While PlayStation 3 firmware 3.10 comes with some pretty nice features, it still doesn’t include the highly-demanded cross-game voice chat. Demanding fans have been asking on the European PlayStation.Blog what’s taking it so long, and PlayStation Network product manager James Thorpe answered.
“I wish I could just give you a date, I really do!! Trust me when I say that as soon as I hear from ‘up top’ I will be shouting about it and making myself the most popular person on the blog,” James wrote. “I hope, like you all do, that its sooner rather than later.”
As do we John. As do we.

Let’s just get this out of the way: in terms of hardware, the Touch HD2 is the nicest phone in the world. It’s ostentatiously huge and amazingly slim; it’s business-savvy and utterly pornographic. But hardware like this deserves better software.

From the outset, the HD2 is a tragic creature, built from the finest pieces imaginable and burdened with a categorically disappointing OS. HTC has done their best to hide the HD2’s shame, but it’s just not enough.

Meeting the HD2: Hardware
HTC’s got a funny way of designing hardware, where they settle on a basic set of components then pump out virtually every iteration of this basic spec set they possibly can. (See also: HTC as Taco Bell) It’s a rare occasion, then, that we get something like the Touch HD2, a followup to the similarly impressive, never Americanized Touch HD.

Top to bottom, corner to corner—and it’s a long trip—the HD2 is a perfect specimen of glass, plastic and aluminum. The massive screen-to-bezel ratio means the HD2 is essentially just a 4.3-inch piece of glass, its 800×480 multitouch display bordered by just a few millimeters of ink-black trim and a subtle row of satisfyingly pressable little buttons. The handset’s minimalist hindside, interrupted only by a slightly protruding lens for the HD2’s 5-megapixel camera and a ever-so-slightly grained aluminum battery door, is elegantly tapered, emphasizing just how thin this thing is—thinner than the iPhone, which is pretty good for a phone that I almost want to call a tablet.

It’s got the same space-warping powers as a supermodel; it looks like a beautiful phone in pictures, but when you finally see it in person, it’s twice as tall as you thought it would be and far too thin for its expanded proportions. It’s almost not fair to other phones. And it will give them body image issues.

Behind this spectacularly huge screen is a 1GHz Snapdragon processor assisted by 448MB of RAM—specs that would have put a top-line desktop to shame less than ten years ago—and 512MB of ROM, aided by expandable microSD storage. The whole battery of expected high-end smartphone amenities are here, from GPS to a facial proximity sensor to an internal compass to Bluetooth 2.1. There’s a 3.5-mm headphone jack, and charging comes by way of Micro USB, through to an adequate 1230 mAh battery (it’ll get you through the workday, which is par for the course nowadays). Unless you absolutely need to have a hardware keyboard, there is nothing—nothing—the HD2 leaves you wanting for.

Moving In With the HD2
One of the benefits of Windows Mobile not having changed much in the last few years is that it’s easy to compare new hardware to old, and let’s be clear about the HD2: It’s unbelievably fast. Applications open almost instantly and close without the slightest hesitation, and over Wi-Fi, web pages render in Opera Mobile as if you’re browsing on a laptop, not a cellphone. (And hell, if you put your face close enough to this ridiculous screen, it’s easy to forget you’re not.)

This near-magical experience is spread throughout the HD2: Calls answer and end without the expected delay, the camera—a decent 5-megapixel number with a blinding flash and VGA video capabilities—wakes up as fast as you can point its lens, and tapping the home button, no matter how many apps you’ve got toiling in the background, always results in a satisfyingly clean and snappy return to HTC’s ostentatious homescreen. Speaking of which!

This is one of the first Windows Mobile phones to have HTC Sense, which combines bits and pieces of their overhauled Android interface and kneads them together with years of TouchFLO 3D development. Practically, this means that using the HD2 is just like using any other HTC Windows phone from the last three years—a tabbed slider at the bottom of the screen moves you from homescreen panel to homescreen panel, where HTC has condensed almost all the information you look to your phone for. It’s faster and more complete that you’ve seen before, with added color, a Twitter client and visual browser bookmarks, but it’s essentially the same HTC dashboard, just gussied up a little bit. And to the extent that such a thing can work, it works.

