The Psion Teklogix iKon smartphone is certainly one tough handset, featuring a generous 3.7″ VGA display, an integrated camera, GPS functionality, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, in addition to a barcode scanner - and all of these are powered by Windows Mobile 6 (choose from Classic, Professional or CE.net 5 versions). This ain’t no dainty flower as the iKon is tough enough to shrug off a five-foot drop to concrete, is water- and sand-resistant - great gift for dad if he is a Navy SEAL. No idea on how much it costs, but it should have a four digit price tag attached to it when the iKon rolls out this December.

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Filed under: PlayStation Store, News

The official site for Game Republic’s Toy Home is up and includes a whole host of information pertinent to its release. The game will be downloadable from the Japanses PSN Store from November the first and will cost 800 yen. Toy Home will weigh in at 629 megabytes and will support up to two players. Both of whom can play with Dualshock 3 controllers, if they wish.

There’s no word on when this will be coming to the US or EU PSN Stores, but we’d expect to see it arrive sometime before Christmas. Is that vague enough for you?

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Courtesy danceskin

For 125 years, dancers and fitness addicts alike have relied on Danskin. From leotards to their best-selling wrap sweaters and leg warmers, ballerinas and yoga fans count on Danskin for their head to toe looks. For their big anniversary, Danskin decided to give back to their loyal customers with a complete line of cashmere. And that’s not all. Every 125th order placed on Danskin.com every day will be completely free until midnight on December 31st! Click here to shop the whole Danksin Cashmere Heritage line –maybe you will be the lucky 125th order! Good luck!

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Filed under: Gaming

Apparently, the Big N has had just about enough of all this Vii / Wu nonsense, as it has recently announced plans to launch the real deal (that’d be the Wii) in China next year. According to company president Satoru Iwata, Nintendo is planning to bring its hotter-than-hot console to China and South Korea in 2008, just as soon as the whole “global shortage” thing gets worked out. Furthermore, he stated that its current priority was to “deliver as many consoles as it could to existing markets,” but we’re still betting that these things will be a coveted commodity this holiday season.

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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: Cell Phones, BlackBerry, MySpace, E-Mail Addiction

Facebook is definitely encroaching on MySpace’s space, if yesterday’s Microsoft/Facebook news is any indication, but the formerly student-only social networking site is busy going after another sophisticated, most-likely-well-educated, professional, or at least famous crowd — the BlackBerry set. Need proof? Look no further than the new mobile Facebook application for BlackBerry from Research in Motion (RIM), the device’s creator/manufacturer.

The new app lets you do the essentials on the social networking site. For example, if you’ve got a camera equipped Pearl or Curve, you can upload photos, “poke” (a suggestive term for text message), send mail, and post on users’ virtual walls. According to early reports from the CTIA conference, the app is just about as fast as the mobile Web version, but much prettier.

Due out by year’s end, the app will come pre-installed on new BlackBerrys, making it even easier for all your co-workers to try and get in on your private life and network, so no more drunken’ pictures of you making out with a stranger on the barstool, y’all!

BlackBerry owners: Is this going help you take the plunge and finally get on Facebook, or, if you’re already a Facebook member, do you think this will turn you into a Crack-Berry-head?

From Research in Motion (RIM) (via BetaNews)

Related Links:

• Microsoft Buys a Tiny Chunk of Facebook
• Holy War Wages on Facebook
• Facebook Costing Businesses $264 Million Daily in Lost Man Hours

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Filed under: Community

Toy manufacturers are banking on the success of Metal Gear Solid 4. Here’s yet another set of meticulously designed figures from the upcoming PS3 tactical espionage game. Raiden (pictured above) looks quite cool in his new robotic ninja outfit. Too bad his face doesn’t look quite good when you open his mask.

Old Snake is also available … but at a price! These figures go for a whipping $179 each! (Budget consumers should check out this other set instead.) Toy collectors are used to such extravagant prices, but will you be able to afford to pre-order one?

[Via NeoGAF]

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Filed under: Hardware

Major online retailers, such as amazon.com and Gamestop.com, are now taking pre-orders for Sony’s upcoming 40GB PS3 system. The $399 system will lose backwards compatibility with PS2 games and memory card readers. It will, however, come bundled with a Spider-man 3 Blu-ray movie. Although this is the cheapest PS3 model yet, this version will still retain built-in wireless support.

The system will be available on November 2nd. How many PS3 Fanboy readers are interested in picking this price-reduced model?

See also:
Comparison: Is the 40GB PS3 such a bad deal?

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Filed under: News

A former developer at Harmonix, the team behind the hotly anticipated Rock Band, had some choice words against Sony’s PS3 in his personal blog. His outrage comes as the most recent in many public outcries against Sony’s next generation machine. He tackles so-called “misconceptions” that PS3 fans seem to have. Firstly, he says that the graphics capabilities of the machine have been misconstrued. “Fill rate is one of the primary ways to measure graphics performance - in essence, it’s a number describing how many pixel operations you can perform. The fill rate on the PS3 is significantly slower than on the 360, meaning that games either have to run at lower resolution or use simpler shader effects to achieve the same performance … And I’m not talking about small differences here, we’re talking roughly half the pixel pushing power.”

In regards to Blu-ray, the developer criticized the lower read speeds of the medium. “Great for watching movies, but not so great for games. Getting data off the Blu-ray drive takes about twice as long as it does to get the same data off the 360’s DVD drive. That translates into longer load times.”

The challenges that developers face when coding for the PS3 have inevitably led to “sloppier” ports, where the PS3 versions of games on Xbox 360 run more sluggishly. Jason Booth postulates that “Getting equivalent performance out of the PS3 requires a lot of work unique to the platform, and in many cases, even with all these tricks, you still won’t see equivalent performance. Thus, many PS3 games have simplified shaders and run at lower native resolutions than the 360 versions. On top of this, there is shrinking incentive to do this work; the PS3 isn’t selling.”

[Via NeoGAF]
[Update: Added “former” to description of employee.]

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Unlike joggers or cyclists, most swimmers don’t have the advantage of having some kind of musical accompaniment while they sweat it out. The Finis SwimP3VT changes that notion for good, using bone conduction technology to transfer sound vibrations from the cheek bone to the inner ear. This unique MP3 player was specially designed to be worn with goggles as well as snorkeling masks. The only downside would be its limited 256MB memory and the lack of a memory card slot. Interested parties can pick up the Finis SwimP3VT for $179.99.

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sony, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels

My take on the Underworld movies is a lot like my take on the Resident Evil movies: The first one is fun trash, the second one … meh. Not so much. But (forgive me) seeing as how I kind of enjoyed Resident Evil 3, I suppose this inevitable piece of news (from The Hollywood Reporter) should be met with semi-open arms. (Maybe.)

Anyway, here’s the key points: Underworld 3: The Rise of the Lycans will be a prequel that is “set in the Dark Ages and traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires and their one-time werewolf slaves, the Lycans.” (Maybe they argued because “Lycans” gets capitalized and “vampires” does not?) Returning from previous Underworldings are Bill Nighy (as the old-but-dangerous Viktor) and Michael Sheen as Lycan Lord Lucian. (Ditto screenwriter Danny McBride.) NOT returning: Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman.

Len Wiseman, who directed the first two movies before graduating (?) to Die Hard 4, will stay on as producer. The director’s chair will be occupied by production designer / FX master Patrick Tatopoulos, whose work is all over the first two movies. New to the series will be the lovely Rhona Mitra, who will play daughter to Viktor and lover to Lucian.

Production gets underway in January. Nowhere in the Hollywood Reporter article are the words “direct to video” mentioned.

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