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- The Ghastly Nintendo 3DS Slidepad Is Real, Ships To Japan This December
- Logitech’s Wireless Trackpad Signals The End Of The Mouse Era (For Windows This Time)
- HP Offers TouchPad Refund Program To European Customers
- Meet Philly’s New Android-Powered Newspaper: The Arnova 10 G2
- Barnes & Noble Courts HTML Devs With Appcelerator Partnership
- GameStop Has An Android Tablet On The Way
- Pixel Qi Closes Out Series B Round With Investment From 3M
- TEEWave AR1: Japan Gets New Electric Sports Car
- Super Mario Bros. Recreated In A Cardboard Box Complete With Realistic Side Scrolling Action!
- AT&T Reveals New Windows Phones, Outlines Mango Update Plans
- Dive Headfirst Into The Early Adopter Pool And Pre-Order Your Sony Tablet Now
- From Microsoft’s Garage: Mouse Without Borders
| The Ghastly Nintendo 3DS Slidepad Is Real, Ships To Japan This December Posted: 13 Sep 2011 05:10 AM PDT  Nintendo took to the Tokyo Game Show stage today to announce several new products including the new features of 3D video capture and upgraded online distribution. But they didn’t announce the Slidepad. Instead, the 3DS add-on just appeared on the gaming company’s website as if they were a tad embarrassed, or rather confused, about its existence. Well, there goes Nintendo. They had a good run, right? Nearly every product from the last 10 years save the Gamecube has been built by beautiful geniuses set to change the gaming world. The Gameboy, the DS, the N64, and Wii were novel ideas and therefore prospered in the marketplace. Then came the 3DS, built around a gimmick rather than a new paradigm. The high price, coupled with lackluster launch titles, caused the 3DS to stumble out of the gate and ultimately lead to a major price reduction. It’s a sad time in Super Mario Land. The Slidepad, if that it’s real name, will hit Japanese retailers December 10 for ¥1500 ($19.50). The add-on runs on a single AAA rather than sporting a newfangled battery pack to extend the life of the 3DS. Because, you know, it would be nice to get a little something extra out of the massive thing riding shotgun on the 3DS. Since its exsitance wasn’t announced through the usual PR channels, there’s no official word on when its hitting the states. However, Nintendo’s standard operating procedure dictates that when the company releases something in Japan, the states will see the same device several months later meaning the Slidepad will likely launch elsewhere in 2012. Company: Nintendo Website: nintendo.com Nintendo, a technology company widely known for its line of game consoles, was actually founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. It began as a Card Game company and evolved into one of the largest Japanese companies with a Market Capitalization of over $85 billion. It’s most recent game console, the Wii, has been one of the most difficult consumer devices to buy, because of such high demand.
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| Logitech’s Wireless Trackpad Signals The End Of The Mouse Era (For Windows This Time) Posted: 13 Sep 2011 03:55 AM PDT  Looks familiar, eh? Logitech clearly drew inspiration from Apple for the Wireless Touchpad, but that’s fine in my book. The Wireless Trackpad doesn’t have the magic repertoire of the Apple counterpart, but the new Logitech product seemingly has enough parlor tricks to get job done and on a Windows computer no less. It’s hard to ignore the similarities of the Logitech Wireless Touchpad and the Apple Magic Trackpad, therefore it’s equally hard to ignore past posts. You see, per MG, the mouse’s days are numbered, but apparently, since his infamous posts declaring the traditional mouse’s death by Apple was published well over a year ago, the venerable mouse must be dying a slow, comfortable death. No, the mouse isn’t exactly dead, but MG was right by declaring the Magic Mouse a harbinger foretelling our computing future. I guess the future is here. Much like with the Apple Magic Trackpad, the Logitech Wireless Trackpad allows for four-finger multitouch for easier navigation, scrolling, jumping tabs, and switching apps. However, unlike with the Apple version, these functions are not built into the OS so the device may not function as well for anything but those everyday tasks. The Logitech Wireless Trackpad works through Logitech’s fantastic 2.4GHz Unifying receiver that allows for a total of five wireless Logitech devices including mice and keyboards. Plug in the little USB receiver and let the multitouch fun begin. The Wireless Trackpad features standard Logitech dress. It’s plastic, but like all the rest of Logitech’s products, it looks and feels great but not as fantastic as the aluminum Apple Magic Trackpad. Logitech states that a single AA battery will provide four months of use and thankfully built-in convenient LED battery indicators. Expect the Wireless Trackpad later this month in both American and European retailers for $50. The mouse isn’t dead yet despite MG’s claims. The Apple Magic Trackpad might have singled its decline but not any more than the rise of slate devices. The traditional PC as a whole is dying quicker than these desktop trackpad input devices can overtake mice. That said, the Apple Trackpad was an instant hit with the Apple crowd because Mac notebooks have fantastic (read: the best) trackpads out of any notebook and users wanted that control scheme on their desktop. Windows notebooks aren’t that lucky and owners often suffer from horrible, horrible trackpad experiences most often caused by poor drivers. Logitech has the right idea with the Wireless Trackpad, but here’s hoping that Windows, drivers, or 3rd party software doesn’t kill the dream. Logitech designs and manufactures computer and electronics peripherals such as mice, keyboards, speakers, and remote controls.
