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Posts Tagged ‘Real Fun’

Zanier GPS gloves let you Xplore without getting lost
The Zanier Xplore.XGX gloves must be one of the finest examples of stuff you don’t need, but would probably dearly love to have. With an embedded GPS tracking unit and a monochrome screen, these multifunctional finger warmers will guide you to and from the lodge, but the real fun kicks off when you hit the piste. Altitude, speed, duration and distance of your slaloms can all be recorded and then downloaded to your computer before being uploaded to the web. Is there anything more an exercise enthusiast (or an unashamed poser) needs? You get a Gore-Tex finish for enhanced grip on the sticks, and a few USB attachments to get connectivity up and running. Pricing has not yet been announced, but they’re part of Zanier’s 2010/11 line, so the wait shouldn’t be too long.

Zanier GPS gloves let you Xplore without getting lost originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Battery company R2EV and Fuel 2.0: Changing the electric vehicle paradigm?

If you’ve followed coverage on R2EV, you already know that some are skeptical about the company’s battery, designed to be swapped out in a network of “Greenbox” facilities nation wide.

Perceived problems with interoperability, improper installation or short circuiting and decreasing life cycle of a fleet of batteries have all been cited as reasons to stick with a more conventional battery pack. Talking to chief executive Alex Livingston, though, one gets the impression he’s already thought of all this and has a solid plan to prevent such mishaps. In an interview at GreenBeat 2009, he clarifies some key points about his company’s product.

First, R2EV batteries aren’t some proprietary formula only available from R2EV and compatible with their Fuel 2.0 products. R2EV will be sourcing their cells from any battery manufacturer able to produce them within some basic parameters controlling the voltage and physical form for compatibility’s sake. The initial launch will be at the larger storage level and the primary consumer is expected to be the military, at least at first.

As the day-to-day realities of using Fuel 2.0 energy systems are figured out by the military (probably the toughest customer R2EV will ever have to deal with), the company will start expanding into the automotive market. This is where the real fun begins — because if battery change stations are strung out frequently enough, you could drive across the country with no more charge-time than an average ICE car would require fueling-time. Expect major cities and strategic transit stops on interstate highways to be their first locations opened. With time R2EV will adopt next-generation batteries with greater capacity.

This leaves a few questions about safety, though. After all, if Jiffy Lube can burn up an occasional engine with the wrong oil filter, could a similar type of station blow up a battery? Probably not, says Livingston. First, there will be only one way to plug a cell into the pack’s receptacle: the correct way. Second, there will be testable relays and display lights to indicate whether or not a cell is safe and fully charged. If a cell was showing substantially decreased capacity, Livingston says it would be taken out of automotive circulation and probably sold twice more for less demanding uses before it was recycled or disposed of.

This still leaves problems of adoption. While automotive companies are contracting their battery production to major cell makers it remains unclear which path to adoption R2EV is taking. They could sell their design to automakers and operate the swap facilities. They could also hit the after-market and offer a swap kit similar to their products for commercial fleet vehicles. This seems less likely to make it into the mainstream for personal commuter vehicles. According to its site, R2EV is “working with the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer to change the customer experience.”

Hopefully we’ll see the fruit of this labor soon.

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gpsAssassin Could Be The iPhone’s Next Highly Addictive Hit Game

The iPhone has all the ingredients necessary to build the first popular location-based game that combines the real world with fantasy — a scenario long dreamt of by gamers. A handful of games like Parallel Kingdom have gotten some traction, but they have yet to really catch on on a large scale. And while Foursquare has gotten quite a bit of attention, particularly in tech circles, its gameplay elements are very rudimentary. Now a new game called gpsAssassin may have struck gold by fusing location and the popular campus game Assassins with the text-based games that have become immensely popular on social networks, Twitter, and the iPhone.

Founder Nicholas Holland says that he’s had some difficulty describing the game, largely because it looks very much iMob, Mafia Wars, and similar games that don’t rely on your location when you play them. And while gpsAssassin may share some of the same mechanics with these — it’s primarily text based with leveling, attack/armor ratings, and other key RPG elements — its location features turn it into a different beast entirely.

After picking a nickname, the game presents you list of possible actions, the most important of which is “Scan for targets”. This will bring up a list of any players within a five mile radius (anyone within a two mile radius is shown under a list of ’short range’ targets). After tapping on someone’s nickname, you enter Attack mode, where you choose from a list of actions.

