The Godfather II Updated Hands-On

The Godfather II is a tale of two games, a blend of sandbox action and strategic resource management. The low-level mobster in you will want to parade around 1950s-era depictions of New York, Miami, and Havana causing as much wanton destruction as you possibly can, but you'll need to get in touch with your inner Mafia boss if you want to successfully progress through the story. Taking over and managing various rackets and crime rings is key, but so is keeping an eye on your own family and those of other organizations. We've had only a taste of what sort of strategic depth The Godfather II might offer in previous looks at the game, but we've recently been spending some time with a nearly complete version of this EA Redwood Shores-developed game to see how far we could dive into the Don lifestyle.

For a bit of background on the story told in The Godfather II, you'll want to have a look at the hands-on impressions that we posted yesterday based on a UK press event. It'll give you a good idea of what happens at the beginning of the game, including the myriad names and faces that are introduced during the course of the game's first act, set during the eve of the Cuban Revolution. Suffice it to say, things go sour and you quickly return to New York, where you're thrust into the position of building your own wing of the Corleone organized-crime family. The first item on the agenda is recruiting an associate, the bottom level on your family tree.

Kogan launches Agora, the first Aussie Google Android mobile phone

A SMALL electronics company has beaten the big mobile manufacturers to launch the first Google Android phone in Australia — but it won't ship until 2009.
Kogan Technologies, run by 25-year-old Melbourne entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan, today unveiled the Agora touchscreen handset – the second of its kind in the world.
The phone uses Google's Android mobile phone operating system, a software platform that defines how the user interacts with the handset.
The first phone to use Android, the T-Mobile G1, was launched in the US in September with the search company's co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
Google hopes to establish Android as the standard operating system for mobile phones and to improve the quality of web-browsing for handset users.
Last month, Kogan Technologies beat major mobile manufacturers by announcing its Android handset would be available for $199 outright by December 15th.
Now Kogan has begun selling the Agora online – but it is more expensive than expected at $299 and won't ship until next year.
The Agora is a 3G mobile with a touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, and microSD card slot. A "Pro" model with Wi-Fi, a 2 megapixel camera and GPS costs an extra $100.
"The Kogan team have been working very hard to bring out the exciting new phones powered by Google's Android operating system at the right mix of price and specifications," Kogan said.
"We’ve been listening to customers through our blog, and crammed in all the features we possibly could."
Kogan had earlier asked customers to suggest a name for the new mobile, but "Agora" wasn't among the responses.
Google is developing Android as an open source project, meaning anyone can alter the software to suit their needs or to make it compatible with different carriers.
The company is also hoping to bring its expertise in web search technology to mobile users, in anticipation of more people surfing the web on their phones.
However Google will face stiff competition from established players in the market such as Nokia, Microsoft, Apple and Research In Motion, makers of the BlackBerry.

Wall-E Learning Laptop

The laptop has five modes--letters, words, math, logic, and games--and each mode has three activities. The different modes teach language and cognitive development skills, basic math skills, and independent play.
The keyboard has a flip-down QWERTY keyboard, which in itself can be useful in helping kids become familiar with keyboards. You can use the arrow buttons on the keyboard to move through selections, or you can use the moving arm controllers to scroll through options. The screen is a basic LCD screen, and isn't anything special, but the images are pretty clear.
And, just like in the movie, Wall-E's right eye opens and closes. His eye blinks each time you answer a right question. The toy is made for kids ages four and up, but I could see kids a few years older than that getting bored quickly with the limited activities.
The biggest issue I have with the toy is that there's no headphone jack. I know a lot of toys don't have it, but if I were a parent and had to listen to various toy noise every day, I might get a little sick of it. Thankfully, there is a volume control that lets you choose between three options (none of which are "mute").
The Wall-E Learning Laptop is pretty simple, but can act as a very important educational tool in your child's early learning.