Strange New World: Tech Picks of the Week
Stalwart fans can rejoice as the game invades stores.
June 13, 2008 — -- This week's picks are all about entertainment. Video game elder statesman Solid Snake is back in the latest "Metal Gear" game. The NBA Finals are in full swing, and it looks like a laptop could be the MVP. And the new iPhone is going to be a lot of fun. Here are our picks of the week.
That's right people. Solid Snake is back, and he is sneaking up on the bad guys and breaking a lot of necks in beautiful HD on the PlayStation 3. "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots" is the final installment of what many call the greatest "stealth action" game of all time. This time our now-older hero (the game started in 1987, for goodness sake) chases his archenemy, Liquid Ocelot, around the world to foil his plans of world domination. The game is rated M and sells for $59.99 MSRP.
We went to Game 2 of the NBA Finals and found a whole lot of tech behind the game. It turns out that all of the statistics originate with a pair of Lenovo T60 tablet laptops. When a new player enters the game, the statisticians drag and drop him onto their desktop. When someone scores, they mark where the shot happened on the desktop and who made it. That information is relayed to the giant video boards around the arena and to the TV feeds.
We also found out that the refs are fitted with special microphones tuned to the frequency of their whistles. When they blow the whistles, the clock stops automatically within a tenth of a second. We also got an up-close look at the fancy ad boards on the scorers' table. In several NBA arenas, they have replaced the roller board advertisements with sectional DLP displays. They used DLP because LCD would look really bright on TV.
Apple's new device is set for release on July 11 in 22 countries. The phone will be available in 8 GB and 16 GB capacities for $199 and $299, respectively. The 3G phone will have faster download capabilities and better speeds when surfing the Web. There also are a host of new applications that will be available, including Apple's Mobile Me app, which is sort of like an exchange server for the iPhone. It will push Outlook to the iPhone and pretty much replicate your desktop.
