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CARS GADGETS GAMES MUSIC

OwnerSTOYZ GUIDE

T H E U L T I M A T E P R O D U C T G U I D E

WE DRIVESLS AMGRANGE ROVER AUDI A8CTS COUPEAND MORE

100 MUST HAVE ITEMS

30 Games40 Gadgets30 Cars

Sneak Peak Inside Gears of War 3 &Michael Jackson The Experience

The Best 3D TV Deal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tDBicH-JCE

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LETTER FROMTHE PUBLISHER

Ever since I was a little boy, I always love to play with my toyz. I’m sure I’m not alone in my desire, as we work and strive to spend those precious moments with our toyz, whether they be a new 3D TV, or an AMG, we love our Toyz. Car, Gadgets, and Gaming are my passion, and if you look at the consumer electronic, automotive, and gaming industries

there are plenty to write home about, Call of Duty did over $650 Million in 5 days, the iPad sold over 3 million units in 80 days, Hyundai sales grew over 38% in the past quarter, GM’s IPO was the largest ever. Toyz move the economy because we love them and will find ways to get them even in the “worst recession since the great depression”. Don’t get me wrong times are hard, but we find ways to acquire what we want so this Winter I am compiling a list of 100 must have toyz along with product reviews, and previews of exciting things to come like; all electric super cars, the Michael Jackson video game, and the best 3D TV around (I sold someone on one this holiday weekend in fact) bring your toyz out, whether its your new smart phone on Droid, or your new pad, or your new car or your favorite game, lets come out and play, we all just want to have fun. Oh by the way this issue is just a part of our new launch which will include this guide, our executive edition with CEO’s of some of the most successful Toyz makers, our 7th year anniversary issue in print, our iPhone and iPad launch with multi-media content, mobile editions, social network www.toyznation.com and www.ownersillustrated.com is going social media very soon, giving insight on wealth building so you can afford your toyz. Join toyznation.com today and get updates, post videos, make friends with other toyz lovers and in the meantime send me a note at [email protected] Owners Till Infinity

Damola IdowuPublisher/Editor-in-Chief/Founder

Editor-in-Chief/PublisherDamola Idowu

DesignDLI

Copy EditorKeyla McNeely

for Keywords Communications

PhotographyBanks

Wil DavidLanre’

Damola

Staff WritersDamola

Da Great Deity Dah

Marketing & PromotionsDamola

Quincy TaylorReginald MatthewsDawoud Shadeidu

Brian WilliamsRW Collection Models

MidWest Rep.Quincy Taylor

AdvertisingDamola

Quincy Taylor

SalesDamola

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Legal CounselReginald A. Greene, Esq.

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Few automobiles possess the ability to snatch your breath while rapidly increasing your heart rate. I you can imagine that sensation you still couldn’t fathom the experience behind the wheel of the 2011 Mercedes SLS AMG. Hearkening to their heritage, the SLS is a study in modernization. The original 300SL of the 1954-1957 era popularized the infamous gull-wing doors that go upward like wings of a bird hence the gullwing. The gull-wing lasted only 3 years from 1954 through 1957 and was replaced by the roadster which carried model years 1957 through 1963.

With the end of the partnership with McLaren to make the SLK, Mercedes took the opportunity to invigorate the technology under the stewardship of their in-house performance division, AMG. Gorged of lightweight ma-terial and loaded with every modern technology like Parktronic, keyless entry, satellite radio, DVD navigation, iPod integration, Bluetooth, a 40 Gig hard drive, backup camera, etc.

It is obvious the engineers wanted this machine to be enjoyable as a daily driver but you don’t buy an SLS for amenities, you spend over $200,000 for performance and that is where the experience triumphs. The SLS fea-tures a hand-built AMG engine with a 6.3L V8 that yields 563 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque making a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds. The AMG Speedshift DCT 7-Speed sport transmission is a true modern marvel with swift responses from the aluminum steering wheel mounted paddle shifters.

I only had a day with the beauty but the experience like heaven or at least my assumption which is further from reality as I burned rubber through the DC in the short spurts allowed in the dense traffic, I had to find open land so I journeyed to 270 and hit 70 where the hills and valleys allowed room for the beast to breathe. Time is too short and between getting pictures around DC landmarks, answering questions every 30 seconds, even getting a po-lice detail, I longed for more yet the

experience, a dream, an aspiration for my next birthday, November 12, 2011. For more information visit www.mbusa.com.

TEST DRIVE » SLS AMG

TOYZ GUIDE CARS

4 • Toyznation.com


Watch video and extra footage at toyznation.com


It’s been over 20 years since we were intro-duced to Lexus and my, how time flies

when you are having fun. Born out of the audac-ity that a Japanese auto-maker can challenge the European nameplates in performance and luxury, Japan’s luxury king has

been steady in its accent with the flagship LS 600h, a study in tech-nology and luxury fuel efficiency. When launched in 2007, the LS 600h was to deliver V12 power with V8 fuel efficiency and the self-parking feature and the recliner in the rear cabin were all class lead-ers. Now Lexus is forging a path from the opposite end of the the price spectrum but with the same lead engineer from the LS pro-gram. As we descended on beautiful Delray Beach Florida with its beautiful views, blue skies, bluer water, and white sand beaches, the CT 200h stood out in the landscape and was well positioned to bridge the journey for many into opulence. Targeted towards a younger, trendy demographic, my drive with Brian, the marketing manager and veteran of the Scion project gave me insight into the strategy. With a goal of just 1000 cars per month the emphasis is more on the branding, awareness, and the invitation to a new gener-ation of luxury buyers to familiarize themselves with the Lexus name plate and move through their products throughout their lifetime. The CT 200h is going to be the lowest priced Lexus yet and is green,

with a combined fuel efficiency of 42MPG from a 134combined HP engine. (My co-driver was able to achieve 75MPG. Wow indeed!) It is stylish with 89 LED’s as a 5-door hatch, loaded with a pop-up naviga-tion system, customizable interior, quality fit and finish, push-button ignition, and the same multimedia interface found on the top-sell-ing RX. I enjoyed our conversation about the evolving generation X and Y demo and how vastly different they are from the Baby Boom-ers that dominate mainstream attention. Lexus has the right guy on the job. Having launched what has become the blueprint to target young buyers, it only makes sense he is involved in reaching people who have now graduated, gotten jobs, moved to new cities, and be-gun to build a promising future in their late 20’s and early 30’s. I am very familiar with the demographic, as many of you that read this publication fall into that segment. So intriguing was our dialogue, I had to do a drive on my own and was quite impressed with the abil-ity of the CT 200h to move and be comfortable for a commuter and also be functional for a group trip where the 5 door hatch gains in its convenience. The CT 200h is loaded with every tech option you could want yet there is no compromise on the expected Lexus qual-ity. The CT 200h is due out the first quarter of 2011 when you can expect the 134HP, 1.8L dandy with a 112 mph-top-speed beauty to slot below the IS line. The CT 200h will feature its own customization site along with the option to schedule your own test drive and pre-buy your own maintenance program directly from the website. You can visit www.darkersideofgreen.com for more info and to watch their innovative darkcasting series of interviews inside the CT 200h while tastemakers and trendsetters navigate through several urban metropolis’s.

