Benheck is back with his latest creation - the portable Xbox 360, now in a tough Pelican case to protect the console from bumps and bruises! The best part is, it's up for grabs! It's a beauty, this one, so you might wanna check the details inside to see how you can get your hands on it.

The Neuros OSD is the successor to the popular Neuros MPEG4 Recorder 2 we reviewed a while ago. With a  higher recording resolution, Ethernet support and a USB host, the Neuros OSD allows you to digitize you favorite video content (DVD, VHS tapes, TV shows, …) in the MP4 format for playback on your TV or your portable devices.

What do you have to do to win? Just comment on this post, yeah that is it, no work required on your part. Hit the jump for more details!

With video game consoles becoming more and more commonly found in households the world over, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now drafting plans to include game consoles in its Energy Star program. A quick look through the Energy Star 5.0 draft has revealed a few of the requirements needed for consoles to pass the Energy Star specs. Hit the jump for details.

Motion-sensing options, increased privacy settings, and game installation. These new features and more are included in a list of rumored additions that will be coming when the Spring update for the Xbox 360 console comes around. Hit the full article for the complete list.

Xbox Live is now five and it's bigger and better than ever before! With comprehensive features that revolutionized the home console gaming experience and a large user base, there's little doubt that Microsoft owns the premiere online gaming service for consoles. The Live is 5ive party now rages and playing games like Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will yield sweet Xbox 360 goodies. On that regard, we'll take you on a brief look back at how Xbox Live started it all.

It's common knowledge that the Christmas holidays are very important for boosting market sales. This also applies to the gaming industry, as Paul Hochman of Today notes. He writes that the big three console makers will be having some problems this holiday season, facing their "biggest shakeup in years," due to some deficiencies on each console maker's part.

For the Xbox 360, Hochman cites its persistent problem of product malfunctions - the now-infamous Red Ring of Death - something that Microsoft is scrambling to fix with an allocated US$ 1 billion budget and an extended 3-year-warranty. Microsoft also advised customers to wait at least one week while their console is being repaired.

In Nintendo Wii's case, all seems peachy for the console. However, there's one spot that Nintendo hasn't managed to fully fix, and that's undersupply.

With an almost chronic case of undersupply, the quest for a Nintendo Wii usually involves the following inconveniences: queuing up in long lines in Best Buy once a fresh stock becomes available, getting overpriced Wiis on eBay, and limiting the allowance of sales to one console per buying group. This problem has prompted an apology from Nintendo's CEO Satoru Iwata, who promised to use Nintendo's Mario video game factory for Wii production.

Finally, Hochman cited the PS3's current underperformance, saying that Sony's PS3 trailed behind and sold only about 90,000 units in June, compared to Xbox 360's 198,000 and the Wii's strong 435,000. He also mentioned that Sony loses about US$ 300 every time a PS3 console is sold, with the total estimated loss of US$ 2 billion for the fiscal year that ended in March.

For those wondering why Sony is willing to take such losses, there is a reason behind that: According to Hochman, when Sony's Blu-ray wins the format wars and becomes the sought-after format for home viewing - partly with the help of the PS3 - then the PS3 losses will be more than worth it.

Check out Hochman's take on each of the console's good points in the Full Article!

 

As the old engineering saying goes "If it ain't broken, it doesn't have enough accessories!" With that in mind, we bring up Pelican's latest product for the Xbox 360's growing fleet of cooling fans. This unit, dubbed the Air Flo 360, draws energy for its two fans via the 360's USB ports, which should be a safer alternative in light of recent electrical problems users may have experienced with the Nyko Intercooler 360.

Now, for the guys moaning "We don't need another cooler!" We also make mention of another interesting feature. The kit also carries a connection hub, which includes output options such as composite, s-video, component, and VGA. It also comes with pass-throughs for the Ethernet jack, optical, and stereo, as well as a 4-port USB hub.

In a nutshell, while we may not all agree with the USB-powered cooling fans, this new cooler provides 360 users with a means of bypassing the expensive official cables included with the kit, and allowing them to use more generic VGA cables. That, and it makes it easier for travelling gamers to set up shop wherever they go with a one-size-fits all adapter. The Pelican Air Flo Cooler will sell for USD $ 29.99 in retail, and is expected to come out lat in Q1 2007. As we're on the subject of adaptable 360 components...

No, you won't be able to run Xbox 360 games on your Mac - yet. However, this little hack may be handy if your XBox and your cable modem are in separate rooms,  and you don't want to shell out $100 for a wireless adapter.

Step 1:  turn off your Xbox 360 and connect a standard ethernet crossover cable from the network port of the 360 to the ethernet port on your Mac. On the Mac, go to System Preferences>Sharing.  Click the "Internet" tab.  On the "Share your connection from..." drop-down, select AirPort. Check Built-in Ethernet on the box underneath, then press 'Start'. You will get a cautionary dialogue box; accept it. Your window should look like this:

Step 2:  Turn on your 360, go to the dahboard and navigate to the System pane. Select "Network Settings" and then "Edit Settings". Change IP settings to Manual. Back in OS X, enter Terminal and type, without quotes: "ifconfig en0". The first IP address, which is probably 192.168.2.1, is your Gateway address.  Enter this on your Xbox. For IP address, enter 192.168.2.2, and 255.255.255.0 for the Subnet Mask.

Step 3: Save your settings on your Xbox 360. It  may automatically test the new connection; ignore this, because it will fail. Go back into the settings menu and this time choose DNS Settings, making this manual as well. Next, you'll need to go back into Terminal and type in "dig" (again, without quotes) and press enter. At the bottom of the results you will find a line saying "SERVER:" (see below). The IP address following (underlined below) is your Primary DNS server, so enter that into your Xbox. Don't enter anything under Secondary DNS server.

In Network Settings on the Dashboard, select "Test Xbox Live Connection". You should now be able to connect to Xbox Live.