I am sure a lot of you have been waiting for this day to come, when Sony finally announced the next generation Playstation Portable, considering that their yet to be released Xperia Play device (or Playstation Phone) was already making waves in both the mobile phone and gaming industry, sporting Android under the hood and promising you mobile gaming goodness the Sony way.

Now, here we have the much anticipated upgrade to the Playstation Portable line. The Playstation Portable 2 (codenamed NGP). And honestly, I am quite excited with what I see here and in the next series of press shots that I’ll be including.

More after the jump. Continue Reading

I’ve been looking around for laptop speakers that, in my opinion, would look nice and at the same time, fit the small space where I have my laptop situated in. But most of the worthwhile options have always had a subwoofer component along with it and that wasn’t exactly something I wanted to carry around.

Then I visited Engadget today and saw this:

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I only caught wind of this device because I have started frequenting the Razer website ever since I acquired my Orochi mouse. Although I’ve visited the site several times prior to getting the mouse, I never really took notice of this particular gadget on the website although it does say that this was part of the CES 2011 so I am assuming that it was a recent addition to the website.

The device I am talking about is the Razer Switchblade. It is basically a portable device allowing you to play your favorite PC games on the go. What makes things interesting and amazing about this device is the keyboard. The keyboard, Razer says, adapts to any game you run on the Switchblade, whether it be a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online), RTS (Real-Time Strategy), FPS (First Person Shooter) or Casual game. Continue Reading

The mouse I’ve been wanting to get for some time now is finally here.

I have been in need of a replacement wireless mouse for quite some time now. The old Logitech wireless mouse was already double-clicking whenever I just do a single click which can be annoying whenever I’m working on some spreadsheets or editing some images. So an upgrade/replacement was due. Even before acquiring a new laptop, the Orochi has been in my sights because it’s a nice wireless mouse with gaming pedigree. I know that for hardcore gamers, this mouse is still a bit painful to the hands due to its small size but I’m fine with it since the size isn’t far from the mouse I’ve been using previously.

The neat thing about the Orochi is the fact that you can program macros with it which you can use for gaming. Another neat feature is that it connects to your laptop via bluetooth so that means it frees up the USB port I used to occupy with the older mouse’s receiver which also stuck out of the side of my laptop like a USB flash drive. Along with with that, the mouse can also operate in wired mode. There is a USB cable that comes with the mouse that you can use especially when your batteries run out of juice. This also allows you to get 4000dpi of sensitivity for your gaming needs. I’m good with 2000dpi though.

The top cover of the Orochi is a single piece that comes off when you need to replace the batteries. The locking feature in the old mouse was a hook mechanism which was already broken so I held the lid in place with a little bit of blu tack. The Orochi’s lid is held in place by a magnet so the entire cover comes off, buttons and all to reveal a two-slot AA battery compartment. This one needs more juice than my previous mouse but that’s what the Eneloops I stocked up on and the fact that this mouse can also go cable-mode, are for.

I have to admit though that my hand is still getting used to the Orochi. The sensitivity’s a bit new to me and also, the shape is foreign. But the overall experience is definitely good. The feel of the rubberized lid is good to the hands. The teflon pieces underneath makes the mouse slide smoothly on almost any surface.

I am definitely loving this mouse. Will be testing it on some games soon.

Maybe Raynor will need my help yet again.

Nothing like welcoming the new year with a new gadget to tinker with. It’s nothing like the ASUS G73 series but I’m definitely loving this laptop that I got for myself.

But the best thing about the new rig is that I finally get to try out Windows 7 for myself. All this time, I’ve been a Windows XP user and did not bother downgrading to Vista. Then I came to the point where I wanted to have a new laptop with good enough specs for gaming and multimedia and with a new OS.

So of course, with a new OS, that meant I had to learn how to tweak the user interface again. I was already quite comfortable with 3rd party visual styles and Samurize on the XP machine but this one’s different. Samurize does not support Windows 7 operating systems so I had to switch to Rainmeter for this one. Still trying to get the hang of Rainmeter since there’s no WYSIWYG editor for it unlike Samurize.

So here’s what I’ve got so far:

This is my current Windows 7 desktop. As you can see, I like it minimal. I did change a good number of things here so you actually won’t see a lot of the default Aero theme of Windows 7.

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I think I skipped last year for making up a Christmas wishlist so I figured it’s a good time to write another one up this year. I actually just have a devices this year that I would actually want to have. I also tried to limit the price range because the other stuff that I would like to get are ones that I can delay or postpone to later months. These ones, however, would be nice to get this Christmas season.

First up on the list is the MadCatz R.A.T.9. It’s an adjustable mouse with a really wicked cool look. I would love to have either this or the Razer Orochi as my wireless optical mouse.