DRIVE » LEXUS CT200h

TOYZ GUIDE CARS


On a beautiful California day, on the hallowed grounds of Torrey Pines this fall, I joined the Hyundai team to drive the Sonata Turbo and Sonata Hybrid. When Hyundai made the bold statement that they were

not going to have a V6 powertrain for the volume-leading So-nata, many wondered how they were going to be competitive in this highly lucrative market that makes or brakes many a car manufacturer. I had seen the Hybrid and Turbo at the NY Auto Show earlier in the year so I was eager to get behind these two different 4-cylinders and see how they measured up in terms of power and fuel efficiency. Styling on the Turbo and the Hy-brid has some cue differences that provide a character to both powertrains which are both more powerful than the base 2.0L 4-cylinder. The turbo was impressive, yielding 274HP and 269 lb-ft of torque yet getting 35MPG on the highway. In a driving efficiency competition, which I won, I was able to get almost 45 MPG in a 2-hour drive. With the compelling argument of power, styling, technological amenities, price, and the innova-tive Hyundai Assurance, the brisk sales of the Sonata, which are projected to approach 200,000 for the model year, are sure to uptick. It is unusual to have the most powerful model prac-tically match the base model in fuel efficiency yet it is the twin scroll technology in the turbocharged engine that enables that result. The handling is great with stiffer suspension to provide a more sporty experience. With the Turbo you have paddle shifters in addition to a 6-speed Shiftronic transmission allowing for a more intuitive drive. Every option on the Limited is available on the Turbo.

The Hybrid is Hyundai’s first and the effort seems to have succeeded in achieving a benchmark 36 mpg for in-city driving in a midsize sedan. Highway efficiency is 40 mpg so there is no record there, but most people drive

and commute to work for hours at a time so the city driving figure has more relevance and the feat is quite stunning. The battery pack is actually made up of lithium polymer batteries, co-developed with fellow South Korean-based company LG. The battery pack is a fraction of the size of others on the mar-ket with more density to capture more energy. There tends to be a lot of noise among my political and business colleagues in the media regarding economics and policy matters, with many asking, should we invest in a green economy? Will green cars thrive? Yet, the fact remains, Hyundai has increased sales 38% in a recession with stylish, technologically advanced and fuel-efficient vehicles, while providing customers the best loy-

alty program with the Hyundai Assurance. Read our exclusive interview with CEO John Krafcik, a former Ford engineer and Stanford grad who is showing the world how to be efficient and grow. For more information visit www.hyundaiusa.com.

DRIVE » SONATA HYBRID & TURBO

TOYZ GUIDE CARS


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It was my first trip North to Canada and I couldn’t hide my ex-citement at the opportunity to drive the all-new Nissan Juke and cross the border. As I arrived in Canada, I saw no notice-able differences architecture-wise and felt right at home with

the natives. We were to ride through the hills in Vancouver and enjoy the beautiful countryside as we pushed the 188HP, 1.6L en-gine. Born out of a series of upgrades and product launches for Nissan, the Juke is a Compact Crossover with a punch of Turbo. Armed with 177lb-ft of torque the AWD Juke was pretty feisty as we journeyed by ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale. The Juke features an Xtronic CVT or a manual 6-speed and both pow-ertrains were fun to maneuver. There are 3 driving modes from economy to sport to normal and you can see the power or turbo boost during sport mode or your fuel efficiency during the econo-my mode. Standard in the Juke is an array of options including 17” alloys, Bluetooth technology, iPod integration with available op-tions like an Intelligent key, navigation, XM NavTraffic, speaker up-grades, and USB connectivity, all with a base price below $19,000 and a top range of $24,550. There are 8 model configurations and quite frankly there are few competitors in this niche of the compact crossover segment. The styling, I was told, was inspired by the 370Z with the tail light treatment and the aggressive front end. The Juke is available in an assortment of colors and we drew quite the conversation as we drove the cars to the ferry and spoke with Canadian residents. Targeted towards males 18-34, the Juke is a fun way to get from A to B and spark a conversation along the way. For more information on the Juke visit www.nissanusa.com.

DRIVE » NISSAN JUKE

TOYZ GUIDE CARS


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OOn a warm and beautiful day in NY I joined fellow journalists at the IBM center at the Palisades. I had driven up from the DC area in the fun XD which had been recently refreshed itself, with great results in the seg-ment it invented. My longing desire was to get behind the wheel of the

TC and after a delightful dinner at a fine local establishment we were to rest and prepare for a day of driving in New York and New Jersey. The Tc is the last of the Scion products to be updated but it is not the sorer for the delay. There is a wide array of options including; a touch screen navigation, premium sound system with 300 watts of sound, a new 2.5 L engine that develops 180HP, 2 new 6 speed trans-missions, new exterior styling, new interior styling, HD Radio, iPod integration, panoramic roof, and many more customizable options starting at just north of $18,000. I had fun whipping the TC around a beautiful course that provided great views of NY and the Hudson river. Both the manual and the automatic 6 speed transmissions were great and very responsive. For diehard fans of the TC, there are not any disappointments, and for new converts there is plenty to like. At the price point, with the options, and the ability to customize the TC, I am confident this next iteration will continue to forge Toyota’s dominance over this segment of the sports car market. I also had a chance to speak exclusively with VP Jack Hollis which will be featured in the bosses section of this publication. For more information visit www.scion.com

DRIVE » Hyundai GenesisDRIVE » SCION TC

TOYZ GUIDE CARS

TOYZ GUIDE TEST DRIVES

Lexus IS250CWhen things occur out of your control you want to be behind a safe and sound product, as your mere existence could be on the line. I had a near death experience and was run off the road fortunate for me Toyota’s safety including airbags, the frame and chassis, the structure on the retractable hardtop, and the general soundness of the engineering held up fine as an orange pickup ran me into a ditch off the highway. Prior to the unfortunate accident I had enjoyed time behind the beautifully engineered machine with a list of amenities, including dual chrome exhaust, Bi-Xenon headlights, heated seats, and more, but my testimony to the safety is why I’m here today. For more information on the Lexus IS 250 visit www.Lexus.com.

Cadillac CTS CoupeThe CTS has been a tremendous success for the Cadillac brand. Spurring models such as a sport wagon and now a coupe, the CTS ushered Cadillac into a new era of award-winning passenger vehicles. I got behind the wheel of the coupe and my-oh-my did I have fun. The design language, the greenhouse, the styling are dramatically different from the competition in the segment. By every benchmark the CTS Coupe matches or exceeds its competition. I have always loved the retractable navigation, the pause and record radio, the paddle shift steering, and the HID adaptive headlamps. I mean I could go on and even mention the 304 hp, 273 lb-ft of torque on the direct injection 3.6L V6 with available AWD but I will just sum it up by saying I love the CTS Coupe. For more information visit www.cadillac.com.

Infinity G37 ConvertibleThe G series has defined what true competition to the BMW 3 Series looks like and the Infiniti G37 retractable hard top with a 6-speed manual was fun during our week together. With seasonal warm weather in our extended summer/fall. I enjoyed the 3.7L V6 making 325 hp and 267 lb-ft of torque in a smooth-shifting manual. I had the navigation package which comes with a 9.3 GB hard drive and Zagat restaurant reviews. You can even playback DVD video while parked, making for an interesting conversation piece. Starting south of $47,000 the G37 I drove topped $50,000 with options. For more information visit www.infinitiusa.com.

Mercedes Benz E550 CabrioletInvigorating is how I would describe my time with the Mercedes-Benz E550 Cabriolet. All new for the 2011 model year, the E550 Cabriolet replaces the CLK 550 in the Mer-cedes line up and to say it does a fine job is an understate-ment. I had it during my homecoming weekend at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and had a blast. Featuring a 5.5L V8 that makes 382 hp and 391 lb-ft of torque mated to a 7-speed adaptive transmission. The performance of the E550 was exhilarating. I had a model with the P2 package which gives you practically every tech option Mercedes has to offer. Base price is $64,880 with the model I drove priced at $74,115. For more info visit www.MBUSA.com.

