The Wee DVD Player

Nintendo Wii, the only next gen console that has no DVD/HD-DVD/Bluray playback but it's success with its unique gameplay has made it the best selling next-gen console. No wonder everyone's capitalizing on its success......
Introducing the Wee DVD player, the Wee that plays DVD but does not have any games support.

And this is found in a Japan retailer!
Info taken from Kotaku

Rev.Gear.Guide - iPod touch

For those who watched Apple's ipod keynote announcement a while ago will notice that Steve Jobs said they have created the best ipod ever. The iPhone which has a small ipod icon below the home screen. Well, he's right. iPhone was the best ipod they've created. But is that gonna hold true come this end September? For those that have watched the latest September Apple's special even keynote again, saw a series of new ipods announced. 

These includes revamped ipod nano, ipod "phat" which now called ipod classic (features a whooping 160 Gig storage) and also ipod touch. 

Descriptions: So, what is ipod touch exactly? Well, from the appearance... it looks 85 - 90% similiar to an iphone. I think it is safe to say that for those who lived outside of America and whishes to own the 'best ipod ever'.. this is the closest thing to it yet. It features the multi touch screen that made iphone so famous, it has Safari browser built in, it has youtube and also the new iTune wifi music store which allows you to purchase song off the wifi from Starbucks (America only at the moment). How cool is that? the only trade off is that it's storage might not be that much compared to ipod classic because it uses flash memory instead of those hard disc like ipod classic does. Battery life is 22 hours for music and 5 hours for video... not too shabby either. 

Price for 8gig is USD299 and 16gig will go for USD399. Oh, forgot to mention... Steve cuts iPhone (8gig) version from USD599 to USD399 to prepare them for this holiday season. 

Release date in US is 28th September 2007. Mark your calendar and check your wallet.

Pros: Gotta love the multi touch gorgeous display, safari is a nice add on, thinner than iPhone, finally.... touchable cover flow (ipod nano and ipod classic features this as well, but navigation to be done with traditional scroll wheel).

Cons: Pricey, finger print magnet for its screen, Wifi music store not available outside of America yet.

Official Url: iPod

Rev.Gear.Guide - Xbox 360 Messenger Kit

Veteran gamers would all know that Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360 controllers are famous for being bulky compared to Nintendo's Wii or Sony's Playstation. Well it's just about to get bigger with Microsoft's latest messenger kit add-on for the Xbox 360 Controller......

The messenger Kit fits just below the controller for simultanous live chat and text messaging. The Keypad is fully back-lit for all your messenging needs in the dark. This kit comes with a Xbox 360 headset as well for $29.99. Tell us what you think of the add-on kit from the Rev.Chatter box on the right or vote if you think this is a good accessory add-on!

Rev.Figure.Review - Revoltech #30 - Die Buster

Intro: After long overdue, we present to you Revoltech #30 - DieBuster from the Japanese anime series - Gun buster 2.

OBE: Well, I actually look pretty much to this figure. I've gotta say the moment I took him out of the box he feels heavy! This weight comes from the solid legs that he has. Both of them feel very sturdy but a little bit overweight for figure this scale. The reason being that you need to do a little bit of extra balancing work to achieve the desired poses.

The figure comes with a few accessories such as extra hand/fist for each side, An iron club, a hand drill thing, extra head with the eye closed, a back ghost image and also a display stand.

One thing that I would like to point out is, whenever you wanted to close the elbow so that both hands are positioned towards the chest, you'll have to bend the elbow like close to some 80 to almost 90 degrees or so. If you're not careful, the elbow will tend to pop off very often. The reason being that the revoltech joint which resides inside is too short for the rather large arm pieces as you can see from the pic above. You'll hardly notice the Revoltech joints protruding out also.
I dunno if they have any standard Revoltech joint length for both end of it or not, they could just make it longer to prevent this... sigh. As a result, the infamous Buster Beam! attack could not be executed properly, the fists just couldn't touch each other.

As for the posing, the cloak is splitted into 2 sheets attaching to a Revoltech joint each but I find it hard to bend it to any angle at all cos of the weight and the small joint just cannot hold the pressure.

If you take off the cloak, you can mount the 'ghost' face' armor plate at the back of his..well, back. They have some nice touch of the smoke which emits out from top of the mask.

2 Weapons are available, the fist mounted 'drill' knuckle and a bat.

Pros: Nice solid figure, good paint job overall. Nice add-on ghost mask with fancy smoke effect.

Cons: Elbow tend to pop off very often, too heavy legs requires some extra balancing effort.

Rating: 7/10
Until next time, who wants a piece of me?!!

Something free

Well, who said that nothing is free in this world? Well, almost everything... except, something comes along sometime.

