Well I finally got my copies of GTA 4. Yes I said copies. 1 is for the 360 in the office and the other is for my PS3. While I have enjoyed a few hours playing the game on the 360 at work I could not play online as it is not wired up for some reason.

On arrival at home I immediately installed my PS3 copy and went straight to multiplayer. Unfortunately with little success. It appears that the network maybe having some issues. I should not be surprised really everyone I know has bought the game, and I assume everyone is also trying to get online.

I seem to be either having problems connecting to the network, being disconnected when I do connect, having issues with the game actually starting and when I do start everyone immediately disconnects.

I have only managed to play about 3 minutes against anyone so far. Oh sad for me.

I even thought it maybe my wireless playing up so I ran a cable to the PS3 and connected it via that. Still no joy.

Oh well looks like I am stuck playing the single player missions for a while.

Edit: There are several threads in in the Playstation forums confirming these problems.

Online Unavailable Can’t Connect to Multiplayer

John Lewis says it will be selling the HD receiver for a price of £149, plus optional £100 installation. But there’s no news on whether this will be a Grundig or Humax box yet.

Interestingly it is believe John Lewis and its partners will be working with Sky to roll out the new service as Freesat does not have it’s own installation service yet.

Humax is expected to release its new Freesat HD receiver, the Foxsat-HD, to coincide with the launch the launch of the Freesat service on May 6th.

The specification for the Foxsat-HD box is as follows:

• Receiving HDTV signals (MPEG-4 AVC/H 264 and MPEG-2)
• Under 1w power consumption in standby
• HDMI digital interface for transmission of picture and sound
• Simultaneous playing of transmissions over HDMI, YPbPr or Scart
• Easy installation and operation
• Resolution format: 1080i, 720p, 576p, 576i
• DVB-S2 and DVB-S compatible
• Ethernet support
• Full colour, high resolution electronic programme guide
• Dolby digital audio output
• Automatic software upgrade via satellite
• Improved SDTV on a HD LCD TV
• Audio description / One-touch subtitles
• Dimensions (Width x Height x Depth): 28 x 4.5 x 20cm
• Weight: 1.5kg

If you are not aware of Freesat the following extract from Join Freesat should explain it:

Freesat is a brand new digital satellite TV service from the BBC/ITV. freesat has no monthly subscription, just a one-off payment for the digital box, satellite dish and installation. It will even come with subscription-free, high-definition TV programmes. Because freesat is broadcast via satellite, it’ll be available to almost every household in the UK.

No surprise to many, Archos have finally announced a GPS solution for the Archos 605. The unit is a In Car Holder for the 605 Wi-Fi PMP that turns it into a fully fledged navigational system.

The In-Car Holder will be sold for approximately $130 and in theory this will make it quite an impressive competitor to most dedicated GPS system. This is because the Archos has a much larger hard drive (30-160 Gb) and screen resolution compared to most similarly priced GPS systems.

The new system will use Tele Atlas maps and will be available as a European version cover 22 countries, a North America version covering the US and Canada, and a Chinese version.

The full Archos 605 GPS package will give you the following features:

Your Navigation

• Clear, easy-to read maps on the high-resolution 4.3-inch touch screen
• Easy and intuitive address, zip-code and POI (point of interest) markers for rapidly selecting destination points
• Precise navigation with automated simulation inside tunnels, lane assistance, advance signposts and fast and accurate route recalculation
• Traffic assistance, route planning, and speed control assistance in some countries
• Gain navigation information on any location throughout North America, Western Europe and China
• Get clear voice-to-text support through the car’s FM stereo (via the built-in line out), or the ARCHOS 605 WiFi’s amplified built-in speaker

Your Media on the Move

• Passengers can use the ARCHOS 605 WiFi to watch recorded TV shows and videos while travelling, such as keeping families and children entertained in the back seat of the car
• Record TV shows in advance for the perfectly relaxed road trip
• Rent and watch movies from the ARCHOS Content Portal
• Transfer and store photos directly from your digital camera and create slide shows
• Share your media with friends and family on their TV
• Play games while on the go

Your Internet

• Surf the web to visit favourite sites
• Stream the latest news, online videos, TV shows and sports from websites - ARCHOS devices are the only to support Adobe Flash 9 for online video streaming.
• Check email from any web-based service.
• Access hundreds of Widgets, including world maps, weather, and currency converters