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Named the Mk III Human Power Generator, this machine is green in more ways than one. First, well, it’s painted green. Second, it can be pedaled or hand-cranked to recharge 12 volt batteries or power 120 volt electronics or appliances. Yep, it’s fuel free, using your calories to generate electricity. It’s made of steel with rubber “feet” and a vibration isolation generator. An additional Portable Power pack includes a storage battery, 300 watt inverter, LED voltage readout and a 120 volt outlet. They didn’t indicate how long it would take to generate a full charge, but emphasized that the unit is best used for back-up and emergency uses, and not as a continuous power source.

The Mk III with Portable Power Pack retails for $850, or you can get the Mk III alone for $497. A set of extra pedals will cost you $25. Hey, didn’t the Professor on Gilligan’s Island already make one of these? My mistake, that one was completely different - it was in black and white.

Order [WindstreamPower]

Every web-based company wants to be as cool and popular as YouTube, just not like this. A recent Google report indicated that Google Video, the obviously-named video segment of the ever expanding company I like to call Googie, is being sued for copyright infringement. That’s twice as bad considering that Google has acquired YouTube and may have to deal with those lawsuits as well.

The most recent development in the case is that a French film company, Flach Films, has actually filed a lawsuit against French Google Video in Paris. Apparently their film le Monde Selon Bush ("The World According to Bush") was inappropriately streamed 43,000 times, essentially making Google a publisher of the film. Flach is seeking monetary compensation. Since Google’s report did not name a company, it is unclear if this is the same company or an additional lawsuit.

Of course, getting sued isn’t a de facto guilty verdict, but it sure doesn’t bode well for Googie.

Source [PC Advisor] Source [PV Wire]

For those of you lucky enough to actually get a PS3 (please don’t hate me), Nyko Technologies has released its first round of accessories to help make your gaming experience even better. The items include:

• Dual Charger AC ($24.99) - The dual USB inputs allow two wireless controllers to simultaneously charge from a standard wall outlet. For non-PS3ers, it can also be used to charge any USB compliant device like audio players and cameras. Of course you could just use the ports on the PS3 with the standard 4 ft. cables, but that would mean sitting really, really close to the TV.


• HDMI Cable ($29.99) - Just for high-def junkies, this cable supports full 1080p video output. It doesn’t include a high-sniff adapter so you can smell the game, too.


• Charge Link ($14.99) - Another charger for the wireless controller, this one is really just a 10 foot USB cable targeted to gamers.

Oh yeah - they have their own PS2 wireless guitar controller for Guitar Hero, too. Looks like everyone wants to rock it.

Site [Nyko Technologies]

The market for video eyewear is standing at the point of being fully weightless. Now that the newest generation of video eyewear no longer weighs more than a pair of sunglasses, it seems that the last barrier for large-scale mobile use has been removed. Just like video phones, portable video eyewear also seemed like a failed technology of the past, or only one that lived in the movies. But now seeing is believing.

The new generation video eye-wear has a number of other important advantages aside from being much lighter. The virtual screen has increased in size. The viewer now sees a screen of almost 1.5 meters at a distance of two meters—creating a mobile movie screen experience for your favorite music video, TV shows, films, and video pod casts while on the move.

If there is one thing which has increased over the last few years, it is the availability of mobile audiovisual content. Many people have already purchased a MP4 video player, such as the iPod Video, and filled it up with movies and video fragments but are busy squinting at a 3.5 inch screen. New technology is also coming out, “...the mobile telephone which you buy in 2007 will certainly have a TV-out function, such as the new Nokia N93. Now you just have to plug in your lightweight video eye-wear and your mobile movie theater is ready for use.”

The relaxView 4.0 offers consumers a feather-light pair (less then 80 grams). Add on simple nose support adjustments and you have one very comfortable mobile cinema. Your surroundings continue to be perceptible by focusing your eyes above and below the video screen, thereby stopping you from bumping into Bubba on the street.

relaxView “test drives” are now possible for everyone. And each purchased pair of video glasses (€ 449,00) comes with a money-back guarantee if returned within 14 days. Go on, check it out. Oh and by the way, welcome to the future.

