AT&T responds to Verizon, cuts wireless plans

First came reports Thursday that Verizon was reducing its wireless plans. Now AT&T has taken less than 24 hours to respond.

AT&T announced new unlimited prices plans, which can be ordered beginning Monday. Current customers can switch plans without penalty or contract extension.

Feature phone customers can get unlimited talk time for $69.99. Family talk customers can get unlimited talk for $119.99. Texting is still $20 for unlimited individual plans and $30 for families.

Smartphone customers, including those who use the popular iPhone, can get unlimited voice and data for $99.99. The new family Talk unlimited plan, which voice and data, is $179.99. Texting is $20 for individuals or $30 for family talk.

The changes bring AT&T in line with Verizon.

Wonder who goes lower next? Sprint offers unlimited talk, data and text for $99. Interesting to see which of the big two gets there first.

Verizon about to reduce wireless plan costs?

According to several internet reports, Verizon Wireless is planning some big changes to its wireless plans next week.

There will be new names for plans, and decreased costs across the board, but the big news appears to be a 30 percent decrease in the price for the Unlimited plans. If the reports are true, Big Red's unlimited plan with voice, data and text will go for $119.98, compared to chief rival AT&T Wireless, which charges $99 for unlimited minutes (compared to Verizon's new $69.99 price point), plus $30 per month for unlimited messaging and data.

Sprint offers a $99 plan with unlimited minutes, texting and data. T-Mobile has a similar plan for $79.99.

Let the price wars begin.

And the best handheld gaming system is....iPod touch?

This is Games N Gadgets week at the Charlotte Observer. Throughout the week, Monday-Sunday, we're going to look at some popular and not-so popular Games N Gadgets. If you have any ideas for things you'd like to see us review, please email lwertz@charlotteobserver.com

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The most popular handheld system is, of course, Nintendo's DS and DSi units. The best handheld system, in my mind -- especially for hardcore gamers -- is the Sony PSP 3000.


The PSP Go has downloadable games only, which forces you to keep your old system to play your library of Universal Media Disc games for the old PSP.


I like the PSP 3000 over the DS options because of better graphics and a more realistic gaming experience. There are more adult-friendly titles available, plus a built-in microphone, WiFi and integrated Skype service. The new anti-glare screen thankfully allows you to play outdoors and still be able to see the action.


But while the DS and PSP are great handheld systems, I've got to crown a surprising entry as serious contenders to the throne: Apple's iPod Touch and iPhone.


Yes, you've got to download games, but the games are relatively cheap. Madden football, for example, is $6.99 instead of $19.99 or $39.99 like you'd sometimes find for traditional handhelds.


You can download multiple free titles for the iPod Touch that aren't bad, including trial versions of games. And while Sony's new download game system is good, it cannot yet match the selection at the App Store.


A lot of people already have iPods and iPhones and don't have to pay for new hardware, and being able to have one device do the job of several gives youngsters (and the young at heart) one less thing to worry about losing.


I hadn't really thought about the iPod and iPhone as serious contenders to the big two until my mother bought my son an iPod Touch for Christmas.


My son has the Sony and Nintendo systems, but enjoyed taking his $25 gift card to the iTunes store and buying multiple games and downloading about 4 gigabytes of free ones.


I thought the newness might wear off and he'd go back to Mario on DSi, but he's always on his iPod Touch, checking the weather, getting sports score updates, listening to music, searching the App Store for free games -- or begging Dad for another gift card.


The full-color screen on the Touch and iPhone presents games at least as well as the other two, though the touchscreen controls take a little while to get used to. But during times when money is tight, buying one device that can do a lot of things well might be better than buying another that is only truly good at one thing.

Also this week

Buick's new LaCrosse, the best American car in ages

That Mr. T grill from the infomercial? Its really works

Spider man movie scrapped; series to get rebooted

American Idol on your wireless phone

Beyonce', Nintendo team up for digital fashion

The Buick LaCrosse, the best American car in ages

This is Games N Gadgets week at the Charlotte Observer. Throughout the week, Monday-Sunday, we're going to look at some popular and not-so popular Games N Gadgets. If you have any ideas for things you'd like to see us review, please email lwertz@charlotteobserver.com

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Got a chance to drive Buick's new 2010 LaCrosse recently. It's one of the key cars in GM's post-bankruptcy strategy and it's aimed right at one of the best cars in the world: the Lexus ES-350.

