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Listing for “Arc Touch Mouse” suggests a Microsoft response to Apple’s Magic Mouse

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 03:30 PM PDT


You may remember the Arc Mouse, an attractive and portable little thing (marred in my opinion by the sensor placement) I reviewed back in ‘08. It’s a nice design, perhaps one of Microsoft Hardware’s best, and now there are signs pointing to a touch-based update — perhaps using one of the technologies I saw on my visit to Microsoft Labs.

The FTIR mouse or Cap mouse would be the likeliest candidates for a transplant, the others requiring a much more significant change in form factor.

So far the only evidence is a listing on a couple European retail sites with the name, and perhaps more significantly, the “arctouchmouse.com” domain registered by Microsoft. Kind of a giveaway, that.

A Microsoft rep has said they have “nothing to announce at this time.” Very encouraging! We’ll keep an eye on this and let you know when anything more substantial lands on our virtual laps.

Apple drops restocking fee for returned iPhones

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 03:22 PM PDT

Just a friendly PSA: after facing a tidal wave of customer complaints and bad PR, Apple has opted to waive the 10% restocking fee incurred on customers returning their iPhone 4s. I doubt this is any sort of admission of faultiness from Apple — they’re addressing the reception problem partially by making the bars bigger — it seems more like a tactful placation of their angriest customers. The restocking fee also figured in one of the lawsuits Apple is facing, so there’s that as well.

Sure, $20 or $30 isn’t that much money, but when all signs seem to point to your having returned a faulty product, and you still have to give them money, it can sting a bit.

Möbius-style LED desk lamp is tasteful, yet Galactus-like

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 03:00 PM PDT


So I’m a design nerd for loving this lamp by Naama Hoffman for its simple beauty, but I’m also a regular nerd for instantly recognizing its similarity to Galactus’ summer home, where he stays when he’s not devouring planets. Seriously, look at this picture from Secret Wars:

The lamp uses 4.5W (far less than the Worldship Taa II) and uses 120 LEDs. If you want to buy one, you’d better contact the designer directly.

Now if you’ll excuse me, the hunger is upon me yet again (I need a bagel).

[via NotCot]

Nintendo patents Wii hard drive system, but is it for them or us?

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 02:00 PM PDT


A patent application has been filed by Nintendo for a system of delivering and navigating Wii games via hard drive. It’s really simple, actually: the game disc is ripped to a DVD image, which image is given its own partition and loaded on demand. Essentially, they’re doing what pirates have been doing for the last decade or so. The question is whether this system is actually a consumer product or just a tool for them to use in-house or for display Wiis?

I’m leaning towards the latter. An online and instantly accessible marketplace is something Nintendo wants, but limiting it to VC and Wiiware games is smart. A minor hack to the Wii’s authentication code (say, via a secondary program easily downloadable or accessible online) would be all it would take to make a hard drive full of games into a natively-run pirate operation.

Also, since the patent is so simple and there is no mention of accessing user data or online friend lists or rankings, I’m guessing this is for a display thing. Remember that testing/display NES system that had like 50 separate cartridges it could switch between? I can’t find it right now but you know what I mean. This would be like that. Kind of.

[via GoNintendo]

3D Tetris on a screen made of water? Yes please

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 01:30 PM PDT


We’ve seen water-based screens and tech before, and in fact the “illuminated drop” technique specifically has been used to good effect probably for years. Some researchers at Carnegie Mellon saw some potential there outside of parlor tricks, and have created a functional display that works by firing images on three separate sheets of drips, with precise timing to allow for synchronization between the “screens.”

It has an effective resolution of 50 drops wide and 60 drops per second per nozzle, it’s not exactly HD, but it is pretty cool. The sound of dripping water might interfere with my concentration when I play Tetris, though.

[via Technabob, VizWorld, and 3D Display Info]

Secrets of the Old Spice commercials, volume 2

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 01:00 PM PDT


By now you must be familiar with Isaiah Mustafa, the man from the Old Spice commercials. You know… the man. After the last commercial hit, dissecting it second by second was a fun pastime until Leo Laporte talked it over with the creators and we were all slightly flabbergasted at the amount of craftsmanship that had gone into it. The same thing has happened now with the second commercial, except the man himself is answering the questions.

I have a theory about how he got into those jeans at the end. Precision.

Note to Isaiah Mustafa: next time you’re in Seattle, drop me a line. We’ll kick it.

