Hasta La Gadget!

It might be thirty years since you’ve even thought about Pong, the earliest video arcade game, but believe it or not, the ancient two-dimensional tennis sports game is making a comeback in 2010.

The 404 Podcast presents the future of gaming

On today’s episode of The 404 Podcast, we discuss the future of video games and how students at the Imperial College in London are developing a pair of special glasses that allows players to control paddle movement using their eye movements! The new technology holds particular promise for people with physical disabilities that might soon get the chance to join the gaming community. The glasses are fitted with infrared light sensors and a webcam that links a laptop to the player’s eyes, and although the hardware only costs $35 to make, the eye movement system itself costs around $36,000, so don’t expect to control Modern Warfare with your eyes anytime soon.

The big news of CTIA 2010 is Sprint announcing the HTC Evo 4g, the first available handset to run 4G in the US. Its list of accolades is impressive and blows away the competition: 4.3-inch display, micro-USB port, 8.3-megapixel rear facing camera in addition to a VGA lens on the front for video calls, and perhaps the most impressive–a kickstand! So far Sprint has rolled out its 4g network in 27 cities and plans to expand to NYC, Boston, D.C., SF, and more by the end of the year. The HTC Evo 4g certainly grabs our interests, but Jeff is shaking at the prospect of a phone worthy of replacing his 8th Palm Pre. Could this be the one? We’ll get CNET’s Cell Phone Editor Bonnie Cha in the studio soon to get the inside scoop.

Both of those stories plus an family-sized Calls From The Public on today’s episode of The 404 Podcast!

EPISODE 547

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Originally posted at The 404 Podcast

Garmin has managed to do GPS watches right with its long-standing Forerunner line, but the vast majority of ’em have been useful only to nerds who aren’t deterred by lengthy setup procedures. The new Forerunner 110, however, changes all that. Designed to provide just the basics to runners and other fitness freaks, this SiRFstarIV-infused timepiece provides near-instant access to distance, pace and time “within seconds of stepping outside.” Marketed as an entry-level solution for those who don’t need added complexity in their life, it can also be used in conjunction with heart rate monitors to display current thumps per second and heart rate-based calorie computation, both of which can be logged once you sync it to your PC via USB. The inbuilt battery will last up to eight hours in GPS / training mode or three weeks in power-save mode, and while there’s no mention of a price, we are told that it’ll be available in black / gray, charcoal / red and gray / pink color combinations. Good luck choosing the most badical one.

Update: Looks like it’s on sale now directly through Garmin for $250. Thanks, Dara!

Garmin’s Forerunner 110 GPS watch handles just the basics, please originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier today, someone over at Microsoft made what may be a fairly telling mistake. For a few hours this morning, the official Zune site listed a 64GB version of the Zune HD, alongside the standard 16GB and 32GB models. The page has since been pulled from the site, though our news editor, Mark Hachman, managed to snap the above shot before it disappeared into the ether.

No word on availability or information on the thing–or whether or not it’s even real. We reached out to the Zune team, and they gave us a firm “no comment” on the matter. Is Microsoft waiting until the iPad release to make its product announcement? It wouldn’t be the first time the company made that move.

We interrupt our nonstop iPad coverage to bring you news of the Toshiba Canvio, which lets you put up to 1TB of data in your pocket. It’s a stylish choice, coming in a range of five colors, and it’s smaller than a postcard. It also offers a set-it-and-forget-it option, so you never need to remember to back up your stuff.

In its press release, Toshiba has chosen to market the Canvio on fear: Americans worry more about losing their digital valuables than they do about losing a wallet or getting audited by the IRS. That may be true, but isn’t there enough fear in the world? Don’t back up because you’re scared; back up because you want to. This is your inspirational thought for the day.

Toshiba is offering the 500GB model for $119.99, the 640GB for $139.99, the 750GB for $159.99, and the 1TB for $199.99. The Toshiba Direct site is currently offering $10 in instant savings. Go for the terabyte and never be afraid again.

Toshiba introduces a new portable external hard drive called Canvio that offers up to 1TB of storage.