I know, another videogame keychain sound board you’re asking yourself? I couldn’t agree more, but there’s one thing these Mousou Controllers do that makes them interesting… at least for Street Fighter II fans. The controllers are available for 5 different games, including Famista and Xevious versions that no one will care about, but it’s the 3 SF II versions that are kind of cool.
The blue controller includes sounds from Ken, Ed Honda and Guile, the red controller has Ryu, Blanka and Sagat and the black controller covers Dhalsim, Balrog and Chun-Li. Not only do they have authentic sounds from Street Fighter II and each character, but you can also use the same button combos as you would in the game to hear the sounds of a specific character’s moves. Now I was always a Mortal Kombat fan and still have a bit of muscle memory for Reptile’s repertoire, but I’m sure Street Fighter II fans should have no trouble remembering the combos for their own favorite characters.
A set of 3 Mousou Controllers, which includes Famista, Xevious and one Street Fighter II version (lame!) is available from the Japan Trend Shop for $51.
Even though its name capitalizes on both the popularity of the Nintendo Wii and Apple’s ‘i’ trend, the Mi-Sport MP3 player doesn’t actually do anything as revolutionary as the products from those other companies. But, if you’re an athlete or an outdoors enthusiast, you may still want one to complement your iPod.
The Mi-Sport is basically a pair of headphones with a built-in 4GB media player supporting MP3s, WMAs and AAC files and a respectable 7 hour rechargeable battery. But the feature that sets the Mi-Sport apart is the fact that it’s waterproof. Not splashproof or water-resistant, but waterproof meaning it can be used and worn underwater when swimming, and it actually comes with a set of water-blocking sponge earplugs allowing you to better hear your music while submerged. The control buttons on the right side of the headphones can also be used underwater, and since it’s lacking a display, it also features voice navigation that will read you the names of tracks or playlists so you don’t necessarily have to keep it on shuffle all the time.
Now the Mi-Sport website is a bit vague as to when the product will be available, sometime in 2010 seems to be their target, but at this point there only appears to be rendered versions of the headphones. So hopefully photos of a prototype or physical mockups of the final version will be made available soon to dispense of any ‘vaporware’ rumblings.
No one’s really sure what surprises Nikon has in store for its successor to the D90, but if they can make it do what this new Lomography Spinner 360° does, they’ve got at least one guaranteed sale from me. Like with most Lomos the camera’s design is dead simple, and even easier to use, but the results still set it apart from today’s digital alternatives.
The camera swivels on a hand grip extending below it, and also comes with a feature you don’t usually find on a camera: a ripcord. While most panoramic photos cover a 120° perspective from left to right, the Lomo Spinner 360° goes all the way around when you yank the cord, producing a panoramic photo that’s 4X longer than a standard landscape portrait. Not sure why that’s cool? Well check out these sample shots below, which I guess are each worth 4,000 words if I’ve done my math correctly.
It’s definitely not cheap though. The Lomography Spinner 360° is currently available on the Lomo website for about $150 (€ 125.00) and in case you’ve already forgotten, you’ll still need to pay for film and development.
Having a GPS in my car is great for those times when I’m visiting a new city. It tells me the most efficient way to get to where I need to be. When I want to find something to eat, or a specific store, I can just look it up on my phone, find the address and then type it into the GPS unit. Actually, that is something of a pain. Wouldn’t it be better if you could just press a button and send the address to your GPS, rather then manually typing it in? If you have a SYNC-equipped Ford car, you’ll soon be able to do just that.
Ford is getting ready to roll out an update called “Send to SYNC” which will allow you to send information from Google Maps directly to the car. You’ll be able to pull up a restaurant on your iPhone, laptop, or even your home computer, and then send the address to your car. Once you’re ready to take off, the car will guide you to your predetermined destination. Now if we could just get this sort of functionality out of standalone GPS units.
Are you an avid iPhone/iPod Touch gamer who’s found they’ve been packing on the pounds lately? Let’s face it, tapping the screen or slightly twisting the iPhone in your hands aren’t the most intense physical activities, but this Pirata Boat Race game, created by Pirata London, could have you working up a sweat depending on your fitness level. The game has two teams of oarsmen… or… oarspeople, paddling a couple of boats along a course, and like any race, the first across the finish line wins. But while the game itself is played online, the players use their iPhones or iPod Touches as oars.
