Hasta La Gadget!

This is the end, Big N fans. Nintendo Power‘s final issue is upon us and in a surprise tip of the hat, the magazine’s staff has decided to pay tribute to the famed cover that started it all. Framed in a similar manner to the inaugural issue from 1988, this last dance with all things officially Nintendo apes the Super Mario Bros. 2 clay-styled setup for a cover story on New Super Mario Bros. U. Look for it to hit newsstands one last time on December 11th, bringing the beloved decades-old publication full circle.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Via: Joystiq

Source: Tiny Cartridge

If you think Sony’s DualShock and Move controllers are two halves of a well-rounded gaming experience, you might be pleased to know that the firm has dreamt up a hybrid. A patent application filed last year by Kaz and Co. for a “Hybrid Separable Motion Controller” has just surfaced, and it describes a controller that can function as two independent parts or locked together as one. The application also suggests that the location of the controller’s halves could be independently tracked when separated and that video games played with the Franken-hardware could switch to configuration-appropriate control schemes. A similar concept has popped up before, but that’s no guarantee the contraption will ever see the light of day. In any case, you can hit the bordering source link to dig into the filing and fantasize what such a piece of kit could mean for gaming.

Filed under: Gaming, Sony

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Via: Joystiq

Source: USPTO

Attempts to get away from unlocking our smartphones through codes and finger swipes have mostly centered on camera tricks like Android’s Face Unlock. If you happen to pick up a Lenovo IdeaPhone A586 when it reaches China on December 12th, you’ll have the option to use some dulcet tones instead. The Android smartphone builds in a new speaker verification system from Baidu and A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research that looks for a specific voice signature: speak a distinct passphrase and the phone unlocks without gestures or a longing stare. Few will be especially smitten with the 4.5-inch, 854 x 480 display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 5-megapixel camera or 4GB of storage, but they’ll be glad to get access to their A586 in a more hands-off (and hopefully spoof-resistant) way. We’d only be worried about choosing a passphrase that won’t trigger odd looks from passers-by.

Continue reading Lenovo A586 touts voice unlock through Baidu, A*STAR verification tech

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Lenovo

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Via: CNET

Source: Singapore Government

Google has purchased BufferBox, a Canadian startup based in Waterloo that has been in business for about two years. According to sources, Google paid over $17 million for the locker storage provider, although the terms of the deal aren’t available. This could poise the search engine giant as a serious competitor to Amazon Locker, a service that allows buyers to pick up a product at a locker unit rather than receive it at their home or office.

A Google spokesperson told Tech Crunch: “We want to remove as much friction as possible from the shopping experience, while helping consumers save time and money, and we think the BufferBox team has a lot of great ideas around how to do that.” There’s no word on how Google plans to implement the service, with only the acknowledgement that BufferBox will keep its brand.

In excess of 100 BufferBox lockers will be available in Canadian transit depots and other select locations by the end of 2013. Users will be able to subscribe for single-use deliveries. This is, of course, in the same vein as Amazon’s Locker service, which allows users to pick up an item from a locker using a code that is delivered via email once the parcel has arrived.

We reported on November 6th that Staples is set to place Amazon lockers in its retail stores. This is in addition to their current placement in a variety of locations, including drug stores and convenience stores throughout the US. Buyers have three days to pick up an item once they receive the notification that it is available.

[via TechCrunch]

Google buys locker storage provider BufferBox is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Nintendo has an eternal soft spot in my heart. The NES, SNES, N64, GameBoy and DS had a lasting impact on my childhood. The original Wii was the most fun I had playing video games in a long time. Nintendo probably means the same for you! (unless you were a Sega and Sony guy). Watch this video to see the all the video game consoles that Nintendo has ever made. It’s a walk back memory lane. [YouTube via Geekosystem] More »