New Super Mario Bros.

After being on store shelves for only 35 days, the New Super Mario Bros. from Nintendo, sold over half a million copies in the United States alone. That’s a sell-rate of more than 20 a minute since the game came out on May 15. I guess that’s understandable considering how popular the original Super Mario Bros. was way back 20+ years ago. When I was a kid, I would play that game endlessly and tirelessly, with or without Luigi (the player 2 character). It was my absolute favorite game at one time, and even my (non-tech-savvy) mom became addicted to it.

As Mario may be the most popular video game character in history, the New Super Mario Bros. (for the Nintendo DS) brings new adventures for him. The game boasts 3D graphics to accompany the classic 2D gameplay. If you’re a Mario fan as I am, it will definitely peak your interest. The game features eight new worlds, each filled with extra levels, hidden paths and multiple secrets. It’s possible to complete the game without visiting every world, which means you’ll have to track down various alternative exits and remember to visit every nook and cranny in the game, then play it over and over again if you so choose.

The game’s storyline is that Bowser and Bowser Jr. have kidnapped Princess Peach again and only Mario can save her. The characters include Mario, Luigi and countless Mushroom Kingdom enemies (both old and new), Peach, Bowser and Bowser Jr. To make it through the game, you run, jump and battle your enemies (Goombas, Koopas and new foes) through multiple levels within each world. Every time you complete one world, you move onto the next, but not without defeating that world’s boss first. To complete the entire game, you must survive the last fight in the final world.

With the improved Mario and Luigi, you have various powers, maneuvers and features that allow you to function more efficiently. You can do special jumps, such as increasingly high triple jumps and wall jumps. You can also perform ground pounds and high bounces off enemies. With Mario you can use power-ups with mushrooms (grow big), throw fireballs, Starmen (become invincible), Blue Shells (turn into a speedy blue Koopa shell) or other mushrooms that make you either tiny or super huge.

In addition to the main game there are a variety of 20+ minigames available to play by using the touch screen on your Nintendo DS. These include card or target-bopping-type games. You can challenge yourself or play against others on a DS local area network (with one to four players via DS Download Play).

New Super Mario Bros. is rated E for Everyone and you can buy it for about $35 at your nearest Gamestop or at www.compusa.com (unfortunately there is currently no CompUSA in-store availability).

Globe Dialer – Cheaper International Calls On Your Cell Phone

I have friends all over the world that I enjoy keeping in touch with. Usually we’ll e-mail back and forth, but it’s not the same as a good ol’ phone call. I have no landline or Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone, so I survive solely on my cell phone. It is way too expensive to actually use my cell phone’s minutes to call internationally, so I use a calling card. Yet it’s such a hassle to dial that 1-800 number, then the country code, and the account number, etc. etc. By the time you listen to all those half-a-day’s long list of instructions and entering in numbers, you just don’t feel like talking anymore.

If you’re like me and make a heavy volume of international calls from your cell phone anyway, Globe Dialer, from Switch-Mobile, could save you money. The rates are cheaper than a landline, your cell phone carrier or any calling card I’ve seen. The only thing it doesn’t beat is a VOIP phone, but it’s not like you can carry that around with you everywhere. Just to give you an example, a call to Hong Kong will cost me $0.12/minute on my Cingular plan, $0.10/minute on my calling card or $0.04/minute on Globe Dialer.

Globe Dialer is a free software application you download to your phone that functions
as
a secondary phonebook in your cell phone for all of your international numbers. When you call an international number from the Globe Dialer, the call is automatically routed through the system. You’ll still be using your cell phone carrier’s domestic minutes, but the international component of the call will go through your Globe Dialer account. You will then be charged at the rate dependent on the country you’re dialing. The trick is to call your friends or family at night or on the weekends (if your cell phone plan offers free nights and weekends), then you won’t really be using any cell phone minutes.

It’s also easier to use than a regular calling card. Once you download the application to your phone, it works seamlessly since no PINs are necessary, and it uses caller ID to verify your phone number. If you’re worried about putting new software on your phone, Globe Dialer doesn’t change any configurations on your phone since it’s a small Java application that works just as a ringtone or game would. Or, if you’re old-fashioned, you can simply use one of the direct dial-in numbers (that works like a calling card) without downloading anything to your phone.

