Review: Xperia Play not the phone gamers hoped for (AP)

WASHINGTON – Sony makes PlayStation game consoles and, through a joint venture, cellphones. Gamers have been asking for years why it hasn't combined the two products. Well, it finally has, with Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play.

Sadly, though, this is not the "PlayStation phone" gamers have been hoping for. It is a solid machine that will feel immediately comfortable to PSP users, but it doesn't yet have anywhere near the breadth and depth of games you'd expect from something with "Play" in its name.

At launch, only one classic PlayStation game is available: the delightful but dated "Crash Bandicoot." This is disappointing, particularly since it's the first time Sony has allowed its PlayStation games to run on hardware not directly made by Sony. (Sony Ericsson is a joint venture with Sweden's LM Ericsson AB, and substantially independent from either parent company.)

The Xperia Play is available now from Verizon Wireless, and costs $200 with a two-year contract. As on many smartphones, a panel slides it out from under the screen. But it doesn't contain the usual keyboard. Instead, there's a full set of arcade controls that look like what might happen if you flattened a PlayStation controller to (almost) two dimensions.

On the left are directional controls (up, down, left, right). On the right are the now familiar PlayStation buttons (triangle, square, circle, X). In the middle are two pressure-sensitive plates meant to duplicate the two joysticks on the PlayStation DualShock controller. Left and right triggers — which land where your index fingers should be — round out the game controls. All those buttons make the Xperia Play, at two-thirds of an inch, a little thicker than most smartphones.

The game menu appears whenever you open the device. Besides "Crash Bandicoot," it's loaded with a variety of games that have been hits on other cellphone networks: Electronic Arts' "The Sims 3" and "Madden NFL 11," Gameloft's "Asphalt 6: Adrenaline" and "Star Battalion," and Digital Legends' "Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior."

More games can be downloaded through Verizon's VCast store. The selection is passable, ranging from family favorites like "Uno" to the role-playing epic "Zenonia," but there's nothing exclusive to the Xperia Play. The device runs on Verizon's 3G network, and games can also be downloaded through Wi-Fi. (Gameloft's "Let's Golf 2" took about 5 minutes to download via Wi-Fi and install.)

While most of these games take advantage of the PlayStation-style controls, they make you aware of the phone's biggest drawback, compared with a PSP: The two plates that are supposed to mimic joysticks provide no tactile feedback, so it's hard to tell if you're applying enough pressure until you've slammed your racecar into a wall. In racing or flying simulators you can use the directional buttons instead, but games that require the virtual joysticks — like Glu Games' dual-stick shooter "Gun Bros." — are nearly unplayable.

The phone runs the latest version of Google Inc.'s Android operating system, so you can download plenty more games from the Android Market. These games don't use the PSP-like controls, though — they're the same touchscreen games you can play on most Android phones. And the Android Market is so clogged with dreadful software that it's difficult to find the few gems worth downloading.

While the 4-inch screen isn't as vivid as the PSP's, it is bright and sharp enough that your eyes don't get tired during prolonged gaming sessions. The battery gave me about five hours of playtime; Sony Ericsson says it can deliver up to seven hours and 40 minutes of talk time. The two front and back-facing cameras shoot adequate still pictures and video.

In short, the Xperia Play delivers just about everything you'd expect in a top-of-the-line smartphone. What it doesn't deliver — yet — is the quality of gaming you get from a dedicated device. PlayStation fans who are in the market for a smartphone should consider it, but it won't replace your PSP.

___

Online:

http://www.sonyericsson.com/play/

___

Lou Kesten can be reached at http://twitter.com/lkesten

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Android App Video Review: WatchESPN (Appolicious)

WatchESPN is the official app of ESPN, allowing you to look at schedules, watch replays of recent sporting events, and even watch a live stream of their four networks. Unfortunately, the streaming is of  low quality, and only a select few, and I mean few, television service providers are compatible with WatchESPN.

The app allows you to find pretty much any event you might be looking for. You can divide everything by sport, by specific channel, or you can even use the search function to say… search for everything involving the Chicago Bulls. There is also a featured page with the most popular recent and upcoming events.

Everyone has access to the functions I just went over, but not everyone has access to the streaming service, whether it’s live streaming or replays. Only a small number of service providers work with the app, and they aren’t even all the big ones. Both DirecTV and Comcast are incompatible. Just for signing up, you get four hours of viewing time, so there’s always that. The streams were also of  low quality though, and not really worth it anyway. Basically, if you download this app, you will at least get a very fancy, glorified TV guide to the ESPN channels.