And Buick hits the target.

The LaCrosse, other than a small sub-13 cubic square foot trunk, is a better looking car, a better riding car and will turn more heads. Of course, Buick will need to upgrade its dealership experience if it really wants to compete with Lexus. It'll need the red carpet treatment and the free loaners, to start.

But inside LaCrosse is spacious, and about as quiet as I've encountered in a car under $50,000. You literally do not hear the outside.

The interior is well thought out. The usual plastics and hard surfaces we've seen from GM in recent years is gone. The seats, filled with supple leather, are comfortable enough to put in your living room, and have plenty of support, especially in the lumbar region.

The car rides smoothly, but not with the usual GM bounce. The car handles like a cross between a German sports sedan and a Japanese car and starts at $28,000. Well equipped, you're talking about $35,000.

The car comes with two engines, a 3.0 liter, 255-horsepower V6 and a 3.6 V6 that kicks out 280 horses.

Interestingly, the bigger engine gets about the same gas mileage (17/26 to 18/27) as the smaller one.

The car I drove had the smaller engine and felt plenty strong. The car felt nimble and solid at the same time, and this being a column about Games N Gadgets, I was fascinated by all the toys abound.

You had GM's excellent OnStar package which helps with directions and emergencies (with someone to talk to instantly for help). The OnStar folks can unlock your car.

The Bluetooth phone had some problems with buzzing over the speakers when connected but worked seamlessly for hands-free calls, and your speedometer appeared in the bottom of the windshield, so you didn't have to take your eyes off the road to see it.

I also loved the hard drive in the powerhouse stereo. You could hear a song you liked on the radio and pause it or rewind it.

You could download all your favorite songs, iPod-like, right into the system, and this stereo rivals the Mark Levinson brand for Lexus and the Elliott Scheiner unit in upscale Acuras.

All said, the LaCrosse is an excellent package that doesn't look like any Buick sedan we've seen in awhile. A new smaller Regal sedan has recently been modeled and shows GM's new direction.

The question is: are people buying it?

Also this week

That Mr. T grill from the infomercial? Its really works

Spider man movie scrapped; series to get rebooted

American Idol on your wireless phone

Beyonce', Nintendo team up for digital fashion

Beyonce and Nintendo team up for digital fashion line

Singer and actress Beyonce' Knowles and her mother, designer Tina Knowles, have teamed up with Nintendo. The pair will provide designs for the fashion-themed "Style Saavy" game for the Nintendo DS and DSi.

Players can incorporate the designs on their digital creations in the game.

Nintendo and Beyonce started their relationship last year with an ad campaign for "Rhythm Heaven," a music-themed game for DS and DSi. The video game company has a series of new ads around the pair's latest venture that will air on Nickelodeon.

"American Idol" on your wireless phone?

AT&T Wireless customers can get exclusive mobile access to video clips of the most outrageous "American Idol" audition moments by texting "YES" to "8008." That will you a link to the webpage containing the clips.

Customers must have unlimited data plans to view the clips.

New clips will be posted each Wednesday and Thursday during the first four weeks of this season's competition, which kicks off tonight.

-- If you're seriously into all things Idol, you can play the American Idol Trivia game if you're an AT&T customer and text "PLAY" to "5005".

Spider Man 4 scrapped, series to get 'reboot'?

Looks like Columbia pictures is killing its planned "Spider Man 4" movie, firing director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. And they're doing all this to send Peter Parker back to high school.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a big risk.

In case you missed it, the first three Spider Man films, which picked up with Parker in college and later proposing marriage to girlfriend Mary Jane, grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide at the box office alone, not to mention DVD sales and video game tie-ins.

Anticipation of a fourth film, with Spider Man battling the Vulture, was quite high. But some of these series reboots have worked in the past. The Batman series was rescued from silliness with the most recent two films, which have explored Bruce Wayne's darker side, for example.

