The little console that could is showing the the biggest player in the market how it is done.  The value priced and family friendly Wii console is outselling the highly touted and pricey PlayStation 3 almost 6 to 1.

 Nintendo sold 270,974 Wii consoles last month while Sony sold 41,628 PS3s, according to Enterbrain, a Japanese publisher that tracks console sales.

Nintendo has sold about 2.76m Wii consoles in Japan since the launch last December, while Sony has sold 970,270 PS3s since it debuted last November.

About 17,616 Xbox 360 consoles were sold in June.

Who would have thought that the device where motion sensor controllers, average graphics, and a recent history of so-so consoles would be outselling the big boy at Sony and Microsoft.  Maybe companies will rethink their $600 gaming consoles in favor of more price friendly and family friendly systems.  The Wii is still hard to find in some areas and is fetching a premium on autcion sites.

Which console do you have? If you could buy any of the big three right now which would you get?

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Filed under: PS3, Wii, XBOX 360, Video Games

The countdown to the release of the iPhone is only 3 days away and today pricing plans came out for the new gadget.  The plans start at $59.99 for a basic plan and go as high as $99.99 per month for some more airtime.  These price plans are in line with comparable plans for smartphones from other carriers, but shares of Apple fell over 2% on the news.

Three monthly plans with a minimum two-year service contract will be available: the $59.99 plan includes 450 minutes of voice time; a $79.99 plan includes 900 minutes; and a $99.99 plan includes 1,350 minutes. All three offer 200 text messages, unlimited data services, minutes that roll over month-to-month and mobile-to-mobile calls. There also is a $36 activation fee.

Customers can pay extra for plans to get more talk time or text messages. Several family-style plans also are available, ranging from $80 a month for 700 shared minutes to $120 for 2,100 shared minutes.

People have already begun camping out for the phone on 5th Ave in New York City.  At&T stores will be closing their doors at 4:30pm on Friday to pepare for the release at 6pm.  They have also hired on 2000 temporary workers to deal with the expected influx of customers and curious  gadget freaks not yet willing to buy the first generation device.  I for one will be one of the folks just checking it out because it will do to smartphones what the iPod did for digital music.

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Filed under: iPhone, PDA/Cell Phone

Microsoft has announced that it’s biggest game franchise will release it’s newest installment on September 25th. Halo 3 is the final installed of the franchise and it is expected to be blockbuster in not only game sales, but in driving sales of XBOX 360 consoles and XBOX Live members. The game will comes in three different varieties ranging in price from $60 - $130. Expect many midnight release vents for this game and for those serious die-hards out there make sure to pick up your new limited edition Halo Zone player.

The Zune - Halo 3 Edition (estimated retail price $249) will be available exclusively at GameStop starting June 15.

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Filed under: Games, XBOX 360, Digital Music

With the growth in popularity of mp3 cell phones it is now necessary to find a way to enjoy your new music purchases on some real speakers.  Well Jabra and Klipsch have teamed up to produce a sleek cell phone docking station so you can blast those tunes.  The device offers multiple connection options making it compatible with most phones, has high quality Klipsch speakers, and has some impressive bass so you can feel the music.  On the down side though there are some substantial drawbacks that might make you hesitate before buying.  The unit will not charge your device while playing so actual enjoyment time will be dependent on your devices battery life.  Also there is no compatibility with iPods, it has no remote, and the top volume won’t knock your socks off.  For a price of $149 list price you might want to look around to find it  a bit cheaper or wait for the next release to blast those cell phone tunes.

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Filed under: Audio/Visual, Digital Music, PDA/Cell Phone

The HP iPaq 510 smartphone might be the first truly hands-free messaging phone. The phone sacrifices a QWERTY keyboard and gives you a voice recognition system that allows you to “write” messages via a bluetooth headset. The device also comes equipped with Wi-Fi and is VOIP-enabled giving you more options than a Blackberry or other Windows Mobile devices. Speaking of the OS the iPaq run on Windows Mobile 6 and will create a seamless transition from your desktop. The 510 will be released soon and should make quite a stir now that RIM has announced a Blackberry plugin to allow Windows Mobile devices to connect to Blackberry Enterprise Servers.

Work in motion
• Take your office on the road with productivity applications and the office functionality of mobile versions of Windows. Get to your most important Smartphone tasks quickly and easily with personalized shortcuts.

Speak your mind
• Voice Commander provides your own personal Voice Valet. Use spoken commands to perform a multitude of tasks. Have e-mails read to you and reply without typing. Dial a contact by name or digits. Get appointments read to you.

Talk for hours
• Up to 6.75 hours of talk time. Save your wireless airtime minutes while in the office with VoIP (Voice Over IP) over your company’s wireless LAN (WiFi) and PBX phone system.

Small in size, big on features
• A handy Setup Assistant enables network administrators to manage a fleet of HP iPAQ handhelds. Take more work with you with large internal storage capacity and SD card expandability.

Protect your mobile work
• Outlook security helps keep e-mail and other documents secure. Remotely erase data on lost or misplaced devices. iPAQ persistent storage helps protect your data, settings, and installed applications.

Warranty
• One-year parts and labor in most regions; 90 days technical support for software.

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Filed under: HP, PDA/Cell Phone