I’m not even big on sports, so I wasn’t expecting to get very excited over this app, but even I could see that the quality needs some work. The service isn’t working at all on dozens of people’s phones, and the lack of service provider support is disappointing. This is a really great start to what could be a great app for sports fans, but it’s only mediocre as it stands. Luckily, it’s entirely free, so check it out for yourselves and see how it works with your phone and your service provider.

Download the free Appolicious Android app

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Review: Disconnecting in a too-connected world (AP)

FRANKLIN, N.Y. – The knowledge that I'd be cut off from Internet and cellphone service in just a few hours started to relax me long before I reached the secluded, serene site of a two-day yoga retreat in upstate New York.

For 43 magical hours, chirping birds replaced car horns and sirens. Two-hour yoga classes, hammock-lounging and hot-tubbing replaced sitting at my desk in Manhattan.

The best part: Absolutely nothing replaced my iPhone. It sat powered off at the bottom of my backpack all weekend save for a brief stint as an alarm clock to wake me from a nap.

I readily admit that I am powerless. Without a forced break from email, text messages, Facebook and an endless stream of online news and blogs, I am an information addict. Spending a few days without mobile service in an age where smartphones have become like limbs for many, I found immense value in disconnecting from our always-on, always-connected world.

It wasn't easy. During the three-hour ride upstate, I clutched my phone and reloaded Facebook, Gmail and Hotmail every 10 to 15 minutes. I followed our route on Google Maps, checked in to Route 17 on Foursquare and scanned the app for The New York Times for news updates for the fourth, fifth, sixth time.

As we neared the no signal zone, I called my husband to say goodbye for the second time and left a message for a friend to wish him well on medical-school admission tests that he was taking that weekend. I checked email once more.

Should I have called my mom? Posted one last update on Facebook about the looming Rapture? See if I missed any tech news by taking Friday off?

My goodness, what have I become?

Then, "No Service" appeared in the top left corner on my phone, and that was that. I took a deep breath, turned off the phone and turned to my surroundings and later, inward.

Facebook came up at least twice during the retreat at Heathen Hill. Both times, our yoga instructor was leading the 18 of us through relaxation techniques. Forget about work, she said, forget about your children at home, for a moment, and forget about Facebook. We lay on our mats, listening to the softly tapping rain and chirping birds and complied. We breathed.

It's become an increasingly rare treat to disconnect from "real world" while on vacation. For many people, work and family left behind require constant email and phone contact. Wireless access through Wi-Fi is plentiful and often free, as I have discovered in the Irish countryside, in the outskirts of my hometown of Budapest, Hungary, and in parts of the Catskills, notwithstanding the pocket where my yoga retreat took place.

Like many people, I have also developed a bit of an unhealthy attachment to my iPhone in the past couple of years, though it's not to the point where that I sleep with it under my pillow.

Convenient as it is, there are plenty drawbacks to the constant ability to check in — to friends, strangers, work, news, gossip and whatever else my phone gives me instant access to. Sometimes I don't even notice when I subconsciously reach for my phone when there's a lull in a conversation over dinner or when I want to avoid awkward small talk in the elevator.

Then there's the type of information I'm getting. Sure, some of it is valuable, but more of it is on the caliber of cute animal stories and incidental Facebook updates from friends or casual acquaintances. After coming back from the retreat, I extended my Facebook ban, so it's been five days already. I'm not sure I've missed much, except perhaps a few laughs or headshakes at friends' posts.

So what did we do, without news, Twitter and email in the Catskill Mountains? Yoga, and lots of it.

Our teacher instructed us to turn inward. That's especially difficult to do in the age of social media, when many of us seek validation even for the most minute actions and passing thoughts of our lives. Why do I need to tell my Facebook friends that it's raining again? And when someone responds, why do I feel weirdly validated in my existence?

I won't call it addiction, but for the first few hours of the retreat, I found myself regularly reaching for my iPhone — for what, I don't know. It was like a phantom limb, unnerving in its absence.

By the second day, the feeling was gone, thanks to vigorous exercise, yogic breathing and our beautiful surroundings. We dined on homemade vegetarian dishes, another break from my regular days as an avid carnivore. I also brought a book with me, printed on real paper. It's called "Living Dead in Dallas," part of a series about Southern vampires that is now a show on HBO. It helps me relax, OK?

