NexGen Technology Blog

Want more on the PlayStation Move? Head over to Joystiq!

editor — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:15:05 +0000

Sony’s calling the PlayStation Move the “next generation” of motion gaming and planning to market it as heavily as an entirely new console, so it’s sort of a big deal — and that means our main dudes at Joystiq are all over it. We’ve already covered the main details, but hit the links below if you’re looking for some seriously deep dives.

Want more on the PlayStation Move? Head over to Joystiq! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Flip cams to launch in early April?

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:15:06 +0000

The details are slim to none on this one, but we’re all about a good pocket cam rumor. According to the usually-reliable Business Insider Cisco will launch a new set of Flip camcorders around the NAB show which runs from April 12-15, but we don’t have any specs yet. Come on Cisco, now you’ve got us guessing not only about the future of the Internet, but also if your newest Flip will support 1080p. Told you we didn’t know much, but we’ll obviously be keeping an eye out for more.

New Flip cams to launch in early April? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad SDK 3.2 beta 4 squashes rumors of a camera, but adds new gesture controls

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:15:06 +0000

There’s only about a month to go before Apple drops the iPad on the world, and it looks like all those theories about a last-minute camera addition were just fond fanboy wishes — iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 4 just came out, and in addition to stripping out several video-call related icons, we’ve been told the docs contain this little tidbit about that Camera tab:

Launching the Photos application under the iPad Simulator will initially show three tabs: Photos, Albums, and Camera. The Camera tab represents photos available via the Camera Connection Kit for iPad, and is not relevant for the Simulator. The Camera tab will disappear after a few seconds.

So much for that, then. In the meantime, we also have some good news — 9to5 Mac did some digging and found some files indicating that Apple’s opening up some new gestures to app developers, namely the long tap currently used to pop up the copy / paste menu and the triple-tap used to flip the display on and off when using VoiceOver. It’s a small consolation, to be sure, but at least the iPad, will, um, be a great game machine, right?

[Thanks, Anonymous]

iPad SDK 3.2 beta 4 squashes rumors of a camera, but adds new gesture controls originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OnLive Game Service to launch on June 17 in the US for $15 a month

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:15:05 +0000

It’s been a long time coming, but it looks like the wait for OnLive is finally coming to an end: the service is now officially slated to launch on June 17 in the 48 contiguous states. The game streaming service will run users $14.95 a month, though buying or renting games is an additional cost (it’s unclear exactly what that cost might be). Luckily there will be lower prices available for multi-month buys, and the first 25,000 people to sign up will get their first three months free. Service includes free instant-play demos, multiplayer and an “instant video-based social network,” whatever that means. At the outset the service will run on Mac and PC as a browser plugin, but the MicroConsole TV adapter will be released later this year, with other devices to be added “over time.” Initially the service will run at 720p, but 1080p / 60 fps will be added once the bandwidth becomes available. Out of the gate there will be somewhere between 12 and 25 titles available, including Mass Effect 2, Borderlands, Assassin’s Creed II, Dragon Age Origins, and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. There are five different data centers set up to serve up the games, strategically placed to reduce lag… let’s hope they work!

OnLive Game Service to launch on June 17 in the US for $15 a month originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Casio Exilim G EX-G1 review

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:15:06 +0000

Casio’s Exilim G EX-G1 camera made a solid enough first impression with us when we got our hands on it in January, but we’ve now had a chance to use it a fair bit more both indoors and out, and reach some firmer conclusions about it. The short verdict is that the camera, like any other rugged device, comes with its fair share of compromises. If you value ruggedness over everything else, the Exilim G definitely deserves some serious consideration (especially in this price range). On the other hand, if you’re looking for an all-around, everyday point-and-shoot that just so happens to be a bit more durable than the rest, you may well find yourself disappointed. Read on for our full review.

Gallery: Casio Exilim G EX-G1 hands-on

Continue reading Casio Exilim G EX-G1 review

Casio Exilim G EX-G1 review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Combustible carbon nanotubes give off electricity, make really tiny fires (video)

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:15:06 +0000

Need a more efficient heat sink? Try a carbon nanotube. Artificial muscle? Nanotubes. Space Ladder? Self-cleaning windows? Incredibly small bowl of soup? You get the picture. What can’t carbon nanotubes do? We’re not sure just yet, but even power generation is not beyond their grasp. Apparently when you coat the wee straws in butane and light one end on fire it creates a thermal wave, propelling electrons along to create a current. It’s not a lot of current on a single smoldering tube, but scale things up and the potential is said to be 100 times greater than an equivalent weight lithium-ion battery. Of course, you don’t have to light a LiOn cell on fire to get the juice out of it (usually), but we’re guessing scientists will create a way to make that happen in a safe, controlled manner. Until then, check out one burning in super slow-motion after the break, and remember: only you can prevent nanofires.