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| HP Offers TouchPad Refund Program To European Customers Posted: 12 Sep 2011 02:57 PM PDT  So, you bought an HP TouchPad. No, not the £89 TouchPad — the £399 TouchPad. Understandably, you’re pissed. Well, everything’s going to be okay. HP’s “way of saying thank you for choosing HP webOS” is to compensate customers who paid full price for the TouchPad before August 23. If you haven’t already noticed from the “Europe” in the headline or the “£” symbol all over the place, this compensation program is only available for our friends across the pond (Germany, France, and the UK). HP rolled out this refund program pretty quietly, but details can be found on the TouchPad Refund microsite. That includes refund information on all three flavors of TouchPad and the Pre 3, reports ZD Net. Just after HP decided to discontinue webOS devices, the company issued a liquidation order for its not-so-popular tablet. Once the TouchPad started selling for about a quarter of its original price, it kind of became a hot product. Obviously, this upset early owners who were watching their friends save money. Luckily, HP’s made things right — at least in Europe. No word yet on whether or not the U.S. will get the same love. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly referred to as HP, is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA. HP is one of the world’s largest information technology companies and operates in nearly every country. HP specializes in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and delivering services. Major product lines include personal computing devices, enterprise servers, related storage devices, as well as a diverse range of printers and other imaging products....
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| Meet Philly’s New Android-Powered Newspaper: The Arnova 10 G2 Posted: 12 Sep 2011 01:26 PM PDT  The Philadelphia Media Network has had an ambitious summer: in July, the company announced their intention to sell subsidized Android tablets with subscriptions to the digital editions of Philly’s two daily papers. August was presumably spent sourcing hardware and working on the apps, and now that summer is over, PMN is ready to reveal the fruits of their labor. Unlike Tribune’s plan to have a tablet made specifically for their newspapers, PMN chose from readily available tablets and went with the Arnova 10 G2. While the no-name brand implies cheapo Android tab roots, Arnova tablets are actually made by venerable PMP manufacturer Archos. No mention of device specs were made in the announcement, but a little digging reveals that it packs a 1 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, and a 10-inch (duh) display running at 1024 by 600. The Arnova 10 G2 also runs on Gingerbread, which is a bit of a heartbreak for Philadelphians looking for some inexpensive Honeycomb love. PMN is offering the Arnova on two contract tiers: those who want read the Inquirer and the Daily News for two years play $99 for the tablet, and a $10/mo subscription fee. People who would rather keep their contract terms as short as possible can ink a one year deal for $13/mo, and pay $129 for the tab. The total outlay comes out to $339 on a two year term, and $285 on a one year, so please Philadelphia — just get the one year subscription. The apps in question are full digital replicas of the Inquirer and the Daily News, and subscribers are also given access to a multimedia app that expands the news experience with photo galleries and videos. Considering that getting both dailies on your doorstep (including Sundays) for a year would easily cost over $500 a year, the deal looks mighty sweet, even with slightly lackluster hardware. It’s a gutsy move for the Philadelphia Media Network (they are the first to officially commit to a tablet venture), and maybe one that’s necessary in light of recent trends. With newspapers losing readers to always-on news sources, providing that same kind of real time access to their content means that PMN’s papers can continue to fight for relevance. There are 5,000 tablets waiting to ship to subscribers as soon as tomorrow, and if the first wave goes well, PMN will try and expand the program further on Black Friday 2011.