Now, we get Spider Man going after the "Smallville" and "Twilight" teen crowd. Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin will produce the film along with Marvel Studios. Expect a 2012 release. The studio said the film will focus on Parker as a teenager struggling to deal with normal teen problems and superpowers (and no jokes about the CW network here, either).

That oven from the Mr. T infomercial? It really works

This is Games N Gadgets week at the Charlotte Observer. Throughout the week, Monday-Sunday, we're going to look at some popular and not-so popular Games N Gadgets. If you have any ideas for things you'd like to see us review, please email lwertz@charlotteobserver.com

First up is the Flavorwave Turbo Oven. You've probably seen the ads on TV, like below, with actor Mr. T (a.k.a B.A. Baracus from the hit '80s show "The A Team").

The infomercial is intentionally silly, but the oven, which goes for $138, really does work. It uses halogen heat, infrared waves and convection style cooking to cook food really fast and thoroughly. My kids say the stuff I'm cooking tastes as good as Applebee's, and coming from my kids, that's a huge compliment.

Better, I can see fat drippings collect at the bottom of the large glass bowl you cook in.

I'm usually skeptical of most things infomercial, but when I opened the box and felt the heft of this thing I was impressed. I put in some frozen chicken breast and it cooked them in about 18 minutes, no defrosting necessary. The breasts came out tender, if unseasoned. I tried some more with some seasoning on the frozen breasts and a little soy sauce and water at the bottom of the bowl (the food sits on a raised platform).

Bingo.

I'm not much a cook (something Mrs. Wertz will attest to) but I find myself constantly using this thing. Man, food comes out perfectly almost every time. Frozen fries from Harris Teeter come out crunchy. Add some breadcumbs and some egg beaters and you get (somewhat) guiltless fried chicken.

You can reheat take-out pizza and not get the soggy microwave crust. Steaks are amazing.

My only complaint was all the add-ons that you want -- to allow you to grill, sear and cook bigger items like turkeys -- cost extra, about $12 each.

Well, I actually had two complaints.

In the ad, they show the ability to cook veggies with your food. And you can, but the drippings from whatever is on the highest tray always get on the food underneath. I think the folks at Thane would do well to make a bigger turbo or give you a deal for getting two (the, you guessed it, Twin Turbo).

As far as infomercials go, this one is a winner. I even used it outside a few weeks back instead of the BBQ grill. It cleans up easier and if you season the food well, it tastes just as good.

Count me convinced, and like Mr. T might say, I pity the fool who disagrees.

Will Apple's tablet be as big as the iPhone?

The 'net is buzzing about the possible release of a rumored Apple Tablet. Most industry insiders expect the announcement of a machine, rumored to cost between $500 and $1,000, at an upcoming Apple Event later this month.

Apple hasn't commented on the rumors, but I've not seen this type of buzz since the iPhone debuted, and maybe this device can have a similar impact.

Besides all the rumored names -- iSlate, MacTab, iPad, etc -- the machine is rumored to allow you to surf the web, play games, music and watch HD movies. There are also rumors that it might serve as a keyboard for, say, an iMac, or a remote for the Apple TV product (similar to NetFlix online). Most folks also think it'll be a Kindle-like e-reader, but also one that might help the ailing print magazine/newspaper/comic book industries, by allowing readers to view the content the way they traditionally would on the printed page. But now those online pages would be interactive with ads and videos and photos.

Instead of going to the mailbox to pull your new Sports Illustrated or Charlotte Observer, you get an alert on your tablet to download the new product.

Sports Illustrated recently released a demo of what an interactive magazine might look like.

A product like this would save students from lugging around heavy textbooks and families from having large stashes of papers and magazines in the garage (if yours is like mine). Everybody might get a little greener. I guess my only issue is price. If you want everyone to have it, $500 to $1,000 isn't going to get it there.

There's also a debate over whether the device will have a 3G card built in for internet access along with WiFi or just, say, a USB port to allow you to plug in a 3G card if you choose. I think tying it to a 3G provider, so long as it's more than one, might not be a bad thing. It would tie you to a $30 or $50 monthly contract, but it would drastically drop the cost of the machine. I think Apple could also work out some sort of deal with content providers who stand to gain from a device like this to make it cheaper to the public.

