Second screen experiences connected to TV shows haven’t exactly set the world on fire, but NBC will give it another try with a new game show this fall. The Million Second Quiz is being promoted as a non-stop, twelve day trivia game with an “unprecedented level of interactivity” for viewers. In a move that harkens back to our memories of1 vs 100 on Xbox Live a few years ago, viewers at home can play along and possibly win a spot on the show. While the competition will go on around the clock, the show airs during prime time. It will broadcast live from an “hourglass-shaped structure” located in Manhattan where the four reigning champs will reside as long as they can stay on top throughout the two week competition. Once the million seconds are up, the four champions will face off for a cash prize of up to $10 million. We’ll need more details before we can decide if this is more Ultimate Ninja Warrior or Oh Sit! / Splash / Bet On Your Baby (these are all real game shows, we promise), but it’s one to keep an eye out for when the all new shows debut.
A huge number of gamers all around the world live on a steady diet of digital kills, pizza, and caffeine. The problem for a lot of gamers comes when you’re right in the middle of a heated match, you’re hungry, and you don’t want call and talk to the people at the pizza place to order your favorite pie. This is where Pizza Hut comes in with its new Xbox 360 app that allows you to order your favorite menu items from the convenience of your game console.
You don’t even need to get out of your favorite chair to order pizza, just launch the app and you can build your own custom pizza using your Xbox 360 controller, Kinect gestures, or voice commands. The app makes the entire menu from Pizza Hut available – from breadsticks to pasta and everything in between. Users of the app can also link their Xbox Live and PizzaHut.com accounts to save order settings to make future purchases even quicker.
Linking those accounts also allows you to take advantage of local deals that are available when you order. As far as I know, this is the first app that allows players to purchase physical goods from their console. The app is available to download as of today and if you place your first order using the app by May 6, you can get 15% off the entire purchase.
I’m sure many of you still dream about owning the so-called “Ultimate FPS Simulator.” If you can wait for a few more months, you just might have one in your home, albeit at a smaller scale. A company called Virtuix is currently working on Omni, an omnidirectional treadmill controller for virtual environments.
The Omni can sense not only when you’re running or walking but also when you’re jumping. It can also emulate crouching movements by bending over. The Omni will supposedly work with all PC games when it’s released, which is certainly a neat plus. Here’s a quick video showing how one moves about on the Omni:
Here’s the Omni being used with Skyrim, with the help of a Kinect for head targeting:
Finally, here’s the Omni with the year’s most anticipated gaming product, the Oculus Rift, comboing to present a new way to play Team Fortress 2:
You can see a couple more videos of the Omni in action on YouTube.
Keep in mind that the Omni isn’t a mechanical treadmill – it’s a passive walking surface on which you wear a pair of special low-friction shoes to walk. The waist support in the middle is designed to keep you from falling over, of course. You can read more about how it works over on their FAQ.
Virtuix is planning to launch a Kickstarter fundraiser later this May or June. The retail price for the Omni may be between $400 to $600 (USD), which isn’t surprising considering what it can do. Mirror’s Edge is about to become a fitness video.
Do you love drumming your fingers on your car’s steering wheel while you drive? If Gregor “G-Man” Hanuschak has his way, soon you can actually make drum sounds when you tap on your steering wheel. G-Man invented Smack Attack, a steering wheel cover with 8 touch sensitive sensors.
The Smack Attack needs to be connected to an iOS device to work. From its mobile app you can set what samples will be triggered for each sensor. You can download more samples as they become available from the Smack Attack website or you can load your own sounds. You can play along with music, play solo or – get this – play together with other Smack Attack users.
While its maker suggests that using the Smack Attack could help you from falling asleep at the wheel, it could also just distract you from the task at hand – driving.
Ready to go on tour? Pledge at least $149 (USD) on Kickstarter and you’ll qualify for one of the first Smack Attack units if it gets funded.
The first city in the country to get the incredibly fast Google Fiber Internet service was Kansas City. Earlier this month, Google announced the second city to get access to its incredibly fast Internet service would be Austin, Texas. I continue to be insanely jealous that people in these cities will be able to get gigabit Internet speeds while my “broadband” at home is measured in Kbps on a good day.