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| Barnes & Noble Courts HTML Devs With Appcelerator Partnership Posted: 12 Sep 2011 01:06 PM PDT  Although it is free to develop for the B&N Nook Color’s homegrown version of Android, the company is courting devs who may or may not be as comfortable with the vagaries of Android development by selecting Appcelerator as a partner to help “accelerate” app development for the platform. Appcelerator makes Titanium mobile, an IDE that focuses on web devs rather than hardcore coders. It is a cross-platform development system that allows you to create apps for multiple devices using languages like PHP, Ruby, and standard HTML and has already been used in NBC’s iPad app, among others. Do you need to use Titanium to get onto the Nook? No, but it helps. Titanium apps will be fast-tracked onto the Nook app store, a deal that should convince at least some of Titaniums 200,000 devs to port their programs over to the reader. B&N will still support their own developer platform . Appcelerator writes:
In general this is an interesting and smart move for B&N. Titanium is free to “indie” devs and fairly inexpensive for professionals to use the plaforms ($199/dev/moth is the basic pro package). It also allows lots of data-centric apps to arrive on the Nook faster than they would normally, especially apps designed to supply feeds of data from various cloud sources. While you probably won’t program the next Angry Birds with Titanium, you will be able to get your blog or news source on the Nook faster than you would without the partnership. Fast-tracking these apps also helps improve the density of apps on the Nook marketplace, and important consideration that has thus far plagued the Playbook and the Touchpad. In the end, more apps means a more vibrant app market. Although the partnership doesn’t apply to hardcore hax0rs, this partnership allows folks who may have avoided the Nook to give it a second glance. Appcelerator provides open source platform for building and managing rich Web, Desktop and Mobile applications. The nook is an electronic book reader produced by Barnes & Noble and runs on the Android platform. The nook will compete with the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, and other readers. It is said to include Wi-Fi and AT&T 3G wireless connectivity, a six inch E Ink display, and a separate, smaller color touchscreen that serves as the primary input device. The device will also have a MicroSD slot for extra storage. The nook has a user replaceable battery...
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| GameStop Has An Android Tablet On The Way Posted: 12 Sep 2011 11:46 AM PDT  We’ve mentioned a few times the possibility that GameStop would be launching its own GameStop-branded tablet. Turns out, this mystery tablet is already in the testing phase, says GameStop President Tony Bartel. The tablet wasn’t developed by GameStop, but should be a “GameStop-certified gaming platform” sold in stores. When Tony Bartel told GamaSutra that GameStop had plans to push into the tablet space, he said if they couldn’t find a tablet to match their needs, they’d build their own. Clearly, a tablet maker somewhere out there has what it takes, though GameStop hasn’t revealed which developer they’re working with. “We definitely have selected one,” Bartel told GamesIndustry.biz. “We’re in test phase right now. But we’re excited at the prospect of coming out with this tablet. I would call it a ‘GameStop-certified gaming platform.’ We looked at all the tablets and these are the ones that really worked for gaming and we’re going to give you a few benefits that you’re not going to get elsewhere.” Bartel was mum about the details. All we really know so far is that the tablet will run Android, have pre-installed games, and that GameStop plans to stream console titles to the slate sometime in the future. Just recently reports came out that GameStop has plans to sell the iPod, iPhone and iPad in their stores. Though there will be obvious differences between the products — namely iOS vs. Android — it’ll be interesting to see sales stats after a few months of these two tablets sitting side-by-side on GameStop shelves. How GameStop plans to upsell its own slate is unknown, but it’ll definitely be necessary with an iPad smiling at customers from across the room. Gamestop is an American video game retailer with over 6,000 locations worldwide. The company spun off from Barnes & Noble in 2004 and operates as GameStop and EB Games.
