New Look!
I cleaned up my blog a little last night. I switched to the plaintxtblog theme, put my last 6 flickr uploads in the header, and put my current twitter status in the sidebar.
Connectivity Issues
So. As I noted earlier, the Nokia N800 can’t communicate with the Cingular/Samsung Blackjack because the N800 doesn’t support Bluetooth PAN and the Blackjack doesn’t support Bluetooth DUN. Meanwhile, my Vista laptop also can’t connect to the Blackjack because it doesn’t recognize the Blackjack’s PAN implementation.
Intel Internet Tablets on the Horizon?!
RedFlag MidLinux, a new Linux distro for Mobile Internet Devices (think PepperPad, Nokia N800) is scheduled to be launched in May. It looks great and has all the right buzzwords.
The PDF mentions 18 second boot time, screen rotation, a modern browser and GPS. Sounds great. The OS install footprint, though, is between 500MB and 1.5GB and the minimum RAM requirement is 256MB.
Does this mean a new Internet Tablet with the same form factor as the Nokia N800 but more powerful? Maybe. It almost certainly means another low cost substitute for those who’ve been having trouble justifying the cost of a Windows UMPC. It’s encouraging that Intel is embracing the smaller form factor and an open platform! Congrats to Nokia for being early visionaries in this segment!
Unfortunately, I don’t see any real focus in the PDF on gaming…..
Update: The story has been picked up by Engadget.
Almost 1 Month with my PS3
I bought a PS3 after seeing the GDC presentations about Home and LittleBigPlanet. At that point I decided it was only a matter of time.
Cross Media Bar (XMB): I don’t own a PSP, so the PS3 was my first interaction with the XMB. It’s really a great interface construct and I can see how it would be useful even on a PC.
flOw: I think they did a great job bringing the flash game, flOw, to the PS3 as a downloadable game. It’s a great distraction, a hit with the kids, and somewhat challenging the first time through. The mechanic they use for saving your progress is right on, too. Instead of interacting with a menu to choose which level you want to replay, you essentially eat a miniature version of the creature that represents the level you want to play. Neat!
Resistance: Fall of Man: I haven’t played much multi-player, online, but the single player experience is a lot of fun. I played a little Gears of War a few months back and I prefer Resistance. It’s more fun.
MotorStorm: Just got this. Fun and beautiful!
Final Fantasy XII, Shadow of the Colossus: Played a little of these. Great stuff (I never owned a PS2). The backwards compatibility with the PS3 feels MUCH nicer than the XBox 360 – XBox solution.
I’m really excited about Spiderman 3. Spiderman 2 for the XBox is one of my favorite games – my stomach always flutters when I’m swinging through the city – talk about immersion! LittleBigPlanet, too, looks incredible.
6 Questions from ThoughtFix
ThoughtFix’s latest post at TabletBlog is getting a huge response. He asked 6 Nokia Internet Tablet-related questions of his readers and has 21 well thought out responses so far. Excellent!
John Tokash 