Hasta La Gadget!

Kids today are spoiled with their iPod touches and iPads and PSPs and 3DSes. When I was their age, portable games certainly DID NOT look comparable to their console counterparts. More »

Now we’re talking. After Nintendo slyly told us that the 3DS set a day-one US sales record for its handheld division, it has now been more forthright and actually disclosed some cold hard numbers. 400,000 3DS units were shifted in the month of March, says Nintendo of America chief Reggie Fils-Aime, which amounts to just one working week’s worth of sales when you consider the portable console launched on March 27th. That was still enough time for it to threaten the DS’ overall March tally of 460,000, however, and extrapolated over a full 30 days would total a whopping 2.4 million transactions. Of course, sales rarely sustain such a roaring pace after launch, but Reggie foresees good things for the 3DS with a marquee Legend of Zelda game, the launch of the E-Shop, and Netflix integration all coming over the summer. So the future’s bright, we just wish it didn’t have to be turquoise.

Nintendo 3DS clocks up 400,000 US sales in opening week, nearly matches month-long total for DS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you haven’t already seen our demo of the 3DS’ rather impressive bag of augmented reality tricks, then let us take this opportunity to show you — once again — why we’re excited about the thing’s AR capabilities. The folks over at software development firm Refactr have done some tinkering and found that all you need to make your very own 3DS AR card is a white board, some dry erase markers, and a projector. By tracing the outlines of that mysterious question mark card on to a shiny white surface, they found that conjuring the device’s AR interface is actually quite simple, and mostly a matter of contrast. Going big, in this case anyway, not only makes for a good time — as evidenced by the video below — but it should also put to rest any questions about whether or not these things are sprinkled with pixie dust, Juju powder, or some other magical substance.

Continue reading Refactr turns whiteboard into giant 3DS AR card, proves bigger is better (video)

Refactr turns whiteboard into giant 3DS AR card, proves bigger is better (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The da Vinci robot isn’t just for surgery — It can also make petite paper airplanes

The da Vinci Surgical Robot Makes Paper Planes the Size of a Penny
The da Vinci surgical robot is normally used to perform precise, delicate incisions in the operating room. Dr. James Porter decided it’d be perfect for some other applications as well, namely, making ridiculously tiny paper airplanes. I’m talking paper airplanes smaller than a penny. The robot is also repurposed to paint someone’s nails for St. Patrick’s Day. Not too many people can say they’ve had a mani pedi done by a robot.

Surgery Robot Builds Penny-Sized Paper Airplane [Tested]

ThinkGeek Has a Treat for the Apple Fanboy Family: The Apple Store Playset
If you wish you could spend all your time in The Apple Store, now you can, with ThinkGeek’s April Fools Day Apple Store Playset. It’s just like the real thing, but tiny: tiny Macbooks, tiny iPads, mini Genius Bar… it even includes a miniscule Woz on Segway. For Apple event fun, you can use your actual iPhone 4 as the screen behind Steve Jobs in its Keynote Theater. A “line pack” of people waiting outside the store is extra.

The Apple Store Playset [ThinkGeek]

The Nintendo 3DS UK Launch Was The Company’s Best Ever
The recent launch of the Nintendo 3DS in the UK was even more successful than that of the Wii. 113,000 of the handheld consoles were sold its opening weekend, beating out the 105,000 Nintendo Wiis that were sold when it debuted. The original Nintendo DS sold 87,000 its opening weekend.

Nintendo 3DS UK Launch Most Successful Ever for the Gaming Company [Slashgear]

Apple 3-D Camera Patent Describes a Hardware Based System
Handheld Apple gadgets could support 3-D photography in the future, if a recently unearthed patent is any indicator. The patent describes a method that uses dual rear-facing cameras on a mobile device like the iPhone and specific hardware to perform a “deterministic calculation for stereo disparity compensation.” The patent claims that when software is used to perform that job a lot of guesswork is involved. Apple’s system would use multiple imaging systems, including separate luma, chroma, and depth and distance sensors to transform an image from 2-D to 3-D, and it would also allow for 3-D video recording.

Apple Exploring Multi Camera Systems for 3-D Picture Taking [Apple Insider]

Europeans Can Get a Retro Looking Sony DAB Radio
The Sony XDR-S16DBP looks like it would make a great addition to any midcentury styled office space. Its two .8 W stereo speakers can play DAB, DAB+, and FM broadcasts and a 16 x 2 character LCD displays program and channel information. It’s available now in Europe for 79 quid (about $127).

XDR-S16DBP [Sony via Crunchgear]

How many Nintendo 3DS handhelds got sold stateside after Triforce Johnson got one? Enough for Nintendo to boast: “U.S. day-one sales numbers for Nintendo 3DS were the highest of any Nintendo hand-held system in our history,” the company claimed today, adding that the volume of tech support calls it received was also “well below the rate experienced during past hardware launches,” and that there are no widespread issues with the handheld. That may sound a bit premature, considering Nintendo won’t provide actual sales figures until April 14th, but we’re willing to consider the possibility that the Virtual Boy’s legacy is done: perhaps this time, the only major headaches Nintendo’s handheld will create are for the likes of Sony and Microsoft.

Nintendo says 3DS sets day-one handheld sales record, doesn’t quantify it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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