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« JAGUAR XF PREMIUMFor the 2010 Model year Jaguar has improved an already great product, the XF. As we had the opportunity to do, we were quite delighted with our exclusive feature we did with Ian Callum on the development of the XF. The video is available on Youtube for your consumption, but the greater pleasure was getting behind the wheel and giving the 2010 edition with the new powertrain a spin. Adding 85HP with a new naturally-aspirated 5.0 L V8 you could certainly feel the differences as I drove the beast for a week around DC. A polite confession we at Owners Illustrated have been long fans of the S Type, and XF with both finding their way into the driveways of our staff. The design was a much needed improvement over the S Type which at it debut made a profound design statement in the egalitarian Midsize Luxury segment. The new touches which debuted in the past model year are only enhanced now with quicker responses, proven by a 0-60 time of 5.7 seconds in the naturally-aspirated 5.0L engine. The performance did not come at the expense of fuel economy which remains 16 Mpg in the city and a combined 19 mpg with a slightly lower 23mpg to 25mpg on the highway. With the XF you get superior interior finishes with a favorite touch of a turn knob transmission with a paddle shift option. I love the motorization of the air vents, and the lighting cues, which while cosmetic set a trendy ambiance in the cockpit. The XF is available with every option you could think of when ordered with the Portfolio edition however the Premium model I drove was quite equipped and with a base price north of $56,000 and a great lease available currently for $599 per month the XF should be in your driveway too. For more information visit www.jaguar.com

TOYZ GUIDE CARS TEST DRIVES

« MERCEDES BENZ S 400The Mercedes Benz S Class has long been the benchmark for luxury sedans. More fuel efficient than any offering in the market, the S 400 has a combined output of 220 kW (299 hp) with a 3.5L gasoline engine supplemented by an electric powertrain. Fuel economy in the S 400 Fuel efficiency was a meager 26mpg on highway and 19mpg in city driving, compared to 14mpg in city, and 21mpg highway in the S550. The S 400 is an exercise in how green can be practical and in my drive with the 2010 edition I was delighted to find every option available in the S550 in the S400 including night vision, DVD video, an 8 way rear adjustable seats, the premium package and an AMG sport package. The S400 was quick enough in my drive around DC with a total power output that is more than the output of the past generation S430. The s400 is the entry level S class so you don’t pay a premium for the technology yet you get every other available amenity with a base price slightly north of $88,000. Visit www.MBUSA.com for more information

« 2011 Audi A8In the past decade Audi has made a fevered pitch to set the benchmark in the luxury flagship sedan market. With a combination of the Quattro all wheel drive system, multiple power trains, and the industry benchmark in interiors, the A8 had proven itself a worthy contender for the title. As the VW group has expanded so has the sales of Audi, and the goal to sell a combined 1 million units in the US by 2018 is no small feat. The 2011 A8 is an exercise, in; design, performance, efficiency, technology, and the expected premium audio system provided by Bang & Olufsen. I had a very exciting week with the A8 where I was able to fully enjoy the 8 speed tiptronic transmission and the 4.2 L FSI V8 that makes 372HP and 328lb-ft of torque. The A8 was very smooth yet the paddle shifters were responsive and gave a sporty performance in sport mode. With a 0-60 time of 5.7 seconds the A8 is extremely agile and slippery thru the dense traffic of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The cockpit is a elegantly designed marvel with the new MMI system easy to use especially with the ability to use the new touch pad feature. The sound system produces a rich and robust sound, the seats have a massage function that was great for the idle time in traffic. Getting a chance to open up the engine is where the thrill begins. The A8 moves like a Gazelle, with the Quattro system keeping things in control, and providing superior handling. Forged out of a lightweight aluminum body the cabin was exceptionally quiet and sturdy. The LED lighting technology that Audi has been famous for also make a nice touch, and great function during night time driving. Overall I have to concur that the A8 is par and second to none in the segment. With a base price in the mid $70K you can find more information at www.audiusa.com


TEST DRIVE » MERCEDES BENZ E350 TOYZ GUIDE CARS TOYZ GUIDE TEST DRIVES

Nissan Maxima SVHaving coined the phrase “the four-door sports car” the expecta-tions were high when I had the pleasure of having some extended time with the 3.5L SV. Featuring paddle shifters mated to a CVT, the 290 hp, 261 lb-ft of torque Maxima SV is a world of fun to maneuver around the DC area with a plethora of technology available at your fingertips from Bluetooth radio to realtime traffic and weather to a back-up camera to dual-zone climate control, a 9.3 Gig hard drive, a 7” color screen, DVD playback and more. The Maxima is also loaded with performance cues including 19” wheels, alloys and a rear spoiler. Pricing on the Maxima starts at $33,000 and the loaded model I drove priced out north of $38,000. For more information on the Maxima visit www.nissanusa.com.

Mazda 6 TouringTMazda has been quite successful in carving a niche for itself as a performance brand with its zoom-zoom-zoom slogan. The Mazda 6 Touring Plus I drove was true to form. Featuring a 3.7L V6 with 272 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque was brisk and plenty responsive in my driving. Not extensively optioned, I had a chance to focus on performance and the six-speed automatic trans proved capable. I loved the styl-ing, especially the dual exhausts which were embedded into the bumper with chrome touches. The Mazda 6 is sporty, roomy and has a long list of available options. For more information visit www.mazdausa.com.

Ford Taurus SELThe work of Earl Lucas has yielded great results for Ford Motor Company. Helming the design team for Taurus as featured in our past edition, an entirely new approach has been taken towards the full-size premium sedan. I had the pleasure to kick the tires around in the SEL for a week and was impressed by the road manners, the ergonomics of the cockpit, the roominess of the cabin, the greenhouse and overall design of the vehicle. I have owned Tauruses and Sables before but this isn’t the same animal. With a 3.5L, 265 hp engine there was power enough for general driving but not to win a race, I look forward to driving the SHO. The technology of Sync has always impressed and you get a robust package in the Taurus Pricing for the Taurus begins at $25,170. For more information visit www.ford.com/taurus.

Buick LacrosseFor a moment there was a fear that Buick was gone, but that rumor was unfounded as Ed Welburn and his global design team (especially the China team) had proven their prowess with premium products globally. Buick is highly successful in China. In fact it is behind GM’s ability to sell more cars in China than in the U.S.. I drove Buick’s current flagship sedan in the U.S., the Lacrosse, and was very impressed. The Lacrosse is a premium full-size sedan that rides quietly and smoothly with a suspension tuned to have a luxury feel. The interior leaves nothing to spare as there is an available Hard Drive with the ability to pause satellite radio and record songs from your CD’s. There are heated seats, OnStar, tight fit and finish, premium leather surfaces, virtually every luxury you should expect in the entry luxury segment and more. The model I drove had the base 3.6L, V6 but now you can get the Lacrosse with a 2.4L inline-four that makes 184 hp and gets 26 mpg on the highway. The Lacrosse starts at $27K for more information visit www.buick.com/lacrosse.

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TEST DRIVE » LEXUS IS 350 TOYZ GUIDE CARS

TEST DRIVE » MERCEDES BENZ E350 TOYZ GUIDE CARS

Toyota Rav 4 V^ LimitedThe Toyota RAV4 has been here before its rivals and has to feel slighted by the lack of attention being paid to it. The RAV4 is prob-ably what you think of first when you mention a compact SUV, yet you can lose sight of its offerings like multi-disk changer, Bluetooth, backup camera, a 3.5L V6 making 269 hp with a tow capacity of 3500 lbs, leather seats, heated seats, and more. The RAV4 is a practical and a proven commodity over the long-haul in the compact SUV segment and with upcoming hybrids will push the engineering envelope in this highly competitive segment. For more information visit www.toyota.com.

KIA Sportage EX AWDWith all the conversation dominated by Hyundai, it is easy to forget the great performance of sibling, Kia. A part of the Hyundai family, Kia has been experiencing robust sales and garnering attention from their exciting slate of products. I drove one of those products, the Kia Sportage and left with a great impression of the fascinating compact SUV. To begin with, it is a sub $30K vehicle with daytime LED’s. Wow! But when you have a former Audi designer, Peter Schreyer, at the helm of your shop, these are things that you benefit from. The 2011 Kia Sportage featured an all-wheel drive system, a panoramic sunroof, premium leather, satellite radio, heated and cooled seats, backup camera and more with a loaded price, literally just shy of $30K. The 4-cylinder engine puts out 176 hp and 168 lb-ft of torque with a fuel efficiency of 28 mpg highway. For more information visit www.kia.com.

