Filed under: Gaming

Well kids, you won’t have to wait too long to be hacking, cracking, phreaking, duping, shooting, dumpster-diving, and generally getting biz-zay with your PSP Slim / Lite, as the outrageous tricksters known as Team M33 have just released their do-it-all custom firmware (version 3.6, for those keeping score at home), thus confirming Pandora’s Battery as a “go” (amongst other things) on the new systems. If you understand what we’re talking about, you’ll be pleased to know that homebrews from the GAME, GAME150 and GAME360 directories load fine, though some homebrews written specifically for the 1.50 kernel won’t run properly (due to some hardware and screen problems on the Slim). Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines, don your helmets, and get ready to seriously rumble.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Launches, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is betting that search on wireless handsets will become a big business. The company understands that online search on the PC platform cannot grow at its current rate forever, so, at some point, revenue from its AdWords program will begin to flatten.

To combat the potential of a less robust growth environment on the web, Google is moving Adwords onto its Google Mobile Search product. The program will be free until November and ads will only run on websites designed for handset screens.

Silicon Alley Insider points to a recent survey by research firm Kelsey Group as the reason Google is so anxious to get a foothold in the new market. “Revenue from U.S. mobile search advertising will soar from $33.2 million this year to $1.4 billion in 2012.”

Google has some potholes in its path. After being handily beaten in the PC-based search market, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) MSN Live Search are working to get their products on as many handsets as possible. However, they still have the disadvantage that their search products do not produce results as good as Google’s and their text ad targeting products are inferior.

In moving to the mobile platform world, Google maintains its critical edge.

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Filed under: Previews

Another survival horror game, so soon after we revealed the weird sci-fi horror game on its way? It seems so and we couldn’t be happier. The more the merrier in this genre of so few original IPs. This time, though, the story doesn’t sound that promising unless you were a fan of the movie Identity — we know you’re out there and we don’t mind. It was all right.

The game takes place in the American west, with FBI agents and midgets. Rainy Woods is the setting of the story, which are, we presume, woods that are inclined to rain. Awkwardly enough, a murder takes place nearby and people think the “Raincoat Killer” has returned. Rain is a theme. The townsfolk call you in, an FBI agent who has a multiple personality disorder. As you travel the giant city and learn about the murder, you learn that something less-than-human is involved. Expect to chop up and shoot various critters of evil.

Draw whatever conclusions you want. Who knows, the game could be pretty neat. Just so the killer doesn’t end up being the FBI agent. That would be very, very lame.

[via IGN]

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Filed under: Beer, New Products

Recently I’ve found myself at events where, just as the evening seems to be winding down, games of beer pong spring from fully formed from the ether. For those of you not in the know, beer pong is a game in which two people stand on either ends of a ping pong table (or similar structure of rectangular shape) and set up a triangle of plastic Solo cups in front of them. Each cup gets filled to some predetermined level with beer. A player tosses a ping pong ball at their opponents cup, trying to land a ball into a cup. If the ball does make it into a cup, the player to whom that cup belongs must then drink its contents. It is amusing to watch and if you’re looking to get drunk, this is a quick way to do so (not that I’m encouraging excessive drinking).

The people know don’t seem to require much in the way of special equipment in order to play, but when I sent a link to the PortOPong to one of the regular instigators, he was thrilled and immediately placed an order. Apparently, it’s always been his dream to play in a swimming pool and now that wish can become a reality.

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Foreign Language, Horror, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Magnolia

If you catch wind of a cool foreign film / indie horror / bizarre genre flick at a film festival somewhere (and it’s any good), odds are the film will eventually end up in one of two places: Either Lionsgate or Magnolia. But by picking up imports like The Host, District B13 and Severance, Magnolia Pictures showed that they were poised to move quickly on the high-end genre fare. So why not do like most of the other distributors and create a whole new branch just for the action, the horror, and the ‘weird’ stuff?

Yesterday Magnolia Pictures announced that they were creating Magnet Releasing, a “new label to specialize in films from the vanguard of horror, action, comedy and Asian cinema.” Heck, sounds good to me. So what will Magnet have to offer over the upcoming months? Here’s just a taste:

Big Man Japan (Dainipponjin) — “A middle-aged slacker living in a rundown, graffiti-ridden slum, Daisoto’s job involves being shocked by bolts of electricity that transform him into a stocky, stick-wielding giant several stories high who is entrusted with defending Japan from a host of bizarre monsters.” Fun stuff! Read my Toronto Film Festival review right here.