Yikes: UFC Undisputed 2010 falls 60 percent from last year

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 12:30 PM PDT

The numbers are in, and UFC Undisputed 2010, while not exactly a bomb, sure as heck (language, I know) didn’t do anywhere near the amount of business that last year’s version did. THQ sold some 413,000 copies of the game (221K on Xbox 360 and 192K on PS3) of the game. Contrast that with last year’s numbers, which worked out to 1.01 million across both platforms (680K for Xbox 360 and 334K for PS3). That’s a drop of around 60 percent! So what gives?

Hopefully THQ has learned that you can’t release UFC games like you would Madden. For one, there’s not enough year-over-year change in UFC to warrant a new game. The same fighters who were main-eventing last year (Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, etc.) are main-eventing this year. There’s no excitement of seeing, I don’t know, Brett Favre put on a Vikings jersey.

Others are blaming the release of Red Dead Redemption, which was aimed at the same young, male crowd.

There’s also the small fact that the game just wasn’t very good. I’ve read complaints on MMA message boards from here to next Tuesday that say the ground game in the game is wildly unfair and seems to be based on luck more than anything else. It’s very much a case of, well, if you bought the game last year, there’s no particular reason to upgrade.

In fact, the game is available for only $40 on Amazon right now. I feel sorry for the people who payed full price for the game back in May! (Don’t feel too bad, though, I bought Alpha Protocol for full price, too!)

All of this lends credence to the rumor that EA is going to offer Dona White & Co. a giant sack of money for the rights to the next UFC game, making EA Sports MMA very much a beta of sorts.

In other news, I fully expect a Shane Carwin win tomorrow.

Review: Leica V-LUX 20

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 11:50 AM PDT

This camera, the Leica V-LUX 20, is an almost atom-to-atom copy of the $399 Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7, is tough to love off the bat. it costs $699 and has a 12 megapixel sensor with 12x wide angle optical zoom and it takes good pictures in most situations.

The V-LUX 20 also includes a GPS chip that allows you to tag your images on the go. However, all of these are available in the Lumix model and the Lumix supports HD video. Which one should you buy?


If you’re going to go the Leica route, I’d recommend the D-Lux 4 before this one. It will be a bit cheaper and the low-light shooting is amazing. However, this is a stable, small, and usable little camera. Would I recommend it over a Canon G11 or an Olympus E-PL1? Probably not, but if you’re a die-hard Leica head you might as well give this a second look.

Here are some sample shots. Generally, bright light shooting was perfect whereas low-light shooting was abysmal, as can be expected from this type of camera. It’s a trade-off – and a big one – and definitely something to think about if you plan on shooting lots of nightlife.

Product Page

IBM dives back into water cooling supercomputers to save energy

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 11:34 AM PDT

IBMToday, IBM delivered its first Aquasar supercomputer, which is cooled by water, to a Swiss technology institute. The system needs 40% less energy to run than air-cooled machines, and the waste heat it produces can be used to warm buildings.

The system works thanks to micro-channel liquid coolers that are attached directly to processors, one of the biggest culprits of computer heat generation. IBM says water is 4,000 times more efficient at removing heat than air.

Continue reading…

The Swedish Pirate Party moves The Pirate Bay to parliament

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 10:15 AM PDT

Interesting developments coming out of Sweden vis-à-vis The Pirate Bay, a site that I’m shocked is still around. Do you know anybody who still uses it? I sure don’t. The Swedish Pirate Party—inspiration to pirate parties all over the world, including the USA Pirate Party—has decided to take advantage of an obscure clause in the Swedish constitution to defend the site’s very existence. On top of becoming the site’s ISP, the Pirate Party has now decided to use a form of political immunity to protect the site from lawsuits and other forms of harassment. The end result is that The Pirate Bay now, always and forever, seems to be under the legal protection of Swedish law. How about that for a storyline twist?

What’s happening is that the Pirate Party has moved The Pirate Bay’s servers inside the walls of the Swedish Parliament. It’d be like running your blog out of your company’s break room. As such, and per the Swedish constitution, TPB is now considered part of the Pirate Party’s political, um, existence. The law is designed to ensure that an elected political party doesn’t have its views expunged from the record simply because they’re controversial or unpopular.

Now, assuming everything goes according to plan, outside authorities, be they foreign governments or international copyright agencies, won’t be able to sue or otherwise bother TPB ever again.

The Pirate Party isn’t doing this to ensure that people all over the world can download the latest episode Entourage, but to ensure that free speech and unfettered thought can continue to prosper on the Internet.

Noble, certainly, given the childish activity that TPB has engaged in in the past I’m not sure how well-received the move will be outside of the "community," as it were.