Next up is the Hisense Stereo Headset HB440H. I love my current earbuds but the end keeps snagging in my pocket since the headphone jack on my BlackBerry is on the side (all of a sudden, iPod’s headphone jack positioning makes sense). So to avoid the snagging altogether, this would be a nice acquisition. If not this, then Hisense HB400C is a close second. This is also a bluetooth communication device which basically moves your earphone jack away from your device and allows you to take calls with it. But since the device is a small bit that you can hang around your neck with the earphone jack there, you can change headsets and use any compatible headset brand you like.

I’ve mentioned before that I’d like to upgrade from a Curve to a Bold. And the latest Bold release is what I would want to upgrade to. The Bold 9780 looks almost exactly like the 9700 except for that darker chrome edge. It has twice the RAM as the 9700 and comes with OS6 out of the box. The Curve is nice but with the frequency that I use it, the keyboard’s about to give out on me. I am hoping that since the Bold is of a higher-end device, it would have a better, sturdier keypad.

Aviator glasses: something I have always wanted to own. I saw a black framed one with gold mirror lenses.

The Wii is more of a party piece than anything else. If not this, then a new laptop would be just as good for me.

What’s on YOUR Christmas wishlist?

That’s definitely the plan although I can’t do that anytime soon. I just picked up a new phone less than six months ago and that was also the time I started using a BlackBerry. Now, RIM has announced that a new Bold will be coming out in the market before this year closes out which is the BlackBerry 9780.

When I was going to pick up my first BlackBerry, I still wanted to try out the whole thing: QWERTY keypad, new phone brand, data plan. So I chose not to spend on a more expensive model and picked up the Curve 8520 instead of the Bold 9700. Quite timely since less than a year later from when I picked up my phone, the 9780 comes out. It does come out, I think, a year after the 9700 rolled out so it’s ok for the early-adopters of the 9700 to upgrade but in my case, I avoid changing phones too soon especially if it’s a low-spec smartphone to a high-spec smartphone. It’s an expensive habit that I don’t want to develop. So I’ll probably wait it out till around April of next year to change phones but I’m definitely picking up a Bold.

So why do I want this particular device? Why not the Torch, right?

I still prefer a candybar design over a slider and I still prefer a dedicated keypad design over touchscreen. I definitely plan to own an Android alongside my BlackBerry eventually but I can confidently say the BlackBerry stays for good until RIM fucks up and makes me want to leave (the way Nokia’s been making lame phones while everyone else has been rolling out game-changers for the past couple of years).

This Bold has twice the RAM of the 9700, better battery life, and already comes with OS6. Now I am aware that RIM had acquired a software company which they will use to develop the PlayBook OS which they said would eventually be the basis for future BlackBerry device operating systems. But then the PlayBook came out around the same time the Torch started rolling out and people got their first experience of the much-awaited OS6. So I think it’s safe to say that the PlayBook won’t be out till around late 2011 so that can also mean that RIM will be rolling out a couple more batches of BlackBerries that will have OS6 inside. So the waiting game may not be so bad. I am still ok with the BlackBerry Curve 8520 although the keypad’s starting to give out and I’m beginning to experience some squeaking due to it’s 80% plastic body.

So we’ll see. This might not be the only Bold design to be released within next year but if by that time, and I’m good to go with upgrading to a Bold and there aren’t any rumors of a newer Bold in the horizon, then I’ll grab this one.

…SO BAD that it has it’s own post. Check out the review at Engadget.com.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANT!

Ok, before that, this is my first post using the new WordPress 3.0.1. I know I was a bit late in upgrading but I must say, it’s definitely snappier than the previous version on the backend.

Anyways, so I’ve owned this BlackBerry for a couple of months now and I can definitely say I’m a happy user. I can see the iPhone and Android users rolling their eyes saying in the back of their minds: “That’s because you haven’t tried using an iPhone/Android”.

But seriously, I’m quite happy right now with my BlackBerry and the things I am able to do with it.

I chose to make the switch when I was finally getting tired of my old Sony Ericsson W960 and wanted to change brands and phone types. Prior to the switch, I have not owned a QWERTY smartphone so this is a bit of a change for me as well. I have always been interested in what the hype was with BlackBerry smartphones and why they were popular amongst a good number of people so when I found out that one of our telecomm companies here provided prepaid service for BIS, I figured it was the right time to get one.

My first and current BlackBerry isn’t an expensive one. It’s a BlackBerry Curve 8520. Will it be my last BlackBerry device? Probably not. Will I upgrade to a Bold in the future? Highly likely. Will I try out a touchscreen BlackBerry? No. Unless it’s the BlackBerry PlayBook. Continue Reading