Category Archives: Technology

Gary steps into the 8-Bitinator 2000, comes out a better man

Design, Technology, Video, , ,

In an attempt to promote their laptop line, Toshiba imagined a new marketing campaign focusing on a character named Gary.  In the extended commercial, lab assistant Gary gets “deresolutionized” into glorious 8-bit form after journeying inside the 8-Bitinator 2000.  The best part of the commercial is the fact the 8-bit costume is not a CGI animation; it’s a suit made from over 3,000 hand-cut foam boxes.  After a viewing I find myself pining for an 8-bit version of myself; a Toshiba laptop–not so much.

[Via Gizmodo]

Advanced physics engine produces the most realistic dirt you’ve ever seen

Technology, Video, , , ,

Thiago Costa’s  Lagoa Multiphysics 1.0 physics engine simulates real-life physics like you’ve never seen before.  The engine can produce High friction granular materials; Incompressible fluids; Elastic structures; Plastic deformations & more…  Can you imagine how video games would look if they utilized something of this magnitude?  Virtual reality, here we come.

[Via Gizmodo]

Video games invade our world again in “Gnarcade”

Sports, Technology, Video, , , ,

Check out Mike Benson’s “Gnarcade”, a world where classic video game characters and obstacles interact with pro athletes.  Pacman, Frogger, and baddies from Super Mario make memorable appearences.  But it’s the Portal effect at 2:21 that gets me every time.  Beats are provided by Ground Up.  Enjoy!  (I say “again” in the post title in reference to the awesome NYC pixel takeover.)

Gary Numan plays hit song “Cars” on cars

Music, Technology, Video, , , ,

Apparently one Platinum DieHard battery can power a cube of lights, a double-stacked keyboard, 24 cars without batteries, and um, Gary Numan.  Watch the ’79 one-hit wonder perform “Cars” on keyboards hooked up to car horns.  He’s aged, hasn’t he?

Over three days in the desert, a team of six engineers worked on 24 cars and removed the batteries from each. Instead, they connected them all together to a central computer and a keyboard. The horns inside the cars were removed and instead an MP3 player was used to tune it. The entire set-up was hooked to one DieHard battery. .. As Numan hit each key on his keyboard, the software turned on the lights and sound for the corresponding car.

[Via Wired]

Halo: Reach themed Xbox 360 console revealed

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When I mention the date September 14, what comes to mind?  If it isn’t Halo: Reach then what’s wrong with you?!  Well, probably nothing…but if you’re any type of gamer you should know that the next game in the coveted Halo franchise drops on that day.  To celebrate the release of Halo: Reach, Bungie and Microsoft have teamed up to create a limited edition Xbox 360 console inspired by the game.  It is worthy to note that this is the very first new 250GB Xbox 360 themed console.  The “whisper-quiet” fans, built-in 802.11n WiFi adapter, and slim form factor remain in tact.  It does away with the black glossy exterior and introduces a Halo: Reach theme.  It features “an exclusive silver design” that “captures the look and feel of the game.”  It also packs “custom sound effects from the “Halo” universe”; the press release did not elaborate on this feature, so it shall remain a surprise to buyers upon powering up the console.  The Xbox 360 comes bundled with a copy of Halo: Reach, two custom Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers with artwork inspired by the game, a Reach themed Xbox 360 wired headset, a token for the Limited Edition Elite armor set, and an episode of “Halo Legends”, the anime-styled show based on the game.  The bundle is priced at $399 and is available to preorder today.  It will hit the market in tandem with the game on 9/14.  The Reach wireless controller ($59.99) and a wireless headset ($49.99) will be made available to purchase separately in late Augsust.  Look in the gallery below to view the console at various angles.

