Sony’s Kaz Hirai talks up virtues of touch controls, weighs in on PlayStation phone
December 23, 2010 No Comment
The PlayStation phone keeps popping up time and again, and still no one at Sony is going to flat-out admit anything — but that hasn’t stopped playful speculation . Even SCE chief Kaz Hirai is joining in the fun. “We don’t want gamers to be asking, what’s the difference between that [a PS phone] and a PSP… we have to come up with a message that users will understand,” he told The New York Times . “It would have to be a product that keeps the PlayStation’s strengths intact.” So that’s the issue, then, differentiating a new PSP and a variant with phone capabilities — nothing a good marketing campaign can’t fix, if you ask us. But enough about the phone, what of the PlayStation’s portable brand in general? Hirai seems to fancy touch controls, actually. “Depending on the game, there are ones where you can play perfectly well with a touch panel,” he said, adding that “immersive games” — the ones he think are Sony’s focus, vs. the more casual fare offered by Apple and Android — do well with physical buttons, and that some games work well with the two. We can’t help but notice he said touch pane l and not touch screen , which reminds us of the touchpad we saw on the PS phone leaks , but we wouldn’t want to harp too much. Sony’s Kaz Hirai talks up virtues of touch controls, weighs in on PlayStation phone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Hot on the heels of its P7000 firmware update , Nikon has just released one for its D7000 DSLR as well. The update was created for the sole purpose of fixing the hot pixel issue that pops up when taking videos in low light. While this doesn’t completely eliminate the problem, the “bright spots” effect has been “reduced” according to Nikon USA. Unfortunately, this means you no longer have an excuse to not record your child’s rendition of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Hit up the source link for the download. Nikon D7000 firmware update released, cools down ‘hot pixels’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Having rolled out to T-Mobile just about a year ago, Google’s celebrating the anniversary of its Android Market carrier billing feature in the US by expanding the service to AT&T. Put simply, this means that if you’re using an Android device on an AT&T line, you’ll no longer need to use a credit card — you can just bill your purchases straight to your AT&T bill, which is painless… almost too painless, really, if you’re the compulsive type. And no, we’re not aware of a way to bill a Froyo update for your Captivate to your account — but believe us, we’ll keep on looking. Google adds AT&T billing to Android Market payment options originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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What happens when you burn an iPad? Take a sledgehammer to an iPhone 4? Leave a stack of iPod nanos on the train tracks? Shoot a iPhone 3GS with a 9MM handgun? Carve up a Magic Mouse into sushi-sized chunks? Artist (and former Apple graphics designer) Michael Tompert strove for the beautiful, horrific truth. You’ll find his answer to one of these questions above, and eleven others at our source link below. Visualized: Apple’s finest products destroyed in the name of art originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung sells 9.3 million Galaxy S devices, within reaching distance of its lofty goal
December 22, 2010 No Comment
10 million freaking smartphones. Who thought, when Samsung put that number forward as its 2010 Galaxy S sales goal two months ago, that it was actually going to happen? Well, with just over a week left in the calendar year, the Korean giant has racked up 9.3 million sales of its Android superphone globally and actually expects to sneak past the mythical 10 million mark just before the champagne glasses start clinking. The Galaxy S has also scored a win in its home market of South Korea, where its two million units sold so far leads the iPhone 4′s 1.8 million sales. Hearty congratulations are due to the crew in Seoul, such success doesn’t happen by chance, but let’s keep working on those Froyo (and Gingerbread!) software updates as well, eh chaps? Samsung sells 9.3 million Galaxy S devices, within reaching distance of its lofty goal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We have all ideas that the 70b will look mighty weak after next year’s spate of slates, tablets and readers hit the public view at CES, but with a price tag as diminutive as €99.99 ($130), who cares about bells and / or whistles? Spotted first in the FCC’s lairs a few weeks ago, the Archos 70b e-reader is now up for pre-order in Europe, boasting a 7-inch WVGA touchpanel, 4GB of storage, 802.11b/g WiFi and an SD expansion slot. We’re told that the battery will keep things humming for around ten hours (or up to 18 if using it strictly as a music player with the screen flipped off), and if we had to guess, we’d say it’ll probably make the trip through the Panama Canal in Q1 2011. Question is: will you care? Archos’ Android-based 70b e-reader up for pre-order in Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …GM making Volt parts from oil-soaked booms used in Louisiana, getting greener by the minute
