Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ran pretty darn well on just about everything and World at War is built on the same engine, so these decidedly reasonable minimum requirements come as no surprise.

Of course if you want to to play the game at a cornea melting 2560 x 1600, you might have to get one of these bad boys.

So, do you make the grade?

How low can Activision and Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare go? In terms of hardware that can run it, that is. This was the question burning up in the minds of some tech-savvy people and they put the game to the test aboard some lower-end setups. The results they got are detailed in the full article up next.

Beta 4 or 5A258f - call it as the coder inside you would, but Apple's fourth build for the iPhone SDK Beta rolled out today. It's reportedly coming out with a plethora of tools, samples, frameworks - some that were present in the previous builds. But most importantly, SDK Beta 4 updates the simulator formerly known as Aspen with Open GL ES support. Find out more on this update at the full story.

The PC version for BioWare's Mass Effect might have been bad news to eager fans. Well, we got something that could take your mind off it. The specs for the PC version has been finally released. Better get your pen and paper to jot down the details. Find out what the specs are in the full article.

 

A report coming in from Chinese local newspaper Economic Daily News has pinned the mainstream motherboard manufacturer ASUSTek with a mediocre 2007 revenue performance due to reduced PlayStation 3 shipping. ASUSTeK is one of the favorite and trusted motherboard brands for tech-savvy PC enthusiasts, while also a major contractor for manufacturing quality PlayStation 3 motherboards in Asia.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. is expecting an all-time low in revenues this coming May, after the Taiwan-based company reported a change in the motherboard profit season and the decreased shipments of the PlayStation 3 from Asia. However, other competing motherboard companies such as Gigabyte Technology and Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) have noted a possible increase in May shipments during the summer season, according to local paper Apple Daily.

Despite feeds coming in from Asia that the PlayStation 3 production is indeed slowing down, it appears that ASUSTeK has prepped themselves for a quick recovery, right after Intel starts shipping their new Centrino platforms for laptop computers, codenamed Santa Rosa, for the month succeeding May.

Analysts agree that the Taiwan computer manufacturing giant will be able to return to standard shipping levels by June, allowing the company to benefit from a steady revenue stream for the rest of 2007. Thanks to DigiTimes for the heads up!

 

If you haven't had enough iPhone news and details, then we've got some more for you. German Mac site, Macwelt, was able to squeeze in some more iPhone details from Apple. The details ranges from the technical aspects (such as, where would the OS be stored?) to the more shallow bits (could my iTunes songs be used as ringtones?). Well here are some of the bits we have found.

On the issue of where the OS is gonna be stored. The Macwelt article mentioned that the OS would be stored alongside your music, but fret not, because Apple says that it will just occupy one half of a gigabyte. So you still have 3.5 or 7.5 GB room for your pics and music.

Apple would also have the final word as to what software would be installed on the iPhone. Also, you will not be able to purchase some iTunes Store goodies directly from your iPhone. Probably, Apple and Cingular didn't see eye-to-eye about this issue.

Now, the mind bugging question still remains unanswered, "would I be able to use my iTunes song as a ringtone?" The answer my friend, is no. You cannot use them as you alarm clock tones as well. Aww...that's too bad. In the Macwelt interview, they also found out that Apple will not let users use VoIP on the iPhone.

The German site also squeezed this particular info about plugins. Apple says that there will be as many enabled plugins as possible and Flash and Java will be enabled.

Hmm, I don't know about you but I'm still pretty bummed about that iTunes-ringtone tidbit. To read the interview, click on the read-link below for a Google-translated version.

The iPod killer, the future-proof MP3 player, the cool-looking portable Hard Drive. The Zune's been called a lot of things (we'll omit what the iPod dudes have to say for now), and while we do like the functions that it's been churning out, and Bill Gate's exceeding expectations for his (other) little black box, we were beginning to wonder just how people took to it as compared to the iPod.

"I have never heard of the Zune," came the reply of one sales clerk when asked about the Zune, at least according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. Munster had conducted a survey on at 40 major retails stores, and found in his results that only 8% of the sales clerks ever recommended the Zune, with 75% recommending the iPod for customers.