I wonder, though, if AT&T customers who have iPhone might get a break if they sign up for a new agreement and AT&T allows users to tether the iPhone to this tablet device for coverage.

Lots of questions.

Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that textbook maker Coursesmart -- a digital publisher of five major textbooks -- thinks the Apple Tablet will be better than traditional e-readers like the Kindle, which doesn't have color graphics or ways to scribble notes onto the digital pages.

Coursesmart executive VP Frank Lyman thinks the tablet could allow students and other consumers to interact with the written material through the use of colors and videos and links.

Here's a video Lyman created to show the possibilities (embedded from WSJ site).

I find equally interesting the news that Apple has purchased Quattro Wireless which is a big-time mobile ad company.

Something big is brewing. It'll be interesting to see what happens next.

"God Mode' In Windows 7

Thanks to reader Larry L, who passed this onto me.

Apparently, Microsoft has put a power mode in its new Windows 7 OS. Using it allows you quick access to all kind of customizable and maintenance features in one place.

Just create a new folder name it something and enter a simple cut-and-paste code. Click here for more info

Google set to release Nexus One phone

Gotta love January. Lots of cool tech releases including an apparent press conference from Google next week to announce details of its new Nexus One touch screen phone.

The internet is buzzing with reports it will cost $530 for an unlocked version and $180 for a standard two-year contract on T-Mobile.

That means you can get the phone and use it on any provider's GSM network, like AT&T or T-Mobile.

It looks like the phone will come with a docking station and will automatically back up data when connected to a PC as well.

Time Warner cable customers: New HD channels coming

Time Warner Cable is adding several new high-definition channels for Charlotte-area customers today (Dec. 30):

History Channel HD, RFD HD, Showtime Showcase and Showtime Extreme HD, MoreMax HD, and ThrillerMax HD.

Earlier this month, TWC added eight HD movie on demand channels and NBA TV HD.

TWC has also added a new "Whole House Movies on Demand" feature. When you order an on-demand film now, whether new release, favorite or classic choice, you can watch that show on any of the TVs in your home that have the digital cable box attached. Simply chose "All Boxes" when confirming a purchase.

Ironman 2 Trailer released. Is it smoking?

I can't wait for the videogame, but the movie looks pretty good.

Thoughts?

Click here for the trailer

AT&T cell users, is your 3G getting better?

Verizon is pounding AT&T with its commercials about superior 3G service. At least in Charlotte, AT&T says it is doing something about it.

The company released details today about expansion of its Charlotte wireless network. The company said since the start of 2007, it's invested nearly $50 million in the Charlotte area network.

Those network enhancements include (from the press release):

· Upgrades to the cell sites and switches to support higher volumes of voice and data traffic.

· The addition of more than 230 T1 lines to add more voice and data capacity between the cell site and routing switch.

· The addition of a new Radio Network Controller, a network management equipment that significantly increased network capacity.

· 20 new cell sites and eight more before the end of the year adding to the nearly 280 that already exist in Charlotte, 100% of those sites are 3G; and expanded 3G service this year to cover the I-85 corridor all the way to Greensboro and added 3G service in Hickory and Concord.

AT&T said that next year it plans to roll out faster 3G speeds in Charlotte, along with 25 other top markets, as well as a new technology, HSPA 7.2, that doubles the peak speed of today's networks.

What's all that mean to you? Hopefully fewer dropped and missed calls and faster downloads of emails and webpages.

Is anyone seeing improvement or just liked what they have now?

Our take on X-Play Games of the Year

Tonight at 6 p.m. on G4, "X-Play," a TV Show dedicated to videogames, will announce its game of the year awards.

Here's our take on the nominees:

Game of the Year

Assassin’s Creed II

Borderlands

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

inFamous

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

OUR PICK: Assassin's Creed II (Italian Renaissance game was well done and well thought out. You could interact with a huge gaming "world" with virtually anything you could see or touch. I loved it).

Best Original Game

Borderlands

Brutal Legend

Flower

Scribblenauts

Shadow Complex

OUR PICK: Flower (who knew that playing out the dreams of a flower sitting on a windowsill could be so cool?).

Best Gameplay Innovation

Borderlands (Gun Tech)

Demon’s Souls (Multiplayer)

Modern Warfare 2 (Death Perks)

Red Faction: Guerilla (New Geo-Modding)

Scribblenauts (Vocabulary)

OUR PICK: Scribblenauts (You write a word on the DS and the graphic depiction of that word, more often than not, shows up on your screen. Totally original, dude)

Best Multiplayer Game

Borderlands

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Halo 3: ODST

Left 4 Dead 2

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

OUR PICK: Halo 3 (This is my homer pick. I'd pick CofD, but I just love the Halo series. I'm sold before I play it).

Best Action/Adventure Game

Assassin’s Creed II

Batman: Arkham Asylum

inFamous

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

OUR PICK: Batman (not sure the last two movies were much cooler than this)

Best Shooter

Borderlands

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Halo 3: ODST

Killzone 2

Left 4 Dead 2

OUR PICK: Call of Duty (I didn't pick it before, so I have to pick it now)

Best New Character

Chloe (Uncharted 2: Among Thieves)

Cole (inFamous)

Claptrap (Borderlands)

Eddie (Brutal Legend)

Ezio (Assassin’s Creed II)

OUR PICK: I kind of liked Morrigan from "Dragon Age: Origins" (the dark sorcerer kind of thing), but given the choices, give me Chloe, the pretty girl you should never trust.

Best Art Direction

Assassin’s Creed II

The Beatles: Rock Band

Borderlands

Brutal Legend

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

OUR PICK: Beatles. Just amazing attention to detail. You see the band members grow up and the colors are simply amazing.

Best Animation

Assassin’s Creed II

Fight Night Round 4

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

Street Fighter IV

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

OUR PICK: Fight Night has always been brutally realistic and the fourth version was the best of all.

Best Writing

Assassin’s Creed II

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Brutal Legend

GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

OUR PICK: Batman. See comments above.

Best Original Soundtrack

Assassin’s Creed II

Flower

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Halo 3: ODST

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

OUR PICK: How is Beatles not here? But I guess I'll have to pick Uncharted. None of the choices here excited me.

Best Sound Design

The Beatles: Rock Band

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Killzone 2

Left 4 Dead 2

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

OUR PICK: Beatles. Hands down. This is one of the best videogames ever, if you like music driven games.

Best Downloadable Game

1 vs. 100

Battlefield 1943

Flower

Shadow Complex

'Splosion Man

OUR PICK: I didn't play anything in this category other than Flower, so I couldn't vote here.

Best Role-playing Game

Demon’s Souls

Dragon Age: Origins

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Torchlight

OUR PICK: I'd pick against the grain here and go with the "kiddie" game. Mario was well done.

Best Music Game

The Beatles: Rock Band

DJ Hero

Guitar Hero 5

LEGO Rock Band

Rock Band Unplugged

OUR PICK: DJ Hero is a long awaited "band" type game. People who like something other than rock got represented -- well.

Best Fighting Game

Street Fighter IV

Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny

BlazBlue

OUR PICK: Street Fighter. Old school still works.

Best Handheld Game

GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)

LittleBigPlanet Portable (PSP)

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

Rock Band Unplugged

OUR PICK: Mario. Just plain fun.

Best Sports Game

FIFA 10

Fight Night Round 4

MLB 09: The Show

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (Wii)

Wii Sports Resort

OUR PICK: Can we write in Madden or NBA2K? No, Tiger on Wii was ground-breaking, so we'll go there.

Is an Apple tablet in our near future?

Rumors are flying that publishers are getting products ready to launch with an Apple tablet computer. Apple has been mostly mum about plans for a tablet computer, something smaller than a laptop that could be used to read books, newspapers, play games and surf the Web.

This week, Sports Illustrated released a video showing how the magazine might be read on a product like a tablet. It looks interesting. Advertisements are much more than pictures. Readers can click them and see live video. You can easily toggle pictures, even send them to friends via Facebook or e-mail. You can read articles and all content is in full-color.

It's like reading the magazine without having the paper (but also having it come alive when you want it to).

Here's the sample video.

NBA2K10 bests Live as best basketball sim

It’s basketball season, and of course that means new NBA games from EA Sports and 2K Sports. And it’s nice to have a little competition in hoops.

