride a cow that charges at things and knocks them over. It's the sheer presentation that makes this game fun.

Tanks! is great too but the difficulty gets way to high to quickly. In Tanks! you basically shoot at other tanks but its not that simple. You have to avoid the other tanks firing.

So anything catch your fancy? Me either really. I was kind of disappointed. In fact now that I look at it the best thing about Wii Play is the fact that it comes with a Wii-mote.

Check out the reviews and see what they say. As far as I've seen everyone has had a pretty dismal look on Wii Play.

GATES AND JOBS DUKE IT OUT

In a video from www.current.tv there is a comic video about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Jobs is full of himself and gates plays a shy nerd. Click on the link below to view. Oh and caution. This video is only for adults.

CLICK HERE

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TECHNOBABBLE

This is the one year anniversary of technoabbleonline.com. We seen many changes over the year in technology and in technobabble.

What has happened in the past year? Dual core processors are the staple of the computer industry, ATI is bought by AMD, Sony releases the Playstation 3, Nintento releases the Wii, Apple releases multiple new iPods and creates a movie download service, HD-DVD and Bluray is released and Podcasts are everywhere.

What has happened for technobabble? We've moved on from myspace to blogger and now to WordPress, created a podcast, created a new logo, had some contests and generally a great time with technology.

We are still busy on technology news and will continue to provide news to everyone on the internet the best we can and keep it accessible to everyone at every knowledge level in the field of technology.

We will be at the 2007 International Auto Show (where the whole site basically started) in Toronto and will be reporting on the happenings there.

We want to thank you for a successful year and look forward to 2007.

STEVE JOBS COMMENTS ON DRM

DRM is a household name nowadays with it being stuffed down our throats when we download digital music.

Steve Jobs has commented on DRM in a column he wrote that is posted on the Apple.ca (and Apple.com) website and it proves to be an interesting read.

Basically Steve says that he doesn't like DRM but no matter how much he dislikes it if we want digital downloads we will have DRM.

He also goes on to say that the whole reason that DRM is out there in the first place is to protect CD sales of the same music.

Kind of stupid when you think about it. Why would the music industry want to stop sales of it's own music? I'll tell you why. They are making a killing off CDs.

Post your thoughts.

LIONSGATE AND ITUNES: TOGETHER AT LAST

Lionsgate films has joined Disney and Paramount in the iTunes Store allowing anyone with iTunes and an iPod to enjoy their movies.

This partnership gives Apple another 400 movies available for download like Terminator 2, Rambo and even Total Recall.

This is great news for those in the United States. As usual the Canadian are left out in the cold (quite literally) but hopefully Apple can get some movies north of the border soon enough.

HOT IN THE WINTER

I've been noticing an interesting trend with the new game consoles. Heat is a big thing.

The XBOX 360, PlayStation 3 and even the Nintendo Wii generate a lot of heat.

If you own any of these consoles beware: you need to keep them cool. Now I don't recommend any third-party adapter to cool them, as that adds extra stress to the console itself that it was not designed for, but I would suggest, especially for the PlayStation 3 and the XBOX 360, that you either lay them on their side (I know they don't look cool that way) or upright but at least 15 to 20cm apart (about 6 inches or so) and that will give the consoles ample room to dissipate heat.

The worst of the three is the XBOX 360 by a long shot. I'm not sure what Microsoft was doing when they designed the heatsink or purchased the consoles fans because they don't do a good job at all (and you think they would considering all the darn noise coming from the 360's fans). Another tip for 360 owners is the power bar should be placed away from the 360. That way the 360 isn't taking on heat from the power bar as well.

The PlayStation 3 creates a lot of heat as well, in fact more than the 360, but has a better cooling system, therefore making it cooler. You still want to keep room with the PS3 though because even if the inside stays cooler the air being pushed out by the fans is not.

Unsurprisingly the Wii is fairly cool compared to its competition, however it can and will get hot when you are playing a game. I would suggest making sure the cool air intake on the bottom of the Wii (when it is standing vertical) is clear and keep it away from hot things like your television or other gaming consoles.

This next tip applies to all the consoles. Make sure that all the new consoles are in an open space like a table top. Don't put them onto a bookshelf or something like that as the heat will build up in there and make it that much harder for the consoles to cool themselves.