GMC TerrainAll-new, yet a mechanical sibling to the Chevy Equinox, the Terrain is a flashy, stylish, premium compact SUV offering that has plenty to like with creative options like a laptop stowaway bin with power outlets and an option for a rear DVD package that competitors don’t. There is an available 10 GB Navigation hard drive, a cool adjustable rear seat that provides class-leading leg room for rear passengers, a power liftgate, 18” aluminum wheels, and a six-speed automatic transmission with two available powertrains, a 2.4L, 4-cylin-der engine with 182 hp and a 3.0L direct injection V6 with 264 hp. Simply put, the Terrain is a truly stunning product that dazzles with unique options and displays the promise of American engineering in this highly competitive segment. Pricing starts at $25K. For more information visit www.gmc.com.

Hyundai Tucson Much has been made of sibling rivalry, in the case with the Hyundai Tucson, the competition is healthy. Mechanically similar with powertrain and mechanicals, the Tucson has markedly different driving dynamics and design. Sporting a softer suspension and more tuned to comfort, the Tucson has similar amenities from the panoramic roof, premium leather, six-speed transmission, backup camera, 6.5 inch navigation screen, 18” wheels and more, though not the daytime LED’s. I enjoyed both and it’s a matter of design and driving taste. The Tucson rode very smoothly and the Sportage was more firmer but both are great compact SUV’s that serve as benchmarks in their segment. For more information visit www.hyundaiusa.com.

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Owners Bosses Edition Executive Profile • Joseph Saulter CEO EARI


“Young at Heart Wise as Day”

Forged out of Stone Mountain Georgia, Entertainment Arts Research Inc is the by product of an unyielding imagination

and equally determined spirit of its founder Professor Joseph Saulter. A legend for his musical accomplishment, Professor Joseph Saulter was a member in the ground braking group Twilight 22 where he wrote songs and also performed as a drummer. Most notably he had a major role in their smash album Electric Kingdom. With an extensive history in the

entertainment industry, Professor Saulter has had his talents as a musical director enhance Broadway productions from;

Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, to Doug Hennings’ Broadway Hit, The Magic Show for which Joseph Saulter wrote the Drum book. Entertainment Arts Research Inc, is a culmination of

Professor Saulter's musical gifts and his unyielding passion in the field of gaming. Esteemed and exalted Professor Joseph

Saulter's gaming resume includes; author of a series of Game Design and Development textbooks published by McGraw-

Hill, a Chairman position at the International Game Develop-ers Association's Diversity Advisory Board, founder of the Urban Video Game Academy, an educational initiative to

give high-risk school students the opportunity to learn how to design and develop video games, and chairman of the Game design and Development Department at American Inter Continental University as well as fulltime professor at

The Art Institute of Atlanta. It is with this impressive resume that Professor Joseph Saulter has launched Entertainment Arts Research, Inc (EARI) and taking it public trading under the ticker of EARI. Entertainment Arts Research Inc. is the

first African American controlled 3D Video Game Develop-ment Companies traded on the public market, a momentous

achievement. To run EARI Professor Saulter's has enlisted video game industry icon Jonathan Eubanks. Jonathan Eu-

banks is most notable for his distinguished 14 year career de-veloping games for a slew of the top publishers with over 60 titles to his credit including Hulk I and II, Van Helsing, Jurassic Park, Cat in the Hat, Happy Feet, Justice League Heroes and Batman Begins. Both Professor Joseph Saulter and Jonathan

Eubanks were recently selected to the tenth annual list of 50 most important African- Americans in Technology. With

their distinguished resume's and careers the future of EARI is bright. EARI currently has 4 projects in development includ-ing a religious virtual world and a console game. For more

information on EARI visit http://www.ea-research.com/.

RIGHT EARI recently signed a $22 Million deal with the Shaolin Temple in China to develop gamesMr. Fu Min, General Manager, The Shaolin Temple Headquarters, Shaolin Temple, Henan Province, Peoples Republic of China, Mr. Morley Chertkoff, International Studies Director, Zhengzhou College of Economics, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, PRC, And from the USA North American online education expert and university builder, Dr. Fred DiUlus, CEO of Global Acad-emy Online, Inc. of Washington DC. Dr. DiUlus brought the Shaolin and Entertainment Arts Research together in China with the help of Mr. Morley Chertkoff of Zhengzhou College of Economics. Together they worked with Wolverine Asset Mangement LLC of Grand Rapids, Michigan, represented by Senior Representative Mr. Alex Angioli of Vancouver, BC to underwrite $22 million dollars for the Shaolin project with Entertainment Arts Research, Inc.

15• toyznation.com

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GOD OF WAR GHOST OF SPARTA BUNDLE WWW.US.PLAYSTATION.COM/PSP

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I OMEGA SUPERSPEED USB 3.0WWW.IOMEGA.COM

SENNHEISER PMX 680iWWW.SENNHEISERUSA.COM

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PALM PRE 2 SMART PHONEWWW.PALM.COM

CLEARWIRE PUCK WWW.CLEAR.COM

BLUEANT Q2 BLUETOOTH WWW.BLUEANTWIRELESS.COM

MOTOROLA PRO WWW.MOTOROLA.COM

TECH » 40 MUST HAVE GADGETS

toyznation.com • 16

HITACHI LIFESTUDIO MOBILE PLUS EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE

WWW.HITACHI.COM

THRUSTMASTER FERRARI COCKPIT WWW.THRUSTMASTER.COM

SAMSUNG HMX T-10 HD CAMCORDER WWW.SAMSUNG.COM

MAINGEAR ALT-15 NOTEBOOK WWW.MAINGEAR.COM

DURACELL MY GRID CHARGERWWW.DURACELL.COM

INTEL SSD 120G WWW.INTEL.COM

LG E60 SERIES LED MONITOR WWW.LGE.COM

MONSTER DIDDYBEATS WITH CONTROLTALK

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CISCO UMI HD CAMERA & REMOTE WWW.CISCO.COM

IMATION APOLLO M200 HARDRIVE WWW.IMATION COM

SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB WWW.SAMSUNGWIRELESS.COM

TECH » 30 MUST HAVE GAMES

DEADRISING 2

DJ HERO 2NBA ELITE 11BLACK OPS

GOD OF WAR GHOST OF SPARTAGLOBAL AGENDA

NBA 2K11

MADDEN NFL 11HALO REACHGRANTURISMO 5

SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTIONFIGHTERS UNCAGED

17 • toyznation.com

GEARS OF WAR 2 Owners Bosses Edition Exclusive Feature• Jake Sigal CEO Livio

Created 3 years ago by a former executive with DJ equipment maker Stanton, Livio radio has been creating the kind of feel good story the state of Michigan needs. Based in Ferndale Michigan in the Detroit metropolitan area, the young entrepreneur has created 15 jobs in his fast growing com-pany. Just 29 years old he has a passion for music which fuels his desire to create solutions for music consumption on the go, with access to a more diverse production globally. I had a moment with Jake Sigal CEO of Livio Radio who was more than gracious to key us into his business approach, and how he is able to succeed in a metropolis that has been beset by scandal, and the sudden collapse of American Automotive Icons. So tell me what got you into this business in the first place.

Well, it’s really a passion in music, you know, I really think of us a music company first and like an electronics company second. So I grew up playing percussion and I was in orchestra, jazz bands. I did like a lot of Afro Cuban drum circles growing up and music was always real important in my life and you know combining it with engineering I paid my way through school working as a club DJ in college. It made a lot of sense to get into the industry working on consumer and professional products for music. Long story short, I ended up going from one company to the next and then decided I wanted to start my own business and focus on really highlighting the music and because music’s something that’s so passionate about it, it affects how you feel and if you can get emotion into electronics you have a winner and that’s what Livio is all about, you know more music with less work

So what city did you start out of?

