Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are Getting Downloadable Retail Software, and the Wii U Will Have a Very Rich Launch Line-Up

Nintendo announced today that New Super Mario Bros. 2 (for 3DS) when released in August will be available not only at retail but also for download on the Nintendo 3DS e-shop (two of my predictions are confirmed in this announcement) and that most first-party games released after August will be available to download (including Wii U launch titles). The president of Nintendo Satoru Iwata also said that the Wii U will have a very rich launch line-up.

As I predicted there was no talk of a Wii U name change or 3DS Lite. Regarding whether or not my prediction that they were going to reveal some E3 Plans was true (there is still no E3 press conference date set, by the way), it depends on your interpretation of this quote from Satoru Iwata:

I believe that you are most interested in the details of the Wii U. Since the Wii U will be launched in Japan, the U.S., Europe and Australia in the year-end sales season… Therefore, we still have some time before the launch and I cannot say anything about the release date, price or the launch titles here. Regarding the Wii U, just as we have been saying until now… We will showcase the final format, and discuss the details and the software lineup for this year at E3 2012, which will be held in Los Angeles in the United States in June this year. Also, in the week after the E3 show, we would like to organize an opportunity where we can showcase the same to the Japanese wholesalers and financial analysts who cannot attend the E3 show. The people in our appropriate sections will let you know as soon as we have settled on further details. Please also be advised that, as we did for previous platforms that were launched in the year-end sales season, we will announce the launch date and price in each market sometime after E3.

Some people think this quote means that Nintendo will not announce the price (in the US or anywhere) of the Wii U until after  E3, while other people think this quote means that Nintendo will announce the price in the US, but not for the rest of the world until after E3.

Nintendo Posts $530 Million Loss (don't worry Nintendo's not going to die)

Today Nintendo posted a $530 million loss (that's $274.57 million less than the expected $804.57 million loss) for the 2011-2012 financial year. Most sites are blaming poor hardware sales (or Apple) because at the beginning of the fiscal year, Nintendo expected to sell 16 million Nintendo 3DS consoles (they sold 13.53 million Nintendo 3DS units), 13 million Wii's (they sold 9.84 million Wii units), and 11 million Nintendo DS's (they sold  5 million  Nintendo DS units).  Though the main reason why Nintendo is losing money is because the Yen is doing really good, making it so that when Nintendo converts the USD into Yen they only get so much.

Here are some articles explaining why Nintendo is not in any trouble:

Nintendo’s Closure 60 Years Away by Tynan Muddle on aussie-gamer.com
In Defence of Nintendo by Tynan Muddle on aussie-gamer.com

(Yes, I know both of the articles are by the same person on the same site. Aussie-gamer is one of few sites that has a fair view of Nintendo.)

Nintendo also told some of their plans for the 2012-2013 financial year:

"For the "Nintendo 3DS," its hardware has been sold below cost because of its significant price cut in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012. However, Nintendo expects to cease selling it below cost by the middle of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. As for the "Nintendo 3DS" software, a totally new side-scrolling action "Super Mario" in 2D called "New Super Mario Bros. 2" will be released this August, and the latest version of the popular franchise for this handheld device, "Animal Crossing," is scheduled to be launched this fall in Japan. The newest title in the "Brain Age" series, with which people can brush up their "working memory" (a brain function of processing or utilizing the incoming information with information kept in the brain) and "concentration power" at the same time, will be released by this summer in Japan. Moreover, Nintendo will attempt to maintain the popularity of evergreen titles such as "SUPER MARIO 3D LAND" and "Mario Kart 7," and release compelling products one after another, in order to further expand the sales of the "Nintendo 3DS." Also, Nintendo will roll out the "Nintendo 3DS" in Asia in due course.
Nintendo will release the "Wii U," the successor of the "Wii," mainly in Japan, the United States and Europe at the end of this calendar year, and propose a new play style of home entertainment with its unique controller embedding a 6.2 inch touch screen.