EA Mobile announces shmup legend R-Type for iPhone

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 10:10 AM PDT

One of the best shooting games ever created, R-Type, is soon heading to the App Store. Made in 1987 by legendary gaming company Irem, the classic arcade title has been ported to countless platforms so far. The iPhone version will be developed by EA Mobile, which just announced the game on its Facebook page.

EA Mobile says the Apple port will keep “100% true to the original”. I am not doubting that this will be the case graphics- and sound-wise, but the touch controls are sure to make R-Type even harder than it already is (there will be a number of difficulty modes though).

EA Mobile hasn’t said yet when and for how much the title will be available on the iPhone (the screenshots show the Apple version).

Via TouchArcade

3 lessons HP hopefully learned from the iPad

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 09:32 AM PDT

The HP webOS Slate is one-step closer to the market now that HP officially owns Palm. It has a real chance to be the iPad-alternative of choice when it launches later this year. Hopefully HP engineers and designers have been taking notes about the iPad from the beginning because even though the iPad is selling like Girl Scout cookies, it’s far from perfect.

The Apple branding alone is part of the successful launch, but HP is, well, HP and a major player in the consumer market with deeper distribution channels than even Apple. If any one company can stand up to Apple in the tablet space, it’s HP — but only if they take advantage of learning from Apple’s mistakes and success.

People want connectivity

One of the main initial complaints about the iPad — even before it was available — was the lack of connectivity options. Where’s the USB and SD card slot? It’s not there. Instead Apple opted for just its proprietary Dock Connector and now offers add-on adapters for USB and SD card slots.

That severely limits the capability of the device. Of course, Apple went this way for a couple of reason, mainly to justify the tiered storage scheme and to market the iPad as more of a big cell phone than a small computer.

That’s fine for Apple, but HP has the opportunity to think bigger. Photographers for one would love the ability to use a tablet device for viewing their pics in the field. Notebooks can be so cumbersome and all photographers need is an SD card slot and a decent photo viewing app.

An SD card slot or USB port also allows users to easily expand the storage of the device — something Apple didn’t want. 16GB SD cards and thumbnail flash drives are perfect for this job and would allow HP to release just one slate model rather than having a tiered product structure. Simplicity is good in the consumer market.

It’s more about the user experience than the hardware

Apple doesn’t advertise the iPad’s hardware. None of the ads talk about RAM or CPU speed. Even the product pages on Apple.com are void of anything relating to the hardware. It doesn’t matter.

Apple instead talks about the iPad’s capabilities like it does with the iPhone. The iPad is more computer than portable device, but Apple doesn’t treat it as such. HP needs to do the same with the webOS Slate.

Show off the interface. Talk about the apps. Explain what makes the Slate stand out. But the battery life is the only hardware related spec that should be discussed. The Slate’s hype will slow down the very minute HP starts talking up GPU or screen resolution.

ebooks and digital content are key

The dirty secret about the iPad is that many people don’t actually read ebooks on it. Oh sure, they might buy one or two off iBooks or the Kindle Store, but it’s just a novelty for a lot of users. Those same users enjoy feeling sophisticated and up-scaling because they have access to ebooks. People even justify purchasing the iPad on ebooks alone so HP must make ebooks a core part of the webOS Slate.

Honestly, there doesn’t have to be an HP-branded ebook store. HP would be better off to simply build-in either the Kindle or Nook app (or both) and then advertise the capabilities. Both Amazon and B&N are in the ebook game for the platform and not their dedicated reading device anyway.

Then there’s digital content. Go to Apple’s iPad feature page. What’s the top image? An iPad showing the New York Times. Once again, a subtle but effective display showing that if you own an iPad, you’ll read the NYT and therefore join high society.

Other ads feature Wired’s digital magazine and just recently, TIME showed off their new mag, too. These major publications will then in turn advertise the shiny new apps to their large subscriber base who will then become slightly more interested in the iPad. Everyone is a winner.

Hopefully HP can capitalize on webOS and convince these publishers that they need to be on their device as well. WebOS can turn out just as pretty of apps as iOS so HP should be able to ink at least a few major publishers right away.

The HP webOS Slate can be a legitimate runner-up in the tablet race. It’s an awesome OS and a major manufacturer behind it. All it needs now is the right marketing and a bit of luck. Well, actually, maybe a lot of luck.

