Alligator Belly           Gadgets and Technology

Have you got your Xbox 360 yet? There are rumours about the second launch date of Xbox in Best Buy on December 18th. Someone managed to get a list of the allocation numbers at Best Buy stores.

On the other hand Xbox’s were piled up in Japan and no one willing to buy them. Looks like they are waiting to get a look at Dead or Alive before they buy a Xbox 360.

UPDATE: Second Xbox 360 launch confirmed. Best Buy confirmed that they will be lauching the Xbox 360 again tomorrow (18 Dec, 2005). With 12 hours left, people are already lining up with their camping gear outsite Best Buy’s all around the nation.

The makers of the ultra cool RAZR have a new model lined up. It’s not as sleek as the RAZR but it’s still got the looks. Introducing the PEBL. Nothing fancy technology wise and T Mobile has this phone listed on their site as coming soon.
Motorola PEBL

Xbox 360 has launced in Japan today. Japan being the home to Sony Playstation had a pretty successful launch of the the Microsoft Xbox 360. According to some sources Playstation has a 80% market in Japan and Xbox only a mere 5%. Only time will tell if the 360 will even manage to come close to the Playstation.

Panasonic has annouced that it has begun production of Blu-Ray discs with 50GB space. Finally we can have true HD quality movies on DVDs.

Gamers had lined outside electronic stores nationwide to get their hands on a Xbox 360, which released today. Microsoft had already warned that there won’t be enough systems to keep up with the demand. So couldn’t they postponed the date a little further or even possible add a few more production lines. Many of the people who had been waiting overnight were disappointed as they had to return home empty handed. And it is almost impossible to find a console for sale right now across the country. Many lucky ones who managed to get a console are making a huge profit by selling them on Ebay. Most consoles are averaging $1,500. Does it still not look like a marketing stunt?

Numerous sources on the web predict that Apple will have have an Intel powered iBook ready by January 2006. When Steve Jobs revealed his plans to switch to Intel he mentioned that the public could see the first Intel powered Mac in mid-2006. So it looks like Apple is way ahead of it’s schedule. But Alligator is looking forward to getting his hands on the Dual-Core Intel powered Powerbooks.

Update : Intel powered Apple Mac Mini’s are also predicted to be announced in January 2006.

Even before the Xbox 360 makes it to the market, it has already been opened up and dissected by AnandTech. Featuring three CPU’s and 2 (technically) GPU’s this is a powerhouse compared to the original Xbox. Although it looks smaller than the original Xbox, some people argue that it has the same dimensions. With the Xbox 360 releasing Tuesday, don’t let the dissections gross you out and make you not want to buy an Xbox 360 anymore.

Inside Xbox 360

Say “Hello” to the first phone with a Carl Zeiss lens and 2 MP camera: The Nokia N90. With dimensions similiar to the Sony Ericsson P800/P900 can be a bit on the bulky side for RAZR lovers. But it’s always better to carry a N90 than a RAZR and a camera with a Carl Zeiss Lens.

With a rotating camera and an integrated flash it is sure to please the amateur and professional photographers.

Nokia N Series

Every wished that you could jump so high into space from New York that you land in Africa. Well now you can with Google Earth. Google Earth is a application for Windows that has the satellite imagery of seleted cities arounf the globe. Bundled with eye popping animation Google Earth lets you fly over any city with a click of a button.

Google Earth comes in three flavours : Google Earth (freeware), Google Earth Plus (for high resolution images, 20$) and Google Earth Pro (for business users, 400$).

Google Earth

Alligator was very fond of watching DVDs on his Mac. But everytime he wanted to skip chapters he had to actually come in physical contact with the Mac (keyboard or mouse). So alligator was not really happy about it until he found Salling Clicker. Once downloaded onto his S60 phone and his Mac, Alligator can now control most ( or almost all) of the Apps (like iTunes, VLC, Powerpoint, Mouse) through the phone. No more getting out of the lazy-boy; just use the phone as your remote. Quite a promising piece of software.

Salling Clicker