Posted Feb 22nd 2008 2:29PM by Nilay PatelFiled under: Gaming Sure, playing games against other people is fun, but three developers at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference were challenged to create games for humans and other species to play — and the results were just as wild as you’d expect. Alexey Pajitnov, the inventor of Tetris, unveiled a concept called Dolphin Ride that features paintball-armed dolphins racing (and attacking) each other to hit as many targets as possible, while Wizardry developer Brenda Brathwaite showed off an actual game called OneHundredDogs.com, due to launch on February 29th. (Read the full post about ‘Interspecies gaming hits GDC’…)

Looks like Europe is also pretty advanced in the field of robotics, with the Wizkid robot being on parade at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This project claims to offer ’social skills and physical presence by introducing the simplicity of everyday interactions in the world of computers.’ The learning curve is virtually non-existent, as the Wizkid will be able to understand you almost immediately. There is an “interactive halo” that follows the user everywhere, ensuring that the Wizkid’s tools are never too far away from being inaccessible. I wonder when will store fronts start employing robots such as these when greeting and helping hapless humans out. Probably a long time more in coming, I reckon. (Read the full post about ‘Wizkid Robot From Europe’…)

With the sea being the main means of transporting oil, it is inevitable that accidental spills will continue to happen, being a threat to the marine environment. An immediate cleanup response is essential in order to minimize the negative impact around the environment, and thankfully we have the SOTAB 1 (Spilled Oil Tracking Autonomous Buoy) robot from Osaka University that features imaging sensors that help it track down floating gobs of oil from a distance. Viscosity sensors will then tell it whether oil is in the area, while a wind monitor, depth meter and water thermometer garners addition data. Each SOTAB 1 is GPS-equipped for easier location, and multiple SOTAB 1s working in unison make it a snap to monitor a wide area. (Read the full post about ‘SOTAB 1 Tracks Down Oil Spills’…)

Posted Feb 22nd 2008 11:45AM by Darren MurphFiled under: HDTV, Portable Video Do you ever wonder just how realistic all these coin / hand / White House-to-miniscule item comparison shots are? We certainly do, and while the ¥1 coin seen above could be the size of a frisbee for all we know (we jest, we jest), we suppose we’ll believe Sharp when it says its latest 1seg tuner is indeed the world’s smallest. The VA3A5JZ922 checks in at just 5.9- x 5.9- x 0.9-millimeters — about 35-percent smaller than competitors — and should cost around ¥20,000 ($185) when samples start shipping out next week. (Read the full post about ‘Sharp develops “world’s smallest” 1seg TV tuner’…)

Check out this unique looking device which is actually a digital clock, thermometer and memory card reader all rolled into one. Some of the features include :- Dustproof triangular design No adaptor required for M2/miniSD/microSD memory cards Supports auto-detecting slot with card inserted USB 2.0 High-speed transfer rate up to 480Mb/sec SDHC (4GB-32GB) memory card support Compatible with SD,MMC,RS MMC, miniSD, M2, MS, MS PRO, MS Duo, MS PRO Duo, T-flash, and microSD cardsThis unique device retails for $15 a pop and comes in black, white and orange colors. Tags: plasma, gadgets, pvp, consumer technology (Read the full post about ‘Device With 3-pronged Functions’…)

I actually thought that Palm would die off first before hd dvd folded, but apparently the former is still floating about in existence while the latter has suffered a mortal defeat at the hands of Blu-ray. Palm is now offering a free Palm Z22 handheld, valued at $99, to whoever picks up the Palm TX. This offer expires at the end of this month, so if you’re one of those five people interested in picking up the Palm TX while giving the free Palm Z22 to your other half as a present, there is no better time than now. The Palm TX isn’t new though, as it was released way back in October 2005, featuring a 320 x 480 resolution, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. (Read the full post about ‘Palm TX Purchase Gets Z22 Free’…)

Looks like UK armed forces will have a vast advantage over others in the battlefield from next year onwards thanks to its new “Surveillance System and Range Finder”. This system is able to spot and locate enemy positions up to 3 miles away, where they can then call in the artillery using precisely-derived GPS coordinates. This is an all-weather, day-and-night handheld device which will bring a definite change in the battlefield. I myself would hope that nobody will ever use this, since that would equal to a war somewhere in the world. The UK Ministry of Defense has already asked for 700 of these which will cost a whopping $60 million. (Read the full post about ‘UK Troops Get New Enemy Spotting System’…)

The Novint Falcon PC game controller was quite the novelty when it was first released, and still is. This is one of the first few 3D touch peripheral for consumer computing, and the company manufacturing the Falcon, Novint Technologies, think that it is high time they offered it in a different color - black. In addition, a new grip was also introduced, whereby the standard Falcon Grip can be interchangeable with the Pistol Grip. Both the Black Falcon and Pistol Grip will retail for $199.99 and $19.99, respectively, and ought to make their way to retail stores sometime before Father’s Day 2008. (Read the full post about ‘Novint Black Falcon Controller’…)

Posted Feb 22nd 2008 7:33AM by Ryan BlockFiled under: WirelessSo this team of über-nerds — NICTA — out of Austrlia’s Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence (or ICTRCoE for “short”) announced the preliminary results of their Gigabit Wireless Project. Here’s a hint: they were able to transmit gigabits of data — five of ‘em — per second wirelessly over 60GHz / millimeter-wave CMOS-based transceivers. Of course, range on a system with that high a frequency isn’t very far, but feel free to enjoy this moment of fantasy-future news for what it is. (Read the full post about ‘60GHz wireless chip promises 5Gbps of throughput, instant tumors’…)

I live in a snow-less state (Hawaii), so I can’t relate to those who have ruined their credit cards by using them as ice scrapers. I don’t even know what an ice scraper is! We use squeegees on our windshields occasionally, but that’s about the extent of our winter-weather tools here. Even so, I can still see the value in something like this Wallet Ice Scraper (£5) from Touch of Ginger. I wonder if it’ll cut through a coconut . . . Via Daily Gadget. Tags: cellphone, pvr, cameras, sat-nav (Read the full post about ‘Stainless steel ice scraper for your wallet’…)