FocuSoft Tech Blog

FocuSoft Tech Blog

Sony’s plan for "snackable" PSP game and application downloads revealed

Posted: 16 Jul 2009 02:19 AM PDT

f86de35c26mockup.jpg Sonys plan for "snackable" PSP game and application downloads revealed

Sony already announced its intentions to bring more developers to the PSP platform at the big E3 gaming show last month. And the move to simplify its development tools was seen as a hint of new PSP applications beyond games. Now Develop has laid bare Sony’s PSP development strategy as explained by Zeno Colaço, Sony’s head of developer relations. According to Zeno, over 50 studios are working on “new kinds of games and applications” that will be sold via a “specially-branded separate area” of the PlayStation Store accessible by PSP and PSPgo owners.

In effect, Sony is going after the kind of “snackable content” made popular by Apple’s App Store — inexpensive games and apps that can be downloaded in less than a minute for immediate gratification — according to Subatomic Studio’s Ash Monif. In fact, Subatomic, best known for its massive App Store hit, Fieldrunners, is developing a PSP-exclusive version of its tower defense game. Unlike Apple, however, Sony is charging for its PSP SDK in a bid to keep things, uh hem, “professional,” as Zeno calls it.

[Thanks, Calvin H.]

[via EnGadget.com]

New Scientist and MIT track your trash for the good of the planet

Posted: 16 Jul 2009 01:41 AM PDT

222e6a6e34htrack.jpg New Scientist and MIT track your trash for the good of the planet

On a long enough timeline, all gadgets, white goods, furniture and consumables end up in the trash bin, and the latest tech from MIT is designed to track their subsequent journey from your porch to the great beyond. Partnering with the New Scientist magazine, researchers are hoping that by mapping where garbage ends up, they can awaken that atrophied muscle of environmental awareness in us all.

The project will attach SIM cards to particular items of trash, which will beep out their location information every 15 minutes. You might think this somewhat underwhelming — given all the bells, whistles and bomb-proofing that garbage cans have been adorned with over the years — but interest appears high enough to justify exhibitions of the project in New York and Seattle starting this September.

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New Scientist and MIT track your trash for the good of the planet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung GO N310 netbook arrives in US for $450

Posted: 16 Jul 2009 01:31 AM PDT

Samsung's N310 GO rubber-clad netbook has officially arrived in the US, with sales of the distinctive ultraportable kicking off at Newegg and CDW.  The N310 has a 10.1-inch display and uses Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard-drive.

samsung go n310 official page 540x289

While what's inside may be pretty much standard for most netbooks, it's the outside of the N310 that makes it special.  Samsung call the casing "haptic styling", which reeks of PR-gush but basically describes the tactile rubber shell and curvy corners.  Open it up, and there's a chiclet keyboard, together with a 1.3-megapixel webcam and microphone.

Four versions of the Samsung N310 GO are available from Newegg, differing by color rather than specification.  The navy blue, black, "sunset" red and "mint" blue netbooks are available now, priced at $449.99.

[via Portable Monkey]

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Samsung GO N310 netbook arrives in US for $450

Atlona HDAiR wireless USB to HDMI/VGA adapter

Posted: 16 Jul 2009 01:05 AM PDT

Atlona Technologies have announced the HDAiR, a wireless USB to HDMI or VGA adapter which allows cable-free connectivity to a display from up to 30 feet away.  Using UWB, up to 720p or 1440 x 1200 resolution video can be transmitted from a Windows XP or Vista PC; unfortunately that means that wireless 1080p Full HD video still isn't possible.

atlona technologies HDAiR 1 540x407

The HDAiR uses the same Wisair wireless display technology as that company's own USB Display Adapter, announced back in January.  However unlike the Wisair device, which only output to HDMI, the Atlona Technologies adapter has both HDMI and VGA outputs, offering more flexibility for use with displays, HDTVs and projectors.

You pay for that flexibility, however.  While the Wisair HDMI-only version has an MRSP of $129, Atlona Technologies' HDAiR is priced at $199.  The companies claim to be working on a range of adapters, such as for printers, input devices and audio receivers, that will be compatible with the existing transmitter.

atlona technologies HDAiR 2 540x281

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Atlona HDAiR wireless USB to HDMI/VGA adapter

Guitar Hero 5 official drum kit revealed

Posted: 16 Jul 2009 12:51 AM PDT

Hot on the heels of Logitech's Guitar Hero drum kit, unveiled yesterday, come the first images of the official redesigned Guitar Hero 5 set.  No details are accompanying the two images, but Activision have released a new video showing gameplay in the upcoming title.

guitar hero official drum kit controller 1

Guitar Hero 5 gameplay video after the cut

Functionally the two sets will likely do much the same, each offering twin cymbals and three drum heads, together with a kick pedal.  Although Activision are yet to confirm pricing, we'd expect the GH5 kit to be cheaper than Logitech's version, which will no doubt attempt to capitalize on its positioning flexibility, premium hardware and the convenience of being able to fold it flat.

