Last week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy sent Saturday Night Live cast member Jason Sudeikis to the big gaming convention E3. Watch the video–it is hilarious!!
All posts by Scott Meisner
Microsoft Bing, the next Google?
No, the new search engine by Microsoft is not the next Google. But it is a positive force in the search engine arena. Bing allows you to search the categories phrases, images, videos, shopping, news, maps, and travel. What is interesting about Bing is that when you make a search, not only does it provide links about your search term, but it also gives you local information that relate to your searched item. For example, if you search “video games,” sites like GameSpot, GameTrailers, and others show up. At the bottom of the search, Bing also shows you video of the lastest games and locations where you might want to rent/buy a video game near you. Another nice touch: when hover over a related link, Bing provides a quick synopsis of what is contained in that site. Yes, the Bing user interface is clean, fresh, and easy…but this is not enough to overtake other search engine overlords like Google and Yahoo!. Many of the local features in Bing can be found in iGoogle and Yahoo!’s personalized websites. If Microsoft wants to truly make an impact in this sector of the Internet, it must use Bing in creative new ways and offer services that have not yet been tried again and again by Google and the others. Try it out for yourself; Bing is officially up and running today: www.bing.com. Also, check after the break for the first commercial for Bing; it’s interesting. Continue reading Microsoft Bing, the next Google?
The iPhone 3G '09 Rumor Mill Keeps Spinning [Updated]
Monday cannot come soon enough. On June 8th, Apple’s WWDC (World Wide Developer’s Conference) will bring news on the iPhone and “Snow Leopard” (Apple’s next OS version) fronts. The lastest rumors for the new iPhone hardware include a change from a glossy back and metallic sides to a matte back with no silver lining; the second rumor is far more interesting, and oh-so-exciting–a front-facing camera, which would allow VIDEO CHAT functionality. Although this specific rumor has been around since last year, there are some leaked images that may prove this new addition is on the way. Photoshopping is rapant these days, but I will take what I can get. Check out the newest photos after the break that show off new screenshots of the front-facing camera in action. Monday, Monday Monday… [UPDATE: After further investigation, the video-chat images have been debunked as photoshopped fakes. If you look closely, the bottom bar is from the the Skype app. Here’s hoping we still get this funcionality, even though these specific images were false.]
[Images via Nouveau here and here] Continue reading The iPhone 3G '09 Rumor Mill Keeps Spinning [Updated]
Annoying little ‘Fred at 40’
You know that annoying YouTube-kid star who manipulates his voice to sound like a chipmunk? Well, the guys at Mediocre Films have come out with a hilarious parody of what he will be like in the future.
Palm Pre is on sale now
In order to celebrate Palm Pre officially being sold in Sprint, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart stores around the country today, let’s celebrate by watching the Pre cut the cheese and its Touchstone counter-part act like a gecko. See the videos after the break. Continue reading Palm Pre is on sale now
Conan responds to Mushroom Kingdom backdrop!
Conan hilariously responds to the blogger from “Serious Lunch” about his monologue backdrop having an uncanny resemblance to the Super Mario Bros. Mushroom Kingdom. Although Conan does not formally say if it was intentional or not, I hold strongly to my opinion that Conan and crew are big Nintendo fans at heart.
P.S.–When announcer Andy Richter says “…my wife sent me a link to this from another site,” he is talking about this website! : )
[Image via Dlisted]
Susan Boyle…or Star Trek DS9's Colm Meaney?
Sorry, had to do it.
Single: Chrishan featuring Lil Wanye – "Bitch Look At Me Now"
Chrishan is an up-and-coming rapper whose first single off his freshman album is coming out July 7th. Check the link out for a sneak preview of the single, “Bitch Look At Me Now” which features a verse from Lil Wayne, after the break. It’s a great song, with a catchy and distinguishable beat. Let us know what you think in the comments.
[Via LilWHQ]
Continue reading Single: Chrishan featuring Lil Wanye — "Bitch Look At Me Now"
Project Natal is so good, even Johnny Chung Lee backs it
Johnny Chung Lee is a Microsoft researcher and a recent graduate at Carnegie Mellon University with a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction. He is an insanely smart individual who has influenced the creation, manipulation, and eventual final product of Microsoft’s Project Natal for Xbox 360. He recently said:
“The human tracking algorithms that the teams have developed are well ahead of the state of the art in computer vision in this domain. The sophistication and performance of the algorithms rival or exceed anything that I’ve seen in academic research, never mind a consumer product. At times, working on this project has felt like a miniature “Manhattan project” with developers and researchers from around the world coming together to make this happen.”
