The one thing we didn’t know (officially at least) about Microsoft’s controller-free Kinect sensor was the price. Now it has been added to the official Microsoft Store, coming in at the expected $150.
The Kinect is a bar that plugs into an Xbox 360 and sits atop your TV, just like the Wii’s bar, and allows you to interact with games using your own movement. The difference is that the Kinect has a pair of cameras – one for depth and one for motion – that figure out where you and your body parts are at all time. There are also four microphones to listen to your voice, but no controller to hold in your hand.
The accuracy is, according to those who have tested it, startling. The Kinect can see where your hands, feet and face are, and is even fine-grained enough to recognize when you’re not achieving the right pose in yoga, for example, and offers instructions to correct it, just like a real teacher.
Technically, it seems rather sparse: the two contained in the bar run at just 640 x 480 resolution at 30fps, and microphones in this case are likely just basic. The magic would appear to be in the software which so impressed us with the force-controlling, Light Saber-wielding Star Wars game demoed at E3.
The Kinect is only available for pre-order. You’ll still have to wait until November 4th to get one.
Instead of hiding them ashamedly around the back or behind a modest little door, this clock instead displays its batteries out front, proudly putting the double-As in place of hands.
The cells fit snugly into two little hollows, one in each of the concentric circles that make up the body of the Front & Back clock. One each for hours and minutes, the AA batteries both power the unit and make up its display, a neat simplicity which would of course be ruined as soon as you put in a pair of logo-laden cylinders instead of the sleek gray bullets in seen in the picture.
And they’re a uniform gray for a reason: they don’t exist, not outside of a CGI rendering, anyway. If it were to make the leap into the real world, I would buy one and load it up with two different batteries: one Duracell in the minute position, its notional Bunny mascot running rings round and around the hour slot, which would be filled by a short-living dime-store cell, probably named something like Powercell, or Manasonic.
We know you like SandForce’s ludicrous speed SSD controllers, but how much do you know about these enterprise-class chips really? If your answer is anything short of “everything,” you’ll have to give Tech Report‘s writeup a read, where the guys get down and technical with Corsair’s latest SandForce SF-1200-controlled drive, the F120 (above right). Differing from the F100 that came before it by cutting down overprovisioning (user-inaccessible storage space set aside to accelerate random writes and improve longevity) from 28 to 7 percent, this drive offers you an extra 20GB of room, but it does take a bit of a performance dint as well. If you must have the results in bitesize form, the F120 seemed better value (at $339) for netbook and desktop users than its elder, faster brother, though Indilinx-based competitors (such as Corsair’s own Nova) were recommended as the sagest choice. We still advise, as always, that you wade into the source and give the full review a read.
Remember that chart that pointed out the differences between Google, Apple and Microsoft? Well, it’s looking increasingly like Google is intent on filling any and all gaps in its portfolio. Those good old unnamed sources have been talking, originally to CNET last week and to the Wall Street Journal today, and disclosing Google’s supposed intent to introduce its very own music store. This would initially encompass a web store where you can stream or download tracks, with a search tie-in that’ll get your money into Google’s pocket in the fastest possible way. Subsequent plans are said to include Android integration in 2011 — something that Google rather nonchalantly demoed at its I/O conference last month. Of course, none of this is as yet confirmed, but it looks like Apple and Google will be competing across yet another front — hold on tight.
What if you could travel back in time to the 1970s? What would you do? That is the question asked by Alex Varanese in his wonderful ALT/1977 project. His answer?
[G]rab all the modern technology I could find, take it to the late 70’s, superficially redesign it all to blend in, start a consumer electronics company to unleash it upon the world, then sit back as I rake in billions, trillions, or even millions of dollars
This fantasy is realized in the form of four period-accurate promotional posters. Above you see an MP3 player clad in wood-effect plastic with a twiddly metal knob, an LED spectrum-analyser and some mysterious “mode” and “set” buttons, all paired up with some giant retro headphones and that trademark of 1970s audio, the quarter-inch jack.
Alex’ gallery also contains a notebook computer (the LapTron 64), a clamshell cellphone (the MobileVoxx) and a handheld gaming console (the Microcade 3000). If that’s not enough for you, there are an assortment of semi-abstract artworks based on the products. Anyone who grew up at this time will recognize these parodies as being absolutely dead-on.
I love these pictures, not just as clever re-imaginings but as actual products. With the exception of the Sega Game Gear-alike console, which I’m not so hot on, I’d buy any one of these products to use today. Especially that amazing Pocket Hi-Fi (tagline: “Like a party in your pocket. But not in a weird way.”)
We’re living in the post-smartphone world, where restaurant reviews and silly time-wasting games are never more than a fingerprint away, and now it’s hard to see us as anything but tippy-toeing into the smartcar revolution. While there are plenty of competing implementations out there, Nokia seems to be doing the best at unifying the playing field, announcing a partnership with Clarion to bring its Terminal Mode infotainment integration to yet another major brand. This follows on deals with Alpine, Harman, and nearly every major European auto manufacturer. That’s a lot of partnerships, but as of now no actual products, leaving us feeling a bit indifferent about the whole thing — for the moment at least.
When Eric Boehs saw the garbage truck coming he panicked. Desperate to get the trash carted away, he ran to get the bags, setting down his own bag, his iPhone and iPad. What happened next has disappeared into an anguished blur of guilt and confusion. All Eric knew was that when the mists of his memory cleared, there were two things missing: The iPhone and the iPad.
Being a switched-on guy, Eric fired up his Mac and used MobileMe’s Find My iPhone service to pinpoint his iPhone on Google Maps. His phone and the garbage truck were parked outside Hooters. The crew, presumably, were enjoying “lunch.” After 45 minutes, the phone still hadn’t moved, so Eric and his friend Billy jumped in his car and started to follow the iPhone using Billy’s iPad, with videographer Kyle Roberts following along.