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| Pixel Qi Closes Out Series B Round With Investment From 3M Posted: 12 Sep 2011 09:16 AM PDT  Founder and CEO Mary Lou Jepson has always had high hopes for Pixel Qi’s low-power, super-reflective LCDs. While the displays popped up in niche tablets like the Notion Ink Adam, they have yet to reach the sort of mass-market penetration Jepson has always wanted. Jepson’s wishes may soon come true, if today’s announcement is any indication: industrial giant 3M is investing an undisclosed amount in Pixel Qi as part of the company’s Series B investment round. Pixel Qi’s displays have generated quite a bit of buzz in recent years, due to its highly adaptable nature. When the backlight is turned on, the screen looks like any other LCD, but when the backlight powers down, the highly-reflective display takes on the appearance of an eInk screen. The end result is a screen that works just as well in the sunlight as it does in the dark, with impressive battery life to boot. Details of the deal, which was run through 3M’s New Ventures division, are still draped in shrouds, but it should be quite the shot in the arm for Jepson’s San Bruno operation. “In our collaboration with 3M, we have the ability to accelerate this into mass adoption,” says Jepson. 3M’s investment will allow Pixel Qi to kick production into high gear, and with good reason: while Pixel Qi will continue to work on getting their displays into more consumer-facing devices, the technology is also being looked at for usage in digital signage and “touch applications.” If all goes well, it hopefully won’t be too long before the first mass-market Pixel Qi devices start hitting the streets.
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| TEEWave AR1: Japan Gets New Electric Sports Car Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:12 AM PDT  Tesla is getting some competition from Japan: Tokyo-based chemicals giant Toray has taken the wraps off Teewave AR1 (short for “Toray Eco Efficient Advanced Roadstar 1″), a two-seat sports car over the weekend. The company invested a total of US$3.8 million in the development of the electric vehicle whose main selling point is its low weight: Toray used carbon fiber reinforced plastic in the floor, frame and other parts of the car to make it as light as possible. The prototype weighs just 846kg (including the battery), which is about one third less than similar vehicles and leads to less energy consumption (11.6km/kWh), according to the company. It reaches a top speed of 147km/h and offers a travel range of 185km. Toray cooperated with UK-based car design agency Gordon Murray in the development of the Teewave AR1. The plan is to commercialize car parts using carbon fiber reinforced plastic by 2015. Via Sankei News [JP]
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| Super Mario Bros. Recreated In A Cardboard Box Complete With Realistic Side Scrolling Action! Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:00 AM PDT  This is side-scrolling done right, ladies and gamers. Simple graphics, instant enjoyment, and not much of a learning curve is the classic formula for success. (see Angry Birds and Lemmings) But this time it’s done in real life — well, in a cardboard box at least. Open the box and the game starts. A little knob on the right side allows Mario to jump over Goombas and other obstacles mounted with magnetic tape as he progresses through the world at an ever-increasing speed. If Mario happens to miss his mark and pass over one of these magnetic areas, our hero essentially dies and the game resets. Awesome. Want one. [Teagueduino via SlashGear]
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| AT&T Reveals New Windows Phones, Outlines Mango Update Plans Posted: 12 Sep 2011 07:27 AM PDT  If their latest press release is any indication, AT&T really loves their Windows Phones. Their current lineup consists of four WP devices, with three of them having launched alongside the OS last November and the other being a network-swapped variant of an existing device. Today’s announcement is a real shot in the arm for AT&T’s WP offerings, as three new Mango-powered handsets are waiting in the wings for a Q4 launch. First up is the HTC Titan (pictured above), the 4.7″ inch behemoth that has been enjoying the paparazzi treatment at IFA. A quick recap: in addition to its massive screen (which AT&T perhaps erroneously calls their largest on a smartphone), the Titan packs a single-core 1.5 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera, and about 16GB of internal storage. Samsung’s contributions come in the form of the Focus S and Focus Flash, a pair meant to capitalize on the success of the best-selling original. The Focus S is the more impressive of the two, with a 4.3-inch display Super AMOLED Plus display, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.4 GHz processor, and a svelte 8.55 mm thick body. The Flash, on the other hand, is Samsung’s value offering: while it also has a 1.4 GHz processor (which may or may not be the same as in its more illustrious brother), it opts for a more wallet-friendly 3.7-inch screen and a 5-megapixel camera around the back. While none of the new trio has an official launch window yet, it’s possible that AT&T could take a page out of last year’s playbook and launch all three in a Windows blitz in time for the holidays. In addition to their new handsets, AT&T has also confirmed that all of their existing Windows Phones will receive the long-awaited Mango update some time this fall. While a more specific release window is always preferable, current users can at least rest assured that they haven’t been forgotten.