Google has now announced that the next city to get Google Fiber Internet will be Provo, Utah. Google says that the city of Provo currently has an existing fiber-optic network that it has agreed to purchase and upgrade. That network is called iProvo and all that stands between Google and the city of Provo on the quest to bring incredibly fast Internet speeds is a city council vote scheduled for next week.
Google will offer every home along the path of the existing fiber-optic network free access to Internet service at up to 5 Mbps speeds for seven years with the only out-of-pocket cost being a $30(USD) activation fee. I currently pay more than twice that per month. 25 public institutions including schools, hospitals, and libraries will get free gigabit access. Google also plans on offering its faster Gigabit service and Google Fiber TV service in Provo as well.
If you happen to live in Provo, you can sign up to register your interest in Google Fiber service here.
I first saw the Sphero robotic ball about 2 years ago at CES, but I never really got a chance to play with one hands-on until now. When I first saw it in action, all I wanted to say was “Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.” This little orb is packed with cool technology that lets you use it as a remote-control vehicle, a game controller, and tech toy/plaything.
Made by Orbotix, the Sphero itself is a durable polycarbonate-shelled orb which fits nicely in the palm of your hand. This is no accident, since this makes it work perfectly as a controller or plaything itself when it’s not rolling around on the floor. Inside of the ball are its brains, wireless circuit, motion sensors, motors, a small rechargeable battery and multicolor LEDs.
The spherical robot is capable of traversing a variety of surfaces, including hardwood floors, tile, grass, concrete and low-pile carpet (it has a hard time on thicker carpets). It’s even waterproof, so you can drive it around in the bathtub or in a puddle. To juice up the Sphero, simply set it in its inductive charging cradle, and it’ll go for up to an hour on a single charge.
You control the Sphero using either iOS or Android apps, which range from the main Sphero R/C controller app to games, interactive toys, augmented reality and macro programming apps. The library of Sphero apps continues to grow too, since there’s a full Sphero API and SDK available for developers to make their own applications. Many of the current apps are free, while the few that cost money sell for $1.99 or less.
Playing with Sphero is a blast, and it’s stupid-simple to use. Simply pair it with your Bluetooth device, load up an app of your choice, orient the Sphero properly and start playing. It’ll operate at distances up to about 50 feet from your device. Setting the Sphero’s orientation is simple. Just place the ball on the ground and use two fingers to maneuver its secondary blue “tail” LED to point towards you. If you should pick up and move the Sphero, you can do this again in a jiffy.
The main Sphero app is a great place to start, as it lets you drive the Sphero and play with its colors with ease. You can choose from a touch-based or motion-based control scheme, as well as several pre-set macros for things like circles, Figure 8′s and a flashing light show.
The Sphero app can also capture stills or video of your escapades and save them to your device.
And if you log into the Sphero ecosystem, you can record fun achievements, track stats and compete with others for Sphero supremacy.
I tried out just about every Sphero app I could find on the iTunes App Store, and here are my personal favorites: 1) ColorGrab – a frustrating, but fun multiplayer game in which players must quickly pick up the Sphero when its flashing in a specified color; 2) Draw & Drive – which lets you simply draw a path for your Sphero to follow; 3) Etch-o-Matic – this turns your Sphero into the controller for an Etch-a-Sketch inspired drawing pad; and 4) Sharky – an augmented reality app which turns your Sphero into a funny looking beaver that you flick virtual cupcakes at. It’s completely silly, but a fun tech demo.
The hacker in me got the most joy out of the MacroLab app, which lets you create complex programming sequences for the Sphero, adjusting all of its available parameters. These include movement, rotation, light color, speed, and basic programming constructs like delays and loops. The only thing I wish is that you could take your saved macros and load them into the main Sphero application for playback. Apparently, the Android version can even control multiple Spheros at the same time.
