Ah yes - the media continues to report on the supposed high numbers of Xbox 360 glitches that people are reporting. Some reports claim that up to 20 percent of respondants are reporting some sort of problem. There’s something to consider here folks. When you purchase a product and you’re happy with it, you don’t tend to want to complain nor do you go online and write about how awesome it is etc. You tend to go about your business happy with what you have purchased. When you have a problem with something, then you’re more likely to bitch and moan about it - especially in online forums and posts. Do I think that there are some problems with 360’s? Definitely. Do I think it’s 20 %? No. You can’t believe online polls or any statistics being collected especially since they’re being done in an ad hoc way. This is not to say that Microsoft isn’t to blame for any bad manufacturing processes. Just don’t believe all the numbers being thrown around.

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Pentax has introduced the new Pentax Optio S6 digital camera - the first DivX certified digital camera on the market. That’s right - this 6 megapixel digital camera is capable of recording video and saving it using the DivX codec. What this means for the user is - you can now save an hour of video using DivX consuming only 23 MB of memory. Other features on the S6 include:

• 2.5″ color LCD
• 3x optical zoom

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If you’re an avid fan of Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005, then you’ll be interested in this article over at ExtremeTech previewing Windows Vista Media Center. Microsoft has decided to package Media Center with the “Home Premium” and “Ultimate” editions of Windows Vista which means MCE will no longer be a standalone Windows product. What this ultimately means is that Media Center will be available to more people than ever before.

There are plenty of pictures detailing the new MCE user interface. An interesting new feature is the ability to perform tasks on the main menu such as syncing to portable devices or adding Media Center Extenders. That also tells you the importance that Media Center Extenders are going to have in the coming future - especially with the Xbox 360. Check out the article - it’s got LOTS of cool pics.

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Let’s not forget the second handset that Sprint introduced today as part of their Power Vision service - the new Samsung SPH-A920. This clamshell phone is a catered towards the music lover by supporting the new Sprint music store which means you can purchase and download music over the air. It comes with TransFlash memory card support for sizes up to 512MB in size. Other features include:

• CDMA 900/1900MHz support
• 3 hour talk time
• 262K Color TFT LCD screen with 176 x 220 pixel resolution
• Dual Speakers
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• Speech to text dictation
• Bluetooth support
• PictBridge photo printing support

You can also pick up the A920 for $349.99 or $199.99 after rebate and a service agreement.

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It’s finally official. Samsung has introduced the new Samsung SPH-A900 mobile phone as part of their Power Vision service. The A900 is a direct competitor to the Motorola RAZR V3 mobile phone with nearly the same dimensions. Some of the features on the new SPH-A900 include:

• CDMA 900/1900MHz
• 3 hour talk time
• Main display - 262K Color TFT LCD screen with 240 x 320 pixel resolution
• Sub display - 65K Color TFT LCD screen with 96 x 96 pixel resolution
• 1.3 megapixel resolution
• Bluetooth support and EV-DO support
• PictBridge Photo printing support

The phone is now available at Sprint for $349.99 or $199.99 after rebate with a service agreement.

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Are you bored of the average laptop design? How about adding a suede skin to your laptop for a bit of personalization? That’s what Intel and Toray Ultrasuede have decided to do in a line of concept laptop systems that was recently unveiled. Why bother doing this? More and more people are bored with the laptops designs that companies are coming out with these days. To alleviate this, Intel hopes to add a bit of personalization as well as a luxurious touch to mobile systems - this will probably lead to more expensive systems but people will probably be drawn to them if it means the laptops are unique looking. But what’s in it for Intel? By pushing innovation in both the internal and external sides of a mobile system, this will lead to increased sales which of course means more Centrino systems being sold which means higher revenues. Easy.

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Have you ever seen headphones marked either as noise cancelling headphones or noise reduction headphones? Have you ever wondered what the heck the difference is between the two types? Well BonaFideReviews has posted an article detailing what they are here. Here’s a quote from the article:

Noise-cancelling headphones use tiny microphones that identify the noise or sounds outside the headphones and then work to cancel out the sounds. Noise-reduction headphones (also known as noise-isolation headphones) reduce sound by being a barrier through which sounds cannot pass. What does all this mean? And how do these two differ?

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ThinkComputers reviews the Saitek ST90 Joystick here. This funky joystick features:

• The revolutionary foldable stick for professional gaming performance.
• Easy installation and configuration; incremental or progressive throttle control gives maximum flexibility
• Rapid-fire trigge
• 2 fire buttons
• 4-position digital throttle with LED indicators
• Single spring gimbal mechanism
• Ideal for left- and right-handers
• Retractable tripod legs for maximum stability and easy storage

The verdict?

The ST90 really grows on you after using it for a while. That is why ThinkComputers gives the Saitek ST90 a 9 out of 10!

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If you’re looking for MP3 sunglasses but aren’t willing to shell out the cash for Oakley Thump 2’s, check out the Nu Tech Dark Shadow 256MB MP3 Sunglasses reviewed here by BigBruin.com. These sunglasses feature a cool grey design, polarized lens, 256MB of memory, flash drive capabilities, and support MP3, WMA, and ADPCM. The verdict?

Finally a dual purpose gadget that actually does everything it is supposed to do, and in this case does so very well… I give the Nu Tech Dark Shadow Sunglasses / MP3 Player 4.5 stars only missing the coveted 5 star rating because of the small glitch in the charging system.

Not bad! Plus they only cost 100 bucks or so. SWEET!

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XYZComputing has posted an article detailing the experience in moving computer beginners from Windows over to Linux. It isn’t always a pretty picture but you can definitely show benefits in moving someone to the Linux platform - often in saved money and resources from using older hardware and using free open source applications. Although I still use Windows in my every day home environment, I would love to move to OS X once Apple switches over to Intel processors. At work, I work primarily in Linux - why? It works and it’s way cheaper.

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