Nintendo announce 3DS XL

During tonight's Nintendo Direct event, Nintendo unsurprisingly announced the next iteration of the 3DS, the 3DS XL. Much like the DSi XL before it, the only real differences between this new system and the old one are the battery and screen size. While no statement has been made on how much better the battery life is, the screens are a whopping 90% larger than those of the original 3DS. The retail price was announced at $199.99 and the launch date set at August 19th.

So, what do you think? I know many out there have voiced frustration over the fact that a superior system is retailing for less at launch than the original 3DS, despite the fact that no one can really claim that they couldn't have seen this coming. It certainly proves to be good timing for me, as I have yet to get a 3DS.

Minus the Bear finally announce info regarding their fifth album!

Above is the trailer for the album. The trailer reveals the title of the album, Infinite Overhead. It also reveals the release date of August 28th.

I for one cannot get enough of the clip of the apparent title track. Now I'm salivating for more.

Trade fever

In just the last week the Philadelphia Union has been confirmed to be in talks with Chivas USA over Danny Califf, and now this morning Chivas is apparently orchestrating yet another trade, apparently trading Heath Pearce over to the New York Red Bulls. Oddly the trade was announced via Pearce's Twitter account:

Heath Pearce has officially been traded to the new York red bulls. Thanks Chivas fans for your love during my time here...

— Heath Pearce (@HeathGPearce) May 17, 2012

Now it's just a matter of waiting to find out who and/or what the Goats got in return for these trades. What are your predictions?

EDIT: It's sounding like Chivas is getting Juan Agudelo in return for Pearce and sending out Michael Lahoud in return for Califf.

Apple Announces Next OS X Iteration, Mountain Lion

Seemingly out of nowhere, at least for me for which this announcement jumped out me as I was browsing Cult of Mac, Apple has announced today the next version of OS X, to be dubbed Mountain Lion.

Delving into the details of the upgrade, Apple is continuing the process of migrating iOS applications and features back to the Mac. Most notable is the new Messaging app, Notification Center, operating system wide Twitter integration, and GameCenter. Messaging completely replaces iChat, much like Facetime allowing communication between your Mac and any iOS device. In fact, Apple has made the beta version of the application available here. Notifications Center finally provides a native notifications application/system, apparently almost identical to how it appears and operates on iOS. It will definitely be interesting to see how quickly developers get on board, as well as how the system competes with the current notifications solution for Mac users Growl. iOS 5 introduced full Twitter integration to the mobile operating system, and now that integration has found it's way to the Mac. Finally, there isn't too much to say on GameCenter past the unification it allows between desktop and mobile iOS gaming.

While I'm giddy at the thought of a new iteration of OS X, that feeling get's spoiled by the feeling that this upgrade feels, at least to me, to be coming far too soon. The current version of OS X, Lion, has only been publicly available for less than a year. It will be closer to a year by Mountain Lion's release, but that is a ridiculously short amount of time before essentially making it obsolete.

Changes Coming This Year For USOC Format

After outcry about the formatting of the competition was voiced in last years tournament, most notably by FC Dallas' head coach Schellas Hyndeman, changing are coming in 2012 for the country's oldest sports competition. The changes include:

• The expanding of the field of teams competing in the tournament from 40 to 64, the largest field of the modern era.
• All 16 MLS teams will take part in the competition for the first time ever, throwing out the old format of entry being determined by last season's performance along with a play-in process to determine the last participant.
• The bidding process is getting scrapped, up until the semi-finals at least. This was the most highly contested element of the competition, as clubs who actually care about the tournament like the Sounders and the Chicago Fire can claim home advantage throughout the entire tournament. Which actually makes sense, because the clubs that do care are more likely to advertise the competition and draw in fans for those matches.
• The tournament starts earlier and ends earlier, to help relieve schedule congestion for MLS clubs, especially those competing in the CONCACAF Champions League as well. The first round plays out on April 15th and the final will be played on either August 7th or 8th

Sounders Announce Signing Of Christian Sivebaek

After having been rumored to be a done deal by Danish sources, today the Sounders announced the signing of Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek. At his former club, Midtjylland, he played at both the right midfield and and right fullback positions, although it seems that he will mostly ply his trade in the midfield for the Sounders as a back up in the occasion that Rosales isn't available. With his height of 6-foot-3, Sivebaek should prove to be an excellent target for corner kicks.