The Globe Dialer application works with Sony, Motorola, Nokia and Treo java-enabled phones. Blackberry, Samsung and LG will soon be added to the list. It is only available to U.S. phone numbers and you can use it on up to two cell phones, but you can’t have two Globe Dialer accounts on one phone.

Check out Globe Dialer at www.globedialer.com for a complete rate list and download it to your cell phone for one free 10-minute test call.

Turbo Charge Your Cell Phone

When it rains it pours - there are some days when my cell phone rings off the hook and everybody and their brother calls me one after another, burning out my battery. When I’m having one of those days and out and about, my phone battery just dies. Sure, there are disposable cell booster chargers available for $10+ but I’m too cheap to buy those since you just throw it away, and they don’t last very long anyway. But now there’s a charger you can use over and over again with AA batteries.

The Turbo Charge is a reusable, portable cell phone charger that is powered by a single AA battery. It is about the size of a lipstick tube, and easily fits into your purse or pocket. It’s a perfect companion for a day at the beach, hiking in the mountains, or anywhere you can think of. Also if your power goes out, this device is an excellent addition to your home’s emergency or hurricane preparation kit. You could power your cell phone with a bunch of AA batteries if you had to.

Turbo Charge is guaranteed to not damage your cell phone or its battery. The device has a tiny circuit board with custom Dual AlgorChip technology to prevent overloading your cell phone’s battery. Once you plug it into your cell phone, the AA battery inside will give you about two hours of talking or 40 hours of standby time. You will know to change the battery when the blue light no longer illuminates. Since it’s so small, you can continue your phone conversations with the contraption hanging right off the phone. Never again will you lose a call to a dead battery while you’re taking in some sun at the beach.

The Turbo Charge pack includes one Turbo Charger, one AA battery and your choice of four adapters. The first package is for Motorola, Motorola Razr, LG and Kyocera. The other is for Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Nextel. Also hitting the market is the iTurbo, an iPod back-up battery booster. No price released was on this yet but you should see it around September.

Mr. Ink Plus is the only place in Hawaii to stock the Turbo Charge (and also the future iPod Back-up Battery Booster). Make your way there and find one for an affordable $19.95 (plus tax). Mr. Ink Plus is located at 670 Auahi Street (behind the CompUSA on Ala Moana Boulevard). You can also buy the Turbo Charge online (www.turbocellcharge.com), but it will cost you $29.95 plus shipping.

Print Your Digital Pictures At Any Longs Drugs Store

As far back as I can remember my parents always took our film to be developed and pictures printed at Longs Drugs. If I ask most of the people I know who grew up in Hawaii, it seems to be that same story across the board. I admit in the last few years, with digital prints being the norm, I haven’t printed any pictures at Longs. I’ve been using various online services to print my pictures. You may even remember me writing a story about digital printing and Shutterfly’s services.

The worlds of past and present have come together with Longs Drugs Stores and Sony Electronics. You can upload your digital photos to Sony’s ImageStation website and pick them up at the closest Longs to you. ImageStation is an online photo service that allows you to upload, store and share your digital images and video clips online. You can upload your digital images directly from your computer to ImageStation and pick your prints up from any Longs Drugs store in the state (and West Coast). You can also have your prints sent to you, but you’ll have to pay extra for shipping.

This partnership with Longs provides you with the ease and convenience of printing your digital photos directly to a professional photo lab. Busy households and photographers alike now have more options for digital prints. You can create wallet-size, 4x6-inch, 5x7-inch or 8x10-inch prints of your favorite photos at competitive prices. A single 4x6-inch print will cost you only $0.12. The 5x7-inch is $0.79, 8x10-inch is $2.69, 16x20-inch is $14.99, 20x30-inch is $19.99 and the wallet size (four on a sheet) is $1.29. These prices are comparable with most places, but you have the added convenience of choosing from any of Longs Drugs’ 477 store locations. You could be visiting Disneyland in California and print your memories from a Longs Drugs Store there, if you so choose.

You can store photos on your ImageStation account and use it to share with friends and family. They can then order your photos directly online as well. If you have multiple pictures to upload, ImageStation provides different upload options, including an uploader tool (your choice of Windows or Mac).

Additionally, all prints are all available for pickup at the Longs of your choice, however if you’re interested in photo gifts, those have to be delivered to you from ImageStation directly. Gift items include mugs, t-shirts, flipbooks, handbags, calendars and greeting cards.

Signup for Sony’s free ImageStation service at www.imagestation.com.

