Tesco open Smartphone beta shopping program

Having already built the most commercially successful online grocery shopping service in the world, UK supermarket chain Tesco is taking its online ordering service to the Smartphone. They are now accepting applications for beta testers, who will start the three month trial in October. If it proves successful, it is hoped that the launch of the full service will start in Spring 2004.

An on-air connection is not required when creating the shopping order, or when browsing details of items that have previously been ordered. A connection is required when actually placing the order or browsing the other 20,000+ items that are available.

A few T&C’s apply such as needing to own a phone handset running Microsoft Smartphone 2002 or the new Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphone; be a UK resident and be prepared to carry out a shop through your phone.

Beta test link

85 classic video games for under $40

We love classic arcade games, so when we heard that the PowerJoy III was being released with 85 of them onboard, we thought we mention it. The joystick has the games loaded into it, so doesn’t need an additional console – it just plugs into the TV set.

This version will also be able to take additional games via the plug in cartridges. We’ve not specifically played the PowerJoy but have played others, but it sounds like good value for under $40.

PowerJoy site

Sony US announce details of PS2 hard drive

Following the long running rumours Sony has just confirmed that in March 2004 they will be releasing an 40Gb hard drive for their PlayStation 2 games console priced at $99. This gives them not just the ability to enhance game play, but to treat the PS2 as a media adaptor.

The hard drive will ship with a customised media player which includes the ability to play MP3’s, copy audio CD’s on to the PS2 and manage digital photos. As yet there is no detail about the handling or the playing of video files.

Since Microsoft announced the Xbox would have a hard disk, Sony has been concerned that the Xbox would be able to access digital media and display it on the connected TV. This, combined with the already available network adaptor, is the start of their response. In their words

“The Hard Disk Drive is a further step toward a new era of digital in-home entertainment, creating a total living room experience that includes games, movies and music.”

On the gaming side, users will be able to save their game progress as well as download new content – levels, missions and characters for their bought games. It will be sold pre-installed with Square Enix’s highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Final Fantasy XI and pre-released demonstration of other upcoming games. One of the first games to utilise the Hard Drive will be the soon-to-be-released SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs and Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain, which probably needs the hard drive just to store its extraordinarily long title.

If you’re really desperate to get your hands of a hard drive for the PS2, one has been available since May 2002 as part of the Linux development bundle. Even though the drive in this kit is also 40Gb, it’s not expected that it will with the games.

PS2 Linux developer kit

Microsoft OneNote to be installed on Toshiba tablet PC’s & laptops

A while back Microsoft started talking publicly about a new piece of software that they called OneNote. It is an interesting application that lets the user to take any of their text document, graphics, audio recordings, or in the case of tablet PC owner’s drawings/scribbles that they make during the day, and connect they together in a logical structure.

They are attempting to provide the user the flexibility of a paper notebook, the power of digital note taking and a powerful way of retrieving that information. It sound like it is an extension of the priciples of a brilliant piece of software that died with DOS, called Lotus Agenda. Agenda’s developer, Mitch Kapor is also working on an updated version of his masterpiece code named “Chandler”.

OneNote is going to be officially released at the same time as the new Microsoft Office suite, due on 21 October, 2003 and Microsoft have added meat to this deal by doing a deal with Toshiba to have it installed on every tablet PC or laptop that is shipped after the released date.

Link: Early review of OneNote beta

Microsoft Official OneNote site

Chandler

New DVD copying software to ship with DVD burner

UK software company Redxpress have created DVD copying software, DVD CopyWare,  which is to be distributed with DVD burners by DVD drive company Tritton Technologies. It will also be distributed by a number of US retailers including buy.com and will be released this coming Monday in the UK, carried by the chain PC World.

Alex Theochari, CEO of Redxpress told Digital-Lifestyles.info that consumers have a right to create personal backups of their own DVDs and pointed out that current copyright law protects content for 100 years, so films like Gone with the wind which was made in 1932 would be out of copyright by 2032 and following that, copies could be made as often as required.

The timing of the release is of particular interest after a California Supreme Court earlier this week. It ruled that the public posting of software on the Internet that broke the Content Scramble System (CSS), used to protect DVD content, was not supporting free speech but was in fact disclosing trade secrets. This overturned a previous ruling in a lower court. It was seen as a victory for the film business in their effort to restrict the copying of their content.

Redxpress tell us they have made provision for legal action, a wise move as we would expect the weight of the US film industry legal representation bearing down on them at any minute.

Redxpress

Tritton Technologies

Business Week analysis of the video gaming market

Business Week project 10% further growth this year with worldwide sales being $18.5Bn, approximately equivalent to the global sales of film tickets. They predicted that it will remain a hot area for several more years.

