This leaked Sony Ericsson’s F305 phone is notable for a couple reasons. One, it’s their first motion gaming phone under the F-line (there’ve been one or two here and there for various other phones), which makes us and The Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog think that it the series stands for “Fun”. Two, it’s got PlayStation buttons on there, namely the O and the X, giving users an NES-level of complexity to the games.
Microsoft’s been working on a Wiimote-esque controller due to come out late this year—development started on it all the way back in Summer ’07—but the whole process has been “a colossal clusterfuck.” Here’s what MTV news knows courtesy of their exclusive source, who sketched out what it looks like above.
Nobody really knows what the future of human interfaces and gaming will look like, but Andrew Fentem—who went from working on classified missile systems to developing multi-touch human interfaces, kinetic surfaces and motion sensing technologies before almost anyone else in the planet—gave us a fascinating vision on where we are headed in this exclusive interview. Work like his Fentix Cube, a motion- and touch-sensing cube which can play Pac-Man among other games, have all the big companies taking notes. The videos speak for themselves.
With the success of the Wii being primarily due to its motion sensing controls, it would seem pretty logical for Nintendo to try it out on their portable line up as well. And it looks like they might do just that with the discovery of an updated patent filing by the big N themselves that states
Here’s an interactive LED coffee table that refuses to simply table your coffee—it twinkles and sparkles, reacting to movement. The Wave uses 32 near-infrared sensors which observe the space above the table and any motion detected is mimicked with trails of light and color from 480 LEDs. A cat, for instance, would be followed by LEDs as it walked across the table. Once sitting, only its moving parts would be responded to, such as its tail. It’s good that the table only uses 35 Watts of power when fully active, or else mesmerized guests would run your coffers absolutely dry. Each 62″ long, 31″ wide, and 18″ high table is made to order and starts at around $2,500. Check out the gallery if you’re comfortable with the idea of a table entertaining guests better than you can. [Because We Can via coolest-gadgets] galleryPost('InteractiveLEDCoffeeTable', 4, 'Interactive LED Coffee Table');
Looking for a pair of speakers to jazz up your desktop? Boynq’s new motion-sensitive Saturn could do the trick. The spherical speaker must be standing upright in order to pump out audio. To turn it off, you place the sphere on its back. Sure, they sound gimmicky, but at least the speakers will keep your desktop tidy since they’re USB-powered. And in addition to your computer, they’ll also connect to any device with a 3.5mm audio-out. – Louis Ramirez
Product Page [via Everything USB]
Here’s that Bestilt controller mod, whose motion-sensing tricks we showed you in a video yesterday, and now today they’ve posed for their first pics. The controller attachments will be available next week from Total Console in your choice of black or white for $37.99.
If you’re inclined to take off the bottom of your Xbox 360 controller and solder these wires in place, your Xbox 360 might be able to do Nintendo Wii-like tricks. Too bad none of the Xbox 360 games were specifically written for motion sensing. Could be awkward, but we’ll reserve judgment. – Charlie White
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Product Page [Total Console]
newVideoPlayer("rewake_gawker.flv", 520, 410); Here’s another NYU project, where student Vincent Dean Boyce has figured out a way to send mechanical and motion data from a skateboard (or it could be a snowboard or surfboard) via Bluetooth to a mobile phone. Imagine the possibilities if you hook this up to an Xbox 360! – Charlie White with video by Richard Blakeley
Remember the Xilt, the hack to Wiimotize your Xbox 360 controller? Well, this is not it. At least, it seems that while Xilt 360 is still coming soon, Total Console has released the Bestilt 360. Same concept: “simply” solder it to the bottom part of your Xbox 360 pad, activate it with a switch and have fun awkwardly controlling games that weren’t designed for motion sensing in the first place.
The Bestilt 360 will start shipping on May 14 from New York City and is available now for pre-order for $37.99. Wii Sports, Zelda and Mario Galaxy are not included and will never be. – Jesus Diaz
Product Page [Total Console]
Like Panasonic, Sony’s presence was very corporate, the highlight of which was this intelligent video monitoring solution, which would highlight points of motion, effectively picking out people and tracking them in the frame.
There was also a new HD video conferencing system. Why? Because you can!
The HD video system and a close up on the video tracking are both lurking beyond the jump. -Seamus Byrne
