At the top of his game?

-AP
Roger Federer won his 16th ATP Masters title this afternoon at the Cincinnati Masters, defeating Novak Djokovic 6-1 7-5. Federer came out the gates running with a quick first set. The second set was a bit more of a contest as he was down an early break before breaking back and eventually taking the title. Federer appears to be playing his best tennis this summer and this title only helps his confidence going into the last major tournament of the year. He is definitely the man to beat at the Open this year.

UPDATE: Federer comes out on top @ Cinci, will face Djokovic in Finals

-AP

Mr. Federer was the victor today over Andy Murrary with a straight set win 6-2, 7-6 (8), Fed did not even allow Murray to have a break point the whole match. He will await the winners of the Nadal vs Djokovic match later today.

UPDATE: Djokovic was able to handle Nadal with relative ease today with a 6-1, 6-4 victory. He and Roger will vie for the title tomorrow.

US Open Mens Finals Preview this Saturday?

-Getty

Both Roger Federer and Andy Murray made it past the quarterfinals today in Mason, OH at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters. Federer was able to cruise past Lleyton Hewitt with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Murray on the other hand, had to dig a little deeper, after losing the first set to Julien Benneteau he was able to bounce-back in the second and take the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 .
Roger and Andy's victories today have set up a semifinal match between the two for Saturday, the winner will most likely go into the US Open with a bit more confidence. A lot more is riding on this match than one might think, Andy's furious push to gain the #1 ranking is becoming more like reality day-by-day. Also, we might be looking at the same match-up this year at the US Open Finals.

I guess we will see on Saturday...

-Charlie

Gaming Console War Heating Up

There has been quite a lot of talk in the console gaming world this week. Beginning with Sony's announcement of the "Playstation 3 Slim", a lighter, smaller and less power hungry version of the popular PS3 gaming platform. The new hardware brings new and exciting features while taking away others. For example, the new PS3 slim will lose the ability to play old PS2 games. With the smaller form factor, Sony has also reduced the number of USB ports from 4 to 2. The PS3 Slim is slated for release on September 1st with a price tag of $299.99 (120GB HD).
In response to Sony's PS3 Slim, Microsoft has gone ahead and planned for a Xbox 360 Elite price cut, from $399 to $299, matching that of the new PS3 Slim.

Thankfully, the consumers are usually the ones that benefit from such marketing campaigns.

-Charlie

Young Samurai rises to challenge at Cinci

21 year old Sam Querrey defeated Andy Roddick in a tight 2-setter last night, 7-6 (13-11), 7-6 (7-3). Roddick was up 5-2 in the first set tie-breaker before losing it to the young Californian 11-13. Sam has had a pretty good summer so far on the hard-courts and continues to impress the tennis world with his tremendous talent. He was able to reach the 4th round last year at the US Open before losing to Nadal in 4-sets.
After chatting with him last year at the Open, he is undoubtedly one of the nicest and hardest working guys on the tour. I wish you all the best at this year's US Open Sam!

-Charlie

Windows 7: Last day to grab the Release Candidate

For those of us who like to live life on the bleeding edge, I present to you: Windows 7, the next generation Windows Operating System that is going to replace Vista. Slated for release to the general public on October 22nd 2009, Microsoft has already released the RTM build to manufacturers.
For us normal folk, Microsoft has been offering downloads of the Release Candidate which is a near-complete version of the OS. If you are the kind of person who likes to try before you buy then I would highly recommend grabbing a copy of the RC before end of day today. Microsoft has claimed that they will continue handing out RC keys but the actual download is slated to end today.
Those who have installed the RC will be able to use it well into 2010, March to be exact. Not a bad deal if I don't say so myself.

For more information on Windows 7 and to download the RC, head over to Microsoft's Website

-Charlie

Rumor: Canon 7D release imminent?

Being a fellow photographer and tech junkie, I am proud to announce that the Canon 7D is soon to be released. Earlier today, it was listed in the Best Buy inventory database and a leaked image of the 7D body made its way onto the information super-highway. More details can be found at:
http://www.canonrumors.com/2009/08/canon-eos-7d-specs/