Tokyo was called as the host of the 2020 Olympics this weekend, based on a $5 billion bid that's decidedly abbreviate compared to the money spent by added contempo host cities. The body of their angle (besides that accomplished ice bank about Fukushima thing)? A plan to retrofit three above venues originally congenital for the 1964 Summer Games.

Though affluence are analytic whether the bread-and-butter charge could aggravate Japan's advancing recession, Tokyo's bid is a smarter, bacteria eyes of what's commonly accepted of Olympic host cities. Rather than architecture absolutely new venues, they'll retrofit absolute structures throughout the city—including the aforementioned amphitheater congenital for the 1964 Games, which will get a affecting makeover by Zaha Hadid.

Working with the structural basic of the old stadium, Hadid will add a retractable roof and added abreast perks—and save the city-limits millions in the process. Two added 1964 venues (Nippon Budokan and the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, apparent below) will aswell be acclimated for the 2020 Games, and acknowledgment to Tokyo's accomplished alteration system, the city-limits will not charge to advance abundant in new alternation and bus lines.

There will aswell be dozens of new structures built, but about all of them will be adherent into city-limits Tokyo to abate alteration times and activity costs. A bunched Olympic Village will be congenital on Tokyo Harbor and, if the Games blanket up, it will be adapted into housing. This plan has its roots in the 1960s, at atomic conceptually: In 1960, a adolescent artist called Kenzo Tange proposed the architecture of a massive apartment development beyond Tokyo Bay. It was never built, but the plan afflicted burghal architecture for decades to come.

Though it'll be far beneath expensive, the 2020 bid hearkens aback to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, which were a celebration for the city-limits and apparent Japan’s complete reentry into the post-War world, bolstering the country’s absurd about-face effort. Huge infrastructural projects, like the rebuilding of Tokyo’s Port, were undertaken. The world’s aboriginal accelerated "bullet" alternation was completed to serve attendees. The bulk spent to body venues, highways, alternation lines, and basement was according to about 4 percent of Japan’s GDP.

Nippon Budokan and the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, congenital in 1964.

The '64 Games were aswell a abstruse milestone. These were the aboriginal contest to anytime be advertisement reside beyond oceans, acknowledgment to newly-installed abysmal sea cables. Modern photo-finish technology was implemented. Even the clear architecture accomplishment abaft the Games was remarkable: A alternation of ablaze non-verbal pictograms were developed by Yoshiro Yamashita, confined to transcend the accent barriers that disconnected visitors and athletes.

Much has afflicted back 1964. Whether acknowledgment to doping scandals and accusations of corruption, or the actuality that a lot of cities end up acutely in debt with dozens of huge, abandoned venues, the Olympics accept absent both the amusing and bread-and-butter aura that buoyed them in the 1960s and 70s. 2020 is a adventitious to accost some of that optimism. If any city-limits can blade the bloated, wasteful, and contemptuous accessible angel of the Olympics in contempo years, it’s apparently Tokyo.

Lead: Adam Pretty/Getty Images.

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Here they are, 10 toys and amateur agilely called for breach and/or inoffensiveness (plus two of the worst ideas), active the area in age ambit and price. Pick through, and you'll acquisition something nice for the able little snot.

If you abhorrence the arcade architecture as abundant as the Grinch hated Christmas, bang here.

Toys and Amateur To Buy Smart Kids Whose Parents You Actually Like Toys and Amateur To Buy Smart Kids Whose Parents You Actually Like Toys and Amateur To Buy Smart Kids Whose Parents You

Here they are, 10 toys and amateur agilely called for breach and/or inoffensiveness (plus… Apprehend added Read more

Battling Helicopters: There's no bigger way to apprentice the mysteries of heavier-than-air flight than to circuit up a few air hogs and accept them shoot anniversary added out of the sky—in your active room. Seriously, these things may be big-ticket but they're fun for everybody who doesn't bolt one in the eye, and they're decidedly durable. They appear out of China beneath a few altered cast names, so basis around, and see if you can acquisition a bigger deal. $170; Ages 8 and up [Amazon]

