Even if it is awesome, the iPhone is far from perfect - especially when it comes to gaming. Quite a few games make use of the wide screen and make you flip the phone sideways in order to play. If you've ever held an iPhone sideways you've probably noticed that the sound becomes muffled from time to time. TheiPhone's lone speaker sits on the bottom left-hand side, where your finger tends to rest if you're holding it sideways. More than a few games also require precise touch screen interaction in real time. Try doing that with a pudgy finger and your hand covering up half the screen. Ten One Design popped out the Soundclip and the Pogo stylus to address these shortcomings.

The Sound Clip attaches to the sync port and redirects sound from the speaker upward. Your fingers can sit flush with the iPhone and you'll still hear the sound coming from the speaker. Theclip's easy to remove and stays firmly attached to the phone. It's also small enough that it's not a bother to keep on when you pocket the phone. It's simple, small, and works as advertised. Whether a small piece of molded plastic is worth $8 is entirely up to you.

Ten One's Pogo stylus works quite well. Best of all, you can actually see the screen while poking around. The soft tip of the stylus won't scratch the screen, and it actually makes games like Geo Defense much easier. Being able to quickly and accurately place a turret without guess work goes a long way towards winning. An included clip snaps around the phone to hold the stylus when not in use. We'd rather pocket the stylus and ditch the clip, as it makes the phone feel unwieldy. At $15, the Pogo seems seems steeply priced even if it is effective. Poke around on Amazon and you can find it for under $10, which is considerably more palatable.

AMD started shipping the Phenom II X4 earlier this year and will now refresh the lineup with two new processors: the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition and Phenom II X4 945. Both processors are modestly priced, with the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition at $245, and the Phenom II X4 945 at $225.

The 955 Black Edition and the 945 are clocked at 3.2GHz and 3.0GHz, respectively. Black Edition processors have unlocked multipliers to make overclocking easier for PC enthusiasts. The processors differ only in clock speed, and have identical specifications otherwise. The Phenom II X4 processors will come with 64K of L1 instruction and 64K of L1 data cache per core (512KB total L1 per processor), 512KB of L2 data cache per core (2MB total L2 per processor), and will also have a shared 6MB L3 cache.

The two new processors are based on AMD's AM3 socket but will also work in most AM2+ motherboards. Because they support both sockets, the processors also support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory, respectively found in AM2+ and AM3 socket based motherboards. Using DDR2 the processors will have 17.1GB/s of memory bandwidth, and using DDR3 the bandwidth jumps up to 21.1GB/s. Older Phenom II X4 processors, like the 940 Black Edition and the 920, use AMD's AM2+ socket.

AMD also bundles the Fusion and Overdrive utilities with the processors. Fusion helps to improve gaming performance by disabling scores of Windows services and slightly overclocking the entire system. AMD's Overdrive utility helps to automatically overclock the system and lets users apply those settings on an application-specific level.

The initial Phenom II X4 processors launched with higher prices than these new processors and proved to be great values. Like the processors before them, the Phenom II X4 955 and 945 will likely make for cheap and easy upgrades for owners of existing AM2+ platforms, while at the same time leaving the door open for an AM3 upgrade later down the road.

Late yesterday Sony announced what was in store for the PS3 in the upcoming version 2.70 firmware update. The new additions mainly deal with a new Text Chat feature. The new feature lets you join up to three different chat rooms at the same time. You'll be able to type to your friends using the on-screen keyboard, the Wireless Keypad, or via a compatible keyboard. Each chat room will support up to sixteen people, and you can stay in them while you play games.

Sony revamped the friends list on the XrossMediaBar to complement the new Text Chat feature. You'll now be able to sort friends by online status and send them files up to 3MB in size.

You'll also be able to backup videos purchased from the PlayStation Store to an external hard drive. In a bid to keep things simple for users, Sony will now allow users to transfer PSP video purchases to the PS3 for playback.

Sony didn't announce a firm date for the update, but we don't imagine it will be too far off.

ed - The update is available now.

Head here for the HD stream.

Crytek came to GDC 2009 with a demo of CryENGINE 3. The new engine runs across the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, in a bid to make development cycles cheaper, better, and faster for themselves as well as their licensees. Additionally, the engine will run on future consoles by using simple internal updates, so developers only have to worry about making the game, not porting it. An updated what you see is what you play (WYSIWYP) toolset allows developers to edit in real time across all three supported platforms. CryENGINE 3 contains numerous updates that developers can take advantage of: destructible environments, cloth simulations, hundreds of light sources, a real time soft particle system, real time dynamic global illumination, motion blur, depth of field, natural lighting, soft shadows, and a whole host of additional features.

