Nintendo's handhelds first started out with the Gameboy's, such as Gameboy Advance and Gameboy Micro, but then they released the Nintendo DS and it overshadowed the Gameboy line. The Nintendo DS was released at around the same time as the Gameboy Micro, but because of the unique touchscreen that the Nintendo DS offered, the Gameboy Micro was somewhat forgotten. The Nintendo DS had a lot more features, and unlike the Gameboy's, it had a menu when powered on where one can choose to play the game, or change the settings. The Nintendo DS also allows the owner to input their birthday, change the date and time, set an alarm clock and switch colour schemes. It can be put to sleep by closing the lid to save power. It also had a microphone and PictoChat, which was similar to an instant messaging service, but it only worked as long as the other people using it were inside the severely limited range. Not too long after the Nintendo DS came out, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS Lite. It was smaller with some relocated buttons and a longer battery life. The DS Lite was more popular than the original DS, but the functions basically stayed the same.
Not too long ago, the Nintendo DSi came out and the improvements were focussed on the features rather than on the physical appearance. The alterations made the DSi have more multimedia capabilities, making it more similar to the PSP. And with multimedia functions, there needs to be more memory, so the DSi has a SD card slot. The most noticeable change was the two VGA cameras; one on the outside of the lid, and one on the inside. There is an audio player, where one can record their voice and listen to music. However, the music player doesn't work with MP3 files. There is also an option to edit the audio. As for the camera, it could be used for gameplay or just regular taking pictures use. Like with the audio player, users can edit the pictures. Internet is also included, and is used especially for connecting to the online store where one can buy games.The Nintendo DSi seems to have a lot more features than its predecessors, and I am especially interested in the camera. However, people may be reluctant to buy it since the homebrew flash cards from the DS and DS Lite don't work on the DSi. The Nintendo DSi would appeal more to children and young teenagers because of the games that are for this handheld, such as Super Mario.
The Playstation Portable, or PSP for short, has been released with improved models since its original release, such as the PSP-2000 and the PSP-3000. Although, the newer PSP's haven't changed too much in physical appearance, except for its size. The PSP-1000 is also called PSP Phat, the PSP-2000 can be called PSP Slim, and the PSP-3000 is also called PSP Brite. Many people prefer the PSP to the Nintendo handhelds, like the Nintendo DS, because of its multimedia features. It can play music, play videos, connect to the internet, and play games through the UMD drive, with UMD being an acronym for Universal Media Disc. The PSP is aimed at children to teenagers.
A unique characteristic of the PSP is the use of firmware. There is official firmware and custom firmware, and they are both updated from time to time. Custom firmware is more popular, because it allows the user to download games and do things on the PSP one normally couldn't do with the official firmware, such as homebrew. Homebrew is software and games that are created by people at home, instead of people at those big companies. However, custom firmware is created by hackers and Sony keeps updating its official firmware to fix bugs and glitches, add other functions and prevent users from using custom firmware or homebrew. With the older models of the PSP, one could download custom firmware and it would remain, but with the newer PSP's such as the PSP Brite, and the newer PSP Slim, the custom firmware would disappear when one turned the power off. So in order to keep it, they must make the PSP 'sleep' instead.
The newest PSP that hasn't been released yet is called the PSP Go. Sony seems to be copying Apple with how they're changing their products' physical appearance more drastically than before, like how Apple was with iPod Touch and now Sony with PSP Go. The PSP Go is now a slider, so the PSP could be smaller. Unlike the other PSP's, there is no UMD drive so all games are downloaded through the Playstation Store. In addition, the PSP Go lacks the ability to remove the battery. However, the built-in 16 gigabytes of memory compensates for the irremovable battery. If 16 gigabytes isn't enough, one could change the memory stick to get more memory. That is a lot of gigabytes to store one's games, music, videos, and pictures. Personally, I'm not very sure about whether or not the PSP Go will be very successful. Nowadays, the sales for PSP games haven't been that great, but the device itself has been selling pretty well. The reason is that everyone buys PSP now so they can use custom firmware to download games for free. The PSP Go is attractive, appearance-wise, but will it be able to run custom firmware? If it is unable to run custom firmware, that will cost Sony a lot of customers.
