Category Archives: Video

Cheaper, slimmer PS3 is official, finally!

Images, News, Technology, Video, , , , , , , , ,

Let’s get right to the details of the PS3 Slim:

  • 32% smaller, 36% lighter, 34% less power than its chunkier brother, the original PS3
  • Boasts all the same features of the bulkier PS3, so still no backwards compatability with PS2 games
  • Adds one feature: BRAVIA Sync – you can browse the PS3 XMB with your Sony TV remote, PS3 will power down when TV shuts off (if both devices are connected via HDMI)
  • Removes one feature: The ability to install an operating system (like Linux) is gone.
  • Matte finish
  • 120GB HDD
  • 2 USB ports (down from 4)
  • Price- $299; release date – early September
  • UPDATE: According to Engadget, the power and eject buttons on the front of the console are physical buttons that press down now; the HDD is swappable; the PS3 logo does not rotate; feels siginifcantly lighter in hands compared to the old PS3.  Also, according to Gizmodo, Sony plans to change the PS3 logo and reformat the PS brand name from PLAYSTATION 3 to Playstation 3.  That’s better!

Arriving concurrently with the PS3 Slim hardware is the 3.0 firmware update:

  • XMB redesigned
  • Information Board replaced with “What’s New” – populated with news and information from the world of Playstation (latest and greatest games, videos, etc); you can launch immediately from recently played games
  • Playstation Store game and video sections placed under the Games and Video icons in the XMB, respectively
  • Animated themes are available in the PS Store (themes can change with time of day, etc.)
  • Upper right hand corner – space for avatar, friend icon w/ # of friends online, mail
  • More avatar selections available through the PS Store (free and premium)
  • Available via a free download on September 1

At the GamesCon in Germany, Sony had additional announcements concerning PS3, PSP, and the Playstation Network (PSN):

  • Effective today, all PS3 systems will cost $299; that is a $100 price drop.  Once the PS3 Slim releases in early September it will take the place of its thicker older brother.
  • Sony introduced Minis; they are “bite-sized” games that will be made for the PSP & PSP go! and will sell as digital downloads only in the PS Store.  The titles will have a 100MB size limit.  The first bunch of Minis will be made available on October 1, the same day as the release of the PSP go!  Sony has planned to release 15 Minis for launch, and about 50 games for the remainder of 2009.  Some of these games include Tetris, Field Runners, Hero of Sparta and Minigore.
  • PSN video store and PSN cards will be available to access and sell, respectively, in Europe this fall.  The video store will initially sell movies only, and will expand its library from there.  The PSN cards will sell in 20 and 50 euros demoninations.
  • Sony announced the PSP Digital Reader; the plan is to digitize a bunch of comics, sell them in the PS Store, and make them available to read on the PSP.  Sony’s first major partner is Marvel and they plan to have “hundreds available, including the Marvel Comics stable.”
  • Three new PSP color variations will be sold in Europe this November: “Turquoise” blue, “Lilac” purple, and “Blossom” pink.

See the galleries below for: (1) official PS3 Slim shots; (2) Engadget’s PS3 Slim unboxing shots

Look after the break for: (1) a video tour of the PS3 3.0 software; (2) firmware 3.0 full details; (3) a video of PS President Jack Tretton talking about the new announcements; (4) PS3 Slim spec sheet

[Via Engadget; Gizmodo; Joystiq; PlaystationBlog]

1 2

 

Continue reading Cheaper, slimmer PS3 is official, finally! →

The ULTra Personal Pod cars will drive us into the future, today

Architecture, Images, Style, Technology, Video, , , , , , , , ,

 The ULTra (Urban Light Transit) Personal Pod “is an electric, battery-powered, 100-mpg-equivalent, elevate PRT (personal rapid transit) system.”  They are fully automated, so there is non need for a driver.  They drive around at up to 25 mph and can hold between 4-5 passengers at a time.  They run on a “special road network” that can be build near airports, office buildings, and universities.  The Pod itself has a very modern look and feel; it reminds me of the transportation pods used in “Minority Report.”  This may be the closest we ever get to an actual “flying car” (or a transportation medium that happens above on-ground traffic).  With the price of gas still fluctuating and the dependency on foreign fuel still an issue in the US, this new transportation system may be the key to a brighter future.  OK, that sounded like a creepy infomercial, but still!  The best news is that the first implementation of the system is scheduled to start later this year at the London Heathrow Airport.  Check out the video above to learn more about the Pod, and see the gallery below for some shots of what the futuristic and stylish system will look like if implementated in the real world.

