Nintendo's 3DS shipped only a few months ago, but the handheld gaming machine will be getting its first major update on June 6th, just days from now. When the update starts flowing to devices, it'll bring along a new Web browser as well as something pretty special: Nintendo's eShop.

The eShop will function similar to the stores on the Wii and DSi consoles.  At launch it will only offer more than 350 DSi games and 5 new software – three vintage 1989 games from the black-and-white Game Boy library, a 3-D enhanced version of the classic 8-bit game Excitebike and an interactive Pokémon strategy guide.

The new update will also offer an internet browser for the 3DS. That browser will support 3D content; 3D Web sites aren't too popular right now, but with the 3D bandwagon rolling on, we suspect that will be changing in due time. As for the eShop, it's a content-downloading service that features applications, product information, and game trailers. Nintendo has already had success finding original 3D software, classic games that have been re-made in 3D (3D Classics), Game Boy / GBC virtual console games, and over 350 DSiWare games.

eShop games will start at $1.99 each.  Top titles like Super Mario Land will cost $3.99, and Alleyway and Radar Mission will cost $2.99.

Sources:
http://hothardware.com/News/Nintendo-3DS-Update-Brings-New-Browser-And-eShop/
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/02/nintendo-3ds-eshop-to-launch-on-june-6-with-internet-browser-and/

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Rosetta Stone launched its iPad app today, which is basically just a lighter version of its core “course” software. The app itself is nothing extraordinary, but the way it teaches languages is pretty awesome. Foreign language has never been my best subject, but I had a blast playing with this app because it feels way more like a puzzle than a language lesson. The worst part is the price: you have to be a Rosetta Stone customer to access the app.


If you take learning languages seriously, I would gladly argue that there is no better language-learning app out there. But if you’re looking for something light and fun, the price tag on this app will certainly outweigh your desire for it.

As far as learning languages goes, Rosetta Stone seems to have the process nailed. Instead of learning through simple flash-card style memorization or by-the-book translation, the Rosetta Stone TOTALe Companion app forces you to problem-solve while you learn. For instance, instead of reading a sentence in Spanish, hearing it, and then repeating (parroting), Rosetta Stone gives you a couple of different pictures of whatever phrase or word the lesson focuses on, and turns language learning into a puzzle.

So now let's get to what this app does have. Every language's curriculum is broken into five levels. Each level has four units and each unit can take anywhere from six to ten hours to complete. Right from the first slide, you are required to parrot what the digital teacher says, with no context to go on aside from the images displayed. And in case you're wondering, there's a speech precision setting, so you decide whether the program's a hard-ass or a softy.

All in all, if you're looking to learn a language, Rosetta Stone's got a pretty good track record. And the developers of this app believe the tablet is the perfect device for their software because touch is what makes the experience more personal and easier to remember. Rosetta Stone may be the dominant brand in computer-aided language learning, but needless to say, it does not come cheap. You can download the iPad app for free, but it doesn't do anything without a corresponding Rosetta Stone account. You'll have to purchase the actual Rosetta Stone software, which'll cost you a pretty penny.

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A brand new ad for the pink Nokia N8 has just hit the Nokia YouTube channel and its full of pink, pop and plastic dolls. What makes it interesting is that it uses stop motion to create a very fun film. Nokia are celebrating the launch of the Pink Nokia N8, with a music video for the Sugababes new track Freedom, starring a very talented dancing doll.

A brand new single from the all girl band Sugababes that has also just been released and here’s where it gets even more interesting, to support the release they’ll be running a competition on their website to give away 10 pink N8's.

Earlier this month, we were rather unimpressed with Nokia's rebranding of the N8 Symbian smartphone, and it seems someone took note. Because the promo video for the N8 Pink is anything but unimaginative. In fact, it's downright frightening. The video features a series of contorted Barbies dolls, prancing about in Lady Gaga-esque undergarments, with accompaniment by British girl group Sugababes. This is one marketing campaign we won't soon forget.

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