Thermaltake’s Element V chassis is world’s first Nvidia-approved full tower

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 08:45 AM PDT

This is the world’s first Nvidia-certified full tower chassis. It’s the Thermaltake Element V, and it’s been specially certified to accommodate Nvidia’s two newest GPUs, the GTX 480 and the GTX 470. As you might imagine, a key feature of the chassis is thermal management. That’s to be expected given how hot those Fermi cards run.

Another key thing that blew my mind: 11 5.25-inch bays. Who needs 11 bays? Six 3.5-inch hard drives are supported, one 2.5-inch hard drive, and one SSD, so that leaves three slots open. Let’s say maybe you want a separate DVD burner and a Blu-ray drive—then what? What do you do with the final bay?

Seriously, let me know. I have no idea how you’d use up so many bays.

Nvidia and Thermaltake also worked together to come up with an "air duct" system that further cools the GPUs.

You know your GPUs are hot when you need to develop an air duct just to keep it from melting.

Of course, there’s enough room in there for up to four GPUs. Because who doesn’t have $2,000 to spend on video cards alone?

$219 for this bad boy. It may seem expensive, but it’s probably the last case you’ll ever need to buy for several years.

Canon develops X-ray- and pain-free mammogram device

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 08:41 AM PDT

We don’t cover medical technology here on CrunchGear usually, but one of the things Canon is currently working on in that area sounds pretty interesting. According to Japanese daily The Nikkei, the company has developed a machine that helps detecting breast cancer without using X-rays (it’s estimated [PDF] that in the US alone, some 250,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer yearly).

Canon says its technology has two advantages over conventional mammogram devices: first, it (obviously) saves patients from exposure to radiation, and second the diagnosis is completely pain-free. The machine, which was developed along with a research team from Kyoto University, is based on laser and ultrasonic wave technology (which is why it can’t actually be labeled as a mammogram device).

Canon says that the first clinical studies are scheduled to begin at Kyoto University soon. The company expects to commercialize the machine within three to five years.

The picture shows a conventional mammogram device (sorry, but Canon hasn’t released any pictures of its new machine yet).

NBA free agency shows Twitter has put athletes in control of daily narrative

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 08:00 AM PDT

It’s free agency season in the NBA, and the only people who are more excited than the fans are the nation’s sports reporters. How easy it is to be a sports reporter in 2010! Thanks to Twitter, you’ve got guys like Chris Bosh dropping morsels of information all day long. For example, Bosh tweeted the following last night, sending the sports world into a tizzy:


Just had dinner w @dwadeofficial. Great way to end day 1 of #freeagency although it feels like someone is missing…… http://say.ly/FrP2L8less than a minute ago via WhoSayChris Bosh
chrisbosh

Of course, Dwayne Wade is another star free agent. He, too, is on Twitter, and he, too, is constantly dropping little hints:


I’m in the mood to break my twitter silence….l2msless than a minute ago via ÜberTwitterDwyane Wade
dwadeofficial

What does he mean? You can guarantee Sports Illustrated and ESPN has interns who sole job it is to check their Twitter accounts for any and all information.

I fully expect to see either Bosh or Wade tweet: "Man, it’s a windy day here today!" and then see stories like, "WADE TO CHICAGO ALL BUT OFFICIAL."

These two players, Bosh and Wade, along with LeBron James, are constantly being linked with teams all over the NBA. While New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg basically begged LeBron to join the Knicks, perhaps LeBron understands what all New Yorkers know: the Knicks, now and forever, are a joke. You could have all five players be LeBron and the sports gods would still conspire to make them lose.

A few days ago word on the street was that Miami was in pole position to nab all three players, a move that would basically ensure the creation of a Heat Dynasty for the next several years. It probably shouldn’t take too much convincing if you’re Heat management: "Guys, listen, we have the money to build a team around you three. You want to win rings, you sign with us. Oh, and bonus: there’s no state income tax here in Florida—why not buy an extra Audi with your money?"

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that Twitter has transformed free agency. Whereas before the players had no way to communicate with their fans, and in many ways control the narrative, they’re now in complete control. All they need to do is tweet a few words and the nation’s sports departments will be set… all-a-twitter.

Mazda to build a life-size Scalextric track that features real cars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 07:25 AM PDT


Attending the Goodwood Festival of Speed at West Sussex this weekend? No, me neither. To bad too because Mazda is apparently construction an automated full-size Scalextric track that will feature full-size Mazda cars. Hopefully none of them will fly off the track when rounding the bends like my slot cars always did.


The track, part of the 20-year MX-5 celebration, will feature a 1990 Miate, a 2000 10th anniversary edition and a California Special edition along with a handful of other notable models. Hopefully some fun videos will appear shortly showing off what sounds like a really fun exhibit at Goodwood.