[Via Engadget; ULTra PRT]

Music Video: The Guild – (Do You Wanna Date) My Avatar

Music, Video, Web Series, , , , , ,

Starring: Vincent Caso, Felicia Day, Jeff Lewis, Amy Okuda, Sandeep Parikh, Robin Thorsen

Directed by: Jed Whedon
Music by: Jed Whedon
Lyrics by: Felicia Day
Rap: Jeff Lewis and Sandeep Parikh
Backup Vocals: Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon

Purchase on:
AMAZON MP3: http://bit.ly/amazonavatar
ITUNES VIDEO: http://bit.ly/itunesvideo
Or download/watch for free on:
YOUTUBE LINK: http://bit.ly/datemyavatar
ZUNE VIDEO DOWNLOAD: http://bit.ly/i2ZtP
XBOX US MARKETPLACE: http://bit.ly/12NKEm

Music video of the year right here.  After a couple short hours it became the #1 music video sold in the  iTunes Store!  Watch it, love it.  Support The Guild by watching Season 3 starting August 25.  Never heard of The Guild?  Go to www.watchtheguild.com to learn more about the brilliant, well-written, and hilarious web series and catch-up with Seasons 1 & 2.  Great job, Felicia and Jed.  I cannot get this song out of my head.  (FYI, the MP3 version of the song will be made available on iTunes tomorrow.)

What’s fun & original? Shoot a webcam vid at an Apple Store!

Music, Video, , ,

 

YouTube user nicholifavs is a typical kid who makes webcam videos of himself lip-synching his favorite songs.  What makes him worthy of notice is the way he makes the videos.  He shoots and uploads all of his videos from the NYC 5th Ave. Apple Store!  He doesn’t care about the onlookers behind him, and it seems like the Apple Store employees don’t have a problem with it.  Check out his rendition of Boom Boom Pow above, and see his YouTube page for more.  Very original, man.  Keep it coming.

[Via Gizmodo]

Art from street lights and bugs

Art, Technology, Video, , ,

Flight Patterns by Charlie McCarthy.  This work of art was made by shooting “long exposures of bugs under a street light.”  Basically, McCarthy set up a camera on a tripod and let it record with a long shutter speed.  This is often used when capturing images at night time.  His simple idea of capturing bugs flying by a street light is mesmerizing.

[Via Gizmodo; Charlie McCarthy]

Meet CRISTAL, a touch-based controller for your living room

Technology, Video, , , , ,

CRISTAL, or “Control of Remotely Interfaced Systems using Touch-based Actions in Living spaces,” is very reminiscent of the Microsoft Surface in that it is controlled by touch-based gestures on a coffee table surface.  It is one of the coolest concept devices I have seen put to use.  CRISTAL allows you to control and manipulate various things in your living room space including TV, speakers, lights, a vacuum cleaner, and a digital picture frame.  The interface displayed on the table is a digital projection of your living room; it couldn’t be made any simpler.  To interact with your lights, for example, you can turn them on and off or even dim them with a sliding gesture on the table over the projected image of your actual lamp.  You can access your movie collection from a media server on the table.  You simply drag and drop a movie from the collection list to the table’s main interface; from there you can view the movie on the table itself, or–get this–you can drag the movie from the center of the table to the projected image of your TV and it will immediately play on your actual TV in your living room!  With photos, you can view and resize them directly on the table, and you can drag them to your TV or digital picture frame to view them on those devices.  And here’s my favorite feature: you can tell your miniature vacuum exactly where to go to clean up a mess by drawing a line from the vacuum to the messy destination.  Neat, huh?

Stacey Scott, assistant professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, member of the project: “We wanted a social aspect to activities such as choosing what to watch on TV and we wanted to make the process easy and intuitive.  “Every time you get a new device into the living room, you get a new remote with it.  And instead of difficult programmable universal remotes, this offers intuitive mapping of the different devices and home.”  Christian Müller-Tomfelde, an Australian table-top display researcher: “It is a clever use of the tabletop as a ‘world-in-miniature’ interface to control room elements.”

Müller-Tomfelde commented that it could take five to ten years before we see something like this be manufactured and made available for the general public.  As we have witnessed with Microsoft Surface, it can be very difficult to create and promote a table-top device with a steep price tag.  Scott approximated that if CRISTOL was put on the market today it would cost somewhere between $10,000-$15,000.  Today’s digital living room is packed with multiple devices that all perform different tasks.  A device like CRISTOL that can put the control of all those devices onto one central table-top with a user-friendly interface would be a very helpful and exciting addition to homes all around the world.

[Via Wired]

House Season 6 trailer

Television, Video, , , , , , ,

“What happens when the doctor becomes the patient?”

The two-hour Season 6 premiere of House premiere on September 21 at 8:00PM on FOX.  Look after the break for interview videos with the main cast including Hugh Laurie (House), Robert Sean Leonard (Wilson), Omar Epps (Foreman), and David Shore (creator).  They discuss the repurcussions of Season 5’s brilliant finale.  FYI, the song used in the trailer is “Grounds For Divorce” by Elbow.

Continue reading House Season 6 trailer →