Falling Out of Lust With the HD2
HTC’s software ethos has always been to hide the unseemly parts of Windows Mobile. And it’s got plenty! But with the HD2, they’ve taken this philosophy all the way to its logical conclusion: They’ve tried to replace Windows Mobile’s UI entirely. The HD2 is HTC: Reductio ad Absurdum edition.

And don’t get me wrong, this whole Sense thing is surprisingly usable—it’s a fairly rare occasion that you fall out of HTC’s safe, smooth, grey-and-black arms, and into the Windows 3.1-esque hell that has been, and somehow still is, a Windows Mobile hallmark . With Sense HTC has made a sort of meta-OS, which uses Windows Mobile 6.5 as a behind-the-scenes stagehand, which only shows its face when it absolutely needs to. HTC has even added multitouch to the browser, maps and photo applications, which works surprisingly well for what almost certainly qualifies as an after-the-fact hack. It’s impressive, but every time you notice the absurd lengths to which HTC has gone to deny this phone is running Windows—they’ve even replaced the calendar and text messaging apps, for god’s sake—you find yourself asking the same question: Why even bother?

It’s a question for consumers as much as it is for HTC. For HTC, why spend so much time and effort desperately—and only marginally effectively—hiding an OS when you know you can just replace it entirely? I understand they’ve got a legacy with Windows Mobile, but right now that legacy is starting to seem toxic. And for anyone thinking about buying this thing, why not wait a little while? We’ve seen how fantastic this hardware combo is, so why not wait until someone loads it up with software that HTC doesn’t have to hide away like some kind of dark secret? Sony’s about to outspec the HD2 with the Android-powered Xperia X10 anyway, and HTC would have to be stupid not to be working on the same right now.

If you’ve got some undying loyalty to Windows Mobile, be it personal or work-enforced, life won’t get any better than with the HD2—it’s shipping on multiple carriers sometime in early 2010, though I don’t suspect it’ll be cheap. If you don’t, then just wait this one out. Trust me: the payoff will be worth it. [HTC]

+ The 4.3-inch glass display is pure bliss

+ Actually, no, this whole handset is bliss. If they were sitting right here, right now, I would kiss the hardware designers on the mouth. With tongue.

+ Battery life isn’t as atrocious as you’d expect it to be

= HTC Sense does extensive damage control on Windows Mobile, making this the best WinMo experience out there right now.

– Not to beat a dead horse, but it’s still Windows Mobile.

We journey to the desert to destroy everything in sight.

PlayStation 3 gamers are in for a special treat on November 19 when the Bad Company 2 multiplayer beta launches exclusively for their favorite system. PC gamers can look for a beta to launch in December, while Xbox 360 users can expect a different demo to launch early next year. I recently got the chance to venture down US-101 to EA’s Redwood Shores studio to get my hands on the PS3 version of the multiplayer beta. Players can look forward to a classic Battlefield experience with tons of vehicles and finely tuned geometry that encourages large vehicular skirmishes in the beta map titled Arica Harbor.

The map is a desert setting with buildings following along a dirt road that bisects pretty much everything in the stage. The mode I played was called Rush and featured an attacking side and a defending side. The attackers were charged with raiding the enemy encampment and destroying two gold bullion locations. You can do this a number of ways. You can either infiltrate the structure housing the gold (or blow the walls up and create your own entrance) and set C4 to do your work, you can rattle off several shots and grenades or you can drive a tank into the place to speed things up.

Among the tanks, hummers and ATVs that Arica houses, there’s also a new vehicle in the form of a small UAV. This is used mainly for scouting as it has limited offensive capabilities. If you get in a bind, there is access to rockets but the reload time is pretty lengthy and the design of the UAV isn’t exactly built for heavy combat.

I found myself selecting the engineer class more often than not as he packs a hefty rocket launcher in his kit along with repair equipment for damaged vehicles. Since this map is filled with all sorts of enemy and friendly vehicles, having the ability to combat and aid them was a must. Grenade shells still do next to nothing against a tank (for whatever reason) so you’ll want to have a heavier weapon in your stash when you hit the sand in Arica.

