May 2009 Archives

Following my last post on the Zune HD, the boys at Gizmodo have followed up with a hands-on video that shows just how impressive this little gadget is! Have a look below.

Zune HD Video Hands On from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

The Zune HD is real and ready to take on the iPod Touch. It has a 3.3 inch screen (with multi-touch) and OLED display (480x272 resolution) it's looking like a genuine rival.

Features that stand out are that you can watch HD films/programmes in 720p, and hook it up to your TV using an AV Dock.

It'll have Wi-Fi and you'll be able to buy content from the Zune marketplace which will replace the Xbox Live marketplace which has us licking our lips.

You can browse the web through an IE that's been adapted to the Zune and it'll have 'tap to zoom technology, built-in accelerometer, and touchscreen QWERTY keyboard'.

Last and probably least, it'll also feature HD radio with the ability to tag the songs you like for later purchase. HD radio hasn't really taken off properly and it'll be interesting to see whether the Zune will trailblaze.

The Zune HD will be released in the vaguely dated 'early fall'.


Press Release:

May 26, 2009

Microsoft Announces the Expansion of the Zune Entertainment Service to New Platform and Markets; Confirms New Zune HD Portable Media Player

Premium Zune digital entertainment service to be available internationally on Xbox LIVE.

REDMOND, Wash. - May 26, 2009 - Microsoft Corp. today announced the evolution of Zune, the company's end-to-end music and entertainment service, to a new platform and new markets. Zune will extend its video service to Xbox LIVE internationally this fall. This marks an important development in the Zune strategy and brings the Zune brand to more than 17 million international Xbox LIVE subscribers. In addition, Microsoft confirmed the next generation of the Zune portable media player, Zune HD. Available in the U.S. this fall, Zune HD is the first portable media player that combines a built-in HD Radio receiver, high-definition (HD) video output capabilities, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) touch screen, Wi-Fi and an Internet browser.

"The Zune music player is an integral part of the overall Zune experience, and we're proud to be growing and extending our offering beyond the device," said Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president of the Microsoft TV, Video and Music Business Group. "Delivering on Microsoft's connected entertainment vision, this news marks a turning point for Zune as it brings cross-platform experiences and premium video content to living rooms around the world."

Zune Service Expands to New Platform

Zune will be a premium partner in the Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace, bringing an exciting catalog of TV and film to the platform. Zune will occupy the first slot within the Xbox user interface in the Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace, exposing the Zune brand experience to millions of new consumers for the first time. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) next week, attendees will see firsthand how Zune integrates into Xbox LIVE to create a game-changing entertainment experience.

Introducing Zune HD

Zune HD is the next iteration of the Zune device family and brings a new level of listening and viewing experiences to the portable media player category.

• Zune HD comes with a built-in HD Radio receiver so users can listen to higher-quality sound than traditional radio on the go. Users also will have access to the additional song and artist data broadcast by HD Radio stations as well as additional channels from their favorite stations multicasting in HD. If you don't like the song playing on your station's HD channel, switch to its HD2 or HD3 channels for additional programming.
• The bright OLED touch screen interface allows users to flip through music, movies and other content with ease, and the 16:9 widescreen format display (480x272 resolution) offers a premium viewing experience on the go.
• The HD-compatible output lets Zune HD customers playback supported HD video files from the device through a premium high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) audiovisual docking station (sold separately) direct to an HD TV in 720p.*
• Zune HD will include a full-screen Internet browser optimized for multitouch functionality.
• Zune HD is Wi-Fi enabled, allowing for instant streaming to the device from the more than 5 million-track Zune music store.

More information on Zune and related images is available at http://www.zune.net/press and http://www.zune.net/ZuneHD.

About Zune

Zune is Microsoft's music and entertainment brand that provides an integrated digital entertainment experience. The Zune platform includes a line of portable digital media players, elegant software, the Zune Marketplace online store, Zune Pass music subscription service, and the Zune Social online music community, created to help people discover more music. Zune is part of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division and supports the company's software-based services vision to help drive innovation in the digital entertainment space. More information can be found online at http://www.zune.net/en-us/press.

