Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Games

This Is How Guitar Hero Works on the DS

11:45PM Mark Wilson | We long wondered just how it would be possible to play Guitar Hero on the DS in the upcoming Guitar Hero: On Tour. There was this big attachment thing and this pick thing and this “will people really play this in public?” thing. Now a new video explains the process in excruciatingly cheesy detail. Looking at the hardware this closely, I’m betting that the stylus (pick) is going to induce a lot more whining than the fret buttons. What do you think? [Kotaku] More »
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Hardware

Intel Centrino 2 Delay Gets Official

11:30PM Matt Buchanan | Yesterday’s report that Intel’s highly anticipated Centrino 2 chipset was being delayed by issues with the integrated graphics and a wireless certification boo-boo was right on the money. Intel confirmed it today, with a soft launch July 14 of the Centrino 2 sets using discrete graphics and their new mobile processors, followed by a full rollout of the whole shebang in August. [PCMag] More »
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Peripherals

Asus ROG XG VGA Multimedia Docking Station Gets Revealed

11:20PM Gizmodo US Edition | Asus’s ROG XG, the “world’s first VGA and multimedia docking station” for notebooks has just been revealed in full. The “Republic of Gamer” XG comes bundled with a EN8600GT/HTDP/256M graphics card, has a built-in express card interface, Dolby sound technology which can simulate 5.1 sound through two speakers, and a four-port USB hub. And still looks neat: it’s even earned an honourable mention in this years Red Dot design awards. More info in the press release. More »
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Entertainment

TiVo Adds Another VOD Service, Breaks Amazon’s Heart

10:57PM Mark Wilson | While TiVo’s offered Amazon Unbox downloads for some time, apparently TiVo isn’t opposed to playing the field. The company just signed another video on demand partner, Cinemanow, to bring in Disney content. Their library is tiny with only 1,500 titles and we’re not certain whether TiVo will only be accessing their Disney content. But there are two things we really like about this deal. More »
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Peripherals

Hacked Wii Balance Board Surfs Google Earth

10:37PM Mark Wilson | From a technical standpoint, what’s going on here isn’t all the mind-blowing. A group of German students are using the Wii Balance Board (from Wii Fit) as an input to navigate Google Earth. But what is notable is that the board was programmed to allow users to surf Earth ala unconventionally transparent marketing ploy super heroes. Unfortunately, the turning sensation more closely resembles FPS strafing. But Man must first walk before he can surf—and surf before he can surf the cosmos. More »
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Science

Scientists Working on Matrix-esque Brain-Computer Interface

10:20PM Gizmodo US Edition | A team at Caltech is working on a MEMS-based robot probe that will be able to slowly creep electrodes into your brain to connect up to specific neurons. Creepy indeed, but with potential uses for advanced control of prosthetic limbs, Luke Skywalker-style. But the idea has greater potential for “state-of-the-art experimental techniques for electrophysiology.” according to team-leader Michael Wolf. And that’s just got me picturing the neural probes of The Matrix. More »
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Phones

Carriers Have the iPhone 2, But Leaked Images Are All Fake

10:00PM Gizmodo US Edition | Yesterday I was talking with a contact in one of the European carriers that will be selling the iPhone 3G in June. I’m really getting sick of people claiming that they got leaked images while it is painfully obvious that they are fake. Yesterday, a white version appeared and gullible people still believed it may be true, even while it is obvious that it is the same third-party case we saw in black not so long ago. So I asked: “really, do you guys have the iPhone 3G?” More »
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Vehicles

New Secret X-Bomber Is Not So Secret Anymore

9:40PM Gizmodo US Edition | Northrop Grumman is working on a new classified bomber prototype for the Air Force, at an estimated cost—according to their financial statements—of US$2 billion. Apparently, the first version will require human/clone/Cylon pilots, with a high-endurance unmanned model possibly following after that. According to military industry magazine DTI, there is a high probability that the New Generation Bomber—concept above—will be following the success of the X-47B unmanned bomber aircraft. More »
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Phones

Samsung’s “Safari Browser” Likely Just S60’s WebKit Browser

9:23PM Gizmodo US Edition | Samsung has presented their L870 Symbian-based smartphone at the S60 Summit 2008, which has started today in Barcelona. Some blogs are speculating that it includes Apple’s Safari, even while neither Samsung’s own press release, nor Apple or Nokia or anyone at the S60 organisation have said it is actually the Apple Safari running on Symbian 9.3. Update: Intomobile confirms that it’s the latest S60s WebKit-based browser, as expected. In fact, Nokia is using the summit to push the latest version of their S60 web browser and services. More »
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Design

GPS-Tracked Biggest Drawing in the World is Complete Fake

9:02PM Gizmodo US Edition | You know that so-called “biggest drawing in the World” made by pin-point DHL mailings of a GPS tracker? Well, all you doubting commenters were right: it’s a complete and utter fake. While artist Erik Nordenankar was allowed into a DHL warehouse, that’s about it as far as any real mail is concerned. A note on his website says “This is fictional work. DHL did not transport the GPS at any time.” So, no GPS tracker, no DHL pin-point global mailing. Just one big steaming pile of fakeness. [Gadget Lab]
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