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The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is underway. I’d really enjoy being there and taking part of one of the most important event of the game industry. But thanks to the power of the Internet and Gamespot.com I’ve been able to “attend” all three major press conference by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. All those major companies were praising their current success and showcasing their next game console. After seeing live broadcast of the conference I got into some thinking about the Nintendo Wii, previously code named Revolution. Yes, that crazy idea of using a motion sensitive remote control to play turned out to be very interesting. So even if Nintendo doesn’t have fancy High Definition (HD) gaming the fact that you can play tennis by swinging the controller as if you were holding the racket is amazing. Just think about getting in a sword fight with that controller! I know that controller is nothing new, but something weird happened yesterday during Sony’s Press Conference. The previous design for their controller had been changed from the Batarang/Bannarang to a all time classic DualShock controller. Not only being wireless enabled but also features six way movement detection.

Now I do believe that Nintendo will be successful in the sense that their console is oriented to the general public and is the less expensive one. Their controller will introduce logical movement to the gaming world. So does the PS3 with their new controller. On Sony’s side they’ll have an impressive collection of games, stunning visuals and Blu-ray compatibility. I believe the PS3 to be the “ultimate” gaming engine, and Xbox 360 to be some kind of mid-level. The X360 has been available since last November but I can’t say I appreciate the work from Microsoft.

Sony’s press conference was the one I was eager to see, of course there was nothing new really. Except the release date and price of the PS3 that will come in two formats, a 20GB hard drive version ($499 USD/549 CND) and a 60GB version ($599 USD/659 CND). It will support a super network where you’ll be able to buy music and videos. I must say right now that the 60GB has much more than just an extra 40 GB to save data! It has Memory Stick, SD, or Compact Flash inputs, Wi-Fi capabilities, and HDMI output. I’ll end on a bad note, since Sony lost their lawsuit against Immersion Technologies for the ownership of the vibration fuction we can say goodbye to our good old shaking controllers. None the less, I believe that the Playstation 3 keeps a good formula working and is set on bringing to our homes the best and the most interesting products.

Following the world wide success of Opera Mini, a new revised and refreshed version of has been released. The main idea behind this browser for mobile phones is to let a larger number of cell phone to reach out to the web. Nowadays they ship with WAP browser who are usually designed to display website specifically designed to view on a cellphone. So what about all the other websites? Thanks to Opera Mini, their servers make the processing effort and transmit a compressed version that can be displayed on your small screen. So literally you can go to most websites you usually visit and get all the images and the design in your phone.

All this was present in the first version. But most of the changes from this version is on the program itself and not the page rendering.

New features in version 2.0 include:

• Content download: Download images, MP3s, etc. directly to the phone.
• New skins: Make Opera Mini your own by selecting from several new and bold skins to suit your mood.
• Multisearch: Opera Mini offers advanced searching functionality by allowing users to select extra search engines for the home page.
• Speed dial: Bookmarks displayed on the home page are assigned a shortcut key combination, giving users faster and easier access to their favorite sites.
• Visual navigation: Quick and smooth horizontal panning when browsing backwards or forwards.

So besides all those fixes and updates you still can’t get the entire web experience since there is limited Javascript capability, nor Flash. All because it’s popular among new-age web developers. What’s been really amazing to me is that I’ve been able to use my cell phone just like if it was a small portable PC. Whenever I need an info or check my email I can get to it in the blink of the eye. I don’t even own a high-end cell phone, it’s a Motorola v186, rather small screen and shameful 2MB space. But installing the 96KB Opera Mini was so easy! Just use the WAP browser from the cellphone and go to mini.opera.com, it will check if your phone and service provider are compatible. You can also install it directly by PC-to-cellphone download by checking out Opera’s web site.

The program is free to download and to use, however the network connection is charged by your cellular phone company. But you’ll still have the advandtage of saving money since the pages downloaded by Opera Mini are small it means smaller fees. There is no advertisement build-in except a few default bookmarks you can remove or edit after install.I don’t know what I would do without Opera Mini, I used my cellphone just for emergency call or sometimes when I go out. But now I check my Gmail, digg for stories and stay up to date to everything. Besides, you can also get Opera for your Windows, Mac or Linux!

A second trailer has just been leaked about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Just like most second trailer there is more plot elements and they don’t mind showing off some action and visuals effects. Be sure to catch the trailer available on WWTDD.com. I loved the first movie and you can expect the sequel to be just as good. You get all your favorites characters back to fight against new bad guys July 7th 2006, in theaters only.

The official website is already online and features the trailer and a photo gallery. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 will feature Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner and of course Keira Knightley as Miss Swann. Since the first teaser trailer Jack seems to owe a dept to an fishy looking/cursed captain. His quest is to find the Dead Man’s Chest before his own life is forfeit. Somehow he ends up involving everyone in his quest. If you’re scared of sea food you’ll have to skip this one out, first we had undead, now we get mumant hammer sharks and the Kraken.