Nintendo continues to pursue its "Gaming Population Expansion" goal based on the idea of putting smiles on many people's faces by offering brand-new entertainment that anyone can enjoy, regardless of age, gender, or gaming experience.
Nintendo strives to spread the "Nintendo 3DS" released last year, will endeavor to spread the "Wii U" to be released at the end of this calendar year, and will keep on offering not only Nintendo-developed new games but games and services making use of the capabilities of those systems by collaborating with software publishers while positively promoting potential evergreen software titles.
Moreover, Nintendo will push forward with "Nintendo Network," which is the network service for the "Nintendo 3DS" and the "Wii U," and offer game experiences, which enable users to compete and interact with others all over the world, and provide add-on content by utilizing its network functions.
Furthermore, for the purposes of adapting to the changes in the environment surrounding the video game market and creating new business opportunities, Nintendo is envisioning the digital distribution of packaged software and is aiming at expanding the digital business.
In the challenging and competitive video game industry, which consistently requires new and innovative products, Nintendo will continue striving to expand its offerings of compelling products and services by capitalizing on being a platform holder with powerful in-house software development teams.

Some of Nintendo executives will be discussing more of the company's plans for the 2012-2013 financial year and beyond in an investor's presentation the morning of April 27 in Japan (or tomorrow afternoon PST). I'm hopeful that that's when my predictions for what Nintendo will announce will come true.

Nintendo 3DS Firmware Update is Now Live

The Nintendo 3DS firmware update is now live in the USA, Australia and possibly everywhere. The most noticeable updates are that you can now create folders, the internet browser is a lot faster, and the e-shop is redone.

Nintendo's Financial Year Ends Tomorrow: Will They Announce New Wii U and 3DS Information

Tomorrow is going to be the end of the financial year for Nintendo, so they will have an investor's conference tomorrow.  They are most likely to announce million dollar losses, but they will also probably announce new Wii U and 3DS information.

Last financial quarter Nintendo announced the Nintendo Network, New Super Mario Bros. 2 (though it wasn't known as New Super Mario Bros. 2 until the Nintendo Direct webcast on April 20th) and that the Wii U controller will have a NFC chip. So it makes sense that Nintendo will announce new 3DS and Wii U information tomorrow at their investor's conference. I will present some things Nintendo could announce tomorrow.

Some E3 Plans

This is almost a given. Microsoft and Sony have already announced when their E3 press conferences will be (Microsoft: June 4 10am Pacific and Sony: June 4 6pm Pacific), and E3 is only 42 days away so why not announce their E3 press conference tomorrow.

A New Game or Two (or at least some new information about a game already announced)

Once again this is almost a given.  Last time they announced New Super Mario Bros. 2 so why not announce at least a downloadable game, and if not a new game, then at least some new information about a game already announced like Luigi's Mansion 2 or Pikmin 3.

New Nintendo Network Information

New information on downloadable retail games? Personal accounts for Wii U? Who knows.

 Wii U Name Change

Honestly I don't think Nintendo will change the Wii U's name, and who would want it to be changed (lots of people).  Not only does the Wii U symbolize a console for "We" (ordinary gamers) and "You" (hardcore gamers), it also sounds like a police car. . . Wiiiiiiiiuuuuuuuuu Wiiiiiiiiiiiuuuuuuuuu (Microsoft and Sony are on the run form Nintendo).

3DS Lite

I don't think this will happen (Nintendo wants people to focus on the Wii U), but in my opinion it's the most likely time for Nintendo to announce a 3DS Lite this year.

Come back tomorrow for the official announcements.

Nintendo Direct: 20th Anniversary Special Kirby Game For Wii and New Super Mairo Bros. 2 For 3DS

20th anniversary of Kirby

Today Nintendo announced on it Nintendo Direct webcast that for the 20th anniversary of Kirby they will be releasing a special game disc featuring some Kirby games, later this year for the Wii. Also New Super Mario Bros. 2 will be launching in August for the 3DS.  A system update for the 3DS will be available on April 25th.

Nintendo Direct Announced for Japan, Europe, Australia, and North America

Nintendo will have a Nintendo Direct webcast in Japan at 11:00 Japanese time,  Europe at 1pm CET, Australia at around 9:00pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, and they just announced on their facebook page that North America will have a webcast at around 8:30 PM PST.