Spinmaster Air Hogs Battling Havoc R/C Helicopters Spinmaster Air Hogs Battling Havoc R/C Helicopters Spinmaster Air Hogs Battling Havoc R/C Helicopters

Amazon.com: $190.00

Buy now 6 readers bought this

Crayola Adorn Maker: Awarded as a top "green" toy by the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Crayola's adorn melter works a little like an EZ Bake oven, alone with better results. The kid throws in acclimated crayons, and out appear agleam accomplished new ones, sometimes in new never-before-seen colors. And the best part—the new copy allegedly doesn't pop accessible while the adorn wax is still molten. Safety first! $30; Ages 8 and up [Review; Amazon]

Crayola Adorn Maker Crayola Adorn Maker Crayola Adorn Maker

Amazon.com

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Easy Baking with a 100-Watt Light Bulb Takes Me Back Easy Baking with a 100-Watt Light Bulb Takes Me Back Easy Baking with a 100-Watt Light Bulb Takes Me Ba

The aggregate of my Peter Pan circuitous and our weeklong anniversary of aliment meant one thing:… Apprehend added Read more

Rabbids Go Home: If you're annoyed of Mario and wish to clean that brainless mustache off his face, the allowance to get kids is this crazy Wii appellation from Ubisoft, area the alone guy with facial hair is Santa Claus, and he gets yelled at until he's... bare down to his underpants... for some reason. OK, so it doesn't all accomplish sense, but damnit if it's not a change of pace, and a way to accumulate the little troublemakers active after acquirements to shoot, abduct cars and amount boutique for hookers. Reviewed by kid-friendly Stephen Totilo over at Kotaku. $50; Rated E—ages 10 and up [Review; GameStop]

Rabbids Go Home Review: Strip-Platforming Rabbids Go Home Review: Strip-Platforming Rabbids Go Home Review: Strip-Platforming

The alone bold this abatement that lets you bark the clothes of Santa Claus is a platformer after a… Apprehend added Read more

Nano Hexbugs: Last year, Hexbugs were all the rage, so it just makes faculty that this year is all about Nano Hexbugs. As your cautiously acquainted Jobsian academician already guessed, they're smaller. And they're cheaper. And they jerk and agitate and move fast as hell, and cast over and appropriate themselves, and it's just bunches of fun for all ages (except for babies, who could asphyxiate on them). Apparent actuality abundant beyond than absolute size. $10; Ages 3 and up [Hexbug]

Mosaic Stone Kit: What bigger affair to get a kid than a bag of adhesive mix and some broken glass? Just add water, bright shards, and the anxiety of anybody you wish to beddy-bye with the fishes, and presto, you got art/revenge. Seriously, mosaics are acceptable means to advise geometry, history, spatial acumen and allure all at the aforementioned time. Oh, and the website assures buyers that the bottle "gems" are smooth. $16; Ages 7 and up [Constructive Playthings]

Leapfrog Agreeable Table: As a absolute reside ancestor who had to put up with this affair ceaseless for a beeline six months, I can acquaint you that a) my kid never got ailing of it, b) it was the atomic annoying of her chirping, chattering agreeable doodads, and c) there's a acumen she could sing the ABC's afore she could say annihilation abroad that resembled English. (She was chatty in Huttese, I am convinced, but that's addition story.) The alone bad affair about this archetypal is that so abounding new parents accept it already, you charge to ask afore you buy. If they do accept it, go with Leapfrog's My Pal Scout. $34 or acquisition it used; Ages 6-18 months [Amazon]

LeapFrog My Pal Scout LeapFrog My Pal Scout LeapFrog My Pal Scout

Amazon.com: $14.76

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LeapFrog Apprentice & Groove Agreeable Table LeapFrog Apprentice & Groove Agreeable Table LeapFrog Apprentice & Groove Agreeable Table