EA Sports bought an exclusive license from the NFL, essentially kicking 2K out of the video football wars.

In the basketball world, however, the companies are doing major battle.
EA Sports’ new NBA Live 10 (2.5 stars out of 4) looks better than ever. Much more than even EA’s Madden, this truly looks like a television broadcast.

The players’ models are true to size, and the game plays more realistically. In recent years, EA has been more like the old American Basketball Association (the league with the tri-colored balls): there was no defense.

Live was all about running and dunking and scoring. It was not a true simulation of the NBA. It was fun, but if you wanted true NBA style play, you had to look elsewhere.

This year, defenses are ramped up. Defenses help more and slap the ball away. If you ball hog, you’re in trouble. Shooting, though, is about a one button press – thank you.

My biggest issue was that players didn’t always act the way you’d expect: multiple players running out of bounds for no reason, something that seemed to happen frequently on inbounds passes.

EA has smartly brought back the Dynamic DNA mode that allows you to play the current NBA season with current stats. It allows you to control your own version of the current season.

So while NBA Live has made some improvements, it’s still a distant second to NBA 2K10 (3.5 stars out of 4) in about everything but looks.

The 2K guys just really seem to get sports games. 2K10 just feels, looks and plays like real basketball. Take the turbo boost button. You used to be able to press it and make your player move faster up and down the court. Now, you can still press it, but using it often will tire your player. To show how much, 2K adds a stamina bar.

If you use too much energy too quickly, you’ll have to rest that player longer than you’d hoped.

And of course, you want your star at full strength in the fourth quarter.
The NBA Today feature, similar to Dynamic DNA on Live, brings live results and matchup from the NBA to your video game world. Game stats match up with real-life stats (so long as you use Xbox Live). This, combined with “Living Rosters,” basically updates based on real-time trades and moves, and keeps your game fresh. This feature is presented by an ESPN-like NBA Insider who gives video blogs.

The My Player Mode allows you to create a player, train him and bring him up through the ranks, even potentially adding him to your team.

Ultimately, though, what is amazing about 2K10 is how real it seems. I have read about some folks having frame rate issues with the game. I did not experience that on the Xbox 360 version.

The facial expressions seem like the real thing (Kobe will jut his lower jaw out and grit his teeth in a big moment). The commentary from Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg and Reggie Miller seems endless and I love how when you’re on the road and doing well, you can silence the home crowd.

This is one of the best sports games of the year.

Langston Wertz Jr: 704-358-5133; lwertz@charlotteobserver.com; twitter.com/langstonwertzjr; facebook.com/langstonwertzjr;

Verizon CEO: iPhone on Verizon up to Apple

Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said Monday that bringing the iPhone to Verizon is up to Apple.

Seidenberg's disclosure came as Verizon has launched several new ads designed at touting its network's superiority to AT&T, which currently carries the iPhone exclusively. Verizon has also launched a series of ads that present its upcoming Droid phone as an iPhone killer, leading to speculation that Apple has no plans to partner with Verizon.

"This is a decision that is exclusively in Apple's court," Seidenberg said. "Obviously we would be interested if they thought it would make sense for them to have us as a partner. And so we will leave it with them on that score. We want to broaden the base of choice for customers, and hopefully along the way, Apple, as well as others, will decide to jump on the bandwagon."

New Windows 7: Fast, stable; not Vista

Today, Microsoft debuts Windows 7 after spending the past few years trying to clean up the mess it made with Vista.

The new operating system, out of the box, is pretty good. But after months of online upgrades, Vista is pretty stable now - stable enough that I'm not sure Windows 7 - while significantly faster at most tasks - is going to be a huge leap for the average Vista user. Microsoft may also be making an upgrade confusing for consumers by offering four versions of the product, ranging from $119.99 to $219.99.

I installed Windows 7 on a low-end laptop, an older Dell desktop and a cheap tower I once bought my Mom for Christmas. The operating system ran pretty flawlessly on each one. Here's some of what I noticed:

Windows 7 is not as space- or memory-hungry as Vista. Games look great and play fast on the new system, especially the 64-bit version.

