The Zone

One thing I really love about this job is the opportunity of traveling overseas for events and media familiarisation trips. Case in point, last week electrical goods giant Haier brought a bunch of us IT journalists and writers to check out their headquarters in China.

To be honest, most of the members of the media (including yours truly) on the trip never really thought much of the Haier brand until we saw the scale of their operations in China and worldwide did we realize the magnitude of their corporations; fly-by-night factory they aren’t. You will read more about them in next month's HWM special feature. In the mean time, check out the pics I took of the Canton Fair after the jump!

Sparkfun Electronics has released their first wall-mounted tetris game which also features buttons so that you can actually control the blocks as they fall, and full RGB LEDs so that your game is no longer dictated by white dots on a black background. We simply love the blinking lights in a full rainbow spectrum, and playing it almost seems like an ethereal experience....

Check out the video after the break!

The inevitable has finally happened. In a move that has been a long time coming, any Xbox 360 that is detected to be modded while logged on to the Live service will be permanently banned. Microsoft did not reveal how the checks are made but there are reports of "innocent" owners being accidentally banned at this point in time (see here). Also, there are numerous reports by modded users across various forums that their 360s are unaffected... yet.

According to the infamous 360 community rep Major Nelson (see here & here), the reason of Microsoft wielded the banhammer was to stamp out the hackers and cheaters, but don't rule out software piracy as one of the driving reasons as well. Piracy on the Xbox 360 is still relatively a "minor" issue for Microsoft in these parts of the world but perhaps there is more to this story that it appears to be?  

Could this mean that a local Xbox 360 launch in Malaysia (or in countries heavily ravaged by software piracy) is on the cards? Although it's too premature to assume such a move will happen and since we don't have any solid evidence to back our theory up - our theory will remain a theory.  

Our little birds inside the big M in Singapore and Malaysia concur that Microsoft currently has no plans to launch the 360 locally, but at the same time, they also said that the company is constantly and closely monitoring the situation. Now with this online ban in effect, there should be some positives changes to Microsoft's current stand.    

As much as we like to speculate about the situation, it could be just wishful thinking really. The ban on modded consoles to deny access to the Live service is great, but it doesn't really stop consumers from getting one to play offline exclusively. And let's face it, a sizeable portion of local 360 owners (modded or otherwise) do not take their 360 online. In a way, the ban doesn't really affect them at all.

Nevertheless, the online ban is still great news for the local 360 and gaming scene. By denying gamers the key component of the entire Xbox 360 experience, it could spur potential buyers to opt for an original unit instead. But then again, this is just round one. We expect the hacker/modder community to retaliate with updated hacked firmware or improved stealth modchips. The question is would you want to be part of this cat and mouse game?  

Times are achanging all right but we sure do hope that it's for the better.  

This nifty mobile phone concept was uncovered late last night on the front page of product design firm kimmu. While it is really an intruiging design, melding aromatherapy and communications, I wonder how would you have access to your SIM contacts and SMS-es when there's no indication of a screen?

Furthermore, won't sweaty palms or pockets make the smells go all wrong? Some food for though, eh?

Okay, so the Zune's not really high on the list of "must buy" for everyone out there, but this Zune is different (well, not a whole lot different actually). Special Halo 3 graphics adorn the black exterior, but what's really cool is all the stuff inside that comes preloaded with it. There's a whole bus load of content like music, video and art from Halo, Halo 2 AND Halo 3. Of course, if you hate the Zune or never heard of Halo 3, this piece of new is probably rubbish. But for fans, start scouring the net on how you can get your paws on one already!

The Halo 3 Zune is going to be only available exclusively at GameStop stores in the US from 15th June onwards. One of these babies will go for US$249.99. 

Via kotaku.   