Amazon.com: $64.99

Buy now 1 readers bought this

Duck Duck Moose iPhone Apps: Again, yield it from a parent, these agreeable babyish games—based on the archetypal tunes "Wheels on the Bus," "Old McDonald" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider"—are colorful, interactive, confusing and not annoying. OK, so the opera accompanist occasionally wears down your patience, but that's why there are a agglomeration of altered downloadable music options, and even vocals done in altered languages. The visuals are cartoony and funny, with aliens abducting cows, pigs painting masterpieces and spiders like benumbed acerbic and architecture webs on rainbows or something. My kid asks for anniversary of them by name. Buy them all, and accumulate a attending out for more. $1-$2; Ages 12 months and up [iTunes Link]

Lego Star Wars: Of all the abandoned business crossovers in history, this is conceivably the a lot of constant and ultimately legitimate. I say this with a agenda of jealousy, as a guy (like Jesus) who admired his non-movie-themed gray alcazar and rocket moon base. Yes, buy some kid a Vader TIE Fighter, if alone so you can accept the adventitious to able it accessible and "help" body it. Ranges widely; kit apparent aloft $33; Ages 8 and up [Toys R Us]

Lego Secret Vault Contains All Sets In History Lego Secret Vault Contains All Sets In History Lego Secret Vault Contains All Sets In History

I accept to acknowledge that activity hasn't been actual acceptable lately. Work about the clock, not enough… Apprehend added Read more

Settlers of Catan: Sure, the bold has become a meme, but abuse it if it didn't acquire that cachet as the a lot of absorbing yet affable lath bold back Monopoly. And there's annihilation animal or violent, unless you calculation a few hundred sheep and a scattering of soldiers. Abiding there are video bold versions of it, but the flesh-and-blood copy lets you watch the lath get broken down and adapted over and over, leveling the arena acreage afresh and again. But if the kids assuredly apprentice to exhausted your ass, you absolutely should bastard online to brightness up your settlement-to-city about-face skills. $34; Ages 10 and up [Toys R Us]

DON'T BUY Elmo Robots: In the past, we were on the fence, but accepting lived with too abounding Fisher-Price Sesame Street toys, I can say that they're just not great. They're harder algid artificial things, not at all costly and huggable, and they're noisy—both because of their programmed sounds and because of their automated wheezing. If you accept to go with with something automatic and Elmo-themed (and I do accept that pull), go with Elmo Tickle Hands. They don't accomplish this "least annoying" list, because you accept to accumulate arena the 3-minute DVD over and over afresh for the abounding effect, but they're cheaper ($22 vs $54) and are added absorbing for the youngins.

Fisher-Price Elmo's Tickle Hands Fisher-Price Elmo's Tickle Hands Fisher-Price Elmo's Tickle Hands

Amazon.com: $11.00

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Elmo Reside Video Review (Verdict: Buy If You Love Your Children) Elmo Reside Video Review (Verdict: Buy If You Love Your Children) Elmo Reside Video Review (Verdict: Buy If You Love Y

Yesterday apparent the accession of Elmo Live, the rapping, dancing and storytelling animatronic doll Apprehend added Read more

DON'T BUY Zhu Zhu Hamsters: Look, these things are the Cabbage Patch Tickle Me Furby of the year. You couldn't acquisition them at a sane price if you tried. But back some reviewers accept labeled them as potentially "annoying for adults," you can just skip the hunt. And while we're at it, don't buy "Screature" either. Do I accept to explain why?

Amazon.com

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SCREATURE Alternate Dinosaur SCREATURE Alternate Dinosaur SCREATURE Alternate Dinosaur

Amazon.com

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A Book: We usually assets one atom for a bewitched fantasy gift, but kids these canicule accept aggregate you anytime had and one hell of a lot more. I don't wish to complete like Captain OG Readmore or anything, but I accept addicted memories of account with my dad, and now my kid already begs to sit down and apprehend with me. (She can't apprehend yet, but why blemish it with the truth?) Buy a book—track down one of your adolescence favorites—out-of-print or in a new edition—on Amazon or Alibris, and again appearance it off to the kid you're giving it to. I am not aggravating to be sentimental, I just capital to accomplish abiding you knew this was an option, one that doesn't accomplish kids' easily adhesive or dirty, doesn't afford loud noises or abrupt exclamations, and doesn't hum or beat mysteriously if you're aggravating to watch TV backward at night. Any price; All ages [Wherever Books Are Sold]

This account is far from comprehensive, so don't overlook to hit comments and acclaim the atomic annoying toys you can anticipate of, too—include pics and appraisement if possible.

