Hasta La Gadget!

Truth be told, it’s exactly what the world needed. More 3D gimmickry… on the iPhone and iPod touch, no less. With over 125 million of those two devices in circulation, Hasbro’s betting that a new accessory will have a greater-than-average chance at taking off next Spring, with the My3D goggles set to put the View back in ViewMaster. Purportedly, the toy firm is expected to fully reveal the device to investors later today, with it being “aimed at both children and adults” and offering a 3D viewing experience on games, virtual travel, augmented reality apps and entertainment content. The device itself resembles a set of binoculars, and just as the aforementioned ViewMaster, there’s a slot where you place your iPod touch or iPhone. Users will have to browse the App Store for compatible My3D content, with some of it to be offered up gratis. We’re guessing more than a few curious consumers will bite at just $30, but how hard would it have been to get this thing onto store shelves next month? A holiday opportunity missed, Hasbro.

[Thanks, Bill]

Hasbro’s $30 My3D goggle accessory brings 3D to iPhone, iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink DailyFinance  |  Associated Press  | Email this | Comments

That fish sausage stylus might improve your cold weather accuracy, but it’s not the wacky accessory of choice to reliably pull off that Ultra Combo in Street Fighter IV. For that, you need buttons, and a niche Japanese product has your back — the Tactile+Plus, a set of translucent nubs you stick right on your capacitive touchscreen to get a tactile feel for your game. ¥630 (about $7.75) buys you two packs of the screen protector bubbles and directional pad equivalents, which Japanese publication Impress Watch says work well enough in Street Fighter that they could keep playing without looking down at the screen. They’re not as useful in Sonic the Hedgehog, apparently, where the virtual D-pad is a slightly larger size, but if all you want is a perfect ego-destroying-uppercut on the go, you can’t beat the price.

Tactile+Plus brings buttons, of a sort, to your capacitive touchscreen games originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News  |  nosho-AN  | Email this | Comments

It’s a modern day dilemma, really — you’d love to hang that flat panel on your wall, but the wireless technologies available to mere mortals in the year 2010 just aren’t up to snuff. Wireless power is a pipe dream, and even wireless HDMI has its drawbacks. Case in point: ASUS’ new WiCast media streaming solution. Introduced last month in conjunction with Amimon, this high(er)-end streamer is theoretically capable of transmitting 1080p material over the air, with 3Gbps at its disposal. Trouble is, critics at AnandTech found that there were gobs of wires to connect before anything started to stream “wirelessly,” and moreover, they noticed significant artifacting in Iron Man 2 even with just five feet separating the receiver and transmitter. The good news is that the WiCast isn’t platform / machine-specific, but that luxury comes with a price — you’ll have to connect three cables (two USB and an HDMI) to your laptop and a receiver box to your HDTV. In the end, there seems to be just one real winner: Monoprice.

ASUS WiCast EW2000 1080p streaming solution reviewed: ‘lots of wires for wireless’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  AnandTech  | Email this | Comments

We didn’t exactly think that the oStylus capacitive pen was a runaway hit at $75 plus shipping, but at half that? Now we’re talking. Founder Andrew Goss just pinged us to say that the company’s first capacitive pen is now selling for half of the original MSRP, or $37.50 for those terrible with numbers. The only difference is the shedding of a limited run engraving; these pens are still handmade in-studio, so the build quality will match that of the one we reviewed. We still maintain that this unit is best in the hands of doodlers, and capacitive input devices as a whole still have aways to go, but this ain’t a bad price if you’re looking to experiment.

oStylus capacitive pen goes majorly on sale, now just $37.50 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Nov 2010 10:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  oStylus  | Email this | Comments

You’re a dude (or dudette) that likes to be prepared, right? It’s the Boy Scout motto, after all. To that end, we’re surmising that you’re already gearing up for OS X 10.7, and while that new finger exercise regimen will definitely pay off in the long run, Bullet Train’s Express Keyboard Platform is what you’re really in need of. For all intents and purposes, this is a $99 slab of aluminum, precisely crafted to hold an Apple Keyboard and Magic Trackpad. Essentially, the trio creates the bottom portion of a MacBook Pro, albeit with a larger touchpad and a slate of keys that aren’t nearly as dark. The outfit’s charging quite a premium for this thing, but we’re told that demand is through the roof — in other words, if you want one, you should probably jump in line now. But really, are you having that much trouble using both in their own space?

Continue reading Bullet Train Express Platform: a $99 home for your Apple keyboard and Magic Trackpad

Bullet Train Express Platform: a $99 home for your Apple keyboard and Magic Trackpad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 21:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News  |  BulletTrain  | Email this | Comments