We came away quite surprised. The demo we saw was running on the Xbox 360, and honestly, the game looked roughly about as good as Crysis with high quality settings. The environments looked stunning with dynamic light sources coming from every single direction and advanced water effects that reacted to gun fire, explosions, and even incoming rain. We're looking forward to seeing what kinds of games developers build on the console with CryENGINE 3.

Motion-based control is coming to the Xbox 360. We initially thought Microsoft would be the first to the table but PDP beat them to the punch. The Gametrak Freedom from PDP will offer wireless motion-based controls using Microsoft's proprietary wireless protocol. The Gametrak uses a 3D ultrasonic transducer and a three axis accelerometer to detect motion. You'll also find a trigger on the under side, as well as the 360's familiar four button configuration and a D-pad.

Unlike Nintendo's solution, which uses one point of detection, the Gametrak uses two sensor bars that sit on opposite sides of the TV. Up to four wireless Gametrak's will work with the sensors. PDP claims that the added sensor in conjunction with the Gametrak's motion sensing technologies give the Gametrak accuracy to within 2mm of movement.

We got to briefly try out the Gametrak Freedom with Squeeballs, a game that PDP will bundle with the controller. Squeeballs is basically a variety/party game like Warioware, with elements of Cooking Mama thrown in for good measure. The controller certainly felt accurate, and we didn't find it overly sensitive. Moving laterally while rotating the controller to twist onscreen objects actually worked without a super jittery feel. PDP says we should expect the controller out in the fall bundled with Squeeballs for about $70 to $75.

PDP will also release the Smart Stylus 1 for the Nintendo DS. The Smart Stylus 1 has the ability to vibrate to indicate explosions among other things. The stylus is wireless and currently uses the GBA port to communicate with the DS. A single AAA battery powers the Smart Stylus 1. PDP is currently in talks with Nintendo to get approval for a DS cartridge version to make the device compatible with the DSi. PDP will bundle the Smart Stylus with a DS version of Squeeballs for $35 this fall. PDP is also hard at work to make the Smart Stylus 2 - a stylus that incorporates vibration, lights, sound and motion sensing capabilities.

Laptops recently overtook desktops in overall sales. The trend has been pointing in that direction a long time, but the tide finally shifted. All the companies see the writing on the wall and respond accordingly. Nvidia's doing its part by releasing three new mobile graphics chips - the GeForce GTX 280M, GeForce GTX 260M, and GeForce GTS 160M. The company kept things simple in the nomenclature department, but I'm sure if we wait a few months we'll see the usual slurry of GT, GS, and G monikers.

Built on a 55nm process, the new chips share many of the same features as the company's flagship desktop GPU, the GeForce 280 GTX. Once on a mobile platform the chips have to be pared down considerably due to power and heat constraints. The GeForce 280M, 260M, and 160M each have 128, 112, and 64 cores respectively. By comparison the flagship GeForce 280 GTX found on the desktop has 240 cores. Each of the mobile chips has 1GB of GDDR3 RAM. According to Nvidia, the new mobile chips should outperform the prior generation of mobile chips by 20 to 60 percent depending upon the game. On a performance per watt basis, the new chips provide a 20 to 30 percent improvement over the prior generation.

The Nintendo DSi will finally hit American soil. Japan got to play with the DSi last November and they've been gobbling it up since. The DSi marks the third incarnation of the DS, and probably the most drastic change to date. Nintendo's upcoming handheld system includes new hardware functionality, new software, and an updated menu system, in addition to several physical design changes. We detailed the upgrades and changes in a feature during the Japanese launch. Expect to find blue and black colored DSi's in stores on April 5th with an MSRP $169.99.

Nintendo representatives recently showed up to trot out the US version of the DSi. It's basically identical to the Japanese version except it has an English menu system. Unlike the last time around, we could actually read and explore the menu and options. In particular, we got a better look at the main menu, camera, and sound options.

Eric Lempel, Sony director of PlayStation Network Operations, has just updated the official Sony PlayStation Blog with information about the PlayStation 3 firmware 2.60 update coming tomorrow. The update will include Divx 3.11 video playback support, "guest access" to the PlayStation Store that allows non-members to browse the store, and a new Photo Gallery application.

"The key feature is a new Photo Gallery application, which delivers a suite of tools for sorting through and displaying your digital photo collection. Digital pictures can be organized in groups according to various criteria, including the camera used to take the photos, the event date and time, colors in the photos, as well as the number, ages, or facial expressions of the people pictured. You can also create slideshows set to music and build photo playlists with an easy-to-use interface."

Check out the official blog post for a video demo of the new Photo Gallery application.