All Giz Wants is our anniversary aggregation of admired allowance ideas, including amazing accessible altar and a few avant-garde fantasies. We'll be bustling guides catered to altered interests several times per day for some time, so accumulate searching it over.

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Though a lot of video amateur never absorb a amateur accepting to bead a deuce, video bold worlds consistently assume to accept bedraggled toilets in even dirtier restrooms. Who uses these toilets and why are they universally dirty! Video Bold Toilets circuit up the toilets begin in video games—it spans from like the aboriginal 80's until now—in a amusing Tumblr. Here are a few we adulation (the one aloft is from F.E.A.R. 3).

My best anamnesis of a video bold toilet apparently has to be in Duke Nukem. What's yours?

The admirable aperture from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

An even bigger aperture from Assassin's Creed 3

GoldenEye 007

Gnarly stain from Bioshock Infinite

[Video Bold Toilets via Laughing Squid]

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Back afore you adolescent whippersnappers had your video games, bold geeks played lath games. You know, with concrete pieces and cardboard for befitting score? And Geek Chic makes absurd custom tables for humans still into those old-school games.

The tables are appealing amazing looking. They're advised to plan as accustomed dining allowance tables or whathaveyou, but they aswell transform to appearance area you're ambuscade your huge games. There are layered play surfaces for abounding types of bold boards, stations for Bold Masters to sit at, drawers and shelves ample for aphorism books and bold pieces, and all sorts of added lovingly-detailed features.

Of course, with the candied Sultan table starting at $8,850, this is for the a lot of austere of D&D admirers only, but if you've got the blemish and a accumulation of accompany into arena lath games, this is one way to agreement that bold night will always be at your place. [Geek Chic via Youth Radio via Boing Boing]

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In a lot of ways, a 3D laptop makes at atomic as abundant faculty as a 3DTV, abnormally if that laptop is the aboriginal to play 3D Blu-ray discs in the US. That's Toshiba's A665. It's affectionate of beastly.

We'd already gotten a glimpse of the A665—called Dynabook in the UK—but the we assuredly apperceive that the 15.6-inch laptop will hit US food on June 20th. Aswell confirmed: in accession to that 3D Blu-ray able drive, you backpack in one of Intel's monster Bulk i7-740QM cloister bulk processors, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 350M detached graphics, 4GB DDR3 RAM, a 640GB harder drive, and a 12-cell battery. The bald basic 3D model—which is still appealing potent—starts at $1600.

Toshiba Dynabook TX/98MBL Is Aboriginal 3D Blu-ray Playing Laptop Toshiba Dynabook TX/98MBL Is Aboriginal 3D Blu-ray Playing Laptop Toshiba Dynabook TX/98MBL Is Aboriginal 3D Blu-ray Play

Also accepted as the Satellite A665 in Europe, the TX/98MBL is a 15.6-inch laptop with 3D Blu-ray… Apprehend added Read more

Also entering Toshiba's ball laptop cadre: a non-3D A665 and the M645, both of which activity processors alignment from Bulk i3 up to Bulk i7 or AMD's Phenom II Cloister Bulk and alternative detached graphics. Unlike the 3D PC, these two models aswell appear with seamless cartoon switching Nvidia Optimus technology. For the price—starting at $800 and $730, respectively—they should activity a solid akin of performance, and will aswell be accessible this Sunday.

Nvidia Optimus Switches Seamlessly Amid Amped Up and Power-Sipping Graphics Nvidia Optimus Switches Seamlessly Amid Amped Up and Power-Sipping Graphics Nvidia Optimus Switches Seamlessly Amid Amped U

We've apparent a ton of Bulk i5 notebooks recently, all loaded with Intel's impotent… Apprehend added Read more

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The new agency aswell sports a new attending that Toshiba's calling Fusion X2, which combines a textured apparent with a bright trim. While it'll accumulate your anthology from connected smudging in a lot of places, I'm not abiding the two elements agglutinate calm absolutely as seamlessly as promised.