I grew up in Ohio. I’m born and raised in Columbus and then after college, I went to school in Ohio. I went down to Miami, Florida and worked for a company called Stanton. They made like turntables for DJs and other...you know pro products...

of course

So I was working down there as a product manager and then got hired on by Numark which was another DJ equipment manufacturer based in Rhode Island where we did a lot of stuff for New York guys. So we were doing scratch turntables for Jazzy Jay and worked with The Roots and a lot of those guys on their tours and sponsoring and working on like new product developments on how to take turntablism into the digital along the way Numark acquired Akai Professional which is the makers of the MPC which is one of the top products that producers are using especially like you know just about...

Yeah the 3000 of course. Yeah so you know all the Akai MPC guys were really crazy about it. I saw that as the internet got music focused, as websites started popping up and consumers started wanting to DJ, and it’s like podcasting started to get big and iPods are getting big, I kinda was like getting it into consumers hand so that’s kinda like when I made the jump and its really taking things that consumers can aspire or like aspiring Djs, aspiring producers and then giving them that flexibility. And what Livio is a lot about is; even though people have their day jobs and their work it’s like bringing music into that setting or like in the home having that control over Pandora or we’re working on bringing internet radio to cars now so it’s like you can still get your music fix while you’re doing what else you need to be doing.

19• Toyznation.com

Well that’s a interesting background when you talk about Numark, when you talk about Akai with the MPC, when you talking about Stanton with DJs so and I mean obviously there are a lot of DJ products on the market, the virtual turntables, the CD turntables. Now I’m even seeing DVD turntables where people are even able to mix videos. So were you thinking of incorporating any of those elements into your product?

I mean, our business is now just getting music into people’s eardrums and for DJ products its all about being hands on where it’s the only thing that you’re doing and that’s great, I mean I still DJ, still have turntables, and the whole deal but I think that it’s a much wider audience that are really pas-sionate about getting access to new music and discovering new music and having control so Pandora allows that control but if you’re in an office setting or you’re in your kitchen or you know we even have on our radio like there’s 20,000 stations so you can tune in to like the Halloween station so we had our radios set up outside you know a couple of weeks ago for Halloween, playing spooky music as we had Trick-or-Treaters coming up. So I think that for me it’s not about the manipulation of the song itself it’s more about the manipulation of the audio that’s in your surroundings so how you listen to music and what music you listen to when you listen to it that’s really what we’re focused on. We’re not trying to be everything for DJ’s and beyond. We look at this more of like for anyone that wants to listen to music like in the home, in the car, on the go, we’re providing solutions to let you get access to all of that favorite music or helps you set a mood or an atmosphere and DJ’s are still a way to do it and that’s why Pandora has the Genome Project which is kind of like a DJ in the box built in but, you know, I mean it’s... why we sponsor a lot of DJ’s. We’re going to be doing a fashion show at CES and we’re sponsoring all the music for the fashion because, DJ culture and pop culture, fashion, lifestyle, that’s really what we’re all about with like the music side. But not everyone wants to necessarily have a set of turntables set up but I think everybody wants to be able to get that hot track. You know what I mean.

Yeah I understand what you’re saying obviously there’s DJ Hero II. For us, we deal with a lot of entrepreneurs and Tastemakers and trendsetters so my key question though is how is the transition of working for the company to actually launching your own. And that’s something that I think would be pretty really valuable to a lot of our readers who really love that entrepreneurial spirit?

Well I think you just have to go see an opportunity and follow your passion. So for me it was my parents, I always was running circles around my friends and my parents when it came to technology, being a DJ I’m like on the bleeding edge. It’s like I’m doing stuff on my computer and turntables and other DJ’s were just like What are you doing? What is this? What’s going on? and I think the moment for me when I realized I could make a business out of this was that my mom wanted to listen to certain songs and she just said “look I wish there was some way to just say I want to listen to Frank Zappa right now” and she said “I don’t wanna mess with computers. I don’t wanna be like searching the internet or downloading stuff or paying two bucks a song. I just want to be able to say let’s go” and I’m like all you really have to do is go to pandora.com and type it in. She’s like well then “how do I get it into my speakers? how does this work? how does this work? And the transition from working at the company to starting my own was like there’s gotta be a way to make the latest and greatest technologies accessible to anybody whether you’re grandkids or grandparents you know in a sexy and fun way. And that’s what we do here. So we started off with our physical Livio radios for Pandora and NPR then it led to the car and now we’ve got some other new deals that we’re working with other service providers and I mean the transition was I realized that I didn’t think the big companies were doing it the right way. I thought it was too complicated and too hard to use and they were focused more on the actual electronics technology as opposed to what people want to do with music. And that’s a stronger force of people’s passion for music than it is passion for electronics.

So how about the million dollar question, the fund-raising to actually manufacture a consumer electronic product, get it packaged, hire personnel I guess how were you be able to create jobs?

Well, you know I started off creating my own job. So I mean at the beginning it was just me, I was in my guest bedroom of my house, working on a business. And I do have experience doing this. Now I’m not saying it’s impossible but it’s very improbable for somebody to step into an industry where they have no experience and bootstrap and start from nothing. I mean you hear about these success stories but they’re really in the minority. I mean the highest probability of success is following your passion and having some experience to back it up. So if I was starting a business and learn-ing a new industry at the same time there’s no way I would have gotten to where we’re at today. So with my experience of working at Stanton and Numark and Ion Audio and understanding how the industry works, having contacts, being able to understand manufacturing with an engineering background. I kind of had the foundation for starting a company all set but what I didn’t know was how to start a company or raise funding, I knew how to do product, product launches, engineering, sales. I mean I’ve got experience with that which was really the foundation of Livio and you know creating the new part which was like working with Pandora or going out and pitching angels and venture capitalists, that was all new to me. I just had to read a lot of books on it, talk to friends, network, you know so on and so forth. But the thing is is that for someone that’s saying how do you go out there and start your business it’s the same story you’re gonna hear in any industry. It’s someone that was in the industry working, they found an opportunity to make something better or they found an opportunity to solve a problem that no one else wanted to solve and they went out there and solved it and used their experience within that industry as a foundation for building a company. If you already have experience well even if you’re just like an intern and you’ve done a few years working and you’re in your industry it’s a lot easier to go out and pitch investors because it’s like look I’m an established player in this space. You know before I started the company I had something like 12 or 15 products that had been launched to market. You know any investor can say look I know what I’m doing and they can say look if I’m gonna invest in this company the guy that founded it has experi-ence doing this stuff and he knows all the ins and outs. The real challenge is that you know are they gonna have enough money and do they have a proposition that’s valuable enough for consumers to buy which you know it basically gets away a lot of the prerequisites of funding. So if you know what you’re doing and the other thing too is that we never raised money on a sketch, we always produced a prototype. We always had a product. We always had a deal. So there was actually something there before you know money was coming in. There was some seed money. I mean my dad loaned me money when we first started. I put my own money in. We had a couple of early angels putting in money. But aside from that which is like friends and family money I think that you know the big money didn’t show up until we actually did something. And you know my first big check was actually from a customer not an investor and that was like the first product I brought in and partnered with some companies overseas for manufactur-ing and some companies in the U.S. for development and did some you know royalty deals, deals just to bootstrap the company. So I guess just to summarize. I know I’m a little long-winded. But to summarize it is to make the transition that requires a foundation in the industry you’re working in, desire to find a problem and a solution. And then you’re really selling, you first get it out of the way that you know what you’re doing and you’re legit and you can back that up with past experience and then once you get that out of the way then you can say alright now here’s the new problem we’re solving. And you do that and you’re all set.

read more of our interview with Jake Sigal at ownersillustrated.com and in our iPhone and iPad app.


