UMPC v2 roundup: the dawn of Vistagami

The UMPC is a relative no-show here at CES compared to its viral, CeBIT 2006 origins. Still, we managed to track down and get up close and personal with devices like the Kohjinsha SA1F00A, Samsung PH-P9000, OQO Model 02, and Medion and even checked a preview of the new Origami Experience UI for Vista. HTC's UMPC, which may or not be the Athena, is absent but there's still hope for a formal announcement in March at the CTIA wireless show. In a surreal moment, we even witnessed a visibly shaken Intel exec demonstrating "Yahoo! Go for UMPC" to Yahoo's CFO while a VIA exec (Intel's biggest competition on this platform) quietly snaked through the crowd nearby. Only at CES, friends. We also managed to extract the UMPC v2 reference designs from the recessed bowels of Intel -- displayed almost as an afterthought, not a highlight. The verdict? Vista on these new UMPCs coupled with the new Origami Experience UI is a big step in the right direction. The "Yahoo UMPC" reference design we saw at Intel's IDF felt very solid in the hand, and features a well positioned thumbpad we found easy to use while holding the device two handed -- a design which might have a chance of success if picked up by an OEM. Intel also has a few new reference designs under glass: a chubby, slim-screened slider and another perched in a fat brown media dock with integrated DVD and AV outs. The Medion? Forget it, the keyboard is plain and simply, unusable and the device felt poorly engineered. Word is that Intel will have their new, ultra-low power mobile processor for these v2 UMPCs ready before the end of Q2. That, coupled with Vistagami might finally give the platform a fighting chance this summer.

Apple confirms Paramount and iTunes deal

It's official, Viacom's Paramount Pictures will indeed offer its movies for download over Apple's iTunes service. Some 250 titles in fact, including Tomb Raider, Italian Job, Wrath of Khan, Chinatown, Zoolander, School of Rock, and Sum of all Fears. The titles are currently being moved into the iTunes store and once available, should cost the same (no pricing was given) as the Disney films already available: $9.99 apiece for most titles, $14.99 for new releases and $12.99 for pre-orders.

LG is about to get it right...

So LG has announced their dual-format HD DVD/Blu-ray player? Fantastic. Time Warner goes so far as to create dual-format discs? Pop open the bubbly. But you know something? It didn't take long for my initial feeling of elation to give way to 100% certified organic bile.

Absolutely none of this was necessary. Remember DVD, the little media format that could (and turns ten in a few months)? It seems like ancient history now, but it took some time for the various companies to agree on a single format back then. While it's something of a cliché to mention the Betamax/VHS videocassette format war these days, in the mid-1990s Sony had only just closed up the Betamax shop. I'd like to think that, with Sony still smarting, retailers unhappily clearing out excess Betamax stock and Betamax owners angrily trying to figure out what to do with their machines and tapes, the companies realized things go a lot smoother when everyone agrees at the outset.

It's hard to argue with the result. The DVD format was adopted pretty quickly and has gone on to remake the movie and home video industries; and we've now gotten to the point where DVD utterly dominates the home video landscape.

Then, just in case anyone though that was DVD's uptake was a fluke, there came the DVD+R/DVD-R debacle, where consumers had to decide which format they'd commit their data or video archives to. When Sony came out with the first multi-format burners, consumers breathed a collective sigh of relief.

All of which is a roundabout way of saying that the entertainment and tech industries had plenty of evidence to show that just agreeing on a single format is best for everyone involved, saving a lot of time, energy and money. But no, they had to go off into their separate rooms, and the results of that intransigence -- including the eventual appearance of dual-format players -- were predictable.

Years ago, Simpsons creator Matt Groening related his frustration with trying to make a Simpsons movie in the nineties. As he related it, during one of the meetings with all the%

Xbox 360 HD Movie/TV Downloads Doing Well, More on the Way

The ability to download HD movies on the Xbox 360 was deemed by industry insiders to be the most successful story in digital downloads of 2006. Movie downloads for sale or rent from the Xbox Live Internet service are doing surprisingly well, and Microsoft is in talks to procure more content from all the major studios, well, except Sony, which competes against the Xbox 360 with its PlayStation 3.

