The Zone

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!

 (pix from raise.flavert.com)

For all you fellow muslims that can't go anywhere without your treasured PSP, here's an interesting app that you'll probably find very useful - Al-Quran for the PSP! According to Kotaku, the developer of the app is a one student named Ikhwan Nazri Mohamad Asran from the Information and Promotion Bureau of Usrah Institution, Multimedia University Cyberjaya.  

Al-Quran for the PSP is still in the Beta stage, but apparently you can pm momochi zabuza from the pspfans.net forums to get your hands on a copy. (Link here). According the official website, the app should be available for free download after the 19th of May 2007.

Now, who said that all game consoles/portables are evil? If it takes a portable game console for the kids today to not neglect their religious duties, then we're definitely up for it. For once, it's nice to see the PSP being put to good use with noble deeds. (The PSP homebrew scene in Malaysia is really all about software piracy. Period.) 

PS: The same folks behind the nifty Al-Quran for the PSP app also have a Islamic PSP-zine that you can download for free. The Raise (now in its 3rd edition) can be downloaded from raise.flavert.com 

How much are you willing to pay for the ultimate PlayStation collection, which includes nearly all games on the list as well as rare games, prototypes,  controllers, and consoles? RM1000? RM10,000? Try RM100,000. That's the asking price (USD30,000) for what looks to be the biggest PlayStation aunction ever on eBay. And shipping is free! But only in the US. International buyers will need to pay half of the shipping costs. And good luck explaining to Malaysian customs. 

But still, wouldn't it be cool beans to own a houseful of PlayStation games? At least it should make for some interesting dinner conversation to your guests when they come over to jealously eye your collection. ;)

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How cool can the Nintendo DS anymore get? From the 21st of May, All secondary schools in the city of Yawata in Kyoto, Japan will be using the Nintendo DS as a learning tool for English. The move was undertaken after a previous trial run with 3rd year students showed a 40% improvement in vocabulary. Now they'll officially introduce it to all 2nd year students in the prefecture.

Will any enterprising local game developer step up to introduce an SPM/STPM version? It would probably sell like hot cakes here.

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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.   

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.  

There's not much tech in this post really but here's something interesting that we want to point out. Spotted at engadget.com, one of the more popular tech blogs on the web today, is a post about Hitachi and Oracle teaming up to introduce anti-piracy tags in China.

The story is fairly interesting but thats not what we want to show you guys. Check out the photo accompanying that post. Looks familiar? Of course, its good old Petaling Street @ Malaysia's Chinatown. 

There can only be two explanation for this really. Either the dudes at Engadget went to sleep during geography classes or... the fake/pirated goods on offer in Petaling Street is world famous! 

In any case, Malaysia Boleh!

Original link here.   

DS Fanboy reader Dan has sucessfully quit smoking for 40 days now, thanks to Pokemon Pearl! While this is not due to the inherent addictiveness of the game itself, it gives you time to preoccupy your mind so that you'll not reach for that pack of pricey tobacco the next time you're lazing around. While the method varies with each individual gamer, you can also try playing Flow on the PSP - a relaxing method that will definitely soothe nerves at the same time. Then again, some gamers I know are able to play WoW and DOTA with a lit ciggie in their mouths, but that's another story for another day ;)

* If you've noticed the PG sticker on the box...........don't smoke, drink, or gamble kids! wait till you're mature in the head!

This is another one of those non-tech posts but this one is a good one, I promise. Just watch the video and guess how did he change the color of the cards. :P

Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow will see the start of Transformers RobotCon 2007. What's Transformers RobotCon 2007? Well if you love  the Transformers toys, cartoon, games and (soon-to-be-released) movie, you can't afford to miss out on this mega Transformer event at Cineleisure Damansara tomorrow. Autobots, roll out!

Okay, this is another non-tech post but if this is not the funniest video you've ever watched, we will close this blog down tomorrow. Its Michael Jackson's Thriller done in Telegu, but with "English" subtitles/lyrics. Enjoi. We did.

PS: It's quite an old video but we just remembered it. Credit goes to our counterparts at www.gameaxis.com for discovering it first.     

You've probably seen the movie by now and if you haven't, you should, at least for the amazing real-time and on-the-fly fluid transformations.  It pushes the special effects industry another notch up ahead with what could be created in this movie.

If you're amazed with the on-screen special effects and want to know more about it, here's a site which talks about how some of the things you saw on screen was done:

Popular Mechanics 

So you've got 23 level-70 WoW characters in your account. Big deal. Do you control 23 characters at one time? Now, that's a big deal.

Meet Xzin, probably one half of the the most hardcore dual-boxer/multi-boxer duo evar. This dude and his girlfriend controls 23 characters at a time - each - whenever they log on to WoW. Just take a look at their setup. It screams hardcore to the max. There's loads of hardware and it's all very neat as well, metholodically thought out before hand and arranged. I really dig those recliners the best. Note to self: Need to get one of those ASAP! 

So, just how do you really control 23 characters at a time? Honestly, I have no idea but you're interested, take a look at this guide to 5-boxing (controlling five characters at once) first. It's a good read on the hardware and apps that you'll need to get started. It's funny how that you don't really need that many monitors after all.  

First spotted at Kotaku & Dual-Boxing.com

Ever dreamed of being the most bad@$$ character in film history? (At least we geeks think so) You have a credit card balance of more than $860 dollars? Still have a slim waist even if you're in your 40s?  This is the one for you =

Totally awesomely cool! Too bad I can't fit in it due to my ever expanding waistline, but hey, probably XXL would suffice :) It comes with a free lightsabre/saber, too!