You first have to download the Boat Remote application which is available for free, and at the start of each race you either snap a photo of a QR code to choose which side you’re on, or enter a unique code if you’re using a camera-less Touch. Up to 10 players can participate per race, 5 per boat, and since everyone has to gather around the same PC in order to play, it also increases the whole social aspect of iPhone gaming, which is usually a solitary activity. So how about porting the online aspect of the game to the iPad?
And if you’re curious, I’ve included a video of the game in action after the jump.
Nothing makes you look more important than carrying around a briefcase. But whether it’s filled with plans for world domination, or just your lunch, you don’t want those important contents falling into the wrong hands. So why trust a combination lock that can be opened with one lucky guess, when you can secure your files, or PB&J sandwich, with biometrics?
Covered with supple Nubuck leather and lined with soft suede this briefcase makes it look like you’ve just stepped off Wall Street, but it protects your secrets, or your true identity, with a fingerprint reader. The locking mechanism supports up to 12 different users and 2 administrators (not really sure what extra privileges they’re granted) and can store 2 different fingerprints for each user. Now since it’s not a mechanical system the fingerprint reader does need to be occasionally charged via USB (the lithium-ion battery is good for about 600 scans) and I’m not sure what fail-safes exist if the battery dies and you need access, so maybe keeping one of those USB backup batteries in your pocket isn’t a terrible idea. Get it from Chinavasion for about $390.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of NAVTEQ. All opinions are 100% mine.
By David Ponce
When you read the news, there seems to be a steady stream of amusing GPS-related stories. Like the woman who recently decided to sue Google because the allegedly dangerous directions it gave her for an evening stroll eventually led to her being hit by a car. Or the couple that was stranded in the snow for three days because they followed the directions on their GPS down a snowy, undriveable path. Or even the man in the UK who was charged £2,000 for “driving without due care and attention”; he’d blindly followed his GPS’s instructions down a narrow cliffside path whereupon he’d gotten stuck in a wire fence only a few feet away from a 100ft drop.
Stories like that remind us not only of our growing reliance on GPS devices but also how important it is to know how to use them properly. Step one in that process is to have the latest maps loaded. Not only are new roads being built all the time while older ones being closed, but so are businesses and “Points of Interest” constantly changing. I recently received an SD card containing brand new North American NavTeqmaps for my Garmin Nuvi. Updating them was no harder than popping the card in, and booting the device. And while I might have a little more common sense than to drive into a pond because my GPS tells me to, it’s nice to know that I won’t drive 30 minutes to go to a nice restaurant only to find out it’s been out of business for two months. Should you have a NavTeq powered device and wish to update yours, link is below.
We’re all familiar with the idea of slapping a hi-def LCD display on the wall in a portrait orientation and then playing back footage of the great outdoors to make it seem like a window with a fantastic view. So the eScape from Sky Factory doesn’t exactly break any new ground. They’ve basically taken the concept and refined it with a lovely 40-inch 1080P LCD and a stylish frame with shutters, that open inwards for some reason. And while I find the $9,750 asking price ridiculous, it’s the included video scenes that actually leave me shaking my head.
Is the waterfall clip supposed to make visitors think that part of my house and/or apartment opens into an underground grotto? Or that even though I live on the 26th floor of a high-rise building, the view from my bedroom includes a spectacular shoreline with waves crashing against rocks? Now I know these virtual windows are just supposed to provide a relaxing escape wherever they’re installed, but I think it wouldn’t hurt to provide a couple of video options that are at least semi-plausible.
At some point as a kid I was misled into believing that go-karts, as fun as they are, were inferior miniature versions of cars. And once you reached the age when you were eligible for a drivers license, you could leave the world of go-karting behind. But looking at Dennis Palatov’s DP4 Super Go-Kart, I’m not so sure anymore. Powered by a motorcycle engine and a unique chain drive system, the DP4 can be raced on kart tracks or full-sized courses, and if you have any doubt that a go-kart could provide real thrills, just take a few moments to watch this video of the DP4 passing car after car at the Oregon Raceway Park.
Two versions of the DP4 are apparently available for purchase. A $25,910, two-wheel drive, build-it-yourself kit which includes a GSXR-1000 engine, or for $50,610 you can get a pre-built, 800lb, all-wheel drive DP4 with a 1400cc 200HP turbocharged Hayabusa engine. In other words, the decision has already been made for you.
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