Doing particularly well are the movies offered in HD, not surprising since many Xbox 360 owners are already playing their console games in high definition. Industry wags say consumers are lukewarm about downloading movies on their PCs and Macs, because there's no convenient way to watch those movies in their living rooms or home theaters. Not so with the Xbox 360, which has already made its inroads into the TV room.
Competing download services such as Amazon Unbox have discovered that it's hard to get people interested in downloading movies for playback on PCs, as evidenced by slow sales of the company's downloads. Sources at movie studios say some titles on the Amazon service have barely even garnered 100 downloads each.

I've downloaded movies and video content on Xbox Live, and it's a seamless and cost-effective experience, where even HD movies cost just a dollar more than their standard-definition counterparts and download surprisingly quickly. The compression quality is quite good, too, although the content is offered in resolutions of 720p or 1080i, and not in the desirable highest-resolution 1080p. The only problem with the service thus far is that not enough content is offered in high definition.

Besides the Xbox 360, there's other help on the way. Apple's iTV device is set to be released soon, and that might help consumers bridge that chasm of convergence between their Macs and PCs and the home entertainment center. Making it easy to play movies where the TV set resides is the key to luring people into downloading content

DivX watches HDTV as its compression technology expands

The video compression and playback technology was found in only about 5 percent of U.S. DVDs in the first quarter, but the figure climbed to about 20 percent in the third quarter, according to Jordan Greenhall, CEO of DivX, the company of the same name.
Jordan Greenhall Jordan Greenhall

The lack of DivX players in the U.S. is mostly just a problem of inertia and not part of a plot to keep the technology out of the country, Greenhall said in a meeting this week, ahead of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. "It's the DivX conspiracy theory. You can get it in Canada, but you can't get it in the U.S."

Manufacturers don't want to put something on their boxes until they see that buyers want it. That's finally begun to happen, so manufacturers are responding.

The company charges a licensing fee of about $1 to $2 every time a manufacturer loads the company's software onto a device. To date, Europe and Asia have been the more popular geographies for the company.

DivX essentially sells software that lets viewers watch videos encoded with DivX software. Years ago, consumers used it for a vehicle for piracy, and the company was reviled by studios. A few years ago, the company started to more actively support digital-rights management and now works with entertainment companies.

A sign of corporate respectability came this year when DivX held an IPO. The stock went out at $16 in September and now sells for more than $28. (Initially, the company planned to price its shares at between $12 and $14.)

So what will DivX talk about at CES? It wants to branch out into high-definition TV. Blu-ray Disc players and HD DVD players are too expensive for consumers in India or Eastern Europe. The company will try to cut deals with Bollywood executives and film producers in those countries to get them to adopt a high-definition version of DivX, Greenhall said.

"The supply of DivX HD content will be compelling," he said. The San Diego, Calif.-based company also plans to promote Stage 6, its own video site, at the conference. Professional filmmakers post their movies there--some are known, some are unknown. The site mostly seeks to attract artists who aren't getting mainstream recognition.

"We do outreach to find some of this stuff," he said. "If you have been doing postproduction in Hollywood for 10 years, you've got to have a lot of interesting material. The number of people who make a living in the video industry is pretty big."

One thing that won't likely happen soon, though, is a deal with a studio in the United States. In late 2004, the company said it was negotiating with a couple of major studios, but the deals fell through.

"It was kind of depressing. We thought they would be realistic," Greenhall said.

iPod Video to be a FLOP + GiZmodos field trip on tiny video devices...

Nielsen Media Research, that company that watches the TV watchers, did a study last month about Apple's iPod and the amount of video that people are actually watching on it. The result? People are listening to a whole lot more music than they are watching videos on the portable players. Less than 1% of content played on iTunes or iPods were videos, and even among those who own a video iPod, only 2.2% of the content consumed was video. What does this all mean? According to the Hollywood Reporter:

Worst-case scenario: The panel is an early indication that TV and movies have limited appeal on iPods. Best-case scenario: While adoption of video may be proceeding more slowly than the hype suggests, there is tremendous upside ahead.

We're thinking that people are using iPods so much, 2.2% of the huge amount of time spent with the things is still a significant number. But then, isn't watching video on such a tiny screen a huge pain in the ass? I just spent over 50 hours in various airplanes watching all kinds of video on tiny screens, so let me tell you what I think, after the jump.

