June 2009 Archives

It's always the case, someone's phone has to go off at the worst time. Usually it's just a ring or something but what if you're ringtone is a duck?

Embaressing right? What about if it rings when President Barack Obama is talking about race? Well, that's goto to be the worst moment of your life.

A number of weeks ago I recieved a Zeemote controller. I dismissed it initially saying that I didn't see the point of a controller for mobile games as you can use the d-pad, accelerometer and keypad. But how wrong was I? Very.

I basically didn't get it.


The Zeemote is not for every game. I wouldn't bother with it for things like Deal or no Deal but it's for serious games like Street Fighter and Sonic. Once you get used to it, you find it hard to play these games without it.

Yes it has restrictions BUT it makes playing games a fair amount more enjoyable and removes a lot of the frustrations that come with mobile gaming.

I'm not sure if the Zeemote is the future of gaming but the ease of use definately indicates that if it isn't, the technology behind the controller will be used for something else (possibly a media remote which it can already do).

The Zeemote is the first of it's kind and I expect to see many more similar products to follow. Depending on price, I am looking to buy one of these for my one and a half hour journey to work. I know this might sound a bit like an advert but this has seriously grown on me especially now I have an N97 that doesn't have a d-pad or keypad. I hate the buttons on teh screen method because it takes up part of the screen and isn't as responsive as actual buttons.

It's currently only bundled with phones, you can get it on T-Mobile with the Sony Ericsson W705 I'm guessing to test the market, so it's difficult to say if it's really going to fly. But Zeemote have said that it'll be available towards the end of the year with a free game for around £45.

So in conclusion, I think the Zeemote will find it's place in the world as long as it knows that not everyone is that serious about mobile gaming (I mean most of us just do it so we don't have to look at the guy in front of us on the train). But as long as it compliments games, especially as games get more advanced, it'll be useful for mobile gamers.

Nike have released the below video of a robot free running through the city with a pair of, yes you guessed it, Nikes on. The trainers aren't anything special but the robot is cool.

He got run over by a white van seconds after this video was shot. That part is gonna feature in a 'look both ways before you cross' government educational vid.



Also calling the video 'exploit yourself' is a big no-no for me. I know I must have a weird mind but if I told you to watch a video called 'exploit yourself' you would hesitate right?

Source [Dvice]

This is truly amazing and is a major breakthrough for disabled people. I also think rich lazy people and rich alcoholics can also see benefit (although that might not be the best idea).

Have a look:

It's something I've wondered about. I think most guys have probably thought about it at some point in their lives, what phone would Optimus Prime and Megatron have?

Well, this vidoe should help answer that question:

It was only a matter of time before there came pornographic apps for the iPhone. The 'Hottest Girls' app is the first iPhone app approved by Apple to feature nude photos of girls. It is rated 17+ for frequent intense sexual content or nudity, and frequent intense mature suggestive themes.

The porn industry has been dictating the format of media for decades since the war between VHS and Betamax and even as recent as Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD.


Let's not kid ourselves, even though we don't talk about it and it's a bit of a taboo, pornographic apps are going to be the future and will probably be amongst the most dowloaded.

The only reason it has taken so long for this milesone to have been achieved is because Apple needed a parental control update that they rolled out in the 3.0 OS.

The first app 'Hottest Girls' is not really hardcore and isn't the greatest app but, it's the first of many.

The porn industry has always been creative as there is so much competition and a lot of investment (because of such a big return) so expect some great ideas in the coming months as they play catch up and are likely to overtake other apps in the development and innovation stakes.

The Remote App on the iPhone 3.0 OS can now control your Apple TV using the touch screen, so you can use it as a sort of mouse pad and swipe to flick through menus.


You can also use the iPhone keyboard to type.


It's available for download here for free.


Source [Tech Crunch]

'One small hot stepper of a man, one giant leap for hip hop'

I know the headline sound smad but Buzz 'Drop it like it's hot' Aldrin has laid down a track called 'Rocket Experience' with Snoop Dogg and Talib Kweli. Check it out.


In the build up to our big Apollo 11 40th anniversary bonanza (we have a competition running now, you should enter... seriously) I'm gonna try and find lots of spacey type content to get you in the mood. Fo' sheezy mah neezy!

Source [funny or die]

I'm a big Star Wars fan and when I saw this Darth Vader alarm clock I couldn't believe it hadn't been done before.

I mean, you can get pretty much any Star Wars merchandise (seriously there is toilet paper and I believe there are glow in the dark lightsaber condoms), why'd it take them so long to think of this?

So, if you're under 14 years old or happily married and know that she won't leave you no matter what you do then get this. Otherwise I'd give it a miss (trust me).

Yesterday I was a bit down, so I was flicking through crap Youtube videos to cheer me up when I stumbled upon their movie section (loads of crap videos to cheer me up there).

As I understand it, this has been going for a while and is nothing new but I thought for those of you (like me) that didn't know about it, then have a look: Youtube Movies (http://www.youtube.com/movies).

Sadly, if you're outside the States then a lot of the films are 'not available in your country due to copyright restrictions'.

Great, thanks for teasing us with such greats as 'Hercules In New York' starring Mayor Arnie before he turned American (don't email me saying it's a classic, please).

But you can enjoy such classics as: Invasion of the Bee Girls, She Gods of Shark Reef and Bail Out (starring The Hoff - I wish I had hair like that).