As I’ve said, this map is perfectly suited for some epic vehicular battles. With TOE missiles garnishing the tops of buildings that look down on the main alleyway there’s plenty of room for players to setup shop above the mayhem. I, on the other hand, liked the more direct approach of hopping in a tank and bringing the hurt. I was disappointed to learn that the build I was playing didn’t feature the squad support that you’ll get to enjoy on November 19. It made it difficult to join up with teammates and formulate a cohesive attack. Hopefully the feature is working well when the beta drops.

The amount of vehicular battles that I saw transpire as my defenders kept getting pushed back — thus making the map expand into new areas — was staggering. Humvees and ATVs were usually the first to hit the scene and were easy enough to deal with, but once the tanks rolled in all hell broke loose. I found that arming myself with a rocket launcher and keeping between the houses worked as the best defense. Tank shells would have to be perfectly aimed to cause damage while sneaking between buildings. It was only when the structures were rendered into rubble that my cover solution got me into trouble.

The Arica Harbor map is a great introduction to classic Battlefield multiplayer for those who haven’t experienced it before. It packs tons of vehicles into a relatively small space and the results can be pretty spectacular. You’ll be able to get your hands on the Arica Harbor map on November 19 if you’re a PS3 gamer, in December if you’re a PC gamer and Xbox 360 players can look forward to a different demo coming early next year.

We’ll have more on Battlefield Bad Company 2 as its March 2, 2010 release date on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC draws closer.

Zune HD users should be able to download the latest firmware update now, and it’s substantial enough to warrant grabbing ASAP. There’s a speedier browser, predictive text entry (a la iPhone), and that’s just the beginning. Updated:

Update: The firmware upgrade went through just fine on my 32GB Zune HD, and I’m definitely seeing an improvement in the browser’s speed. Before, it was mysteriously slow, especially compared to the iPod Touch’s browser—there’s no reason for that, especially given the Zune HD’s speedy Tegra processor. Even with the upgrade, it’s slightly slower than Mobile Safari, especially when loading heavy sites like Gizmodo, but it’s noticeably faster and not at all irritating anymore.

It’s good to see Microsoft offering optimizations, but we’re still waiting for a more major firmware upgrade: Social networking, IM, and YouTube should be top priorities. That being said, I still love the Zune HD—it’s even wowed the notoriously hard-to-please Brian Lam.

Browser:

•Faster performance in navigating web pages
•Option to render pages as Desktop or Mobile (Option in settings)
•Better Tap-To-Zoom
•Better ability to scroll when typing a message online

Keyboard:

•Predictive Text
•Auto capitilization
•Dedicated Settings Menu
•Wider keyboard in landscape mode

Music:

•Artist bios now contain links to songs, other artists, and other albums
Radio:

•Choice of seek method (presets or seek) in settings
Other

•Apps load slightly faster, and the accuracy of the touchscreen is improved during game play.
•Apps close faster
•The power off says “slide down to power off” instead of just “Power Off”
•Faster Startup (less than 15s)

The download should be available through the Zune software, but some 16GB users are reporting it hasn’t been pushed through to them yet. If you can get it, report back with anything else new/better you find.

So let’s just get this out of the way: The Droid is no iPhone killer. But it’s not the iPhone’s doormat, either.
Indeed, I’ve been a devoted iPhone user since the first one came out more than two years ago, but the Droid—with its impressive, easy-to-use interface, killer navigation features, above-average camera, and thriving app store—really got me thinking. Is this the handset that could pry the iPhone out of my cold, dead fingers?

In my case, I’ll probably be sticking with the iPhone for now (especially given that I’m still under an AT&T contract), but that’s me. What about you? Are you wavering between the iPhone and the Droid?

I’ve ticked off 10 categories that should factor into your iPhone-vs.-Droid decision, ranging from how the handsets actually look to how they handle calling duties, Web browsing, navigation, music, video, and more. I’ve tipped a winner for each (well, most) of these categories, but note that the overall score is even, and I haven’t picked an ultimate winner. Why? Because the final decision on which phone’s right for you will depend on your specific needs and wants in a handset.