My impression of watching video on a small screen? It depends on how small that screen is and how desperate you are to be entertained. I've noticed that I have a personal threshold for the smallness of video that I can still enjoy. I tried a few different screen sizes in my informal field test, traveling half-way around the world and watching a lot of video. Along for the ride I had a Motorola Q which has a 2.25-inch 4x3 screen, an Archos 404 with a 3.5-inch 4x3 screen, and a Sony PSP with a 4.25-inch widescreen.

On a screen the size of the Motorola Q's, it's extremely hard to enjoy any sort of cinematic content, because it's just too damn small. Trying to watch a football game in Los Angeles that I was receiving via EVDO using SlingPlayer Mobile was an exercise in futility, where the players all looked like tiny ants running around on the screen. About the only thing a screen that size is useful for is getting some talking-heads news information or something very simple. Either way, it's hardly worth the trouble.

Moving up to the next larger-size screen, the Archos 404's 3.5-inch 4x3 screen was almost big enough for watching 4x3 content, but still leaves me wanting when watching letterboxed movies. It just seems like a waste of perfectly good video content to watch it on a screen that's just 3.5 inches diagonal. The Archos screen had an unusually shallow viewing angle, not good if you want to watch a video with a friend. But this could have an upside, too—you won't bother your prudish seatmate if you want to pull out that porn vid you've been meaning to watch but just haven't gotten around to.

The Sony PSP is a different story. Its 16x9 screen is exceedingly sharp and is just big enough to enjoy movies. Of course, if you get suckered into buying a movie on the brain-dead UMD format, there is an upside to that: its video is exceedingly crispy-sharp. Even ripped movies from DVDs look like HDTV on this beautiful little screen. Watching movies on the PSP was far more pleasurable than with the other two examples I tried, and the audio sounds great with a decent pair of earphones, making me almost forget I was flying in a pressurized tin can six miles above the planet.

I did notice that the more desperate I got to be entertained on these interminably long flights (one was 18 hours long), the easier it was to tolerate the smaller screens. Plus, if the movie I was watching was really good, I could get so absorbed in the content that it didn't matter much that I was only watching on a small screen. But this is only true with the PSP. Anything smaller than 4 inches, in my opinion, gets to be annoying to watch after a while, no matter what.

One other note: I found myself constantly wishing for some sort of stand or easel that could hold up each of these players on the tray table, because it gets tiresome to hold a player in your hand for hours on end while watching long movies.

Plus, when loading up the players with video, it's quite an arduous process to convert a DVD into a movie that can be viewed on them, but that's getting easier all the time, too.

Summing up, I believe there is a big market for location-shifting using portable video players, because people are sometimes desperate for entertainment. Plus, the threshold of pain varies from user to user; your mileage may vary. – Charlie White

From gIzmoDo

Must-have Sony PlayStation 3 accessories

The PlayStation 3 is finally available for sale--in theory, anyway. Those fortunate few who were lucky enough to get their hands on Sony's bleeding-edge console will find that it's chock full of features, but there are some choice accessories you'll want to pick up to maximize the PS3 experience.

Extra controllers: The PS3 supports up to seven wireless controllers, but two to four is still the standard for most multiplayer games. Since the console ships with just a single controller, you'll need to pick up at least one more if you want to go head-to-head on launch titles like Resistance: Fall of Man, Madden NFL 07, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, or NBA 07. The old PS2 controllers won't work on your PlayStation 3, so your choices are limited. You can opt for another Sony SIXAXIS wireless controller ($50, identical to the one included with the console) or go for the Logitech ChillStream ($40), a PS3-ified version of the accessory giant's fan-cooled PC gamepad. It'll keep your palms sweat-free, but--unlike the SIXAXIS--it's not wireless.

