We review the Powermat wireless charging system and find out if it’s all cracked up to be and we review two credit card apps for the iPhone, plus more!

Your Brain on Tech took a look at the multiplayer aspect of Bad Company 2 in the most recent episode, but what about the single player? I decided to take some time and sit down with the PS3 version of the game and play through the campaign mode.

The first thing that strikes me is, despite the destructible environments, the game feels very much like a last generation title. The graphics are not the best and the buildings are incredibly repetitive. It’s very clear the technology used to make BC2 destructible doesn’t allow for varied building types. For this reason the game feels decidedly linear and is clearly an afterthought to the great multiplayer game. There is no real feel for the weapons, often times the player has no idea whether or not the person they’re shooting at is actually dead due to some overly long death animations. Speaking of the sound, the dialog is quite funny, and definitely worth taking the time to listen to.

Overall the story is cliché and mediocre at best, but it does a reasonable job of giving the player an excuse to go through a number of varied environments blowing stuff up. Comparing BC2 to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is like comparing a Steven Spielberg war movie to a Steven Seagal war movie. Bad Company 2 is definitely the Seagal movie… which is to say; it’s not great and it’s not the prettiest thing to watch, but it sure is fun to kill a bunch of people and blow stuff up.

March Madness is here, and yes there’s an app for that. CBS has released what is called “CBS Sports NCAA March Madness On Demand.” The app has everything a sport nut needs.

Two versions are available. The lite version is free and the full version is $9.99. Both versions have scores, brackets, highlights, news and everything else you need to keep up to date this March. The coolest part is that on the full version there is live video and radio coverage. Pretty cool if you ask me.

However the ratings thus far are mixed, some people are having technical problems. Also, to be honest I like sports but ten dollars for an app I can only use for a month? The lite version is pretty darn good for the price. So unless you can’t get to a TV and you don’t want to miss a game I’d skip the full version.

app, iPhone, march madness, ncaa

In this episode we talk about Macworld 2010, we review a set of Bose speakers, play Battlefield Bad Company 2, review the best feature phones and more!

Sony, the people that come up with very few original ideas in gaming, have done it again. They have just announce that their R&D department has just finished painting Wii remotes black, and has started plugging them into PS3s. In all seriousness, Sony has announced their Playstation Move. The easiest way to describe it would be a black Wii remote, with a pingpong ball on top.

The Move “wands,” as Sony calls them, will work with the Eye Toy (a camera that incorporates the users actions into a game.) From what I have seen it looks pretty interesting, and I would be much more impressed if Nintendo hadn’t released this same technology three years ago. But who knows, perhaps Sony will one-up Nintendo, at this point it’s hard to say; however Sony has had three years to make their technology superior.

Sony has set the release date for sometime this year. They will offer Move controllers with select games as well as various bundles. For those who already own a PS3 you will be able to buy a bundle including an EyeToy, Move wand, and a game for about 100 bucks, half the list price of the Wii.

Only time will tell if this is worth anything. The only appeal I see is to those who liked the concept of the Wii but feel like they were let down. Not to say that Sony won’t let you down either but let’s give them a shot.

move, ps3, Sony, Video Games, wii

Sony Playstation 3 consoles around the world almost met their apocalypse. Due to an error with the internal clock, it would try to treat 2010 as a leap year. This bug did not effect the PS3 Slim model and the total number of PS3s affected has not been released. The summary of the problem has been posted on Playstation’s Blog.

Read more to figure out what the errors were, and my opinion on Sony’s prompt action to this issue.

Read more…

Playstation, ps3, Sony, Video Games

This week we’re talking about Windows Phone 7, showing a way to watch and record TV on your Mac, playing Bioshock II’s new multiplayer mode, and sharing 3 cheap physics based console games!

We got our hands on Bioshock II at GameGo Computers where we got a chance to try it’s multiplayer mode. Watch this sneak preview of our experience playing Bioshock II and look for a full analysis on the couch in our next episode releasing Monday, March 1st!

Your Brain on Tech – Bioshock II Preview from Brian Gotts on Vimeo.

Maybe you don’t know that we shoot the whole show in an apartment. Now you know! Mike and I wrap up (or try to anyway) our discussion on Windows Mobile OS 7 in this weeks sneak peek.

apartment, green screen, production, technology

Welcome to the world of high definition, Blu-ray, 1080p, and HDMI. With the increasing popularity of Blu-ray these buzzwords are thrown all over the place, and honestly it’s pretty confusing. Don’t worry, Your Brain On Tech is here to help! Get ready for your crash course in high definition television.

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1080p, audio, blu-ray, hdmi, hdtv, high definition, video