I don’t know about you, but I haven’t switched my Nintendo Wii on in ages. It sits next to the TV in the corner of the room and there’s now a thin layer of dust on it.
My Wii Fit Balance Board is boxed up in the cupboard under the stairs like some sort of unwanted foot spa. And I don’t even know where the Wii remotes are…
Nintendo might have revolutionised the so-called ‘casual gaming’ market with the endlessly playable Wii Sports. But it’s not exactly been quick to capitalise on the wide appeal and easy playability of Wii Bowling and Wii Tennis.
For me, the Nintendo Wii is the 21st Century equivalent of Monopoly or Cluedo. It offers a great experience for a group of friends (in the same room) to play games against and with each other.
Wii Sports Resort
But the arrival of Wii Sports Resort should make me dust off the Wii and get back into active gaming. And just as Wii Sports was given away free with every Nintendo Wii sold, Wii Sports Resort comes with a hardware upgrade - MotionPlus.
The MotionPlus device (which plugs into the bottom of your Wii remote) essentially adds rotational sensing to the Wii’s next-gen cleverness, fine-tuning the existing control system and making it more accurate.
Wii Sports Resort simply builds on the minigame formula that defined Wii Sports. This time around there are 12 games, including jet-skiing, canoeing, archery and table tennis.
Of course, the new gyroscopic control adds an ability to twist onscreen objects, not just enabling you to play new games like Wakeboarding but adding extra finesse (i.e. the ability to spin a ball) to old favourites like bowling and golf.
Nintendo is the master of the minigame and Wii Sports Resort looks as irresistible as its predecessor. It reminds me why I bought a Wii in the first place.
According to reports today, Microsoft’s motion-sensing Xbox add-on Project Natal will launch at the back end of next year.
The news comes courtesy of THQ CEO Brian Farrell, who let the information slip during a run-of-the-mill Q1 earnings call.
“In response to a question about hardware price cuts and market changes,” blogged Gamesindustry.biz, “Farrell replied: ‘With respect to the cycle itself, if you look at what’s happening in the industry, the fact that we have for example, Natal from Microsoft, a platform addition coming late next year.’”
Microsoft has not officially revealed a launch date for Natal, but the new motion-sensing hardware will be key in extending the lifespan of the Xbox 360.
In fact, Microsoft’s Shane Kim has said that: “Conceptually, the launch of Natal will be like the launch of Xbox 360… It’s going to be that big. We’re not just going to ship it when the hardware and software are ready. We have to make sure that there are enough content experiences that are really good. That’s similar to how you would think of the launch of a new console.”
While the Nintendo Wii has made motion-controlled gaming a success, Microsoft’s Project Natal seeks to evolve the idea even further.
The stakes are high. But as the Wii has already proved, motion-controlled gaming has the potential to expand the videogaming audience beyond the traditional hardcore players.
According to a member of the IEEE 802.11 working group, the long development process that has held up the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard is nearing an anti-climactic end.
“Last week, the IEEE 802.11 working group met in San Francisco,” blogged IEEE member Matthew Gast. “On Friday, we took what is likely to be the final step as the 802.11 working group. We held our final approval vote, requesting that higher layers of the IEEE 802 group approve 11n for publication.”
The IEEE Standards Board next gathers on September 11, where it’s hoped that 802.11n will be rubberstamped amid some restrained flag-waving and a ripple of polite applause.
“If approved,” adds Gast, “the 802.11n effort will have taken exactly seven years.” The first ‘Draft N’ wireless products began to appear in 2007.
So if you’ve already invested in some Draft 802.11n gear (I recently upgraded to a nice Linksys WAG160N Wireless-N router), 802.11n compliance will be only a firmware upgrade away. As the Wi-Fi Alliance points out:
“The Wi-Fi Alliance led the industry in 2007 by introducing its 802.11n draft 2.0 program, and is striking the right balance now by adding a few features without sacrificing compatibility with previously-certified products.”
Reports suggest that certification testing based on the final 802.11n standard (if approved) will kick off in late September. Final, officially certified 802.11n devices should start appearing a couple of months later.
As for the IEEE 802.11 group, they’ll be starting work on the next Wi-Fi standard…
Google is opening up the beta of its forthcoming Wave platform at the end of September, giving 100,000 average Joes the chance to take it for a spin.
Google describes Wave as a tool for “communication and collaboration on the web.” A Wave is essentially a conversation. Think of it as Gmail on steroids, seamlessly stitched to instant messaging, file sharing, real-time chat and social networking.
That’s not even the half of it. Make yourself a pot of tea, put your feet up and settle in for the developer preview video below.
Over on the AMD blog, Senior Advanced Marketing Manager Simon Solotko has been musing about the future of the desktop PC. And whether it has one.
One computing path, suggests Solotko, is mobile computing. And this doesn’t just embrace the laptop and the netbook, but portable media players, digital cameras and smartphones. Ultimately, all this gadgety should coalesce into one portable device.
The other is a constant computing resource with massive amounts of storage that the afforementioned portable devices can tap into. It’s this idea of a “central computer” that Solotko believes could be the future of the desktop PC.