Toshiba Satellite A665 3D-Ready Laptop Brings New Dimension to Entertainment

Laptop Delivers Immersive Ball Acquaintance Powered by NVIDIA 3D Vision Technology

IRVINE, Calif. – June 15, 2010 – Toshiba's Digital Articles Analysis (DPD), a analysis of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today appear the accession of its aboriginal 3D-ready laptop for the U.S. market.

The Satellite® A665 3D Edition laptop appearance a 15.6-inch askew TruBrite® widescreen LCD affectation with LED backlighting and a 120Hz brace rate. NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ software and accouterments technologies drive the stereoscopic 3D experience, carrying out-of-the-box affinity with hundreds of PC games, as able-bodied as videos and photos. Able with a rewriteable Blu-ray Disc™ drive, the A665 is aswell accessible to abutment agreeable playback in the Blu-ray 3D architecture as it becomes accessible in the marketplace.

Encased in the all-new Fusion™ X2 accomplishment in Charcoal, the Satellite A665 laptop delivers enthusiast-class achievement and appearance with the processing adeptness of the Intel® Core™ i7 quad-core processor with TurboBoost technology, additional the NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 350M cartoon processing assemblage (GPU) with 1GB of GDDR5 video memory. The included NVIDIA 3D Vision kit, which includes software, a brace of wireless alive bang glasses and an emitter, enables users to get in the activity bound with simple start-up and automatic about-face of accurate agreeable for stereoscopic 3D viewing.

"With this alive bang 3D technology, we are able to accommodate consumers with dynamic, high-quality stereoscopic images appropriate from the laptop screen," said Carl Pinto, carnality admiral of artefact development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Articles Division. "We advised this arrangement to abutment functionality that will become accessible in new drivers and software enhancements, so aboriginal adopters of 3D technology will be able to yield advantage of new capabilities such as the adeptness to play Blu-ray 3D agreeable and more."

"3D Vision technology is for added than just PC gamers," said Phil Eisler, accepted administrator of 3D Vision technology at NVIDIA. "We are alive carefully with our ally to ensure a abundance of 3D content, including games, photos, movies and even the Internet can be absolutely enjoyed on a 3D laptop."

The Satellite A665 is aswell arranged with exceptional multimedia features. Congenital harman/kardon® speakers bear absorbing complete while Dolby Advanced Audio™ added optimizes audio above so games, movies and music complete added alive and accurate to life. Toshiba's different new Sleep-and-Music technology is aswell included, enabling users to play music from their MP3 players through the laptop's speakers – even while the laptop is powered down. For cine lovers, the laptop includes Toshiba's Resolution+™ DVD upconversion technology, which improves the above of accepted analogue DVD agreeable by advocacy contrast, accurateness and assimilation to abreast high-definition quality.

Rounding out the account of exceptional appearance is an LED backlit keyboard that provides accessibility in low-light conditions, while raised-tile appearance keys bear a adequate accounting experience. A advanced TouchPad™ aswell offers multi-touch ascendancy for easier navigation, acceptance users to pinch, bash or zoom through files, applications and webpages.

"3D technology has captured a amazing bulk of mindshare in the affectation industry. Flat console makers and cartoon dent makers are developing next-generation technology to accommodate consumers with a advantageous 3D experience," said John Jacobs, administrator of anthology bazaar analysis at DisplaySearch. "While abundant of the altercation has centered on the TV market, the anthology PC stands to become the next above belvedere for arresting 3D content. Toshiba's new Satellite puts them at the beginning of the 3D acceptance curve."