At night we sat by the campfire, roasted marshmallows and drank wine. Then sleep, breakfast and more yoga.

I don't advocate disconnecting forever from the Internet or social media, and I admit a weekend was just enough. We needed GPS to find our way back to the city, for one thing. Some email addresses were exchanged, too.

And, as we left, we promised our newfound yoga friends: "I'll find you on Facebook."

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Japan PM: must review oversight of nuclear power (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) – Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Wednesday that Japan needs to fundamentally rethink how nuclear power is regulated but sidestepped the question of how big a role atomic energy would play in the country's future.

Japan is trying to contain a crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11 knocked out the plant's cooling systems, leading to radiation leaks.

"We need to fully consider what needs to be done to enhance the safety of nuclear power," Kan told a news conference.

Kan, under fire for his handling of the nuclear crisis, also said he would allow nuclear plants that are currently shut down for inspection to restart once they meet emergency safety standards.

(Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa, Shinichi Saoshiro, and Linda Sieg; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Joseph Radford)

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Knox trial: More time needed for DNA review

ROME (AP) — Independent forensic experts are seeking more time to conclude their review of DNA evidence in the appeals trial of Amanda Knox, news reports and lawyers said Friday.

The two court-appointed experts are looking into DNA traces on the knife believed to have been used to kill Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old Briton who shared an apartment with Knox in Perugia, and into DNA traces found on the clasp of the bra Kercher was allegedly wearing at the time she was killed.

Knox, an American student, was convicted of sexually assaulting and killing Kercher and sentenced to 26 years in jail. Her boyfriend at the time of the murder, Raffaele Sollecito of Italy, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years.

They both deny wrongdoing and their appeals trial is under way in Perugia.

The experts — originally scheduled to conclude their review on Monday, and then report to the court on May 21 — have asked for a delay of about 40 days, according to the ANSA news agency. The request was confirmed Friday by Francesco Maresca, a lawyer representing the Kercher family, and by Luca Maori, an attorney for Sollecito.

During the first trial, in the absence of a clear motive for the brutal killing, DNA evidence was crucial. Prosecutors maintained that Knox's DNA was on the knife handle, Kercher's DNA on the blade, and Sollecito's on the clasp of Kercher's bra.

The independent experts were mandated to either conduct a retest or, if not possible, assess the accuracy of the original testing. They have found that DNA traces were too small for a retest and are now reviewing the original analyses to assess whether they were reliable and up to standard, said Maresca.

The experts sought the review's extension because they want to study more documents regarding the tests, ANSA said.

The defense has always challenged the accuracy of the analyses presented in the first trial, saying traces were too low to be conclusive and alleging possible contamination. The bra was recovered at the crime scene only several weeks after the slaying. Kercher was found dead in the apartment she shared with Knox on Nov. 2, 2007, her throat slit.

The review was granted at the defense's request and assigned to two forensic experts of La Sapienza University in Rome. It takes place in the presence of experts appointed by the parties.

Maresca said the request was simply "dictated by the need to understand everything definitely," and did not speculate what it might mean for the ultimate outcome of the trial. Maresca is part of the trial because the Kerchers are civil plaintiffs in the case.

The next hearing will still be held on May 21. But the court will hear remaining witnesses, rather than the evidence review, and set a calendar, the lawyers said. The experts will likely present their findings to the court between late June and early July.

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Knox trial: More time needed for DNA review

ROME (AP) — Independent forensic experts are seeking more time to conclude their review of DNA evidence in the appeals trial of Amanda Knox, news reports and lawyers said Friday.

The two court-appointed experts are looking into DNA traces on the knife believed to have been used to kill Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old Briton who shared an apartment with Knox in Perugia, and into DNA traces found on the clasp of the bra Kercher was allegedly wearing at the time she was killed.

Knox, an American student, was convicted of sexually assaulting and killing Kercher and sentenced to 26 years in jail. Her boyfriend at the time of the murder, Raffaele Sollecito of Italy, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 25 years.

They both deny wrongdoing and their appeals trial is under way in Perugia.

The experts — originally scheduled to conclude their review on Monday, and then report to the court on May 21 — have asked for a delay of about 40 days, according to the ANSA news agency. The request was confirmed Friday by Francesco Maresca, a lawyer representing the Kercher family, and by Luca Maori, an attorney for Sollecito.

