mobile phones

Buy Dodo Mobile, Get PS3 For $99

11:30AM Logan Booker | From the looks of this page, if you’re willing to sign a mobile phone contract and fork over $49.90, not only will you receive a plan from Dodo with $320 worth of credit, but the option to buy a PS3 for a measly $99. Interested parties will need to fill out a form on the promo page, after which a Dodo representative will drop you a line. The page doesn’t mention which model of PS3 is up for grabs, so be sure to ask when they give you a call. I’m guessing it’s the 40GB version. Oh, have a close read of the fine print – not only because there’s a lot of it, but I’d hate for you to miss this little detail: 3) Minimum cost over 24 months is $1,197.60. 4) A delivery fee of $29.90 applies. $29.90 delivery? Madness! Okay, I was really referring to the $1200 minimum cost. So if you’re only in the market for a PS3, you’re probably better off buying one with an extra controller and a game or two. PS3 for only $99 on $49.90 Cap [Dodo, thanks Luke & Adam] More »

Sony Pooh-Poohs PlayStation Phone Rumous (Again)

1:54PM Luke Plunkett | We feel dizzy. Seems every month or two we get a rumour on a PlayStation Phone, we get near-confirmation, then we get denial. All build-up, no happy ending. Last time was…earlier this week, with Sony exec Jim Ryan saying the idea was “definitely plausible”. Today, we get Sony saying he was “misquoted”: Jim Ryan was misquoted in his interview and we do not have any plans at the moment for a PlayStation phone. Not a denial, then, just no plans “at the moment”. Does this merry-go-round have season tickets? We feel a bit cheated having to pay every single time we jump on. Sony Shoots Down PlayStation Phone Rumors [Next-Gen] More »

Sony Won’t Shut Up About The Damn PlayStation Phone

1:36PM Michael McWhertor | The gang at Sony and Sony Ericsson are almost definitely working on some sort of PlayStation branded phone. It might even be announced in February. At least, that’s what we’ve been led to believe, despite SCEE boss David Reeves smokescreen denial of its existence. Now, Sony Computer Entertainment co-COO Jim Ryan is telling the Economic Times that it’s “definitely plausible”, indicating that the company is pursuing the idea actively. He calls a console phone convergence “hugely intellectually seductive.” Ryan curiously says “PlayStation almost enjoys cult status” amongst the 200 million-plus who have purchase PlayStation consoles, envisioning a product that is primarily a gaming device and secondarily a phone. Sony to introduce Playstation phone [Economic Times via CVG] More »

Silent Hill Ringtones From Verizon

12:00AM Flynn De Marco | I’ve been playing quite a bit of Silent Hill: Origins lately and was lucky enough to have met Yamaoke himself at E for All, so when Kotakuite Jesterhead369 dropped me this note in my inbox it piqued my interest. If you have a Verizon phone, you can download several Silent Hill ringtones including the popular Theme of Laura. Each ring will set you back $US 2.99 for the privilege of carrying a bit of creepy town with you. Unfortunately , I don’t have a Verizon phone, but hopefully with the iPhone I hope to get for Christmas and my SH2 soundtrack CD (autographed even!), I can cobble together my own SH ringtone to disturb passers by. More »

Cellphone Gaming Down, Probably Not Out

3:40AM Mark Wilson | We all know cellphone games are near worthless, but apparently the mass market is starting to agree. Because a recent M:Metrics (research company) report shows that the number of cellphone subscribers playing games has peaked, plateauing at 5.7 million subscribers in December 2006 and dropping to 5.4 million by last June. Whether or not the Google Phone will be good for gaming, I’m all for the industry’s numbers dropping to -100 million bajillion until the entire medium improves. You know, like until Nintendo duct tapes a phone to the DS or something. Games Once Again Slammed As Past Their Peak, But What Innovation Will Save The Industry? [via vh1] More »

N-Gage Service Delayed

1:40AM Mike Fahey | Look, I know you were all sitting in front of your PC with cellphones gripped in your white-knuckled fists, refreshing the N-Gage website over and over again as you anxiously awaited the next step in mobile gaming, but you’re all just going to have to wait a little bit longer. Nokia has delayed the release of their N-Gage platform client, citing problems with software development holding up the software for a few weeks. Despite the setback, Nokia is confident that the website for the service will be going live by the end of the year, delivering premium mobile gaming from the likes of EA, Capcom, and Vivendi to all the good little boys and girls with compatible cellphones (read: not me.) I am actually hoping the service proves successful, so we can finally stop having the urge to look for pictures of tacos in Google whenever we write an N-Gage story. Nokia N-Gage Gaming Service Delayed [Next Gen] More »

Japan’s Cell Phone Obsession

1:00AM Flynn De Marco | I always thought the phenomenon of cell phones had reached monumental proportions in the U.S., but it’s nothing compared to what it’s like here in Japan. A ride on the train will have you seeing at least ten to fifteen people on each car with phones out presumably texting or playing games on them. The there’s the cell phone charms. They are HUGE over here. Practically everyone has one or two or thirty dangling off their phone. Some are so large they are bigger than the phones. For example, one gal I saw had no less than three small plush animals attached making it impossible to put in a pocket or the tiny purse she was carrying. Of course, all these phones means a huge market for cell phone games. Almost every booth I went into at TGS had some sort of cell phone game in it and in most cases five or six. Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill and Square Enix all had multiple mobile games attached to them. There were also booths dedicated solely to cell phone games and nothing else. It was a strange phenomenon and something I haven’t seen at any other convention I’ve been to this year. It will be interesting to see if the cell phone games thing catches on in the U.S. the way it has here in Japan. Do you think there is a viable market for this sort of thing and would you buy an MGS or RE phone game if it was made available to you? More »

TGS Throngs Obsessed With Jubblies

8:00PM Luke Plunkett | These gentlemen are not taking this lightly. This is a human feeding frenzy. They’re taking snaps of a QR (Quick Response) Code, an advanced type of barcode found all over the place in Japan. Why the snaps? The QR Code can carry data, so as soon as they take this pic, their phone will read it and be sent a new wallpaper image. Of the lady with the enormous norgs to their right. And it’s been that busy all day, every day. More »

Nintendo Backing Handheld Learning Conference

6:00AM Maggie Greene | In a pairing that is totally out of the blue, Nintendo is sponsoring next month’s Handheld Learning Conference and Exhibition, taking place next month in London (Oct. 10-12). This is the conference’s third year running, and as its name would imply, the focus is on the application of everything from cell phones to the DS in educational settings. It’s nothing new, but the use of new-fangled technology is gaining more traction in educational settings: “The Handheld Learning Conference and Exhibition brings together so many thought-leaders it is natural that Nintendo gets involved with this important educational conference,” said David Yarnton, Nintendo UK’s general manager. “As the biggest supplier of handheld entertainment, Nintendo is already driving learning across all age groups with its products, in particular the Touch Generations series, including Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old is Your Brain? and Big Brain Academy.” Graham Brown-Martin, managing director of Handheld Learning added, “The majority of gaming devices – and particularly those by Nintendo – all feature local and wide area networking capabilities, which are exploited by its software titles to enable positive social interaction and networks. Whilst the world has been focusing on the $100 laptop Nintendo had already developed one in the form of the Nintendo DS.” More information on the conference and exhibition can be found at the Handheld Learning 2007 website. [via Next Generation] More »