[Via XboxPress; Engadget]

Kinect for Xbox 360 priced at $149.99, bundles plus new Xbox model announced

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We finally have a release date and price to marry.  Kinect for Xbox 360, the advanced motion-tracking camera that aims to get games off the couch and into the game (so to speak), will release on November 4 for $149.99.  That’s a bit steeper than most had anticipated, but watchagonnado?  Now let’s talk bundles.  When you buy Kinect standalone for $149.99, the action/adventure game Kinect Adventures! comes packaged inside.  Speaking of Kinect titles, Microsoft says that all first-party Kinect-supported games will run $49.99 a pop (that’s ten bucks less than “standard” retail games).  In doing this Microsoft hopes to make this pricing standard for Kinect games, but they will leave third-party Kinect games up to the discretion of the developers.  Only Dance Central, the exercise disguised as a dancing game from MTV Games and Harmonix, has followed suit with a $49.99 price tag so far.  Kinect will also be bundled with a brand new Xbox 360 console.  This new SKU is similar to the new 250GB Xbox 360 announced at E3; it’s still “whisper quiet” and comes packed with a WiFi N-adapter.  What it lacks is the large HDD and shiny aesthetics.  The cheaper SKU will feature 4GB of internal flash memory and a black matte finish (as opposed to the 250GB Xbox’s glossy finish).  The new console will come with an empty HDD bay, leaving the option open for Microsoft to ship to market a HDD for expandable storage.  The new 4GB Xbox 360 will cost $199.99 and release on August 3.  The Kinect + Kinect Adventures! w/ 4GB Xbox 360 bundle will go for $299 and release alongside the Kinect standalone sensor on November 4.

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg shared the reasoning behind the bundle pricing scheme: “We’re currently a full $100 less than the PS Move bundle which is $400, which is a single player experience. Obviously if you add a second player to that they get well over $500 pretty quickly.”  He also says that by setting the Kinect w/ console bundle price at $299 (fifty bucks cheaper than buying everything separately), this will help draw in new potential gamers and expand the market.  Look after the break for the full PR.

[Via IGN; Engadget]

Continue reading Kinect for Xbox 360 priced at $149.99, bundles plus new Xbox model announced →

Rock Band 3 to release October 26, preorder options get detailed

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Are you ready to rock!?  Well don’t get too excited since we’re still a few months away from the next iteration of Rock Band.  MTV Games and Harmonix announced that RB3 hits stores October 26.  The game will ship for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and DS.  Pricing details were previously reported.  Besides the all-important release date, a bunch of enticing preorder options were detailed, too.  If you preorder the game at Walmart you will get a $10 eGift card.  Those who shop early at Amazon will receive access to an exclusive in-game guitar plus $10 off a future videogame purchase (the latter offer applies only to Xbox 360 & PS3 RB3 preorders).  And last there’s the GameStop special: three free downloadable songs (“My Own Summer” by The Deftones, “Blue Monday” by New Order, and “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads).  I don’t have to tell you which option is best to choose.  Look after the break for the official PR.

[Via Joystiq] Continue reading Rock Band 3 to release October 26, preorder options get detailed →

The Dutch break Guinness World Record by gaming for 50 hours straight

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Six Dutch gamers just broke the Guinness World Record for longest period of time playing a video game.  They played Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption on PlayStation 3 for fifty hours straight.  They shattered the previous record of forty hours and twenty minutes.  They each used the TwistDock to keep their controllers fully charged for the duration of the outing.  When they first entered a video games store in the Netherlands, the six gamers were competitors and wanted to see who could game the longest.  It wasn’t long until the crazy bunch decided to set the world record together.  50 straight hours of gaming awarded them €1,000 (about $1,300), Twistdock accessories, and the greatest prize of all–recognition from the people at Guinness World Records.  I was to end this post by saying “Game On”, but I think the most appropirate end tag is Dream On, am I right?

Look after the break for a shot of the winners.  The kid in the middle is totally giving his best celebratory yawn.

[Via Joystiq; NYTimesBlog] Continue reading The Dutch break Guinness World Record by gaming for 50 hours straight →

Google spruces up Images portal

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This week Google pushed out the most significant overhaul of Google Images since it was introduced way back in 2001.  The instantly recognizable cosmetic changes?  The portal has gone textless, opting for a tiled layout with instant scrolling.  When you input a keyword, Google will present 1,000 related images to you, allowing you to instantly scrub through the content without the hastle of clicking through various pages.  Since the text is gone, larger thumbnail previews result.  Where’d all the text go, you ask?  If you hover over a particular image, a “hover pane” will pop up and show you the image size, name, source, and Google’s “similar images” option.  When you click an image you are brought to a new landing page; the image will be produced on top of its source’s website.  When you click anywhere outside the image it disappears and reveals the source page so you can see exactly where it’s coming from.  Optimized keyboard navigation and Image Search Ads round out the updates.  Google is rolling out the new interface worldwide over the course of this week.  Check in now to see if you’ve got it.

[Via GoogleBlog]

Microsoft reports 2010 Q4 earnings: $4.52b profit, record $16.01b in revenue

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At this time last year Microsoft reported its first annual sales decline, ever.  Things are definitely looking up in 2010 for the company that built Windows.  Today Microsoft posted its fourth quarter earnings and right off the bat you can see how the 175 million Windows 7 licenses (sold to date) have helped the company cash in a ton of the green stuff.  Microsoft posted a record revenue of $16.04 billion for the fourth quarter ended June 30; that’s a 22 percent increase over the year-ago quarter.  Profits reached a high of $4.52 billion.  For fiscal year 2010, Microsoft posted $62.48 billion of revenue and $18.76 in annual net income.  Says Microsoft CFO Peter Klein, “This quarter’s record revenue reflects the breadth of our offerings and our continued product momentum.  The revenue growth, combined with our ongoing cost discipline, helped us achieve another quarter of margin expansion.”

Check out the Q4 revenue breakdown by category.  Windows and Windows Live racked in $4.55 billion (that’s a 43.5 percent increase from last year).  The Microsoft Business Division (which includes Office sales) scored $5.25 billion (a 15 percent increase).  The Entertainment and Devices Division (which includes Xbox 360, Zune, and Windows Mobile) picked up $1.6 billion (a 27.3 percent increase).  However there was a quarterly operating loss of $172 million.  The axing of Kin resulted in a $251 million increase in costs.  The Online Services Division (which includes Bing) brought in $565 million; online advertising revenue increased by 19 percent.  This category was also in the red, reporting a quarterly operating loss of $696 million.  Bing continues to gain marketshare against search giant Google.  Last, the Server and Tools Division (which includes Window Server, SQL Server, and Enterprise CAL Suites) brought in $4.01 billion (a 17 percent increase).

Chew on this: 1.5 million Xbox 360 consoles were sold this last quarter and over 25 million people have signed up for Xbox Live.  If the launch of Windows Phone 7 is a success and Kinect for Xbox 360 catches on with gamers, Micro$oft might just be able to pull themselves out of the red that the Entertainment and Devices Division has been stuck in for far too long.

[Via SeattlePiBlogs; Microsoft]

Apple reports 2010 Q3 earnings: $3.25b profit, Macs up 33%, iPhones up 61%, iPods down 8%, iPad…

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The third quarter of 2010 has come to a close.  And you know what that means: Apple gets to flaunt how much money its racked in thus far.  Yesterday Apple posted its Q3 earnings and–you guessed it–it was another record quarter for the tech company.  Apple posted a $3.25 billion profit on $15.7 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $1.83 billion on $9.73 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Steve Jobs: “It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with iPhone 4.  iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.” (Emphasis added, of course.)

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 3.47 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 8.4 million iPhones (representing a 61 percent unit growth); 9.41 million iPods (representing an 8 percent unit decline).  This is the first quarter that includes iPad sales, so how did they do?  3.27 million iPads were sold, nearly matching the total amount of Macs sold.  Boom.  And here’s an interesting stat: international sales accounted for 52 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $18 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $3.44.  Antennagate or no Antennagate, Apple isn’t going anywhere people.       Job(s) well done.

[Via Engadget]

Taiwanese news outlet tells the story of iPhone 4’s woes the only way it can

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..with Sims-like animations!  Taiwan’s NMA News is back again to shed some light on what’s being dubbed “Antennagate”, the negative firestorm surrounding the iPhone 4.  You don’t have to understand the language to find this news coverage over-the-top, absurd, and yet so right about everything.  I mean, who can complain about their animated coverage concerning the Conan O’Brien vs. Jay Leno debacle and the Tiger Woods scandal?

[Via Gizmodo]