“Rock Band 2” Are you ready?!?

“Rock Band” ready to roll out second edition

“Guitar Hero” won’t be the only music videogame to launch its sequel in time for the holidays.

MTV and Harmonix will release “Rock Band 2” in September exclusively for the Xbox 360, and for other consoles before the end of the year

The developers are releasing few details at this time, but what’s known so far is that the game will support all songs downloaded for the game to date and will also support the original game’s instrument controllers. It will also introduce new controllers for drums and guitar and will boast a soundtrack of more than 100 master recordings.

Further details will be revealed at July’s E3 Expo videogame conference in Los Angeles.

(Via Reuters)

iPhone 3G Reviews are in!

First iPhone 3G Reviews: Mossberg, Baig, and Pogue

The first iPhone 3G reviews are in from the reporters who have had early access to the iPhone 3G for the past two weeks. While we encourage you to read their reviews in full, we’ve highlighted some interesting tidbits:

Walt Mossberg / AllThingsD

– “it mostly keeps its promises.”
– “more capable version of an already excellent device”
– Battery drained much more quickly using 3G
– Greatly improved audio, much louder speaker
– Data speeds 3-5x faster than original iPhone
– Better voice coverage with 3G. “At my neighborhood shopping center, where the first iPhone got little or no AT&T service, the iPhone 3G registered strong coverage.”

Edward Baig / USA Today

– “iPhone 3G: The Sequel, is worth the wait.”
– Still no recording video, no stereo bluetooth or voice dialing
– Supports PowerPoint attachments; mass move or delete multiple e-mail messages
– 10-30 seconds to load popular websites on 3G.
– GPS was very accurate
– Speaker sounded better for both speakerphone and music.
– “started receiving low battery warnings toward the end of a busy work day; I found myself charging the device overnight, the same as with the older iPhone.”

David Pogue / NYTimes

– Sound is much improved. “In fact, few cellphones sound this good.”
– Feels better in your hand due to the curved back
– “According to Apple, the iPhone’s G.P.S. antenna is much too small to emulate the turn-by-turn navigation of a G.P.S. unit for a vehicle, for example.”
– No voice dialing, video recording, copy/paste, memory card slot, Bluetooth stereo, MMS
– “the really big deal is the iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store, neither of which requires buying a new iPhone.”

(Via MacRumors)

Great Photo on Flickr? Getty Images Might Pay You for It!

Great Photo on Flickr? Getty Images Might Pay You for It

If you are a photographer with high-quality images posted on Yahoo’s Flickr service, you may soon get an e-mail inviting you to become a paid contributor to Getty Images, the world’s largest distributor of pictures and video.

Yahoo and Getty Images said Tuesday that they have entered into a partnership under which Getty editors will comb Flickr in search of interesting images. They will then invite photographers to participate in the program and ensure that their images have the proper releases to be licensed legally. Those who are included in the program will get paid at the same rates that Getty pays photographers who are under contract with the company.

“We believe that Flickr will be an important addition to the mix that we have,” said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and chief executive of Getty Images. Mr. Klein said Flickr photographers will increase the depth of Getty’s catalog on certain subjects and certain regions of the world. And they will be bringing an element that professional photography often lacks, he said. “Because the imagery is not shot for commercial services, there is more authenticity,” Mr. Klein said. “Advertisers are looking for authenticity.”

Getty will make payments to Flickr, but detailed terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Mr. Klein said that financially the deal will be immaterial for both Yahoo and Getty Images. Over time, however, thousands of Flickr photographers may benefit.

Mr. Klein said that Getty charges on average between $500 and $600 for “rights managed” images, which are used by a customer exclusively for a period of time. Photographers get between 30 percent and 40 percent of that. The company charges on average of $250 for non-exclusive use of images and gives photographers a 20 percent cut of that, Mr. Klein said.

Getty also runs a site called iStockPhoto, where amateurs contribute photos that the company markets at lower rates. The photos on Flickr are of sufficent quality to demand higher prices, Mr. Klein said.

“It is a real testament to the quality of the photography on Flickr,” said Kakul Srivastava, general manager of Flickr.

The program will be rolled out in the coming months, and all Flickr photographers will be eligible to participate.

(Via NYT > Technology)