Technical director Chris Henderson stated in the release: "Christian is a player that we have been following for quite some time, he is a good one versus one dribbler who can provide consistent quality service to our strikers. He has good speed and physical presence."

Sivebaek is the Sounders fourth signing so far this offseason, along with Johansson, Gspurning, and Burch. He clearly provides much needed depth at right midfield, a crippling weakness that the Sounders had the misfortune of experiencing in the play-offs last season after losing Rosales only a few matches from the end of the season. He also provides always needed depth when it comes to other competitions as well.

Sounders Hire Ross Fletcher Of BBC As Arlo Replacement

Today the Sounders announced that they had hired Arlo White's replacement, Ross Fletcher of the BBC. In addition, they've also signed former goalkeeper and US legend Kasey Keller as a color commentator. Fletcher has spent the last five years as a soccer commentator and reporter for the BBC.

In the release, team majority owner Joe Roth stated in the release: "Ross and Kasey will bring a new dimension and perspective to Sounders FC broadcasts, the combination of Ross' experience and Kasey's knowledge gives us a sensational 1-2 punch which our fans deserve."

There are some fans out there complaining about and taking offense to the fact that the Sounders didn't sign an American commentator, despite the fact that it is a well known fact that a good American soccer commentator is a rare commodity. When it comes down to it, what matters is the individuals knowledge of the sport and the passion that they have for it, not their accent or nationality. From the following video reel, it is clear that Fletcher definitely fits the bill in both categories. Check out some of his work in the Youtube video embedded below:

You can read further about Fletcher and the signing here.

Also, here is a great interview with Fletcher from Prost Amerika.

20 Player USMNT January Camp Roster Announced

The roster for the US Men's National Team January camp has been announced, and notably only two of the twenty players listed play outside of the United States. Expected returning players include Bill Hamid of DC United, New York's Juan Agudelo, and FC Dallas' Brek Shea. Newcomers that really stand out are the Galaxy's Omar Gonzalez (who had been voicing frustration over a lack of a call up), Graham Zusi (who had performed spectacularly for Sporting Kansas City last season), FC Dallas standout George John, and SKC rookie forward CJ Sapong.

Goalkeepers (3): Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders (7): Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), A.J. DeLaGarza (LA Galaxy), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), George John (FC Dallas), Zach Loyd (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland), Heath Pearce (Chivas USA)

Midfielders (6): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

Forwards (4): Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), C.J. Sapong (Sporting Kansas City), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Saab Finally Calls It Quits

After several months of floundering in debt and desperately trying to scrounge together investors in China, Saab is finally calling it quits and filing for bankruptcy. While certainly expected, this is definitely sad news. After suffering at the hands of General Motors, Saab was finally establishing an identity of it's own with the new 9-5 and the 9-4X. Unfortunately, the Swedish automaker just couldn't make it on it's own. One main issue was the fact that though they were independent of the giant, they still relied upon GM for the production of the 9-4X crossover and GM just did not want to hand over the blueprints for one of it's products (the 9-4X is derived off of the Cadillac SRX) and completed products that cost billions to develop to a Chinese company.

According to the Car and Driver blog:

"Saab’s remaining assets will be liquidated by a court-appointed administrator. This includes any production facilities (we expect that the Swedish government or local investors will buy these), tooling, patents, and of course, the rights to the brand itself. In all likelihood, Youngman, Pang Da, or another Chinese company will score the rights to the Saab brand name, and produce new vehicles in China with the Griffin logo. This is similar to what happened with MG and Rover, which live on as Chinese brands."


