Motorola Driod X Preview: Huge Powerful Phone

Here is a sneak peek of the new Motorola Driod X, successor to the popular Motorola Driod. These days phones have larger and larger screens, with the largest seen on HTC Evo 4G and Samsung Galaxy S at 4 inches, diagonally across. Then comes the Motorola Driod X at a HUGE 4.4 inch screen.

 But enough about the screen, what's good about this phone? The phone is running Andriod 2.1 with a modified version of Motoblur, Motorola's solution to integrating social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter into one place. It has a 8MP camera and records 720p videos.

The guys at Engadget did a quick review of this phone. Their feedback is that this phone is by far one of the snappiest phones around, with the apps and keyboard loading almost instantly, comparable with the iPhone. Transitions are very smooth and the multitouch screen is responsive and tracks the fingers very accurately, among the other Andriod phones around.

By far, this phone is quite promising. I'm not too sure if Singapore will see it, but its good to see that Motorola is coming back strong into the smartphone market.

Nintendo 3DS Announced. Very impressive!

Nintendo unveiled their latest handheld device. Its to feature their venture into the newest trend, 3D. At their E3 press conference, the Nintendo 3DS is shown for the very first time to the world. It was such a special moment that it was lifted onto the stage on a shiny pedestal, complete with smoke and lights. And who else was there to introduce it but Nintendo's CEO, Satoru Iwata.

Ok. So basic specifications about the new Nintendo toy.
Features include:

• Similar design to NDS XL, 2 screens
• A large, 3.53 inch, 800x240, autostereoscopic 3D non-touch top screen (don't need glasses)
• A smaller 3.02 inch touch screen for the bottom.
• 1 front facing VGA camera like NDSi
• 2 outward facing VGA cameras to take 3D photos
• Collapsible stylus
• New analog stick above the D-Pad.
• Depth slider control to adjust the 3D view or turn it off
• Accelerometer
• Gyroscope
• Backwards compatible with NDS titles
• and many more...

As Nintendo explained, they basically combined technologies from both the Wii and NDS and the new 3D, into one handheld device. The 3DS has an improved graphics chip to take on more visually demanding games, and I think also to supplement the 3D. With the 3D screen, the 3DS allows you to watch 3D movies on the go, with companies like Disney, Warner Bros and Dreamworks already pledging support for the 3DS.

And of course, there's the games. Logically, the games cannot be demo-ed on the big screen (for obvious reasons). But Nintendo has assured us that many big name companies have already started developing games for the 3DS, to ensure that there are already a sizeable library of games to purchase when the device goes on sale later in the year. By the way, you can turn off the 3D if you want and view it as a normal 2D screen.

Just to get you excited, these are some of the games that are publicly announced at the press conference.

• DJ Hero 3D
• Assassin's Creed Lost Legacy
• Final Fantasy
• Kingdom Hearts
• Metal Gear Solid
• Resident Evil Revelations
• Fifa
• Madden
• Nintendogs + Cats

And these are some of the companies that are currently developing games for the 3DS.

• Activision
• Hudson
• EA
• Harmonix
• Square Enix
• Konami
• Capcom
• Ubisoft

Thus, looking at what's to be offered, I would say that the Nintendo 3DS has a huge potential in the gaming world. It currently allows you to play almost all kinds of games, both 3D and 2D, utilising the d-pad, analog stick, touch screen, accelerometer and gyroscope. That's a lot of possibilities for game developers. If all goes well, this is the device that would revolutionise handheld gaming yet again. Nintendo is out to prove that they are still strong in the gaming world.

PS: I'm guessing that you may start to see many iPhone games migrating over to this 3DS as this provides the same functions as the iPhone (with the touchscreen, accelerometer and gyroscope), except with more physical controls and a 3D screen. However, many games are free to download on the iPhone. Not too sure if it will still be free for 3DS. Nonetheless, those are only casual, on-to-go games, which is not what Nintendo is really aiming for.

Metal Gear Solid Rising - Amazing New Cutting Mechanics

At E3 2010, Konami's Hideo Kojima, known for his Metal Gear Solid franchise, revealed the latest installment, Metal Gear Solid Rising.

He explained that in this game, the gameplay is moving away from the stealth elements that the series is famous for. However, to make the action make interesting, a new physics and offense mechanic has been developed. And that is cutting mechanics. You will wield an all powerful katana and you can choose how you want to slice your enemies and environment. What makes this new is that for the first time, you can choose exactly which angle you want to slice and the victim actually falls apart. Instead of me trying to explain, just watch the trailer video below. Haha. You'll love what you see, if you're into these games, that is.