A Keyboard In Your Purse

Women seem to carry their entire house in their purse. Most gals can usually whip out a band-aid, assorted make-up products, tissues, and of course, a wallet and cell phone, but how about a keyboard? Perhaps a techie like me could. I admit, in addition to the fore-mentioned items, I usually have my PlayStation Portable (PSP) along with some spare games, digital camera, and extra memory sticks. No my purse isn’t that big, and I don’t actually carry around a humungous keyboard with me. I’m talking about a virtual keyboard that’s about the size of a pack of gum – no joke!

The iTECH Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard has a red plastic window where a projection module uses a red diode laser to emit a keyboard template. The holographic optical element used to display the virtual keyboard then produces a full-size keyboard image onto your desk, or any other flat surface (with no protrusions over 1mm), and allows you to type wherever you are. It will make simulated key click sounds as your fingers press the virtual keys and break the laser, so it will sound like you’re typing.

With the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard’s 63 keys and full-size QWERTY layout, you can type about the same speed as if you were using a regular keyboard. It will also connect to your PDA, Smartphone or computer via Bluetooth or serial cable. Using the included software, you can monitor the device’s battery level, adjust the properties (i.e. adjust the touch as you type), choose your connection (Bluetooth or serial) or enable shortcuts (13 available). The easiest thing to do is keep the settings at the default level since it seems to work well with it.

The battery is rechargeable and will last you about two hours of continuous typing on a full charge. It is compatible with PalmOS 5, PocketPC 2003, Windows Smartphone, Symbian OS and Windows 2000/XP. Additionally, you can use it with your Mac using the built-in Bluetooth support with OSX. Unfortunately there is no OSX driver software included with the keyboard, which means there is no way to set the keyboard preferences such as brightness, key-repeat and sensitivity.

You can find the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard for $179.99 at www.thinkgeek.com. A bit pricey, but think of all the fun you could have with a virtual keyboard that can go anywhere you do.

Testing Out The New Windows

I remember it was just a few years ago, but seems like a few days ago, that the world made the jump from Microsoft’s Windows 2000 to Windows XP. Now the world is about to take another jump from Windows XP to Windows Vista. Are you ready?

If your answer is yes, then you may be the perfect candidate to test out Windows Vista, Microsoft’s next generation operating system. Microsoft made a free pre-release edition of Windows Vista Ultimate available to the public for the first time. Before you jump on this, note that this should NOT be used on your main machine at home or work. Since this is only a beta test, it may mess up some of your drivers, viewing of Flash-based websites, possibly your instant messaging and more than you want to think about right now.

However, if you have an extra computer around, you’ll have fun with Vista and see how fast it runs. Before you begin, make sure your test subject has a minimum of an 800MHz processor, 512MB of memory, DirectX 9 capable graphics processor and a 40GB hard drive (with 15GB of free space). When you register for Microsoft’s Customer Preview Program, you will receive the Beta 2 release along with Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 (RC1). The Beta 2 is 4.4GB is downloadable now, and when RC1 is ready to download later this year, Microsoft will send you a notification e-mail message.

Included as a part of Windows Vista’s new features is the integrated desktop search within the familiar, but faster Start menu. This helps you find and launch almost anything very quickly on your PC. Also, the new Document Explorer allows you to easily work with your files and the Live Icon feature lets you see what it contains without opening it. Windows Aero makes your screen visually appealing with glass-like interface elements. See thumbnail views of your taskbar items when you rest your mouse pointer on them, somewhat similar to what Mac OSX can do now. You can also use Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D to literally flip through open windows and also see a live thumbnail of each window, rather than seeing just the boring old generic icon. As for your digital memories, Windows Photo Gallery gives you the ability to easily import photos, color correct your digital pictures and easily save or export them to a CD or DVD for sharing or for your archive.

Take a deep breath . . . if you’re adventurous enough to take the Vista leap now, find out more and download it at www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready. Note that the software will expire on June 7, 2007. Following that, you’ll have to purchase the full, commercially available edition of Windows Vista (and be prepared to do a clean install). Expect the price to be about $450.

Snowboard In Your Living Room

I became attached to snowboarding thanks to years of my brother’s influence and his own addiction to it. Unfortunately, snowboarding isn’t something you can do year round, and you’re only limited to winters unless you decide to go extreme and take a helicopter ride to the highest mountain you can reasonably find. To sort of overcome this issue, you can either go to the video arcade and waste tons of money on a snowboard simulator or buy your own snowboard for your living room. I personally choose the latter.

