newVideoPlayer("pinball_giz.flv", 494, 276,""); Today, when we visited NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program spring 2008 show, we were immediately drawn to “Moving Parts,” a crazy pinball game that’s the brainchild and thesis of physical-interaction designer Daniel Soltis. It’s made of real wood, with wooden buttons and plungers, but the board itself is empty, and stays that way. The game you see is merely a projection from above, but man does it feel real.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Dell is killing its four big balls XPS gaming machines (not the entire XPS line, like the standard notebooks, which are selling really well) to focus all of its juice on Alienware as its sole gaming brand. The timeline isn’t overly specific, but the clock is ticking for Dell’s XPS WoW notebook and their car-sized (and priced) 730 tower. We actually sorta figured this was coming.
There’s nothing more Australian than a barbecue, unless of course you counter in watching footy. But generally the two don’t really go together – the TV’s generally inside while the barbie is generally outside. Sure, you can walk between the two, but who wants to do that, and either burn your snags or miss a crucial try?
“Bugger that for an idea”, said Melbourne-based Herma Technologies, as they hopped on a plane to Korea to join forces with iizel with the hopes of releasing the Korean company’s trademark outdoor TV screens. “We just want to watch the footy and cook a barbie at the same time”.
And thanks to their pioneering dream, you too can now enjoy the outdoor television experience. Herma Technologies have announced the new range of iizel TVs, including two “HD ready” models with a 1366 x 768 resolution (32-inch and 42-inch), to Full HD, 1920 x 1080 screens (42, 47, 52, 57 and 70-inch sizes available).
So, multitouch has some interesting applications, but all pale in comparison to playing a two player version of Missile Command. The clone was installed by Steve Mason at the Obscura Digital production studios massive 8′X4′ multitouch wall—and as you can see in the video after the break, It looks like a good time, not to mention a decent workout.
CNNMoney/Fortune has a story out saying that Eve, the female character to stand opposite Wall-E in the movie of the same name, was designed in part by Apple lead designer Jonathan Ive. The robot design is kinda cool, in that it reminds me of the most recent incarnation of Marvin the Paranoid Android, but the real story to be told is of Ive’s day spent with the Pixar guys working on Eve.
When I was 22, I was just finishing up Uni, spending too much time in pubs and clubs and wondering how Nokia managed to get an address book function in their latest mobile phone. At no point in time did it cross my mind that I should go to one of the remotest parts of the world and try and cross a relatively unexplored island on foot.
But maybe that’s just me. It’s definitely not Chris Bray or Clark Carter, two young Australians who made their first attempt to cross Victoria Island up in the Arctic circle back in 2005, when they were just 22 and 21 respectively. Today they fly out to try and complete the 1000km trek they started 3 years ago.
Over the next 100 days, they are likely to be chased by arctic wolves and attacked by polar bears as they make their way across some of the harshest terrain imaginable. But if you think that’s cool, you should check out some of the gadgets they’re taking with them:
It took around a year to put together from scratch, but a German PC modder going by the name “Froop” managed to build an elaborate PC casemod inspired by the Chernobyl theme in the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The result is “Unit 4,” a working PC model of Chernobyl complete with a flip-top that allows you to peer into the bowels of the destroyed power plant. The construction process is outlined in its entirety in the following links, but you can check out some pics of the early stages as well as the final product in the gallery. [Thebestcasescenario and bit-tech forums via
Despite mocoNews’ and WSJ’s reports last week that SK Telecom and Virgin Mobile were set to merge the Helio and Virgin Mobile USA brands, SK Telecom denies these rumours and says its fully committed to Helio. Dow Jones quoted SK Telecom spokesperson Mina Ryu as saying the all stock transaction merger was “groundless” While SK Telelcom did say they were actively pursuing opportunities for expansion in the U.S., they clearly stated they weren’t in “any sort of talks” with Virgin Mobile. [mocoNews]
The European Space Agency is looking into manufacturing intermetallic materials in zero gravity space to cut the weight of jet engines in half and increase fuel efficiency. Intermetallic materials are different than alloys in that they are combined at the molecular level, as opposed to merely melting down metals and creating a homogeneous mix. Scientists want to manufacture Titanium Aluminide up in space because on earth, the difference in the metals’ weight prevents the allow from diffusing correctly. The ESA currently plans to go up to the International Space Station to conduct tests on the manufacturing process. [BBC via io9 via DViCE]
For the moment. Optus last week announced that it plans to take on Telstra in the coverage stakes, targeting 98% of the Australian population. They’re spending a whopping $315 million between now and December 2009 to build at least another 750 base stations across the country. Their target is to extend their coverage area by 400,000 square kilometres.
On top of the coverage increase, they’re also in the process of boosting their 3G networks to 7.2Mbps HSPA on the 900MHz spectrum, with plans to expand that to 42Mbps by mid 2010. Which should be the perfect speed and coverage for a 3G iPhone, don’t you think?
The full press release is below:
[Optus]
