All we’ve got to say is that they’d better be selling seats to the first living room demonstration of this tech when somebody gets cute and grabs a real baseball bat for a demo. Sony has filed a patent for technology using the PlayStation Eye which can detect regular objects in 3D space and file them away in a database for later use in gameplay. Naturally, the camera already does object motion detection of a sort with the blocky embedded codes on Eye of Judgement cards, but this seems to be taking that tech to a new level, and would imply that you won’t necessarily need to be waggling that goofy ball-on-a-stick controller that Sony demoed at E3 for all upcoming motion control titles for the PS3. But for some reason we’re sure we should be scared of whatever combination it does turn out to be.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Sony nabs patent for everyday object motion detection: the fragile glass of your TV won’t know what hit it originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, we know that whenever we hear the word “aluminum” we’re supposed to go all weak in the knees, but iriver hasn’t really astounded us with this materials-tweaked rehash of the E100. Still, the OLED screen on the upcoming E200 has been bumped to 2.8-inches, so that’s kind of nice, and while the capacitive touch buttons aren’t a big win over the original rocker, at least the chassis seems thinner now. Check out the read link for some purported press shots that manage to be quite a bit more flattering.

[Via PMP Today]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

iriver E200 lands in the wild, might not have been worth the wait originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We take a break from reporting on the impending doom of the human race to bring you news of the latest innovation designed specifically for making our pre-apocalypse lives miserable. Japanese firm DSS is now offering to snap video cameras and ankle sensors — yes, the same kind that convicts under home arrest have to wear — onto your employees for the ultimate in workplace surveillance. Sure, you might find out Bob in accounting takes a really long lunch, but do you really need to spend $20,000 and piss off your entire workforce to prove that? Just stalk his Tweets and Facebook status updates like a good old-fashioned employer would do.

Filed under: Wearables

DSS surveillance tech from Japan makes George Orwell upset originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don’t worry, everybody, your iPhone baking itself to a crisp is no cause for panic, now that Apple has found the culprit: the weather and your heartless negligence. Apparently you’ve been leaving your brand new iPhone 3GS in a hot car, and the warm sensation you feel any time you hold the phone has nothing to do with beefed up processors or inadequate cooling. Phew, glad that’s all sorted and now nobody will have any problems with self-destructive iPhones they paid hundreds of dollars for. Besides, it serves you right.

Meanwhile, hapless Samsas Traum has found a problem of his own (pictured) that’s sure to be blamed on some other act of god in the near future by Apple’s spin team: the oleophobic coating is getting rubbed right off his screen. Apparently he has a bit of a fondness for a certain “Flick Fishing” app, which explains the highly localized nature of his oleophobic destruction. We haven’t heard many other reports of a similar nature, but we’ll keep an eye out for telltale Tap Tap Revenge markings on the iPhones of our rhythm-addled loved ones.

[Thanks, Rafa]

Read – Apple blames overheating iPhones on the weather
Read – Oleophobic coating wearing off fast

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Apple blames hot iPhones on the weather, others find oleophobic screen to be fleeting? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 22:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Archos 9 tablet gets priced in the UK originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Colorware’s well known for offering up all sorts of consumer electronics in all sorts of hues, but the outfit has definitely stepped up its game with the Stealth MacBook Pro. This limited edition piece is an all-black 15-inch MacBook Pro with a matte display, 3.06GHz CPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 256GB SSD, an 8x SuperDrive, zero gloss finish and a SofTouch coating that’ll make it downright impossible for your fingers to stop stroking it. Reportedly, these will be limited to just ten units, and each one will cost a not-at-all affordable $5,999. See Apple, this is what you get when you voluntarily axe the BlackBook. Opportunity, lost.

[Via Engadget Polska]

Filed under: Laptops

Colorware offers up $6,000 Stealth MacBook Pro: it’s really dark originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That supposedly upcoming Android XPERIA that Mobil dug up might have our minds, but it’s this leaked handset (which, to be fair, looks fairly sketchily rendered), the Sony Ericsson Kiki, that has won our hearts. The screen is made of glass, with an image seemingly rear-projected onto it (teleprompter style), while the keys are, um, scarce. Mobil was able to offer few hints as to how this works or what all it does, and it seems like it falls far short of the functionality of a feature phone, but we’re sure we want one whatever it is.

Filed under: Cellphones

Rumored Sony Ericsson “Kiki” handset isn’t a boring one originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are you in the market for a “Summer Fun” Wii bundle to get your Independence Day started right? Oh, yeah? Fantastic, ’cause GameStop has just the packages for you. For the low, low price of $249.99, the aforementioned bundle consists of a Nintendo Wii console, a water gun and… wait, what? Amazingly enough, GameStop has seen fit to bundle a $0.25 water gun with a Wii and call it a bundle; heck, it’s even limiting them to two per household. If that’s not strange enough for you, there’s also the Pirate Tattoo bundle and Take a Bath with a Buddy (a rubber ducky, just so we’re clear) bundle. Talk about really taking advantage of that whole “freedom” thing.

Read – Summer Fun bundle
Read – Pirate Tattoo bundle
Read – Take a Bath with a Buddy bundle

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

GameStop hits the sauce for the 4th, offers up bizarre Wii bundles originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Keepin’ It Real Fake, part CCXIX: Gemsta’s Vaino knock-off

Filed under: Laptops

Keepin’ It Real Fake, part CCXIX: Gemsta’s Vaino knock-off originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just under a month ago at Archos’ Paris reveal, we were somewhat dismayed that an Android-based device didn’t show up… officially, at least. We were told to expect more information about a Google-powered unit this September, but it looks as if said wait has been hacked considerably. According to The Inquirer, Archos has informed it that a 5-inch internet media tablet loaded with Android will be unveiled on September 15th, a date that certainly jibes with prior information. The handheld will boast Google’s sauce underneath with a layer of Archos applications on top, and while the Windows 7-equipped Archos 9 PCTablet (pictured) is expected in October, this here device should hit shelves a few weeks prior. In related news, the briefing also included word that Archos was working on a few “telephony products,” which is just barely enough to get you simultaneously excited / hot and bothered.

[Via TrustedReviews]

Filed under: Handhelds

5-inch Android-powered Archos Internet Media Tablet landing in September originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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