iPod

By now we've all heard the buzz around Microsoft entering the handheld realm with a device that will make the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS extinct. The company has officially confirmed the existence of a handheld project called Zune. But the device looks more like an "iPod Killer" if anything.

At first, Zune will be a music player for people who like music. But according to an interview in Billboard Magazine, "additional Zune-branded devices will follow, including a portable video player and, potentially, a portable game device."

This is a little disappointing. Microsoft will most likely base their decision about producing a gaming device on the success of the music player. It's not that I don't like music. I just think that innovation is important. The iPod innovated the crap out of mobile music player and left little room for Microsoft's creativity. When it comes to innovating with entertainment, I think games are where it's at.

[via engadget]

Just a few days after Apple's 30th anniversary on April 1st, my inside man at the company told me that the 60GB iPod's have not be restocked lately. It is possible that Apple is clearing the shelves for a new iPod product. It could be the rumored touch screen iPod video or a 16GB version of the iPod nano that uses Samsung's new memory unit.

[image:550 align=left hspace=5]Owners of the 5th generation iPod and the iPod Nano can now enjoy some classic arcade games on the go with iPod MAME. This port of the MAME arcade emulator is available thanks to the kind people over at iPod Linux. As of now, the only functioning titles are Pacman and Ms. Pacman, but an effort is being made to increase the number of games that function with the software.

Alas! Apple rumors, how you plague us so. The last few weeks have been busy with the appearance of images picturing what could be a scroll-wheel-less iPod Video. One emerged that was so well faked it had Steve Jobs asking questions. Today, however, we have something better than pictures. We have video.

The following videos are of the could-be iPod Video. The first seems like a fake. The tracking on the video images seems a little off (could it be because we're looking for something wrong?), but you can't deny the glare looks incredibly realistic. The second video depicts the user increasing and decreasing the volume. Believe either of the at your own peril.

[image:525 align=right size=medium]In today's world of mobile gaming, the PSP and the DS reign supreme. But last year, a South Korean company known as Gamepark created the GP2X, a device based around the open source philosophy that has gathered a considerable fan base. Gamepark plans to launch two new devices into the worldwide commercial market--the XGP and the XGP mini.

[image:526 align=right size=medium]The XGP will feature a 4" LCD screen, 64 MB of storage (expandable via SD slot), and it will support both DMB TV and Wi-Fi. The smaller XGP mini will have a 2.2" screen and an SD card slot, but it will have half the memory and no DMB TV or Wi-Fi features.