“Without such a change,” he writes, “I fear the digital home will stagnate while the desktop PC becomes a candidate for the endangered species list.
“I believe that the evolved PC must evolve into a digital nexus, a centralized group assistant instrumental in simplifying ease of use for our entire home computing and entertainment experience.
“The data is a flashing red light - the smaller devices are rapidly out-competing the desktop for share of wallet and share of mind. I suggest that a shared objective, a future state which directs our thought, our design and engineering will help speed the transformation before it is too late.”
Sharp recently unveiled two new HD tellies with full screen, white LED backlights. The good-looking LE600 and LE700 models promise “unprecedented image quality and energy-efficient, eco-friendly performance.”
Both of the new Aquos LED models feature Sharp’s cutting-edge LED backlight technology. In contrast to traditional backlighting, brightness is controlled via hundreds of LEDs positioned directly behind screen.
“Sharp has a heritage in pioneering TV technology,” says Paul Molyneux, Managing Director, Sharp Electronics UK. “We were the first to demonstrate the unlimited possibilities of LCD technology and we have now gone one step further with the introduction of the new Aquos Full Screen LED series.”
“We are bringing people innovative TVs that are capable of producing amazing pictures without compromising on our environmental ethos.”
LED offers superior brightness
The ultra brilliant LED design also includes a unique “double-dome” light amplifier lens and multi-fluorescents. Throw in the AQUOS Colour Engine, a new colour management system, and you’ve got eyebrow-raising brightness and colour purity that could make you whisper ‘wow’.
The flag-waving LE700 series HDTVs feature 100Hz technology; a rapid pixel response time of 4ms; and a 176-degree viewing angle. Audio comes courtesy of Dolby Digital Plus Surround, which is pumped out of two 10 Watt speakers.
Eco-friendliness is also high on Sharp’s agenda. Both the LE600 and LE700 have been awarded EU eco-labels - they consume barely 0.01W in stand-by mode.
The LE600 will be available in 32-, 40- and 46-inch models at the end of July, ditto the LE700, which also includes a colossal 52-inch model. Prices will start at £750.
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has kickstarted a brand new blog “to keep all those interested up-to-date with news, reviews and product launches.”
Powered by the eager PRs at Brands2Life, The Blu-ray Disc Reporter isn’t aimed at Joe Public per se. But it does promise to be stacked with BD info, giving its readers the “inside-track” on all-things Blu-ray – from the latest players and disc launches to exclusive interviews with industry bigwigs.
Initial posts include: Sony’s Blu-ray line-up for July (featuring The International and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon); the new Gladiator disc (with 11 hours of extra content!); Sharp’s latest BD-HP22H Blu-ray Player; and a video on how to optimise your PS3 for Blu-ray playback.
Fed up of having to flick between the various online catch-up TV services? A new website called Teev handily aggregates the latest additions to the BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and Demand Five into one website.
Now there’s no need to go trawling through the archives of each individual station. Either browse the TV content by date or use the search functionality to track down individual programmes. Easy.
At the recent TED conference in February, MIT’s Pattie Maes wowed the audience with a wearable technology prototype that turns any surface into a virtual touchscreen.
Built by MIT’s MediaLab research group, this tech-necklace consists of a camera, mirror and portable projector, all hooked up to a mobile phone hidden away in a pocket.
Maes referred to the technology as a ’sixth sense’, capable of offering its users seamless, real-time access to web-based information. It even makes physical digital cameras redundant.
Watch the amazing video below and see for yourself.
Bose has announced its new SoundLink wireless music system, a portable speaker that hooks up to a computer to stream your digital music wirelessly around the home.
“The new SoundLink system was designed as a simple solution for people who listen to music stored on their computer,” says Bose, “but don’t want to be at their computer to enjoy it.”
The key to a successful digital home product is an idiot-proof setup. No software or Wi-Fi connection is required to get the SoundLink up-and-running. Instead it comes with a USB key that plugs into a PC or Mac and establishes its own wireless connection to the speaker.
The SoundLink can be plugged into the mains or powered by the built-in rechargeable battery, delivering three hours of portable listening.
Wireless music made easy
According to Bose, its SoundLink system features a proprietary acoustics package, which combines “exclusive Bose waveguide speaker technology and neodymium transducers to deliver room-filling, high-quality audio from a very small enclosure”. Nice.
What else? The SoundLink comes with an infrared remote control and includes an auxiliary input for connecting additional audio sources, such as an iPod, iPhone, MP3 player or CD player.
Looking suspiciously like Bose’s popular SoundDock speaker (but without the iPod dock), the new SoundLink goes on sale in the US on August 27th with a price tag of $549.95.
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t switched my Nintendo Wii on in ages. It sits next to the TV in the corner of the room and there’s now a thin layer of dust on it.
According to reports today, Microsoft’s motion-sensing Xbox add-on 
According to a member of the IEEE 802.11 working group, the long development process that has held up the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard is nearing an anti-climactic end.
Sharp
The 
Bose