Microsoft Kinect (aka. Project Natal)

Xbox controller-less motion control is officially announced at E3 2010. It used to be called Project Natal when it was unveiled last year at E3 2009. It is now called Kinect. It has a rotatable camera to detect your movements and a microphone for voice controls.

With Kinect, you can control the menus by simply raising your hands or by speaking. Some examples of voice controls, to pause a video playing, say "Xbox, pause", to resume, say "Xbox, play", to stop the video, say "Xbox, stop. Sounds futuristic? But it works, as shown in the E3 2010 demo. You can also do video chatting and the camera will track your body so that if you move out of the frame, the camera will pan along to keep you in the frame.

Kinect comes with a few games, such as Kinect Sports, Kinect Joyride, Kinect Adventure and etc. Looking at the demos, I would say that Kinect is quite responsive and can register movements very well. Playing Kinect games would require the gamer to move the whole body, this will encourage players to be more active when playing games. And in my opinion, these kind of motion control games are more suited to family titles and fun-filled games. Most of the games unveiled for Kinect are mostly fitness-related and family fun games, which Nintendo Wii has already done, except that its in high definition now. I wonder how hardcore games like first person shooters and realtime strategy games would work with Kinect but we shall keep an eye for such demos. So far, Kinect has been demo-ed for driving, running, yoga, hip hop dancing, light saber swinging, etc.

**Edit** Forza (racing game) was quickly demo-ed to show how Kinect is used to add interactivity into the game. For eg, you can "walk" around a virtual car, like at a car show room, by leaning left and right.

Controller-less motion control is a first in the world and we hope that Microsoft will do a good job. The games, however, may not be so original since we have seen many similar games on the Nintendo Wii. The only selling point for these games is that they are in high definition. Kinect will officially go on sale in Nov 2010.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 MTV Trailer

The MTV release trailer of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 will come out on 18 Nov 2010.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will come out in July 2011.

FYI. The first Harry Potter movie,  The Sorcerer's Stone, came out in 2001. Could it be a coincidence that the last movie is to come out in 2011? So that the Harry Potter series comes a full ten years? Or is it that the studio just wants to prolong the excitement? Regardless, the Deathly Hallows movies look set to create an epic ending. Its definite must watch for both of them.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Can't wait for this movie to come out. Watched all 3 of the previous ones. ^.^

New Music!

Hi! These are some of the music that I think are worth a listen. They are mostly hip hop/club music. I'll pick songs that new and might catch on. On top of that, I'll try to pick songs that are not released on local radio, otherwise, that's what the radio is for, isnt it? =P

NB: Clicking on the song names will lead you to the youtube video of that song. If there are any broken links, just let me know. =)

Posted: 14 June 2010
1. Taio Cruz - Dynamite **HOT**

2. Katy Perry ft Snoop Doggy Dogg - California Gurls **HOT**

3. B.O.B. ft Hayley Williams of Paramore and Eminem - Airplanes (Part 2)

**Not On Radio**

4. David Guetta ft Leah - Sexy Bitch (Female Version)

Posted: 23 May 2010

1. Charice ft Iyaz - Pyramid **HOT**

2. Charice - I Love You **Not On Radio**

3. Shontelle - Impossible

4. Chris Brown ft Ester Deans - Big Things

Posted: 18 May 2010

1. Chipmunk ft Esmee Denters - Until You Are Gone

2. Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha - Dirty Picture

3. The Black Eyed Peas - Rock That Body

4. Taio Cruz ft Ludacris - Break Your Heart (Remix) **Not On Radio**
5. Christina Aguilera - Not Myself Tonight

Posted: 14 May 2010

1. Britney Spears - Telephone **Not On Radio**

2. Flo-Rida ft T-Pain - Zoosk Girl

3. Git Fresh ft Flo-Rida - Arch Your Back **Not On Radio**

4. Shakira - Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)

5. Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Pussycat Dolls - Down Boy **Not On Radio**

6. David Guetta ft Kid Cudi - Memories

NB: I copied this over from my Facebook profile tab and I shall continue updating here. To view future posts, just click on Music link from the View By Categories on the top right menu.

Updated TOL Blog Layout

I finally came around to updating the TOL blog in its appearance. Was trying out the new template designer and decided to come up with a new header too. Took me a couple hours to get this effect cause I've never tried it before. Was trying to copy the Harry Potter title effect.. Hehe.. Everything was created from scratch, except the stone-y texture.

Click on the photo to go to the Testimony Of Light blog.

Updated: 14 June 2010

Here's the screen shot of the Harry Potter movie title. This movie trailer was only release just a while back, although the trailers have been using this effect for the last few movies..