Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve all had a feeling that Microsoft is holding back some pretty big surprises (or at least completely reasonable revelations) when it comes to Windows Phone 7 Series and gaming, and here at GDC this week it sounds like we’re going to get a little glimpse into that. Microsoft is unveiling its new XNA Game Studio 4.0, which lets developers work on games for Windows Phone 7 Series, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. The integration with Visual Studio 2010 that we saw the other day allows developers to build a single project and then make slight modifications to let it run on each platform respectively. Most importantly, Microsoft specifically mentions that 4.0 will include hardware accelerated 3D APIs for Windows Phone 7 Series — not stunning, giving the fact that Zune can do 3D games (and is supported by XNA), but relieving just the same. Other phone-related tidbits are also telling: there will be fairly deep Xbox LIVE integration, including unlocking achievements from phone-based games and push notifications for asynchronous turn based gaming. Hopefully we can get some real live multiplayer gaming going as well, but there’s no mention of that just yet. Microsoft promises “much, much more” will be revealed at MIX 2010, but for now we’re gonna dig for all we can here at GDC.

Microsoft bringing XNA Game Studio 4.0 to GDC this week, does 3D gaming for Windows Phone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Easily lost among the slew of announcements made by Samsung today: The company has two new modestly-priced portable media players, the R1 and the R0. The R1, which should be shipping any day now, comes in 8GB ($149.99) and 16GB ($179.99) and the R0, which will be
available in April, comes in 8GB ($99.99) and 16GB ($129.99), as well.

I got a chance to play with both players briefly today at the Samsung event in NYC. The R1 is minute and features a touch-screen, while the not-quite-as-small R0 uses physical buttons below its display. These are simple players meant to compete with the iPod nano; don’t be fooled by the touch-screen–this is not an iPod touch competitor.

Acer reportedly plans to build a notebook that uses a full touchscreen keyboard, and plans to release it in the second half of 2010, according to a report from DigiTimes.

The notebook would even forego an external shell, using a tough LCD substrate from Corning and then printing directly on the back. The result? A truly ultrathin notebook that would put the Dell Adamo to shame.

With the iPad due to arrive in a month or so, the concept of a multitouch keyboard doesn’t seem too far fetched, although touch typists would certainly have a difficult time keeping their fingers aligned. Still, if true, it might be a novel piece of technology, and one we’d certainly like to get our hands on.

It was hard to be anything but disappointed when Intel’s dual-core Atom D510 processor started hitting nettops and was found to be no better performing than the earlier D330. Sure, it was more frugal, but most users were hoping for a bit more oomph not a bit less consumption. Soon, netbook users will seemingly get a taste of the same bitter pill, with talk that a netbook version of the D510 is in the works, likely called the N500. This is a rather less than shocking development and while it surely won’t mean you’ll finally get Crysis running on your Eee it could make for future netbooks that offer slightly better performance than their earlier brethren and yet deliver even longer battery life. Because, you know, if there’s one thing netbooks need today it’s greater longevity.

Intel bringing dual-core Atom D510 processors to netbooks as the N500? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meizu MStore open for business, Mr. Jelly on sale now for 29 cents originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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