Project Gotham Racing on the Zune HD (Pic from Kotaku)

Remember back in our Zune HD review where we mentioned how the Zune HD will be getting some new free games and apps, like the hit Xbox 360 game Project Gotham Racing? Microsoft released a whole bunch of new games for the Zune HD including

1. PGR: Ferrari Edition (which is like it’s Xbox sibling, giving you 12 Ferrari cars to race all over New York, London or Tokyo either in a 33 level Career mode or in online races aginst up to 3 other cars)
2. Lucky Lanes Bowling, a bowling game where you can play either against the computer or up to 4 friends
3. Piano app which simulates a virtual piano
4. Vans Sk8: Pool Service, a skateboarding game where you aim to do the best tricks in 10 different events
5. Checkers
6. Audiosurf Tilt, a game where you pick a song from your music library on your Zune and then try to collect the colored blocks and avoid speed bumps along a custom roller coaster made for each song. Microsoft also said today that they soon will also have apps for Facebook and Twitter.

Yes, this is nowhere near the 100,000+ apps in the iTunes App Store, but Microsoft does deserve some credit– creating what looks to be some quality apps (specifically the PGR and Audiosurf games) that look to take full use of the high powered Nvidia Tegra chip inside the Zune to give some solid games all for the unbeatable price of FREE (though you do have to look at a brief ad while the game loads, something I’m more than happy to deal with if it means quality, free apps).

Now if only they’d open up a real App Store and give developers a chance to fully  tap into that high powered Tegra chip (I mean check out this video of PGR and Audiosurf on the Zune from Engadget, who they say looked as sharp as a PSP game!), and we’d be all set.

Anyone out there with a Zune HD, you like your new games?

Full info on the apps can be found on the Zune site here.

Not to be confused with Halo.

And, once again, I return to that wonderful gaming platform, the iPhone/iTouch. That’s right readers, another iGame review. This time, I’m talking about Eliminate Pro, the new online 4-player FPS that just came out. Also, its free. Kinda.

First off, what is Eliminate? As previously mentioned, its a iPhone first-person shooter. The quality of the game is way up there – some of the nicest graphics on the iPhone, especially considering that it’s running online with 4 players. There are 5 maps and a total of 6 weapons, 5 of which need to be unlocked, as do a variety of armor types. Weapon and armor attributes, like rate of fire and speed are also upgradable. You play up to four players online, with a matchmaking system based on skill ratings to provide as fair a match as possible. Private games are also available, which is nice for when you want to play some people you actually know. There is also an offline mode, but it’s somewhat limited, allowing you to play against 3 computer opponents, but it doesn’t allow much customization.

Gameplay is awesome – the maps are pretty small, so the action is pretty frantic, and fun. A variety of powerups, including heath regeneration, invisibility, superspeed, damage increase, and the always fun jet pack are scattered around the maps, adding to the chaos. Controls work well, with your left thumb working movement, and right thumb aiming, with tap to fire. Those used to playing console first person shooters should easily adapt.

So, I mentioned before you need to unlock and upgrade things. And you do that through credits, which you earn through playing games online. And thats where the monetary aspect of the game comes it. The game itself, as I said, is free. But unless you have “energy” while playing, you won’t earn any credits, which are used to unlock weapons, armor, and upgrades. You’re given a free energy recharge every four hours for about 3 games or so, but after that, if you want to play AND earn credits to upgrade (you CAN still play for fun), you need to buy energy through the in-app purchasing system. Personally, I can understand why they run the system this way, since its the only way to support the game and keep it free, but I can’t say I’m a fan of the nickel and diming.

However, even without energy, the game is still fun, and that’s what counts in the end. And since it’s well, free, I suppose I can’t really argue against it. Check it out on iTunes here. (Note: iTunes Link)

The Zune HD

For the last week or so we were able to spend some good ‘ol time with Microsoft’s sweet new Zune HD. It really is a slick device– OLED multi-touch 3.3 inch touchscreen with amazing display (thanks to NVIDIA Tegra graphics), sleek design, thin aluminum casing, built in WiFi, and of course, the HD features of HD radio and the ability to play your videos in HD with the optional HD playback kit.

So if your looking for a new device and have to choose between say, this and the iPod touch 3rd gen, which should you go with? The answer, my friends, is after the break.

Design

As we all know, Apple didn’t really change the iPod touch’s design– really at all–in their new fall iPod refresh. No new camera like the Nano, no built in mic– same old machine just with a slightly bigger battery and bigger storage options.

