Shigeru Miyamoto profiled: legendary game designer, interior decorating enthusiast
December 14, 2010 No Comment
Using traditional conversion metrics, The New Yorker’s got ten pictures worth of words on Nintendo’s iconic designer Shigeru Miyamoto , arguably the father of modern video games whose cerebral impulses have spawned the likes of Mario and Legend of Zelda. Don’t expect any bombshell news (spoiler: the company’s hard at work on a portable, glasses-free 3D console ), but it’s definitely a thorough and entertaining read on the origins of Nintendo’s gaming interests and Miyamoto himself. Bonus: given how Miyamoto’s non-work time with exercise and gardening became the inspiration for WiiFit and Pikmin, feel free to overanalyze how his fixation with moving around his living room will turn into the next multi-platinum title. Shigeru Miyamoto profiled: legendary game designer, interior decorating enthusiast originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Nook Color getting Android 2.2 and Market in January, current hacks could make it blow up
December 14, 2010 No Comment
You had to know the hacking community was going to have a field day with the Nook Color — a $249 Android Tablet hiding behind with a thin e-reader coating. Indeed it didn’t take long to get rooted nor for Android 2.2 to get installed on there, but that particular hack comes with an interesting potential side-effect: small-scale thermonuclear explosions. Enabling FroYo requires disabling the device’s battery monitoring process, the very one that would be responsible for shutting down the device before the cells start overheating and, ultimately, going critical. Yeah it’s unlikely, but it could happen. Meanwhile, another hack has enabled the Android Market, but those instructions begin with a very daunting warning: “Very smart people have failed at this. If the following instructions confuse you, you might want to wait until an easier method has been developed.” And, thankfully, there is a much easier way coming, with Barnes & Noble confirming that Android 2.2 will be officially coming to the Nook Color in January. Yes, Android 2.3 is what’s happening, but this is still an exciting upgrade as it will finally also allow access to a traditional Android home screen and even enable the Android Market. In other words, it should work just like an Android tablet, Kindle app and all. [Thanks, Ryan] Nook Color getting Android 2.2 and Market in January, current hacks could make it blow up originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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When Marvell was still teasing its Armada processor company co-founder Sehat Sutardja said it would be showing up in ” a new gaming platform ” — but he kinda left us hanging after that. Four months later it’s looking like we might have found it. Reader David Fisher was kind enough to tear his OnLive Microconsole down to its requisite bits, spreading them upon his kitchen countertop and exposing the Marvell Armada lurking within. Other specs include 512MB of RAM, an unknown quantity of Samsung ROM, and networking chips also from Marvell. There you have it: another mystery of the world solved thanks to your friend the screwdriver. Gallery: OnLive MicroConsole teardown [Thanks, David ] OnLive MicroConsole torn down, Marvell Armada found lurking within originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We don’t have any hard details yet, but Computerworld reports that Nokia’s planning a busy 2011, with four to five updates to the Symbian UI on tap, as well as dual-core phones. The information comes courtesy of Nokia senior manager Gunther Kottzieper, who gave a presentation at the 2010 Internation Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing earlier today — a slide labeled “Nokia Symbian 2011 focus areas” indicated that a Q1 Symbian update will include over 50 features, including a more intuitive browser, while second- and third-quarter updates will add “a new look and feel for the user interface, a more flexible home screen, an updatable HTML5 browser and an easier software update experience.” A hardware-related slide tipped upcoming 1GHz phones with more graphics memory in the second or third quarter, as well as dual-core phones and something called a “true zoom camera” in late 2011 or early 2012. (We’re guessing that means an optical zoom, which would be just wild on a mobile phone.) Ignore this morning’s E7 delay and all of that sounds like evidence of renewed focus at Nokia under new management — and it also sounds like Nokia taking over Symbian development might have lit some serious fires. We’re dying to look at these slides ourselves — we’ll keep digging and let you know. Nokia to revamp Symbian UI, ship dual-core phones in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The only limit to the applications Kinect can be put to is imagination. The more of it you have, the more things you can use the peerless Xbox 360 peripheral to achieve. To wit, some eager chaps have put together the Keyboard Anywhere hack, which employs a little Python and the libfreenect library to offer up a piano keyboard on any flat surface of almost any size. You can practice your Mozart concertos on a desk, or, as they so ably demonstrate, imagine yourself as a young Tom Hanks skipping along on the FAO Schwarz floor piano in the movie Big . It’s all up to you. Continue reading Kinect hack lets you reenact Big piano scene (video) Kinect hack lets you reenact Big piano scene (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Freebox v6 Revolution set-top box brings calling, TV and gaming together