Apple iPod's have been around for a while, and there are many products part of the iPod line. There was the iPod Classic, the iPod Nano, the iPod Mini, and the iPod Shuffle. The changes were mostly about size and shape. The signature look was a screen above a touch-wheel. The only exception was the iPod Shuffle which didn't have a screen or a touch-wheel. Their main function was to listen to music. The iPod line was very popular and now they released the iPod Touch which has a completely different look with new functions, mostly notably the touch screen. The iPod Touch has become massively popular since its release. Everyone is ditching their old iPod's now, because they can only play music, play a few games, watch videos and store pictures. I seriously don't find any problem with the older iPod's. They're simpler and all the buttons are clearly labelled. I cannot go anywhere without seeing someone holding an iPod Touch in their hands. It makes sense, because it has the most functions, not including the iPhone. However, the iPod Touch is just meant to be lesser version of the iPhone without a camera and calling capabilities. The other reason that everyone has a Touch is because of the AppStore. The AppStore has everything, from apps made for one's lifestyle to apps designed for business. Personally, I find it to be one of the greatest features for Apple products. Of course, I don't have an iPod of any kind, but I have played with other people's. I like playing the gaming apps the most, but other people use it as a To-Do List, translator and more. Last year, my Social Studies group for a project used the Keynote Presentation App where we controlled the slides and could read notes that other people couldn't see. The best apps are the paid apps, but the free apps are actually not bad. Although everyone is jailbreaking their iPod Touch's nowadays so it doesn't matter that much. The iPod Touch is aimed at a particular range of people, because it has something to offer all the age groups. It has music, games, and apps for everything else. Recently, the new iPod Nano came out with a camera, which left some people wondering why the iPod Touch has been left in the dust. The iPod Nano's camera has a low resolution, so I don't really get why people are complaining that much. A lot of people probably already have some 3 mega-pixel camera phone sitting in their pocket. The iPhone has a camera, but it's a cellphone. Cellphones always have cameras to be more marketable. Camera-less cellphones aren't that popular nowadays. I read from a blog article that the Touch doesn't have a camera because it is meant to be a gaming device. That would make the iPod that isn't created primarily for music. Like the problem with all technology, we might become too dependent on it. However, for anyone who asked me if they should get a iPod Touch, I would probably say its their choice, but I would be thinking "I recommend it!".
intendo's handhelds first started out with the Gameboy's, such as Gameboy Advance and Gameboy Micro, but then they released the Nintendo DS and it overshadowed the Gameboy line. The Nintendo DS was released at around the same time as the Gameboy Micro, but because of the unique touchscreen that the Nintendo DS offered, the Gameboy Micro was somewhat forgotten. The Nintendo DS had a lot more features, and unlike the Gameboy's, it had a menu when powered on where one can choose to play the game, or change the settings. The Nintendo DS also allows the owner to input their birthday, change the date and time, set an alarm clock and switch colour schemes. It can be put to sleep by closing the lid to save power. It also had a microphone and PictoChat, which was similar to an instant messaging service, but it only worked as long as the other people using it were inside the severely limited range.
memory, so the DSi has a SD card slot. The most noticeable change was the two VGA cameras; one on the outside of the lid, and one on the inside. There is an audio player, where one can record their voice and listen to music. However, the music player doesn't work with MP3 files. There is also an option to edit the audio. As for the camera, it could be used for gameplay or just regular taking pictures use. Like with the audio player, users can edit the pictures. Internet is also included, and is used especially for connecting to the online store where one can buy games.The Nintendo DSi seems to have a lot more features than its predecessors, and I am especially interested in the camera. However, people may be reluctant to buy it since the homebrew flash cards from the DS and DS Lite don't work on the DSi. The Nintendo DSi would appeal more to children and young teenagers because of the games that are for this handheld, such as Super Mario.
