New media entertainment company, d'strict, is pushing the concept of virtual reality to a new level with the "Live Park 4D World Tour," a new theme park that recently opened in South Korea. The park is comprised of 65 different attractions over a 10,000 sq. foot (929 sq m) space, which houses several large interactive displays as well as some installation art pieces. Visitors wear RFID wristbands that allow the displays to identify them, while Kinect sensors detect their movements, voices, and faces. Many of the attractions center around having users create an avatar of themselves that they can interact with and take on a virtual adventure, which is portrayed using 3D video, holograms, and augmented reality technology. ..
Continue Reading South Korea opens a Kinect-powered theme park
"Which Catalan postmodernist architect, known for his monumental buildings, said: 'Through my buildings, I want to receive the kind of adulation usually reserved for pop stars?'" If a night in round the kitchen table with five architecture enthusiasts answering questions like this doesn't appeal, you may wish to read no further. This is just one question from the Modern Architecture Boardgame from NEXT Architects, which pits fans of all things built and beautiful against one another, as they take it in turns to don the iconic round spectacles of Le Corbusier in the ultimate architectural trivia nerd-off. But which buildings do its six iconic playing pieces represent? Inquiring minds want to know...
Continue Reading Do you recognize the playing pieces in NEXT's Modern Architecture Boardgame?
A while back, OnLive released an app that allows its on-demand video game service to function through any Android device. While the service has been around awhile for use with computers and TVs, what makes the app unique is its ability to deliver games usually reserved for consoles and gaming PCs to many tablets and smartphones. The app could effectively turn any smart device into a portable game console that streams games like Netflix streams movies. That's all great as a concept, but the big question is how well it actually works. After spending some time with OnLive's app, it's clear that it isn't going to replace your console or gaming PC anytime soon, but it does offer a glimpse at the possible future of video games...
Continue Reading Review: OnLive Android app - the future of video games?
The rumor mill has been spinning about the next-generation XBox for some time, but Tuesday and Wednesday of this week saw first IGN, and then Kotaku, reveal what appears to be the first non-gaseous (if not concrete-solid) information from inside sources as to the machine's spec. It seems that the console (not officially called the 720, but the placeholder is convenient) will, IGN reports, be approximately six times as powerful as the current generation of consoles. Kotaku says the device will play Blu-Ray discs, and herald the arrival of Kinect 2. Worryingly, it also reports that there's a possibility that the machine will prevent owners from playing pre-owned games...
Continue Reading Insiders suggest XBox 720 will have six times the power, play Blu-Ray discs
As evidenced by the popularity of motion controlled fitness games ushered in by the Wii and followed by the PlayStation Move and Kinect, so called "exergaming" - the combining of exercise and video games - is a field that has grown rapidly in popularity in recent years. But if you don't want to shell out for a new console and already have an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, as well as a treadmill, elliptical machine or exercise bike laying about, then the new Fit Freeway app is designed to make working up a sweat a bit more fun...
Continue Reading The vibration-sensing, head-tracking Fit Freeway "exergaming" app
Home video game consoles can provide endless entertainment, but sadly aren't the most portable of devices and can be fairly fragile to boot. Traveling gamers know what a pain it can be to try and haul gaming equipment around for long trips, and that's without trying to find a TV to use wherever they go. GAEMS, Inc. may have a solution, though, with its rugged G155 case that can secure an Xbox 360 or PS3 along with the provided HD LED screen in one tidy, portable package...
Continue Reading GAEMS G155 case keeps your console protected and ready to play
Ever since the Nintendo 3DS proved that you don't need bulky glasses to watch video in 3D, smartphone and tablet makers have been systematically releasing their own glasses-free 3D devices with varying results. None of these however have incorporated the experience with console-like controls to play casual apps or streamed video games. That's where the WikiPad comes in, with its no-glasses 3D screen and attachable gamepad to give a more immersive gaming experience...
Continue Reading WikiPad first glasses-free 3D Android tablet with attachable game controller
Tablets may be the hot tech right now, but you wouldn't know it looking at the PC gaming sector. An iPad may be good for playing Angry Birds or any other casual app, but doesn't exactly have the horsepower to run the most recent, graphics-heavy titles. For that reason, Razer, the video game hardware developer, has designed a new concept tablet, unveiled at CES 2012, built expressly to play current PC games like a buffed out gaming rig...
Continue Reading Razer's tablet concept plays current games like a high-end PC
Taking an old computer or game console and modifying it for music isn't very new; it's even spawned its own style of music called "chiptunes." But most artists that do this end up standing behind a table while they perform, since that gear can take up quite a bit of room. So, like the keyboard player who looked at the guitarist and said, "Hey! I want to do that!" one musician has created a handheld musical instrument out of a 1970's game console. Australian chiptune artist, cTrix, crafted together an Atari 2600, some custom software, and various musical modifiers to build a standalone instrument that he calls the "gAtari 2600."..
Continue Reading gAtari 2600 turns game console into a handheld instrument
While the success of Apple’s iDevices has prompted a swathe of games perfectly suited to a touchscreen interface, many types of games suffer when making the transition from a controller-based interface. As a result we’ve seen a number of peripherals designed to add a physical controller to iOS devices, such as the GameBone Pro, iControlPad and low-tech JOYSTICK-IT. Those looking for a slightly more traditional input device for their mobile gaming needs now have another product to consider in the form of the 60beat GamePad...
Continue Reading 60beat GamePad brings console-like controls to iDevices
Four days on from Saturday's PlayStation Vita launch, a murky picture is emerging in the press of an embattled Sony eager to make amends for technical difficulties with their next generation handheld games console, including inoperative touch-screens and system crashes. However, Sony today denies widespread technical issues. ..
Continue Reading Embattled Sony denies PlayStation Vita launch issues
Let's face it, the audio tours in museums could use a technology upgrade. While listening to the facts and stories behind each exhibit read by a D-list celebrity is still a mainstay of any noteworthy museum or art gallery, the average cell phone today has more features than most of the audio devices visitors are given to carry around. It makes sense then that the Louvre in France, the world's most visited museum, is replacing its usual audio guides with a decidedly 21st-century gadget: the Nintendo 3DS. ..