Nintendo Confirms HD Super Mario Game for the Wii U

Earlier today in an interview Shigeru Miyamoto gave to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Miyamoto implied that a new Super Mario Bros. for the Wii U would be shown at E3 in June.  Later Nintendo issued a statement confirming Miyamoto’s claims saying, “In a recent interview, Mr. Miyamoto confirmed that a new Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii U system will be shown at this year’s E3 Expo. We’ll have more to announce about our plans for the E3 Expo at a later date.”

It appears that this E3 could be one of the best E3s ever for Nintendo fans.

Wii U Q&A: Ask Your Questions

The Wii U Q&A column is where you ask questions and I answer your questions to the best of my ability.  You have from now until Friday the 27th at 11:59pm to ask any question about anything to do with the Wii U, and I will post my answer on Sunday the 28th from 1pm to 2pm. Ask away in comments (sorry for taking so long to post another edition of the Wii U Q&A column.)

Nintendo of Korea Will be Having a Nintendo Direct Conference at 4:00 AM PST April 14th

Nintendo of Korea will be having a Nintendo Direct Conference at 4:00 AM PST April 14th.

Rumor: The Wii U Will Have $180 of Parts and Cost No less Than $300 Retail Price

According to the Canadian website Forget The Box, "sources closely involved with manufacturing and distributing Nintendo products" revealed to them the Wii U will have $130 of parts and the controller will have $50 of parts (a grand total of $180 of parts for both the Wii U and the controller) and will cost no less than $300 retail price.

Once again most of the media is acting like this is confirmed and (since they believe it's confirmed) that Nintendo is greedy for making the retail price $120 more than what they are paying for parts. They're forgetting that there's also the manufacturing cost, the accessories included with the Wii U (power cords, charging cradle for the controller, manuals, etc.), packaging, and transportation to the store.  All that should add an extra $20-$30 to Nintendo's cost. Then the store probably gets about $50 of the profits, so in the end Nintendo only profits approximately $45 per Wii U sold.

I think this rumor is fake and that the Wii U will have a retail price of $350.  I think it will cost $280 all together (including the console and controller parts, the manufacturing cost, the accessories, packaging, transportation to the store) to make.  As a side note, to all the people who care a lot about graphics, $280 is enough for Nintendo to make a console as good at playing graphically intensive games as a $600 gaming computer is.  That's because they get all the parts inexpensively, and the Wii U has one main purpose: to play games.  If you also include that the store gets approximately $50 of the profits, Nintendo still gets approximately $20 per Wii U sold. Remember that's just my theory; it won't be until E3 in June before we can know for sure.

Google Unveils the Rumored Google Glasses, Code-Named "Project Glass"

A concept of how the glasses could look.

Today Google announced on Google+ the long rumored augmented reality project Google glasses, code-named  "Project Glass," and said that they are being developed by the Google X labs (the lab that's developing the self-driving car). The Google+ Project Glass page explains,

We think technology should work for you—to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don’t.

A group of us from Google[x] started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment. We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input. So we took a few design photos to show what this technology could look like and created a video to demonstrate what it might enable you to do.

Please follow along as we share some of our ideas and stories. We’d love to hear yours, too. What would you like to see from Project Glass?

Google has not said when the glasses will come out.

Rumor: Wii U Less Powerful Than Xbox 360 and PS3?

Wii U

The website GamesIndustry has revealed that "according to developers familiar with the hardware who spoke on a condition of anonymity to GamesIndustry International" the Wii U is "not up to the same level as the PS3 or the 360," and another developer said "Yeah, that's true. It doesn't produce graphics as well as the PS3 or the 360, there aren't as many shaders, it's not as capable. Sure, some things are better, mostly as a result of it being a more modern design. But overall the Wii U just can't quite keep up."  For some reason most of the media is acting like this is 100% confirmed, while this is still just a rumor, and all other rumors are pointing towards the Wii U being more powerful than the Xbox 360 and the PS3.

In order to determine if this is true or a fake, let's look at what Nintendo, AMD (they're supplying the GPU), and IBM (they're supplying the processor) have said about the power of the Wii U.

So far Nintendo has pretty much just said (in terms of power) that the Wii U will have native support of 1080p high-definition graphics, the Xbox 360 didn't have native support of 1080p until 2007. The PS3 does support native 1080p for Blu-ray and the home menu, but it's not powerful enough to support native 1080p for most games.