Source: Car and Driver Blog

Friberg Dealt to Malmo FF

Not only was there movement in today's Re-Entry draft, it was also announced by the Sounders today that swedish midfielder Erik Friberg was dealt to Malmo FF. According to Adrian Hanauer in the press release Friberg is looking to start a family and this move makes the most sense, so he and his wife can be in close proximity with family.

Friberg offered the following statement in the release: "I am very proud to have played for Sounders FC and our tremendous fans," said Friberg in the release. "It's been a fantastic year for me, one that I will never forget. I want to thank my teammates, the coaches, the club officials and our supporters for all their help and encouragement. Perhaps in the future, there will be an opportunity for me to come back and play again for the Sounders."

MLS Unveils Jabulani Replacement

It's no secret that the Jabulani drew a lot of criticism, namely for it's tendency to float around and cause goalkeepers more trouble when handling shots. In a statement made by the Adidas MLS Manager Ernesto Bruce, it's clear Adidas sought to correct these issues, "We worked directly with both field players and goalies to rigorously develop a ball with the truest and most stable flight path". While certainly the uproar surrounding the Jabulani died down as the season wore on, it's great to see the issues initially observed with the ball's performance finally addressed. The ball is pictured below.

Sounders Sign Michael Gspurning

The months of speculation can finally end, today the Sounders officially announced the signing of Austrian Goalkeeper Michael Gspurning. Prior to being signed, Gspurning played for Greek side Skoda Xanthi.

Of Gspurning, Sigi Schmid said:

“First off, you don’t replace Kasey Keller. What you’re looking for is a new goalkeeper. We like Michael’s background and pedigree. We like his size. He’s got good feet so we can play through him and he’s very good on crosses, takes good angles and has good hands.”


To read the full article, head here.

Apple Could Very Well Eliminate HTC From The US

Apparently Apple stands on the verge of forcing the world's largest Android-based phone manufacturers out of the United States market. According to Cult of Mac:

"The Washington, DC-based U.S. Trade Commission Tuesday rules on HTC’s appeal of a July decision that the company’s Android phones violated two Apple patents. The two patents allow smartphones to display and transmit basic data, such as phone numbers, contact information and applications."


A ruling against HTC stands the string possibility of outright banning sales, and such a ruling couldn't come at a worse time as holiday season is upon us. This potential ban could mean a great diminishment of Android's market share in the US from where it stands at twenty five percent.

The original article can be read here.

What are your thoughts?

The Brian Ching Controversy

Heading into the Expansion Draft a couple weeks ago, Houston had left their star striker and arguably the face of the franchise Brian Ching unprotected in a rather arrogant and hopeful move thinking that his salary would turn away interest from Montreal. In an attempt to further dampen interest from Montreal, Ching then publicly announced that if the Impact picked him up in the draft that he would rather retire than play his last year or two with a team other than Houston. Well, the Impact weren't fazed by any of it. Come Draft morning, Ching was their first announced selection. As you can imagine, this has sparked outrage throughout Houston.

This is definitely an interesting and somewhat unexpected move by Montreal. Clearly they're looking to build a team with plenty of veteran experience, and Ching certainly brings that experience. The question is, though, whether or not he will play for them. So far it isn't clear whether or not Ching will make good on his promise of retiring.

It's Official: Arlo White Is Headed to NBC

According to this tweet from widely known Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl, former Sounders FC play-by-play man Arlo White has been hired by NBC:

The question now is, will White continue with Sounders FC broadcasts much like JP Delacamera and Taylor Twellman calling local Philadelphia Union games when they aren't calling natiionally broadcasted games on Fox Soccer and ESPN respectively, or will he solely devote his time to NBC?

You can read further here.