In conjunction with the 12th Anniversary celebration for C&C, EA games is proudly presenting the first part of its celebration by releasing the games that has spawned hundreds of clones all these years, yes.. ladies and gentleman. Presenting C & C Gold edition for XP available for download.

I remembered the first time I played the game back in 1995, when I first saw it at my local computer club (there's no cyber cafe so to speak at that time) - ZEN, I thought hmmm what kinda game is this? That guy is controlling a bunch of soldiers. Walking and 'creating' roads along the way whereas the surrounding is shrouded in shadows.
After I gave the game a try, I've realized that they are not creating but revealing surrounding areas as they explored the map. haha, silly me, well... since then I've played lots of nice RTS - C&C series, Red Alert, Warcraft series, Starcrafts, Total Annihilation... etc etc etc.

Brings back good memories, especially during the 3 man free for all matches we used to have with the crazy strategy of loading engineers in a few APCs and rushing in to opponent's base and let all hell loose! or just sit around your base building defences (obelisk of light anyone?) while waiting for your superweapon to charge up! hahahahaha...

Point your browser to EA Games for the download. You'll need a special software to mount the ISO image and do a little bit of 'tweaking' to get the game runs on Windows XP.

Have fun!

Ultimate travel destination - Outer space

Space travel, hmmm... how many of us actually thought about that idea? Well, I for one would really like to see what's out there and how is it really feel like to be able to stay in Zero Gravity. Floating around, 'catching' water to drink... look at stars... it's totally a new way of looking at sunset and sunrise all over.

Well, dream no more... the first space hotel - "Galactic Suite" will be opened in the year 2012 and guess what... the reservation starts next year! Started by the owner Xavier Claramunt, this hotel will let guess stay in its room for 3 nights at only USD3 million.

The hotel itself will be made of aluminum and have five modules, he said. The three boutique rooms will be decorated with mini components because of a lack of room and due to the fact that objects float in space because of the absence of gravity, Claramunt said.

Guess will be able to do some science experiment when onboard. It will also allow the guests to travel around the world in 80mins which means guests will be expecting sunrise/ sunset around 15 - 18times per day!

You might have seen how astronauts drink water in space, but what about taking a bath? Well, that's the real challenge here. According to Claramunt, in order to do so guess will have to go into a steam room in which water bubbles will float around. Hmmm, I think you'll just squeeze your favourite shampoo say, Brand X into the surrounding and wait till your body catches enough water and then scrub away! haha... be sure to pick the one which is not hurtful to your eyes or else you'll be having a hard time bathing and avoiding incoming soap bubbles.

Anyway, for those of you rich enough may want to start making reservation here. Seriously, 2012 is just 5 years from now... start saving up people!

P/S: I'll probably find an alternative method to get up there, don't think I can afford that kinda money...

Rev.Info.Faqs - Next-gen format war Part 2: Blu-Ray Disc

Welcome back to the 2nd Part of the coverage regarding the next generation disc format. Today, we will be taking a look at the Blu-ray Disc.
Blu-ray Disc is also known as BD. It is a high density optical disc format for digital media which includes high-definition videos.

Faqs:

• Storage: A single lay can store up to 25GB of data almost 5 times as much data as a single layered DVD.
  

• Developer: Developed by Sony (Available since 2004).
  

• Drive: The Blu-ray Disc reader uses a blue-violet laser (hence the name 'blu'-ray) which is similiar in wavelength to HD DVD to read and write data. Normal DVD and CD reader uses infrared laser.
  

• Players: There are 4 different types of players available so far.

1.0 - Basic profile player. Players required to have at least 64KB of storage for bookmarks and other preference storage.

1.1 - Also known as 'Final Standard Profile' is mandatory as of November 2007. It adds a secondary video decoder, secondary audio and capability of supporting min. 256MB of local storage for audio/video updates.

2.0 - Kwown as BD live adds network connectivity and mandatory storage of 1GB.

3.0 - For audio players only.

P/S: The most popular player out there now should be Playstation 3 by Sony.

Latest development so far:
Engineers continue to work and recently demoed Quad-Layer disc (100GB), TDK announced that they are able to produce 200GB disc on 1 side but no players available today are able to read that yet.

Other info:
Blu-ray Disc movies are region coded and are different from DVD region. They are A/1, B/2 and C/3. It also employes DRM (Digital Right Management).

Recent related news:

Apparently miffed at Paramount's announcement yesterday that it would only offer movies in HD DVD format and not Blu-ray after testing both formats for a year, director Michael Bay says he will not make a second "Transformers" movie - which may or may not be a bad thing depending on your tastes.

"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!".

