Mulled Marc

So I was able to Wii today. That sounds bad, maybe that’s not quite a verb for gaming yet (although Nintendo did ask for this with the name). I was able to game with Nintendo’s Wii console today. I’ve watched the announcements and read about the fancy controller and was ready to write it off as a joke. The features weren’t powerful, the controller seemed like a gimmick, it didn’t impress me. Then I played it…..

The controller is not a gimmick. It takes a little time to get used to it’s sensitivity, but it’s a very intunitive interface. The sports games that it comes with work very well with the controller and you can almost believe that you’re really participating in a sport rather than lounging at home playing a game. Dispite rumours, I did not almost knock over a TV while gaming, but had I actually been bowling it would have been a fault..

I didn’t get a chance to try out the classic controller, but it looks perfect for the downloadable classic games the Wii gives you access to. Buttons are laid out nicely, directional controller appears to be a nice 4-axis variety, although the colors could be more Nintendo-esque instead of Wii-like.

The fact that the console comes bundled with Wii Sports means that out of the box, this could provide a decent amount of enjoyment. $250 worth of enjoyment? I’m not sure, but there are other games and if Lucas provides a nice Star Wars light saber game, it might just seal the deal.

The joy in this depends a great deal on Microsoft’s pricing, but apparently Microsoft is planning on offering video downloads on Xbox Live. Not just trailers and game video, but actual network television shows and theatrical movies; Not just standard definition, mind you, but real High Definition beauty. According to engadget the TV Shows will be purchased and the Movies will be rented, all using Microsoft Points. I question the TV Show “ownership” without an archive ability, but they say you’ll be able to delete and redownload any TV Show you’ve purchased. Movie rentals will last 24 hours before they have to be repurchased, but can be viewed multiple times within that 24 hours….if you wanted to.

If Microsoft and the content providers can resist being greedy, this could become a big deal. We’re seeing more and more alternate distribution channels opening up for video content and the A La Carte, always available method Microsoft is setting up makes a lot more sense than broadcast networks attempting to program what I want to watch at 9:30PM every Friday night.

If anyone from Microsoft is reading this (however unlikely that is), here are the keys to success:

• Price – Even though the format is superior they need to price the TV Shows on par with iTunes. Consumers now have a precedent for what a single episode should cost and I’m not sure this brings enough for the average consumer to convince them that it’s worth more.
• Price – Allow a season pass type purchase of TV Shows. Ideally this would include a DVD Set automatically sent to the user at the end of the season.
• Teasers – This is more for the content providers, but they need to give free sample episodes to get people hooked. Remember that we’re not talking about just getting people who missed tonights episode, we’re trying to replace NBC and the other networks entirely. There needs to be a new way to get people to try new shows.
• Portability – Select a show in the video blade, choose “Send to Zune”, magic happens to make sure that the video can be viewed and is optimized for the Zune, the user is alerted that they can plug in their Zune to their Xbox to transfer the video. Obviously none of this can effect the usage of the Xbox so rather than on the fly re-encoding, perhaps there could be a non-purchasable Zune optimized version of all video that the Xbox could download when needed.
• Space – 20GB…..please
• Stargate – The announced Stargate SG-1 movies should be pre-released in High Definition on Xbox Live at least a week before the DVDs hit stores.

via engadget

Popular Science and Core77 sponsored a competition to design products using human power. The winner of the competition is the ReGEN – an MP3 player built into / like a yo-yo, that recharges when you play with it. The exterior of the ReGEN has an LCD touch screen exterior for the controls as well as displaying Artist information, battery life remaining, etc. The device (if ever built), would use bluetooth headphones so the user could still listen while charging….yo-yo-ing….whatever. The wireless headphones are charged by plugging them into a special port on the ReGEN and yo-yo-ing. The ReGEN fits into the headphones for easy storage.

via OhGizmo!

For those not scared out of your minds yet, the bump key is a specially designed key that, with minimal force and no trace of break-in, can allow someone to unlock your door and enter your home. Did that sound alarmist? Engadget has posted part one of an article explaining the origins and limits of the bump key. Included is a basic lesson in the pin tumbler lock so that even the layman can understand the threat and what makes it possible.

1. Take Pregnancy Test
2. Setup college fund
3. Register Personal Domain
4. Purchase first cell phone
5. Ready Nursery

So, is this the world that we live in now? CNet is reporting that a report done last year found the average age of a child owning their first mobile phone is eight. That age is expected to drop to five years of age this year.

via Slashdot

This isn’t new, but I had apparently missed it before. AMD has erected billboards in Times Square and in Silicon Valley that tracks cost of power wasted by companies using Intel’s Xeon chips instead of AMD’s Opteron chips. This followed AMD and others creation of The Green Grid, an organization aiming to reduce the power used by datacenters around the globe.

via Good Morning Silicon Valley
The Green Grid

The Solar Tower is a project from EnviroMission to create renewable, clean energy using solar power to heat air, which is then funneled up a tower to power turbine generators. As they describe it:

The sun’s radiation is used to heat a large body of air under an expansive collector zone, which is then forced by the laws of physics (hot air rises) to move as a hot wind through large turbines to generate electricity. A Solar Tower power station will create the conditions to cause hot wind to flow continuously through 32 x 6.25MW pressure staged turbines to generate electricity.

There are also plans to use pools of water or other heat-holding substances to trap some of the heat, that would then be released at night as the air temperature cools.

via CNNMoney.com

Leo Laporte has announced on his blog that the attempts to create a TechTV reunion show may lead to something else – a new TechTV-like broadband channel. The details are rather sparce right now and they are still trying to get all of the TechTV Alumni to agree to use this new platform, but it could be very interesting for anyone greatly disappointed by what happened to TechTV. They are also looking for help coming up with a name for this new venture.

After the amazingly successful X Prize kick-started the private space tourism industry, it was speculated that the foundation may try other prizes to further technological advances. One such prize, for automotive standards, was spoken about at the time and now has a pair of websites to follow the competition. According to Treehugger, the stated goal of the competition is to: design, build and sell super-efficient cars that people want to buy.

via Treehugger
X Prize Blog
Automotive X Prize
X Prize Foundation

Japanese researchers have developed a carpet that can determine gender and age based on stride, foot size, etc. The carpet has a layer of silicone rubber that gathers the information as it is walked on, then analysis can determine likely information about the walker. This could be used by retailers to provide targeted electronic ads when a customer walks into their store. Movie theaters could also use the carpet to determine exactly who went to see a movie, and who left early. 

via Engadget