Continue Reading Louvre will use the Nintendo 3DS as a tour guide
Anyone who has a attended a LAN party - where people connect their computers on one network in one location to play multiplayer games together - can tell you that they can be both very fun but also kind of a hassle. Playing games with your friends all in the same room: fun. Having to organize all your friends to each haul their usually-oversized gaming rigs to one person's house, ensuring they all have the same software, and inevitably dealing with one or more people having trouble connecting: not fun. With that in mind, it makes sense that one Google employee decided to bypass all that inconvenience and just build a house specifically for LAN parties, complete with multiple networked computers and TVs connected to game consoles. ..
Continue Reading Google engineer builds ultimate LAN party house
Tablets and smartphones may now be cemented as a solid platform for games, but there's still a big difference between the mostly casual games available in the Apple and Android markets and the titles aimed squarely at the hardcore gaming crowd. A large part of the issue is the hardware, since even the iPad 2 can barely hold a candle to the processing power of the Xbox 360 or PS3; and that's without even bringing up the capabilities of a modern gaming rig. The video game service, OnLive, however has found a way to bridge the two with its new app that delivers console and PC titles to portable devices and, more importantly, makes them playable...
Continue Reading OnLive app brings high-end PC and console games to tablets
A new service called Nextpeer has just become available for any iOS developer wishing to add multiplayer features to their single player game. Typically, when a mobile game developer wants social or multiplayer elements in its games - leaderboards, achievements, tournaments, etc. - it has to build them itself. Nextpeer eliminates this hassle by offering a free SDK that can bring these features and more into any game that uses it...
Continue Reading Nextpeer can add multiplayer to any iOS game
With Bethesda's latest game - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - still garnering a lot of buzz and racking up "Game of the Year" nominations less than a month after release, one might expect the video game developer to happily rest on its laurels for a moment. Luckily for the modding community, Bethesda is instead releasing its brand new Creation Engine for free to have the public do with as they wish. While it's not uncommon for a video game developer to give out its development tools, it is a little less common for those tools to be packed with a platform for distributing, rating, and even installing mods with a smartphone...
Continue Reading Skyrim devs releasing Creation Engine with new features for the modding community
What could be better than having your own arcade-style racing game? How about having your own arcade-style racing game with its own beer tap? The Octane 120 Pro Beer Arcade includes a wireless arcade control panel and 200 different games to satisfy all your gaming desires, along with a built-in keg to keep you hydrated. The arcade has a fully-adjustable steering wheel and seat, dual-motor force feedback, a 2-player control panel with built-in trackball, and a high-output HD projector. ..
Continue Reading Octane 120 Pro Beer Arcade combines beer and gaming together
The Xbox Kinect has certainly become a useful tool for innovation, with modders finding applications in medical imaging, robotics, and even aids for the visually impaired, to name just a few. Now it looks like you can add "topography" to that list with the development of the SandyStation. Created by two students in the Czech Republic, the SandyStation projects a realistic ecosystem over an ordinary sandbox, which can be altered in real-time. ..
Continue Reading Turning a sandbox into an ecosystem with the Xbox Kinect
When it comes to hardcore racing games, the trend seems to rest more on authenticity than portability, with controls ranging from a separate wheel and pedals to one arcade game in Japan that is literally a full-sized car. Hoping to offer a more compact alternative, SteelSeries has teamed up with game developer, Ignite Technologies, to create the Simraceway SRW-S1 Steering Wheel...
Continue Reading SteelSeries creates a pedal-free controller for PC racing games
As any barkeep will tell you, the bar/pub industry is a very competitive one, with business owners taking every opportunity they can to attract clientele to their establishments. If the usual approaches such as cheap drinks aren't doing enough on their own, however, now there's something else that may help draw the customers in ... or at least, into the men's washroom. It's called Captive Media, and it consists of urinal-mounted video game systems, where men control the gameplay by changing the trajectory of their urine stream from side to side. Hey, whatever it takes to make your watering hole Number 1, right?..
Continue Reading Gamers don't need to be a whiz to play new video game system
When I was a good bit younger, I wasted far too much of my spare time blowing up wave after wave of space rocks - and the occasional flying saucer - trying to get to the flip-over. Atari's most successful game, Asteroids, has now been given a futuristic make-over by eye-tracking and eye control specialist Tobii, developers of the impressive laptop prototype and the stand-alone PCEye system for Windows PCs. Built as a free-standing arcade game, EyeAsteroids players use only their eyes to aim and fire a laser at flying rocks and save the world from impending pulverization...
Continue Reading Tobii EyeAsteroids puts a modern spin on classic arcade game
Chances are, you will never get to try out the new 3D MiG flight simulator. If you have almost US$60,000 that has nothing better to do, however, you can now buy something almost as impressive – the OVO-4 Home Flight Simulator. The egg-shaped capsule contains a full simulated light aircraft cockpit, with three linked 24-inch monitors displaying the output of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X. Best of all, however, the capsule pitches and rolls according to what’s happening in the simulation – users presumably have to supply their own barf bags...
Continue Reading OVO-4 brings full-motion flight simulation to your rec room
Despite the bad press that gaming often gets, there is increasing evidence that it can have positive effects. We've already seen studies suggesting that video games improve decision making and put players in a more relaxed frame of mind, now there's more good news for parents whose offspring are video game junkies. Research out of Michigan State University suggests that 12 year olds who play video games tend to be more creative ... and the more they play the more creative they are. ..
Continue Reading Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock 'n' Roll
Simpsons-watchers may recall an episode in which Bart and Homer enter their homebuilt robot in a Robot Wars-like competition, but mayhem ensues and Homer ends up having to operate the fighting 'bot from inside its body. Its hard to say if the creators of Hammacher Schlemmer's Bionic Bopper Cars ever saw that episode, but it's entirely possible, as the basic idea is pretty much the same - two human operators each sit inside of a big wheeled robot, then pummel each other with their robots' arms...
