kevin

November 8, 2005

XBox360 launch this month to be in a California desert?

Current rumor of this moment around the XBox360 launch party is that Microsoft are planning on staging the event in a Californian desert, like Burning Man meets E3.

This should be an interesting event – if not only for the location, but for the logistics of staging an electronics event in an electronics unfriendly location such as a desert. My guess would be that it would be on one of the dry lake beds, similar to Burning Man, but even still, when the wind picks up theres plenty of dust blowing around.

From Kite Buggying (land sailing with kites) on dry lakes in Southern California, I can tell you that after a few hours on one of those lake beds, everything is covered in fine dust, and it gets everywhere. You’l be finding it in your XBox CD slot for days…

November 7, 2005

How long is a piece of String (in Java 5.0)?

Up until Java SE 5.0 the length() method on a String used to give you the correct length of a String. Now that 5.0 uses additional chars to store character information, (ie a character may take more that 1 char of storage in memory), there is an aditional method, codePointCount(), that now accurately returns characters in a String.

This article on the Sun Java site explains in more detail.

November 3, 2005

Screenshot of PS3 user interface

This guy has a screenshot of the PS3 user interface, which shows a whole load of stuff going on in the background.

Apparently from the news conference from where it was taken, the demo was showing how the PS3 can simulataneously run and display multiple HDTV streams, a web browser, a PS2 game, and various other images on the screen at the same time. Wow – talk about information overload, but that is surely impressive.

Notice how the icons follow the same style as what is currently used on the PSP.

November 3, 2005

Sony to leverage PS3 to get Blu-ray DVD format into homes?

When the PS2 originally launched it was one of the cheapest DVD players out there, and many people bought the new console not just as a games machine, but as their DVD player also. When Sony launch the PS3 next year, they may be attempting the same strategy, but this time using the console as a platform to push the new Blu-Ray DVD format to the masses.

What is going to be interesting though is how much of a loss they will be willing to take per console sold in order to make the new format attractive, both to hardcore gamers and the occaisional gamer who is looking to get a next generation Blu-Ray DVD format player. Microsoft will also be doing the same in terms of making a loss per console sold when their XBox360 ships before the end of this year, and it still has to be seen how much of a gain they will get over the PS3 by shipping months earlier.