How rugged is the Corsair Survivor flash memory? Very rugged, according to one tech website that made it went through a torture test from hell. Not only did they submerge it in a swimming pool, they boiled it in a pot of water and whacked it with a hammer. And the Corsair Survivor still performed fine. Now that's a real Survivor. Price? USD 80 - 150 for an 8GB drive. Expensive, but when you need to transfer files at the top of Mount Everest, I guess it would come in handy. 

Read

In an announcement that took quite a lot of people by surprise, Microsoft has released Surface, its first "surface computer". In layman terms, the Surface is akin to a 30-inch touchscreen. But according to the official press release, its of course much more than that.

The Surface is sort of like a collaborative tool where multiple users can interact and work on the same platform. Imagine you and your team are trying to prepare a pitch for a multimillion dollar deal that's going to go down tomorrow. Instead of normally sitting in the conference room and jotting down notes on the white board or your notebook, you guys can sit around the Surface and simultaneously work on the presentation. 

The Surface accepts multiple inputs at once unlike conventional touchscreens. additionally, it even accepts inputs from objects where they can trigger a response like digital content transfer. The OS for the Surface is a customized version of Windows Vista and connectivity options include Ethernet, wireless 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 2.0.

Full details here.

Kyosho has recently released a tiny robot dubbed the PF-01 that has over 17 motors, several sensor mounts, and the ability to be programmed with your evil bidding which looks delectably like Astro Boy from the iconic anime series. The only problem is that it comes unassembled and there's no programming out of the box, but that's good news for people who want to experience the joy of bringing their robot child toy to life! We also hope that someone makes a Gundam bodykit for this :D

The PF-01 is the one on the left 

If you happen to be in the US anytime soon, mark 29th June down on your calendar because that's when the much anticipated Apple iPhone is going to debut. After tons of rumors and debates, the latest iPhone commercial that aired on US televisions recently confirmed the magic date that it will drop. 

If you're seriously thinking of getting one though, good luck. The iPhone is obviously just gonna fly off the shelves. Trust us on this. Unless you're willing to stand in the long lines or pay premium moolah for one, you can forget about getting one for yourself anytime soon.    

Go here to view the ad in full.  

Nokia has released its new 8000 series mobile, the ultra sexy 8600 dubbed the Luna. Why Nokia decided to name it after a midrange DX10 graphic card is out of the ballpark, but this premium phone really sets the class benchmark when the keypad is encased in that semi-transparent lower half when the phone is closed. We're still in the dark over what it can actually do, but its already been confirmed that a Series 40 UI, 1GB of memory and a 2 Megapixel camera will be standard. Who will design the ringtones for this one then? Enya?

We're sure that the internet-savvy demographic would have heard about the K810i a while ago, both in prototype forms and in the online previews that we had. Today, Sony Ericsson Malaysia officially announced the mobile phone, which is distributed by Thorus Technology at MidValley Megamall. The announcment was accompanied by a showcase on Sony Ericsson's products as well as the launch of a new campaign where user-contributed cameraphone pictures are eligible to win up to RM8000 in cash and prizes.

More pictures after the break

There were no more disputes when the real speaker gods showed up at the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), thanks to urban artist Marka27. Made from vinyl, like all your other Micheal Lau toys, these 'toys' are from a limited edition run, and there are only 800 units available - at the SDCC only. While they look cute and all, they certainly are large, with each speaker standing at a full 16". Would we want a pair? You bet!!

In other news, a Russian ATM was caught with its pants down - it had an unactivated copy of embedded Windows. Anything can be done in Russia, really, but we wouldn't know if that ATM had the nessacary patches required to stop hackers from getting free money - and vodka.

I shudder to think what the Computex 2007 mascots actually are, especially with the giant arrows pointing to their crotches. Click the jump for more pics.

Proton moving out of the car business and into displays instead? Nah. Just a HD  TVs manufacturing company sharing the same name...though the logo design looks suspiciously similar to the older Malaysian Proton logo. 

(And for anyone thinking that they're a new company ripping off Proton's name, they claim they were established in 1982)

Click the jump for more pics!