Continue Reading Bionic Boppers put people in the fightin' robot's seat
There's something to be said about streaming content from your PC on the TV. The question is how do you get that content from the PC - and now tablets and phones - to your TV. The latest option from Philips is the Soundbar CSS5123, an Android-powered surround sound speaker that lets you stream content from any DLNA-enabled device...
Continue Reading Philips soundbar streams content via Android
While it's true that we've seen some gorgeous examples of modern amplification at Gizmag over the years, there's still something very pleasing to the eye about those that proudly display their tube circuit credentials, like the JoyVirtue TM-6 Tube-Amp AV Center. It's not just about looks, though. In spite of many, many advances in audio reproduction technology, enthusiasts still demand the warmth that vacuum tubes seem to give to an audio signal. One of the first tube amps I ever heard was an MC275 from McIntosh Laboratory way back in the mists of a misspent youth. The company is now celebrating the Golden Anniversary of its iconic amp with a very limited edition release...
Continue Reading McIntosh launches 50th Anniversary edition MC275 Tube Power Amplifier
One of the nice things about having a WiFi network in your home is the fact that you can enjoy online music anywhere in the house ... through a computer or mobile device. Now, however, you have the choice of instead placing Altec Lansing’s new LIVE 5000 Wi-Fi speaker wherever you wish, and listening to that same music through it. You can also wirelessly link together a string of the speakers in different rooms, and use them to either distribute the same music throughout the house, or play different music in different rooms...
Continue Reading Altec Lansing announces the LIVE 5000 Wi-Fi speaker at CES
The creators of the original TOOB (Think Out Of Box) have spent the last two years researching and developing what they call the “world's first affordable dome screen.” Dubbed "TOOB Earth," the 4 foot diameter mini-IMAX screen is big enough for two people to sit in front of and, while it will obviously grab the attention of gamers and film-fanatics, its makers also see applications for the screen in simulation, medicine and education. ..
Continue Reading TOOB personal dome screen revamped
Thanks to their simplicity, the home theater in a box (HTIB) has become a popular addition to the TV cabinet in many households. Looking to simplify things even further, California-based company in2technologies has unveiled its aptly named Unity Home Theater System at CES 2012 that unifies a HTIB with a TV stand. So instead of a tangle of cables snaking their way from the back of a TV stand to the TV, the Unity cleans things up with a single HDMI 1.4a cable...
Continue Reading Unity Home Theater System is a home theater in a TV stand
Larger screen OLED TVs have had us salivating at various electronics trade shows over the last couple of years and CES 2012 doesn't look like being any different. LG already announced it's intention to show a 55-inch OLED display in the lead up to the world's biggest consumer electronics show and now rival Samsung has unveiled its offering that has set our salivary glands into overdrive. Featuring the same 55-inch screen size as LG's unit, Samsung's Super OLED TV boasts the same eye-popping picture quality, super fast response times and ultra-thin form factor that is the hallmark of OLED technology...
Continue Reading Samsung unveils 55-inch Super OLED TV to be released later this year
Griffin Technology has given visitors to CES 2012 a quick preview of a new audio amplifier that uses Apple's Airport Express to offer untethered digital playback from iTunes through existing non-powered speakers. The low profile amp captures streaming audio from any AirPlay-enabled source, decodes it and then sends the lossless, amplified sound through the speakers...
Continue Reading Griffin provides sneak peek of Twenty Audio Amplifier for Airport Express
Now you don't necessarily need to own a “Smart TV” in order to get Android apps on your television. Always Innovating will be showing off its HDMI dongle at CES this week, a compact device that can turn any HDTV into a Smart TV. Essentially Always Innovating's HDMI Dongle is a portable version of a set-top box. The device is based on the Texas Instruments Cortex-A9 OMAP 4 ,which can run from 1GHz to 1.8GHz depending of the configuration, and offers 1GB of RAM as well as a micro SD card for local storage...
Continue Reading Always Innovating's HDMI dongle turns any HDTV into a "Smart" TV
Each January the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the venue for consumer electronics companies to unveil their upcoming goods as well as some milestone products. This year LG Electronics plans to show the world's largest OLED TV - a 55-inch display that's just 4 mm thin and weighs a mere 7.5 kg...
Continue Reading LG to show 55-inch OLED TV at CES
When Sony wanted to highlight the immersiveness of movies available on the Playstation Store, they turned to UK-based agencies Studio Output and Marshmallow Laser Feast to create a series of shorts around the theme "great films fill rooms." Using the Playstation Move, the production team shot a handful of scenes depicting an ordinary man going from his couch to flying above skyscrapers as a robot and fighting sea monsters. The best part: not a single aspect of these videos was added in the editing room. ..
Continue Reading Sony creates holodeck using Playstation Move and Eyetoy
With the advantage of no cables running around the corners of a room and the ability to play music from people’s ever-expanding digital music libraries, wireless speakers have become increasingly popular over recent years. So it’s not surprising to see Copenhagen-based company Libratone enter the U.S. market with a couple of Airplay-enabled speaker systems that can stream audio from iTunes libraries on a Mac or PC, as well as music stored on an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch...
Continue Reading Libratone enters U.S. market with Airplay-enabled wireless speaker systems
Releasing scents during the projection of a film reportedly predates the introduction of sound. One early attempt at "Smell-O-Vision" involved a wad of cotton soaked in rose oil being placed in front of an electric fan during a newsreel in 1906, but despite such experiments, this is one technology that just hasn't taken off ... although the quest to add an extra olfactory experience to movies and, more recently, video games continues. This latest effort comes from French company Olf-Action which has created SMELLIT - a device designed to bring an aromatic dimension to your video game and movie experiences...
Continue Reading SMELLIT takes another stab at Smell-O-Vision for games and movies
The tiny Redbox kiosks are sprouting up everywhere, but is the company planning on firing its next shot at Netflix? Its first shot was directly responsible for crippling Blockbuster. Now, it's offering unlimited movie streaming for less than four dollars a month...