HDMI cable: Sony has touted the PS3's high-definition pedigree at every turn, so it's rather ironic that the company ships both versions of the PS3 with just a composite A/V cable--which can't deliver any high-def resolutions, let alone the vaunted best-in-class 1080p. To see the games and Blu-ray movies in HD (and we're assuming you have a compatible HDTV), your best bet is to get an HDMI cable, which provides an all-digital audio and video connection from the PS3 to your HDTV (or A/V receiver) on a single wire. A lot of people are under the impression that HDMI cables can't be had for under $80--and, to be sure, you'll pay $100 or more for premium brand names such as tk prod Monster and Belkin PureAV. But we've had good luck with "generic" brands, which can be obtained for as little as $20--if not less.

Home router (wired or wireless): With the PS3, Sony will be debuting a massive online infrastructure that will allow users to play games head-to-head, download demos, access exclusive multimedia content, and communicate with fellow gamers. And unlike Microsoft's Xbox Live, Sony is pledging that basic online game play will be free of charge (Title-specific subscriptions, upgrades and special offers will cost money, of course). The PS3 even includes a built-in Web browser. To access all that online content, of course, you'll need a broadband connection. Both versions of the PS3 include an Ethernet port (and an Ethernet cable), and the 60GB "deluxe" version offers built-in Wi-Fi to boot. Just make sure you have a router in the vicinity.

PS2 memory card adaptor: Despite reports of some incompatibilities, the PlayStation 3 is designed to play nearly all of the past PS2 and even original PlayStation games right out of the box. And unlike the Nintendo Wii, you won't need your old controllers or memory cards--the PS3 controller will work fine with the old games, and you can save your progress to the internal hard drive. But for those die-hards who've started a game of God of War or Final Fantasy XII on the PS2, and have their progress saved on the old console's proprietary memory cards, Sony's got a workaround. Just plug in the memory card adaptor ($15) to one of the PS3's USB ports, and you can copy all your saved games onto the new system. So, unlike Xbox owners who were forced to exile all their old saved games when upgrading to a 360, you won't have to start those games from scratch.

A game: Unlike the Wii, the PS3 ships without a game in the box (though initial shipments of the console include the Will Ferrell movie Talladega Nights on Blu-ray). As mentioned above, most of your old PS2 games should work just fine, but to see the new console pumping pixels at its full potential, you'll want to get at least one of the new games available. Resistance: Fall of Man--a PS3 exclusive--is an early favorite.

Only five accessories? That's it? For starters, yes. Once we get a taste of the PS3's online features (activated only hours ago), we'll update the list to include other add-ons (Bluetooth headsets, anyone?). Of course, the PS3 will really shine when integrated into a top-notch home theater--with a large HDTV and a full-on surround sound audio system--but calling either of those an "accessory" would be a stretch.

CNET

A long-distance call on an Apple phone

my first post had too be cool so well here it goes....

A juicy Apple rumor is always sure to get bloggers salivating, and this one is no exception: reports began trickling out of Taiwan this week that contract manufacturer Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, has received an order to produce 12 million Apple iPhones.

Hon Hai produces iPods for Apple and makes mobile phone components. Taiwan's Commercial Times first reported the rumor, citing unidentified industry sources, and both Apple and Hon Hai have refused to comment.

The iPhone has long been a dream of Apple fans, and the latest incarnation of the rumor has the devices being announced at MacWorld in January.

Despite the lack of any solid details about a phone, bloggers had no problems voicing their opinion about the product's technology, advertising and business strategy.

Blog community response:

"Apple will face difficulties. Carriers are the ultimate power-players in this game, and they will exert control over revenue splits and pricing. Apple may be viewed as a competitor, and that could affect its inclusion in subsidized hardware plans. Regardless, millions already pay hefty price tags for their iPods, and that willingness will likely extend into the mobile phone realm."
--Digital Music News

"One of the rather interesting marketing aspects I've read about is the idea that the iPhone won't be tied to any specific carrier. Instead, it will be sold 'unlocked,' requiring you to insert a GSM subscriber identity (SIM) card. The downside: Apple won't get any subsidies or special deals from working with the likes of Cingular or T-Mobile. The upside: such an approach opens up most of the world as the target market instead of just the US."
--Blackfriars Marketing

"Apple already knows computers. I've noticed more and more cell phones have computer-like functionality, like email, web browsing, playing music, and showing movies. Apple already knows how to do all of this stuff simply, and more."
--Webomatica

"The introduction of the unlocked iPhone will do two things - it would basically get US buyers savvy to the idea of buying full priced unlocked phones. Secondly, it is going to cause a behavior change - of buying phones instead of freebies. It won't be a mass-market phenomenon in the early stages, but eventually (as shown by iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle), Apple will bring the iPhone prices down to a mass-market price point."
--Om Malik

Zune OR iPod ...Microsoft or Apple??