Features accessible on the Toshiba Satellite A665 3D Edition include:

* 15.6-inch askew HD TruBrite™ LED Backlit widescreen affectation with 120Hz brace rate

* Intel® Core™ i7-740QM cloister bulk processor with TurboBoost technology

* NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 350M with 1GB DDR3 detached cartoon memory

* NVIDIA 3D Vision™ kit with alive bang 3D glasses and emitter

* Blu-ray Disc® Rewriteable (RE) and DVD SuperMulti drive with LabelFlash

* Exceptional audio with harman/kardon® stereo speakers and Dolby Advanced Audio™

* Windows® 7 Home Exceptional operating system

* 4GB DDR3 RAM

* 640GB harder drive

* 802.11b/g/n wireless and 10/100/1000 Ethernet

* Bluetooth® V2.1 + EDR (available on baddest models)

* Toshiba Harder Drive Impact Sensor

* TouchPad™ with Multi-touch Control

* 12-cell battery

* One eSATA/USB admixture anchorage with Toshiba USB Sleep-and-Charge and three USB 2.0 ports

* HDMI port

* Congenital Webcam with Toshiba Face Recognition

* Microphone ascribe anchorage with Toshiba Sleep-and-Music

* 5-in-1 Anamnesis Card Reader and ExpressCard slots

Pricing and Availability

The Toshiba Satellite A665 3D Edition laptop will be accessible on June 20 at baddest retailers, e-tailers and anon from Toshiba (www.toshibadirect) with a starting amount of $1,599.99 MSRP.

Toshiba Rolls Out 2010 Models of Feature-Packed Laptops Advised for Ball and Style

Built for HD Entertainment, Satellite A665 and Satellite M645 Alternation Ball Laptops Bear Exceptional Achievement with In-Demand Technologies, Above Audio and All-New Style

IRVINE, Calif. – June 15, 2010 – Toshiba's Digital Articles Analysis (DPD), a analysis of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today appear its feature-packed ball laptops, the Satellite® A665 and Satellite M645. The laptops seamlessly alloy appearance with multimedia performance, accumulation an all-new stylishly abiding finish, the latest performance-class apparatus and cutting-edge technologies advised to accession high-def entertainment, abundance and creativity.

Strikingly crafted in an all-new Fusion® X2 finish, which blends a abiding textured apparent over the awning and approach rests with a bright trim, Satellite A665 and M645 alternation laptops activity exceptional raised-tile keyboards and advanced multi-touch touchpads to accomplish accounting and abyssal adequate and easy, as able-bodied as a TruBrite® HD widescreen affectation with LED backlighting in two awning sizes – 16-inch and 14-inch.

"These laptops are ideal for humans who wish to get the a lot of out of their multimedia and ball – whether it's HD videos and photos, gaming or music," said Carl Pinto, carnality admiral of artefact development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Articles Division. "After 25 years in the laptop business, we are still blame the boundaries of what a laptop can do by inventing new technologies so our barter can acquaintance agreeable in means they've alone dreamed."

New Exclusive Features

Building on the success of Toshiba's convenience-driven acute applications and features, including Toshiba USB Sleep-and-Charge, ReelTime™ and Bulletin Board, the Satellite A665 and Satellite M645 alternation laptops, cover new applied innovations that enhance the ball experience.

* Toshiba Sleep-and-Music: Users can now yield advantage of the laptop's exceptional speakers even if the laptop is powered down. Simply affix an MP3 amateur into the Mic jack, hit play and enjoy.

* Resolution+™ DVD Upconversion: Built into the Toshiba DVD Amateur software, Resolution+ technology upconverts standard-definition movies and instantly improves accurateness and blush for a account that looks and feels added like HD.

New High-Performance Technology Options and Features

The Satellite A665 and Satellite M645 alternation laptops affection high-performance multi-core processor technologies to bear abundant adeptness for ambitious accustomed multimedia tasks. Able the latest processors from Intel®, including the Core™ i3, Bulk i5 and Bulk i7 and the new AMD Phenom™ II Cloister Bulk processors, Satellite A645 and Satellite M645 alternation laptops aswell affection fast DDR3 anamnesis and alternative 7200RPM harder drive configurations.

In addition, baddest models featuring the NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M and GeForce GT330M cartoon processors aswell cover NVIDIA Optimus™ technology, which intelligently optimizes the laptop to accommodate outstanding cartoon achievement if bare and continued array activity for best enjoyment.

"NVIDIA Optimus technology solves a key affair for consumers searching for high-performance laptops – the tradeoff amid abundant cartoon achievement and array life," said Rene Hass, accepted administrator of anthology articles at NVIDIA. "Now they can accept both in a arrangement that automatically directs the workload to the a lot of able processor. This is switchable cartoon done right."

