CrunchGear

The latest and greatest in Samsung Blu-ray tech was just outed by BestBuy.com. Loaded with Blu-ray tech such as 7.1 analog output and the lovely Silicon Optix HQV video processor, the $499 BD-P2550 should strike a cord with higher-end AV nerds. Curiously, BD-Live isn’t mentioned on BestBuy.com, nor is it anywhere in the online users manual (PDF), so we can only conclude that the BD-P2550 isn’t equipped with the option even though the back panel houses an RJ-45 port. If that doesn’t ITCH you, the retailer appears to have ‘em in stock and ready to fresh’n up your equipment rack. 

Best Buy via EngadgetHD

This is solely based on conjecture from my meeting with Activision the other week where I demoed a slew of games including GH:WT, but after Harmonix’s announcement that you’d be able to export RB1 tracks to RB2, it got me thinking. Prior to my meeting with Activision I was chatting it up with a few guys from Rockstar Games and were generally nerding out about upcoming video games. One of the chaps from R* mentioned that he was pissed off that the tracks he purchased in previous GH titles were now useless since he’d moved on to the newer titles and I know this is how many of you feel about it.

Anyway, I asked the product managers of GH:WT if we’d be able to import tracks we’ve all previously purchased in past editions. They said they weren’t ready to talk about it just now, so I’m led to believe that something is in the works.

This odd fellow is an Arduino-based system for reading - and reacting to - incoming Twitter messages. While his eyes look like they’re made of CORN it’s nice to see someone as sad as me about getting incoming Tweets.

via Giz

According to Joystiq, it looks like the 360 is getting an all-around price slash sometime before September 7th.

While the 60 GB model will be dropping from $349 to $299 and the Elite will be dropping for $449 to $399, the biggest mark down is on the Arcade model: it’s plummeting a full 80 bucks, from $279 to $199.

If you haven’t already grabbed one, the coming weeks will be prime time for pickins with the 360. With at least 50 bucks off each model, you could pick up a year of Xbox Live and it’d be like getting it for free. Kind of.

The Great Firewall of China strikes again! Chinese authorities have blocked access to iTunes because several Olympic athletes downloaded a pro-Tibet album. As an ignorant American, how China handles its business re: Tibet isn’t any of my concern, but blocking iTunes while the Olympics are still ongoing seems unsophisticated to me. Why play into the perception that you’re a dissident-crushing monster when the world’s media is crawling all over your capital? ::shoulder shrug::

The block was first noticed as Chinese folks began to flood Apple support forums saying they couldn’t access iTunes. It turns out that the album Songs for Tibet, by the band (of sorts, it’s mainly a compilation thing) The Art of Peace Foundation, didn’t please Chinese authorities, especially since Olympic athletes were offered it for free as a “subtle form of protest.” Not subtle enough!

My favorite part of the story is how a Chinese Web site, china.org.cn, reported popular reaction to the album, saying that Chinese folks were “incensed” and that people were “rallying together to denounce Apple.”

Also, those Chinese gymnasts were totally underage. Let’s be mad, together! At everyone!

Well crafted, Simon Noynay. Your $20 “Sith Abandon Ship” shirt brings a grin to my grizzled, weary face. If I was still in my early- to mid-twenties, I might be able to pull off wearing a shirt like this. Alas, I’m six months from 30 and will leave such tasks to a younger generation. Look at Vader! It’s almost as if the JOLT from the landing didn’t phase him at all except to get him excited to go down the big yellow slide. Hilarity!

Sith Abandon Ship 2 [Oddica via Nerd Approved]

Size comparison: 10.1-inch LCD versus 10.2-inch LCD

If you’re standing up, sit down. If you’re driving, pull over. If you’re making love, bookmark this and read it later. Everyone else, prepare to have your minds blown.

According to DigiTimes, ASUS will be coming out with a 10.2-inch netbook. That’s not a typo! With the release of the 10.2-inch netbook, the current crop of 10.1-inch netbooks will be completely and entirely obsolete. Why buy anything with a 10.1-inch screen when we’ll all be able to buy a device with a 10.2-inch screen? GROW!

The new notebook will be part of ASUS’ N-series and will be different from the Eee series, according to the company. Pricing is rumored to be starting at just under $500 and these N-series notebooks will run Vista and can handle hard drives up to 320GB.

Word on the street is that we might see these in September, so expect long lines and piles and piles of old 10.1-inch devices atop curbside garbage piles everywhere.

Suunto watches are fun. This latest wrist-computer gizmo improves on the companies X9i GPS watch with even stronger GPS tech. Plus, the company throws in an altimeter, barometer, digital compass, thermometer, stopwatch and kitchen sink functions. Back to that GPS stuff though.

“After converting your Suunto X10 logs with Suunto Track Exporter, you can share your adventures with anyone who uses Google Earth,” explains Suunto Outdoor Product Manager Petteri Hernelahti. “You can save your tracks in Google Earth, and then email them to friends or family, or post them on a website or blog for downloading.“

How handy is that. We know of a couple gents that could use this feature next time they are out Bigfoot hunting. Maybe with this watch, they could remember where and when they spotted the EVIL fella. No word on price just yet, but we do know you can start impressing the boys around the water cooler in September.

PR via Navigadgets

Also announced at GC from Sony is the 160GB PS3 that kicks off with the Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune bundle that includes the new hardware (duh), copy of U:DF, a PSN voucher for PAIN and a fancy DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller. The special bundle will launch in November for $500.

Some how this managed to fall through the cracks yesterday, so our sincerest apologies. Bethesda revealed to the world that Fallout 3 would be available in North America on the 28th of October while Europe will have to wait until the 31st. The demo I saw at E3 blew me away and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. Look for it on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
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