You like video games, right? If you’re the type that takes game-playing more seriously than your average Joe, the PX5 might have caught your eye when we previewed this headset at CES this year. Now they’re available for purchase, and we’ve been playing our hearts out, cans on ears. Is this gaming headset worth shelling out $250 for? Hit the review and find out! Gallery: Turtle Beach Earforce PX5 gaming headset hands-on preview Continue reading Turtle Beach Ear Force PX5 review Turtle Beach Ear Force PX5 review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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After years of losses in its PS3 division, it’s no surprise that Sony’s not attempting a fiscal encore. Just the opposite, in fact. Massaru Kato, Sony’s Chief Financial Officer, stated recently that the upcoming NGP handheld won’t be as “investment heavy” as previous platforms. What does this mean? Sony probably won’t pour cash into developing new semiconductors just for its new handheld, and will instead opt to build NGP hardware with off-the-shelf and readily available components. This could translate to competitive pricing verses Nintendo’s 3DS (we hope), but it’s all quiet on the pricing front at Sony HQ. That’s liable to change at E3 next week, but regardless we’d rather not have to wait four years just to hear Yoshida’s good news again. NGP to be less ‘investment heavy,’ more ‘affordable’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 18:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Antares ATG-6 brings auto-tune to the guitar, can’t retroactively save Lil’ Wayne’s SNL solo
May 30, 2011 No Comment
Antares ain’t the first company to provide individual control to each string on a guitar (hello, Roland!), but the outfit’s new ATG-6 technology takes things one step closer to being acceptable by the mainstream. Rather than forcing users to process separate string signals via an external device, this here rendition aims to tuck everything within the body. In the demo just past the break, a Seymour Duncan HEX pickup is used, and while it’s connected via a MIDI cable, it’s most certainly not a MIDI guitar — that’s strictly used for control. It’s also worth pointing out a key quote from Antares product manager Max Mobley — he’s using a $99 guitar “with about $40,000 worth of technology inside of it,” giving us the impression that this is nowhere near mass commercialization. Rather than using auto-tune to utterly destroy the genuineness of music (and produce one of the most hilarious Bud Light commercials to date), these axes are hoping to provide legitimate guitarists with added functionality; things like flawless intonation and bolstered tonal flexibility. The system is reportedly capable of constantly monitoring the pitch of each individual string to ensure that every riff and lick is in tune, but it’s smart enough to back off when you want to manually manipulate things. We’re told to hang tight for more details, but for now, we’d invite you to have a glance at the company’s current progress (and a brutal flashback from 2008) below. Continue reading Antares ATG-6 brings auto-tune to the guitar, can’t retroactively save Lil’ Wayne’s SNL solo Antares ATG-6 brings auto-tune to the guitar, can’t retroactively save Lil’ Wayne’s SNL solo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 hits Best Buy’s site, decorative Androids fall off in the process
May 30, 2011 No Comment
Remember the Android tablet we said might be the first real competitor to the iPad 2 earlier this month ? Well, it just made its debut on the Best Buy site, and while the big “Coming Soon” button has crushed our dreams of pre-ordering one today, the site is offering up a few more details on the thing — or at least some confirmation of what we already knew . For one thing, it looks like the system will indeed pack Android 3.1, unlike the version we tested, which was rocking the 3.0.1. Also, on a more disappointing note, the adorable Android army on the model we picked up at Google I/O is gone, with a plain white back in its place, unlike the black one we were expecting — perhaps Samsung will offer up both color options when the device actually ships. In the meantime, we’ll see if we can find the number of a good laser engraver. [Thanks, Jeff] Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 hits Best Buy’s site, decorative Androids fall off in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 16:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Modder turns candy canisters into gaming console, retro Pong paddles (video)
May 30, 2011 No Comment
This is the second time this week we’ve covered a modder getting an old-school game to run with the help of some unexpected hardware. And arguably, it’s the simpler of the two tales. A fellow named John Graham-Cumming fashioned a game console out of little more than a pair of metal canisters, an Arduino Pro board, and a potentiometer — all so he could play Pong on his TV. The rig (cutely dubbed the Cansole) actually consists of two controllers, with the secondary one housing just a potentiometer. The first has one, too, but also houses the Arduino Pro , along with a battery, A/V controls, and a button for selecting and firing in the game. Et voil
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There’s a saying ’round the webOS world… something to the effect of “it’s impossible to brick a webOS device.” Turns out, that’s hardly the case these days — the newfangled Touch to Share technology that’s tucked into the latest round of HP devices is mighty fickle, and one Rob Whitby has somehow managed to turn his Veer 4G into a bantam paperweight. Rather than using it as a projectile with a mind to make his security deposit vanish, he did the only remaining intelligent thing to do: rip it open, while taking pleasure in refusing it an epidural. There’s no video of the presumably gut-wrenching procedure, but there’s a shockingly detailed account of the teardown linked below. Eye candy’s just a click away, and yes, donations for a replacement are being accepted. The funeral date, however, remains undetermined. HP Veer gets bricked, disassembled after checking ‘Organ Donor’ box originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Computex 2011 is fast approaching here in Taipei, and today Shuttle introduced a trio of Android-based tablets to complement its fleet of small form factor computers. The 10-inch (WXGA) N10CN12 and 9-inch (XGA) N09CN01 models are both based on NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 CPU paired with 1GB RAM, and target the consumer market. The 8-inch (SVGA) V08CT01 — a ruggedized tablet for education — features an 800 MHz Texas Instruments Cortex A8 processor and 512MB of memory. Pricing and availability are still up in the air — no surprise considering the Froyo -running devices we handled still felt very much like prototypes. Take a look at our hands-on gallery below and hit the break for the full press release. Gallery: Shuttle tablets at Computex 2011 Continue reading Shuttle tablets at Computex 2011 (hands-on) Shuttle tablets at Computex 2011 (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 15:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Computex 2011 is fast approaching here in Taipei, and today Shuttle introduced a trio of Android-based tablets to complement its fleet of small form factor computers. The 10-inch (WXGA) N10CN12 and 9-inch (XGA) N09CN01 models are both based on NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 CPU paired with 1GB RAM, and target the consumer market. The 8-inch (SVGA) V08CT01 — a ruggedized tablet for education — features an 800 MHz Texas Instruments Cortex A8 processor and 512MB of memory. Pricing and availability are still up in the air — no surprise considering the Froyo -running devices we handled still felt very much like prototypes. Take a look at our hands-on gallery below and hit the break for the full press release. Gallery: Shuttle tablets at Computex 2011 Continue reading Shuttle tablets at Computex 2011 (hands-on) Shuttle tablets at Computex 2011 (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 15:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Computex 2011 starts tomorrow, apparently. Not that you’d know it with the monsoon of news that ASUS poured upon Taipei today: the all-new capabilities of the Padfone , the extreme thinness of the UX21 Core i7 laptop, and the breakthrough $200 price tag on the Eee PC X101 MeeGo netbook. ViewSonic also pitched in a 7-inch Honeycomb tablet and a 10-inch Oak Trail slate that runs Windows 7 but can virtualize Android for the needy. But that’s just two companies and the show floor hasn’t even opened yet! Basically, this year’s Computex promises to serve up a little something for gadget lovers of every persuasion. Keep up with all the madness in Taiwan this year by following the torrent of newsy news right over here . Engadget is live from Computex 2011! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 13:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Droid X gets genuine Gingerbread update, leaked build floats out for the impatient
May 30, 2011 No Comment
Still bothering with that unofficial 2.3 update for your comparatively monstrous Droid X ? Good news, eager beaver; right on cue , the bona fide Gingerbread update is rolling out to select Droid X owners this weekend, and if you aren’t lucky enough to be included in the initial soak test, you can take matters into your own hands by visiting the source links below. Per usual, we’d caution against a manual install for those who aren’t familiar with the process, particularly since the masses should receive it as the week forges on. Naturally, the v2.3.3 changes are subtle (at least in comparison to the changes seen in the leap from Eclair to Froyo), but hey — an update’s an update. Droid X gets genuine Gingerbread update, leaked build floats out for the impatient originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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