Expansion Draft Protected Lists Revealed

It's that time of the year again, the Expansion Draft held to help supplement and build the roster of an incoming expansion team. It was done in 2008 for the Sounders, in 2009 for the Philadelphia Union, last year for the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers, and now this year for the Montreal Impact. There are several notable players that were quite surprisingly left unprotected, such as Brian Ching from the Houston Dynamo (who in fact threatened to retire if Montreal selected him), one of the Columbus Crew's top goal-scorers last season Andres Mendoza, Sporting Kansas City's captain and Designated Player Omar Bravo, and Freddy Adu who was recently acquired by the Philadelphia Union, among others. Seeing how big name players that clubs are taking a gamble with, it will certainly be interesting to see if Montreal resists the temptation of a more expensive player or not when they submit their list later on today.

To view the complete protected and unprotected lists for each team, head here.

Nintendo Unveils Life-Size Mario Karts

It was known that Nintendo would be in attendance at the LA Auto Show this week, but the exact reason wasn't known which let to speculation that due to the setting they may be doing something in celebration of the latest installment in the Mario Kart series due out early next month. The announced collaboration with West Coast Customs supported that assumption and as it turns out, that assumption was correct.

During it's presentation today, Nintendo revealed life-size replicas of a couple of the Mario Karts featured in the new game. The first is based off of the Standard Kart, and the second is based off of the kart of series new-comer Honey Queen.

Want some pictures? Just head over to the article on IGN.

PETA Pulls Back On Mario

Recently PETA launched a campaign against the latest Mario game Super Mario 3D Land, citing the fact that Mario wearing a Tanooki suit encourages the wearing of fur and the skinning alive of the real-life animal that the suit was inspired by. They even went so far as creating disturbing images showing Mario wearing an actual Tanooki skin covered and surrounded in blood. It didn't stop there, though. They took their insanity further still by creating a minigame in which you play a skinned Tanooki chasing Mario to reclaim it's removed skin.

This campaign sparked outrage throughout the gaming community and had fans up in arms over the disgraceful depiction of one of gaming's most beloved icons. Well, just yesterday PETA confessed that the campaign wasn't serious. In a statement to Eurogamer they told fans to relax and confessed that the campaign was simply a ploy to call attention to a serious issue. PETA even expressed surprise at the reaction and how literally the campaign was regarded.

It's plenty clear how disgraceful and how completely insane the organization PETA is. They've been known for being outrageous in their protests in the past, but this has to take the cake. This time they took the dissemination of their views and opinions too far. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Sounders Reveal New Third Kits

This morning the Sounders new third kits were officially revealed. The light blue is referred to as "super cyan" and the accents are the electricity color of the Sounders previous third kits. A few weeks ago a photographer let a picture of a photo shoot with Zakuani wearing the kit slip through Twitter (which quickly got taken down, but not before fans snagged the photo), and now it's official. The jersey is depicted below modelled by Steve Zakuani.

Thoughts?

The Sandboxing Issue

To increase security for an already incredibly secure Lion, Apple is requiring application developers who have their applications on sale in the Mac App Store to comply with a new rule requiring the usage of Lion's new sandboxing feature inspired by iOS. Sandboxing means that an application is partitioned off from the operating system and other applications running on the system, which means that an application is completely prevented from having any unauthorized interaction with other applications and the operating system itself. The problem is, however, this isolation from the system itself and everything else running on the system means that functionality for many applications will be crippled.

Initially the deadline for the enforcement of this new rule was the first of November, but Apple opted to give developers a little more breathing room by extending the deadline until March first next year. While many developers have complied with this new rule and have re-submitted their applications, it's clear by the deadline extension that many others are resistent to this new requirement.

While the desire for increased security is understandable, Apple's push for sandboxing on OS X makes very little sense. Sure some applications make the transition completely unaltered, but others require access to other applications meaning that several key features and functions could get the axe. Of course there is no stopping a user from leaving the safe confines of the App Store and combing through the vast wilderness of the interent to find an application that suits their needs, but again, the point of the App Store is to be the primary place that users rely on to locate applications.

What are your thoughts?