AMD has said that the Wii U's GPU is based on the R770 architect, which is 3 years newer than both the R520 architect the Xbox 360's GPU is based on and the GeForce 7800 architect the PS3's GPU is based on (usually the newer the tech the more powerful it is). For more information on the Wii U's GPU and how powerful it is see my earlier artilce Wii U Q&A: The Wii U to support 2560x1600 resolution?

IBM has said that the Wii U's CPU is based on "the same processor technology found in Watson" (in case you don't know Watson is the supercomputer that was on Jeopardy), the POWER7 processor, which is a lot more powerful then the Xenon (based on PowerPC architect) processor found in the Xbox 360 and the Cell processor found in the PS3.

So as you see these "sources" are most likely fake and the Wii U will be the most powerful console on the market until the PS4 and the Xbox 720 come out.

Rumor: Next Xbox Will Have Two GPUs and Need Constant Internet Connection

Xbox 720 Mock up (photo actually a Xbox 360)

According to VG247, the Next Xbox (720) will have two GPUs based on AMD's Southern Islands architect (the same GPU the PlayStation Orbis is rumored to have) but “not CrossFire or SLI.” Their sources also say it will have a Blu-ray drive (I doubt it, because if they do they will have to pay money to Sony for every console sold), a processor with four to six cores, a built in next generation Kinect, and just like the PlayStation Orbis is also rumored to have, you have to be connected to the Internet--if not it won't work--as an anti-piracy measure (it could also be used to block used-games).  

VG247 also said it will be released by Christmas 2013.

If this rumor and the PlayStation Orbis rumor are true it looks like the Next Xbox and PlayStation Orbis will be only 0.5 to 2 times more powerful than the Wii U.

April Fools!!!

Don't worry The Technology Hobbit will remain The Technology Hobbit. It was just a April Fools joke. Other April Fools jokes on the web yesterday include:

• Two Announcements from Nintendo: They are done with consoles and Mario is getting a makeover
• Nintendo Announces Zelda Edutainment Wii U Lineup (I especially like Style Savvy with Ghirahim)
• Google Street Roo - exploring the outback one bounce at a time
• The YouTube Collection
• Exclusive! First Look at New Ultrabook: The Sony VAIO Q Series
• Google Racing
• Begin your quest with Google Maps 8-bit for NES
• A different kind of fiber (Google  Fiber)
• Interplanetary Reporting Comes To Google Analytics
• A new way to multitask (Chrome)

The Technology Hobbit is Now The Technology Barbie

The Technology Hobbit is now The Technology Barbie. The reason for the change is to appeal to a wider range of audience. Hope you enjoy.

Rumor: The Next PlayStation Codename is Orbis

PlayStation Orbis Mock up (photo actually a PS3)

Today Kotaku posted an article saying that "a reliable source who is not authorized to talk publicly about next-gen hardware but has shared correct information with us before" told them that the next PlayStation has the codename Orbis.  I checked and found out that orbis is Latin for circle, orb, ring, disk, orbit, coil, round, or rotation.  The article went on to say that if you combine it with Vita (the name of Sony's handheld game console) you get Orbis Vita which means "The circle of life." This could symbolize connectivity between the PlayStation Vita and the PlayStation Orbis (or PlayStation 4).

The article also says the PlayStation Orbis currently has an AMD x64 CPU and an AMD Southern Islands GPU that's capable of displaying games at a resolution of 4096x2160 and 3D games in 1080p and will be released in 2013. And there's some bad news:  no backwards compatibility and no used games (games will be available as a Blu-Ray disc or as a download--either way it will be locked to a single PSN account). Not only that, you must be connected to the Internet, and if you aren't your PlayStation Orbis won't turn on.

Thankfully this is just a rumor and has not been confirmed by Sony. I'm personally thinking it's all fake.

3DS One Year Later Review (Happy Birthday 3DS!!!!)

One year ago today the Nintendo 3DS was released in the United  States of America on March 27, 2011. So, Happy Birthday, 3DS!!!!  Let's hope for another good year. I am going to review the 3DS based on the improvements that have happened over the past year, the games, the 3DS itself, and how good of a year it is to buy the 3DS.