The Zune HD on the other hand, well that is a WHOLE different story. Ever since it first was announced, the Zune HD seemed to be a beautifully designed device. And after playing with it the past week– I cannot agree more. It’s thin, feels great when you hold it, extremely light and easy to take around, and well, just awesome looking. It all around just looks fantastic, in my opinion as nice or even possibly better than the iPod touch (which let’s be honest– as nice as it is–hasn’t really changed that much since it first got announced back in 2007).

However, some dedicated volume keys on the side of the device like the iPod would be helpful: I constantly needed to push the same side button–shaped like a volume rocker– to access all my playback and quickplay controls (i.e. play/pause, fast forward, rewind and volume, and so on). Also, because you need to use the touchscreen to manipulate these controls, you can’t simply skip a song or raise the volume, for example, while its in your pocket.

Overall, the Zune HD is a big step up from the previous 2 generations of Zune, and something we definitely look forward to see more of in upcoming Zune devices.

The 3 generations of Zune– wow, have they gotten A LOT better with age

UI and Device Software

Ok, now let’s move on to the UI and software found on the Zune HD itself. Microsoft again took an interesting approach to the Zune HD here as well. You see, unlike the iPod touch which is like a pocket computer, the Zune HD is designed to be more of a great media device as Microsoft puts it. Yes you get apps– such as for right now some games like Hexic and Texas Hold’em as well as a calculator and weather app, with some more apps like Project Gotham Racing 3, Facebook and Twitter on the way by the end of the year; but Microsoft has not announced any real plans for an app store, and instead is working either in house or with select groups to make apps for the Zune HD and rolling them out as they see fit. Apps are also ad supported, meaning when you open up say, Texas Hold’em, you’ll be greeted with a brief 15-30 second ad. When I spoke with a Zune rep they said this is just to keep games free and will not be used in the calculator and other utility apps. It’s annoying but if it means I don’t have to pay money for games, I’m willing to deal with it.

In short, your not gonna buy this for the ability to download 75,000+ apps like you would an iPod touch.

Texas Hold’em on the Zune HD

Same goes for the web browser. While the web browser is great, and something we hope is brought to Windows Mobile ASAP to replace the standard version of mobile Internet Explorer (which is currently pretty pathetic in comparison), don’t expect the Zune HD to give you the same web browsing experience as the iPod touch. You get favorites, multi-touch pinch to zoom and the like, but no tabs or history– and while it loads pages extremely well and is easy to navigate, it’s still no mobile Safari. The focus here is the media.

The Zune HD browser vs the iPhone’s. I’ll take the iPhone’s please.

And the media really is a place where the Zune HD shines. The experience is great. Music sounds great, video and pix look fantastic on the widescreen 16:9 format the Zune is designed in, and navigation also is pretty great. The menus take a little getting used to, but the learning curve is really quick (what should help– to back out of menus, you just tap the big letters are the top of the screen). Your music, movies and pix are all stored in simple, easy ways to navigate and there are also some really cool features in the music playback as well. For example, when connected to the internet, it automatically finds and displays things like bio information about the artist, related artists, and pix when in the artists page. Pretty cool.

Controlling Playback on Zune HD

Another great feature, called Pins, appears on the left side of your homescreen and displays your recently opened and favorite sites, recently opened apps, and recently added music and pix. Oh, and all your recently added music are automatically put into a “new” playlist, a little detail I happen to love; I sometimes forget some of the new songs I add to my iPod and it really annoys me because, well, I wanted to listen to it and can’t find it– this should definitely help with that problem.

There is also a built in HD and FM radio (HD radio being higher quality, better sounding radio), a great battery (listed at around 33 hours of music playback with WiFi off, or 8.5 hours of video), as well as the ability to sync your Zune wirelessly with your PC over WiFi, though when I tested the Zune HD out, I didn’t get a good chance to fully test these out. Two downsides with the Zune HD’s media playback– unlike the iPod touch: there’s no built in speaker for playing without headphones, and no Bluetooth for using with wireless headphones.

Ok, now that the device is covered, let’s move to the Zune desktop software.

Zune Software

This is Microsoft’s answer to iTunes, and like the Zune HD itself, it answers iTunes in a big way. Just like you get smart playlists in iTunes called Genius and Genius Mixes, you get them in the Zune as well in the form of Smart DJ’s. Microsoft takes it one step further though: if you purchase their $15-per-month Zune Pass music subscription service (where you get  unlimited access to all music on the Zune Marketplace with the ability to keep 10 songs each month whether or not you keep the Zune Pass) it’ll search the Marketplace while your listening and play the songs it thinks you might like.

