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Droid, she does have multi-touch, why are you so cruel to Droid?

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 05:34 AM PST

Rob at Phandroid found an app that only runs under Android 2.0 with multi-touch. That’s right: the Mororola Droid, not just the German Milestone, has multi-touch. The app you have to grab is Picsay, a photo viewing app, and it’s all right there, front and center.

If you don’t have a Droid, who are you thinking for the Series?

Bizarre trailer for Japanese erotic video game features Obama

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 04:21 AM PST

boyfriend_president

The market for video and computer games featuring erotic content, the so-called eroge, is huge in Japan. As a lot of smaller and independent software companies are battling it out in a highly competitive field, you often come across a lot of bizarre stuff (I’ve heard). School girl- or tentacle-themed games, for example, are especially popular (although the bulk of the latter are being shipped to a person called Bohn Jiggs who lives in Brooklyn/New York, as my industry contacts told me recently).

Another of those strange erotic games, called “My Boyfriend Is the President”, hit Japanese stores on October 30. The plot: Aliens brainwash the entire human population into thinking their leaders are in fact cute girls. I’m not sure what the developers were smoking, but I’m sure this game will become as big as the next Final Fantasy.

boyfriend_president_2

Now some Japanese geek with too much time on his hands took the original theme song of the game and made his own promo trailer for the movie (caps above). Even the pope makes an appearance.

It’s just weird, as you can see here:

And here’s the original game trailer with English voice-over, which is just a little less bizarre:

Japan Probe via Yamatologic

International Prince of Persia trailer with new scenes

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 03:01 AM PST

prince of persia

We showed you the American trailer for the upcoming Prince of Persia movie yesterday, and today Walt Disney Pictures released a new version for international audiences. This new cut is in English, totally different from the US trailer and shows a handful of new scenes from the movie.

Prince of Persia – The Sands of Time is directed by Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and is scheduled to hit theaters in the US on May 28, 2010.

Here’s the international trailer:

HTC launches the HD2 in Europe and Asia, reconfirms stateside availability in early 2010

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 01:45 AM PST

Seeing as HTC's CEO Peter Chou sorta slipped up and mentioned this back in October, it's not exactly, you know, news news - but just in case you were a little bit shaky on the dates, HTC has gone ahead and confirmed that the 1 Ghz, WinMo 6.5-powered HTC HD2 will be coming to the United States "with a major US carrier in early 2010. "


Daily Crunch: Dog + Blob Edition

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 12:00 AM PST

Alex eBook Reader unveiled

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 11:30 PM PST

marvell_06_smThe e-book seems to be the next big thing as we roll into the end of 2009. What with the Kindle 2, the nook, and others coming on the scene, it’s interesting to watch what’s coming next. For example: the Alex eBook Reader. It’s running Android, and has an absolutely insane frame rate (for an e-book reader).

Now to be fair, the Alex only has a frame rate of 3 FPS. But when you compare it to other readers, that have a rate of (generally) 0 FPS, you’re talking a significant improvement. This will allow the Alex to show simple animation, and other types of moving data. The Alex also sports dual screens, a 6 inch reader screen and a smaller touch capable screen mounted below. Maximum PC has a complete write up (and teardown) of the Alex, and they go into a little more depth about what the Marvell chipset is capable of.

New Zelda game to have better sword fights, MotionPlus

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 10:30 PM PST

zeldaWhile it’s a little bit early to be busting out the green outfits to cosplay while you wait in line at midnight, there is some information trickling out about the new Zelda game. In particular, Miyamoto is talking about gameplay.

I played the last Zelda game on the Wii, and just couldn’t get into it. The controls felt a little odd to me, and I just couldn’t get into the game. That may change in the next game however, since in a recent interview Miyamoto said that they new Zelda game will use the MotionPlus accessory, making the sword fights more realistic and less like you are pointing at the screen.

At this point, that’s all we really know. The poster released at E3 really didn’t give us any major clues about the future of the franchise, and Nintendo ain’t talking yet. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

New Motorola Droid commercial drops

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 08:59 PM PST

If this latest commercial is any indication, the Motorola Droid is going to be air dropped from stealth fighter planes into random locations where people have no idea what it is.


Pirate keyboard has only one letter (guess which one)

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 07:17 PM PST

arrrrrrrr
ARRRRR!

CTRL-ALT-BELAY!