If you and your friends have more than one Sphero, they can be independently controlled for races, running obstacle courses, or even for playing Sphero miniature golf (which can also be played solo).
All in all, I really have had a good time playing with the Sphero, and I can only imagine that kids and geeks of all ages would get a kick out of having one. It’s also great for tormenting your pets. The fact that it’s programmable and has a software development community means that even if you get bored with it for a little while, there will be more apps coming down the pike to give it new life. And if you’re a real tinkerer, you can even make your own apps.
Disclosure: Orbotix provided the Sphero for review in this article. However, all reviews are the unbiased views of our editorial staff, and we will only recommend products or services we have used personally, and believe will be good for our readers.
I don’t have a complicated home theater system in my home, but we do have several components that require you to change inputs to be able to play games, watch movies, or check out Netflix. The problem I always had was that nobody seemed to be able to remember which input went with which device but me. That meant I always had to come change inputs for everybody and that got really irritating.
I ended up buying a Harmony One universal remote control that had macros with a single button you press to change all those inputs depending on what you want to do. It continues to be one of the best things I ever purchased. Logitech has unveiled a new generation Harmony remote control called the Harmony Ultimate.
The Ultimate shares many of the same features as my Harmony One including those one-button macros. It also has a 2.4-inch color touchscreen. The Harmony Ultimate also has some other cool tricks up its sleeve. For instance, it will work components even behind closed cabinet or closet doors. The best part is that it also supports Bluetooth so you can use this remote control your PS3 or other game console. It also supports control of Philips Hue LED light bulbs to allow you to control brightness and color of the wireless bulbs.
Logitech plans to launch the Harmony Ultimate this month in the US for $349.99(USD).
Don’t tell Mandarin, but Tony Stark relocated his Hall of Armors to Disneyland’s Innoventions area in Tommorowland for the meantime. But being the carefree dude that he is, Tony is actually letting people into the exhibit. Either that or the security at Disneyland is a lot tougher than I thought.
As you walk through the room, Tony’s virtual butler JARVIS will tell you all about the various armors, including the Mk. XLII that will be featured in the upcoming Iron Man 3. Speaking of armors, you’ll also be able to put on one of his suits through an augmented reality interface. Here’s a brief tour of the exhibit taken by YouTuber mrdaps:
Again, the exhibit will only be up for a limited time, so visit the park ASAP before Tony decides to hide his armor somewhere else.
Back in February, we mentioned some cool build-your-own iPhone remote control Brick Cars from Utico that had landed in Japan. These cars let you drive around using your iPhone or other Apple gadget as a controller and you get to build the car as well. When they first surfaced they were only available in Japan and were priced at about $43 each.
If you thought those little LEGO-style remote control cars were really cool, you’ll be glad to hear that you can now buy them in the United States via iHelicopters.net. The downside is that the price has increased with the little kits now selling for $59.95 (USD).
There is a Mini Brick car kit and a Mini Brick Van kits to choose from. Both allow you to customize the design of the vehicle to suit your style. While they’re too small to use with LEGO bricks, they’re actually compatible with Nanoblocks building blocks.
The kits use wireless connectivity with a control range of 20 to 30 m. Charge time for the transmitter is 60 minutes for 120 minutes of play and charge time for the car itself is 20 minutes for 10 minutes of play. The control app is available free on the iTunes app store right now.
If the thought of your own wearable computer from Google was enough to make you giddy, you will be thrilled to hear the latest news from the tech giant. Google has confirmed that the Glass Explorer Edition will ship within the next month. Before you get too excited, note that Google is talking about shipping the Glass Explorer Edition to developers, not end users yet.
Google recently ran a contest allowing people to state their case for why they should be the the first to purchase the Glass Explorer devices. The contest was criticized heavily and some of the people that Google invited in that contest were later uninvited.
The Glass Explorer Edition will sell for $1500 each making it far from a small investment for most people. It’s unclear what the retail pricing will be when Google Glass eventually hits the consumer market. We’re expecting to hear a lot more about the Google Glass and Google’s plans for developers at the Google I/O conference kicking off May 15th and running through the 17th.
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