Monday, June 16, 2008
Design
‘Tokyo Sky Tree’ to be Second-Tallest Building in the World
11:43PM Adam Frucci | There’s a new super-skyscraper going up, and for once it’s not in Dubai. The new Tokyo Sky Tree will stand a whopping 2000 feet (610 meters) over Tokyo, making it by far the tallest building in Japan and perhaps the second tallest building in the world. More »
Games
Xbox 360, PS3 and PC to Get Balance Boards
11:23PM Mark Wilson | A new leak from Activision reveals that the next Tony Hawk skateboarding game will feature a breakthrough gaming peripheral for the 360, PS3 and PC. So what exactly is it? Wait for it…motion controls…wait for it again…through a board controller. For those of you who don’t feel like plastic instruments, gamepads for multiple systems and the freakin’ consoles themselves have taken over your life enough, there’s more crap on the way!! [Kotaku] More »
Hardware
Nvidia GeForce GTX 200 Graphics Cards Makes Your Gaming Rig Officially Outdated
11:00PM Matt Buchanan | Nvidia’s latest line of graphics cards gets official today: The GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 mark the debut of the next-gen 200 series, a completely overhauled and badass line of GPUs. The GTX 280 rocks 240 processing cores and 1GB of RAM, while the 260 comes with 192 cores and 896MB of memory, making them equally adept at generating eye-popping graphics or serious parallel computing and physics crunching. Nvidia demoed for me some of the stuff these puppies can do in SLI–and it’s pretty incredible. Check out some of Nvidia’s ass-beating benchmarks for yourself. Update: Benchmarks and reviews are rolling in, and they’re not looking as hot. More »
Games
Microsoft to Release 60GB Xbox 360?
10:48PM Mark Wilson | With E3 just around the bend, Trusted Reviews is reporting that Microsoft will announce a new Xbox 360 SKU at the event—a 60GB unit that’s been rumoured for a while. There’s no word on just how Microsoft will incorporate system into its line (which is currently three models offering no hard drive, a 20GB hard drive or a 120GB hard drive), but we’re betting that it will outright replace the 20GB Xbox 360 Premium. And hopefully its 60GB drive will be available as a cheaper standalone upgrade than Microsoft’s current college-tuition-inhaling 120GB drive. [Trusted Reviews] More »
Press
FCC Chairman Backs Sirius/XM Merger
10:26PM Mark Wilson | It’s not official yet, but FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (one of five relevant votes) has decided to allow the merge between Sirius and XM satellite radio providers. However, there are a few caveats that the companies would need to accept–but it’s all good news for the consumer. More »
Peripherals
Sony’s DR-BT140QP Bluetooth Headset Mightn’t Make You Look Geeky
10:10PM Gizmodo US Edition | I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Bluetooth headsets are not a good fashion statement, even Borg-like ones. But with these little earpieces from Sony, you might be able to get away with it and not look too geeky. The DR-BT140Qs double as normal earphones with a frequency response of 16Hz to 24kHz and have 30mm drivers, while the Bluetooth part is 2.0 and supports A2DP/AVRCP/HFP/HSP profiles. The built-in battery will last you about 12 hours, and they’re available in July for US$138.89 in silver, white, black and pink. [Akihabaranews] More »
Phones
Nokia E71 and E66 Phones Stuffed with Two Cameras, Wi-Fi, GPS and More
10:00PM Benny Goldman | The E66 and E71, two Nokia E-Series mobile phones in last week’s rumour mill, are now official. Up top is the E71, a slick QWERTY phone that’s a lot less chunky than its predecessor, the E61. It comes equipped with a 3.2MP camera in the back, a front cam for video calls, Wi-Fi and GPS, just like the E66 down below.
Toys
Graffiti’ed AT-AT Walker Up For Grabs at Christie’s Auction
9:40PM Gizmodo US Edition | If you’ve got a spare couple of grand loitering in your bank account, and you’re a S*** W*** fan, then this graffiti’ed AT-AT walker might be so far up your galaxy it’s parked in your constellation. Customised by EASE and JK5 for Suckadelic, the Hasbro toy is tagged in gin-u-wine Aurebesh language, and is expected to go for between US$1,500 and US$2,000. You can pick it up at the Christie’s Pop Culture sale on June 25 in New York. [Christie's via GeekAlerts]
Gadgets
Mobile Phone Pics Get You Custom Colour Sneakers in Nike PhotoID Promo
9:10PM Gizmodo US Edition | The idea behind Nike’s new PhotoID scheme is that you take a picture with your mobile phone and MMS it to Nike’s computers. These grab the two dominant colours and send you back an image of a 1985 Dunk high-top basketball sneaker with the colours mapped on. Cool, but here’s the neat bit: you can buy the sneakers. Clever bit of PR from Nike, but it does mean you could get a pair of sneakers in hues to match your fave photos… be that sandy yellow and ocean blue, or clean bedsheet white and nubile-skin pink if you’re into that sort of mobile phone photography. Launches today, but you’ll have to be in one of nine European countries if you fancy trying it out. [The Guardian] More »
Peripherals