Guitar Hero 5 itself is expected to launch in September, so we should know more details by then.  The game is available for preorder for PS2, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360, complete with a guitar controller.

guitar hero official drum kit controller 2

Guitar Hero 5 Gameplay video:

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MySpace CEO: “Our users don’t know if we’re a social portal, a music site, or an entertainment hub”

Posted: 16 Jul 2009 12:26 AM PDT

140fcdf961215x56.png MySpace CEO: One thing that's great about MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta – his emails to employees always have at least one good sound bite. In June the zinger was his reference to laid off employees as "bloat." This time, he's saying it like it is, again: "Our users don't know if we're a social portal, a music site, or an entertainment hub."

Neither do we. MySpace always described itself as a social network until they weren't the biggest social network any more. At various times since then they've called themselves a "premier lifestyle portal," an "online community that lets you meet your friends' friends" or just the largest "social portal" in the world that doesn't begin with "F" and end in "book."

Anyway, I assume Van Natta will have an answer to what exactly MySpace is at some point in the near future. He also says "In the last week, we've made some small but meaningful site changes that will lay the groundwork to provide more clarity on our brand and business" (all we've seen is a logo change, but there are likely other small changes).

Meanwhile, here's his email to the troops, confirming our stories that Travis Katz is leaving and Mike Macadaan is joining, among other personnel changes.

From: Owen Van Natta
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009
To: FIM MySpace All
Subject: Organizational Update

Hi everyone,

As we continue to evolve our organization there are some changes I'd like to update everyone on.

After nearly two years of managing MySpace's product organization, SVP of Product Tom Andrus has decided to explore other opportunities. During his tenure at MySpace, Tom brought a level of professionalism to the product organization and established a true discipline of product management. He helped create a dynamic, top notch team of product talent responsible for managing one of the biggest platforms on the planet. I personally appreciate all the support that Tom has given the new management team and look forward to welcoming new talent to compliment the tremendous group we currently have in place. We expect to see incredible things from Tom and wish him the best in his future plans.

After more than three years running MySpace's international business, MD and SVP of International Travis Katz has decided to leave the company to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. Travis joined News Corp in 2004 and was one of the principal authors of the company's digital strategy, which led to the creation of Fox Interactive Media and the acquisitions of MySpace and IGN among other sites. In February, 2006, Travis joined MySpace to lead the company's international expansion, and under his leadership, MySpace grew its international user base from 12 million to more than 60 million active users. Travis leaves as a friend to MySpace and to the executive team – we wish him and his family the best of luck in future endeavors. Travis will remain with the company through the end of August to help with the transition.

International will continue to be a major priority for MySpace going forward and I'm proud to announce that Rebekah Horne – formerly our GM of Europe and Australia – will be taking over as MD and SVP of International. During her tenure at MySpace, Rebekah has done an incredible job inspiring and leading teams across Europe and the rest of the world. Rebekah spent last week in LA working with us on strategic planning and this week I plan to join her in London to meet with our leadership team in Europe. Please join me in congratulating Rebekah on her new role.

As I've said before, simplifying and unifying our site is fundamental to our success going forward. MySpace should feel like one platform – not 15 sites loosely stitched together. We consider our diverse content offering a strength but t oo many logos and disorganized verticals makes the site difficult to navigate and creates confusion about our brand identity. Our users don't know if we're a social portal, a music site, or an entertainment hub. In the last week, we've made some small but meaningful site changes that will lay the groundwork to provide more clarity on our brand and business. Unifying MySpace is critical to how we define ourselves to the world. We're beginning to start this process and I'd like to introduce two major hires to the product organization.

Please join me in welcoming Katie Geminder, our new SVP of User Experience and Design. Katie began her career designing user experiences at Amazon, where she led large cross-functional and customer experience initiatives including the Amazon.com Kitchen Store, Target.com, and the Amazon Services e-Commerce platform. Since then she has worked for top online and technology companies including Apple and Facebook. For Katie, great user experience and design lives at the convergence of product, engineering, and design. A great user experience is dependent on two things, a clear and concise vision augmented by user feedback and the collaboration of business, product, technology, and engineering teams.