About Xbox LIVE

Xbox LIVE connects more than 17 million members across 26 countries to each other and the entertainment they love. Home of more content from one remote than can be found from any device connected to the television, Xbox LIVE is also a unified online social network bringing friends together, no matter where they are - in the living room or across the world. More information and Xbox LIVE membership can be found online at http://www.xbox.com/en-us/live.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* Supported 720p HD video files play on the device, downscaled to fit the screen at 480 x 272 - not HD resolution. Zune HD and AV Dock, and an HDTV (all sold separately) are required to view video at HD resolution.

HD Radio™ and the HD Radio logo are proprietary trademarks of iBiquity Digital Corp.

You may have seen my previous post on playing street fighter on youtube. Well this time you can choose either Batman or The Joker to compete in a dance-off!

Which then takes the idea into AWESOME.

Good old Patrick Boivinhas done it again, this time using Batman and The Joker. What Patrick does is use stop motion and action figures to put these videos together, then using the 'annotations' feature on YouTube creates playable games.

Have a go:

Ok, so I'm a bit late with this one but to say that this is super-cool is a big understatement.

French Canadian Patrick Boivin has uses the 'annotations' feature on YouTube (it basically lets you put interactive notes on the video) to play Street Fighter!

This guy must have A LOT of time on his hands as he used stop motion and action figures to put these videos together. I can't even be bothered to doodle anymore (the shame).

When you click on a button or an option it will take you to another clip to show you the outcome of your choice. The Metro describes it as 'like one of those 'Choose Your Own Adventure' games, except that instead of turning to page 89 if you want to pick up the mysterious orb, you're loading video clips of your character punching somebody'.

Which I think is a good description of it. Have a go (if you think your hard enough).

The Queen of England woke up today and had a Wii. (Sorry).

What I mean is that she received a Wii from THQ as they tried to promote a game (I forget what it's called... big something). What makes this Wii special is that it was gold-plated especially for the Queen as it is rumoured that she is addicted to Prince William's.

I think that is probably a slight exaggeration, she probably played it over Christmas and said something like "Oh, that was fun" and now she's an 'addict'.

Can you imagine her in Prince Williams' room at 2am trying to beat her record on Super Monkey Ball? Me either.

Still a gold Wii is quite cool.



Here's the press release:

HRH The Queen of England received an unusual surprise today as a gold-plated Wii was delivered to Buckingham Palace.

Finished in gold, the unique Wii console was specially commissioned for the Royal Family to mark today's launch of brand new Wii game BIG Family Games - the perfect game for all the family to play together from publisher THQ Inc.

As the UK's ultimate family, the Royals also received one of the first copies of BIG Family Games to road-test their shiny new console.

Danielle Robinson, Product Manager at THQ, said: "BIG Family Games is the ultimate Wii game to get all family members, from grandparents to young children, playing together. The Royal Family is arguably the most important family in the country so we felt that they had to have a copy of the new game.

"But we thought that Her Majesty the Queen wouldn't want to play on any old console, so an extra-special gold one was commissioned. We hope that she and the rest of the Royal Family enjoy the game!"

The Queen and other members of the Royal Family will be able to use their new gold Wii to play 24 unique twists on classic family games including golf, tennis, ladder golf, lawn darts, horseshoes, bocce and more.

Her Royal Highness will be able to play through the game as a single player or get Princes Philip, Charles, Harry, and William, and even Camilla, involved when playing in multiplayer mode. HRH will even be able to create customisable characters for herself and the rest of the family.

Source: [Metro]

The BBC's director of Future Media and Technology, Erik Huggers told a Broadcasting Press Guild event yesterday that "if you are using the iPlayer you have to be a television licence fee payer,"  according to The Daily Mail.

He continued "I don't believe in a free ride. If you are consuming BBC services then you have to be a licence holder."

There were some rumours that the BBC was planning to add iPlayer to the TV licence fee but this has been denied.

The BBC said in a statement: "These claims are completely false. The BBC has no plans for charges to use the iPlayer or changes to the licence fee. In any case changes to current arrangements would need to be made by Parliament."

If the BBC were to charge for iPlayer as part of the TV licence fee I don't think it'll be such a bad thing as long as the fee is not astronomical.