During the first trial, in the absence of a clear motive for the brutal killing, DNA evidence was crucial. Prosecutors maintained that Knox's DNA was on the knife handle, Kercher's DNA on the blade, and Sollecito's on the clasp of Kercher's bra.

The independent experts were mandated to either conduct a retest or, if not possible, assess the accuracy of the original testing. They have found that DNA traces were too small for a retest and are now reviewing the original analyses to assess whether they were reliable and up to standard, said Maresca.

The experts sought the review's extension because they want to study more documents regarding the tests, ANSA said.

The defense has always challenged the accuracy of the analyses presented in the first trial, saying traces were too low to be conclusive and alleging possible contamination. The bra was recovered at the crime scene only several weeks after the slaying. Kercher was found dead in the apartment she shared with Knox on Nov. 2, 2007, her throat slit.

The review was granted at the defense's request and assigned to two forensic experts of La Sapienza University in Rome. It takes place in the presence of experts appointed by the parties.

Maresca said the request was simply "dictated by the need to understand everything definitely," and did not speculate what it might mean for the ultimate outcome of the trial. Maresca is part of the trial because the Kerchers are civil plaintiffs in the case.

The next hearing will still be held on May 21. But the court will hear remaining witnesses, rather than the evidence review, and set a calendar, the lawyers said. The experts will likely present their findings to the court between late June and early July.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

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FAA announces review panel, management shuffle

Three air traffic controllers have been fired for sleeping on the job.The FAA shuffles key management jobs amid controllers controversyIt names four members to a review panel that will evaluate training programs The panel will submit a report to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt this fallThe controversy includes more than a half-dozen alleged sleeping or inattentive controllers

Washington (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it had shuffled some key management jobs as it continues its review of the controversy over sleeping and inattentive controllers.

It also named four members to a review panel that will evaluate the FAA's controller training programs to make sure new controllers are properly prepared. The panel will submit a report to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt this fall.

"We are continuing to do everything in our power to ensure that our nation's aviation system remains the safest in the world," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. He called the changes "just the beginning of the process."

The controversy, which grew in recent weeks to include more than a half-dozen alleged sleeping or inattentive controllers, had already claimed a top FAA official, Henry "Hank" Krakowski, who resigned his post as head of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization.

It has also fired three air traffic controllers in Miami, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Seattle who were found to have slept on the job, and is continuing its review of other controllers.

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In the changes announced Friday, the FAA said it is repositioning three veteran FAA managers to critical roles.

Walt Cochran will oversee terminal operations, where he will be responsible for FAA airport towers and regional radar facilities.

Chris Metts will oversee all of the FAA's "en route" and oceanic operations. Glen Martin will become air traffic manager at the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center.

The FAA said it also is assessing key mid-level management positions "to ensure that both technical and leadership expectations are being met."

The members of the independent review panel are: Michael Barr, University of Southern California Aviation, Safety & Security program; Tim Brady, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; Garth Koleszar, National Air Traffic Controllers Association; Michael New, United Airlines; and Julia Pounds, FAA.

Earlier this month, the FAA changed work schedules to allow controllers more time off between shifts, and Babbitt and controller union president Paul Rinaldi toured facilities to send a message to controllers about job expectations.

The FAA said it and union teams have so far visited facilities in and around 20 major U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Sacramento and Salt Lake City.

"The FAA's focus is safety. These changes ensure that we have the right people in the right places to help us carry out our mission," Babbitt said in a statement Friday. "I am confident our top-to-bottom review is making our air traffic system even safer."

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The Temasek Review – Singapore’s Best Independent News and Opinions

The Temasek Review is an internet newspaper which aims to provide an independent, balanced and unbiased coverage on socio-political affairs in Singapore. We are not linked to any political party or commercial entity.

Our news coverage and opinion editorials are written from an unique and independent perspective to set you thinking and analyzing in order to gain a deeper understanding of the issues involved.

The Temasek Review is an internet newspaper which aims to provide an independent, balanced and unbiased coverage on socio-political affairs in Singapore. We are not linked to any political party or commercial entity.

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AP: Pennsylvania is approving gas drilling permits with scant review

By Mel Evans, AP

Ann Dixon of Philadelphia holds a sign against drilling for natural gas near the Delaware River, and Al Kaufmann, of Damascus, Pa., holds a sign in favor of drilling.