[via Walyou and Gearfuse]

Dual-screen OLPC design binned; get ready for the OLPC tablet

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 07:00 PM PST

olpc-xoxo-laptop
The One Laptop Per Child project has seen mixed success. With competition from similar, but more familiar-looking items from Intel and others, the OLPC found itself suddenly competing in a market it had no intention of entering. But they’re out there, they’ve had some serious orders, and despite some other speed bumps, has certainly lent a hand in increasing computer literacy in the developing world.

You may remember that the sequel to the XO laptop, as the OLPC hardware was actually called, was spied at Davos in January after its initial debut in May of 2008. It was noted at the time that there was some doubt as to whether it would be made, and now those doubts have come to glorious anti-fruition. The XO-2 is dead — but only because Negroponte decided it should be a tablet.

Don’t look at me like that. I know, right? Yet another tablet entering the fray, and this one (claims Negroponte) will only cost $75. Well, that’s it then. Guess we can pack up the CrunchPad (bless its heart) and go home. Apple is probably quaking in its loafers as well, since the same latte-sucking Volvo-jockeys who want the Apple Tablet also love the idea of the OLPC. Charity and all that. Buy one, give one is a great promotion, and for a $75 unit, it’s a price most can afford. Assuming they hit that price target, of which there is no guarantee. On the other hand, Microsoft is probably happy that there’s one less dual-touchscreen device to compete with the Courier.

Here’s what Negroponte had to say about the XO 3.0 in a recent interview with Xconomy:

2.0 has been replaced by two things: 1) model 1.75, same industrial design but an ARM inside, 2) model 3.0, totally different industrial design, more like a sheet of paper… completely plastic and unbreakable, waterproof, 1/4″ thick, full color, reflective and transmissive, no bezel, no holes. 1W. $75, ready in 2012.

xoSounds like a fantasy winner! He also notes that the OLPC program is splitting into a hardware arm and grassroots/education arm. The original XO will be updated with a new processor but will continue to ship pretty much as is. They’re also requesting that OLPC be changed to “olpc,” a demand I find onerous (and pointless).

What the device would actually be capable of is anybody’s guess, but a basic e-book reader and browser seems to be the minimum feature set. I’m torn between an affinity for traditional computing (which is probably fundamental to a modern education) and traditional education, which the XO 3.0 would most certainly make easier. As a commenter at Slashdot points out, “in any third-world country access to ‘open source’ text books on any subject at zero extra cost would be more important than the actual “educational computer” functionality.” Text books to be sure, not to mention the world’s literature and current events. The village library just got a lot bigger.

Whatever happens, we can’t expect it before 2012, which really renders discussion moot, seeing as the entire landscape of tech will have changed by then. So I guess the CrunchPad and Apple Tablet aren’t in danger just yet. Hell, we’ll probably be on version 3.0 ourselves by that time. But while the consumer tech market is a moving target, third-world literacy and grassroots education are always welcome. Even though Negroponte has pretty much said that this is a business endeavor and not a charitable one, it may yet do a lot of good.

[via SlashGear]

CrunchDeals: Pre-order L4D2, get a cool hat for TF2

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 06:30 PM PST

tf2l4d2Let me translate that for those of you out there that aren’t “down with the lingo”. Pre-order Left 4 Dead 2, get Bill’s beret (from the original L4D) in Team Fortress 2. That’s it. That’s the deal. Well, you’ll save 10% on LFD2 because it’s a pre-order, but the only extra schwag you get is a cool hat in TF2.

Secret copyright treaty is the most annoying thing you’ll read all year

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 06:00 PM PST

soawesome

A great African American civil rights activist one said, "I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired." That’s how I feel about copyright these days. You’ve got these entrenched business interests who seemingly have their favorite congressmen on speed-dial, and then you have people who, God forbid, would like to see these businesses embrace new, practical business models that don’t automatically assume their customers are potential criminals. But this! This latest development has me thinking, "You know what? Just shoot me. Go ahead. I don’t have to pay my student loans any more (take that, Citibank!), and I won’t have to worry about being treated like a criminal by the likes of whatever stupid entertainment company is in Congress’ good graces this week. Win-win."

What the heck am I whinging about? It’s the leaked notes of an international copyright treaty, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, that’s in the process of being negotiated in Seoul. Everything’s very hush-hush, of course, and you don’t hear a damn thing about it on TV, no. No, that’s filled with crackpots on the left and right claiming that health care will fix everyone’s problems automatically or destroy the country as soon as it’s signed into law. As if things this complicated could be debated in 30-second segments.