The Qmotions-Xboard enables you to enjoy today’s most popular snowboarding, skateboarding or surfing games (arcade-style), in the comfort of your living room. You feel like you’re in the game with titles such as SSX, Amped and the Tony Hawk. The Xboard will connect to your Xbox, PS2 as well as your PC to provide you with that lifelike board sport experience. It also provides an excellent way to stay in shape with all the balancing you need to do on this board. It may be small, but it’s a challenge to balance on.

You may remember the iJoy Board that I wrote about back in March. Well, the Xboard is much smaller and significantly cheaper. The Xboard is so small you could pack it in your luggage if you feel possessed to travel with it. It will also cost a little less than $100 (as opposed to $400 for the iJoy Board).

Other products Qmotions offers include Qmotions-Baseball, Qmotions-Golf and Qmotions-FunFitness. The recently launched Baseball delivers full motion player participation with popular PC and console-based video games. Just step up to the plate with your provided Batter-Up sleeve equipped bat and swing. You can do all of the full swing batting, bunting, pull, up-the-middle and opposite field hitting.

The Qmotions-Golf Full Motion Game Controller ($200), similar to Real World Golf, gives you a way to play golf indoors with your favorite golf game titles such as EA Sports’ Tiger Woods PGA Tour and others. Lastly, soon to come is the Qmotions-FunFitness Full Motion Game Controller (under $100, to be launched soon). It turns your exercise bike into a video racing game. It is compatible with most stationary recumbent bikes. It’s easy to install on your bike, with no tools necessary. It works with racing games such as EA SPORTS’ NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005. If your bike is collecting dust in the corner, this will hopefully get you motivated to do something.

Each one of these devices has its own way of promoting fitness and are alternative methods of staying somewhat fit. For more information, or a list of retailers, check out www.qmotions.com.

Tools For Life Expo

The majority of us take the simple things in life for granted, the gift of sight, hearing, speaking or even having all our limbs. My mom is a retired rehabilitation teacher for the blind, so while growing up I would always hear stories of the blind and how they live. She taught me to be thankful for my sight, and I’m definitely thankful. I myself have learned to live with partial hearing loss due to a head injury from a past violent relationship. It’s fortunately not bad enough to require a hearing aid. I just count my blessings and realize that I’m still alive, I can see and I can mostly hear.

For those not as fortunate, the Tools for Life Expo 2006 this weekend will feature the newest devices and technology now available for disabled. It will offer a wide selection of exhibits and educational presentations regarding assistive technology, products, services and laws affecting the lives of people with disabilities. Knowledge of these new devices is important for people who are suddenly disabled in their adult years or employers and businesses who may be missing out on potentially valuable employees or customers because their worksites are not accessible.

The exhibits at the Tools For Life Expo will emphasize products and services to assist persons with disabilities in daily living with a focus on technology for use at home, the community, school or at work. A few product examples include the Dynavox Technology videophone for hearing impaired, the Amigo portable magnifier for people with low vision or the BrailleNote mPower, which is similar to a laptop computer but smaller and Braille and audio enabled. This allows a blind individual to wirelessly share files, surf the web, e-mail, stream audio, download and “read” a book and translate Braille files to regular word files so those who do have sight can read it. There will also be a GPS device that will help blind individuals find their way around in terms of “paces.”

Additionally, Microsoft will be launching a new platform upgrade to their new operating system called VISTA. This is one of the biggest advancements for people with disabilities in the workforce, as Microsoft Office is one of the most widely used programs in the workplace.

The Tools For Life Expo is open free to the public beginning Friday, June 9, noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday, June 10, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hawaii Convention Center. Parking is $5.00 but the public is urged to use public transportation. The Handi-Van is offering eligible riders (who make reservations in advance) free transportation to and from the Expo.

Microsoft @ E3

When Microsoft’s Xbox 360 hit the market last holiday season, it brought madness to the video game industry since you could barely find one to purchase. I even received multiple e-mails and phone calls from folks wanting me to hook them up with an Xbox 360. I really couldn’t help anyone in that department, but at least things finally calmed down a bit, and you can actually find the 360 on some store shelves these days without massive price inflation.