December 14, 2010 No Comment
Pay-TV operators have been tossing out ” quadruple play ” bundles for the better part of three years now, but we dare say that none of ‘em have come close to nailing it like this. France’s own Free, a well-known ISP in the nation, has just introduced the Freebox v6 Revolution, a newfangled set-top box designed by Philippe Starck and engineered to handle just about all of your home entertainment needs. It’s stuffed with 250GB of hard drive space, an internal 802.11n WiFi module, Blu-ray drive, inbuilt web browser and Intel’s Atom CE4100 media processor. It also ships with a motion-sensing remote, and in short, it’s designed to provide live / streaming television options, internet (fiber or DSL is supported), gaming (via a streaming service similar to OnLive ) and at-home calling to boot. Free’s also planning to dabble in mobile telephony starting in 2012, hence the plans for a quadruple play offering in the not-too-distant future. We’re told that a joystick (presumably for getting your game on) is thrown in, as are a pair of powerline adapters in order to easily network it through your abode’s power network. The Revolution is up for pre-order now, and depending on how long you’ve had your current Free STB, it could cost as little as €59.99 or as much as €119.99. The “basic” Freebox service will run €29.99, and once Free goes mobile in 2012, you can add a mobile line for another €29.99. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Freebox v6 Revolution set-top box brings calling, TV and gaming together originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Dialog Semiconductor pushes 2D to 3D conversion chip for phones and tablets
December 14, 2010 No Comment
We’ll go ahead and put a lid on your swelling excitement level, most likely with two simple words: ” parallax barrier .” You see, Dialog Semiconductor’s DA8223 is being hailed as the world’s first real time 2D to 3D video conversion chip for portable devices, but it requires a parallax barrier display. On the upside, that means that there are no glasses required for viewing, and pretty much any 2D content could be tricked into being 3D for the viewer; the downside, of course, is that it probably won’t immerse your senses, overwhelm your eyes or otherwise revolutionize your life . That said, it’s still suitable for both tablets and smartphones, and according to the company, it “requires virtually no software development and uses a tiny fraction of the battery and compute power of competing application processor based software-approaches.” If all goes well, the chip will be hitting mass production in the latter half of 2011, which gives you right around six months to prepare yourself for the third dimension. On your phone . Continue reading Dialog Semiconductor pushes 2D to 3D conversion chip for phones and tablets Dialog Semiconductor pushes 2D to 3D conversion chip for phones and tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Panasonic’s Avatar 3D monopoly runs into 2012, no 3D Blu-ray release until Mayan calendar ends?
December 14, 2010 No Comment
When Panasonic announced it was including copies of Avatar in 3D with its 3DTVs and Blu-ray players, it simply seemed like a great marketing move. Now it’s looking like more of a coup, with Panasonic UK confirming that the company’s bundle deal runs until February of 2012. That deal is said to be exclusive, likely meaning that will be the only 3D version of Avatar pressed to disc until it runs out, leaving you with two somewhat less than desirable choices for getting a copy: spring for Panasonic hardware or pay a hefty premium on eBay. How hefty? Copies of the 3D Blu-ray version look to be going for $150 and up, and we’re guessing things won’t be getting much better in the near future. Panasonic’s Avatar 3D monopoly runs into 2012, no 3D Blu-ray release until Mayan calendar ends? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 07:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Oh dear. Like the N8 before it, Nokia just confirmed to us that the Symbian-powered E7 slider will be delayed. The official word has it launching in early 2011, not December 2010 . We’ve been told that Nokia’s holding up production due to a “minor durability issue” discovered in the E7 hardware. We can’t blame Nokia for wanting to ensure the best possible user experience — it’s just a shame that it will require the holiday shopping season to sort it out. Nokia delays E7 slider into ‘early 2011′ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 07:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If you’ve ever wondered what a map drawn entirely of Facebook relationships would look like, wonder no more. A Facebook intern by the name of Paul Butler has put together the above image by feeding in location data for pairs of friends, with the white lights representing cities, towns, and hamlets, and the blue streaks between them identifying relationships linking them. It’s fun to see large swathes of Australia and South America devoid of Facebook activity, but check out the bit on the map where Russia and China are supposed to be — is Facebook the most capitalist social network ever or what? Hit the source link for the full-scale image, it gets prettier the closer you get to it. [Thanks, Ian] Visualized: Facebook’s global reach originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 06:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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