Anyhow, the bullet points of the treaty, by way of Boing Boing:

• That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn’t infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.

• That ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet — and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living — if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.

• That the whole world must adopt US-style “notice-and-takedown” rules that require ISPs to remove any material that is accused — again, without evidence or trial — of infringing copyright. This has proved a disaster in the US and other countries, where it provides an easy means of censoring material, just by accusing it of infringing copyright.

• Mandatory prohibitions on breaking DRM, even if doing so for a lawful purpose (e.g., to make a work available to disabled people; for archival preservation; because you own the copyrighted work that is locked up with DRM)

Awesome. My favorite part is that treaty signatories have to abide by U.S.-style copyright takedown convention. Don’t worry, Planet Earth, we’ve got your best interests in mind.

The heck we do!

Whatever, I’m tired of this he-said, she-said garbage, vis-à-vis copyright, as should be clear by the tone of the post.


Indie game “Trauma” uses Photosynth (?) as control method

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 05:30 PM PST


You may remember Photosynth, the impressive yet somehow unsatisfying photo collage tool from Microsoft. Though I always thrilled to the technical aspects, I’ve never taken a shine to it. Maybe it’s the photographer in me that prefers one well-composed photo to a hundred interlinked snapshots. One game developer, though, saw potential that I never even considered. Krystian Majewski has put together Trauma, what looks to be a very interesting point-and-click adventure game using Photosynth’s ability to essentially create “levels” out of pictures.

The abstract, psychological-exploration atmosphere reminds me somehow of the mesmerizing Mirror Stage, and the dreamy narration reminds me of Max Richter’s The Blue Notebooks. At any rate, it looks like a compelling little adventure.

Note, I say Photosynth but the game apparently runs in Flash, which suggests it’s some Photosynth-ish derivative. We’ll see. The game will be released when it’s released, apparently; bookmark accordingly.

[via IndieGames]

Nintendo considering adding Kindle-like wireless access to future DS

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 05:00 PM PST

marioluigi

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the Amazon Kindle the first device to launch with built-in wireless (that is, cellular data) access? You know, you pay for the device, and then you don’t have to pay monthly wireless access because it’s already included in the cost of the device? It’s pretty neat, I think I can say without too much grief, and is a model that’s been copied by other e-book readers. Now it looks like Nintendo is considering such a model for future versions of the Nintendo DS (and not necessarily the XL, mind you). Exciting!

So Nintendo’s president, Satoru Iwata, said at a recent briefing that he’s "interested" in the business model (wireless access that’s built into the cost of the device) because it’s new, and, well, it could help expand the popularity of DSi Ware. Right now, to access DSi Ware you need to be connected to Wi-Fi, which sorta limits its availability. What if you’re sitting on a park bench on a warm spring day and want to download Something? You can’t!

You can imagine other scenarios, I’m sure.

Iwata did express concern that Nintendo would have to be careful with such a model because Nintendo is, in his words, an "amusement company." It’s not Apple in the sense that it can’t charge $LOTS for its products.

Such a move would also give this theoretical new DS an edge over the PSP Go, which you’ll recall only ships with 802.11b access. That’s a bad move on Sony’s part, yes.

Keep in mind that Iwata could have just been thinking out loud, and that none of this will ever see the light of day. So there’s that.

via Gamasutra

T-Mobile goes down around the country

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 04:35 PM PST

Ack! Talk about bad timing. T-Mobile is just barely off the grill for their guilt-by-association connection with the Great Danger/Sidekick outage of 2009, and now they're right back in the network-outage spotlight.


Nintendo mulling WiiWare demos

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 04:30 PM PST

wiiware

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said recently that his company would be testing out demo downloads of certain WiiWare titles this month. It’s unclear if this test program will only be for Wii owners in Japan or if those of us here in the U.S. would be able to participate as well.

Apparently the program "will cover just a few titles," according to IGN.

Nintendo is apparently looking to attract more potential WiiWare customers and this program is an attempt to gauge whether or not offering game demos will ultimately result in increased purchases. As one of those potential customers myself, I'd like to add that I can’t believe it’s taken this long. Just make demos for all WiiWare games available already, eh?