Well, That would be a shame wouldn't it.... no more Transformers 2. well, let's hope they'll sort out their difference soon. : ) make peace... not war.

If you have missed the previous coverage of HD DVD, pls proceed here.

iPhone Shuffle

Introducing iPhone Suffle, the miniature version of iPhone.
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Seriously, there's no such thing available... XD

Rev.Gear.Guide - Razer Lachesis

Hard core gamer? Want the extra edge to frag your opponent in a death-match? Or just simply need an extra high precision gaming mouse? Here's your answer:
Razer's latest in gaming mouse the Razer Lachesis, Bringer of silent death! featuring a 4000dpi Razer precision 3G laser sensor. You read it right, that's 4000dpi of precision and accuracy!
Of course it comes with other Razer's usual features such as the On the fly sensitivity adjustment, 1ms response time/1000Hz ultrapolling, 7ft light weight non tanggle cord, gold plated usb connector etc.
Head on to Razer's website for more of its features and information.


Oh yeah, the Lachesis comes with white and blue colors.....

Bicycle safety jacket

Well, have you ever wonder if cycling at night on the street with poor lighting condition can be hazardous? Well, true... given the fact that bicycle has almost no light indicators at all except a small sheet of reflective plastic mounted at the rear. (not talking bout the front beam, old bikes have them but not new ones)

I've also noticed some ppl actually mounted a CD as well. hmmm, well...some alternatives will be wearing light colored shirts or you can actually install some LEDs which can be wired to a dynamo and be powered when you cycle.

Apparently one guy decides to invent something to help cyclers out. Behold! The Bicycle Signal Jacket - BSJ. No, that was not the name... I just made that up... hahahaha.. enjoy.

Rev.Info.Faqs - Next-gen format war Part 1: HD DVD

We shall take a brief look at the next generation media format war which started to heat up and will likely influence which player that one eventually will buy in the future. Coverage will be separated in several parts. First off, we take a look at HD DVD.

HD DVD also known as High-Definition DVD. It is designed to be the successor to the ever popular DVD format as we have all grown to love.

Faqs:

• Storage: It can store 3 times as much data (15GB) compared to a DVD disc (4.7GB) on 1 side and double the capacity in dual-layered discs.
  

• Developer: Jointly developed by Toshiba and NEC on 19th November 2003.

• Drive: First HD DVD rom drives were released at the end of 2006. First HD DVD recorder drive were released in mid 2007.

• Hybrid formats: 2 types of hybrid format available (1 for DVD & 1 for HD-DVD).

• Disc Type: Combo Ddisc - 2 sided (1 for DVD and 1 for HD-DVD) both supporting up to dual layers each. Twin Disc - 1 sided but supported up to 3 layers (3 layers can be split into both DVD or HD-DVD format)

• Video: Supported resolution formats are 720p, 1080i (i= non progressive scan), 1080p (p=progressive scan). Encoding method is in existing MPEG2 and new VC-1 and AVC.
  

• Audio: HD DVD discs support encoding in up to 24-bit/192 kHz for two channels, or up to eight channels of up to 24-bit/96 kHz encoding. (New big-budget Hollywood films are mastered in only 24-bit/48 kHz, with 16-bit/48 kHz being common for ordinary films nowadays.)

Latest development so far:

Although have been finalized, developers continued to refine and advancing the existing HD-DVD technology. On January 2007's Consumer Electronics Show, Toshiba announced that they have created a 17GB layer disc and demo a triple layers disc amounting up to 51 GB of storage. However, current reader does not support that many layers yet.

November 2006, Microsoft announced the new add-on to its XBOX360 gaming console which will enable the machine to play HD-DVD movies. The drive sells for US$179.95 which includes 5 HD-DVDs.

HD-DVD Industrial Support (main promoters):

• Toshiba
• NEC
• HP
• Sanyo
• Microsoft
• Kenwood
• Intel
• RCA
• Memory-Tech Corporation
• Hitachi Maxell, LG, Lite On, Onkyo, Meridan, Samsung and Alpine supports the format non-exclusively.

Next up we shall look at Blu-ray Disc. :)

Rev.Info.Faqs - Toyota Motor Company

On this day in 1937, The Toyota Motor Company, Ltd. was established on this day. The company underwent huge expansion in the 1960s and 1970s, exporting its smaller, more fuel-efficient cars to countless foreign markets.

Did you know? Toyota Motor Company was formed from a division from Toyoda Automatic Loom? Up until today, the company still produces loom machines which are now fully computerized which are available world wide.

Official Url: Toyota

How to make hot ice

Another great vid. from people who uses science theory to show us something interesting...

The material used is sodium acetate which are normally contained in hand warmer and suppose to release heat when crystallized. Now, if only I could get some sodium acetate... heh heh heh...