I can see why they want to get a handle on those people that are using teh service without a TV licence and let's be honest it's so good that I don't think the public would be too fussed if they paid a small fee. As long as the fee went back into further iPlayer investment.

Flip Mino HD video review recorded using a Flip Mino HD camera.

When you're famous, there is nothing more annoying than people filming you on their mobiles. I mean, the picture quality is never that good and the sound must be awful. How are they supposed to look good?

Well, those days are over with the Flip Mino HD. This little marvel is so small yet so powerful (like me).

I had the good forturne to get a couple to review and I can safely say that I have fallen in love. Easy to use and great picture quality.

This video review was recorded on a flip and has not been enhanced in any way.



Specifications:

• 4GB memory (1 hour of recording)
• 720p HD picture (resolution is 1280 x 720 in 16:9 cinematic widescreen)
• 1.5 inch LCD screen, with crisp quality and bright graphics
• Small size (4 x 2 x 0.6 inches) - around the size of a small mobile
• Weighs 3.3oz

For those of you that haven't seen Microsoft's vision for the future I'll give you a quick summary. You will basically live with screens on everything including your eyeballs all hooked together via Microsoft products.

Microsoft hope to save the world and make it more complicated.

Impressive I know. But someone always spoils the party and the parody below by Sarcastic Gamer is for those people that don't want Microsoft to control your life.

Nokia has been working on an operating system called 'Maemo' for a few years now for their tablet notebooks but it is now said that they will also role out the operating system to mobile phones eventually phasing out their current S60 all together.

It has a number of interesting features but the most surprising is the inclusion of advertisements on the home screen. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know that it may become the future of mobile interfaces but at the moment it sounds a bit like an invasion of privacy.

The screenshot below shows doesn't have any ads but it could be because this is a shot of the calendar (the only screenshot currently available).

The home screen is basically a big vertically scrollable page, filled with widgets. The active widget has a blue bar down the side and it's believed that one of these widgets will serve ads.

The idea is that you will get a discount of some sort either on your contract or on the handset in exchange for the ads.

Source [mobilecrunch]

This is a great way of checking out how much they are claiming >>

Someone sent Valleywag the below picture and said they took the picture on their iPhone at Apple's Cupertino headquarters in the car park.



Source [Valleywag]

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Microsoft has developed a camera that will be able to detect depth movement therefore allowing the player to interact with the game by moving their body (see right :o).

Since Nintendo released the Wii, Microsoft and Sony have been desperate to regain some of the market share that Nintendo expanding the audience that play computer games (ie people that don't want to use a control pad).

From what we know, you will not need to hold any Wii style remote and the camera would sit near the television and capture when players move their hands, legs or head.

Microsoft's camera would use 3-D technology, which should give players more accurate control over games than earlier game cameras did.

The Microsoft camera could be unveiled as early as the E3 videogame industry conference next month as Xbox sales seem to have slowed down of late.

The camera is based on technology that Microsoft developed. Microsoft also recently acquired an Israeli start-up called 3DV Systems Ltd.

Source [WSJ]

Sony today announced the UK launch of the new X Series Walkman. It's Sony's first portable media to feature a touchscreen display, noise cancellation and OLED screen.

Here's a review by Stuff:



I love the screen and but I'm not so sure about the design. I think it'll do well but whether it can steal Apple's thunder, God only knows.

Specifications:

• Crystal clear 3-inch OLED touchscreen
• Best-ever Walkman sound quality with S-Master Digital Amplifier and Clear Audio technologies
• World first* MP3/video player with Digital Noise Cancelling for the most effective noise reduction  
• Open support for all popular music and video formats
• Hybrid controls (touchscreen plus buttons) for simple operation
• Wi-fi connectivity for easy YouTube™ streaming, Podcast direct downloading and internet browsing

Last week I got to go to Digital Summer 2009 which is a small gadget show. I won't bore you with the details but below is a video showing some of the highlights, namely a Mac touch screen tablet.

This particluar netbook is from a company that takes Macbooks and turn them into touch screen tablets.

Other cool gadgets were: Bento for the iPhone and the Wacom INTUOS4 for designers.

See the full photo gallery.

Piracy is a problem, but can it be used to help? Why fight them when you can use them to your advantage?

iCombat (a take on Combat for Atari) have shown that piracy can be used to help promote and drive sales of a product.

