Hasta La Gadget!

Sega Rally at the arcade was a blast when I was growing up, and it probably still is, though I haven’t played it in a few years. But Portuguese hardware hacker Luis Sobral (aka The Arcade Man) and robotics company Artica made it even better during the recent Sapo Codebits VI conference by introducing remote-controlled cars into the mix, along with cameras and an Arduino receiver to grab transmitted acceleration, braking and turning commands relayed from the arcade cabinet.

The end result is an arcade game that lets racers go head-to-head in remote-controlled, real-world races – what you see on-screen is what the remote-controlled car is seeing, and your steering wheel, brake and gas all control that vehicle’s movement through physical space. Two drivers can go head-to-head, and two cameras mounted on the RC vehicles provided either a front-facing view (which Sobral says proved incredibly challenging for drivers) essentially at ground level, or a higher up perspective looking down on the car from behind, much like you’d get in any modern video game racing simulation.

The rear camera took a few tries to get right, according to Sobral, since finding a way to fix the camera in the required position, while still ensuring it could withstand crashes and bumps turned out to be a challenge. Eventually a piece of PVC piping proved durable and stable enough to withstand even the most gruelling races.

Check out a shortened version of the entire process in the video above. It’s an amazing undertaking, especially as an impromptu weekend project, and the end result looks like something I’d be happy to spend hours playing. The chiptunes soundtrack to the video is pretty darn catchy, too.

Hulu Plus landed on the Wii at the start of the year and the company has now announced it’s arrived on the Wii U — utilizing the GamePad controller as a second screen so viewers can watch shows on their TV and view additional content, such as episode synopses, on the GamePad.

TV content can also be streamed to the GamePad so the tablet-style controller can be used as a mobile screen to view TV as you move away from the big screen in your living room. A button in the bottom corner of the GamePad’s screen is used to toggle the view between the screens.

Hulu Plus content is accessible direct from the Wii U’s home screen. When scrolling and searching Hulu content the GamePad automatically updates to provide info about the shows and episodes. The GamePad can be used to start watching instantly or to queue up episodes for future viewing.

Hulu said the Wii U will have a commercial-free Hulu Kids section — with more than 43 child-friendly shows on tap, including current season Nickelodeon programming.

Seeking power was an arduous task as most folks learned early on in the
aftermath of superstorm, Hurricane Sandy. Desperately seeking power for
our cell phones, iPads and laptops became part of the zeitgeist emanating from those affected in New Jersey and New York. The power grid
that used to affect only our heat, electricity and land lines now
included cell towers that experienced disrupted service as well. Even
for those services that remained operational, without electricity we
needed alternatives to charge our devices.

One thing that’s become apparent about the iPad mini during my past few days with it is just how well it fills the role of a second-screen device. The iPhone and the iPad both have their merits as a companion while lounging around and watching TV, but the iPad mini hits the sweet spot of portability, power and connectivity for that use case. Fellow TC writer MG Siegler already explained why he thinks the iPad mini will eventually overtake the full-sized iPad as the sales leader for Apple, and I agree 100 percent, but zeroing in on its second screen suitability might help convince those who still doubt that the smaller iPad will eventually take the crown.

Second screen experiences are increasingly common; startups like Fanatix, GetGlue, MOVL, and countless others are developing platforms and apps to help users get more out of their TV viewing experiences, and networks are encouraging hashtag campaigns and turning to Twitter to leverage the conversations already happening there. A recent Nielsen report showed that 86 percent of smartphone owners and 88 percent of tablet owners use their devices while watching TV, and smartphone ownership in the U.S. recently crossed the 50 percent threshold, meaning a huge number of TV viewers are dividing their attention. Second screen isn’t a trend to watch; it’s a living, breathing phenomenon that’s already arrived.

Before the iPad mini arrived, the iPad was the perfect venue for reaching out to TV viewers with value-add experiences. Users of Apple’s tablet tend to be more affluent, more receptive to online advertising and more likely to spend money on their devices. If you’re losing eyeballs during commercial breaks to mobile devices, in a best-case scenario you’re driving additional content complete with related promotions from your advertising partners to those same devices, and in a perfect world, those audiences fit the demographic tendencies of iPad owners.

While it’s too early to tell for sure, I’m willing to bet the iPad mini’s user base will resemble the iPad’s more so than it’ll look like the ownership population of cheaper, Android-based devices. And because of the iPad mini’s key areas of difference compared to the iPad (over 50 percent lighter, 23 percent thinner), it’s a much more convenient device to pick up and put down frequently while watching TV programming. Plus, it has access to the same software library as its bigger cousin, meaning developers don’t necessarily need to go back to the drawing board to create second screen apps for a new form factor.

The iPad mini’s size makes it a take-anywhere device, and its screen real estate ensures that users won’t just give up on engaging with content that might involve a lot of reading or might be a better handled on a desktop than on a tiny smartphone screen. And the device isn’t compromised in terms of connectivity or capabilities, either; the cameras are good, it’s got Bluetooth, optional cellular connectivity and all of the AirPlay capabilities of its bigger sibling, all of which could potentially be leveraged by developers to make second screen activities more engaging.

In reality, the iPad mini is better for a number of use cases than its larger predecessor, but it seems like the perfect couch companion after a few days of thorough testing of that theory. With mobile tech moving steadily toward a place of prominence in the family living room, watch for the iPad mini to become the pace setter  in this key changing facet of home entertainment.

Apple has sold over 108 million units since the first iPhone was released in 2007, and they’re still going strong. Naturally, that means there are millions of people all over the world who have the exact same phone as you do. But while the actual phone might be the same, they don’t have to look the same, given the wide selection of iPhone cases available.