Creative's ZEN X-Fi2 Media Player Goes Up Against Stiff Competition
It's a good time to be in the market for a portable media player. From Apple's iPod lineup (the obvious choice) to Microsoft's Zune HD to Archos' range of media-centric players, you've got options galore. But just in case you still weren't confused enough as to which device was right for you, Creative has just added another to the mix. The company once famous for its expansive range of audio cards has begun to dabble in the wide world of PMPs, and while it's newest product is no iPod touch, it may just be enough
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Microsoft's Natural User Interface Lets Your Body Do The Talking
Microsoft's research labs have been known to create some pretty wild projects. Granted, not all of them have hit the market or anything, but there's a good chance that something huge down the road will spring up. Project Natal is already proof that Redmond has quite a few out-of-the-box thinkers on staff, and while we can't say it with any real degree of certainty, we're guessing that this stuff is what techie dreams are made of.During the company's College Tour 2009, Microsoft showed off what it's describing
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Asus O!Play AIR HDP-R3 Brings 802.11n Streaming, Card Reader
Asus may have been a little known computer company just a few years back, but today it's gaining steam and branching out into more and more areas. Take this product for example, the O!Play AIR HDP-R3. It's the second set-top box in the "O!Play" lineup, and while this one doesn't look at that different (physically, anyway), there are a few nice extras added in for those who chose to pass on the first edition. At its core, this is a simple media streamer/player. You simply hook it up near your HDTV, get it on
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OOMouse Is Built For Hardcore Office Users (Yeah, Seriously!)
Razer's Naga had an awful lot of buttons. But with all due respect, those buttons had a purpose. For avid gamers that spent the most of their time within a MMO such as World of Warcraft, those extra thumb buttons sure come in handy. But seriously--is there anyone out there who would actually confess to being an avid Office user? The OOMouse is easily one of the most unique (and odd) mice we have ever seen, and frankly, one of the ugliest as well. We had to double check in order to make sure this mouse didn't
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Large Hadron Collider Derailed by Fowl Play
As death threats preceded the startup of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) last year, one might not be surprised at foul play as testing is performed prior to the restart of the LHC. But fowl play? The LHC has been out of action for over a year, due to a helium leak that caused it to be shut down on September 19th of last year, nine days after its start-up. With the LHC repaired, scientists have been running tests in anticipation of a restart later this month. However, the testing process was halted on Monday
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OOMouse Is Built For Hardcore Office Users (Yeah, Seriously!)
Razer's Naga had an awful lot of buttons. But with all due respect,those buttons had a purpose. For avid gamers that spent the most oftheir time within a MMO such as World of Warcraft, those extra thumbbuttons sure come in handy. But seriously--is there anyone out therewho would actually confess to being an avid Office user?The OOMouse is easily one of the most unique (and odd) mice we haveever seen, and frankly, one of the ugliest as well. We had to doublecheck in order to make sure this mouse didn't actually first see thelight of day in the mid-90s, but amazingly, it just launched this pastweek. It was designed and built by WarMouse, and it's said to be the"first multi-button application mouse designed for a wide variety ofsoftware applications, including Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk AutoCAD,Microsoft Office, and OpenOffice.org."
So, what does a mouse catering to Office users require? Apparently itrequires 18 buttons, an analog joystick, and support for as many as 52key commands, as that's exactly what this mouse offers. Supposedly,this layout provides a faster and more efficient user interface formost complex softwareapplications than the conventional icons, pull-down menus, and hotkeyspresently permit, but it sure seems to us that this array of buttonswould complicate matters. Of course, maybe we're just simple mindedfools, but this seems like a crazy amount of buttons to remember. We'restruggling to remember Copy and Paste, we're pretty sure 18 commandswould slip our minds.
It'll cost you $74.99, and it'll run on Linux, Windows and Mac systems. Anyone crazy enough to splurge?
The OOMouse includes default profiles for the five coreOpenOffice.org applications based on 662 million datapoints compiled bythe usage tracking facility incorporated into OpenOffice.org 3.1. Theseprofiles can be easily customized to suit the user's preferences usingthe included OOMouse setup software. The setup and customizationsoftware is an application that will be released as an open sourcesoftware project under the GNU Lesser General Public License version 3in the first quarter of 2010. Default profiles for 20 other games andapplications are also included; the OOMouse supports up to 63 profilesto be stored simultaneously in the mouse's memory.
The OOMouse is one of the first computer mice to incorporate ananalog joystick and the first to permit the use of the joystick as akeyboard. In the three joystick-as-keyboard modes, the user can assignup to sixteen different keys or macros to the joystick, which providesfor easy movement regardless of whether the user is flying through thecells of a large spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel or on the back of anepic flying mount in World of Warcraft.
The features of the OOMouse include:
- 18 programmable mouse buttons with double-click functionality
- Three different button modes: Key, Keypress, and Macro
- Analog Xbox 360-style joystick with optional 4, 8, and 16-key command modes
- Clickable scroll wheel
- 512k of flash memory
- 63 on-mouse application profiles with hardware, software, and autoswitching capability
- 1024-character macro support.
- Open source support software for creating, managing, and customizing application profiles
- Import and export of custom profiles in XML format
- Optional audio notification of profile switching with customizable wave files
- PDF export of profile button assignments
- Adjustable resolution from 400 to 1,600 CPI
- 20 default profiles for popular games and applications, includingOpenOffice.org 3.1, Adobe Photoshop, the Gnu Image ManipulationProgram, World of Warcraft, and the Call of Duty series.