Now it comes down to the final question: should you buy the iPod or the Zune? After 72 hours of deliberating, I'll tell you what I would do. Since I've got an iPod, I'm sticking with the iPod. I don't want to have to buy all my music again, give up smart playlists, and basically learn to use both a new player and the corresponding software. Then there are all the accessories I don't want to purchase again. Plus, since there's no OS X support, Mac users have their choice made up for them. Say you're not using the iPod, or are ready to try something different. Now, you've got a lot more options...

You really like the music/picture sharing: Zune. It's a feature not found on the iPod, but will have limited use unless your friends all buy Zunes. Chicken & Egg problem, where you don't want to buy one until other people have it, which means it'll take a while to get up to speed.

You want a bigger screen: Zune.

You need an all-you-can-eat subscription service: Zune.

You want a store with a larger music library: iPod.

You want a movie and TV store: iPod.

You want contacts, calendar, notes, stopwatch, and iPod Games: iPod.

You want to be different/want something new: Zune.

Xbox 360 owners who purchase music and want streaming: Zune.

Xbox 360 owners who purchase music and don't want streaming: iPod.

You want a scratch resistant player: Zune.

You want a built-in FM tuner: Zune.

You want a touch-sensitive scroll wheel: iPod.

For most people,I am going to recommend you get an iPod. It's got more support, plus it's backed by iTunes, which works well and gives you a lot more choice in music, TV, and movie purchases.

Of course if you want a subscription service, or a bigger screen, or a built-in FM tuner, then there's the Zune. But if you're borderline between the Zune and the iPod, I'd play it safe and get the iPod, then wait for the 2nd generation Zune and see what's going on.

Zune Product Page [Amazon]

iPod Product Page [Amazon]

Microsoft launches the Zune, world keeps on turnin'

The world rumored speculated and finally its available the so called iPod Killer is in the market for 250$ Your call... Me? I find the box and the product UGLY!Anyway some might disagree and well some might agree anyway its democracy man welcome Zune welcome!!!!

Apple Teams Up With Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM & United to Deliver iPod Integration

CUPERTINO, California—November 14, 2006—Apple® today announced it is teaming up with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to deliver the first seamless integration between iPod® and in-flight entertainment systems. These six airlines will begin offering their passengers iPod seat connections which power and charge their iPods during flight and allow the video content on their iPods to be viewed on the their seat back displays.

“There is no better traveling companion than an iPod, and now travelers can power their iPods during flight and even watch their iPod movies and TV shows on their seat back displays,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing. “We’re excited to work with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to offer iPod users an even better in-flight experience.”

In-flight iPod connectivity will be available to Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United passengers beginning in mid 2007. Additionally, Apple is working with Panasonic Avionics Corporation to bring even more leading airlines in-flight iPod connectivity in the future.

The iPod ecosystem continues to flourish with more than 3,000 accessories made specifically for iPod that range from fashionable cases to speaker systems, and more than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles currently offer iPod connectivity.

iPod and iTunes® are leading the digital music revolution, providing the best way to listen to music on the go, at home, in the car and now on an airplane. With nearly 70 million iPods sold, the iPod is the world’s most popular digital music and portable video player and the iTunes Store is the number one online music store with over 1.5 billion songs purchased and downloaded worldwide. The iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) features over 3.5 million songs, 65,000 podcasts, 20,000 audiobooks, 5,000 music videos, 250 television shows and over 100 movies from Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online store.

Get a PS3 in Hong Kong (legally) for cheap!

Now its not quite the news happening in the world of PS3'z well but if you are in Hong Kong on November 17th you could get a ps3 60GB for just
{US}486$, reported by Engadget this story is very strange and funny but well lets continue, but if you wanna wait till decmber you could get the 20GB one for 408$ now well the USA pricing are 600$ and 500$ respectively so well all those lucky dogs out there nJoy!

