Hasta La Gadget!

There’s few things more heartbreaking to gamers than an Atari 2600 whose original components have given up the ghost. UK craftsman Peter Morris must not want all that faux wood to go to waste, as he recently converted two broken 2600 systems into speaker docks for the iPad and iPhone. Both include digital amps to improve the tunes, a line-in jack and both on-device as well as remote controls. We’d love to have either of them providing the soundtrack to our Pong sessions, although pure logistics may work against us: the iPad and iPhone docks are unique examples that ship from Morris’ UK homeland at respective prices of £180 ($269) and £150 ($224). As such, there will likely be just a few Brits who’ll get to mix modern sound with their childhood Combat memories.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Portable Audio/Video, Tablets

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Via: TUAW, Waylou

Source: Etsy (1), (2)

Well, that was quick. Bre Pettis just started delivering South By Southwest’s opening remarks and may well have taken the wraps off the biggest news of the show. Of course, we’ll still have to hang out in Austin for a few more days just to, you know, totally make sure, but this really does feel like a doozy. As the MakerBot CEO puts it, “It’s a natural progression for us to create a product that makes 3D printing even easier” — but, let’s be honest, few of those who don’t have a vested interest in moving some 3D printers are running around calling the whole process particularly “easy.” And while consumer-facing devices like the Replicator, CubeX, Solidoodle, et al. have gone a ways toward making the technology more accessible for laypeople, there’s still a fundamental breakdown: the creation of models to be printed.

The maker community has helped on that front, as well, with MakerBot’s Thingiverse serving as an unparalleled resource for 3D images, meaning that, once your printer’s all set up and calibrated, you can download and print to your hearts delight — but what if, say, you want to print up something that some kindly soul hasn’t designed for you? You could learn a CAD program — or you could invest in an industrial 3D scanner. The latter option has lead to something of a land rush of companies and individuals looking to break things wide open with an affordable, consumer-facing offering. And while MakerBot still seems a ways away from the final product, the company used SXSW as a platform to unveil a prototype of its MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner.

Filed under: Peripherals

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Emerging technology often needs a halo app to lure us in. For the upcoming Leap Motion controller, that app could come through the unusual (if welcome) channel of Double Fine’s Dropchord. The game’s exact mechanics are a mystery, but the music focus and exclusively gesture-based input should finally reward those who’ve spent years shredding invisible guitars. Gamers who don’t want to spring for a peripheral just to get one game will have the option of an iOS version sometime after Leap Motion gets first crack on May 13th. Knowing Double Fine’s reputation in motion gaming, the extra hardware just might be worthwhile — see Giant Bomb‘s proof after the break.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

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Source: Dropchord

The official Nexus 7 dock has been one of the more elusive beasts in the accessory world, especially for anyone who wanted it from an official source. Google just brought that months-long pursuit to a close — the dock is now sitting in the Google Play Store. So long as you have $30 to spend and can endure up to one or two weeks of waiting, you too can give your Nexus 7 an ASUS-designed home with both micro-USB and audio line out. Just don’t try to overcompensate by buying docks en masse; Google caps the order limit at two.

Update: If you’re wondering just where the dock is available, worry not. Google has just confirmed that the dock is selling in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US.

Filed under: Peripherals, Tablets, ASUS, Google

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Via: Android Central

Source: Google Play

We’ve known that game company and Steam operator Valve Software was going to offer prototypes of its hardware to Steam users for some time, but company head Gabe Newell niw says that those prototypes will start arriving in the next three to four months time. Moreover, beyond just the controllers we suspected to be part of the beta program, Newell tells the BBC that said prototypes will be of the Steambox, Valve’s living room-friendly PC gaming initiative. “We’re working with partners trying to nail down how fast we can make it,” Newell said.

He cited noise and heat concerns as the holdup for retail availability of various Steamboxes — both Valve itself and a variety of third-party companies are working on the initiative, including Xi3 and unnamed others. He also speculated about what control device might be included in various Steambox setups (the systems are said to range in power and price, from low to very high). He did posit that some form of biological monitoring would be built into a potential Valve game controller (biometrics). “You need to actually be able to directly measure how aroused the player is — what their heart rate is, things like that — in order to offer them a new experience each time they play,” Newell said. He also cited the controller as a current roadblock in making the Steambox available. “The main thing that’s holding us up right now is nailing … we have a couple of different controller prototypes that we’re using, and that’s one of the things that we’re giving to customers,” he added. Valve is apparently planning on including a handful of controllers with Steambox prototypes in its upcoming beta, so that users can give feedback for each and Valve can break down how players are using them.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Software, HD

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Source: BBC