21 •Toyznation.com


To call Ron Spaulding a legend would be an understatement if that were pos-sible. His stint at Priority virtually proved Hip-Hop’s viability at retail beyond the New York market taking sales from $30 Million to over $300 million during his tenure. Building relationships and scouring talent from obscure markets, he built the foundation that underpins the success of virtually every relevant artist in the past decade. Now manning the ship at Fontana, Universal Music Group’s independent label shop, he spoke exclusively with Owners Illustrated to discuss his career and the future of the industry.

So how have you been?

I’ve been great.

I guess if you could start off by introducing yourself, who you are and what do you do over there at Fontana?

I’m Ron Spaulding and I’m the President of Fontana and I’m responsible for the overseeing and running of the day-to-day operations of the organization.

So talk about your start and narrate your journey to your current position.

It’s an interesting journey...it’s an evolving story. I guess, I attended Mon-mouth College in Monmouth, Illinois and I came out of there, my job basi-cally an hourly employee in Venture Stores back in [1984-85] from there I went on to be the buyer for that company of music, books, movies I went to ShopKo to become the buyer for music, books movies and then my first job for label job in Minneapolis as the regional sales rep..for Priority Records from about 1990, I was there for nine years or so..become vice president of sales. From there I ended up being Vice President of Sales from there WEA I came to Fontana from there in 2007.. Executive Vice President and GM three years I became President about a year ago.

Wow so you were at Priority during the formative years of the success of hip-hop distribution, the Kill at Will albums, you know the Master P deals....

Yes, in fact,we put the Master P distribution deal together, myself and Dave Weiner when we were at Priority.

So talk about that period of time because that was a formative year, that was groundbreaking. That was actually an era where you guys were proving the viability on the mainstream stage that independent artists could be viable to create multi-million record sales.

Yeah absolutely during the Priority time is when gangster rap...west coast music...when I first got there [it was ]N.W.A. Eazy-E movement you know at that time rap music in particular was not mainstream...over the tenure I think we Priority particularly made that commercial and mainstream music

Well speaking about somebody like Rap-A-Lot you still have a relationship with J. Prince after all these years and he’s over there with you at Fontana...so speak about that how these relationships cultivated early [are] kinda giving you a leg up with Fontana and what you guys are doing right now.

...Truth be told it’s really about trust and forthrightness, if you will, as it re-lates to the relationship. You’re dealing with this music and different cultures. Frankly, one thing that’s universal is being trustworthy, honorable, and doing what you say you’re gonna do...J and I have been able to form a long, 20-year relationship with just those simple facts, and I value that relationship. He’s been a great partner with us. He’s been a great partner in the past. He’s a great partner now with us at Fontana. And I think at Fontana one of the things that we’re really proud of is we’re making real strides in the urban commu-nity now to do more and more distribution deals with folks with labels and urban entrepreneurs that need access to a bigger system in order to go out there and get the music in their hearts heard on the mainstream level and so you know we’re providing that platform at Fontana. James is one example of that. We have other relationships out of the Bay area. Upstairs Records is in a relationship with us. We have Penagon with us. We have Hoo-Bangin’ with Mack 10. We have a deal with Master P as well. So you know a lot of those old relationships that you can hear start to ring through, the things that I’m men-tioning, go back to the Priority days when we were really cutting our teeth in

urban music and really starting to help make urban music much more of a mainstream accepted genre than it was back in the early 90’s.

...How about the environment now today and how do you guys seek out new talent to kind of build the bridge in this current music environment?

You know it’s funny...I will always say that the record business is forever changed. The music business is alive and well. So we constantly are seeking a relationship with entrepreneurs and spirited folks that want to be in this mu-sic business and not necessarily the record business because I think the record business is very challenged you know, our business has changed. There are lots of ways to sell music now to consumers. There are lots of ways to promote it. It provides a tremendous channel of opportunities for everyone.

So now talk about licensing also...Licensing provides great opportunities...There’s gaming. There’s movies. There’s digital videos online. There’s all sorts of things commercial. So talk about licensing and how that helps your roster or what’s your viewpoint on the licensing field?

An extension of the licensing efforts so right now and having relationships with licensing their music to the appropriate folks out there...with their brand. We have relationships with Downtown Music Services and also Downtown Records has a label deal with us. Fontana and they provide the synchroniza-tion and go out to place music and movies and television commercials, etc., gaming, etc. provide income from that and exposure. So licensing become-kind of the buzz word of the day. People can see that there’s real money in-volved with..licensing deal out there or synchronization deal and they can get paid and brand and putting yourself in the right.relationship with the right brand

Do you guys actually get involved with artists and helping them figure out ways they could enhance their brands or finding the right partnerships with their brands?

Sure we do, [there are] marketing opportunities...We also have a non-tradi-tional music retailers that can brand in terms of artists out there that might want to.

So now, obviously the music industry has had a tremendous impact on the consumer electronics industry. I mean look at what Apple’s been able to do with the iPod or you look at now with Google TV partnership with Sony and YouTube integration and a lot of your videos get shown there. So talk about what do you see as far as opportunity wise or synergies possible in the con-sumer electronic industry?

...You know in the digital age there’s no limit to the amount of opportunities that you have...You know Apple and other digital providers out there in their reach is global we have a relationship provides us access

Strange Music is a different type of entity than what we might typically as-sume in the urban space. I mean, he has an identity for his product that is more rock-aligned but he’s very, very successful and he’s an urban artist out of the midwest, out of Kansas City.

He’s a phenomenal artist so consumers are responding he’s been out there ten plus years his business is built around his live performances. that’s a real big difference in a lot of hip-hop sometimes with records and mixtapes and you know they’re kind of around trying to get the records sales but he just does it very differently. They’ve stayed on the road..and is one of the most successful urban artist in our roster that we work with everyday So now for a new artist or new companies looking to do business with Fon-tana, how can they go about that process?

Go out and start to really build a buzz on your own one of the biggest attri-butes for success is patience

RONSPAULDING

PRESIDENT FONTANA MUSIC GROUP words Damola Idowu photos Fontana

28 • Toyznation.com23 •Toyznation.com

Toyznation.com •24

2008 was Bad, and I mean bad meaning Bad, not Bad meaning good. We were witness to the greatest economic collapse of our lifetime and with it were casualties such as the great American Icons created by Walter P Chrysler. Well that part of the story wasn’t to be as the US Government intervened in the benefit of it’s citizens and its manufacturing base and provided a rescue which included a partnership with Fiat to rescue whatever it could of the Brand and its affiliated cars and trucks. The process wasn’t easy a number of executive abruptly quit and in the end Olivier Francois wound up as the Head of Chrys-ler brand and marketing for Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep with Ralph Giles CEO of the Dodge brand. Earlier in the year we were granted a moment with the affable CEO who was overseeing a celebrity charity effort for the victims of the Earthquake in Haiti, below are excerpts from our dialogue

Kind of introduce yourself and your position you hold with Chrysler.

Yes my name is Olivier Francois. I’m the CEO and President of Chrysler Brand and we’re here at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show introducing our cars but also a very special, very, very special car,here behind me, which is Chrysler 300, which is literally covered with hundreds of signatures of all the big stars of Hollywood in favor of Haiti. So we are going to sell that car on auction and to raise money for the Haiti relief efforts.

So how did this whole project come together ‘cause I see you have the Red Cross involved, Celebrity for cause and a lot of different organizations in-volved. How did it come about?

We had the opportunity to have that car on a very important red carpet and having a lot of stars putting their signature. All the stars know that the car is going to be sold and auctioned for the American Red Cross and for Haiti relief efforts.

So now you stated, you were at Lancia and actually you merged Lancia and Chrysler together. Talk to us a little bit about that.