Again, pretty sweet, and the Zune Pass is a definite selling point of the Zune experience. You can even use Zune Pass right from the Marketplace app on the Zune HD to download songs, charts, and albums straight to your Zune (again assuming you got WiFi). And I love the ability to not just download all the music I want for $15 a month, but that I can even keep 10 of the songs FOREVER each month as well. As of now, Apple doesn’t offer a subscription model like this (sad but true), so if you download a ton of music each month or like the ability to download all the music you want without racking up a huge bill, you should definitely look Zune in this department.

The Zune Software also offers things like Mixview, which is a cooler version of Cover Flow, and its Zune Marketplace functions similar to the iTunes store, oh, and then of course we got this HD part of the device.

So you got a Zune HD, the Zune Software for your PC (sorry any Mac owners into this device– Zune only works PC. Why Microsoft doesn’t release a Mac version of the software I don’t know), and an Xbox 360. Say you buy a movie on your PC, and then transfer to your Zune, but also want to be able to watch it off your 360 on the HDTV. No worries, seeing as how the Zune Marketplace is now also on the 360, you just go to the movie on the 360, log in with your account and download (or stream) in AMAZING 1080P. Don’t worry about being charged double– its all part of Microsoft’s “3 screen system” and in my opinion is a pretty solid idea. If you’d rather just play your video off the Zune rather than redownloading to a 360– you can do that too, either by connecting your Zune to the 360 or buying the $90 HD dock (which works pretty nicely as well– presenting everything from menus to video in great, clear 720P HD).

The Zune HD playing on an HDTV using the HD dock

Wrap Up

Overall, I really like the Zune HD. It’s a great media device and if you’re not into the whole app thing and want a solid simple device that plays back your music, movies and pix in a great, cool way on the go, then look no further than the Zune HD as it’s got it all here. And if your big on music and like having “all you can eat” for only $15 a month, then well the Zune HD and Zune Pass are for you. I’m really excited for this “new” evolution in the Zune platform, and really can’t wait for the next gen of Zune devices to see what they got next. If you are though looking for a lot of apps and a more full featured web browser on your media player, then for now I’d still say that the iPod touch is the way to go.

While the lack of an app store, no speaker or Bluetooth, and the not as great web browser keep the Zune HD from overthrowing the reigning king of media players– the iPod touch– it does put up a fair fight as a great media player (which is what Microsoft is aiming for), and I’m happy to give the Zune HD a very good 4 out of 5 rating.

We give the Zune HD a very good 4 out of 5

So what you think– Zune HD or iPod touch this year? Sound off in the comments.

The Zune HD is available now in 16 GB and 32 GB black and white version for $219 and $289 respectively, and both are out now.You can also customize the Zune HD in a bunch of colors and designs by checking out the Zune Originals  site here.

So, Apple’s annual iPod event was this week, and they, as usual announced the latest round of iPods for the Holiday season, as well as a new version of iTunes. So, lets go through it, shall we?

Genius Mix on the iPod Touch

First off was the 3.1 update for the iTouch and iPhone. Nothing too major here, but the highlights are Genius suggestions for the App Store, as well as a new Genius mode for Music, called Genius Mix (more on that later with iTunes 9). Also added was the announcement that Apple would be selling pre-made ringtones for the iPhone for $1.29. You can check it all out by plugging in your iPod Touch/iPhone and doing a software update (this update is free for iPhone users and anyone who purchased iPhone OS 3.0 for the iTouch, and if you have an iTouch and want to update it, Apple has dropped the price of that to $5).

The all new iTunes 9

Next is iTunes 9. A couple new things here, including a whole new look to the iTunes store, and some other cool features: Genius Mix, which is similar to a Genius playlist, but acts more like an endless radio station from your music based off specific bands – It’s pretty slick, and is also on the iTouch and iPhone. Syncing stuff has also been completely overhauled– now you can not only sync specific playlists, but also specific artists, genres, etc. A much needed improvement, and one that is appreciated. Photos also allow syncing of Events and Faces, and movies have some extra options as well, such as syncing only 3 most recent videos. But most importantly, and at long last, Apple has improved App syncing for the iTouch and iPhone. How, you ask? By allowing you to manage Applications in iTunes – yes: you can layout the apps however you please IN iTunes, using a mouse and keyboard, and then sync your Apps in that layout to your iDevice. This is a feature that should have been there the whole time, and is incredibly appreciated. Anyone who has ever tried sorting out their Apps on an iTouch/iPhone knows exactly how good this is. Also added to iTunes is another useful feature, called Home Sharing – this allows you to transfer your iTunes music, videos and even Apps across your computers in your house, allowing you to keep all your music in sync across up to 5 of your computers. Very cool and nice.

iTunes LP in the new iTunes 9

Finally, there’s the addition of iTunes LP’s and iTunes Extra’s– basically, the extra stuff you’d get on a CD purchase with the physical disk – lyrics, interviews, etc, and on a DVD as extra features– are now included in purchases of specific albums as iTunes LPs, and in certain movies with iTunes Extras.