Improvements Over the Past Year

Taking 3D pics is cool, but taking 3D video is awesome.  The price at launch was $250, and now it's $170. We have the eShop, and it's doing really well.  The Nintendo Network is starting to come out, plus they also added SwapNote, an Internet browser, Find Mii 2, and Puzzle Swap 2.  These are all just a few of the ways the 3DS got a lot better in the past year.


Improvements score:  10/10

Games

The 3DS took awhile to get a lot of games (there was a drought of games in the first six months after launch), but now we have Super Mario 3D Land, Resident Evil Revelations, Mario Kart 7, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Starfox 64 3D, etc.  On the eShop we have Pushmo, Mutant Mudds, Dillon's Rolling Western, Zen Pinball 3D, Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword, etc.

Games score:  10/10

The 3DS Itself

The 3DS is probably the best selling 3D device ever, and it is rightfully so.  The 3D effect is really cool and adds a lot to games. The design of the 3DS reminds me of the DS as in it has a sturdy clamshell design (I dropped mine once, and it didn't even get a scratch).  Design features the 3DS has that the DS doesn't have include a Circle Pad and three cameras. Cool software the 3DS has includes the internet browser, Swapnote, Nintendo Video, Face Raiders, and AR Games. Another cool feature is StreetPass.  When I bought the 3DS, I wasn't excepting StreetPass to be so fun and now I bring my 3DS everywhere hoping that I pass someone who also has a 3DS. I also now use my 3DS as my MP3 player. My only complaints are  the lack of a second Circle Pad and that the glossy finish of the 3DS smudges so easily.


The 3DS itself:  10/10

How Good of a Year is it to Buy the 3DS?

I think it is a really good year to buy the 3DS.  In fact, I think this will be the best year to buy the 3DS possibly ever.  There are games coming out left and right. Some people are waiting for the 3DS lite to come out, but they're possibly going to have to wait until 2013 because 2012 will be the year of the Wii U, and Nintendo won't want to distract from the launch of the Wii U. So if you have been on the fence, I recommend that you buy the Nintendo 3DS.

How good of a year it is to buy the 3DS:  10/10




Overall score: 10/10

Random Technology Q&A: To get the new iPad or to get the Kindle Fire

The question I will answer today is: "What will the new iPad do for me that a Kindle Fire won't?"

Hard question.  First let's look at the pros of the Kindle Fire, then at what the new iPad do will for you that a Kindle Fire won't.

What the Kindle Fire will do for you that the new iPad won't:

• Only $199 dollars (the cheapest version of the new iPad costs $499)
• A gorilla glass screen (advantage:  it's harder to break and scratch than the iPad's screen)
• It's smaller (easier to carry with you).
• Free cloud storage

What the new iPad will do for you that a Kindle Fire won't:

• A screen with a resolution of 2048×1536 (the Kindle Fire screen has a resolution of 600×1024 and 2048×1536 is higher than an HDTV, advantage: the iPad's screen will be nicer to look at)
• An A5X processor that has a dual-core CPU and quad-core graphics (the Kindle Fire has a dual-core processor, advantage: the iPad will be faster and have better graphics)
• A front-facing camera and a rear-facing camera (the Kindle Fire doesn't have any camera, advantage: you will be able to take pictures)
• More apps (the Kindle Fire has a lot of apps but the iPad has a lot more) 
• A 9.7 inch screen (the Kindle Fire has a 7 inch screen, advantage: a bigger screen [that can also be a disadvantage in that it can be harder to carry with you])
• The cheapest iPad has 16GB of space (the Kindle Fire has 8GB of space [you do get free cloud storage though] advantage: more space to store things while you don't have Wi-Fi).
• It's Apple.

 My advice is if you have the money, even though the Kindle Fire is really good, go with the the new iPad (another alternative is the not-yet-released MeMo 370T -- it has Android Ice Cream Sandwich and specs almost matching to better than the new iPad's all for $250, but we don't know when it's going to be released; it could be in a few months or never).