Still with me? Good. Then let’s begin…

The basics:
Both the 16GB iPhone 3GS and the Motorola Droid (which goes on sale Nov. 6, and comes bundled with a bundled 16GB microSD memory card) sell for $199 with a two-year contract. (If you buy the Droid through Verizon, it’s actually $299 with a $100 mail-in rebate; you can also get the Droid at Best Buy for $199, no mail-in rebate required). Each phone also requires a $30-month 3G service plan. Also, both phones come with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3.5mm headset jacks, and (of course) 3G support.

Look and feel:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, so you’ll have to decide for yourself which phone wins the most style points. Personally, I happen to prefer the iPhone’s sleek lines, slim profile, and relatively light weight. But while the Droid is a bit sharper and boxier, it has a bigger (3.7-inch), sharper display, and at just 0.5 inches thick, it’s the slimmest QWERTY slider I’ve ever laid eyes on. The Droid tips the scales at 6 ounces, nearly an ounce heavier than the iPhone, but it fits quite nicely in a jeans pocket. Winner: Too close to call

Interface:
Google’s Android UI has come a long way in just a year, and with its speedy processor and first-on-the-market implementation of the new Android 2.0, the Droid does a great job of showing off what Android is capable of. I also love the Droid’s ability under Android to let you add live widgets—be they for weather, sports, the music player, Facebook, or Twitter—to the phone’s home screen, and arrange them in any way you so choose. But while the iPhone’s interface isn’t quite as flexible as the Droid’s, it’s unmatched at doing what it does. On the iPhone 3GS in particular, windows, menus, lists, and apps open smoothly and instantaneously, and you’re never at a loss about what to do next. Peppy though it is, the Droid’s UI still feels a big sluggish in comparison. Winner: iPhone

Calling:
The iPhone’s touch-enabled calling interface couldn’t be any easier to use, and it’ll even wirelessly hook into your iCal contacts if you’re willing to shell out $100 a year for a MobileMe subscription. But the Droid arrives with the ability to automatically pull in all your Google and Facebook contacts, for free, and you can also use the downloadable Google Voice app (still unavailable for iPhone) to receive calls from a single Google Voice number, as well as send free text messages and place cheap international calls. Then there’s the issue of which network—AT&T or Verizon Wireless—you want to be on. Your mileage will vary depending on your coverage area, of course, but if I had a nickel for every call my AT&T-bound iPhone has dropped, well … Winner: Droid

Music and video:
Yes, the Droid comes loaded with a basic music player, and there’s also a free podcast application (“Listen”) for download over the Android Marketplace, but neither can hold a candle to the iPhone’s best-in-class, touch-enabled iPod player. And while the Droid packs in a streaming YouTube app, same as the iPhone, it doesn’t come with a build-in video player—that you’ll have to find (and probably pay for) via the Marketplace, (I prefer the 99-cent Act 1 Video player, by the way). Indeed, the Droid doesn’t even support the streaming video clips on Verizon’s V Cast service. The iPhone, on the other hand, plays video out of the box, and you can also rent movies or buy TV episodes over-the-air via iTunes. This one’s a no-brainer. Winner: iPhone

Mapping and navigation:
You can’t beat the iPhone’s Google-powered Maps app when it comes to ease of use, smooth operation, and overall slickness (slickosity?), but the Droid’s mapping features under Android 2.0 pack more punch. Not only do you get the same basic searching and point-to-point direction features, but you also get the digital compass-aided Street View (which automatically changes the Street View perspective depending on the direction in which you’re holding the phone), layers for traffic, satellite view, transit lines, and Wikipedia, and—best of all—Google’s new Navigation app with voice-aided, turn-by-turn directions, just like you’d expect from an in-car navigation system. Great stuff—and free, to boot. Equivalent GPS navigation apps for the iPhone, on the other hand, all come with either monthly fees, exorbitant price tags, or both. Winner: Droid