Now – the new iPods:

iPod Touch– not a lot to report here actually. The rumored camera remains just that–  a rumor. the 8GB was dropped to $200, the $300 16 GB is now a $300 32 GB, and the $400 32 GB, a 64 GB. The 32 and 64 also have the new higher end graphics and processors found in the iPhone 3GS.

iPod Classic– staying at $250,but a bigger hard drive – 160 GB now.

iPod Shuffle– new colors of pink, green and blue, down to $60 for 2 GB, and $80 for 4 GB.

The new iPod Nano– now shooting video

Finally, there’s the iPod Nano – which DID get the rumored camera: keeping the same size as the old one, although with a bigger screen, the new Nano has a video camera in the bad, designed to compete with the likes of the Flip Mino and other such small video cameras. Also being added is a built in FM radio, and Nike+ support, along with a built in mic and speaker. Comes in the same colors as before, only with a new glossier paint job, in 8 GB for $150 and 16 GB for $180. All the new iPods as well as iTunes 9 are available now.

And that’s that roundup. So readers, what did you think of the news – are you picking up a new iPod now, or maybe gonna go with something like a Zune HD? Sound off in the comments.

Apple today announced that they’ll be holding an event on September 9th– and from the pic above, it looks to be music oriented. So don’t buy that new iPod just yet; waiting an extra week or so may turn out to be really smart. As in the past, Apple used the September event to show off new iPods, and with strong rumors floating around the web of new iPods– see our post here– we wouldn’t be surprised if they update the iPods again.

Just to briefly cover some of the other rumors of what Apple is expected to show off (remember– these are just rumors): new iPod Nano, Touch, and Classic with cameras (as we wrote about in that previous post– just now the rumors are that the Classic too will be getting a camera), iTunes 9 with some possible integration with sites like Facebook, Blu-Ray for Macs, among some other rumors. So while we wait to find out on September 9th what Apple really has planned, feel free to guess on what you think Apple will show off in the comments.

Oh, and don’t forget to check back on the 9th, as we’ll have everything covered here.

Pic from Engadget

The Zune HD

You’re also very interested in the Zune HD? Who could blame you — HD Radio, WiFi, AMAZING (yes, AMAZING) OLED screen, HD playback of videos, an awesome design and a bunch more features.

When we first wrote that post on the Zune HD we were very excited as this could really be Microsoft’s  “iPod killer,” but were left wondering on its launch date and price, as well as details including battery, features and storage. Well have no more fear– Microsoft has finally let all the details out of the bag, and wow this thing looks even better to me than it did before.

Beginning with storage, the Zune HD, like its iPod Touch competitor, has either 16 or 32 GB depending on how much you want. Among the previously unmentioned features of this incredible machine, the web browser seems nearly on par with Safari, and I especially advise you check out CNET’s hands-on video and their positive comments here. And not only is there multi-touch, battery life on this bad boy is also insane: 33 hours of music, 8.5 hours of video, and only 3 hours to charge from your PC and 2 (yes, 2) hours to charge from an AC adapter! All that is way better than the iPod Touch in every way. There are also a host of color design options, as you can see from the above pic (right now you can only pre-order in the standard black, 16 GB version, or “platinum”– a 32 GB version, silver)!

On to the biggest news: the price and release. The 16 GB version will be coming in at $219.99 and the 32 GB version will be coming in at $289.99 when they launch on September 15th (a little under 1 month away). That’s $80 cheaper than the iPod Touch 16 GB and $110 (!) cheaper than the 32 GB iPod Touch. Wow is right.

Of course, just to be fair, Apple is said to be holding a big event sometime in the two weeks of September where they are rumored to be launching new iPods (possibly these), so if your looking for a new Mp3 player, you may wanna hold off for a month cause things are about to get really interesting.

You can pre-order the Zune HD here from the Microsoft Store, Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart, and can check out the Zune HD for yourself at any of these Best Buy stores on August 22nd and 23rd.

The new iPod Nano? Check out the camera hole on the the lower left of the back of the case

So new pix are popping up online today of case mockups for upcoming iPod Nano’s and iPod Touches. These type of images seem to leak out around this time, as Apple usually updates their iPod line in September (like they did last year), right in time for the Back to School and the holiday shopping season. What’s really different about this year however, is that the pix seem to confirm some rumors that have been floating around the web for a while now– the iPod Nano and iPod Touch will be getting cameras.

