An Online Tour of Michael Jackson's Ultimate Mega Geek Arcade Den

I came upon panview.com today and had a glimpse of Michael Jackson's personal arcade. The whole arcade has been posted online as a fully explorable panorama. It got everything every Peter Pan syndrome infected geek will die for. From Crazy Taxi to Guitar Freaks to Han Solo frozen in carbonite to the 360-degree spinning Sega R360 jet fighter cabinet, Jackson amassed a daunting collection of arcade games and general geek paraphernalia—much of which was auctioned off earlier this year.



It's very notable that the collection seems to be frozen in time somewhere in the 90s. Approximately right around the time of Michael Jackson's notorious $22 million molestation settlement. Though, more fairly, it's also the same era that consoles really started to cut into the arcade experience.

Source: panview.com

2 New SE Phones: Xperia Android Named "Rachael" and the Transparent Display Phone "Kiki"

Two new Sony Ericsson handsets are currently getting detailed. Consider these unconfirmed rumors for the time being, but it looks like SE’s first Android handset could be a gem and its first transparent display-equipped handset could be the strangest thing we’ve ever seen.




Seen above is the sleek full touchscreen handset codenamed “Rachael”, it will be Sony Ericsson’s first Android offering should this push through. According to rumor, it will bear the Xperia brand and will feature a big touchscreen along with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor, an 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus, a 3.5mm audio jack, 7.2Mbps HSDPA and 3D graphics capabilities. It will be announced later this year and, if all this holds up, could very well be the first truly must-have drool-worthy SE handset we’ve seen in quite a while.



Next up, is a bizarre handset with a peculiar codename “Kiki”. Beyond the unique design, the Kiki is said to feature a glass display that can be viewed from either side of the device. The handset doesn’t seem to feature anything resembling a traditional keypad so we’re not sure how interfacing is going to work. But still — this is likely a very early mock up that will be changed drastically if and when it ever reaches market.

Source: Unwiredview.com

Nokia N97 firmware update (11.0.021) now available

As speculated, the latest firmware release on Nokia's flagship handset N97 is now available. In such little time has gone by and so much has been written about the Nokia N97. Both good and bad. But looks like this new firmware update 11.0.021 will have some solid bug fixes and a few new additions in place on your shiny new Nokia N97. The firmware should be available in most regions and if you can’t get it OTA, fire up Nokia Software Updater and give it a go. As for what you can expect from this release, changelog for the new N97 firmware update 11.0.021 are listed below:

* USB detection error fix
* PC does not detect N97 or USB charging connection not detected.
* Widget
* Home screen online/offline widget crash fix
* Fix for “Alphabetical and Number input are mixed in facebook until end key is pressed.
* Widget UI improvement - New facebook widget fixes a problem of Home Screen background visible on soft-key area.
* Browser fixes to improve widgets stability.
* MfE related fixes
* Partial fix for Messaging/calendar entry lost.
* Mail for exchange calendar entry synchronization error fix.
* UI transition error fixes (Portrait <-> landscape transition, there is a home screen corruption.)
* UI transition (Slowness and bad effects)
* Slow Touch UI response
* Picture of the device lock appears half of the screen when transitioning the UI sometimes
* Landscape: in some cases the soft buttons on touch (right hand) show the Home Screen in background (install maps.google.com)
* Photos thumbnail performance and stability improvements
* Device performance deteriorates when lots of content in the device - especially photos
* Partial fix no display backlight illumination when unlocking lock-key - CAP Genius reported already
* New version of Accueweather to improve the “Connection error” situation
* Device reset when browsing with high speed packet access (for Malaysia)
* “Browser soft key UI doesn’t work after putting Chinese character with qwerty keyboard”
* Java fixes (TCK, Pre-install app disappearing, *#7370#*)
* Operator fixes (CMCC, Hutchson and Telefonica, Vodafone)
* Ovi store client now embedded in the core image




The N96 was updated today as well to 30.033.

Palm Pre UK Release to be Revealed July 7th Next Week?

According to confirmation received by T3, Palm is preparing to disclose everything about the UK launch next week. The whos (O2 or Vodafone), when, and how much will all be answered. Word from our source across the island suggests Palm has pegged next week — possibly Tuesday, July 7th to be the official Palm Pre UK announcement. We know it's agonizing, after waiting for almost a month since its US launch. At least you've a time frame to circle in your calendar now, right chums?

T-Mobile Dash 3G by HTC Unboxed Plus First Impression Video

T-Mobile’s latest Windows Mobile smartphone, the Dash 3G by HTC, is all set to hit the market this week, but the guys at PhoneMag have already been playing with the QWERTY candybar. Vincent has suffered a bout of nostalgia with the new handset, comparing it to the original Dash, but the new Dash 3G keyboard racks up the kudos as “one of the best if not the best” he’s used.



There’s also compliments for the dualband UMTS/HSPA, though the absence of a flash for the 2-megapixel camera is noted. Still, that’s not enough to counter Vincent’s favorable first-impressions, aided no doubt by Windows Mobile 6.1 running fast on the smartphone.



All that is left is the price, which T-Mobile has yet to confirm. For the full gallery and all the first-impressions, check out PhoneMag’s post.