In response to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s (SIG’s) selection of WiMedia UWB as its future radio platform, the WiMedia Alliance today shared its positive outlook regarding the joint effort to develop high-rate Bluetooth wireless technology. The two groups bring together critical technology skill sets necessary for developing a next-generation low-power, low-cost ad hoc networking solution that will expand Bluetooth technology’s current success.
Future is gearing up to launch its newest gaming publication, Official PSP Guidebook, which will feature cover-mounted UMD demo discs. Guidebook (available in the UK) will be the first PSP magazine to offer playable demos.
While we would certainly welcome similar offerings accompanying other major PSP publications, we’d be even more excited if Sony would start providing downloadable game demos that could be saved directly to the Memory Stick. In general, downloadable game material has been glaringly absent from the PSP’s repertoire.
Some of you may remember seeing the Novint Falcon before. The Falcon is a 3D controller that uses “haptic” technology to replicate the sense of touch. While the device itself appears a bit unwieldily, the fluidity of the control it provided was remarkably subtle and realistic.
Roll your cursor over a ball, and the controller pushes back just the right amount, giving you the tactile sensation that you’re actually touching it. If the ball is pitted, the controller dips in and out of the contours. If it’s abrasive, it moves slower with just the slightest amount of rumble. Other demos included a Barney-shooting FPS, a bow and arrow simulation, a tethered bouncy ball, and a basketball freethrow.
Like the Revmote, the Falcon is being shown with tech demos designed to accentuate its strengths, but how will actual games work with the controller? Novint told me that they have developed their own API that game designers can incorporate into their titles, but it was unclear if the controller would work with existing games.
They said it should be out in 2007 for less than $100. For some more info, check out Firing Squad’s GDC interview with the guys at Novint.
If you want, for whatever reason, to be a pimp star, you don’t have to look any further than the company called PimpStar.
They have some custom wheels that show off your true style. With built in full color LEDs and a wireless modem, you can customize them from your laptop on the go. You can even stick photos, logos or text right on your wheel. The images, of course, appear upright at all times, even when the wheels on your bus are going round and round. You can have the same image on all four wheels or you can put a different look on each corner of your ride. It allows you to save up to six images on each wheel and have them rotate on a preset interval. The wheels are environmentally sealed, so you can drive in the rain, and of course, are powered by the car’s electrical system.
Pimpin’ your ride is not an inexpensive pursuit. It’ll cost you $12,500 for 22 inch rims or you can have 26-inchers for $19,500.