Nintendo to Offer WiiWare Demos [IGN]

Tutorial: How to Tether an iPhone 3G or 3GS running OS 3.1

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 04:05 PM PST

When the iPhone OS 3.1 update rolled through town, it brought with it a handful of new features - but it also killed off one, not-so-official feature: unauthorized data tethering on AT&T. Early this morning, the endlessly ingenious iPhone hacking community released Blacksn0w, a carrier unlock for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Even if you have no need to plug in a different SIM card than what was originally intended, however, Blacksn0w still has its perks. Namely, it brings the aforementioned unauthorized data tethering right on back. We've just walked through the process, and it went off without a hitch. If you're interested in doing the same but don't want to do it alone, we've thrown together a handy step-by-step guide, just for you.


Windows 7 begins the long process of replacing Vista and XP

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 04:00 PM PST

sisyphusWith all the launch parties, cute ads, and reviews going on, you could be forgiven for thinking that the whole world was suddenly going to turn over to Windows 7 on the day of release. Unfortunately, that kind of instant turnover (hmm… sounds delicious) isn’t really feasible in the real world. Some people are getting 7 when they get a new computer. Some want to see it on a friend’s PC before they drop the bills on it. Others are still using the RC. And there must be some like myself who are just waiting for the initial hiccups to be worked out — something I’m waiting on with Snow Leopard as well.

So what kind of gain is Redmond looking at? Round-about a 1% increase in October. Now before you put your flaming hats on, Mac-lovers, that’s a 1% absolute increase, meaning that the percentage of computers running 7 in the world went from 1.75% to 2.82%. That’s a pretty significant gain, though I admit it is ripe for mockery by the ignorant.

The 1% gain, indicated by statistics collected by StatCounter, is accompanied by a 1.2% drop in Vista and .5% drop in XP installs. It’s worth considering that since these are based on computers browsing around the internet, a lot of business PCs and servers are probably left out of the count — though they too will take a while to ramp up as IT departments figure out just how they want to go about it.

OS X gained half a point during October too, so they’re not standing still either. 7 represents a bigger threat than the divided XP/Vista front. In a year that 2.82% will probably have the decimal point moved right one place, and its user-friendly features and critically-acclaimed status may actually put a bit of pressure on Cupertino. We’ll soon see, though.

The perfect room: a bed, TV, and an Xbox 360

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 03:30 PM PST

rosy4

Clearly the designers of this media room don’t care if you sit too close to the TV.

The whole house is featured over on Design Sponge, but this media setup caught my attention. I’m jealous.

Kid's Loft – The French movie poster  from "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down" I got from my brother who worked with Pedro Almodovar for over 10 years. The TV swings out so they can watch TV from their desks. Boi Sconces are from Pucci International, king size futon upholstered in espadrille fabric from Donghia. We set up a king upholstered mattress to lounge, play X-box and have kids sleep over.

I was constantly getting yelled at for sitting too close to my 27-inch TV growing up. You’ll get a headache! It’s bad for your eyes! Blah, blah, blah. Well, I can tell you I never got a headache from it and my eyes are bad because of genetics, not from watching Captain Planet two feet away from the TV.

Actually that media room is kind of my dream bedroom: a king size mattress stretching from wall to wall and a TV with an Xbox 360. That’s all you need, really.

The HyperMac will charge your Mac notebook and iPhone off the grid

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 03:00 PM PST

HM-MBP-2TThe HyperMac from Koyono aims to keep your MacBook and iPhone charged when you don’t have access to a power outlet. If they had swappable batteries, this wouldn’t be an issue. Apple, however, decided that no one actually wants to change batteries on the go anymore; that’s a last gen feature. That’s fine. The HyperMac looks like it should get the job done.

So basically what this thing does is power and charge a MacBook and iPhone (or any USB device) simultaneously. The battery pack even runs at both 16.5V and 18.5V like the OEM Apple chargers, which means the battery shouldn’t be put under any unnecessary strain.

There are three sizes available: 60 WH, 100 WH, 150 WH. These things aren’t cheap either. All three models use a lithium ion battery pack that can be recharged up to 1000 times and are encased in aluminum to match the MacBook. The 60 WH model runs $199, with the 100 WH and 150 WH models fetching $299 and $399 respectively but also coming with a free DC MacBook Car Charger. Pricey, yes, but also one of the only solutions to run a Mac for extended periods.

[Koyono via MacNN]
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