December 22, 2010 No Comment
You can be as jaded as you like, and trust us we’ve offered our own fair share of cynicism , but let’s put that aside for a moment as we learn that General Motors is pulling in about 100 miles worth of oil-soaking booms, 100,000 pounds worth that would have otherwise gone into landfills, and turning them into stacks of plastic parts that will go under the hood and in the front bumper of the Chevrolet Volt . The booms of course come from the Louisiana coasts, where oil is still being collected despite the US media having collectively forgotten all about it. These 100 miles of booms will provide enough parts to outfit the entire first-year production Volts and, while we’re sure this is as much a PR move as it is a practical or environmental one, we’re going to go ahead and just call it a win-win. GM making Volt parts from oil-soaked booms used in Louisiana, getting greener by the minute originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Get your iPhone running. Head out on the highway. Looking for some pancakes, and whatever else Google Local Search finds along the way. BMW’s Mini brand has been on the forefront of iOS connectivity and the Mini Connect app is now in the App Store, ready for download. It lets you stream internet radio through your 2011 model’s speakers or have Twitter and news feeds read to you. Google integration means easy use of Local Search and a “Send To Car” feature lets you find your destination on the phone and then deploy it to the rather more clunky built-in nav system. Finally, the “Minimalism Analyser” ( MINImalism, hah! ) gives you points for driving all nice and environmentally friendly. You’d better lay off the Stepphenwolf if you’re looking to do well there. Mini Connected app hits iTunes, now you can finally hit the road originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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They’re here, well, almost. Two attractive and legible alternatives to the over designed watch, Ziiiro’s Gravity and Mercury, are now available for pre-order. No, they can’t tell you if it’s snowing out like Fossil’s Connected , and they won’t bump your 2010 year in review playlist like an iPod nano watch , but they do tell time like no other — quite literally. The Gravity and Mercury have taken Ziiiro’s lofty goal of stylish utilitarianism from concept to reality . The watches function without any of the markings of standard analog timepieces, instead using a continuously rotating combination of two rings to make temporal distinctions. The tip of the inner ring represents the hour, while the tip of the outer ring denotes minutes, and a fading gradient tracks the passage of time. Ziiiro doesn’t let form override function, but it doesn’t skimp on aesthetics, either: Mercury, which touts a stainless steel band, comes in four different color schemes, while Gravity boasts a patent pending bracelet strap (a silicone-metal combo), available in six colors. Both watches also feature pop-out faces, allowing for a variety of Swatch watch-style face-band pairings. However, while they’re both readable and fashionable, these low frills watches don’t come cheap: prices range from €100 to €143, or about $130 to $175. Ziiiro Gravity and Mercury watches coming soon to a wrist near you originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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There’s been no shortage whatsoever of PC control schemes using Kinect, but up until now, every bit of it has been without Microsoft’s official blessing. Of course, the company eventually caved to the massive amount of hacking going on and confessed that it didn’t have any hard feelings for those giving it a whirl, but is it really fixing to take things one step further with bona fide PC support? That’s the talk emanating from South Korea, where game developer GamePrix has reported that at least one of its titles (Divine Soul, if you must know) is “scheduled to support Kinect.” Continuing on about the game, the company’s Jason Lim was quoted as saying that “Kinect will soon be available as a new PC controller,” but naturally, we’ve our doubts. For starters, why wouldn’t Microsoft be working with a more major developer if honest-to-goodness PC-Kinect interactions were planned? Secondly, there’s a definite possibility that GamePrix could really be referring to un official support, which would make everything seem a lot more sensible. Either way, we’ll definitely be keeping an ear to the ground for more, and with GDC under three months away, we ought to know the truth sooner rather than later. [Thanks, Rashad] Kinect rumored to have PC support in waiting originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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