So Lancia and Chrysler are two different brands. Clearly one is very European, the other one is very American but both share some very interesting, com-mon aspects in their DNA. Both are very elegant and stylish and refined and glamorous brands. That is exactly European style for Lancia and American style for Chrysler, so style on one hand, technology, character on the other hand, so more or less the same genetic combination of DNA which we love to make those brands grow and reach[ing] their own range, enlarging, en-hancing their range because Lancia is a specialist in doing little cars, so little, stylish, high-end compact cars., Chrysler does bigger cars, so we are going to develop future projects which can fit both brands, designed for both brands, so with the style, the combination of style and of character and innovation and technology.

Well, I actually saw the concept you had at the Detroit Auto show which is actually the Delta Lancia and it was in the Angel and Demons movie. So talk about that concept a little. I like it personally. I like the style and the elegance but it’s sleek, premium materials. Is that something that we might see carry over into the Chrysler brand?

No, absolutely not. That car is an illustration of- it’s just having fun and trying to understand even more what is the reaction of the public displaying a Lan-cia and trying to see if the Chrysler logo could fit on it and actually we used that car to test the market and we organized an alternate display so customer survey and asked a segment of customers if they like the car if they look at it as a potential Chrysler, not that car as it is, but that shape, that approach to automobile and so on. And the answer was very positive so it just gives us a

starting point to develop [a] new car.

Well, behind you is a 300 which was a very big award-winning car and we know that a new model is coming soon. Basically what can we anticipate from the next model of the 300?

The same tradition of luxury, design, and power.

for video of our interview visit www.toyznation.com

Rebranding American Icons words Damola Idowu photos Chrysler

Gears of War 3 Publisher: Epic GamesDeveloper: MicrosoftPlatform: XBox360

Genre: Multi PlayerRating: MRelease Date: 2011

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Michael Jackson The Experience Publisher: UbisioftDeveloper: Ubisoft Platform: Xbox 360, PS3. Wii, PSP, DS PSPGenre: Music

Rating: RPRelease Date: Early 2011www.ubisoft.com

He said he “never can say goodbye” while he wanted to “be where you are” knowing “it don’t matter if you’re black or white.” Instead, it is all “human na-ture.” Well, this winter you will be be able to get the Michael Jackson experi-ence with an all new interactive video game developed by Ubisoft. With a total immersive experience, fans can even get a special edition glove to accesorize while emulating Michael’s moves. Buyers of the Wii edition will get the glove for free when they pre-order the $49.99 Wii edition. The game will be available on all platforms including the Microsoft Kinect for XBox 360 and PlayStation Move motion controller for the PS3. Portable devices such as the DS line and the PSP will also have the game availible at launch. Fans can sing and learn to dance to Bad, Smooth Criminal, Thriller, and a bevy of others from his catalog with more songs added through launch in early 2011. Fans can join the offi-cial Michael Jackson The Experience facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MichaelJacksonTheExperience to get updates and more information.

Marcus is back in what we hope is not really the finale of our favorite epic multi-player first-person shooter, Gears of War 3. Facing the Lambent, Marcus is armed with new comrades, a new female member of the team, Anya and new character, Jace Strat-ton, who will be voiced by superstar, Drake. Ice-T also joins the team as the voice of the Stranded leader, Grif-fin. The new Gears will also introduce the world to the next iteration of the Unreal Engine, the industry standard in gaming performance and the most licensed platform in the business. There are new weapons, new ve-hichles, new enemies, and a new and improved Unreal Engine. Who can ask for more? Maybe for the saga not to end, like with Halo where we have Reach and ODST and more versions planned, but in the meanwhile, if this is it, what a way to go out. Gear of War 3 will only be released on XBox 360 and while delayed till later 2011, there will be a public beta verison available in early 2011. For more information visit www.gearsofwar.xbox.com.

TOYZ GUIDE VIDEOGAMES

toyznation.com • 25


Sony Playstation 3 Move Bundle (320 GB)www.playstation.comCommunication:• Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) IEEE 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi*• Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)• Wireless Controller Bluetooth (up to 7)A/V Output:• Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i,1080p• HDMI out - (x1 / HDMI)• 1 Analog: AV multi out, 1optical digital out• Blu-ray/DVD/CD DRIVE “read only”• USB 2.0 X 2Move controlerSports Champion video game$399

XBox 360 Kinect 4G Bundlewww.xbox.com• New XBox experience with Kinect • XBox Live• Stream NetFlix movies and TV shows• 1 AV cable port , 1 HDMI output• 4GB hard drive• Xbox Live headset• Wireless controller$299

TOYZ GUIDE GAME CONSOLES & ACCESSORIESIm

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Nintendo Wii Red Bundlewww.nintendo.comRed Wii Console• New Super Mario Bros 25th Anniversary Edition gameWii Sports GameRed Wii Remote Plus ControlerRed Nunchuck controler $199

RCA Travel Charging Station PCHSTAT1Rwww.rcaaccessories.comRCA’s travel charging station, the PCHSTAT1R, is a convenient accessory that includes a surge protector, two USB ports, and three power outlets for a total of five charging ports. It’s compact for travel or handy for use in the home. One can charge a laptop, an iPhone, a Blackberry, or a PSP and even share with other devices. The portable charging station retails for under $30. For more information visit www.rcaaccessories.com.

Energizer Energi To Go A650www.energizerlightingproducts.com •Have you had your phone die in the middle of a conversation? Well Energizer has a great solution for that. It’s called the Energi To Go A650 and it is a rechargeable pocket charger. The charger provides a temporary boost to your phone good for up to 90 more minutes of power, more than enough to finish a conversation, close a deal, email a file, but not recall a wild night in Vegas. The Energi To Go fits on a keychain and costs $24.99 For more information visit www.energizerpowerpacks.com

TOYZ GUIDE GADGET REVIEWS


Product Review: Livio CarmenFrom transistor radios to satellite the way we listen to music and talk has evolved, now be prepared for the next step, internet radio on the go in your car. Devel-oped by a young emerging from out of Ferndale, Michi-gan (Their CEO is also featured in this publication), the Carmen functions with your computer by searching for internet radio stations worldwide with the ability to record programming and replay it in your car. You can also store MP3’s on the Carmen adaptor and play it in your car. Recordings can be fast forwarded like Tivo but for y our radio. The Carmen comes with 2 gig of storage and there is over 42,000 stations and can record from and works with the 12 volt adapter in you car. Livio also makes an assortment of internet radio products. For more information visit www.livioradio.com.

28• Toyznation.com

Mitsubishi 65” 3D Home Cinema TV Model 65638www.Mitsubishi-TV.com/3D-DLP

With 3D films now being the craze, the only barrier to mass adop-tion is price, especially with the current economic and credit envi-ronment. Well, fret not, Mitsubishi, partnered with DLP technology, has a 65” full 1080p, 3D-ready cinema TV that is also ENERGY STAR qualified. Currently available online, you can get the WD-65638 model for $799 at sites such as BestBuy.com and Target.com. Mit-subishi also has a 3D starter pack available for $399, though I saw amazon.com list it at $301.99. At the combined price of less than $1200 for 2 3D lenses, a 3D signal adaptor, and a 65” full 1080p TV, this has to be the steal of the holidays. For more information visit www.Mitsubishi-TV.com/3D-DLP

Philips Norelco SensoTouch 3D 1250X Electric Razorwww.usa.philips.comFeaturing an assortment of new technologies, the Philips Norelco SensoTouch 3D series provides a refreshing way to get a close shave. The GyroFlex 3D system features 3 blades that glide over the skin and provide a smooth grooming experience. The blades are easy to clean and you can use a shaving gel for an even better experience. A Jet Clean system is also available. The SensoTouch series begins at $99. For more information visit www.usa.philips.com or www.misc.philips.com/norelco/.