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Big-Time Gaming Pirate Gets Busted!
I was looking at gamespot today and came across this story. It's about this 18 yr. old kid who somehow got an illegal copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and planned to sell thousands more. Only one problem, Activision caught him by a posting he made on Craig's List, LOL. This guy actually put up a sale on Craig's List for a bunch of Xbox 360 versions of the game. You can read the whole story here. The guy couldn't wait like everyone else... At least the other pirates actually wait until the game comes out and then torrents it, lol.
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Creative's ZEN X-Fi2 Media Player Goes Up Against Stiff Competition
It's a good time to be in the market for a portable media player. FromApple's iPod lineup (the obvious choice) to Microsoft's Zune HD toArchos' range of media-centric players, you've got options galore. Butjust in case you still weren't confused enough as to which device wasright for you, Creative has just added another to the mix. The companyonce famous for its expansive range of audio cards has begun to dabblein the wide world of PMPs, and while it's newest product is no iPodtouch, it may just be enough for you.The ZEN X-Fi2, as it's known, is a touch screen-based player, and onpaper, it's pretty darn respectable. The 4" x 2.2" x 0.5" player weighsjust 2.6oz. and boasts a 3" LCD touch panel (400x240), 8GB/16GB/32GB ofinternal memory, a rechargeable battery that'll last up to 25 hourswhen playing audio (or 5 hours with video), a microSD card slot,support for RSS feeds, a USB port, built-in alarm clock and speaker andsupport for photos, too.
It ships with a basic pair of earbuds and supports more formats thaneven Apple's iPod, so if you've got a wide collection of files, youmight just appreciate that. If you are indeed interested, it can beordered now for $129.99,$179.99 or $229.99, depending on size.
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Microsoft's Natural User Interface Lets Your Body Do The Talking
Microsoft's research labs have been known to create some pretty wild projects. Granted, not all of them have hit the market or anything, but there's a good chance that something huge down the road will spring up. Project Natal is already proof that Redmond has quite a few out-of-the-box thinkers on staff, and while we can't say it with any real degree of certainty, we're guessing that this stuff is what techie dreams are made of.During the company's College Tour 2009, Microsoft showed off what it's describing as a "mindblowing natural user interface." In essence, this is really just a supercomputer with loads of intellect. According to the R&D gurus in Redmond, Washington, this is a next-gen computer that "docks and undocks from a transparent glass display and allows for not only pen and voice input as you’d come to expect from natural user interfaces, but also incorporates touchless gestures and eye-tracking to interact with the information at hand."
As you'd expect, the demo relies heavily on eye-tracking for the "wow factor," and everything is still definitely in the prototype stage. Just check out the video below to see for yourself.
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Asus O!Play AIR HDP-R3 Brings 802.11n Streaming, Card Reader
Asus may have been a little known computer company just a few yearsback, but today it's gaining steam and branching out into more and moreareas. Take this product for example, the O!Play AIR HDP-R3. It's thesecond set-top box in the "O!Play" lineup, and while this one doesn'tlook at that different (physically, anyway), there are a few niceextras added in for those who chose to pass on the first edition.At its core, this is a simple media streamer/player. You simply hook itup near your HDTV, get it on your network (via Ethernet or Wi-Fi), andthen enjoy whatever media you have on your network. This one ships with802.11n support, which should get high-def content from your mediacollection to your television without as many drops. It also ships within inbuilt card reader, which allows for media to be loaded locally solong as it's on a CF, SD MMC, or Memory Stick/MSDuo card.
You'll also find an HDMI 1.3 ports, USB 2.0 port, eSATA/USB 2.0 comboport and a Wi-Fi LED indicator on the front. We're hearing that it willship soon in Europe for around €90, but we're still eager to see ifit'll ship to the US.
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Large Hadron Collider Derailed by Fowl Play
As death threats preceded the startup of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) last year, one might not be surprised at foul play as testing is performed prior to the restart of the LHC. But fowl play?The LHC has been out of action for over a year, due to a helium leak that caused it to be shut down on September 19th of last year, nine days after its start-up. With the LHC repaired, scientists have been running tests in anticipation of a restart later this month. However, the testing process was halted on Monday after the power to the LHC failed.
A CERN spokeswoman, Christine Sutton, said scientists discovered fowl play:
"The problem related to the high voltage supply. We get mains voltage from the grid, and there was an interruption in the power supply, just like you might have a power cut at home. The person who went to investigate discovered bread and a bird eating the bread."Sutton said the bird was discovered at a compensating capacitor, which cut power to one of the LHC's cooling plants.
Physicists hope to use the LHC to prove the existence of the Higgs boson, or God particle, which gives matter in the universe its mass. However, some are concerned that the LHC might actually end the world, by creating microscopic black holes or strangelets.
Fowl play?آ Check that policy for coverage...
Most scientists don't believe any of that is possible, and that such events are the stuff of science fiction. I guess nature, or at least, birds, are keeping us from finding out, for now.آ
Curiously, the Aflac mascot duck was unavailable for comment.
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Any Fedor/MMA fans?
Anyone catch the Saturday Night Fight on CBS?
Rogers got mollywhopped, but he's a pretty good big man IMO... moves good, decent wind and has great power!
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