Some of the films are actually worth watching, it's just hard figuring out which ones. Stll, here's a good one:

It's sad but the world keeps finding new ways to hurt people... and DISNEY THOUGHT OF IT FIRST! (Well kind of, it looks like the thing from Flight of the Navigator, see below)


Aside from the doom and gloom this gadget is a bit weird and a bit mad. A robotic snake that has a camera and can commit suicide.

A quick post to show XBox 360's Project being used on the Jimmy Fallon show.

This video actually shows how you'd play games at home as oppose to the polished advertorials we've seen up until now.

One word: Amazing.

To say the hype-o-meter was a bit OTT is a complete understatement. At one point on Sunday, I actually couldn't see the real news amidst the iPhone rumours on my Google reader.

There could have been a mass evacuation message and I would've been reading a rumour about how the new iPhone is able to float on water.

So, was it worth it? In a nutsehll, no. While it is better than the 3G and most other phones, it's not so much better that you should shell out a couple of hundred bucks and discard your 3G.

Even if you have a crappy phone and was going to get an iPhone anyway I'm not sure it's worth getting a 3G S for the difference in price.

I've drawn up a comparison table below to help you decide.

Phone	iPhone 3G S	iPhone 3G	Standard phones
Price	$199 / $299	$99	Free usually
Camera	3mp	2mp	At least 5mp
Battery	Talk time = up to 12hrs	Talk time = up to 10hrs	Talk time = up to 15hrs
Apps	Great	Almost great	Crap
New features	Video camera	None	They all have one
	Voice control	None	Who cares
	Compass	None	G1 and some others

 

After months of rumours Apple have finally unveiled the Apple iPhone 3GS. Amongst other things it has a video camera 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and a 3mp camera.

The iPhone 3GS will ship for $199 (16GB version) and $299 (32GB version). Available on June 19th.

The iPhone 3G's price wil drop to $99 from today!

Full features of the iPhone 3GS:

• Voice control dial up
• Video recording (Low light and macro modes)
• Autofocus, Autoexposure and Tap to focus
• Voice over function reads out what you touch on the screen
• Support for Nike+
• Built in digital compass
• Compass app built into maps
  
• Better battery life
• Hardware encryption
• iTunes encryption

The iPhone blew us away when it first came out but did anyone see it coming? The blog post below was written in April 2004 and talks about an iPhone with... (drum roll) "phone, camera, mp3 player and cut down PDA all in one" *gasp*. Wow, that would be amazing.

He goes on to say that you could even surf using Safari. Crazy, absolutely mad.

Have a read:

For a long time people have been talking about the possibility of Apple bringing out a PDA. However this is something Apple have always strongly denied. While an Apple PDA would be good, I think a smart phone would be amazing.

With Apples legendary design aesthetic, you know an iPhone would look great. Running a cut down version of OS X you'd have the power of UNIX and the looks of Aqua in a form factor to die for. Using a mini iPod's flash drive you could have a device that works as a phone, camera, mp3 player and cut down PDA all in one. How great would that be? Surfing the web using Safari on your mobile. Being able to telnet using your phone. If Apple ever did decide to go down that route (they own the iPhone domain name btw), I'd be at the front of the que.

My favourite comment is from a guy called Mike that said: "I'm sorry, its too late; we're going to have to dock 5 geek points for this post, and that's not even counting the suggestion that porting Safari to a mobile device is feasible."

Source [Andy Budd's blog]

It's happened to most of us. You're holding your phone between your head and your shoulder while trying to do something (ie get your keys of your pocket) and suddenly it falls.

This can happen anywhere, including in the toilet. So, what do you do? You don't really want to put it back next to your mouth so why not sell it?!?

That's exactly what this poor sod decided to do except he thought honesty was the best policy. Any takers? Even piss takers would be good.

It reads:

Looking to sell a 3 month old iphone 3g. The phone is in perfect working condition. The only problem is i dropped it in a men's room and it landing in a puddle of urine, but i picked it up immediately and wiped it off really really good. No damage to the phone or screen.

Source: [gizmodo from craigslist]

We all knew Microsoft was looking to release something to come up against the Wii but this is something extra wow. A camera, depth sensor and microphone in one device able to track your movements and space.

So basically, it'll completely track your body movements in 3D (inc depth). This is Microsoft's answer to Nintendo's Wiimote which, for those of you that have been in a coma, a wand that's movements are tracked by the Wii.

Sony's PSP Go is no longer hearsay as the leaked video below shows.

Rumours of a UMD-less handheld had been gathering pace but until now were just that.

So what's different about it?

Well, you have to download games to the 16gb internal memory, a slider control pad, built-in Bluetooth and a memory slot.


Surprisingly this will not replace the PSP-3000 and will sit alongside it. Why you'd buy both is beyond me so I'm guessing the PSP-3000 will die very very soon.

Here's the spec:

• 3.8-inch display (resolution is undisclosed)
• 16GB of Flash storage
• Bluetooth built-in; supports handset tethering and BT headsets
• No UMD drive
• Memory Stick Micro slot
• 43% lighter than the PSP-3000
• Full PlayStation Network support (movie and TV rentals / purchases)
• Integration with PlayStation 3 (works the same as the PSP-3000 does)

VPlay is a live video editing tool that allows you to display videos and images, manipulate them and make some cool/crazy edits on Windows Surface.

It's another program that shows how Surface can be used.