Rev.Info.Faqs - Kameraflage

In our modern lifestyle nowadays, almost every one of us owns a cellphone or maybe more, and most of the time it comes with a built in camera, mine's with 2 mega-pixel camera. Okay, so to ordinary people... we just snap some pictures on the go with them.. stored them or send them as MMSs. I know one other function for camera on camera phone is for those 'pirates' to record movies in cinemas. I certainly doubt the video quality that came out of it. =D

Anyway, a few scientist actually came out with an invention called - Kameraflage (sounds like camera + camouflage) well, it is. According to the research, digital camera tends to see a broader spectrum of light than our naked eyes. Means that with digital camera can see more than us. So what does this mean? Means that those researchers uses this and create Kameraflage.

Ok, basically according to the website... they now proposed 3 types of usage for it. 1) Kameraflage cinema whereby user can use the cellphone camera, hold it during the screening and you can view extra info. out of it, presume to be subtitles. Hmm, it has its ups and downs though. Imagine that if you wanted to view the subtitles, you'll have to hold your phone the entire duration of the movie. Wouldn't that be tiring? It might generates suspisions too, whether is there anyone exploiting this technology to film the movie for pirating? hahahaa...

Next, Kameraflage billboard. Hmmm, this I think if applied smartly can actually be beneficial. On the website, they showed 2 Mona Lisa's picture on a gallery. Visitors can admire the picture as they please but if they took the photo back home, they'll get the extra 'touch' to it. Meaning it'll have 'monalisa.com' word imprinted somewhere near the picture. Well, pretty neat for that nice little touch. Perfect for those who is lazy to put a caption on their photos.

Finally, they have Kameraflage fashion, now this is something interesting. Not only words but you can actually put up additional pictures onto something, namely fabric. Bored of wearing plain ol' t-shirt all day long? Or wanted to impress your school mates during school? just imprint those patterns or designs onto your clothes and your friends can just use the camera phones to snap away with you on your all new outfit! Instantly! Magical huh?, not sure if they allow camera phones in school yet or not?

Interesting ideas... but to what extend is it feasible enough to be used commercially? Still questionable to me... we'll see. : )

P/S: I wonder if the same should work with digital camera or videocam.

Official Url: Kameraflage (pictures are taken from official homepage and are belonged to their respective owners)

Rev.Figure.Review - Transformers Alternators - Rodimus Prime

Intro: When mentioned Transformers toys, the first thing that came into a person's head would probably be those toy car that we used to play with which transforms into some simple robot that would only attract small kids or so. Well, today we're taking a look at a much more different toy line in the Transformers universe - Transformers Alternators (Japanese toy line which is similar to this but features some die-cast parts are called Binaltech トランスフォーマー バイナルテック but with a heftier price tag).

Descriptions: Transformers Alternators line features car molded in 1:24 scale of accurate real-world vehicles which manufacturer obtained official licenses from their respective companies. The long story short, in year 2003 human formed alliance with Autobots, a few Autobots were victim to the 'Cosmic Rust' plague which eventually damages their body beyond any repair. They revive these Autobots with the project Binaltech which puts their sparks into real-world vehicles and thus we have the toy! Today, it's Alternator Rodimus Prime, he leads the Autobot after the demise of Optimus Prime in the Tranformers Movie 1986 version.

The vehicle is a Ford GT and feature some authentic design as the real thing.

The bonnet and boot of the car opens as well as both the doors (duh!). The wheels are made of rubber and not plastic, there are some chrome painted mirrors as well but there seems to be a slight paint job problem.

There's even a ford logo in front of the car as well as a license plate at the back.

The interior is done quite well also with steering, gear and meters intact!
Transformation is fairly complex for Alternators line but not the most difficult however the instruction manual provided did not do a pretty good job of explaining some part of it because it seems too brief and all fits into a single sheet of paper! way to go Hasbro...

Robot mode has good articulation throughout. Shoulder, arms, hands, head, knee, feet and last but not least the waist is articulated. There's even a visor on the head which can be pull down or up depending on taste. Engine is turned into double pistol to be held on both arms and can be tucked away behind his feet (not mentioned in the manual but included in Japanese version). One downside to the robot mode is the chest piece cannot really be fitted properly and come off easily, the designer should look into this problem earlier cos it is quite annoying when you move the robot and a slight touch will took the piece off.
Pros: Highly poseable robot mode, nice vehicle mode.

Cons: Minor paint job problem, slightly loosen chest piece.

Rating: 8.5/10 (would have been 9.5 if not for the loosely chest piece)

Enjoy the gallery below!

Official Hasbro Homepage: Hasbro