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion is Announced

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, the companion to Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, was announced on March 23, 2012, in the 277th issue of Nintendo Power. It appears that the game is a 3DS exclusive. The article says that Dreamrift is the studio that is developing Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is Revealed

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two will have online co-op

Though Epic Mickey 2 was originally confirmed in January, we now know the full name, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, and that it's going to be a musical (I'm not sure I like that). It also looks like the main problem with the original Epic Mickey, the game's camera, has been fixed, with over 1,000 changes made to the camera. So far the game has been confirmed for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii. It will be released Q4 2012. There's still no information about a Wii U or 3DS version (there are some rumors saying that Disney has plans to create a companion to the main sequel for the 3DS called Epic Mickey: Power Of Illusion). I think Disney is preparing something special for the Wii U and will announce it at E3 2012.

Random Technology Q&A: To get the new iPad or to get the discounted iPad 2?

The question I will answer today is: "Technology Hobbit, would you suggest that I save some money and buy the discounted IPAD2 or splurge a little and buy the new IPAD3? Which would be more bang for my buck?" by James Kaladon.

I suggest the new iPad (iPad 3 $499 16GB, $599 32GB, $699 64GB, for Wi-Fi + 4G $629 16GB, $729 32GB, $829 64GB) because the iPad 2 ($399 for 16GB or $529 for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G) is only discounted $100 dollars. It may seem like a lot of money, but you have to remember that the iPad 2 (16GB) is still $399. For only $100 dollars more you get the new iPad (16GB) that has a screen with four times as many pixels as the iPad 2 (the new iPad has a resolution of 2048×1536 and the iPad 2 has a resolution of 1024×768), an A5X processor that has a dual-core CPU and quad-core graphics (the iPad 2 has a dual-core A5 processor), a 5 megapixel camera capable of recording 1080p video (the iPad 2 has a 0.7 megapixel camera capable of recording 720p), and, best of all, it will run all the apps (the iPad 2 will not be able to ran all the apps that are built for the new iPad).

Apple iPad 3 Event: Siri in Japan, New Apple TV and iPad

As part of iOS 5.1 they are bringing Siri to Japan. TV shows and Movies on iTunes can now be in full HD (1080p). The new Apple TV (not the rumored Apple HDTV) is $99 and has iCloud and 1080p support. The new iPad has a 5-megapixel camera and the screen has 3.1 million pixels. The new iPad also has 4G LTE. The price will be $499 for 16GB, $599, 32GB $699 with Wi-Fi, and for 4G, $629/729/829. It will be available on March 16 (the rumor was right). So far it has been known just as the "new iPad". They will continue offering the iPad 2 16GB model for $399 with Wi-Fi, and for 3G $529.

Apple iPad 3 Event Live Blogs Roundup

Hears a roundup of some of the Apple iPad 3 event live blogs.

Apple iPad 3 Event Live Blog, at IGN

iPad 3 Announcement: Live From the Apple Keynote Event, at PCMag

Live Update: Apple March 7 press event, at Macworld

Apple iPad 3 event: live, at Telegraph

Apple’s iPad 3 event – live coverage, at the financialpost

Live blog: Crowd in S.F. preparing for Apple's expected iPad announcement, at mercury news 

Live Blog: Join Wired at Apple’s ‘See and Touch’ iPad Event, at Wired

Start time:

• 10:00am Pacific Standard Time 
• 12:00pm Central Standard Time 
• 1:00pm Eastern Standard Time 
• 06:00 p.m. United Kingdom
• 07:00 p.m. Germany 
• 03:00 a.m. (March 8) Australia

iPad 3 Rumor Roundup

iPad 3 event invitation

Tomorrow at 10 am PST Apple has a 99.99% chance to announce the next iPad. Here is the iPad 3 rumor roundup I have made of what I consider the most likely to be true.

The iPad 3 will have a screen with a resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels

I personally think there's a 98% chance it's true mainly because the site ars technica has been visited 365 times by a device with a screen with a resolution of 2048x1536.  Currently there are very few devices that have a resolution of 2048x1536.

