Left Turn at Albuquerque

Capcom has announced that Street Fighter IV is headed to the iPhone later this year in March. The above picture is how many fans hope it would look on the iPhone but the truth is that the iPhone can’t pull off what the latest generation consoles can do. Another serious question gamers may have is how on earth can anyone pull off Street Fighter combo moves without a D-pad or buttons? With a virtual pad and buttons of course.

I think that instead of this virtual pad nonsense Capcom could have come up with a more creative solution. Look at what Konami did with metal Gear Solid Touch and what Sega did with Super Monkey Ball. It’s definitely possibly to create some unique controls on the iPhone without these silly virtual pads. With the iPhones built in motion sensor and multi-touch capabilities there are endless possibilities of how to pull of a great game.

More @ IGN.

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If you’re in the need of an interesting looking case for your MacBook you may want to check out the BookBook. It’s a hardback leather case available in Classic Black or Vibrant Red colors and looks just like a vintage book. The BookBook is available in 13″ or 15″ for $79.99.

More @ twelvesouth.

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On Wednesday Apple introduced a new member to its family, the iPad. The iPad is essentially a larger version of the iPhone or iPod Touch. Some may wonder if there is actually a market for a device that fits somewhere between Apple’s iPhone and Macbook laptops. If you look at the way netbooks have taken off over the past couple of years you’ll notice Apple stayed on the sidelines while they became popular. This is Apple’s response to the netbook market.

The first thing you’ll notice that’s different about this netbook is that it’s a tablet. No room for a keyboard because that would bulk it up and make it just another laptop. Now if you take into consideration the thousands of apps already available for the iPhone and realize that they can be ported over to the new device then you’ll realize that there’s already tons of content for the iPad. I think Apple is also hoping that the iPad becomes the new way to read books, newspapers and magazines but they’re scared to market it that way in case that’s not the case.

The iPad will launch in March, 2010 and will be available in three versions that are essentially the same iPad guts with different amounts of memory, 16,32 and 64GB. The screen will be 9.7″ and 1024×768 pixels. The iPad will weigh 1.5 pounds and have roughly 10 hours of battery life before it needs to be recharged. The pricing of the iPad will start just under $500.

More @ Apple.

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Tomorrow, January 27 at 10AM PST, Apple is expected to announce the iSlate at an event in San Francisco. The iSlate tablet computer may revolutionize the way we read newspapers, magazines and books similar to the way the iPod revolutionized the way we purchase and listen to our music. The gadget is supposedly a 10″ multi-touch display and is expected to compete with devices like the Amazon Kindle and Sony eReader. More than just an e-reader, the tablet may also have more advanced features like a webcam and an app store.

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Apple is finally releasing the new version of OSX entitled 10.6 Snow Leopard. Apple has indicated that this product will be released sometime in September. The great thing about 10.6 on top of all the new features is that if you currenty have 10.5 the upgrade will only cost you $30.

Some Snow Leopard features include:

• Improvements include a more responsive Finder, new look and features for Exposé and Stacks, quicker Time Machine backup, faster common tasks and installation, a smaller install footprint, and plenty more

• New core technologies unleash the power of today’s advanced hardware technology and prepare Mac OS X for future innovation: 64-bit computing, multicore-optimization, OpenCL, QuickTime X, and more

• With virtually no effort on your part, Mac OS X protects itself–and you–from viruses, malicious applications, and other threats

More @ Amazon.com.

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Earlier this week Apple announced a new 13″ version of the popular MacBook Pro. Starting at just $1,199, the new aluminum unibody MacBook Pro features:

• 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display
• 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache
• 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics
• 160GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor
• a slot-load 8X SuperDrive(R)
• built-in iSight(R) video camera
• two USB 2.0 ports
• one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible)
• SD card slot
• glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard
• built-in, 58WHr lithium polymer battery
• 60 Watt MagSafe(R) Power Adapter.

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If you’re looking to get some free demos on your iPhone, your prayers are being answered. Even though $10 isn’t too much to spend on a quality game, companies like Sega are still starting to release lite versions of app games which feature unlimited play of a limited number of levels. The latest lite apps released include some very popular games in Rolando and Super Monkey Ball.

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A PopCap representative recently confirmed to Joystiq that Peggle is launching on the iPhone in early March which makes one wonder how many gadgets/consoles will we see this game on? Not that it’s a bad game by any means. Even though the theme behind the game was stolen from The Price is Right’s “Plinko”, Peggle creators Popcap still were smart enough to find a way to get Plinko into our homes and hearts and I’ll be buying this game to kill time during my long daily Metro trips.

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The ad made famous on January 22nd, 1984 turned 25 earlier this week.

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I don’t enjoy rebuying my movie collection every time a new format comes out, first VHS, then DVD and now digital. The thing I like least about buying digital is that it’s stuck in a format that I can’t physically touch. I’m glad Apple realized we don’t want to pay a lot for digital movies because they started an iTunes store movie bargain bin. A bunch of movies will be released each week for only $5. With movies like Terminator 2 on the list, the movies are pretty good too. Not sure yet if by limited time they mean the movies or the bargain bin but we should find out next week.

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For those looking for a cheap way to fill up your iPhone or iPod touch with some killer apps, Bejeweled 2 is on sale for $2.99. It’s possible it’s on sale now to sell a bunch of copies before they release Bejeweled Twist in the App Store. Anyway I dont care, i’ll bite and pay the $3, down from $7 earlier last month. Although the App Store version is a bit bare bones and won’t even let you save your high scores it’s still great for some fast addictive arcade fun.

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There are many MP3 players out there trying to compete with the iPod so why is it that the iPod still controls over 70% of the mp3 player market? iPods are briliantly designed, easy to operate and generally have fewer problems than competitors MP3 players. They say you can’t buy happiness but you will generally be happier overall with iPods despite paying more money up front. From the Shuffle to the Nano to the newest addition to the family, the Touch, here’s to over 150 million iPods sold.

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On their way to one day making a computer made of only touchscreen glass, Apple announced updated Macbooks on Tuesday. The updates include a redesign of both the Macbook and Macbook Pro plus, new features in the computers.

Some new Macbook features include:

• Unibody enclosure
• Mini DisplayPort for Video out
• Two NVIDIA graphics chipsets: 9400M and 9600M GT
• Instant-on LED-backlit displays
• Glass Multi-Touch trackpad with new Multi-Touch gestures
• User accessible hard drive (Macbook Pro only)

More @ Apple

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There has been a rumor about new Macbooks made from a shell out of a single block of aluminum. We’ll find out soon if that rumor is true because Apple has announced that in only 5 count ‘em 5 days we will know the fate of the next generation of the Macbook lineup. They are using a tagline for the event “The spotlight turns to notebooks.” I would take that literal. Remember when they had the tagline “There’s something in the air” and went on to announce the Macbook Air?

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If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and love Pole Position then Prepare to qualify because Pole Position: Remix is now available on your overpriced Apple device’s AppStore for $10. The features include tilt steering, themed levels and a new track. I’m going to read up on the reviews before I purchase this one but hopefully Namco put time into this game unlike the version of Ms. Pacman I have on my cell phone.

More @ Namco Games.

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