Continue Reading Can Redbox steal marketshare from Netflix with unlimited movie streaming?
While you might be tempted to think the Wall of Sound is one of the biggest music player docks you've ever seen, it doesn't quite live up to the huge proportional potential of the iTree iPhone and iPod docking station from Austrian design house KMKG STUDIO. The dock is carved from a simple tree trunk, its rear-mounted speakers are pointed towards a wall to reflect the audio and the wood serves to resonate the sound in a similar fashion to a piano or violin...
Continue Reading iTree could be the world's largest iPhone dock
Logitech has revealed the Harmony Link, its latest addition to the Harmony line of accessories, which until now mostly included universal remote controls. Featuring a hockey puck-like design, the Harmony Link requires a home WiFi network and the free Logitech Harmony Link App. When installed on an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch or an Android-based device, it enables IR-based remote operation of up to eight home-entertainment devices...
Continue Reading Logitech Harmony Link turns an iOS or Android device into a universal remote
Philips has been teasing us with the promise of the 58-inch 3D capable Platinum Series Cinema 21:9 TV since IFA 2010, but the company finally looks set to deliver. Showing off the new set at IFA 2011, Philips revealed plans to launch the cinema-proportioned TV in September. The Platinum series boasts an ultra-wide 21:9 (2.39:1) aspect ratio and 2,560 x 1080p pixel resolution panel...
Continue Reading Philips updates Cinema 21:9 line with 58-inch Platinum series
New models of televisions are certainly plentiful at IFA 2011, but one of the stand-outs so far has been the German-made Metz Primus 55 3D Media twin R ... evidently, they couldn't just call it something like the Trinitron. The long-named TV is able not only to show 3D content, but can also convert 2D content into 3D. Additionally, it has a built-in digital recorder, it can record to USB drives, and it can display film, photo and music files from an unlimited number of other digital devices in its users' home...
Continue Reading Metz lets loose its Primus 55 3D Media twin R TV
Toshiba has taken the wraps off a 55-inch, 16:9 ratio LED backlit TV with glasses free 3D capability and Quad Full HD resolution. That's a massive 3,840 x 2,160 pixels, or in other words, four times as many pixels as a 1920 x 1080p TV. We've just checked out the Toshiba 55ZL2 on the floor at IFA and the consensus is that it looks great. ..
Continue Reading Toshiba's 55-inch, Ultra HD, glasses-free 3D TV
Pioneer has announced two new members of its Elite Series of AV receivers, which are said to be the most powerful home theater amplifiers the company has ever produced. The similar-looking SC-55 and SC-77 9.1 channel receivers both feature a new Class D digital amplifier, capable of delivering huge audio output while drawing much less power than traditional models. They also benefit from Marvell Qdeo video processors, and technology that automatically tweaks the output depending on which display is chosen...
Continue Reading Pioneer launches powerful Elite SC series AV receivers
Although B&W's Zeppelin is a great way to listen to the audio on your iDevice while charging its battery, it can only dock one at a time. JVC has announced a sleek new speaker dock that can accommodate both an iPad and an iPhone/iPod at the same time...
Continue Reading JVC's new dock has room for iPad and iPhone at the same time
I think it's fair to say that many music loving mobile device users are left somewhat wanting when it comes to built-in speakers. Listening to audio either involves having to wear cumbersome earphones or sacrificing device usability to plonk it in a dedicated docking station. You can, of course, just dock your device in Soundfreaq's new Sound Step speaker and top up the battery while listening or you could keep your mobile device where it should be - in your hands. Thanks to Bluetooth connectivity, users can stream audio directly to the speaker while enjoying lots of multitasking action on the device itself...
Continue Reading Soundfreaq announces Sound Step speakers
For the last few weeks, there has been a ripple of a rumor that Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) was about to release a new product, and now the company has come clean and revealed its new PM1 bookshelf speaker. Designed by Morten Warren's Native - the same people responsible for work on the iconic Zeppelin docks - the new mini-monitors have been veritably crammed with high-end audio technology including a newly designed tapering tweeter, new bass/midrange driver dampening technology, and a shake-resistant internal structure known as Matrix...
Continue Reading B & W launches the PM1 mini-monitor
Nintendo has announced that its Wii U gaming console will not feature a Blu-ray drive, and will instead stick to a proprietary disc format. Patent fees related to the technology are too high, the company explained. The Wii U will, however, compete with existing consoles in terms of hardware - it is equipped with a customized CPU from IBM and a GPU from AMD, and is rumored to be 50 percent faster than PS3 and Xbox 360...
Continue Reading Nintendo Wii U faster than PS3 and Xbox 360, but no Blu-ray on board
While advocates proclaim the superior immersive qualities of 3D, the current crop of 3D TVs can actually have the opposite effect on many people by giving the impression of peering into a box filled with tiny - albeit 3D - people. Design and advertising firm NAU proposes a different solution with its latest concept dubbed the Immersive Cocoon that looks to provide the sense of immersion without the 3D...
Continue Reading Futuristic immersive cocoon concept puts viewers in the picture
The Telikin is a new touchscreen family computer designed to make everyday tasks as easy as possible. It is clearly aimed at the older user, which explains why its most vaunted features are social in nature, and make a lot of sense for grandparents with distant relatives. Video chat (thanks to a built-in camera), photo sharing and email are first among its advertised features - all of which come ready to use out of the box, provided an internet connection is available, of course...
Continue Reading Telikin touch-PC targets the gray dollar
Change your password day falls February 1 (tomorrow, in other words), and it's a day as good as any other to add some beefy heft to your online security regimen. One thing to strongly consider, if you haven't done so already, is to apply unique passwords across all your log-ins. That might sound daunting, but tools now exist that make it unnecessary to remember a password again. Unfortunately, a lot of the password management software out there isn't as painless as it might be, with cluttered interfaces full of empty text fields asking for a wealth of unnecessary information. And often, they don't come cheap. But there is another, simpler way - one that involves encrypted text files and painless data-syncing...
Continue Reading Embracing forgetfulness, or taking the pain out of passwords (Mac and iOS)
Consumer-level 3D printing technology has moved ahead in leaps and bounds in recent years with the release of devices such as the Thing-o-Matic, the Replicator and Cubify 3D printers. Proponents of the technology envision a not-too-distant future where users will be able to download designs and print everything from car parts to ... well, a new and improved 3D printer. The folks at The Pirate Bay are obviously on board with this idea. The file-sharing site better known for allowing users to share multimedia, games and software via BitTorrent has now added a new "Physibles" category. The new category will contain digital files for objects that can be physically created using a 3D printer...
Continue Reading The Pirate Bay launches “Physibles” category for 3D printable objects
This morning at New York City's Guggenheim Museum, Apple announced the launch of its iBooks 2 for iPad system. The technology is intended to replace traditional paper school textbooks with interactive digital textbooks, that students would access on their own personal iPads. Educational publishers including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill and Pearson will supply content on the iBookstore, with most titles priced at no more than US$14.99. Mac users will also be able to create their own digital textbooks, using the authoring tool, iBooks Author...
Continue Reading Apple announces iBooks 2 and iTunes U educational apps
Eye control innovator Tobii introduced and demonstrated its latest eye control technology at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Gaze interface for Windows 8 is said to take advantage of the operating system's large tile layout to offer users a superior interaction experience, that neither touch nor mouse alone can provide...
Continue Reading Tobii demonstrates Gaze Interface for Windows 8 at CES
Design consultancy and BMW Group subsidiary DesignworksUSA has been collaborating on projects with PC case and components manufacturer Thermaltake on various projects, such as the Level 10 concept PC, since 2009. Now the two have teamed up again with Thermaltake asking DesignworksUSA to develop a series of design concepts for its upcoming range of Level 10 gaming accessories that will be created for its e-sports division. The first product out of the blocks is the Level 10 M Mouse that gamers will be able to get their palms on later this year...
Continue Reading Thermaltake's Level 10 M Mouse exposes itself to serious gamers
Not all that long ago the availability of a 1TB solid state drive (SSD) was big news, now you can fit them in your pocket … or in this case, your pocket-knife. Shown last week at CES, the Victorinox SSD features two interchangeable bodies - one with traditional Swiss Army Knife blade, scissors and nail file/screw driver combo, plus a second flight-friendly casing without any pointy bits. When the 1 TB model hits the market later this year Victorinox says it will be the world’s smallest high-capacity SSD drive available … but it won't come cheap...
Continue Reading Victorinox packs a 1 TB SSD into a pocket-knife
The bloggers among you will be aware of that ongoing, nagging, internal monologue as to whether our chosen blogging platform offers the optimal combination of features, cost and reliability for our particular blend of needs. Depending on where that silent debate presently rests, you may be either pleased or frustrated to hear that another contender - scriptogr.am - has entered the fray, though it's one with a markedly different take on the very process blogging, using text files from a user's Dropbox account to generate a simple, elegant weblog...
Continue Reading scriptogr.am generates elegant weblogs from Dropbox-stored text files
The PC and Mac advocates have been debating for years over which is superior, with good arguments on both sides; but a third, often overlooked camp exists: people who use both. If you're in that group, then you know how frustrating it can be to have the perks of both machines, but the downside of few easy options for sharing files or peripherals between the two. That's why tech manufacturer j5create has rolled out the Wormhole Switch and the Wormhole Station, which allow file transfers between PC, Mac, Android, and iOS, as well as keyboard and mouse sharing...
Continue Reading Wormhole Station connects Windows to Mac to Android to iOS
Despite being introduced almost a year ago on Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup, the Thunderbolt interface hasn’t really seen as much love from peripheral makers as we would have expected. While there have been a few Thunderbolt-equipped peripherals hitting the market, it’s been more of a trickle than a flood. Belkin is no doubt also hoping the range of Thunderbolt devices will increase in the near future to make it’s upcoming Thunderbolt Express Dock, which was unveiled today at CES, a more compelling purchase. ..
Continue Reading Belkin unveils new Thunderbolt Express Dock at CES
AOC, the makers of a range of USB monitors including the16-inch E1649FWU USB monitor, has upped the screen size for its latest USB-powered offering. The new e2251Fwu boasts a 22-inch LED backlit display and receives both power and signal solely through a USB connection. The single USB cable connection is designed to make hooking yourself up with a dual- or multi-monitor setup a simple plug-and-play affair and appeal to those looking to take a second monitor on the road to accompany their laptop...
Continue Reading AOC ups the screen size to 22-inches for its latest USB monitor
AMD has taken the wraps of the Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. Billed as the world's fastest single GPU graphics card and the only GPU based on 28nm production technology, the new arrival pushes AMD ahead of NVIDIA in terms of miniaturization. The HD 7970 uses a new Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture that AMD says results in a 150 percent performance/sq mm jump over the previous 40nm-based generation, is compatible with PCI Express 3.0 and features 3GB of GDDR5 memory and 925MHz engine clock. It also supports Direct3D 11.1 to be released with Windows 8...
Continue Reading AMD Radeon HD 7970 unveiled as world's first 28nm GPU
Just when you think that USB Flash storage can't possibly get any smaller, a company pops up with something so tiny that you're going to need the corded fob to make sure you don't lose it. Dutch promotional product manufacturer Deonet - maker of a diamond-studded Golden USB memory stick and an FSC-certified, maple-enclosed Eco Wood drive - has announced just such a portable storage solution, and is the latest to claim the title of the world's smallest USB stick...
Continue Reading Deonet announces world's smallest USB memory stick
When it comes to big screen all-in-one computers, Apple's iMac seems to rule the roost. PC users have plenty of choice at smaller screen sizes but there's a bit of a gap at the 27-inch end of the space-saving format. ASUS has finally introduced its ET2700 All-in-One PC Series to fill the void. Available with up to Core i7 processing power and up to 2TB of onboard storage, the new AIO models are also said to be the first in the world to offer 10-point multi-touch display interaction...