Improving our product interface is a major component of creating an exceptional user experience. With that, I'd like to welcome Mike Macadaan as our new VP of Product. Prior to joining MySpace, Mike served as Vice President of User Experience at the start-up publishing network Tsavo Media. Mike is a fixture in the start-up scene as the founder of Twiistup, an industry standard startup showcase. At AOL, Mike led the team responsible for creating Magnet, the company's groundbreaking first effort at personalization and behavioral targeting, which gave AOL an in-depth look at the needs of their users. At MySpace Mike's job is to push, inspire, and lead the product organization. He'll be responsible for developing next gen experiences that will reset the growth for MySpace.

Finally, we've spent the last few weeks designing a framework that provides tremendous clarity to the way in which our product and technology teams will be working together moving forward. Next week, Jason and Mike are going to walk employees through the new team structure of our technology and product group. I appreciate the input from everyone across the company that has helped develop this architecture.

Thanks,
Owen

Information provided by CrunchBase

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

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MySpace CEO: "Our users don't know if we're a social portal, a music site, or an entertainment hub"

LG BL40 21:9 touchscreen phone shows up in wild

Posted: 16 Jul 2009 12:25 AM PDT

Photos seemingly showing LG's BL40, the company's upcoming Black Label touchscreen featurephone as teased in this video, have emerged.  According to the photographer, who did not reveal where he took the images, the BL40 does indeed have a 21:9 aspect display with 800 x 345 resolution, and running the existing S-Class 3D UI.

lg bl40 3 405x540

More photos, plus a second version of the device, after the cut

Other specs include an FM transmitter, around 335MB of internal storage, and an LED light to go along with a 5-megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics.  There's also WiFi, and we've previously heard about a microSD card slot, HSDPA and accelerometer.

One of the images also shows the large touchscreen phone next to a smaller version, with the same design elements but a reduced display and a larger lower bezel (possibly with illuminated touchscreen controls, as LG has used before on previous Chocolate-series devices).  No word on what that companion handset is, but earlier rumors suggested LG would announce their new range in August.

lg bl40 1 150x100 lg bl40 2 150x100
lg bl40 3 150x100 lg bl40 4 150x100

[via Engadget Mobile]

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Guitar Hero 5 drum kit is faux real

Posted: 16 Jul 2009 12:19 AM PDT

990d37a698rums 3.jpg Guitar Hero 5 drum kit is faux real

Aaand it’s out, the first official shot of Guitar Hero 5’s redesigned drum kit thus confirming the pic and presumably, the specs we received last week. While no additional details are listed, this rig stands in stark, simplistic contrast to the overbearing GH kit launched by Logitech yesterday and will certainly cost less (much less) than $229. One more shot after the break while we wait for official pricing and specs in the run-up to the September launch.

[Thanks, Juan]

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Guitar Hero 5 drum kit is faux real originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visicalc: Father of the Spreadsheet [Software]

Posted: 16 Jul 2009 12:00 AM PDT

2a0ab92dbasicalc.png Visicalc: Father of the Spreadsheet [Software]

Steven Levy reminded me that in 1979, Visical, the first spreadsheet program for personal computers and the app that turned the Apple II into a serious business machine. Here’s a DOS copy you can run today. [Wiki, briklin]

Gizmodo ‘79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analog age gave way to the digital, and most of our favorite toys were just being born.

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Visicalc: Father of the Spreadsheet [Software]

Hybrid2 public bike concept promises to help power city buses

Posted: 15 Jul 2009 11:38 PM PDT

da9037f04315 09.jpg Hybrid2 public bike concept promises to help power city buses

Hybrid bikes are one thing, but designer Chiyi Chen looks to have something far grander in mind for his Hybrid2 bike concept, which he says could one day help power fleets of city buses. To do that, the hybrid part of the bike (a regenerative braking system) wouldn’t be used to help power the bike itself at all, but would instead store the energy in an ultracapacitor that’d then feed the energy back into the grid when its parked at a special bike stand, which would in turn be used to help charge the hybrid electric buses.

Not one to overlook an ingenious little detail, Chen has also devised a special card RFID card that would not only be used to unlock the bike, but keep track of the energy that each rider generates — build up enough credits and you can ride the bus for free. Intrigued? Head on past the break for a video overview from the man himself.

[Via Inhabitat]

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Hybrid2 public bike concept promises to help power city buses originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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