Web browsing:
The Droid’s solid, touch-enabled Web browser is nothing to sneeze at, and come next year, it’s slated to add support for Flash-powered videos and embedded content. But the Droid’s browser doesn’t support such handy features as multi-touch gestures (for “pinching” or zooming text on a Web page, for example), and it’s not immune to sudden crashes, jerky scrolling, or jumbled HTML rendering. Meanwhile, the iPhone’s Web browser—Flash-less though it is, for now—makes for the smoothest, speediest, and most seamless browsing experience you’ll find on a smartphone. Winner: iPhone

Camera:
The iPhone’s middling camera has been its Achilles heel (or one of them, anyway) ever since it launched, and the iPhone 3GS’s 3-megapixel, auto-focus snapper is only marginally better. The Droid, however, boasts a 5MP camera with auto-focus, a dual LED flash for night shots, and image stabilization, not to mention sharp (if not quite “DVD quality”) video recording. The Droid’s snapshots might not measure up to, say, the gorgeous photos you can get from the Nokia N97 or the Samsung Memoir on T-Mobile, but it easily bests the often-murky pictures that the iPhone cranks out, particularly in low-light conditions. Winner: Droid

Messaging:
Pretty much an even playing field here, especially since AT&T finally enabled picture messaging for the iPhone. Both the Droid and the iPhone now support corporate Exchange accounts, not to mention push e-mail, Web accounts (like Gmail, of course, Yahoo!, AOL, etc.), and POP/IMAP mailboxes. Both handsets do threaded messaging for SMS and picture messages, but neither has a unified inbox for all your e-mail accounts and text messages (the Android- and MotoBlur-powered Motorola Cliq does, but the Droid doesn’t). Winner: Tie

Apps:
The Android Marketplace is undeniably growing at a steady clip, with about 10,000 free and paid apps now available for download, including some (like Google Voice) that you won’t find on iTunes (or at least, not yet). But who are we kidding: Apple’s App Store has close to one hundred thousand apps, including a wide selection of cutting-edge mobile games (Real Racing, Doom: Resurrection, F.A.S.T. Modern Combat: Sandstorm, for starters), productivity apps (like DataViz’s Docs to Go), communication (Skype, now over 3G), social networking (Facebook, MySpace, Foursquare), sports, weather, navigation … the list goes on. The Android Marketplace may be gaining momentum, but the App Store has a massive head start. Winner: iPhone

Battery life:
The iPhone’s become notorious for its iffy battery life, and for good reason. There are days when my iPhone barely limps past dinnertime, and that’s after only moderate use, and since the iPhone battery is sealed inside the case, you can’t swap in a fresh one when you’re on the road. The Droid, on the other hand, does has a user-replaceable battery, and its battery life is pretty solid; in my tests, it made it though nearly six hours of voice calls on a single charge. Watch out for those multitasking Android apps, though. I unwisely elected to allow IM+, an instant messaging application, to stay connected while the phone was asleep; an hour later, the red-hot Droid was burning a hole in my pocket, and its battery capacity had plunged to just 25 percent. Oops. Winner: Droid

So, which phone is right for you? The Droid? The iPhone? Neither? Let us know.

Those lucky enough to live in Europe will soon (as in November 6th soon) be able to purchase a special edition of that black Nintendo Wii some of us have been drooling over for the past few months. Sure, it’s just a regular Wii… but it’s black, which is so much cooler. Well someone’s finally gotten their hands on it and done an unboxing, and we have to say that it looks even better than it did in the press shots. The limited edition Black Wii bundle with Wii Sports Resort and a Motion Plus controller will run you around £164.99 in the UK, and those of us in the US? Well, we’ll just have to make due with the black controller and nunchuk. There are a few more shots after the break. Hit the read link for the full unboxing and video.

Of course this Iron Man anime is totally badass—Japan’s made cartoons about dudes in robot suits for over 40 years. And of course, Iron Man is blowing up a bunch of other dudes in crazy robot suits.

That bad guy is creepy—like a cross between M. Bison and this dude I saw on the cover of an anime in Blockbuster when I was 5 and gave me nightmares for a while and Guyver.

The show’s for the Japanese market by the animation giant Madhouse, so except for Iron Man looking like Iron Man and beating ass, it won’t be a whole lot like the all-American Iron Man we know. Still, I seriously hope they consider re-importing it so I don’t have to download fansub