Hasta La Gadget!

Just shy of a month after it launched on the PlayStation 3, VUDU has begun delivering its newly revamped interface on the game console. It should be there once the app is opened, but just in case you’re not near a Sixaxis or the (now supported) Move controller check out our gallery for an idea of what the new layout look like. Oh, and if you’re getting your 1080p HDX streaming via a different box or smart TV widget then keep an eye out, the company’s support page say the PS3 and LG devices will be the only ones sporting the new look through January, with all the rest getting it later on.

VUDU 2.0 interface is live on the PlayStation 3 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 23:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The PlayStation phone keeps popping up time and again, and still no one at Sony is going to flat-out admit anything — but that hasn’t stopped playful speculation. Even SCE chief Kaz Hirai is joining in the fun. “We don’t want gamers to be asking, what’s the difference between that [a PS phone] and a PSP… we have to come up with a message that users will understand,” he told The New York Times. “It would have to be a product that keeps the PlayStation’s strengths intact.” So that’s the issue, then, differentiating a new PSP and a variant with phone capabilities — nothing a good marketing campaign can’t fix, if you ask us.

But enough about the phone, what of the PlayStation’s portable brand in general? Hirai seems to fancy touch controls, actually. “Depending on the game, there are ones where you can play perfectly well with a touch panel,” he said, adding that “immersive games” — the ones he think are Sony’s focus, vs. the more casual fare offered by Apple and Android — do well with physical buttons, and that some games work well with the two. We can’t help but notice he said touch panel and not touch screen, which reminds us of the touchpad we saw on the PS phone leaks, but we wouldn’t want to harp too much.

Sony’s Kaz Hirai talks up virtues of touch controls, weighs in on PlayStation phone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Having rolled out to T-Mobile just about a year ago, Google’s celebrating the anniversary of its Android Market carrier billing feature in the US by expanding the service to AT&T. Put simply, this means that if you’re using an Android device on an AT&T line, you’ll no longer need to use a credit card — you can just bill your purchases straight to your AT&T bill, which is painless… almost too painless, really, if you’re the compulsive type. And no, we’re not aware of a way to bill a Froyo update for your Captivate to your account — but believe us, we’ll keep on looking.

Google adds AT&T billing to Android Market payment options originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujitsu has teamed up with designboom for the Design Award 2011, which they call “a new international design competition challenging people to create new lifestyles from next-generation computing”.

There are two categories for entries: LIFEBOOK, examining the state of the PC in 2013, and LIFE-DESIGN, showcasing ideas for what ICT computing will have become in 2020.

Top prize is €30,000 (about $39,000), so it does pay to have foresight, and there are plenty of runner-up awards too. The judging panel includes top Fujitsu design people, the designer Ross Lovegrove, architects Ma Yansong and Gwenael Nicolas, and IT innovator Toshiyuki Inoko.

Since we are seeing so many more and more integrated devices, it will be really interesting to see the LIFE-DESIGN category entries and the kind of handsets-that-do-everything ideas people propose.

Anyone is eligible, including groups. Go to designboom for how to enter but be sure to register by January 31.

What happens when you burn an iPad? Take a sledgehammer to an iPhone 4? Leave a stack of iPod nanos on the train tracks? Shoot a iPhone 3GS with a 9MM handgun? Carve up a Magic Mouse into sushi-sized chunks? Artist (and former Apple graphics designer) Michael Tompert strove for the beautiful, horrific truth. You’ll find his answer to one of these questions above, and eleven others at our source link below.

Visualized: Apple’s finest products destroyed in the name of art originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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