7 looks really good. You can personalize your desktop with screen packages that toggle pictures. 7 is not full of the pop-up alert that makes Vista a little annoying. Parental controls allow you to limit times the kids can use the computer or limit game use by rating.

Updating is going to take awhile. Expect a few hours to get the software running, then many more to get everything up-to-date. You can upgrade from Vista, but XP users will have to do a clean install and wipe their machine. Microsoft has created a pretty easy transfer system to keep old files safe, but you'll likely need a portable hard drive, and this might be a little much for novice users to attempt.

7 ports over Microsoft's neat DVD maker from Vista. It's good enough to prevent many users from needing to buy third-party software.

You can easily launch or view which apps are running, because representative icons now appear at the bottom of the screen (rather Mac-like). If you move your mouse over them, you can get a preview window.

Windows 7 has an XP mode (in Professional or Ultimate versions), which allows you to run XP in an application window. So if you have a favorite program that won't run in 7, you can run it in XP.

Networking is painless and simple. Using a Windows Live ID, you can easily stream content over the Internet to other Windows 7 PCs in your network. Search is super fast.

I think this time around Microsoft has things right. This OS still doesn't beat Apple's version, but it's the best Windows I've tried. It seems more stable and secure than previous versions.

Apple releases new iMac, mouse and notebook, ahead of Windows 7

Two days before Microsoft unveils its new Windows 7 operating system, Apple released a slew of new products: a new line of iMacs, a new line of Macbook laptops and a new wireless mouse.

The new iMac, an all-in-one desktop unit, has a 21.5-inch or 27-inch LED-backlit display. The widescreen monitors are capable of displaying HD video. The new iMacs feature faster processors that are up to twice as fast as previous generation iMacs. A new feature, called Turbo Boost, can shut off applications that are not using system resources and give that power to applications that are in use.

Base iMacs start from $1,199 to $1,999. A 21.5-inch version with 4 gigs of memory and a 1 terabyte hard drive is $1,499.

The new wireless mouse uses Apple's Multi-Touch technology, currently seen in iPods and iPhones. It allows customers to use finger gestures over the face of the mouse instead of using scroll wheels or balls. The new mouse comes standard with new iMacs or as an accessory for $69.

The new Macbook features a battery that lasts up to seven hours. The new model is 1.08 inches and now lighter at 4.7 bounds. The new unit has a 13-inch backlit widescreen display. The new laptop starts at $999 with a 2.26 gigahertz processor, 2 gigs of memory and a 250-gigabyte hard drive.

Channel Freddie Mercury in 'Singstar Queen'

SingStar Queen
PlayStation 3, $39.99


The latest karaoke-inspired party game is one “American Idol” runner-up Adam Lambert would love.
Up to eight players can sing along with 25 Queen songs, including the beloved “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You” and “Somebody to Love.” More tracks are available via paid downloads.
The better you sing, the more points you amass. And you don’t have to sing in Freddie Mercury’s ridiculous vocal register – you can drop down a few octaves, where real people live, without being penalized. There are multiple game modes, including “Battle” and “Pass the Mic,” and if you really want to laugh, you can listen to the songs as you sangsung them.
This was, um, a little humbling for me.
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Disney Sing It: Pop Hits
PlayStation and Wii consoles, $39.99
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One thing about all these “Rock Band”-type games: They usually stick with a specific musical genre. So it’s nice to see one that delivers songs from popular artists like Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana.
Players sing solo, in groups, or compete head-to-head. Like with “SingStar,” you can record and play back your performances. Disney Channel star Tiffany Thornton teaches breathing techniques and how to stay on pitch.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars (Rated E for everyone)
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Baseball Blast!
Wii, $19.99
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2K Sports delivers another one of those simple-to-play games for the Wii that will bring hours of fun. The game features actual Major League teams and players in more than 20 mini-games like “Power Pitcher,” in which you rear back with your Wii-mote and try to bring the heat, and “Pennant Race” (my favorite), where you try to navigate a would-be homer out of the park in a Pac Man-like fashion.
Radio Hall of Famer Bob Uecker and former big leaguer Rob Dibble call the action. There’s also a pretty tough trivia mode.