EnlargeCloseBy Mel Evans, AP

Ann Dixon of Philadelphia holds a sign against drilling for natural gas near the Delaware River, and Al Kaufmann, of Damascus, Pa., holds a sign in favor of drilling.

And the regulators say they do not give any additional scrutiny to requests to drill near streams and rivers, even though the waterways are protected by state and federal law.

Staffers in the state Department of Environmental Protection testified behind closed doors last month as part of a lawsuit filed by residents and environmental groups over a permit that DEP issued for an exploratory gas well in northeastern Pennsylvania, less than a half-mile from the Delaware River and about 300 feet from a pristine stream.

MORE: About gas 'fracking'STORY: New York's drilling moratoriumSTORY: Fracking the Haynesville Shale in LouisianaTheir statements, obtained by The Associated Press, call into question whether regulators are overburdened and merely rubber-stamping permit applications during the unprecedented drilling boom that has turned Pennsylvania into a major player in the natural gas market, while also raising fears about polluted water and air.

The agency has denied few requests to drill in the Marcellus Shale formation, the world

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Disparity in border security under review

By LM Otero, AP

A Customs and Border Protection officer and a local sheriff's deputy check the trunk of a car heading southbound from the United States to Mexico.

EnlargeCloseBy LM Otero, AP

A Customs and Border Protection officer and a local sheriff's deputy check the trunk of a car heading southbound from the United States to Mexico.

Some, such as an interest group on the border and some members of Congress, are questioning whether those efforts to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country have come at the expense of the U.S.'s ability to stop the drugs, guns and cash that also flow across the border.

Up to 90% of the cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and heroin that cross from Mexico to the U.S. goes through the dozens of land ports of entry along the border, according to the Texas Border Coalition, a group of mayors, judges and city officials from the border region.

From 2006 to 2010, the number of Customs and Border Protection officers who inspect people and cargo crossing through the ports of entry along the southwest border increased by 15%, while the number of CBP Border Patrol agents who patrol the rugged terrain between those ports increased by 59%, according to CBP figures.

Some believe that focus on the regions between the ports — where human smuggling is the biggest concern — has been a knee-jerk reaction to the loud calls in recent years to stem the tide of illegal immigration.

"The emphasis has been because it's kind of sexy," says Nelson Balido, president of the Border Trade Alliance, which represents companies and government agencies all along the U.S.-Mexico border. "It's sexy to say you're the crime fighter, that you're going to go out there and secure the border and we're going to get them."

That disparity will now be reviewed by Congress.

Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., will use her House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security on Tuesday to study the distribution of manpower along the border. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, sent a letter Friday to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee asking for a hearing on the issue.

Miller says she wants to determine whether there is a shortage of funding and manpower at the ports of entry.

"It is a concern that we've all recognized," Miller says. "We'll focus on some issues that perhaps the agencies are not reacting to appropriately."

Customs officials refused requests to comment for this story.

The increase in the number of agents who patrol the mountain ranges, rivers and deserts — combined with a weakened economy that has dried up many jobs — has helped reduce the number of illegal immigrants crossing into the country. After reaching a high of 12 million in 2007, the number of illegal immigrants in the United States in 2010 was 11.2 million, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

At the land ports of entry, understaffing makes proper screening of incoming cars and trucks difficult.

"We are so understaffed that our inspectors routinely put in 16-hour days, several times a week," says William Moore, a consultant for the Texas Border Coalition.

He says drug runners in Mexico closely monitor U.S. ports of entry and understand the weaknesses. He says they rush drug shipments through during shift changes. Or they'll send a car with a small amount of drugs to get captured and then, once Customs officials pull that car out of line for further inspection, the drug runners push through several cars with larger shipments.

Some also worry about the delays that the understaffed ports of entry are having on legitimate commerce trying to get through the ports. "We have heard from southern border officials and advocates about the negative impact on border economies when delays occur at U.S. ports of entry," Cornyn wrote in his letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Janice Kephart, director of national security policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that wants to restrict immigration, says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has done a better job than her predecessors to balance the number of agents and officers working along the border. Kephart says more bodies alone won't solve the problems of human or drug smuggling.

Napolitano "is putting more bodies out there because Congress has told her to, but it is without an overall operational strategy for the border," Kephart says.

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