Yes, your reading that right– digital cameras coming to the iPod Nano and iPod Touch. The pix (the iPod Nano one above and the iPod Touch below), are from Cult of Mac.com and come from numerous Chinese case manufacturers (which kinda would make sense as the manufacturers would need to get this type of info from Apple long ahead of time in order to make the cases ready for the inevitable launch. Also just another proof of this possibly being true– Apple recently placed an order for a whole boat load of camera parts which were said to be made for upcoming iPods).

Now how powerful these cameras are we don’t yet know (like how many megapixels they’ll have and if they will shoot video like the iPhone 3GS. If I had to guess, it’d be about 3 megapixels– like the 3GS–  for both with the iPod Touch definitely getting video recording, and the Nano doubtful to get it, but I wouldn’t rule it completely out yet). There also should be bigger storage for both devices (probably doubling the current storage on all the models like they’ve done in previous years), and the Nano is said to be getting a slightly bigger screen (nothing significantly noticeable from what we could tell right now), and the iPod Touch might also be getting a mic.

The new iPod Touch? Note the camera hole in the middle of the case

Remember, this for now is just a rumor, and Apple obviously hasn’t confirmed anything yet, so take this as you wish. We’ll of course keep you up to date on all of this as soon as we hear more.

Info and pix from Cult of Mac.com– you can see a whole lotta more pix at their site as well.

The Zune HD

It’s been rumored for a while, and here it comes. Microsoft’s next shot at it’s multimedia line, the Zune. And it seems that they actually  might have something here. Details on it are few and far between right now, with more coming at Microsoft’s E3 event (a major tech event next week, June 2nd) but here’s what we know so far:

• New hardware-- 3.3 inch OLED touchscreen, built-in WiFi and web browser with multi-touch, HD radio, ability to play back movies in HD with a dock (sold separately), and the usual ability to play movies, music, and photos.
• Xbox Live interactions– Microsoft’s not giving a whole lotta info here, but the Zune Marketplace and the Live Marketplace on the Xbox are apparently merging, along with other Xbox/Xbox Live integration. Again, more info at E3.
• Coming in the Fall– When exactly we don’t yet know.

So, what do I think? At this point, its hard to tell. Without knowing some more info, like the extent of the Xbox integration, or even the storage capacity, and of course, price, it’s hard to guess where the Zune HD is going. Personally, I think that it looks pretty cool, but without more details or trying one out personally, I can’t call this one yet. More stuff to come next week as Microsoft announces it, so hang tight.

Blink. Like Pong, but shinier.

If you’ve play a video game sometime since the creation of video games, then you probably have played some version or another of the original game of all time: Pong. And of course, on the iTouch/iPhone, there are tons of Pong games out there, including the one mentioned here, Blink.

Blink stands out to me for several reasons: The quality – it’s not just a basic black background, white bar game. It looks nice and professional, with a modern look, as it should in 2009. Also is the modern update it adds, with powerups ranging from multiball, to shot tracking, to acceleration. Purists, take a moment to breath as classic play is also included. Blink has 1 and 2 player modes (although not over multiple devices – hopefully will be updated in the 3.0 update which makes this significantly easier.). Best of all? It’s free. So go and download it and give it a shot.

We all know how popular the iPhone and iPod Touch are (unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year– in that case your excused ), and how awesome it is to be able to download apps right to the device using the App Store. Well, for those of you who don’t believe how popular the iPhone and iPod Touch have become, just check this: Apple right now is running a contest for the person who downloads the BILLIONTH app. Yup, as we said in the title, thats BILLION with a B!

This is rather amazing, considering it’s been really under a year since the App Store launched (technically it came in July of  ‘08), but it gets even better for us users! Like what Apple did a couple of years ago when they were closing in on selling their 1 billionth iTunes song, they’re giving away a boatload of gear to the lucky soul who happens to download that 1 billionth app. What kinda gear you ask? Well, try a 17″ MacBook Pro; an iPod Touch 32GB; a $10,000 iTunes Gift Certificate (yes 10 GRAND– honestly, this is crazy!); and an Apple Time Capsule (basically a back up hard drive for your Mac or Windows PC that will automatically back up your hard drive using your wireless network). Total Retail Value of all the prizes? $13,746 (again– WOW!). You can follow the countdown to 1 billion apps at Apple’s site here.

Wanna know something even better? The app you download doesn’t necessarily need to be a paid app! You can just download a free one and you could win.

Listen, this won’t be easy to win, especially as they’re going at about a thousand apps every 10 or so seconds (at the time I’m writing this at least), but hey best of luck to ya!