I started noticing this when my office was often warmer than the rest of my house (now that it's winter in Canada - no there is not enough snow for igloos yet) even though my furnace obviously heats the whole house. I narrowed it down to the heat coming out of my game console. No, I don't leave them on all the time but they are well used. My computer also gives off a lot of heat and it is on all day.

Lesson today: if you are fortunate enough to have all three of the new consoles make sure you spread them out so heat can dissipate normally.

ARCHOS 504: REVIEW BY CEE

After being able to use the Archos 504 a few times a week for the past while, I've been able to use most of its functions. Since most of it's functions have been explained already in previous reviews, I can just get to the point.
To start off on a high note, I love the screen on the Archos. It really looks good when you're watching a movie or looking at pictures. Also, it's larger than on an iPod - the screen - so you can actually see what's going on in the movies and what pictures actually look like. If you're into movies, or making movies/slide shows and showing them off, this is a great tool. I'll confess, I love making slide shows of things my friends and I do, so this is one way to show it off without having to carry my laptop around.
However, as a music player - if I'm not watching music videos - I don't care for that so much. It can hold lots of music and stuff, but I didn't find it that convenient to be holding a huge box when just listening to music.
Other than that, I do really like the Archos 504. As a portable media center, it's pretty nice and I'll use it quite a bit.

TECHNOBABBLE MOVING

Technobabble will be moving to the WordPress blog in a few weeks. We will still be posting to this site and if you would like to still use this site you may do so. Just an FYI :).

You will have to use the link tbabble.blogspot.com from now on as I am moving the domain over to Wordpress. I may get a new domain but that is not the plan for the near future.

BLAZING ANGLES FOR THE PS3

First game for the PS3 and wowzors (hehe). Blazing Angels has been released for all of the next-gen platforms (Nintendo Wii, XBOX 360, Playstation 3) and is the first next-gen fighter game available on all three.

Blazing Angels puts you deep into World War II with amazing dogfights, fantastic detail, and great control without having to know your altitude and speed.

The first time I played this game was on the XBOX 360 as a demo from XBOX live and I have to say I was amazed. The controls were great compared to the last fighter pilot game I had played (Ace Combat 5 for PS2) and just seemed natural.

The Playstation 3 takes control to a whole new height with the SIXAXIS controller allowing you to actually control the planes by tilting the controller. This is great but I found didn't react as fast as I would like (after all, who actually flies a plane with a motion-sensitive controller in real life-- no one).

The difference between graphics on the XBOX 360 and the PS3 are really not noticeable but I have had a few frame stutters with the 360 but no so with the PS3. Anyways, this game really makes you feel like your in the action and after a while of playing I didn't even notice that the PS3 didn't have the rumble feature that the XBOX has.

With Blazing Angels they introduce a follow camera on your target enemy. Basically when you target an enemy (which the game does for you most of the time) you hold down the L2 (or left trigger) button and it turns the camera to follow the enemy but still keeps your plane in view so you can fly towards the enemy. This makes a heck of a lot easier to target enemies and evetually shoot them down.

The only real complaint that I have with the game is that one of the later levels you get to bomb a city but you don't actually get fly the bomber. This doesn't make any sense at all. They throw you into the turrets to take out the enemy instead. To me that level just didn't feel like it fit with the rest of the game. I was really looking forward to flying the bomber.

Blazing Angels seems to make me feel like being right in the game where I felt in Ace Combat 5 a little disconnected from the events and people (perhaps because it was not a real situation).

The sound effects in the game are great. The music is great until they keep using the track over and over. That was boring and I think the ability to play the music you want while in the game would have been nice (Back to the Future theme anyone?).

Overall the detail and design of Blazing Angels is just amazing. Definately check it out of you are in to combat flyers.

NINTENDO SENDS WII OWNERS A FRIENDLY REMINDER

Some of you are wondering why your Nintendo Wii has decided to light up it's disc drive with that funky blue colour. Well it's because you have received an email from none other than Nintendo.

Nintendo has sent a friendly reminder to it's customers that own a Nintendo Wii that there is an open invitation to trade-in your "wii-mote" wrist straps for new and improved thicker wrist straps.

The email didn't go to your internet inbox (gmail, yahoo, msn, etc.). Rather it was sent directly to your Wii.

Ever since the Wii was introduced here in North America there has been many incidents reported where Wii controllers were flung into televisions, out windows and into people's eyes.

To avoid lawsuits, Nintendo is recalling wrist straps so that you don't end up with an eye missing or a big bill for a new window.