Continue Reading ASUS unveils ET2700 All-in-One PC with 10-point multi-touch display
Alienware, Dell's subsidiary responsible for designing gamer-centric PCs, has updated its lineup of desktop PCs with the Alienware Aurora R4. Like all Alienware offerings, the specs are customizable with the Aurora R4 offering a choice of Intel Core i7 3000-series six-core CPUs, dual high-end GPUs from AMD or NVIDIA and up to four HDDs or SSDs. It's also equipped with liquid CPU cooling, active venting and an easily openable micro ATX chassis with external and internal lighting, while the famous alien head logo serves as a power button. ..
Continue Reading Dell launches Alienware Aurora gaming rig
The combined computer and guitar amp introduced by Orange Amps last year - and which subsequently found itself being used in a successful Guinness World Record attempt by fingerboard speed king Tiago Della Vega - has just had some of its internals upgraded, and been given a bit a price cut, too. The Windows 7 OPC is now available with up to Core i7 processing power and 8GB of DDR3 RAM, USB 3.0 port connectivity and hundred of dollars worth of bundled music-related software...
Continue Reading Orange Amps upgrades OPC specs, reduces cost
Just when you thought that you still had loads of room on the 1TB of storage in your PC or Mac, another holiday season comes around and tempts you to capture all the antics at the office party in multi-megapixel clarity, or record high definition movies of loved ones as they excitedly rip through reams and reams of wrapping paper. Suddenly your monster hard drive starts to look somewhat elf-like. Hitachi GST (Global Storage Technologies) has unveiled two new hard disk storage solutions of gargantuan capacity that may well help to alleviate some of those storage woes. Both center around the same 4TB Deskstar 5K4000 HDD - with one being prepped for internal use, and the other given a nice outer jacket and USB 3.0 connectivity...
Continue Reading Hitachi GST outs two new 4TB HDD storage solutions
Unveiled more than three years ago, the Optimus Popularis keyboard has been finally made available for pre-order at Art. Lebedev design studio's website. Each key of the Popularis incorporates a tiny LCD running at 64 x 64 pixels resolution and can display any chosen image (or even an animation), performing any function assigned by the user. Art. Lebedev is also taking orders for the Optimus mini six external keyboard which offers six programmable LCD keys...
Continue Reading Art. Lebedev's Popularis and mini six keyboards up for pre-order
Recent days have seen the release of AOC's catchily-named E1649FWU display. Its name isn't important. What is important is that this is a portable 15.6 inch 16:9 LED display with a maximum resolution of 1366x768 at 60 Hz. Most impressive is that the e-fwoo (as I'm calling it) is solely USB 2.0-driven, which means a single cable, connected plug and play to your computer, for video signal and power...
Continue Reading AOC releases 15.6-inch portable USB display
Google Chrome has pulled into second place in the browser war according to website analytics company StatCounter. Chrome now has 25.69 percent of the market while Firefox has 25.23 percent. Both browsers are trailing the Internet Explorer which still owns 40.63-percent of the market...
Continue Reading Google's Chrome browser surging past Firefox
There are basically two groups of users that require the most advanced, ergonomic and multitask-capable input peripherals - hardcore gamers and professionals working with sophisticated software. 3Dconnexion has updated its lineup of 3D mice aimed at the latter group of users with the SpaceMouse Pro. The new arrival is equipped with six-degrees-of-freedom sensor for manipulating 3D objects, 15 programmable keys and an on-screen display...
Continue Reading 3Dconnexion updates professional mouse lineup with SpaceMouse Pro
Even though computers were supposed to usher in a paperless society, the fact is that for some things, people still like the simplicity and durability of printed text. Now more than ever, though, we’re being told to cut back on unnecessary paper use. Well, that’s where the Little Printer comes in. Announced today by UK tech company BERG, the small box-shaped device is designed to search the internet using user-defined criteria, then print off a cash register receipt-like mini newspaper upon request. Users can then stuff that printout in their pocket, jam it into their wallet, or use the back of it for their next shopping list...
Continue Reading Little Printer prints tiny personalized ticker tape "newspapers"
Released in mid-2010, Seagate's Momentus XT combined performance approaching that of a solid state drive (SSD) with the storage capacity and cheaper price of a traditional platter-based hard disk drive (HDD) in a laptop-friendly 2.5-inch form factor. It accomplished this by combining a traditional 7200 RPM HDD and a 4 GB SLC NAND solid state memory module in the one unit. Now Seagate has begun shipping the second generation of the Momentus XT that it says is its fastest ever consumer level drive...
Continue Reading Seagate offers best of both worlds with second gen Momentus XT hybrid solid state/hard drive
We've been keeping one eye on aspirational social network Diaspora since its inception, and now that it's rolling out the invitations ahead of its forthcoming Beta, and having apparently addressed the security issues of the past, we took the Alpha for a spin. The first thing that strikes you is just how much the user interface resembles that of Google+, from its three-column layout, down to the specific content of those columns and more besides. But given the gradual rollout of the Diaspora Alpha it may not be immediately clear to new users just who is mimicking whom...
Continue Reading Spot the difference: Diaspora vs. Google+
CompuLab has taken the time between announcing its fit-PC3 back in January and actually releasing it to give the low power, fanless mini computer a bit of a redesign. There's more processing and graphics power on offer, support for more memory, two casing designs and something the company has called the FACE Module, which alters the system's I/O capabilities to suit different needs...
Continue Reading CompuLab's fit-PC3 gets redesigned and released
Digital camera technology has just taken a huge leap forward with the development of a microdisplay panel that's millions of pixels beyond what is currently used in the highly detailed electronic viewfinders of Fujifilm's most recent X-series cameras (X-S1/X-Pro1), and more than double the panels in Sony's latest alpha and NEX cameras. MicroOLED's new bright and detailed, low power OLED panel has been viewed by a number of industry pundits as the final nail in the coffin of the optical viewfinder...
