Beats by Dr. Dre @ Best Buy $299.99I'll ruin the surprise for you right now: the worst movie of the summer (only four days in so far) is "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen." On today's show, we rip apart this atrocity even more, spoiler-free! Wilson also gives us his first impressions of his brand new Apple iPhone 3GS and discovers the weirdest camera issue ever. I love you, Wilson, but that came out of NOWHERE!
So I finally broke down and saw "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen" last night, and although I can't give away too many plot details, suffice it to say that I'm throwing in my vote for it being the WORST movie of the summer. Sure, summer blockbusters are supposed to be silly and entertaining, but a truckload of physical humor and irritating little side-stories ruined what could have been an awesome action movie. Where are the Transformers fanboys on this one? This betrayal feels like that "Spiderman 3" abomination all over again! Apart from the movie being about an hour too long (2.5 hours total, say whaaatt?), the only parts worth watching are the epic fight scenes and Megan Fox jumping/running/screaming/rolling through explosions. We also address that whole racist robot plot point yet again--now that I've actually seen the movie, I wouldn't say that characters are straight-up racist, but the gold tooth and excessive slang are definitely in poor taste and an unnecessarily stereotypical slight at hip-hop. Listen in for more details.
The next story is about gaming company Global Gaming Factory X resurrecting The Pirate Bay as a legal file-distro site. After a bit of confusion about how exactly that whole case ended, we're still left wondering why companies keep trying to cannibalize on the success of dead P2P sites, relying on the name alone to tread water and maybe even gain a few new subscribers. The problem is that it never works! Napster, anyone? Who's idea was that, anyway? "Hey guys, let's buy this dead service that still exists only to bait people into RIAA lawsuits and relaunch the site with legit, paid content. It's all about brand confidence, right?" Good luck with that, doods.
Finally, we're announcing BIG changes on the show tomorrow including the triumphant debut of our new logo (based on Blake Stevenson's winning design) and a few surprises to go along with it! We're also excited to have Brendt Barbur of the Bicycle Film Festival as our guest on tomorrow's show. Check it out LIVE tomorrow @ 11AM ET at CNET Live.
EPISODE 373
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After a ton of hype and much deliberation, we finally get the official Palm Pre review from CNET Editor Bonnie Cha. She lays out all the pros and cons of the device, including the keyboard, app switching, battery life, and much, much more. Also, Jeff finally decides whether or not to buy one; tune in to hear the verdict!
We've been talking about the Palm Pre smartphone for a few weeks now, building up hype and getting excited about the release like everyone else, so we're especially excited to have Bonnie Cha come on today's show to give us her final review. If you have the time, be sure to check out her written review as well. So it turns out that she really likes the software. The multitouch is responsive (albeit with a slight lag), app-switching and push e-mail worked flawlessly, and the contact integration with Facebook, Outlook, etc. all impressed Bonnie, but don't rush out to buy it without hearing the negatives.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET)
She also has a few complaints: as expected, the keyboard is pretty tiny and requires a rather long learning curve depending on the size of your fingers. In fact, Bonnie's got pretty small hands and even she had problems typing on it, so be sure to check one out before you buy. Next, the battery life pooped out after only one day of usage, which can be attributed partly to a faulty AIM client, but it's still something to keep in mind.
Overall, Bonnie fully recommends the phone to Sprint customers, including Jeff, who's been calling her at home to get insider's secrets since the phone was first announced. In the end, Jeff finally decides to at least go check it out on opening day, Saturday, but with no guarantees that he'll buy. No matter what phone he gets, we'll still have a great time with a live smashing of his old HTC Mogul on next week's show, so make sure to look out for that as well. Leave a comment below, though, and let us know what you think about the Palm Pre. Are you going to buy it? Is it worth the money to upgrade? Do you hate the phrase "iPhone killer" as much as the Bonch? Let's hear it.
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Wilson Tang is an associate producer for CNET TV. He's a part-time artist and filmmaker and has written and directed several films. He likes long walks on the beach and girls.
Jeff Bakalar is an editor for CNET Reviews, getting all the dirt on the gaming industry. After spending a few years in the world of film production, he has settled down and currently lives in New Jersey. He's an avid writer, gamer, and full-time pessimist.
Justin Yu can be found tinkering with printers and other peripherals for CNET, when he's not adjusting his headphones, riding his bike, or eating hot dogs for breakfast.
