Gran Turismo 5 lobbies ball back into Forza’s court. What’s your call?

If you’re a SIM racing nut, there’s really only two legitimate options that every get mentioned: Gran Turismo and Forza. Both have their own unique feel and approach to the racing SIM ideology and are literally separated by an unsurpassed divide (Forza being Xbox only and Gran Turismo PS3 only).

Back when Gran Turismo 3 (and even 4) were brand new, all of the spit polish and eye candy couldn’t help me get past the fact that smashing into a barrier at 200+mph did absolutely nothing to the car. That’s a problem. Hence the reason Forza began to win me over. And then, talk of Gran Turismo 5 and it’s long sought after damage modeling pulled me back into a conundrum of not knowing exactly who’s “best”.

So where do we stand?

Gaming families rejoice: Microsoft outs Xbox Live Family Subscriptions for $99/year.

If there’s one thing Microsoft has blown out of the park and done remarkably well with over the last 5 years, Xbox is definitely where it’s at. Building off the original hardware console, Xbox Live has transformed international multi-player gaming into an extremely easy and intuitive affair.

And now that multiple people in the same house probably want Xbox Live Gold accounts without paying $50 per person, per year, Microsoft is happy to oblige. Introducing Xbox Live Gold Family plans topping the chart at $99/yr.

If you’ve only got two accounts in the household, there isn’t any savings to be had. But it really starts to add up when you start factoring in the 3rd and 4th accounts. On that note, there is a limit of (4) total accounts under a family plan. Ask yourself though, how many people really have 5+ Xbox Live accounts…?

Press Release right inside…

Nintendo 3DS graphics chip revealed!

Itchin’ to know what’s powering Nintendo’s latest and greatest portable? Wonder in a sea of mystery no more dear reader. Instead of the standard Nvidia Tegra fan fare, a DMP PICA200 with a 200MHz clock speed is used. With that, up to 15.3 million polygons per second, 800 million pixels, and full-screen anti-aliasing are on tap and any given point to wow you into 3D oblivion.

It’s certainly plenty powerful to produce some rather stunning visuals, though I wouldn’t wager quite as “pretty” as some other portables we’ve handled. Still, it’s a nice breath of fresh air for Nintendo’s mobile line wouldn’t you say?

Don’t know that song? Let SoundHound figure it out.

Music junkies stand tall! I know how frustrating it can be when you find a song your truly love being blasted on the public airwaves only to be left hanging when the DJ fails to properly identify the song. A couple of years ago, several solutions became available that were both extremely simple and quick. My personal favorite thus far has been Shazaam, a great iPhone and Android app. (I haven’t used other versions).

And now, we have a new option — SoundHound. Similar to Shazaam, simply holding the phone up to the track in question will give you the Artist, album, and song information as well as a quick link to the Amazon MP3 music store to purchase the song in question. Taking it one step further however, users can simply hum a small part of the song and wind up with the same results as if you were recording an actual song (ala Midori on iPhone).

The coolest feature though is how the developers separate the free and paid ($4.99 USD) versions. The free version initially only comes with 5 free tags or “ID’s”. But, users have the option to tweet songs and earn credits towards the premium version which features unlimited ID’s. Pretty sweet, huh?

It’s nothing new or revolutionary. But we’re not one to bemoan options. So consider us psyched. Any Android users given SoundHound a chance yet? How’d it work for ya?

Dreamcast and Soap. Suds up!

Who doesn’t like to bathe? Sure, being a techie and going to plenty of tech related events means I’ve occasionally run in to some less than rosy smelling folks. But who am I to judge, right? At least now I have something to give back to those nerds in need of a little suds time thanks to the Dreamcast Soap.

Simple. Nerdy. So fresh and so clean.

[Product Page: Etsy]

HTC Mozart spied on Telstra internal document.

According to Telstra, the phone above is the new HTC Mozart. But to more trained eyes (or those eyes with bodies that know how to use the magnify button), the discrepancy is easy to spot. This internal document looks to be nothing more than a photoshopped HTC Desire with a Windows Phone 7 screen cap pasted on top (poorly I might add).

But we’re not here to come down on a Telstra employee’s photoshopping skills or lack thereof. No, we’re here to instead figure out what the real meaning is. Is this real or is it not? According to infamous Android hacker “Conflipper”, the HTC Mozart is indeed a very real device — the picture however probably isn’t.

But I can understand that latter part — the misguided picture. Some lowly intern at Telstra is being pushed in fifty different directions at once with the higher ups demanding important documents such as new device launch documents and they’ve got nothing to go by. So, they make do with what they can.

Of course, that could all be a mirage as Conflipper has chimed in, stating that the HTC Mozart is actually heading to T-Mobile. Hmmm, we’ll see. Full-size shot after the jump…

Hackers save the day yet again: HTC Evo 4G and WiFi 802.11n

Some may argue the benefit of 802.11n WiFi on a smartphone. Hell, for those whom happily babysit their router all day, never venturing more than a couple dozen feet from home base and using but one computer, fail to understand the draw to the common G network’s faster sibling — Wireless N. But they are there. As you start piling on the users and/or increasing the distance you sit form the router, N has all kinds of benefits. Not only that, but if you plan on sharing large files across your home network, N will be the difference between a good day and bad.

So when HTC released the Evo 4G and people found out they voluntarily left 802.11n WiFi deactivated, more than a few geeks stood up and took notice. Though thankfully, those same geeks didn’t wait too long to get the gears grinding as the talented folks at XDA have saved the day for a millionth time. The cherry on top of it all is that this whole process is pretty much just as easy as flashing a new ROM or installing your standard .zip file. For the full run down, instructions and all, point your attention right over here.

We all know if there’s 802.11n WiFi to be had, there will be plenty of people wantin’ it. Now all that’s left to see is just how much 802.11n demolishes the Evo 4G’s battery — more-so than it already is demolished that is. Any Evo 4G tinkerers feeling adventurous tonight?