Continue reading Combustible carbon nanotubes give off electricity, make really tiny fires (video)

Combustible carbon nanotubes give off electricity, make really tiny fires (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CE-Oh no he didn’t!: Katzenberg says ‘beautifully styled’ 3D glasses won’t make you look like a dweeb

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:15:05 +0000

Another day, another CEO with more lip gloss than brain matter. Jeffrey Katzenberg has been talking to USA Today on what seems to be his favorite topic these days, 3D, and telling us that the glasses ain’t no big deal. After all, “many many many people” wear glasses — that’s three lots of many for those keeping count at home — and the new and improved 3D appendages are so “beautifully styled” that he expects them to start popping up at your local optometrist right next to the sunglasses and designer eyewear isles. In fact, this dude’s sipping the corporate firewater so hard, we half-expect him to tell us that 3D offers “very high value” for money or … wait, he said that too? Alright, we give up.

CE-Oh no he didn’t!: Katzenberg says ‘beautifully styled’ 3D glasses won’t make you look like a dweeb originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FCC will consider ‘free or very low cost wireless broadband’ service

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:15:05 +0000

Did you know there was a Digital Inclusion Summit going on? We already know the FCC isn’t best pleased about the fact 93 million Americans are making do without access to home broadband, and this latest event was an opportunity for it to dish some more info on its forthcoming National Broadband Plan. The major obstacles to broadband adoption identified by the FCC were noted as cost, computer illiteracy, and a sheer lack of awareness about the benefits the web offers (outside of cute kitties). The big Plan will be delivered to Congress a week from today, and its suggestions will include the creation of a Digital Literacy Corps, who’ll be performing missionary duties among the unenlightened, and the big whopper: a proposal to “consider use of spectrum for a free or very low cost wireless broadband service.” Yeah, if you can’t jump over the cost hurdle you might as well eviscerate it from existence. Quite naturally, such radical plans have been met with much grumbling opposition, and Business Week reports that it may be years before the full reforms are implemented … if at all.

FCC will consider ‘free or very low cost wireless broadband’ service originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MIT gurus use polyethylene to suck heat away from your next CPU

editor — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:15:05 +0000

Man, MIT is making all of these other places of higher learning look silly. For what seems like the fortieth time this month, scientists at the university have revealed yet another breakthrough that might just change the way we compute in the future. Polyethylene, which is about as common a polymer as they come, could very well become a vital part of the way your next processor is cooled, as MIT boffins have figured out how to cause said polymer to “conduct heat very efficiently in just one direction, unlike metals, which conduct equally well in all directions.” If you’re still struggling to figure out why this matters, have a listen at this: “this may make the new material especially useful for applications where it is important to draw heat away from an object, such as a computer processor chip.” In fact, even Intel is taking notice of the development, though no one’s saying outright when exactly this stuff will leave the lab and hit Dell’s supply chain. There’s no time like the present, guys.

[Thanks, Kevin]

MIT gurus use polyethylene to suck heat away from your next CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Razer and Sixense distribute SDK and FPS shooter utility through Steam

editor — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:15:06 +0000

Surely you remember those Sixense motion controls that we caught lounging around at Razer’s CES booth, right? Yeah. Today at the Game Developers Conference, both outfits have teamed up in order to distribute the Ultra-Precise Motion Controller SDK and FPS utility library via Steam, which should give devs the ability to create new games and port existing titles for use with the aforementioned sticks. We’re told that these new tools will require “require virtually no knowledge of the inner workings of the controller,” enabling coders to craft titles that take full advantage of the six degrees of freedom. Will this turn the PC into the next Wii? We kind of doubt it, but at least someone’s looking out for non-console gamers who have a secret obsession with Nintendo’s Wiimote.

Continue reading Razer and Sixense distribute SDK and FPS shooter utility through Steam

Razer and Sixense distribute SDK and FPS shooter utility through Steam originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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