Steve Jobs ..The man Behind Apple

Steve Jobs the most elite man in the world of technology today , rude yet friendly he signifies to me a total business man, my role model and the perfect human ... he is frank and the best part he runs my favorite company Apple Computer Inc; The company in which I dream to work in. Steve Jobs has taken wrong decisions in life but doesn't regret them an excellent human and well, the cool guy on the block has too be Steve Jobs,. Steve just makes it possible. Thanks Steve ..Thanks for making computers as they are now.
For his biography go to
The Wikipedia entry on STEVE JOBS

Apple has done IT....

Apple Computer has filed for a trademark on the term iPhone, suggesting the company plans to use the moniker, recently popularized amongst the analyst and blogging communities, as the official name for its highly-anticipated iPod cell phone.

The filing, made last month with a Far Eastern trademark office, is the latest in a long list of incontrovertible evidence to suggest the Cupertino, Calif.-based iPod maker is in the final developmental stages of the project, which is expected to merge traditional cellular capabilities with an iPod digital music player.

In the September 15th filing, Apple describes iPhone as "handheld and mobile digital electronic devices for the sending and receiving of telephone calls, faxes, electronic mail, and other digital data; MP3 and other digital format audio players."

Under the primary but broad classification, Apple said iPhone may also consist of "electronic handheld units for the wireless receipt and/or transmission of data that enable the user to keep track of or manage personal information."

Similarly, it may include "software for the redirection of messages, Internet e-mail, and/or other data to one or more electronic handheld devices from a data store on or associated with a personal computer or a server; and software for the synchronization of data between a remote station or device and a fixed or remote station or device."

Of particular interest is a secondary classification of iPhone listed in the filing which pertains to a "stand alone video game machine," implying that the device may be compatible with the handful of arcade games recently introduced for Apple's fifth-generation video iPod players. The games are available for purchase and download from the company's iTunes Store for $4.99 a piece.

According to the filing, which remains under examination, Apple originally sought the iPhone trademark back in March, when it filed a similar request with a trademark office in a nation off the coast of South America.

Analysts and journalists have frequently use the term iPhone in reference to the company's cell phone initiative because of a December 16, 1999 domain registry by the iPod maker for iPhone.org. To this date, iPhone.org redirects to Apple's homepage at Apple.com.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, who has been known to blab to cronies about his company's upcoming cell phone device, is believed to have commissioned the release of prototypes to at least two potential OEM manufacturing partners earlier this year.

People familiar with the project have told AppleInsider that Apple is designing the initial handsets to conform with its integrated model in such a way that they will leverage the company's tightly-knit digital media franchises.

Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research, has also been high in his convictions that Apple will soon introduce an iPhone based on an iPod nano-like candy bar form factor. He said checks indicate the device will be available in three colors.

"Our research indicates that an Apple-designed smart phone has moved from concept to prototype and recently has progressed to near completion as a production unit," the analyst wrote in a note to Apple investors last month. "We believe this smart phone has been in development for over 12 months and has overcome substantial challenges including design, interference, battery life and other technical glitches."

Should Apple gain a 1 percent share in the billion unit worldwide cell phone market, it could generate an addition $2 billion in yearly revenue, according to Wu, who based the assumption on yearly sales of 10 million units at an average selling price of $200 per unit.

From
THE APPLE INSIDER

There are wild rumors, and there are interesting rumors, but here's a doozy for ya: Xbox Live could soon start vending HD movie content, according to one freshly minted Wordpress blog (take that for what it's worth). According to Shsibae (huh?), over 1000+ hours of video will make its way onto Live for rental at about $4 a go, or for purchase (at an unstated price). Hard to imagine Xbox 360 doing for PC-free online movie downloads what all the other companies couldn't or haven't (we're looking at you TiVo, Netflix, iTV, etc.), but then again Microsoft did start up with that Xbox Live music video download thing last year. Seriously though, what a coup would that be if Microsoft swooped in to make the Xbox 360 the premier digital content hub -- with or without HD DVD -- right underneath Sony's nose at the eve of their PlayStation 3 launch? We just hope Microsoft would have a larger drive waiting in the wings if this one turns up roses though, our 20GB is already packed to the gills with game demos.