The Cingular Blackjack, man or machine?

By Seth G.

Cingular is spicing up the holiday season by introducing the newest hot smartphone, Blackjack. Yet another windows mobile phone on the market just like the Q, this phone features next gen data coverage HPSDA and a full qwerty keyboard (no smart typing here, ladies and gents).

But what does the phone offer that you can’t get anywhere else?
You know the drill by now. It sends your e-mail, it makes your calls, and it looks good doing it.

The phone is   more...light, and definitely thin. It’s also a lot more comfortable to hold than the Q, with rubberized grips and rounded edges. Cingular is pushing the device as it’s ‘pearl’ -- the phone that can do everything.

A micro SD cardslot is included to throw on your own movies and music in case you don’t feel like going through the download services. I didn’t get a chance to try out a card, but I’m told it looks on par with a video iPod.
The big draw for Cingular customers is it’s video download services. The blackjack is able to download shows like the daily show, and channels like HBO. Not to mention napster downloads on the go, and Cingular’s own music service. I was able to stream realtime CNN through the standard data service, and was pretty impressed with the quality. Downloading a few music videos however, left me wanting more. I think the potential lies with the pay content, leaving people who just want a bare minimum phone bill in the cold.
Regardless of whether you want a business phone for all your on-the-go needs, or a all-in-one that does it all, you’re pretty safe with the blackjack.
The only downside to the phone is it’s interface. I had a hard time using the control on front because it was designed so flat. There’s no grip on the buttons, so I felt like I hit the wrong button a lot of times, which can get old fast.
It’s more of a personal preference; I know for some people it’s simply too much phone. If you like a ultra compact, you’re not interested anyway. But if you absolutely need a laptop in your pocket, this might be a good choice.


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The revolution is here...Nintendo Wii!

By Seth G.

Nintendo has been around the gaming scene longer than either of it’s two main competitors; Sony and Microsoft. That might be why it comes as a surprise to some that Nintendo’s focus for the newest generation of gaming systems isn’t on graphics, but revolutionary gameplay.


The Wii’s big draw is the wiimote, a small remote-control device that recognizes any kind of motion wirelessly. This means that gaming is all about interactivity, not just hitting   more...buttons on a gamepad. When you hit a ball in tennis, you have to swing the remote. How much you want to get into the game is up to you. The Wii is a lot of fun at parties, with up to 4 people being able to play tennis and bowling it can get pretty violent.
Technology-wise, the Wii is a souped-up gamecube, offering only standard definition graphics. The system natively accepts gamecube games, and has 4 gamecube controller ports and two memory card slots on the top of the case. Gamecube games play back exactly like the original system, and it’s even compatible with wireless wavebird controllers.
In the system, you can create mii’s which can look like anyone. You can share them with friends, and use them as characters in some of the games, notably wii sports. It’s a fun way to make the game experience more personal.
The other big feature of the system is it’s internet capability. Wii has a wifi connection built in, and will work with your home network. This allows the device to go online using ‘channels’ that give you news, weather, web browsing (via Opera), and even communicating with friends. The other feature is the 24 connect store, which allows you to pay for classic games from a number of systems right to your internal memory, much like the iTunes music store. Games like Donkey Kong from NES, Mario 64, and Bonk’s Adventure are all available for purchase, ranging from 5 to 10 dollars depending on the game. The in-game store works much like purchasing content through x-box 360, using credits.
There’s an extension on the bottom of the wiimote which allows for any number of accessories to be plugged in. The nunchuck is a good example, which is required for many of the games that have 3-d. For example, in Zelda for wii you need the nunchuck to move Link. Speculation on the kinds of accessories has been pretty wild, from golf clubs to pistols (for duck hunt).
It’s definitely a fun system, and playing with it for the last week, more people who don’t game at all have been excited to play it than I could have expected. There’s something to be said for the simplicity of the system and it’s control that intrigues people. A lot of girls usually stay away from video games in general, but were excited to bowl and play tennis. This really is a system for everyone, and Nintendo knows it.

While Sony and Microsoft hash it out for the best graphics and home-entertainment experience, Nintendo has concentrated on creating a product that doesn’t look great, but is a hell of a fun time.  less

Playstation 3 Review (click more for the full article)

By Seth G.

It’s a massive beast of a system. People have waited in line in the cold, been shot by muggers, heck, even shot by police! After a ten year legacy of playstations, Sony has built quite a hype for the newest addition – creating the must-have gadget for x-mas 2006.

At $499 and $599 respectively, the 20gb and 60gb versions of PS3 come at a high cost of entry. The rationality is the inclusion of blu-ray technology, that wonderful high   more...definition format that Sony is trying to push on the masses. Another platform for the system is “full HD” gaming; 1080p resolution output via HDMI from the system gives you the best picture possible for movies and games.