Some may be surprised to hear that the average player age is 29 and that 43% of the players are women. Further expansion of the business is predicted with online gaming.

The second half of the piece covers the Cyber gaming competition, where the five hundred Cyber athlete (video game players) can take a shot at the $200k prize money. The winning team, from Sweden, won $60k.

Video Link

Sony UK release PS2 online – 11 June

Following the recent UK trial, Sony is starting to sell the online Network Adaptor kit from 11 June, priced at £24.99.

Sony’s adaptor works both on dialup and broadband, where as the Xbox version is broadband only.

There will only be two titles available initially; SOCOM: US Navy SEALs and Twisted Metal Black Online, but they are both highly rated. In the US Twisted Metal Black Online was given away with the Network Adaptor but Sony UK have not decided to do this.

Reebok CyberRider Review

I went to Brent Cross (Shopping Centre) on Saturday to speak to the people demonstrating the Reebok CyberRider. It was setup in the centre space, which I had remember from my youth as being a fountain. Four CyberRiders, two Playstations enabling riders to compete against each other.

After chatting for a while to one of the Reebok representatives, Grant Miller from The Body Squad, I decided to have a go, I found one of the Burnout games playing and I’ve got to say it was an interesting experience.

You start off thinking you’re turning the peddles a lot to stay up with the pack of other cars, but then you get absorbed in playing the game as you steer the car around the circuit. The two keys I used to steer the car were in a natural position and easy to operate. The other buttons felt a bit fiddly and could be prone to stick.

If you’re interested, I came second (I’ve no idea of the difficulty setting, but I suspect it was pretty lowly). By the time I realised I was doing OK, the first car was well ahead of me and I might have been able to catch it, thrashing silly in my home, but didn’t really feel like doing it in the middle of Brent Cross.

What they’ve come up with is an interesting idea, by combining what would normally be regarded at polar opposites, physical activity and playing video games, they created something where you exercise without thinking you’re exercising.

Of course that was just one title and the experience with other games might be completely different. I would be interested to try Tour de France, as Grant had. I’ve yet to play it at all but I remember some of the press labelled it a bit slow – perfect for the CyberRider. Could the future of the ‘sponsored run’ be sponsoring someone to actually cycle the Tour de France and you pay them according to their position in the race?

I was having a mental flick through of various types of games and I thought a Doomesque game would be fun, where you have to peddle for your life – it would be perfect if you could peddle backwards as well … and have triggers. For a more relaxing session a title like Pilot Wings on the N64, where the controls aren’t too complex but you have to peddle to stay in the sky. On the retro side, save bashing your Track and Field keys into oblivion and replace it with peddling.

The trick that they appear to be currently missing is to have the resistance of the peddling varied by the computer, so you’d have to push hard up hills. This would introduce a lot more variety and would make driving games set in San Francisco a pretty serious workout.

Personally, I’d like to see the ability to change the sensitivity of the peddle sensor, so the ride wouldn’t have to be totally manic to win the race. Or is that defeating the purpose?

If you were wondering about my stress levels at Brent cross – it actually wasn’t that bad at the beginning, but I’m sure there’s something they must put in the air conditioning system that means that you get a growing feeling that you’ve just godda get out of that place.

___The Tech
They altered a standard bike by integrating joypad buttons of differing sizes into the riding handles, fitted a sensor at the peddles and strengthened it slightly – after finding the competition got pretty hot between the testers.

The hardware is modular. Two cables use RJ45 connectors to the box that interfaces to the console/computer, enabling them to connect to any device. They’ve currently connected to PlayStation 2 & 1 and PC. They say that GameCube and XBox are in the works.

___Conclusions
Bearing in mind that I had the limited exposure of one game, I thought it was fun and for a lot of people who don’t exercise this could be the excuse they’re looking for – especially if they like gadgets.

It’s unlikely people are going to buy more than one of these (and console, and TV) so after trying it, I’m even more convinced that the long term future for this type of thing, as I said previously, will be linking them up with broadband – s not something they’d tried.

I also suggested that it would be fun to equip a number of gyms, get them connected together and have people compete against each other. Find the fittest gym.

MS announces US Xbox Live start

Microsoft has announced the finalised US release date of its new “online, broadband, multi-player” service for Xbox – Xbox Live, to be 15 Nov. It will retail in shops for around $50 including a years worth of subscription, a headset (enabling players to talk/insult fellow players) and a mini-game.

At launch there will be a minimum of seven Xbox live enabled games with at least sixty publishers working on new titles.

There’s only a small paragraph on how the Xbox will be able to receive and store additional content via the service. I think this is the area that holds some of the most exciting potential but I think they still concerned about highlighting this fact to people, in case people think MS is taking over their lounge – which I’m sure has crossed MS’s minds.