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We’re all awaiting the annual Microsoft keynote, to help kick CES 2009 off in style. We’re not really sure exactly what to expect–it′ll certainly be a marked change from last year, what with all of the celebrity-packed Bill Gates goodbye videos, not to mention the Slash/Gates Guitar Hero battle.

One thing’s for sure, however: For better or worse, the company’s current CEO, Steve Ballmer, is alway entertaining. At the very least, we know we’re in for a lot of screaming, frantic flailing, and probably some sweaty pit stains.

If you’re looking for a quick, easy way to get back on the wagon, I suggest taking a shot only when Ballmer mentions Windows Vista. This year’s address will be all about Windows 7–and beyond. And even more than that, it′ll be about the Windows’ “lifestyle” rather than any alliance to a particular iteration thereof. Oh, and they’ll probably come up with an excuse to bust out the Surface again. And, if we’re lucky, Gates will pop his head in for solidarity.

We’ll start our live blog here at 6:30 PM PST, 9:30 EST (or a little before). Be sure to hit Reload. A lot.

For PCMag’s full CES coverage, go to http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,2235882,00.asp.

Original post by Brian Heater

Dr. Priya Narasimhan, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, doesn′t intend to put a single NFL referee out of work, but there’s no doubt that the technology she’s tinkering with could indeed have that effect. The prof and her students are developing sensor-laden footballs and gloves, both of which could eventually tell in real-time whether a ball bounced off the ground before being caught or whether a player actually had possession of a ball whilst being piled upon after a fumble. Currently, she’s had zero luck persuading a college or professional team to help her experiment further, and we can sort of see why. We mean, it’s nice to get every call right in theory, but what fun would sport be without the all-important “Ref, you suck!” chant?

[Thanks, Freddy]

Sensor-laden footballs / gloves could run referees right out of work originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Europe still isn′t the place to be for limitless HD content, but London in particular could be a 3D extravaganza come 2012. The host city for the next Summer Olympics may be coming to your living room like never before, as Brian Lenz, head of product design and innovation at Sky, proclaimed that “there is a very good chance you′ll see the London Olympics in 3D.” The satcaster has already confessed to filming events in 3D, and given that the wide distribution of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in HD was all the rage, we suppose the third-dimension is the next logical step forward. Mirroring our own hopes and dreams, Lenz stated that what it really wanted was “glasses free technology.” Here’s hoping we inch closer to that at CES 2009.

[Thanks, Ben]

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Sky says 2012 London Olympics could be in 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Gearlog readers tend to get a little googly eyed when new technology arrives. We love you for that. So, we′re watching for stuff as soon as it comes out. If you’re really sensitive to what’s going on–and we try to be, you can sometimes even get ahead of the curve.

Broadcom is making it tough. For instance Monday Broadcom issued eight press releases. Sorry Broadcom. As of today you’ve been cut back to three a day max. If you cure cancer, maybe four.

Where was I?

So Broadcom puts out this slew of pr fodder and buried inside is a tantalizing release on a new chip. It’s labeled BC򽂹 and this chip is pretty hot with 802.11n, FM transmit/receive and Bluetooth. Sure, your phone or other portable device already has most of these features, but not on a single chip. Single chip means a smaller footprint, easier integration and lower power consumption. Power consumption, or battery life, is arguably the toughest place to improve cell service at the moment.

“By combining several proven wireless technologies onto a single silicon die, the BCM4329 enables mobile devices to support today’s toughest media applications — without impacting device size or battery life. - Broadcom”

There’s a lot good here, but a little ‘hidden between the lines’ compromising too. Read carefully:

“Since handheld devices lack the space, battery power and processing power to support 802.11n implementations with multiple antennas, the BCM4329 uses single-stream 802.11n to transmit and receive data. This significantly reduces the system’s footprint and power consumption when compared to multi-stream solutions. Despite the use of a single antenna, the BCM4329 provides faster and more reliable wireless connections than current 802.11g products.”

The comparison is to 802.11g not 802.11n speeds. It is likely this chipset will not be as fast as other 802.11n devices. Today that might not be incredibly important on something you carry in your pocket. On the other hand, how long ago was it you used floppies to hold data and programs? Your expectations and needs change with time–often rapidly.

The FM transmit/receive capability is interesting because there are two entirely different purposes depending on whether the FM signal is inbound or outbound. The most likely use of an FM signal “out” is to send music or video to a car radio and home theater system, sans cables! FM “in″ has a whole other slew of applications, like listening to over-the-air stations plus receiving traffic or other digital data currently multiplexed inside standard FM broadcasts

Broadcom says the BCM4329 is nearing production. We get it next. We’re hoping good things really do come in mall packages.

Original post by Geoff Fox

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage

It’s debatable whether or not Apple is losing its touch with FireWire, but you can rest assured that OWC hasn′t. Said outfit has just announced the industry’s first Blu-ray external drive with a quad interface, meaning you can link it up to your PC or Mac via FireWire 400, FireWire 800, USB 2.0 or eSATA. The Mercury Pro SW-5583 arrives with the capability to toast BD-Rs at a rate of 4x and includes a pair of 25GB BD-R discs for $499.99; the closely related Mercury Pro SW-5583T throws in a full retail version of Roxio Toast 9 Titanium (OS X) and sells for $579.99. Now, if only we could convince Steve that Blu-ray and Macs could indeed get along together, we’d really be satisfied. Full release after the break.