To quote Gizmodo‘s Mark Wilson, “That quote’s more than just hype—it’s educated hype.” Back in 2007, Lee created a headtracking simulation with the Wiimote, creating an stunning 3D realm into a different realm (in this case, for video games). The video above is Lee’s creation with a commentary that explains his genious work. The point of all this…Microsoft has managed to employ Lee to help the company create and complete Project Natal, a technology that may forever change the way developers and consumers create and play video games. Exciting stuff. Check after the break for two additional videos of Lee’s past creations, “tracking fingers with the Wii-remote,” and “low-cost multi-point interactive whiteboard using the Wii-remote.” Interesting how Microsoft and not some other company whose console relies on motion controls happened to employ such a marvel in innovation.
Continue reading Project Natal is so good, even Johnny Chung Lee backs it
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Mushroom Kingdom Influence?
This is just too weird for it to be a simple coincidence, in my opinion. Conan’s new monologue backdrop is eerily similar to Mario’s Mushroom Kingdom. Was this intentional or a coincidence? In our first poll, let us know what you think.
[polldaddy poll=1679343]
[Via Gizmodo, originally via SeriousLunch]
E3 2009 Round-up: Microsoft Takes the Prize
The Big Three–Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo–showed off their present and future technologies in the video game and entertainment businesses at this year’s bigger and badder Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California.
In my opinion, Microsoft stole the show with a brilliant keynote presentation that showed off a great line-up of games including tons of first-party (Halo 3: ODST, Halo Reach) and third party (Splinter Cell Conviction, Alan Wake) sure-fire hits. The special presentation by Harmonix with The Beatles: Rock Band definitely has people excited about the next game in the Rock Band series. Xbox’s exclusive song, “All You Need is Love” will surely get people to buy the game for the Xbox over the other consoles. Xbox 360-exclusive games worth mentioning include Forza Motorsport 3, Crackdown 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Shadow Complex. The Xbox 360 plans on stealing Sony’s thunder with legendary PlayStation-exclusives games such as Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid: Rising coming to the Xbox 360 this fall. Tony Hawk: Ride and Modern Warfare 2 also made exciting appearances.
As great as the Xbox 360 game line-up looks, it was the unveiling of Project Natal that made everyone’s jaws drop with amazement. Natal is Microsoft’s way of making YOU the controller. No Wii-motes, nunchucks, or wands. Natal is a device, similar-looking to the Wii Sensor bar. It sits below or above your TV set. It contains a camera, IR sensors, and a built-in microphone. With facial and voice recognition, the technology built into it is extremely advanced. Simply put, Natal can pick up and output your every movement from your head to your feet. It has full-body motion control. Here’s an example of Natal in natural action. You walk in front of your TV, your Xbox 360 recognizes who you are, automattically signs you into your Xbox Live account, and bring you to the New Xbox Experience home screen. You can use hand gestures to play a game, watch a movie, and so on. You decide to play a racing game with some of your family members. Your hands control the steering wheel, your feet the pedals. Take a quick pit stop, and your dad can jump in the action and replace your tired wheels by unscrewing and placing in new tires. Then it is back to the races. Natal opens up a whole new world of interactive gaming. It truly has me excited about the future of video games, especially the Xbox 360. There is no price point and release date for the code-named Project Natal. However, it has been said that it will definitely not be out this year (possibily in 2010), and the price will be under the cost of the console itself (under $250).
Check after the break for videos of Natal in action, as well as quick overviews from the Sony and Nintendo (not nearly as impressive) keynotes.
Continue reading E3 2009 Round-up: Microsoft Takes the Prize
Single: Mr Hudson (Featuring Kanye West) – "Supernova"
This new single from the new G.O.O.D.-label artist Mr Hudson is crazy good. Mark my words–this song is going to be a hit when it is officially released as a single on the radio and iTunes. Download “Supernova” here.
Mr Hudson hails from London, England. His new album, Straight No Chaser, is expected to be released on August 3rd. He is currently working on finalizing the album and making the music video to “Supernova.” The picture above is a still from the shoot. After the break, check out the already-released music video of another song off the album, “There Will Be Tears.” Also, there will be some more images from the “Supernova” music video.
[Images via Hypebeast]
Continue reading Single: Mr Hudson (Featuring Kanye West) — "Supernova"