Continuing Toshiba's bequest of accouterment above audio, the laptops are able with booming harman/kardon® stereo speakers that accommodate beauteous complete for music, movies and games. In addition, Dolby Advanced Audio™ technology enhances and optimizes the audio acquaintance and can aggrandize the audio arresting to 6.1 or 7.1-channel playback for abutting the laptops to a home amphitheater arrangement via the congenital HDMI port.

Intel Wireless Display, Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX, Slot-loading DVD drives and Blu-ray Disc® drives will be accessible on baddest configurations.

Detailed blueprint and configurations on the Satellite A665 can be begin at laptops.toshiba.com/satellite/A665

Detailed blueprint and configurations on the Satellite M645 can be begin at laptops.toshiba.com/satellite/M645

Availability

The new Toshiba Satellite A665 (starting at $799.99 MSRP) and Satellite M645 laptops (starting at $729.99 MSRP) will be accessible on June 20 at above retailers, e-tailers and absolute from Toshiba on toshibadirect.com.

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There are a lot of iPhone games. A lot of of them are crap. A cogent atom are good. Few are great. Even beneath are abundant and original. Like this one ability be!

The video you're seeing aloft is the aperture date of Sword & Sworcery EP, an iPhone aventure bold due out H2 this year. It's got fantastically atmospheric music, a atypical aesthetic, a attenuate ascendancy scheme, and a lot of importantly, some affectionate of vision. A brace account of almost eventless meandering are abundant to angle me, which is attenuate for iPhone amateur that, in conceptual terms, tend to aim low.

Like this one! Gameloft's Zombie Infection looks fine, until you apprehend that it's a absolute cheat of Resident Evil 5. The ascendancy arrangement is the aforementioned we've apparent acclimated in a lot of the company's added games—some of which are fantastic, by the way—and above the affiance of a RE5-like gaming experience, and zombies, obviously, I'm seeing the aforementioned affair actuality as I saw with NOVA, or with Gangstar—a article bold of ambiguous provenance. It may about-face out to be fun, but that's the a lot of it can absolutely achievement for.

Almost invariably, the iPhone amateur I love are the accurate originals, like Zen Bound or Noby Noby Boy or Spider. It's absurd to say if Sword & Sworcery will be one of those games, but it's bright that the developers' hearts are in the appropriate place, which counts for a lot. [Touch Arcade]

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Roku adapted the calendar today with two new models bookending the accepted Roku HD: The $80 standard-def SD and the $130 HD-XR, which I tested. It's solid, but still needs a firmware advancement (coming soon) afore it feels absolutely next-gen.

Before we get into the HD-XR, there's the added new archetypal to introduce. The low-end Roku SD is appealing abundant a stripped-down adaptation of the accepted Roku HD model, appropriately enough. It has Wi-Fi b/g and Ethernet, but alone offers blended output—no HDMI, component, S-video or optical audio out, all of which the Roku HD has. The SD offers just standard-def alive to go forth with its standard-def output, and retails for $80 (the HD, in comparison, sells for $100). Both the SD and HD-XR are awash into the aforementioned small, fanless case as the HD, so they're all the aforementioned size.

The HD-XR is Roku's new high-end model, affairs for $130: In accession to aggregate the Roku HD has, the HD-XR is packing 802.11n Wi-Fi and, intriguingly, a USB port. But therein lies the botheration with the HD-XR, and the acumen we're bringing you a hands-on and not a analysis today: The USB anchorage doesn't do anything. Yet.

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Roku tells me that they've got some abundant additions advancing to their account via automated firmware advancement in "the advancing weeks." Aboriginal is the Roku Channel Store, which "will action a amount of new agreeable channels for the Roku player, abounding of which are free." This comes in accession to the currently offered Netflix (duh), Amazon and MLB. What could the new channels be? We'd say Hulu is a fair bet, given accomplished rumors. Added committed alive sites like ABC or MSNBC wouldn't be out of the catechism either, and back everybody's accomplishing it, I wouldn't be afraid if Facebook and Twitter appear to admission your tidy little Roku box.

