There seems to be a trend right now on the internet and oddly i feel like being part of it. Everybody seems to be speculating on what that 3 hours(reports are saying it won’t be 3 hours more more like 1-2, the 3 hours include the preparation period) conference @ Cologne on August 18 will be about.
Here’s my take on it:
Things that will surely be announced
-The PS3 Slim : You know it, I Know it. Sony knows and your mom knows it. It exists, we want it, we’re ready and the people want it. The Internet has be rambling with rumors of it for the last few months and it could most likely be the answer for Sony to gain momentum.
-The official phasing of the 80 GB SKU : 2 SKUs will be remaining on the market. The current 160gb fat and the new 120gb Slim. Japan is actually out of stock since today and will not be getting restocks. Most likely to make space for the slim.
-A price cut: Everybody seems to claim the cut will be between 100 and 150, some people actually go for as high as 200$ cut which make no sense.. IMHO it is being way too optimist. I can definetly see a cut though. Here’s how i picture it. The Slim will be 50$ cheaper than the current 80 gb, putting it at a nice 349$ and the current 160gb will get his own cut down to the current price point of 399$. If you ask me it will fix the problem. (BTW, if you haven’t check my rant on the price @ http://siliticx.ca/archives/224 )
Things that quite likely be announced
-Gran Turismo 5 Release date : GT5 is a massive new game that it genre defining. Everyone knows it and everyone wants it. Proof? GT5:Prologue recently sold it’s 4 MILLIONTH copy! Not so bad for a “demo”. Anyway, rumors are flying around the tubes that it might actually be released in 2009. My guess would on october 27. The day Forza 3 will be released. That be an awesome fight to watch. In more seriousness, most likely mid-november would be a better educated guess.
-A PSP Go! price drop. I know it’s not released yet but it’s announcement at the E3 made quite a controversy @ E3′09 with it’s steep 250$ price point. Recently Sony posted important lossees and i believe they are on a price cut streak. 200 or maybe 215 sounds better.
-PS3 Firmware 3.0 : Sony hinted it and accotding to the recent few internviews Sony knows people has been asking for features.Cross-game voice and video chat might be introduced. yes, cross-game VIDEO chat. Recently sony did a few firmwares releases without much feature which were reported to be mostly memory footprint reduction to leave room for incoming features.
-Backward compatibility with the PS3 : 2 or 3 months ago sony officially patented hardware emulation of the PS2 for the cell. Meaning that the actual code will be dispatched to the cell natrurally. Apparently it is dispatchable to any of the PS3 SKUs without issues.
Things that might be announced (AKA WTF)
-The “new” PSN : Sony might leverage that new backward compatibility and make a PS2-only store with some kind of awesome stuff.
-A premium PSN : I can see Sony starting to charge for extra features but NOT online online play (seriously, what gives).
-A PS3/PSP Bundle: With Both the GT and Little Big Planet coming both on the PS3 really soon with interoperability functions (Theres a GOTY edition coming of LBP). Why not push both products with some kind of sick bundle. Why not?
-Actual news about FF Versus 13
So there it is, let’s see how accurate i am on the 18!
This Sunday, July 19, Bell Internet will be releasing their new anti-viral software version(will be refered as SSM, sympatico security manager, from now on). This update version, labeled as 7.0 comes with a few updates in itself. The only major change to the software itself is the incredibly awaited 64 bits vista support. I’ll be checking at home if it supports Windows 7 too.
Ok now that you know about the software let’s talk about licensing! With the new software comes a brand new license, the “Advanced” version.
Here’s a little comparison table depicting licenses and their possibilities. **Denotes new feature, explained below
Feature
Security Plus (also known as Privacy Plus and is also the version included with the MSN premium pack at 6$/m)
Security Complete(also included into the MSN premium starter pack 10$ a month package)
Security Advanced
Anti-Virus
x
x
x
Firewall
x
x
x
Disk Optimizer(defrag/cleanup)
x
x
x
Pop-up blocker(integrated in modern browsers*)
x
x
x
Web Privacy control(Automated cache/cookies cleaning)
x
x
x
Anti-Spyware
x
x
Fraud Protection(integrated in modern browsers*)
x
x
Parental controls(kind of the same as Vista/7)
x
x
Personnal Vault (Online storage and sharing solution)
Free 100mb
Free 100mb
FREE 5 GB
Personnal Vault – Pricing
6$ for first 5gb – 5$ per 5gb addionnal slices, up to 20gb total
6$ for first 5gb – 5$ per 5gb slices, up to 20gb total
FREE first 5gb – 5$ per addionnal 5gb slices, up to 20gb total
WiFi Security**
x
Active shield**
x
Pricing
6$/Month
10$/Month
10$/Month
Performance/max Pricing
impossible
Included for old customers
Included for new customers post July 19
* Modern browsers are Internet explorer 8, Firefox 3 and up, Google Chrome and Safari.
** New features :
-Wifi Security : This component will make sure you’re a bit safer when you go to public areas liek airports and netcafés. It offers warnings if you connect to 2 types of networks. The first is public networks in infrasture mode. Which means if you connect to a network without a key which anyone can connect and see your shares and infos. It will warn you and optionnally automatically bloc your windows shares to block prying eyes. The 2nd are AdHoc wireless connections which are usually done by hackers to expose a network to you so you connect directly to his computer to steal your data while you believe you are straight on the internet. Generally you’re better off not connecting to them at all and the security warning will be displayed.
-Active shield : This one is actually nice and I wish it would be included straight into Windows. This component will probe active processes and try to detect malicious software that might not actually be reported as a virus or spyware and got through the previous filters. it will warn according to difference criterias like “it start with windows” and “starts from the windows directory” or “modifies autoexec.bat” or even “Invisible window” and if it’s threat levle is too high you will be prompted with a window to quarantine the process. A very nice feature indeed.