Instaload: A Microsoft innovation I can get behind

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 07:19 AM PDT


Picture this: you’re placing batteries into a device. You put them in wrong. Then you swap them so they’re right. How long did that take? If you said “too freaking long” then Microsoft has a technology for you.

Instaload is a new technology “which allows users to easily install a battery without regard to positive and negative polarity.” Boom. Instant heaven.

Duracell and some other companies are going to license the technology and when they do all heck will break loose. Put some money on Middle East Peace, babies, because this is serious.

CrunchGear Contest: Cut the Cable

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 07:00 AM PDT


I’ve been living without cable since i got out of college. I have a decent television that is used solely for watching movies. Originally, those were DVDs. But last year I finally hooked up a Mac Mini to my TV, and now I enjoy Netflix Streaming and the occasional episode of something from Hulu. With Hulu Plus coming soon, and old favorites like Boxee, Amazon Video on Demand, and more does it even make sense to pay for a subscription for cable television any more? If you’re ready to cut the cable, CrunchGear is giving away a Warpia wireless USB A/V adapter set that will let you beam video from your desktop or laptop to your TV!

A quick refresher on the Warpia set, valued at $170 USD:

  • Watch internet content, downloaded movies, presentations, and photo slideshows with sound on your TV or projector
  • Achieves 32-bit True Color depth for high quality images, 720P HD resolution, and 16-bit stereo sound
  • Range includes same room coverage of up to 30 feet (10 meters)
  • Compatible with Windows Vista/XP/7.0

If you’d like to win this contest, please leave a comment telling us the make and model of your TV, and what you will first stream from your computer to that TV with this device. Will you watch a movie from Netflix? Will you stream a sporting event? Watch silly YouTube videos? Something else? We want to know!

As usual, this contest is only open to people with a U.S. mailing address.

Since this is a long holiday weekend here in the U.S. (Happy 4th of July, everyone!), we’ll let this contest run through the morning of Tuesday, July 6. Then we’ll pick a random winner.

Toshiba Japan starts selling 3D notebook, follows up with three new 2D notebooks

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 06:39 AM PDT

After unveiling the TX/98MBL last month (the world’s first Blu-ray-playing 3D notebook), Toshiba Japan showed [JP] another three (2D) notebooks today. The 15.6-inch 3D model is now on sale in Toshiba Japan’s online store for $2,860, while the three 2D models of the RX3W series (which all come with a 13.3-inch screen) will follow soon.

All new models feature 10 hours battery life and come with the same design (see picture above), but they have different specs.

The flagship of the RX3W series is the RX3W/9MWMA. It features a Core i5-520M CPU (2.4GHz), 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD 128GB, a 1,366×768 display, a DVD multi-drive, Bluetooth V2.1+EDR, WiMAX, and Windows 7 Professional (32bit/64bit). It will go on sale in Japan in August (price: $2,850).

The RX3W/7MW is equipped with the same Core i5-520M CPU, 4GB RAM, a 320GB HDD, a 1,366×768 display, a DVD multi-drive, Bluetooth V2.1+EDR, and Windows 7 Premium (32bit). Toshiba plans to start selling the 7MW this month for $1,700.

The RX3W/6MW comes with a weaker Core i3-350M CPU (2.26GHz), 4GB RAM, a 320GB HDD, a 1,366×768 display, a DVD multi-drive, Bluetooth V2.1+EDR, and Windows 7 Premium (32bit). This model will hit Japanese stores this month for $1,540.

No word yet from Toshiba regarding sales outside Japan.

Rumor: Apple TV getting a major update, perhaps propelling it out of Hobbyland

Posted: 02 Jul 2010 06:26 AM PDT


Imagine this, but much better

According to the Blog of Record, Apple is bolstering its collection of engineers dedicated to the Apple TV. The sources, who “refused to be identified,” naturally, said ATV may be getting an OS update to iOS instead of the stripped down OSX kernel it is currently running.

The rumors are pretty much what you’ve already heard: that the new Apple TV will be an entirely new animal, a $99 box will be more in line with the current Roku or Western Digital video sharing devices than the original Apple TV. The expectation, in fact, is that this new device will not have a hard drive and will instead stream from the Interworld.

I worry that it may be too late for Apple TV but then again if Apple does it right we may have a winner on our hands. I’ve used the current ATV for a few years now and until I hacked it, installing more hard drive space and upgrading to XBMC and Boxee, it was pretty much useless. A push in the right, cloud-based direction will definitely help out.
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