Boarding Gate — “Asia Argento plays sexy ex-prostitute Sandra, who is forced to flee London after a steamy S&M encounter with a debt-ridden ex-lover (Michael Madsen) ends in violence.” Sounds cool enough. Plus it played Cannes.

Murder Party — “It’s Halloween night in Brooklyn, and Chris, a lonely, square and unremarkable man is returning home from his meter-maid job when he finds a mysterious invitation on the street. Following it to what he believes will be a fun costume party, he discovers that he’s stumbled into a lethal trap set by a gang of deranged hipster artists.” Another one I liked! Check out my Fantastic Fest review right here.

For more on the Magnetic plans (and flicks!), check out the official press release and/or the brand-new website. But why no mention of The Signal? I could have sworn that Magnolia snatched that one up — and it’s a damn fine horror flick, I don’t mind saying. A perfect one to kick-start a new genre division, actually…

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

So at one point or another, we’ve heard nearly every European carrier mentioned as the likely frontrunner for Apple’s European iPhone rollout. On the one hand, you can chalk that up to the ugly nature of the rumor mill, but on the other hand, it sounds like the carriers themselves were led to believe the same thing, all part of Apple’s grand scheme to play them off one another and put together a gloriously lucrative (for itself, anyway) exclusive distribution agreement. The Guardian is reporting that O2 will be announced as the winner of that Pyrrhic prize for the UK market on Tuesday; the win is an enormously costly one, though, with as much as 40 percent of plan revenue (yes, revenue, not profit) going straight back to Cupertino. In other words, Apple turned up the heat on the UK carrier scene until everyone — Vodafone, Orange, and T-Mobile — had blinked except for the good chaps at O2. The article also suggests that Carphone Warehouse has been roped in to provide some backup on the retail front out of concerns that O2’s retail presence isn’t enough to push the iPhone properly, but let’s be honest: if you really want an iPhone, you’re going to seek it out, aren’t you? We can apparently expect similar announcements from T-Mobile for the German market and Orange for France on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, making for a pretty enthralling week for iPhone-starved Europeans (the ones that haven’t unlocked, anyway).

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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It looks like the NeoNode N2 will hit the US shores early next year – at the moment, no carrier deals have been announced. I’m not even sure that it has been approved by the FCC at this point. The N2 was shown for the first time in February and has since been launched in some European countries.

the N2 is an interesting phone mainly because it is so small (47 x 77 x 14,7 mm) and light (60g/2.11oz). Unfortunately, so are the specs. The original NeoNode was the first sexy, touch-only phone. However, the iPhone has stolen the thunder since. Anyhow, this is still a phone that will hopefully be sold in more countries.

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Filed under: Cell Phones, BlackBerry

Sprint Nextel is selling the Airave, a device that boosts cell phone reception indoors. The Airwave is a little box that plugs into a broadband Internet connection and essentially creates your own personal cellular tower.

This is great news for those who live in remote locations that don’t have nearby cell towers but do have broadband Internet access. It is also a good solution for office buildings that are either so thick or large that offices and cubicles in the center of the building lose cellular service.

This technology, called “femtocell,” isn’t entirely new. In fact, we covered it back in July. This is the first time an American carrier is offering it to its customers, though. T-Mobile has a somewhat similar service, but it requires specially equipped phones — Sprint’s Airave uses regular cell phones and switches you back to the standard cellular network when you head out into the real world.

Of course, good things like this don’t come for free: Sprint Nextel is offering the device for $50 plus a $15 per month fee, which, in our opinion, is a little stiff for a device that sounds more like a customer service solution rather than an expensive convenience, especially from a company that has had some serious customer service gaffs this year. It’s also only available in Denver and Indianapolis for now.

From textually

Related Links:

• Sprint Drops Problem Customers
• Bad Cell Reception At Home? Get a Femtocell.
• City Makes Art Out of Cell Towers

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I was inspired by Anita’s clever graffiti finds, so after some searching have rustled up enough for a second entry. Not saying I support graffiti, but I am saying, this stuff is so much fun.

Obvious, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Dun dun DUUUNNN

I wish this were near where I live.

Hah.

Just remember: don’t do graffiti. It’s against the law even when it is hilarious.

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