Nowadays, any self-respecting hardware manufacturer is locked in an interminable battle to lock down their platforms for unclear reasons, because that’s how things are, OK? Accordingly, Nintendo has just released a patch to prevent would-be homebrewers from enjoying their Wiis too much. Not that this is unexpected — there have been a few major developments in the homebrew space since June, when Nintendo last attempted to seal up their console. The good news: the update doesn’t affect existing Homebrew Channel installs, it just prevents new ones. Oh, and it’ll probably be cracked in about two days. [WiiBrew]
Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update analyses the latest election poll projections, throwing new light over who will be the next President of the United States with their new Megapixel Giant Touchmap. Thanks to the use of the new technology they have shown that Cuyahoga County in Ohio will play a decisive role in the presidential battle, and more importantly, they have confirmed what everyone already suspected: Michigan bounces. [This NBC embedded video may not appear in some regions outside of the United States]
Remember last Wednesday, when Intel’s director of ecosystems, stamp collector, and amateur clown Pankaj Kedia pooped all over ARM and the iPhone at the Intel Developer Forum in Taipei? You know the guy, the Intel zealot who–in an brilliant display of knowledge and strategical thinking said some stupidly dumb things like “the smartphone of today is not very smart, the problem they have today is they use ARM” or “the shortcomings of the iPhone have come from ARM”. Well, Anand Chandrasekher–senior vice president and general manager of Intel Corporation’s Ultra Mobility Group–has just publicly spanked him, kind of apologised to Apple, and recognised that the low-power Atom is not a match for ARM processors:
In case you’re a huge James Bond fan just on the verge of buying a laptop, Sony’s auctioning off a hundred 007-branded VAIO TTs to promote the Nov. 14 release of Quantum of Solace. Each 1.3kg TT packs an Intel Centrino 2 processor, 4GB RAM, a 64GB SSD, an 11.1-inch XBRITE LCD screen and a built-in webcam. Along with the laptop, you’ll also get a matching leather carrying case. In case you think Sony’s just trying to get its Goldfinger on, all proceeds from the auction will go to 1% For The Planet, a charity that gets companies to donate 1% of their sales to environmental organisations. [Ebay]
Have problems with the iPhone? Who doesn’t? Sure, it’s an amazing piece of gadgetry, but countless bugs and glitches have plagued the Apple product from the beginning. Now networking company Fullsix has launched a site dedicated to gripers called “Please Fix the iPhone.” The site gets owners to vote on the most pressing issues plaguing their iPhones, in an attempt to get Jobs and friends to work on them faster. There’s even a version of the site specifically made for the mobile’s browser, so that you can complain about your iPhone on your iPhone. [Please Fix the iPhone via Josh Spear]
This should come as no surprise to anyone using a phone these days, but text messaging someone gets a far quicker response than voice mail. In a study by Sprint, those under the age of 30 are four times more likely to respond within minutes to an SMS than a voicemail, with roughly 91 percent responding within the hour. Adults 30 and older were twice as likely to text a reply within minutes rather than call.
If bath time’s gotten boring for you recently, why not try reenacting the Cold War in your tub? Here’s a submersible radio-controlled replica of the USS Seawolf SSN-21 submarine, with a funny little periscope themed remote thrown in for good measure. The real Seawolf was commissioned in 1989 as a response to the Soviet Akula class of submarines. No word on whether RC-versions of those are out there somewhere. Available at Brando for $US55. [Brando via Geek Alerts]
Usually, the only reason we use the keyboards on internet tablets is because we can’t get to a more comfortable input device. Still, if you want to turn that on your head, here’s a beta application for Nokia Internet Tablets (the N800 and N810 specifically) that let you use them as a keypad and mouse for your main computer. BlueMaemo uses Bluetooth and works with Windows XP, Vista and Linux BlueZ. I guess it could be fun for freaking out anyone who’s using your desktop at the time. Can anyone say awesome Halloween prank? [JK on the Run]
If you’re looking into getting a new laptop, you should probably hold off until after the holidays for an extra boost in processing power. According to sources at AppleInsider, Intel’s planning a refresh of its Montevina Core 2 Duo processors for Spring 2009. The update will give notebooks two new variants of chips, a P88000 running at 2.66GHz and a T9900 with 3.06GHz. These next Montevina chips will be the last ones Intel produces before it turns to its Core i7 architecture – but that switch-up is at least a year down the line, and who’s going to put off laptop buying for that long? [Apple Insider]
The winner of the Quantum Code, Graham, just walked away with $15K worth of Sony prizes. Among them was a 46-inch XBR Bravia, a 17-inch FW Vaio, two tickets to the premiere of Quantum of Solace, a day riding in a chaffeur-driven Jaguar, a Sony Blu-ray player, a TG1 video camera, a Sony Ericsson C902 Mobile Phone, an E-series walkman, a Sony Home Theatre system, and aT77 Cyber-shot Digital camera.
Oh, and the glory of outsmarting hundreds of other code-breakers to win the comp.