After finding out that he had a 5 pirates copies : 1 actual sale ratio, he decided to act by implementing a version for pirates that displays a page after level five (the actual game has a total of 20 levels) that reads:

Hi if you have been directed to this page it's because we see that you have a pirated copy. While we are glad you are interested please understand that we want to continue making it better, but to do that we need people to each pay for their copy. If you want to continue using please purchase today.

The reason behind this is that pirates would not want to buy the product in the first place, therefore he is not actually losing any money.

The idea is that pirates are basically a community that can be used to spread the app. If they feel that the app is good, before discovering it is a 'trick', then they will spread the word and it could generate a small amount of sales. It would run like a viral marketing campaign.

I will hopefully follow up this blog post tomorrow looking at how piracy can help promote a product.

Source [Gizmodo via iCombat]
Picture [Rex Features]

My doormat says 'welcome' but I think this is far more impressive.

Can you imagine seeing someone come up to your door and doing a Michael Jackson-esque slide to try and get in? I don't know about you but I'm a killer dancer so this would suit me fine.

The mat is available from Meninos for $50.

Check this out - he's got 3G, has a heart attack and cries a lot >>

 

 

Thanks to CodeAndroid.org, here are some leaked images of the Google Android G3 or HTC Hero.

It looks a lot like the HTC Magic in terms of looks but it's lost its marbles (there's no trackball) which is quite disappointing.

Some good news in that there appears to be 3.5mm headphone jack.

I just recieved a message on my mobile encouraging me to use Skype calling because 'it's completely free and easy'.

This makes me wonder, why are they encouraging me to use Skype as oppose to making calls on their network?

I've downloaded the app and will give it a try with my brother later today hopefully.

Don't get me wrong, I think VOIP will replace mobile networks but now they are sending me messages to speed up their death. Strange.

The latest craze to sweep the nation is Swine Flu (probably not the best way to describe it).

So, as you'd expect, someone had to make an iPhone app.

IntuApps have created a Swine Flu Tracker, that is still awaiting approval from Apple, that not only tells you the Threat Level but also has a map showing confirmed and suspected areas.

Other features include a symptoms area to inform people and an alert page for breaking news on Swine Flu.

The app will be free if it is approved.

Below is a picture of a suspected source of Swine Flu.

Article Source [TechCrunch]

Picture source [flickr user djuggler]

First look and preview of the new LG Viewty Smart by GSM Arena.

The highlights are a very impressive UI and fantastic imaging capabilities. It has a  3" 16M color capacitive touchscreen display.


Other things tricks are an ambient light sensor used for automatically controlling the screen brightness. Cube UI which is a spectacular 3D element of the S-class user interface that represents the four available homescreens as four sides of a on-screen 3D Cube.

Apparently the video player is nothing to write home about and LG have stated that although it looks like it, this is NOT a smartphone. Other downsides are the lack of a 3.5mm jack and that it supports 3GP video instead of AVI.

I own an LG Viewty and have to say that it has stood the test of time with the advancement of touch phones in the past year. So I can't wait to see what this has to offer (although I'll probably look at getting a smartphone when I upgrade).


Specifications:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 900/2100, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, EDGE class 12
• Dimensions: 108.9 x 56.1 x 12.4 mm, 102 g
• Display: 3" 16M-color capacitive touchscreen TFT of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels)
• Memory: 1.5GB flash storage, microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
• User interface: S-Class Touch UI
• Still camera: 8 megapixel autofocus camera, Schneider-Kreuznach optics, LED flash, manual focus, geo-tagging, image stabilization, multi face detection (up to 3), smile detection
• Video recording: 720x480@30fps, VGA@30fps, QVGA time-lapse and slow-mo video recording
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, Wi-Fi, TV-out, USB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS
• Misc: Accelerometer for screen auto rotate, Multi-touch input, DivX/XviD support, Dolby for Mobile audio enhancement, FM radio, office document viewer
• Battery: Li-Ion 1000 mAh
• Retail price: N/A

Source: [gsmarena]

Just in...Thumbs Up have released a Skype phone based on Captain Kirk's Star Trek Communicator. Beam me up Scotty.