Continue reading OWC introduces first external Blu-ray drive with quad interface

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

ZeeVee’s ZvBox had a lot of potential on paper — after all, who wouldn’t be enthused about the possibility of bringing internet TV / DVDs / Blu-rays (via your PC’s optical drive) and all sorts of other multimedia to the TV via the coaxial wiring already in your home? Unfortunately, the box was hamstrung by two major issues: a lofty price tag ($499) and less-than-elegant installation. Still, the unit seemed to work well enough in our testing once we got everything up and running, but we never really found a way to justify the cost. Are any of you early adopters feeling the same way? Disagree vehemently? What could ZeeVee do (or have done) in order to make the ZvBox a more compelling purchase? We know you’ve got it in you, so let it all out in comments below.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

We gave the full-frame consumers (read: the lucky ones) the ability to sound off on the D700 a few weeks back, so we only felt it fair to give the same opportunity to those who’ve snatched up Nikon’s recently released D90. For those who′ve bit on the kit package, how has your photographic life been? Are you satisfied with the low-light performance? Still struggling to get your settings worked out? Digging the Live View LCD? Oh, and how’s that 720p movie mode treating you? History would assert that the D90’s successor is already in the works, so make sure you give Nikon some good stuff to work with. And… go!

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Original post by Darren Murph

Here is the ultimate sports fan item, a portable Flashing LED Sign.
To download Ultimate Fan Sign MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes.

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Original post by KipKay

Build two easy to make Vortex Cannons that shoot rings of smoke across the room
Thanks go to Edwin Wise for the original article in Make Volume 15.
To download Vortex Cannons MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes.

Check out the complete Vortex Cannons article MAKE 15 “Vortex Cannons”
and you can see that in our digital edition.

The World’s Largest Vortex Cannon!

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Original post by KipKay

I never really expected electronic paper to replace real paper anytime in the near future. What Seiko Epson unveiled recently though makes me think it might be sooner than I first guessed. Seiko Epson has recently presented an A4 size 13.4-inch electronic paper; the largest yet after its prior 7.1-inch model (the two prototypes are juxtaposed on the picture at the left). The larger e-paper was showcased at the SID 2008. It boasts a resolution of 3104 × 4128 pixels, a 385ppi definition, a 10:1 contrast ratio, and 40 percent reflectance.

The company’s e-papers are made using E Ink Corp’s electronic ink and Seiko Epson’s low-temperature polycrystal Si-TFT. According to Seiko Epson, this marks the final stages of their efforts into designing e-papers able to replace their real counterparts. The A4 size which is used for a variety of documents allows the company to conduct feasibility studies on whether e-paper is a viable option at this point in time. There are no plans for the commercialization of its electronic paper technology yet–for now, Seiko Epson wants to concentrate on doing market research.

Original post by Mariella Moon

Filed under: Displays, Gaming

Rolling around jacking up innocents and tossing Molotov cocktails is pretty enthralling on your vanilla 46-inch HDTV, but can you even imagine the rush of swiping a hot dog, burning out in someone else’s whip and then snagging a new pair of kicks on this? Researchers (and gamers, obviously) down at UC San Diego have re-engineered their middleware to enable such masterpieces as this to be played on the big monolithic HIPerSpace screen, and needless to say, we can′t imagine much real work getting done with this new functionality coming to light. Head on down to the gallery to see what you’re missing — science, research and 4.0 GPAs are such beautiful things.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Peripherals

Maybe we’re confused, but we were under the impression that the oft-delayed, mist-like device known as the Phantom Lapboard had been released to the public. Apparently, we were mistaken. Regardless, Maximum PC has gotten a thorough, in-depth look at the $130 pivoting keyboard / mouse / mousepad combo. We won′t bore you with the details of their encounter with this beast — which they claim is due in June now — though we can tell you that they complain of a “wimpy″ left mouse click, which frankly is a deal-breaker for 4/16ths of the Engadget editorial staff. The other 12/16ths don′t like it because they had a bad experience with a matte black keyboard once.

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Peripherals

Wearable mice aren’t exactly a new idea, but it seems that Microsoft thinks it can do things one better, with a recent patent application revealing its plans for a desk-defying device of its own. As you can see above, this one is designed to be worn even while your typing on a keyboard, with the cursor movement able to be switched on an off with a simple hand gesture. That pointing itself is handled by some gyroscopic sensors, with an accelerometer and a magnetometer apparently also employed for further gesture and position sensing. Needless to say, there’s no indication of it becoming an actual product anytime soon but, unlike some of Microsoft’s other patent applications, this one seems like it could well find its way off the drawing board sooner rather than later.

[Via istartedsomething]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Peripherals

Aside from shamelessly tooting its own horn, Microsoft is proudly announcing that the “number one best-selling notebook mouse in the US” now comes in five more adorable hues. The special edition Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 will be available in Pomegranate (red), Dragon fruit (dark pink), Aloe (green), Milk chocolate (brown) and Creme brulee (khaki), all of which sound entirely more delicious than attractive. Nevertheless, the world famous travel critter will otherwise remain unchanged and should hit Best Buy stores in May (everywhere else in June, Engadget store notwithstanding) for $29.95.

[Via Electronista]

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Robots

Finally, after a scourge of sissy, beer serving robots we meet our maker. Vstone’s Black Ox stands more than 7,000 feet tall and brings a Tokyo-sized lust for human meat sacks. Gigantor, you never had a chance. Ok, ok, he’s only a foot and a half from the floor but those 20 movable axis points and fierce fighting skills should deliver hours of entertaining torment for your pet, kids, or pet kids. Check the video after the break while we wait for an official price and release date.

[Via Impress]

Continue reading Video: Vstone’s Black Ox — welcome to your destruction Gigantor

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Original post by Thomas Ricker