Continue Reading MicroOLED introduces 5.4 million pixel camera display
I can't help but wonder whether Nikon has been waiting for temperatures in my part of the northern hemisphere to dip below zero before announcing additions to its appropriately-named COOLPIX range of compact digital cameras. Probably not, but all nine models are released this month and include a new line aimed at today's family, some with built-in GPS, and a powerful new ultra-zoom...
Continue Reading New batch of Nikon COOLPIX cameras unveiled
Sony has announced that two new cameras will soon be joining its Cyber-shot compact range. Both the WX70 and WX50 feature enhanced sensitivity, 5x Optical Zoom and full HD video recording bolstered by improved image stabilization...
Continue Reading Latest Cyber-shot cameras boast enhanced low-light shooting
With the launch of the iPro lens system, Schneider Optics has decided it's ready for a piece of the iPhone lens-attachment market. The product centers on a robust aluminum case, to which separate fisheye and wide-angle lenses can be attached, as can a tripod, via the provided adaptor...
Continue Reading iPro lens provides fisheye for the iPhone guy
Remember Lomography's LomoKino we featured back in November? It's an uber-faux-retro film camera that can shoot about a minute of 3-5 frames-per-second footage using any old 35 mm stills film. Well, Lomography have now released the LomoKino SmartPhone Holder which, though you mightn't have guessed by the name, is a means of digitizing your LomoKino movies using only your smartphone (*cough* by which they mean iPhone *cough*). Cunningly, it's done without need of an app...
Continue Reading New smartphone accessory digitizes your LomoKino movies
Amateur or low-budget videographers who want to smooth out their shaky handheld camera work have for some time now had the option of using the Smoothee, a simple rig made by none other than Steadicam. The product is intended for use with pocket camcorders and smartphones, however, which kind of leaves DSLR-users in the lurch. Well, those people now have a new affordable stabilizing system of their own, in the form of the Cam Caddie Scorpion...
Continue Reading Cam Caddie is like a budget Steadicam for your DLSR
We've seen some pretty small cameras in our day, but the “Eye of America” is certainly the largest. The 35-foot camera can barely fit in a tractor trailer, and can capture photos so detailed that it will put even some of the most the high-end of digital cameras to shame. The giant camera is being built by photographer Dennis Manarchy as part of his “Vanishing Cultures” project. For the project, Manarchy plans to travel to all 50 states with a view to creating a collection of photos and stories that “celebrates the full cycle of the American experience.”..
Continue Reading Gigantic 35-foot camera takes negatives larger than most people
So, you don't like the way your head is almost touching the top of the frame in that one photo? Or, perhaps you think that shot of the horse in the field would look more majestic if it were wider. Well, now you can insert a slot of sky above you, or a couple of side columns of extra grassy field, using Adva-Soft's AntiCrop app. As long as the background is fairly homogenous (sky, grass, sand, water, etc.) the software will automatically add more of it, in whichever direction you wish...
Continue Reading AntiCrop expands your photos by creating more background
Japanese electronics manufacturer Cerevo might already be known to some readers for its Cerevo Camera Live. Released in May of 2010, the video camera is able to stream content live to Ustream, without the need of a linked computer. That's all very well and good, but what about all of us with other makes and models of video cameras who want to "go live"? Cerevo is now addressing them with its Live Shell module. The device hooks up to an existing camera, then sends its video and audio output directly to Ustream...
Continue Reading Camcorder device allows for live, computer-free video streaming
Canada's Tamaggo Inc. previewed an egg-shaped photographic device at this year's CES that's claimed to capture navigable high resolution 360-degree panoramas of its surroundings with a single click. Rather than stitch together lots of different photos taken one after the other in quick succession, the Tamaggo 360-Imager would appear to do for photography what lens attachments like the GoPano micro did for iPhone video. I say appear to do because the device on show in Las Vegas was a non-functioning prototype, so we've yet to see what the technology can actually do...
Continue Reading Tamaggo 360-Imager captures all round action with a single click
Be it on increasingly powerful dedicated camcorders or via a smartphone, capturing hours (and hours and hours …) of video has never been easier or cheaper. That’s both a blessing and a curse, as even though you’re more likely to capture something worthwhile at some point, at the editing stage you’ll also have to wade through more crap to get to the good stuff. This can be time consuming to say the least and many just don’t bother, preferring to upload the whole kit and caboodle to their video-sharing site of choice. Now there’s an iPhone app called Magisto that is designed to take care of the editing for you and increase the chances of someone actually sitting through the video of Aunt Maude’s birthday dinner...
Continue Reading Magisto automated video editor might make family video nights more bearable
While once a standard, you'd be hard-pressed to find an 8mm film camera today outside of a second-hand shop or eBay. If still want the look of the vintage camera in your video, however, one company Fuuvi has created an alternative: the Fuuvi Bee. Modeled after a traditional 8 mm movie camera, the pint-sized Bee captures video at 640 x 480 pixels and 30fps, with the ability to capture 100 minutes of video on a single charge...
Continue Reading Fuuvi takes movies retro with pint-sized Bee digital 8mm camera
As someone who spends a good deal of time taking photographs of new consumer technology, only to subsequently enjoy hours of tedium touching up my snaps in image manipulation software, I have to admit to being pretty excited by the new 3D PhotoBench 260 from Ortery Technologies. Shown at CES 2012 this week, the desktop photography studio is claimed to be the first system in the world to take product shots or create 360 degree Flash/HTML 5 animations with a pure white background...
Continue Reading Ortery Technologies shows 3D Pure White Background photography system
About eighteen months ago, SanDisk revealed the world's fastest 32GB SDHC media card, pushing the format's data transfer speeds up to a rather lively 30 megabytes per second (MB/s). Since then, the SDXC standard has been let loose on the world, with the promise of theoretical capacities of anything up to 2TB and file transfer rates up to 104 MB/s for the UHS-I flavor and 312MB/s for UHS-II. While we're not quite there yet, SanDisk is again claiming the "world's fastest" crown with its new 128GB Extreme SDXC UHS-I card, which boasts read/write speeds of up to 45 MB/s...