          The iPad 3 will have a quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM       

I think there's an 80% chance Apple will use a quad-core A6 processor and have 1GB of RAM for the iPad 3. Because the iPad used a 1GHz A4 single-core processor and 256MB of RAM and the iPad 2 uses a 1GHz A5 dual-core processor and 512MB of RAM, it makes sense that the iPad 3 will use a quad-core A6 processor and 1GB. Also the $250 dollar MeMo 370T has a quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM, so iPad 3 will almost have to use a quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM to keep up with the competition.

                                   The iPad 3 will have 4G LTE support                           

I think there's a 70% chance the iPad 3 will support 4G LTE connectivity because the Tech blog iMore says that the source that correctly revealed that the date of the Apple event would be March 7 now says that the iPad 3 will support 4G LTE connectivity.

                                   The iPad 3 will release on March 16                             

I think there's a 90% chance it will launch 9 days after the announcement, which would be March 16th, because historically Apple releases its products soon after its announcements, such as the iPad 2 was announced on March 2, 2011, and was released 9 days afterward on March 11, 2011.

                                                        Other Rumors                                             

The next iPad will be called the iPad HD: 40% chance
The iPad 3 will include Siri: 99% chance

Wii U Q&A: The Wii U to support 2560x1600 resolution?

The question I will answer today is "What is the Wii U's graphics card and what resolution will it support?  Also, I have read some articles saying that the Wii U will be underpowered compared to the Xbox 720 and PS4 and won't support as high of resolution as them, is this true," by anonymous.  The following is my answer.

AMD has confirmed that the Wii U is going to use a custom-designed Radeon HD similar to the Radeon R700 architecture. Some places such as IGN have said that the type of Radeon R700 that it's going to use is most like that of the Radeon HD 4850 (I believe it is most likely that the Wii U's version is on par or more powerful).  Assuming that this is true, I googled the Radeon HD 4850 and found its official specification page.  As you can see in the image below the Radeon HD 4850 supports 2560x1600 resolution also known as WQXGA.
 




That is 4,096,000 pixels which is more than 1.9 times higher resolution then full HD (1920×1080). It is even higher than 2K resolution. So when someone tells you that the Wii U is underpowered, that is not true (here's a good article comparing the Radeon HD 4850 and the HD Radeon 6670 [the Xbox 720's rumored graphics card]). Recently some people have gotten it into their minds that the Xbox 720 and PS4 will support higher resolutions than the Wii U, but it is most likely not true; one reason is that there are hardly any TVs that support 2560x1600 resolution.

Link: A article about how The Legend of Zelda series does not need realistic graphics

I think this is a good article about how the The Legend of Zelda series does not need realistic graphics. Here's the link: Realistic Visuals and the Zelda Franchise by Hanyou on zeldadungeon.net

Random Technology Q&A: Ask Your Questions

Welcome to the Random Technology Q&A column where you ask questions and I answer your questions to the best of my ability. You have from now until Wednesday at 6pm to ask any question about anything to do with Technology (and I do mean anything) including, but not limited to, computers (including processors, graphics cards, etc.), TVs, phones, tablets, mp3 players, video game consoles (not the Wii U--you can ask questions about the Wii U here), technology companies (Google, Apple, Sony, etc.). I will post my answer on Sunday the 11th at 1pm. I look forward to seeing what you ask in the comments.

Wii U Q&A: Ask Your Questions

Introducing the new Wii U Q&A column where you ask questions and I answer your questions to the best of my ability.  You have from now until Sunday Monday at 6pm 10am to ask any question about anything to do with the Wii U, and I will post my answer on Monday the 5th at 1pm to 2pm. Ask away in comments.

Welcome

Welcome to The Technology Hobbit, where I will be posting articles and reviews about video games (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, etc.), computers (PCs, Macs, laptops, etc.), TVs, mobile technology (iPhones, tablets, Androids, mp3 players, etc.), and more. Check out my two new columns: the Wii U Q&A column, where I answer all your questions about the Wii U, and the Random Technology Q&A column, where I answer all your questions about any thing to do with Technology. Make sure you vote in the "Which do you think is the best handheld game console of all time?" poll on the right, and check out the Wii U timeline. Also follow The Technology Hobbit here on Blogger, go over to Facebook and like us, and/or follow our Google+ page, and coming soon follow us on Twitter.