But is it really worth all the trouble and high price? Do you need 1080p? Do you need blu-ray at all? The first real question to ask yourself is, “do I watch HDTV?” If you’re like me, and keep at least 4 HD tivo’s on hand at all times, you’re probably going to want to stop reading now.

However, if you don’t have an HDTV, or it’s over 6 months old, the chances are you can’t even watch the movies and games in 1080p. And if you can, you most likely won’t be able to see a difference. Most HDTV’s handle 720p natively, which quality wise looks almost as good. On the other hand, my review system didn’t handle 720p well at all. Everything was bumped down to 480p, which is regular DVD resolution.

But enough with the techy stuff. Is it fun? In a nutshell…yes! It’s a next gen gaming system, it’s got all the bells and whistles that go with that fat $600 check you’re forking over. You can download games online, surf the web, play the hottest new titles, and get your movies going on the flat screen fairly easily. If you don’t have an X-box 360, I’d recommend it (if you like the games).

What if you already have an X-box 360? You’re not going to see much of an improvement graphically, in fact most PS3 games released months ago on 360 look better on the older system. I’m sure in months ahead, the PS3 will wow us with amazing graphics, but time will tell.

Don’t buy this system if you’re happy with your 360, or even if you’re happy with your oldschool NES. But if you’re looking for that cheap blu-ray player, and need something to show off the home theater you built for the holidays, this is a decent buy.

Happy gaming!


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Happy Holidays!

It's the season to be poor at Edgecutters, cuz we're bringing you all the top gadgets for your x-mas shopping list! Our first product is the much hyped playstation 3. Check back soon for a full review!

Ford Mustang GT-H Review

By Seth G.

This car has a presence all it’s own. When you sit in the bucket seat for the first time, you can tell it was designed to keep you in place. You won’t know exactly why until you rev the engine for the first time. But first, a little history lesson.
The Ford Shelby GT-H has a long history with American consumers. In 1966, Ford teamed up with Hertz to bring the best of Americana racing to the people, with the orginal GT-H. Souped up by car legend Carol Shelby,   more...the GT-H became a rare collector’s edition that even today commands a high price.
40 years later, Ford again has built a custom mustang for Hertz, a re-imagining of the GT-H with mustang guts and Shelby tuning. Having been available for rental for 9-10 months, Ford has finally decided to make the cars available for retail. In the next few months, you’ll be able to walk into most Ford dealers nationwide and order your own custom Shelby GT-H for an MSRP of $35,000. Is it worth it? Does it compare to your BMW 3 series? There’s only one question you have to ask yourself: how much do you love driving?
When you first walk up to it, the car begs to be driven. With the raised hood, safety pins, lowered chassis and racing tires, you can’t help but be excited by it. Onlookers will ask you what it is, thinking it’s a stock-car from the race circuit. A bentley continental drives by, and the owner rolls down the window to ask you where to get one. This thing is that sexy.
Sitting inside, it’s your standard Ford -- no thrills interior with a mostly analog dash and satellite radio thrown in for good measure. The radio in my model wasn’t built into the dash-- it was velcroed onto the console. The sound was sub-par, and I’d definitely recommend a custom after market solution. GPS was non-existant, and again I’d recommend after market.
When you turn the ignition, you’re in for a surprise. The engine roars to life. You can hear the 325 horsepower, 4.6 liter V-8 engine thrash, ready to take off like a jet. Dropping into gear, I floored the car and felt the g-forces throw me into my seat. I easily hit 60 mph, barely being able to hear the radio over the engine’s screams.
It’s not a luxury car, there’s barely any accommodations inside the car. The trunk space is extremely limited -- it would be hard to get two suitcases inside. It does one thing and one thing only -- make driving fun again. Remember when you were a kid and you raced the go-karts at the track? This is the closest thing I’ve ever found to truly a fun drive.
Handling on turns, however is a different story. Perhaps the alignment needed to be tuned on my car, but it wasn’t tight at all. What is tight are the shocks, and you can feel every bump and ridge in the road. This isn’t the car to take on a long drive. I wouldn’t even recommend it for highway driving. In short, this isn’t your every day car. This is a guilty pleasure, a weekend car to burn out the road with. But this isn’t the car to ditch the Lexus for.
If you have the means, and the cash to burn on a toy, I’d say forget about the CLK or the Lotus. This is a car in a class of it’s own. It’s definitely not for a family, and not for the trip to grandma’s. But it’ll remind you why driving is fun again, and turn heads at the same time.  less