This is where the game’s real fun kicks in: you can choose from a list of available attacks created by other users, which range from silly (’Throw Nail Polish” or “Robotic Kitty”) to more conventional forms of violence. Better yet, you can get creative and think up your own attack, which is especially fun when you personally know the person you’re attacking. Your target will then be informed that you’ve attacked them with whatever weapon you choose, and depending on your strength they’ll find out who emerged as the victor.

This is all, of course, dependent on where you are physically located. If your favorite victim picks up shop and drives across town then you won’t be able to attack them with your ‘Gospel of Chuck Norris’ or ‘Mullet of Fury’. Holland says that gamers have been known to actually change their driving routes so that they can get in their attack on an unsuspecting victim and get out of dodge before they have a chance at retaliation. He also says that he’s seen neighboring offices band together to wage war against a cross-town competitor. Clearly, there’s plenty of room for friendly (or not so friendly) rivalries to emerge.

While most people will probably spend most of their time thinking of especially infuriating (and hilarious) attacks, gamers can further boost their stats by fighting against non-player characters. And the game offers virtual goods that you can use to boost your stats and win/loss percentage without the time investment, which is where the game will make most of its money.

The application has been available in beta since February but Holland staggered its release by initially pricing it at $5.00, then $.99. Now that it’s ready for mass consumption, gpsAssassin is available for free, though there are a handful of premium versions that come with more of the game’s virtual currency.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

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iTunes 9 Focus: iTunes LP

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, Multimedia, Software, iTunes

For me, the most exciting feature of iTunes 9 is iTunes LP. As a kid, I read CD booklets cover to cover, looked at every photo, saw who played what instrument on what track and who wrote the songs. That’s an experience I’ve missed since distribution went digital, but I’ve accepted it.

A couple of years ago, Apple added digital booklets to to the iTunes Store, and some of them were quite nice. But even the best don’t compare to iTunes LP. Today I purchased the deluxe version of “Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones [iTunes link] and spent nearly 20 minutes exploring it, just like the old days.

The album contains a bonus track (”Peace”), but the real fun begins when you double-click the “Deluxe Version” file and you’re presented with something that resembles a DVD menu. A simple animation draws Norah’s name while the first few measures of “Come Away With Me” are heard. From there, you’re set to explore.

This album has seven options: Play album, songs, memorabilia, photos, videos, liner notes and credits. The first two do what you’d expect, accompanied by photos and lyrics. The memorabilia feature surprised me with pictures of backstage passes, the tour calendar and a “quickie rundown” of events from the 45th Grammy Awards (Norah’s appearances highlighted).

There are sixteen photos and four videos including — surprise! — Norah’s appearance on Sesame Street (much to my 4-year-old’s delight). Finally, the full liner notes, biography and album credits are included, each with beautiful photos.

Music fans will love this feature, as will fans of participating artists. It’s not like holding a record jacket or CD booklet in your hand, but that’s an unfair comparison anyway. Paper liner notes don’t contain videos, photos of this size or some of the other goodies. iTunes LP is a very welcome treat.

Check out the gallery below for screenshots.

TUAWiTunes 9 Focus: iTunes LP originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ioSafe Solo 500GB rugged external HDD reviewed, tortured and drowned

Look, ioSafe said when it was announced that the Solo external HDD was rugged enough to withstand both fire and submersion in water, so really, it was only a matter of time before at least one of those things happened, right? The hardy woodsmen over at TestFreaks have taken ioSafe at its word and run a 500GB version through the paces. Running it through the benchmarks, they found that the Solo holds up very well when compared with similar makes with regards to speed and performance — it gets the job done, if you will. Transfer rates were a bit slower when put up against a Seagate BlackArmor WS110 — but not enough to be terribly disappointing. The real fun, of course, comes with the drowning of the poor little hard drive. Now, we don’t want to give anything away, but we’ll say this: watch the video (which is after the break) all the way to the end when the protector of Camp Crystal Lake makes a stunning, shocking performance. Hit the read link for the full review, a ton of photos, and even more video.

Continue reading ioSafe Solo 500GB rugged external HDD reviewed, tortured and drowned

Filed under: Storage

ioSafe Solo 500GB rugged external HDD reviewed, tortured and drowned originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Aug 2009 06:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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