Meanwhile, the trash crew had finished lunch and were on the move. Billy and Eric were trying to close the gap but they were up against the clock. Every time Billy pinged the iPhone to get its location, the battery would be drained a little more. Soon, the guys caught a break, and the truck stopped again, maybe for another snack, or maybe the crew was done for the day. It was just three streets away.
Eric was pessimistic. “I think the iPad’s gonna be cracked in half,” he said. Billy thought it would be covered in grease.
Ground zero. The guys arrived at the iPhone’s reported location, but there was no trash truck. Eric used MobileMe to tell his iPhone to beep. This can be done from both the MobileMe website, or the new Find My iPhone app from Apple. The advantage of the web version is that you can stay signed in if you need to switch away from the page. Eric and Billy were using the web.
They were in a motel parking lot. The dumpster there came up empty, so they set the beep again and stared listening at doors. Nothing. They spoke to the neighbors. One of them wasn’t too happy about them filming the whole operation. “Dude, surely you’re not filming right now,” he said to Kyle, “I’m wanted by the law.” Kyle blurred his face from the finished film.
Eric and Billy were determined. They knew that the iPhone at least was nearby, and likely the iPad with it. They found some friendly guys from a roofing company taking a break and asked them if they’d seen the phone.
“You got a white one?” the first roofer asked, grinning.
“It is!” said Eric.
“It got ran over?”
“Probably.”
“Hell, open your trunk!” called the roofer at one of his coworkers.
“I got an iPhone, and an iPad. One of these guys,” said Eric, pointing at Billy’s iPad.
“They both got ran over?”
The roofer pulled them both from his cab and showed Eric the tire tracks on both. The iPad and the iPhone were never even on the garbage truck. The roofers had found them in the road and, thinking they were maybe broken, tossed them in the cab. Eric was of course very happy, but there was one mystery remaining.
“I have to ask you guys a question,” asked Kyle, “Did you go to Hooters earlier today?”
“Yes,” said one roofer.
“Where do you think he’s gonna want to eat lunch every day?” asked another. He was still drinking from a Hooters paper cup.
And the i-devices? Not so good. The iPhone was obviously still working, as it had faithfully sent position updates back to the mother ship, but the screen was crushed. The iPad was broken in a far more unusual way. Whatever had driven over it was heavy enough to crush the aluminum unibody casing so hard that it was stretched over the parts inside like it was vacuum-formed. The screen, although popping out at the edges, was completely unscathed.
What have we learned? That Find my iPhone works great, that the iPad screen is tougher than it seems, and that roofers like a little scenery when they eat their lunch.
Hoping to get your hot little hands on those brushed metal keys and gorgeous LED touchpad? You’re in luck, as the 18.4-inch Acer Aspire 8943G (aka Ethos) has finally arrived stateside. $1,549 buys you a 1.6GHz Core i7-720QM and 4GB of RAM, plus a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 and Blu-ray drive to power that 1080p LED-backlit screen.
If you’d rather not lug around a 10.1 pound desktop replacement, though, or if the 8943G’s a little too rich for your blood, Acer’s got some other machines that might better match your style. The Acer Aspire AS7745 and AS5745 — incremental updates to these puppies — bring home Core i5 and Core i7 processors, with the $1,399 17.3-inch AS7745G boasting Radeon HD 5650 graphics and Blu-ray while the $899 AS5745PG comes with a 15.6-inch multitouch screen. There’s even a budget lineup starting at $429 next month if you’re looking for a netbook alternative. No matter which you choose, you’ll find details in the press releases after the break… but since you know you really want that 8943G (see the gallery below) you might as well hit Amazon at our more coverage link. You didn’t need that rent money, right?
Acer’s Timeline X laptops have been popping up around the world for over three months now, but the thin and light machines are finally making their way to this side of the globe, and we can only hope they’re as excited as we are. The machines all shun ULV processors for standard voltage Core i3 or i5 CPUs, yet each of the models still ring up at under a grand. They also span the entire size spectrum — there’s an 11.6-inch 1830T, 13.3-inch 3820T, 14-inch 4820T and lastly the 15.6-inch 5820T. However, despite their full-power CPUs and ATI Mobiltiy Radeon HD 5650 graphics options, all the models continue to measure less than an inch thick — yep, even the Aspire 5820T and the Aspire 4820T with onboard optical drives maintain rather trim measurements. While there are plenty of deals to be had, the $800 Aspire 4820TG with its Core i3 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 320GB hard drive sounds mighty tempting. Yet, there’s also the $600 1830T with a Core i3 processor, 3GB of memory and 320GB of storage. We told you we were excited. These should be hitting retailers soon, but if you’re dying for some more details hit the break for the full press release or the gallery below for some hands-on shots we stole at Computex a few weeks back.
We’re big fans of Eye-Fi’s wireless memory cards, which enable you to toss that card reader out the window and download all your pictures wirelessly. So far Eye-Fi is about the only player in that little niche, but Toshiba‘s looking to blow it wide open with charmingly titled “Standard Promotion Forum for Memory Cards Embedding Wireless LAN,” which could be given the equally catchy abbreviation SPFfMCEWLAN (a name that is, thankfully, subject to change). Toshiba’s forum, which also includes Singapore-based flash company Trek 2000, will look to create a standardized 8GB SDHC card with integrated 802.11b/g, able to transfer JPEG and RAW images either from camera to a server or directly to another camera. Toshiba is hoping other camera and flash manufacturers will join in the standardization fun and we certainly do too — just like we hope they move past 8GB quickly.
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