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Second is that currently-useless USB port—it may not do annihilation yet, but I accept it'll acquiesce video playback from UMS accessories like harder drives and beam drives if it's enabled through firmware. A accessible tip, Roku: Extensive codec abutment is mandatory, not optional, in a accessory that has as few appearance as this one. It alone does a brace things, so it had bigger do them abuse well. DivX, MKV, and H.264 would be a start.

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So how does the HD-XR perform? Just about as able-bodied as I could hope. It's a bit apathetic to alpha alive a video (two account at most, but that's a continued time to beam at a advance bar on your TV), but already it started it never stutters, and video superior is about as acceptable as if alive on a computer. I do ambition you could browse through Netflix's catalog, rather than alone getting able to beck what's in your Instant Watch queue, but it's cool simple and works well. The limited is baby but feels solid, and has few abundant buttons that appealing abundant anyone can amount it out. Setup is simple and the antenna picks up my Wi-Fi arresting just as able-bodied as my laptop. Overall I was absolutely admiring with it, and so were my non-tech-savvy roommates—no beggarly feat, back they're not usually into all the alarmist being that I accord with every day.

So what's new appropriate now? Um, well, 802.11n. That's it. It's appealing black to see new accouterments appear after the accompanying software that takes it to the next generation, abnormally accustomed Netflix's aggression assimilate Blu-ray players (only $100!), HTPCs, PS3s and god knows what else. I'm not so abiding the HD-XR is account $130, accustomed the growing beyond of Netflix streaming, so Roku had bigger accompany it with this firmware upgrade—the canicule of a one ambush pony in the active allowance are about up. [Roku]

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With the bulk of Wii Motion Plus bringing the bulk of a abounding Wiimote to a whopping $80, we anticipation we'd reexamine the accurate bulk of affairs a animate today. Which is absolutely the cheapest?

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We're traveling to pretend we're either a ancestors of four or an accommodation that wants a arrangement loaded up with four controllers. We'll accept you wish to be able to recharge your controllers rather than crumbling money on disposable batteries, and we'll aces the archetypal of anniversary animate that we'd acclaim to a ancestors affiliate allurement us for advice. We'll aswell agency in the bulk of 2 games, because cipher buys a animate after a game.

So what's the accurate bulk of traveling out and affairs a arrangement today? Let's acquisition out.

Playstation 3
Cost of console: $400 (80GB)

Cost of 3 added controllers: $43 x 3 = $129

Cost of charging station: $25

Cost of 2 games: $120

Cost of HDMI cable: $3

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Total: $677

Wii
Cost of console: $250

Cost of 3 added controllers: $36 x 3 = $108

Cost of 3 Nunchuks: $18 x 3 = $54

Cost of 4 Wii Motion Pluses: $20 x 4 = $80

Cost of charging base w/ 4 rechargeable batteries: $49

Cost of 2 games: $100

SD card: $12 (8GB)

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Total: $653

Xbox 360

Cost of console: $300 (60GB)

Cost of 3 added controllers: $37 x 3 = $111

Cost of 2 rechargeable batteries: $12 x 2 = $24

Cost of recharging base w/ 2 rechargeable batteries: $30

Cost of 2 games: $120

Cost of Xbox Live membership: $43 (13 months)

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Total: $628

As you can see, the prices of all three consoles are abundantly close, and you can acutely dabble with these configurations to change them. If you alone wish 2 controllers and are planning to alone play Wii Sports, the Wii is still the cheapest, but a fully-loaded Xbox 360 with a year of Live is in fact cheaper than the fully-loaded Wii (although it's the alone animate after WiFi, so add $80 if you absolutely charge that). And the PS3 is decidedly abutting in price, acknowledgment to its controllers accepting congenital batteries and its chargeless online service. The Nintendo ambassador arrangement absolutely rockets it up in price, and it's appealing amazing that a Wii with 4 controllers is alone $24 beneath than a PS3 with 4 controllers.

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So really, it comes down to what you wish in a console. But it's hasty to see that, in real-world prices, all three systems will set you aback about the aforementioned amount, with the Xbox 360 getting the cheapest of them all even if you agency in a account fee for online gaming.

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