The Zone

Okay, so its that time of the year again - Google has announced that the registrations for the Google Code Jam 2008 is now open, and programmers are allowed to use their noggins to solve interesting problems. Glory in the form of recognizesd |337 h@XX0r skills! To join in the fun head over to code.google.com/codejam

Want to be your own entrepreneur? Animax will be holding a contest for budding entrepreneurs to showcase their talents and skills. The contest "I wanna be an Entrepreneur!" is pretty straightforward: submit a business proposal related to "youth interest products and services" and you stand a chance to be one of 5 people selected and given a seed fund of RM300.You have to hurry, though, as the closing submission date is this Friday, 27th June 2008.

For more info, check out Animax-Asia or the Animax Youth Festival website. Click the jump for the full press release!

Yeap, we had our fair share with the spore Creature Creator Trial, and while the small palette of parts seemed limiting at first, you can never underestimate the power of the human imagination lol. One striking thing that we noticed while playing God was that Spore has seamless sharing intergration when it comes to showing off your stuff. You can download creatures just by saving their JPEG images from the online Sporepedia, you can upload your own creations to YouTube without quitting the game, and you can even snap IM avatars and such using the tools provided. I've even got a Spore gadget that shows my creations on Facebook! Is Spore really a next-gen online social device? We'll have to wait and see.  

MIMOS recently did an MOU with FTEC to manufacture and produce among other things, the new iDOLA computer platform. Most Malaysian's won't know what we're talking about unless you mention that the iDOLA (and its scaled down version; the JEN ii) is the renamed Makcik computer which was all the hype earlier in the year. Produced and developed by MIMOS in collaboration with MOSTI the iDOLA has been transferred to FTEC for commercialization. Complete details about the computer are still sketchy but for now we can say that it is a lightweight tablet PC running off of the new Intel Atom processor. Read about the full event and more details in our latest issue of HWM.

HAR HAR HAR

something.....solid....and metal...Must be Japanese! The funny dudes are from EA's upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company. Hopefully the in-game humor is of this level. 

It seems that Intel isn't quite ready in revealing its USB 3.0 plans just yet and its partners are getting impatient as quite a bit of work has to go into their respective host controllers and the later they recieve the specsheet from Intel, the more they'll have to spend in controller RnD. Too bad NVIDIA and gang (AMD, SiS and VIA) has teamed up to produce a host controller of their own, in a race to the first marketable product. So what does this mean for consumers like you and me? We'll have to wait even longer for that 4.8Gbps cable link. Then again, the wait will be worth it as the more mature product gets shipped unless Intel pulls off another specs change. 

Okay, so Apple did the inevitable and launched the 3G Jesusphone iPhone. While it does have improvements over the previous model, we're still miffed about the supposedly 1.4Mbps 3G cap, video calls, or for the lack of it, and the fact that Malaysia is completely overlooked in their global roadmap launchings. The only silver lining in this cloud is that unlocked previous-gen phones will definitely drop in price! That's how i'll get my grubby paws on one  

Need to stay alert and ahead of the competition when playing videogames? Instead of sugary energy drinks or dodgy health supplements, why not try something more natural and tried-and-tested? Like Brand’s Essence of Chicken? I saw this ad in today’s the Sun newspaper (page 22, bottom panel) while having lunch today. Normally Brand’s ads target college students and business professionals; it’s the first time I’ve actually seen a popular health supplement targeting gamers. Maybe because the ESWC and WCG tournaments are around the corner…

Eddy Yap of Gamer’s Hideout looks quite pumped in the ad. Hmm, will my Spy detection skills in Team Fortress 2 improve if I start taking Brand’s? XD

Today is going to be a great day for local gaming, thanks to the launch of two big titles, and to think about it, were there any local game launches, MMORPGs notwithstanding? Its a tough choice for gamers though, as GRID is going to be launched at Zouk KL at 6pm today while the more subtle MGS4 launch is currently ongoing at TecAsia, level 4, Plaza Low Yat. We'll be at both launches, but as for me, ill be seeing ya, old man.

Crytek have just recently revealed that their new Crysis game, Crysis Warhead will feature the resident Crysis Psycho from the original game. In Crysis Warhead you will be in control of Sergeant Sykes or better known as Psycho while Nomad does his thing on the other side of the island. The game will be based off a new and enhanced version of Crytek's Cry Engine 2, while new weapons and vehicles will also be made available. 

We got our grubby paws on GT5 Prologue (at last!!!) and finally bought a brand-spanking-new GTR-35 (it costs 77k in the game, relatively cheap!). It would be great to show you more of the breaking in clip, but as of now, we're still figuring to avoid the deadly understeer! 

p.s. GRID's waaay funner than this