Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Here’s the latest news from Steve Jobs’ keynote address at Apple’s 2006 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) today… 9:50am (Pacific): The Apple Store is temporarily down for maintenance, so clearly something new will be released today… 10:03am: Steve Jobs has taken the stage.

Check out this cool video of Microsoft’s prototype for an augmented reality system known as “PlayAnywhere“. The system combines a video projector and a sensing device that can detect a user’s gestures and the position objects placed on a surface in real time, and utilize that data to create a highly interactive and intuitive user interface.

This clip has been floating around for a couple of months, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it. The headline says it all:

Not that this is the first time we’ve heard of a laptop exploding due to defective LI-ION battery, but this is one of the more spectacular examples of devastation we’ve seen. Clearly, leaving your laptop on and unattended has its potential consequences.

There’s a video floating around on YouTube demoing Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam for the Nintendo Wii. While the game doesn’t look terrible, I have to say it’s time to retire this whole franchise. There’s really nothing innovative here, and the whole thing kinda smells like a poor cousin of the SSX franchise.

Capcom’s zombies-in-a-mall actioner, Dead Rising, is now available in demo form on Xbox Live Marketplace for your enjoyment. Since I haven’t gotten to check it out yet, here are some comments posted on Major Nelson’s blog that I thought would give a good idea of what to expect… “You can (get) 15 minutes of run about in the mall.

Publisher Ubisoft has announced that they will release seven titles for the Nintendo Wii when it launched this holiday season… Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WW II: As a squadron leader and ace fighter pilot, leverage the Wii controller to experience intense dog fighting in the famous air battles of WW II.

Russia’s Art Lebedev Studio has designed the Optimus Mini Three, a custom keyboard/display device that allows you to place “widgets” outside of your computer screen. The keyboard combines three soft-keys with three super cool, full color 96×96 pixel OLED screens and special software which lets you create your own display widgets and send them to the USB-connected device.

A couple of weeks back, I reported a rumored October 2 launch date for the eagerly anticipated Gears of War. Well today, Microsoft Game Studios announced an official launch date of November 12, 2006 at a retail price of $59.99 USD (A $69.95 “Special Edition” is also anticipated – no surprise there).

According to an article at gamesindustry.biz, Nintendo is likely to price its first party Wii titles at $49.99 USD, keeping their pricing in line with the GameCube, Xbox and PS2. This is in contrast to the $59.99 price points for most Xbox 360 games, and the $59.99+ price points that have been mentioned for PS3 titles.

If you’ve got the dough to spend, you can now have an flat panel multimedia audio/video system outdoors. Lux Entertainment has released the ARIIS-WFSSMCE outdoor entertainment center. Housed in a weather-resistant stainless steel armor shell, the system incorporates wi-fi (802.11 a/g) streaming of TV, FM and Internet Radio broadcasts as well as your own video or audio via an embedded Windows Media Center Extender.

Creative Labs has announced the release of a new version of their Zen Neeon music players, improving significantly on the original models by adding a color screen, video playback and greater memory capacity.With these specs, these players look poised to take on the Apple’s rival iPod Nano line: 1, 2, and 4GB options 1.5″ Color Display (128 x 128 pixels) Audio: MP3, WMA, and WAV Video: Transcoded AVI FM Tuner 5-band Equalizer Voice Recorder Line-In Recorder 20 hour battery life for audio, 8 hours for video 5 brushed-metal colors Dimensions: 81 x 42 x 12.5 mm; Weight: 50g Initial pricing has only been announced in Singapore, as follows: S$199.00 (appx.

Microsoft is coming fast and furious these days with additional content on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Earlier this week it was Ninety-Nine Nights, now the GTA-esque actioner, Saints Row is available for you to try out.

Hi-Def Digest has posted the first head-to-head reviews of three movies recently released in both Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats. While none of the three cross-platform titles is really deserving of the high-definition treatment, at least the comparison gives us some sens of the two formats in an apples-to-apples test.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) made an official announcement today in response to the rumors floating around that E3 2007 would be canceled. The show will go one but with a new, smaller format. According to the ESA the event “…is evolving into a more intimate event focused on targeted, personalized meetings and activities…” In addition, Gamespot is reporting that ESA President Douglas Lowenstein has stated that the show will be pushed back until July 2007 to “give publishers more time to polish their holiday releases.”

From the random video vault, I’ve compiled a bunch of great ancient video game and computer commercials from YouTube. It’s really amazing how far we’ve come. Enjoy the retro goodness… Apple II Computer: