Hasta La Gadget!

Here’s a wild one. We just got a tip from someone who purports to be in the know on Microsoft’s efforts to beat the Wii at its own motion-sensing game, with some of the details lining up with what we were hearing last year along these lines. The word is that Microsoft is building a “sensor bar” of sorts, but instead of detecting the waggles of Wiimote-like controllers, it detects full body movement and sound, sans controllers. There are two sensors on the bar, along with a mic and a camera, and while our tipster has “no idea” how it actually works, it sounds pretty impressive. Here’s a quick rundown of capabilities mentioned:

• Full body and hand gesture control of games / characters.
• In fighting games you kick, punch, duck, dive, jump and so forth with your body.
• It also picks up small hand gestures like pinching, grabbing and scrolling.
• There will also be video conferencing and games with video.
• Trivia game over the internet with live images of each person playing. When a question pops up, they can clap to buzz in.
• You can “move objects on your screen” and the other party can see what you’re doing in real time.
• Sensor detects only the person playing, not folks observing on the couch.

We’re rather curious as to what those two mystery sensors on the bar are doing, since there’s specific mention of a lack of controllers. Perhaps they add depth perception to whatever the camera is picking up on video, but we guess we’ll have to wait and find out. Of course, this could all be an elaborate hoax, but for what it’s worth the picture appears undoctored, and the story is plausible. Either way, it’s only natural for Microsoft to be looking to duplicate — and expand upon — the wild success Nintendo has enjoyed with motion-controlled gaming. And if they don’t, Sony sure will.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Xbox 360 to get motion-sensing add-on with full body game control? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 May 2009 13:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPhone is set to be turned into a pocket-sized movie studio, according to “people familiar with the matter”. The next generation will be a “one-stop studio for recording, editing, viewing and sharing your own videos”, according to Business Week’s Peter Burrows.

Infuriating inflation of anonymous sources aside, does Business Week’s claim hold up? First, you’d need a camera that could shoot video. Apple has already said that the 3.0 software will not add video capability to the iPhone, but it didn’t say that a new iPhone wouldn’t shoot movies. Also, jailbroken iPhones already shoot video, albeit sucking the battery dry while doing it. So, Burrows’ claim is plausible.

Second, you’d need some horsepower to edit video. The iPhone does surprisingly well with stills, allowing many third-party applications to throw around some pretty sophisticated effects. But those are on single frames. Video requires a lot more power, unless the editing is straight cut-and-paste editing. Burrows says his source, who is “familiar with Apple’s plans for the next iPhone” claims that there will be an iMovie application, which sounds like more of a real app than a simple clip-chopping program. Plausibility? Three out of five.

Lastly, let’s take a look at the history, and the Way of the iPhone. Ever since the original iPod, Apple has realized that a pocket device is good for one thing and a computer good for another. This was one of the reasons for the iPod’s success — do all the work in the easy to use, big-screen iTunes and just do the listening on the go. Fast forward to today. ITunes still does everything. The iPhone can capture images, but they are stored in the Photos app which is for viewing only. We’d make the same call for video, if (or when) it comes. This “iMovie” is probably just “Movie” and acts as a browser and player for your clips.

We’d flag this as a non-story, although Business Week seems to be on a roll with the Apple Rumors lately.

Making Movies: The Next Big Thing in iPhones? [Business Week]

It’s now just over a month before Sony’s E3 press event and already the rumor mill is aflutter with what the comapny’s planning to debut on stage. We’ve already heard about PSP’s apparent makeover, and now comes word from Variety that the PlayStation 3’s oft-rumored motion sensing controller, closer in the vein of the Wii remote than of its relative-positioning Sixaxis pad, will be getting some time on stage. A source from Kombo late last month suggested key third-party develoeprs have already been brought up to speed and asked to implement the functionality into their upcoming titles. Like we said, this isn’t the first time we’ve been down this road, and it’s not happened infinitely more times than has, so… take that as you will. Brace yourself, this is only the beginning of the of a flurry of game-related murmurs and speculation in the leadup to next month’s conference.

Read – Variety
Read – Kombo

Filed under: Gaming

PlayStation 3 motion-sensing controller to be shown off at E3? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 May 2009 01:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like that blurry little blob from before is the Palm Eos, the cheap WebOS successor to the Centro. Engadget’s got the pic, and better yet, the specs for little stunner: UPDATED

It’s 10.6mm thin, measuring about 2.1 by 4.3-inches, with a 2.63-inch 320×400 res capacitive screen. And the good news for AT&T peeps: It’s quad-band GSM/HSDPA, so you guys will have your comeuppance, it seems. Update: Techcrunch adds that its codename is “Pixie” and they’re aiming for a $99 pricepoint (obviously after rebate).

And the full purported spec list is in. Here’s what Engadget’s got:

* 4GB storage
* Price: $349 (pre-rebate)
* Camera: 2 megapixel fixed focus digital camera and flash / video capture
* Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP and EDR, USB 2.0 via micro USB
* Removable 1150 mAh battery (4 hours 3G talk time)
* Messaging: SMS, MMS (picture and video only), integrated IM client
* Contact sync with AT&T Address Book
* MediaNet
* Cellular Video
* Email: POP3, IMAP4, and EAS support
* A-GPS
* Audio: WAV, MP3, AAC, AAC+ ringtones
* Video Playback: MPEG4, H.264, H.263

Interesting that it has a bunch of AT&T services built in, if that’s really the spec list—totally different tack than the iPhone.

There are some conflicting reports as to whether Palm’s blazing ahead on it or waiting to see how the Pre does, according to Arrington. So while not 100 percent verified, obviously, with multiple independent sources leaking this thing, it’s clear there’s something along the lines of a cheaper, smaller Centro-like WebOS phone in the works, probably landing this fall. Hopefully for $99. Palm Pre what? [Engadget]

As if we didn’t have enough Pre rumors to sort through, along comes TechCrunch and Mikey A. with some hard hitting stuff. According to the TC honcho, one of his “better sources” claims that Palm is “very far along” on a second webOS device which is smaller and slimmer than the Pre and may or may not have a physical keyboard. Apparently, this won’t be the iPhone 3G to the first-gen iPhone, rather a device which addresses “a different part of the market.” Details are still sketchy, but Arrington claims that the “Mini-Pre” (his name) will land sometime this year — possibly as soon as the Fall. This is all complete rumor right now, but Palm has previously said that there would be more than one webOS device, so the idea of another model in the oven doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. Stay tuned for further updates as we get them.

Palm launching smaller Pre-like device later this year says rumor-mill originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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