Continue Reading Sandisk reveals world's fastest 128GB SDXC Card
With most people happy to make do with camera phones for their digital image snapping needs in the majority of situations and the quality of such devices improving markedly in recent years, makers of dedicated consumer-level cameras face an increasingly tough row to hoe. At CES 2012, Polaroid has announced its SC1630 Smart Camera that attempts to blur the lines between a camera phone and dedicated camera with its smartphone-like form factor and being one of the first dedicated cameras to run on Android...
Continue Reading Polaroid's Android-powered, 16-megapixel Smart Camera
Panasonic has now priced its new twin-lens 2D/3D camcorder - the HDC-Z10000, which is said to achieve the industry's nearest close-up for a twin-lens 3D camcorder of approximately 17.7 inches (45 cm). The CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Awards Honoree features the company's unique Double 3MOS System for color and detail reproduction, has a high resolution electronic viewfinder and an LCD panel which cater for glasses-free 3D viewing, and is Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound-capable...
Continue Reading Panasonic HDC-Z10000 3D camcorder gets pricing and availability
Many readers will perhaps know Liquid Image for its HD Scuba Series dive masks, that feature a built-in video camera for recording hands-free underwater footage. The California-based company also makes ski and ATV goggles, which likewise capture the action from the shooter’s point of view. Recently, however, the designers at LI decided that they should also offer a camera that can be mounted on things like handlebars, roll bars, surfboards, or even a good ol’ tripod – so that “extreme videographers” can get shots of themselves, to add to their adrenaline-pumping masterpieces. The result is a tiny HD video camcorder appropriately enough named the EGO, and it was unveiled this week in Las Vegas at CES...
Continue Reading Liquid Image announces powerful, pint-sized full HD actioncam at CES
When Fujifilm unveiled its new line-up ahead of CES 2012, there was a feeling among enthusiasts that the company was holding something back. Sure enough, the Japanese photography behemoth has now pulled back the curtain to reveal a new interchangeable lens digital camera system called the X-Pro1. The 16 megapixel camera will be initially joined by three prime lenses when made available next month, with more to follow later on. It features a number of new digital photography developments, including a brand new sensor, a film-like color filter array and the second generation hybrid multi viewfinder first seen in the FinePix X100...
Continue Reading Fujifilm announces X-Pro1 interchangeable lens camera system
This year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is fast approaching, and the North American wing of Japanese photography giant Fujifilm is celebrating with the launch of 19 new digital cameras. Our team on the ground will be nudging through the crowds to get a closer look at some (if not all) of the new cameras on offer, but here's a quick spec overview to whet your appetite...
Continue Reading Fujifilm announces new digital camera line-up ahead of CES 2012 showing
Who says all the good stuff has to be announced at CES? It's just a few days before the show, and Nikon has taken the wraps off its newest flagship DSLR - the Nikon D4. The 16-megapixel camera has been optimized for “speed and precision,” with a number of new features to make the camera both faster and to improve its overall image quality over its predecessor. The D4 has an ISO range from 100 to 204,800, allowing it to capture crisp photos in exceptionally low-light situations, a faster shutter speed that allows it to capture photos at 10 frames-per-second, and the ability to capture 1080p high definition video. ..
Continue Reading Nikon debuts the D4, its new flagship 16.2-megapixel DSLR
Samsung has unveiled its latest DualView compact camera. The range, which kicked-off in 2009 with the release of the TL225 and TL220 models, packs front and rear LCD displays so photographers can get themselves in the picture without the hit and miss framing that results from holding the camera at arm's length. The new DV300F is the first in the DualView line to include Wi-Fi connectivity to allow users to cut out the middleman and email shots or upload them to their social media site of choice directly from the camera. ..
Continue Reading Samsung adds Wi-Fi-packing DV300F to DualView lineup
Those cheeky gear hackers at the Magic Lantern team have announced a very interesting upgrade to their custom Canon firmware mod. As of tomorrow, owners of 550D, 600D and 60D DSLR cameras will be able to use a very cool new tool to shoot video in HDR, meaning that you can capture scenes where the lights would normally be too bright and the shadows too dark to get a workable exposure level. Check out the demo video after the jump...
Continue Reading Magic Lantern announces free HDR video firmware for Canon DSLRs
Along with GI Joes, Slinkies and Sea Monkeys, View-Masters are probably one of the most-remembered childhood products of the past few generations. Even if you yourself never got the chance to flip through disks of still images using one of the manually-operated stereoscopic viewers, chances are you at least knew someone who did. Well, now that you're all grown-up, you have the chance not only to relive your childhood by buying a View-Master-like Image3D viewer, but also to create a reel of your own photos to view in it. As a ten year-old, you would have thought that was pretty amazing...
Continue Reading Image3D lets you create your own View-Master-esque photo reels
If nothing else, the iPhone 4’s ability to shoot 1080p high-def video has certainly done one thing – provided inventors with things to make. There is currently what could almost be described as a gold rush, as products are being designed to augment the smartphone’s camera, to the point that it could be used for all of the same things as traditional, stand-alone video cameras. Some of these innovations have included interchangeable lenses, a mini SteadiCam, and a rugged helmet-mount system. Now, an underwater housing system for the iPhone 4 and 4S is in the works, which will allow users to shoot undersea video at depths of up to 100 feet (30.5 meters)...
Continue Reading Heavy-duty housing lets iPhone shoot video deep beneath the sea
We've been hearing about trillions in the news so much lately, it's easy to become desensitized to just what a colossal number that is. Recently, a team of brilliant researchers at MIT's Media Lab (ML) built an imaging system capable of making an exposure every picosecond- one trillionth of a second. Just how fast is that? Why, a thousand times faster than a nanosecond, of course. Put another way, one picosecond is to one second as one second is to about 31,700 years. That's fast. So fast, in fact, this system can literally slow down light itself and it does so in a manner unlike any other camera...
Continue Reading New MIT video camera shoots a trillion frames per second
