Technofile:The European launch of the PlayStation 3 appears to be going okay so far. It became the fastest selling games console in the UK. Gaming industry website GamesIndustry.biz found 165,000 consoles were bought in the two days following the console's launch. That means Sony beat the Wii and Xbox 360, but not the PlayStation Portable, writes Mike Butcher.
The figures indicate that gamers are getting over the high price of the PlayStation 3, which, at €599, is notably pricier that the Wii, which costs €249, and Microsoft's Xbox 360 at €449.
n Speaking of the Xbox 360, a new version dubbed Elite has been announced by Microsoft. It will be black, have connections for high definition TV, a 120GB hard drive and a one-month Xbox Live trial.
Launching first in the US, with a wireless controller but without an integrated HD DVD drive, there are no details on arrival date or prices for Ireland yet.
•LG has signed a worldwide deal with Google to give its users access to Google's mobile applications.
This would appear to scotch the rumours that Google was developing a mobile handset of its own.
Google Maps, Gmail and Blogger will all be preloaded onto 10 LG handsets and Google search will be available just by clicking an icon on the mobile's application menu. The phones should be available in the summer and marketed as LG-Google handsets.
Some analysts are now saying Google will stick with working on mobile phone software. But then, you never know with Google.
•Nokia tried to crack the gaming market with its N-Gage handset a few years ago. The effort fell pretty flat. But the new strategy is to just make available gaming software. Some Series 60 phones released recently - they haven't specified which yet - will run some of the new games due out this summer. The games will be subscription free and the emphasis is on free trials. There will also be a TV connection on some Series 60 phones, which means you can play these same games on your TV as well. Check out Futurewatch.n-gage.com
• Rumours are circulating online that Apple is looking for a a single pan-European mobile network to help launch its iPhone by the end of the year. Vodafone is being tipped as an early frontrunner by some, although Vodafone's partner in the US is Verizon and the iPhone launches first there with AT&T.
Whoever gets it, the hype around the phone remains. Apple said recently that it has had more than one million enquiries about the iPhone.
• Laptops and PDAs could soon be several times more powerful if Samsung has its way. It has developed a Solid Flash Drive packing in 64GB, which would outperform the conventional rotating-media hard drives on battery life and performance.
The one drawback? To begin with they will be more expensive. Ain't that just the way with technology. . .