TOYZ GUIDE GADGETS REVIEW

Netflixwww.netflix.com

Fast becoming the premiere way people watch movies, Netflix can claim to single-handedly put the retail movie renting business to bed. While both Blockbuster and Hol-lywood Video lay in wake, Netflix is taking yet another au-dacious journey, the elimination of physical DVD’s entirely. For as low as $7.99 a month you can stream movies and TV shows via Netflix on a wide range of devices from Roku to gaming systems to your PC or laptop. In fact, there are now premiums added if you want to have physical DVD’s mailed with the lowest subscription starting at $9.99 and the unlimited package going to $19.99, which becomes almost as pricey as some cable and satellite deals. But if you are a person who travels or is on the go a lot a stream-ing package is the best way to watch new movies or catch up on your favorite series. To sign up for Netflix visit www.netflix.com.

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Samsung SyncMaster P2350 Monitorwww.samsung.com

•The Samsung P2350 monitor is a full 1080p 23” LCD monitor that is ENERGY STAR quali-fied and provides a vivid display that is great for watching movies and active events. It is also great for working on editing media. It is Windows 7 compatible, however, I tried it out on my Mac and had great results. I was able to try it out with Netflix and content on sports-oriented websites. Buy.com has deals on this monitor for $159, so for less than $200 you can get a full HD 23” monitor and also go green. For more information visit http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/monitors/.

Gameflywww.gamefly.com

Established in 2002 Game-fly has been leading in the online media rental space before it became popular and put some standalone movie rental businesses out of commission. What is cool about Gamefly is that they rent video games and have an extensive library of games, actually over 7000 thousand games for all existing platforms, such as PS3, Wii, 360, DS, PSP, Gamecube, Gameboy, and more. They also provide you with game reviews, the latest gaming news and you can also keep up with their free mobile apps. The base rental package provides you with 1 game out at a time a comes with a $15.99 fee per month but according to Game-fly their most popular package is the 2 game out $22.95 package. Their max package is $36.95 for 4 games which is still cheaper than the average new title at $59.99. For hardcore gamers this is a great deal as a month is more than enough time to beat a game. Games are also available for purchase at discounted prices if you want to keep them. For more information visit www.gamefly.com

Violight UV Cell Phone Sanitizerwww.violight.comIt is commonplace to have hand sanitizing liquid in our pockets, office spaces, purses, etc. but how about sanitizing cell phones? Huh, you may ask, but think about it. We have touchscreen phones which trap dirt and film which we hold to our face and defeat the purpose of sanitizing our hands in the first place. Fret not, a solu-tion is here called the Violight, a portable UV cell phone sanitizer that disinfects 99% of germs in 5 minutes. It works for earpieces, headsets, mp3 players and smartphones and its sleek design looks cool on your desk. For more information visit http://cellphone.violight.com.

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TOYZ GUIDE Gadget Reviews

TOYZ GUIDE GADGETS REVIEW


Livio Pandora Boxwww.livio.comIn 1984, LL Cool J became famous for his ode to his radio. Now Livio is changing the boom box with the LV001 Livio Radio featuring Pandora. With over 20,000 internet radio sta-tions worldwide you can now listen to your Pandora service without a computer and even connect it to your home audio system. The boom box lives on. The LV001 is sold at retailers nationwide. I saw a unit for sale at Micro Center for $149. For more infor-mation visit www.livioradio.com.

Pinnacle Studio HD 14www.pinnaclesys.com

With more and more smartphones featuring HD recording capability, proper software is needed to edit and post fairly decent videos on YouTube and social media sites. From the makers of Pro Tools, Avid offers the latest edition of their popular editing suite, Pinnacle Stu-dio HD version 14. With over 130 templates and Dolby 5.1, version 14 wins with the ability to author DVD’s to Blu-ray, HD, multiple gam-ing platforms, Flash, QuickTime, and more. You can also use a wide range of effects to add a more “Hol-lywood” feel to your videos. There is a cool tutorial that is handy to getting started as well. For more information visit www.pinnaclesys.com.

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»»»»»»»Mogo Talk XD www.mogostore.comWith more states adopting hands free legislation, Bluetooth technology is not only convenient, it’s the law. Well, for iPhone users there is a new cool product on the market, the Mogo Talk XD, featuring a special grip case for the iPhone 4 that also serves as a charging unit for the Bluetooth device. The MoGo Talk XD is also compatible with other smartphones and can be paired with up to 5 devices at once. There are 4 hours of talk time and 3-day standby. Retailing for $99.99, you can get more information at www.mogostore.com.

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Samsung FacinateCarrier: Verizon Wirelesswww.verizonwireless.comThe smartphone market has simply exploded and none the richer to reap the rewards than Samsung. A major parts supplier for others and themselves with their new Galaxy series of products, Samsung is manu-facturer of components for other smart phones like the iPhone and their expertise in their own unique Super AMOLED touchscreen offers phenomenal resolution. The Galaxy S series of phones with Android operating system offers different options with the various carriers. I have been fiddling with the Fasci-nate on Verizon’s network and have been having fun. The camera has multiple options, even an animated option for pictures. You can shoot 720p HD video and our interview with Samsung LCD unit VP, Scott Birn-baum, was shot entirely with the Fascinate. Verizon has a mobile Skype option, which every carrier should adopt. Verizon also has an exclusive agreement with the NFL and with V Cast you can watch games every Thursday on NFL Network. I was also able to listen to games. The Fascinate has Swype technology for typ-ing which is more efficient in texting notes. The Fascinate is also on the the smaller Galaxy S series phones with a 4-inch screen and a ¼-inch height. You get an 5.0MP camera, 6 hours of talk time, and output to HDTV with AllShare which you can do via Bluetooth. It comes with Android 2.1 but can upgrade to 2.2. You also get a 16GB memory with an ability to upgrade to 32GB. Overall the Fascinate is probably the best smartphone on Verizon’s network. For more information visit wwww.samsung.com/us/mobile.

Toyznation.com •31

I had Trend Micro on my prior laptop and needless to say it wasn’t my favorite experience. A lot has changed with Trend Micro, though, especially with the Titanium Maxi-mum Security 2011. It comes loaded with their entire security suite which includes antivirus data theft protec-tion, a remote lock of your files in case of theft, and my favorite, a backup and sync which stores up to 10GB of your files in the cloud so files can be accessed remotely. For more information visit www.trendmicro.com.

A fast rising company, I have been a fan of Kapersky’s security solutions for a while. However, I had a trojan virus that wiped out my system making it unable to boot Windows, not cool. Their 2011 solution, the Inter-net Security 2011 allows you to download a clean-up tool for challenges such as these. I was able to clone my drive to copy my files, re-format my old drive, run HP recovery and re-install 2011 with no problems. I was able to clean my files and copy them and now my notebook works fine. Their Internet Security 2011 also has parental controls, the ability to lock your computer, and also has a cleaner interface than 2010. For more information visit www.kapersky.com.

Simply put, ESET has become the industry benchmark when it comes to security. It has garnered critical acclaim from practically all credible journalists and publications in the in-dustry and is also a heavy word of mouth favorite at my fa-vorite computer store, Micro Center. My test with the NOD32 Antivirus 4 has been nothing short of spectacular. It had the fastest complete scan and detected viruses others didn’t. It is very efficient and non-obtrusive. For more information visit www.eset.com.

Product Review Antivirus: Titanium

Product Review: Kaspersky Internet Security 2011

Product Review:NOD32 Antivirus 4

TOYZ GUIDE MOBILE

TOYZ GUIDE Product REVIEW KODAK M590

With social media fast becoming the primary means of communication for so many, Kodak has created the ultimate camera to complement the lifestyle and is utilizing an ad campaign that features trendset-ters and influentials like Drake, Rihanna, Trey Songz, and Pitbull. The EasyShare M590 makes it easy to

capture your favorite moments. You can take pictures or record HD video up to 720p from a 14 MP cam-era with 5X zoom. Once you sync your camera with your computer, simply click the share button and

have your pictures posted on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Kodak Gallery or Orkut. The EasyShare M590 also comes in several cool colors and is almost as small as some smart phones so it's compact. The

EasyShare M590 retails for $149. For more information visit www.kodak.com.


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