Yes, it's real. Now you'll be able to change a tire... virtually. At E3, Microsoft finally took the wraps off the that rumored motion controller we'd been hearing about. Apparently the small, black device -- codenamed "Natal" -- will allow for an astoundingly wide range of actions by utilizing a group of sensors (the box itself sits beneath your TV), and the accessory will be capable of juggling multiple users during a single session. The demo Microsoft showed off included a skateboarding game (replete with a young man "air" ollie-ing), and a family playing a racing game (the dad was changing a tire, the daughter driving).
The add-on will offer features such as auto sign-in for players to Xbox Live (based on complex facial recognition), and sports extremely detailed body tracking which will be able to follow the individual movements of separate limbs. During the press event, the company demoed a painting app, which lets you use your entire body to handle virtual painting supplies, allowing you to do things like throw buckets of paint onto a canvas. Another title was shown off which featured a woman interacting with a young boy on the screen -- one of the company's creepier demos in recent memory. Unfortunately for us, Microsoft says the device won't be released during 2009.
SWISS ARMY BOTTLE SERVICE June 9, 2009
Whether we'd like to admit it or not, half the selling point of a cologne is the bottle: The coolest ones sell scents, and the ones that you'd rather not keep in your medicine cabinet, well, don't make it there (however good their contents may smell). We're glad to report that Swiss Unlimited, the new men's scent from Victorinox, falls into the former category. The brand stays true to its outdoorsy heritage with a rubber-encased rectangular flacon affixed with a carabiner—maybe a little heavy on the innuendo for our tastes, but the case makes the bottle pretty much unbreakable, so it's legitimately ready for the trails. Whether or not it ever makes it there, of course, remains entirely up to you.
Let’s take our watch game back a bit to a time when travel alarm clocks were a staple in travel accessories. “From the 1930s, here is a travel alarm clock from Jaeger Lecoultre. If that wasn’t enough, this pop-up alarm clock was sold and signed by a small French retailer that goes by the name of Hermes. This item has the destinct honor of being called by two terms that we adore “vintage Jaeger Lecoultre” and “vintage Hermes”. So, so good.” Those were the days.
Nokia get touchy May 14, 2009
Nokia are tipped to begin using Synaptics touchscreen technology in their upcoming cellphones, with the first models using the presumably capacitive panels to launch in Q3 2009. According to sources at Taiwan IC designers, Nokia is also considering introducing multitouch functionality to their handsets, in a move that could bring them into more direct competition with Apple and Palm.
Nokia has been criticized for choosing resistive touchscreens for its 5800 XpressMusic and upcoming N97 smartphone, over the more fashionable capacitive technology. Its response - similar to that of Microsoft regarding Windows Mobile’s need for resistive panels - has been that capacitive displays do not allow for the on-screen character recognition desired by Asian markets.
Given that Synaptics do not have a resistive range, however, it seems that distinction is now less of an issue for Nokia. According to the leaks, Synaptics will only supply the touchscreen panels, with related modules and glass coming from other vendors. The first Nokia devices to use a capacitive touchscreen are described as a “high-end handset and smartphone”.
A MAC's GOOD WOOD January 20, 2009
Designer Rainer Spehl has crafted these less-than-practical MacBook cases out of hinged hardwood, with a supple leather lining. Puttin' holes in your bag and splinters in your fingers, but lookin' fine.
DIGITAL LEGO January 13, 2009
Digital Blue and LEGO have announced a licencing agreement that will bring several LEGO branded kid’s tech products to market. The line is scheduled for release this summer and will include digital cameras, video cameras, MP3 players, walkie talkies and other electronics.
The entire line will have a brick-built look to it, though devices like the LEGO digital camera, won’t actually be built out of bricks, at least not bricks that come apart. Probably a good design decision given kids have a tendency to drop things like this. Parents wouldn’t be too jazzed about having to rebuild a camera each time it gets dropped.
In addition to the small portable LEGO kids tech devices, Digital Blue will be creating a home line of electronics like boom boxes and alarm clock radios that feature classic LEGO brick elements that are scaled to over-sized proportions.
The new LEGO product are scheduled for release this summer at price points of $19.99 to $59.99.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS? January 6, 2009
Get fresh dressed with the new fashionably colored Casio Databanks. Today, Canadian retailer, Foosh received four different styles.
PS3 3-IN-1 December 30, 2008
This product of unknown make, the creatively dubbed "PS3 3-in-1 Wireless keyboard controller remote" certainly looks like it could function in a mind-blowingly awesome fashion -- though we haven't yet gotten our hands on an actual unit yet, so we can't say for sure. It's available now for an inviting $28.52.
CASSETTE MIXER December 23, 2008
On the surface, this shiny box looks like an old school cassette tape that’s been 24-karat gold plated. But take another look, and you’ll see that it’s actually a pocket-sized audio mixer for combining sounds from a pair of audio devices.
The Mix Tape Portable DJ Mixer lets you mash up tracks from any two iPods or other portable music devices. A pair of 3.5mm stereo inputs and a single stereo output let you gently fade between two sources just like a full-size DJ mixer.
There’s also a monitor jack that lets you cue up your tracks in the privacy of your own headphones. Just connect your media players, pop in a couple of AAA batteries, and you’ll be cranking out your own party mix in seconds.
The Mix Tape Portable DJ Mixer is available exclusively from Urban Outfitters website for $30 bucks.
POOPING CAMERA December 23, 2008
Now I’ve seen some wacky commercials out of Japan, but this one is one of the more off-the-wall ad campaigns I’ve seen in a long while.
These promotional clips for Takara Tomy’s new Xiao digital camera / printer hybrid drives the point home that the pocket size camera can output its own tiny photo prints - apparently by pooping them out.
Please to enjoy the scatological habits of the Xiao…
…complete with (in)appropriate straining and grunting sounds…
I’m sure the ad agency already thought of this (but just in case they haven’t already) perhaps the Xiao’s tagline should read something like “Takara Tomy Xiao: The Number Two Camera in All of Japan!”
BLACKJACK STACKS ABOVE COMPETITION December 18, 2008
ANY SURFACE IS A SPEAKER December 16, 2008
Got a spare cardboard box lying around? How about an old suitcase? Why not turn your junk into a speaker?
Simply mount the Yorozu’s vibrating sonic transducer wherever you want it, and it’ll turn the surface into a conductive sound system. While the kit includes a cardboard milk carton that you can use for starters, pretty much any piece of cardboard, a window, a plastic water bottle or even a white board will work. While the speaker’s 1-watt amplifier (2-watt peak) won’t blow anyone’s eardrums, you’re probably buying one of these for the curiosity of it, not for the volume.
And if you don’t live in Japan, no worries. The guys over at the Japan Trend Shop have been kind enough to start shipping these around the globe for all of us to enjoy. ($89 USD).