"In fact, some MP3 player salespeople had not even heard of the Zune, despite the fact that they sold it in their store," Munster also writes in his report. Ouch. As of Tuesday, the Zune's on the #22 spot for Amazon's most sold MP3 player, the 30-gigabyte ipod taking the #1 spot, the 1-gig iPod shuffle at #3, and the pink 4-gig Nano at #5.

And what of marketing for the Zune? "our checks show that Zune ads are being placed more selectively than iPod ads," Munster said, adding that the Zune "is off to a slow start; from sales perspective as well as the marketing perspective." Given the season's just starting up, we're going to have to see what lies in store for the Zune.

As promised, Microsoft threw a launch party last night to start its X360 conquest of Brazil. It seems it turned out quite well, judging from the news pouring about it at least. Director of Microsoft's Latin America Games and Entertainment Division Daniel Cervantes just predicted that X360 will be the next biggest thing in Brazil; a bold assertion as the said region is the biggest market in the Latin America list.

"We'll be the first major manufacturer to sell a game console in Brazil's market directly. We believe consumers will respond well to that," reflected Cervantes. Accordingly, around 600,000 units of videogame consoles are sold annually in Brazil, though they are provided by third party vendors. With a potential of 11 million base of gamers, the country is actually 15th overall in the world in terms of console sales.

On to details, it is rather curious to note that Microsoft will be selling its next-gen console there for 2,999 reais or roughly US$ 1,400. The package will contain the console itself, which by the way has Portuguese software, a 20-gigabyte hard disk, wireless controller, remote control and three games. Speaking of titles, those which would be available at once are Gears of Wars and Perfect Dark Zero among others; games will cost around 159 reais (US$ 74) each.

We have learned in Mexico and Colombia that when we come ahead of our competitors, our market share can double just by being the first. If we get a critical mass, it's very difficult for us lose our lead," explained Cervantes. Microsoft began selling the console in Mexico, Chile and Colombia at the early part of this year.

Say hello to Sony's PlayStation TV. Meant to showcase the full functions of the PlayStation 3, the PS TV is Sony's new marketing tool, which will be setup as retail kiosks throughout Japan as the November 11 launch draws nearer. With a 60 gigabyte PS3 unit, a high-definition LCD monitor, and a couple of controllers, this kiosk will surely up the ante of the next-gen consoles competition.

Accessible from the Cross Media Bar on the kiosks are games, video, photos, and music. The PS3 game titles are housed on the hard disk and can be actually played. Also, demo games are accessible. Just click on the thumbnail of your selected game and you're all set to go. The unit would also house promotional videos for the next-gen console's software.

As for the photos, you can check out the sample photos stored in the hard disk individually, or as part of a slide show with music. So you want to hear for yourself just how great the music can be on your PS3? You can also try that out with the PS TV, with full high-definition effects.

So what exactly can you catch stored in its hard disk? All set to go are playable demos of Devil May Cry 4, Power Smash 3, Gran Turismo HD, and Ridge Racer 7. For the video section, there will be 30 clips available. But don't worry, these won't be all there is to it. Content will be periodically updated and added via network updates, so definitely, there's more in store for you.

The PlayStation TV will be settling in about 1000 shops throughout Japan by the end of October. So keep a look out for that and get that chance to finally judge the PS3 for yourself.

  

Lucky Asians, they get the chance to take a peek, and perhaps bring home a g-smart PDA-phone from Gigabyte Communications called the i200. Now, we haven't really seen so many PDA-phones coming from the Taiwanese manufacturer Gigabyte, since they specialize in computer component parts. However, at the 3GSM Asia World Congress in Singapore, they did showcase a bunch of new gadgets of which the i200 was a standout.

The i200 packs a lot of punch, with features like onboard DVB-H and DVH-T receivers, 2.69-inch VGA touchscreen display, and a Crossbow (Windows Mobile) compatible OS.

But what we recognize as most Gigabyte-ish is the fact that most of their handsets feature ambient noise generator. You can customize your background noise so that the receiver of your call would perceive you're in a party when you're really just snoozing at home. The DVB-H and DVH-T receivers let you receive TV broadcasts and even record it -- with 512MB memory to boot. Throw in a few more features like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS capabilities and perhaps a bigger hard drive capacity, and this PDA-phone will make its way to the U.S. in no time. We're looking forward to it!

Gigabyte hasn't revealed the pricing for the i200 yet, but it's set to launch in the market early 2007.