So is it worth it the call to the tech support?
Of course, it’s a free upgrade if you have the complete version already.
What’s the catch?
You will need to actually mention EXPLICITELY that you want the new version as the agents have been asked to not promote it. You’ll need to say something like “I’d like the new advanced version of the anti-virus” or “i heard you have a new version of the anti-virus can I have it?”. (and this is actually the whole reason of this blog post, please oh please spread the word!)
What if I already have the personnal vault?
You’re being scammed! By at least 2 bucks a month and up to 6$/m! Call your tech support ASAP starting sunday and get the advance version. Your data will be retained but we cannot add or remove slices. Yet again you’ll get more bang for your bucks!
How do i upgrade to the ew software version?
Simple. This sunday, point your browsers to http://securityservices.sympatico.ca but be prepared to have your B1 and password on hand.
So that’s it for this edition of the bell watch. Stay tuned because this monday I’ll be posting the new pricing for Quebec DSL users
-Sili’s out
According to the whole internet, the PS3’s major issue is the price. Seriously, the price? Yesterday a news was posted about the new bundle that’s coming up. A 80 GB PS3 with Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4. 2 of the most proeminent PS3 games on the market with ratings of 91 and 94 respectively (Source: Metacritic.com). But is that enough?
I’m starting to get literally fed up with that argument. Really, what’s so costy about 400 bucks? Let’s consider the package deal. The latest bundle has those 2 awesome games, 30 and 70 bucks respectively. Thats a 100 bucks right there. Now thats 300 to go. It’s a gaming console with free online multiplayer with no recurring cost. It’s also a blu-ray player which currently goes between 150 and 250 from most brands. Let’s average that 200 which gives us 100$ remaining. 100 dollars for the gaming part. And did i mention media playback capabilities via DLNA. You don’t need that mp3 player in the living room and it even has a darn browser for your social media needs.
Now let’s see about the value. Blu-rays average at 30-35$ these days and games on release day usually cost 70. Just in 2008 i got about 13 games for the PS3 and 8 for my 360. Did I mention the numerous blu-rays that netted me around 400$ worth so far.
Let’s see how much would a guys night out in a bar cost. That’d be what, 50$ minimum and its usually gone after that night. Now for a theater night for the family, what would it be? About 60$, and that too is gone after that night. A decent TV these days will run you for about 1k to 1.5k. A home theater will go for 500. My car, my fricking car costs me 900$ per year (insurance, plates and license) and thats not counting gas.
Yes if you compare the prices to the only comparable system (the wii ain’t even comparable…), the 360, yes its a bit costier but since Blu-rays are expected to shift DVD sales this year, 400$ should be more than afordable. Get your head out of your ass and stop it with that dumb**** argument.
- A sili who’s tired of that crappy internet trolling BS.
Well hello followers! In a month or so the PS3 will get one of the first contender for game of the year. One of the most anticipated games the ps3 has ever had. Killzone 2 looks fricking badass. Sceptic? take a look!
CHARLES D. TERMINATES FRIENDLY BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH STEPHANIE G.
Both parties had been in a friend-friend relationship for the last 4-5 years.
TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec. – December 27, 2008 - Charles D, Inc. today announced that he will terminate his ongoing replationship with Stéphanie G. In the last few years Charles D tried to establish an affair with the other party. The first party tried a few times to come to a merge agreement with the second party but to no avail. Rumor has it that the second party had currently a serious business relation with a third party.
Over the last 2 years, Shareholders were worried that the company would simply crash and burn. Shares went up and down, sometimes even really close to bankruptcy and some other times it went as high as 300% their current value. During those times, sources indicates that the shares from Stéphanie D didn’t fluctuate at all.
Today, Charles D’s shareholders decided to stop the attempts of a merger with the afformentionned second party. As a result, any negotiation will come to a close and further attempts from the second party will be neglected.
“This is a sad day. Those negotiations were long, hard and ripped my emotions out. I hope they won’t happen ever again. Ending this felt like chopping a leg infected with diabeties, it needed to be done for my survival.” said Charles D’s CEO today during the press conference.
About Charles D, Inc.
Best known for it’s strong gaming division and it’s expertise in internet activity and research, Charles D.[NASDAQ:CHDE] was created in 1985 and has been on the downhill ever since. Current administration are currently undergoing a crisis and the company is slated to change direction in the following years.
It had to happen. Rock Band 2 just lost the music simulation game war. Maybe not worldwide but at least here in a quebec. Not because of the features, not because of the price or anything like that. The reason is way more clever than that. I foresaw this issue years ago. The Quebec proved themselved totally unworthy of behind a country, once again.
You might be asking yourself what the hell am I talking about? Well it’s actually rather simple, it’s once again a dumb law. The “loi 101″ they call it. A law about about how companies can be named and how much of english exposure they are able to have. A company cannot be named with a purely english name neither can it have a “subname” that is in english.
Last year, in 2007, this dumbfuck government couldn’t accept the fact that they are not alone in this world and can’t handle the fact that some people in this PROVINCE can talk both english and french. They decided that they had to take it a step further and force game publishers to publish a version that countains at least an english track if there is another french version available anywhere in the world. If they don’t abide by that they need to produce a special packaging with both a french and english description on the back and a full featured bilingual documentation.
In this specific case, EA either forgot or decided to NOT include that documentation/description. They simply shipped the product. Therefore it created a mess. Half of retailers don’t even have a copy of the game or they simply received pre-orders quantities. What’s worse is that there is no news coming from either EA or harmonix therefore leaving a lot of angry gamers in despair. A few retailers are selling copies illegally (GameBuzz to name one).
Who’s fault is it? EA or the government? You decide! leave a comment!
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