I was in heaven while walking through a sea of Xbox 360s at Microsoft’s booth at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), not to mention the lineup of games. One of the games that particularly stood out in my mind was Halo 3 (first-person shooter (FPS), by Microsoft Game Studios / Bungie Studios), the much-anticipated sequel to one of my personal favorites Halo and Halo 2. Chromehounds (Sci-Fi Shooter, by Sega), Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway (FPS, by Ubisoft), Gears of War (Sci-Fi Shooter, by Microsoft Game Studios / Epic Games) and Lost Planet (Sci-Fi Adventure, by Capcom) were a few of my E3 favorites.

Other games included Blue Dragon (role-playing, by Microsoft Game Studios), Crackdown (action adventure, by Microsoft Game Studios), Dance Dance Revolution Universe (rhythm/dancing, by Konami), Dead Rising (fantasy shooter, by Capcom), F.E.A.R. (FPS, by Vivendi Games), Ninety-Nine Nights (fantasy action, by Q Entertainment Ltd. / Phantagram Co. Ltd.), Frontlines: Fuel of War (FPS, by THQ), Mobile Ops: The One Year War (mech simulator, by Namco Bandai Games) Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent (FPS, by Ubisoft), and many more.

With most of these games you can connect to other players via Xbox Live. There are currently about three million console gamers connected to the Xbox Live community via their Xbox or Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft anticipates this number to double to six million by the end of this year, especially with Xbox Live Arcade. It provides quick fun experiences for gamers of all interests, skill levels and budgets. This also provides the most sought-after downloadable games in high definition supported by an integrated friends list, achievements, leaderboards and voice/video communications. Over 50 titles will be available through Xbox Live Arcade by the end of the year.

According to Microsoft’s Chairman & Chief Software Architect Bill Gates, the Xbox 360 system will have a 10 million-unit head start by the time the competition enters the market this holiday season. There will also be more than 160 Xbox 360 games by the end of the year. You can find the Xbox 360 for about $400 at your nearest Gamestop, CompUSA or Best Buy. For detailed information about the above listed games, check out www.xbox.com.

Bigger & Faster Portable Storage

You avid digital photographers who take lots of pictures/video clips with your camera must appreciate a large storage card for your camera. I know I do. My camera goes where I go, and so does my PlayStation Portable (PSP). They actually share the same Memory Stick PRO Duo. The problem is sometimes I’m too lazy to offload my pictures/videos onto my computer, which makes my card full and I can’t take any more pictures or save any more games.

Running out of is space is a problem no more since SanDisk introduced the 4-gigabyte (GB) Memory Stick PRO Duo, its newest and biggest storage card to hit the market. This little thing can store up to 64 hours of your music (mp3 format), 20 or more hours of movies/videos/film trailers, 4,000 of your pictures or 12 hours of game saves. Pretty wild huh? It seems not too long ago the 32-megabyte (MB) card was top-of-the-line, now we have this crazy 4GB one that’s still just a little bigger than your thumbnail.

Since the PSP has no internal memory, it’s important for me to have the freedom of ample storage to play my games, movies and view pictures. On my camera, it’s nice to have the extra space, especially for videos. This new 4GB stick gives me that option without having to worry about dumping my pictures/videos onto my computer right away. Expect to see the 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo on store shelves very soon for about $220. If that’s too big for you, other capacities of the Memory Stick PRO Duo include the 256MB for $35, 512MB for $45, 1GB for $60 or the 2GB for $110.

For those of you that prefer speed over space, SanDisk’s Rapid GX Memory Stick Pro Duo (1GB) is for you. It is optimized to achieve maximum transfer speeds, and is up to three times faster than a standard PRO Duo card. Furthermore, the included (for a limited time) MicroMate high-speed reader allows you to transfer data at read/write speeds to your PSP at about 15MB per second. That’s about two times faster if your PSP were hooked up to your computer directly. You’ll see the Rapid GX soon for about $85 (only 1GB available for now).

Also adding speed to your storage is the SanDisk Ultra II Mobile line of flash memory cards, made especially for your mobile phone. These cards have a minimum write speed of 9MB/second and a minimum read speed of 10MB/second. They may also reduce the energy consumption on the batteries of certain phones and will be compatible with future models. If you like that speed boost when transferring music/videos/data back and forth to your computer, then you should try this. The new line only comes in higher capacities, 1GB, 2GB or 4GB (prices range from $90 to $359).

For more information on SanDisk products visit www.sandisk.com.