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| Dive Headfirst Into The Early Adopter Pool And Pre-Order Your Sony Tablet Now Posted: 12 Sep 2011 06:20 AM PDT  Sony finally unveiled its upcoming tablets earlier this month and at least two retailers just put the more traditional Tablet S up for pre-order. Both Amazon and Best Buy are allowing awaiting buyers to reserve their spot in line to be one of the first buyers of the latest so-called iPad killer. The Sony Tablet S and Tablet P bring a bit of Sony flare to the otherwise dead Android tablet party. Both run Honeycomb but along with Sony’s always stable media players and distribution suite. They also both hit with unconventional designs with the S featuring a tapered backplate and dual screens on the P. Only the slate form factor Tablet S is available for order right now; the clamshell Tablet P should hit next month. Both Amazon and Best Buy are hawking them at its full $499/$599 MSPR. Don’t forget about the accessories either. The leather carrying sleeve gets $100 while the dock costs $40. Ouch. Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.
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| From Microsoft’s Garage: Mouse Without Borders Posted: 12 Sep 2011 05:51 AM PDT  Mouse Without Borders, much like the real world counterparts, doesn’t care about your screen’s boundaries. It doesn’t care where one OS stops and another starts. Mouse Without Borders essentially busts through these borders and creates one, massive environment controlled by a single mouse and keyboard along with providing very simple file sharing and clipboard sharing — and it was made by Microsoft Dynamics employee Truong Do on his free time and available as a free download. Steve Clayton explains Microsoft’s The Garage as both a physical location in Building 4 at Microsoft’s Redmond HQ and a company wide program that “encourages grass roots invention, tinkering, ideas and incubation of projects.” Apparently most of the projects are never released as a stand-alone project and are either integrated into future OSs or simply used internally at Microsoft. Thankfully, Mouse Without Borders was the exception. This 1.1MB utility is awesome and just changed my workflow. (and cleaned up my desk) Screen and input device sharing isn’t exactly new. Programs like Synergy and Input Director have allowed such functions for years. Mouse Without Borders hits with a lot more simple set-up process and several nifty tricks that might make even the most die-hard Synergy users question their software of choice. Mouse Without Borders works over a local network and from my experience (and a note in the software), a wired environment seems to work the best. The software installs in a few seconds and then a screen pops up with a linking code. Once the computers are linked, configuration is dead simple — much more so than the aforementioned utilities. The feature list is rather impressive as well: drag and drop file support, clipboard sharing for simple copy and pasting, the ability to lock and unlock all the connected PCs, and, of course, sharing a keyboard and mouse across multiple computers. Right now, and probably forever, Mouse Without Borders is a Windows-only utility. Teleport is a similar OS X-only program and Synergy has fantastic platform support. The Microsoft solution however seems to be the most robust and easy to use for Windows PCs right now. Where I never had success with Synergy, Mouse Without Borders was up and running within minutes and essentially cleared my desk of a second set of input devices for the little Viliv tablet mounted on my desk just for Twitter and Chartbeat. Gotta love a cleaner desk. [thanks for the tip, Nate!] Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, is a veteran software company, best known for its Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. Starting in 1980 Microsoft formed a partnership with IBM allowing Microsoft to sell its software package with the computers IBM manufactured. Microsoft is widely used by professionals worldwide and largely dominates the American corporate market. Additionally, the company has ventured into hardware with consumer products such as the Zune and...
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