Read [Relax View]

Holding handhelds is a problem if you’ve got big clunky hands like Lenny from Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.  For those of you like Lenny - or those of you that simply have issues holding the slim device, you should check out Nyko’s new Charger Grips.  Not only do they make your PSP more comfortable, but they also give it an extra hour and a half of play time before running out of juice.  So next time your PSP gives you carpel tunnel, just think of how great it would be to have Charger Grips.

Read [CrunchGear]

Product: Nintendo Wii
Price: $249
Overall: Thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday, it is now clear that the Wii is the most family-friendly of all the game systems. If you are a long-time, hard-core gamer, you likely will not like the WiiMote right away. Give it a good 30 minutes before you completely dismiss it. I promise you will be surprised.

I swear the Wii looks like a Mac Mini. That is, of course, if you lay it horizontally instead of using the dynamically angled stand that comes with it. The WiiMote takes five to 10 minutes to get used to, handling easier than other thumb busting controllers, though I did notice a bit of soreness in my elbow - which I like to call Nintelbo, which may lead to the much more painful Nintendinitis - after a 7-hour Zelda marathon. It is very precise as long as the Sensor Bar (which connects with a long but thin wire) is in plain view and you don’t have weird light reflections throwing off the sensors. If you are a long-time, hard-core gamer, you likely will not like the WiiMote right away. Give it a good 30 minutes before you completely dismiss it. I promise you will be surprised.

The WiiMote looks a lot like the remotes found on many planes that change channels and play games. It has pretty good range, even allowing a pretty wide angle from the sensor. The biggest surprise of the WiiMote is not only how well it handles, but the little extras, such as the tiny mono speaker for extra sound effects and the rumble which is layered on the Wii system buttons so you can feel what you are selecting. Very cool.

Some of the Wii channels are still not operational, such as News and Weather, but the Virtual console is active with about a dozen classic console games - NES, Super NES, N64, Sega and TurboGrfx - to download. You do need a Classic Controller to play these, which plugs into the WiiMote and has a familiar flat design. They also keep taunting me with the promise of a web browser, but I’m still waiting.

There’s been quite a bit of bitching and moaning about the Wii game graphics, in particular, Wii Sport. Yes, the graphics suck, but Wii Sports is only meant as an introduction to the system to demonstrate the Mii avatar interactivity and WiiMote’s abilities, not a play-me-for-days-and-love-me game. (The Bowling and Baseball games, however, are damn addictive.)

After an hour of gaming, you will no longer care about the graphics as compared to the other systems. After all, it’s not like you’re playing several systems at the same time.

There are a few nice features to the system, such as the built-in wireless adapter that quickly finds your network, a way to easily view photos from a memory card, and my favorite, complete compatibility with all GameCube games, memory cards and controllers. There are two memory card ports and four controller ports, which means you can retire your Wii (unless you absolutely love your GameCube’s GBA adapter). And for everyone who has asked - yes, Wii games come on normal-sized discs instead of the GameCube style mini DVDs.

Thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday, it is now clear that the Wii is the most family-friendly of all the game systems. Sure, it’s marketed toward younger gamers, but when your nearly 60-year-old father-in-law who rarely plays video games can pick up the WiiMote and have as much fun fun playing against 18-year-old and 20-something gamers, you know it’s a wii-nner. My in-laws also had other game systems at their disposal to try, and with the exception of a round of wireless Nintendo DS Lite matches, the PS3 and Xbox 360 weren’t even touched. Maybe it was the hype, maybe it was nostalgia, but whatever it was, it was a fun Wii-kend for all.

Product: Sony PlayStation 3
Price: $499 or $599
Overall: The PS3’s price does seem a bit out of whack, but remember that it includes Blu-ray, a hard drive, a web browser, the ability to boot Linux and a kickass graphics card. The online gaming features are still playing a bit of catchup to Xbox Live, but the system is otherwise solid.

There were a few minutes after I installed and booted up Genji on the PS3 when all I could say was, “There’s friggin’ fire on my TV!” After that, the initial thrill of the system’s amazing particle effects was gone and it was game-on as usual. Unfortunately, Genji is a pretty standard sword-slashing game that gets dull after 30 minutes. Of course, one game does not a system make.

Resistance: Fall of Man proved that a game can look great and play well, while including much more detailed environment damage. Shoot a window in Fall of Man and the bullet hits that exact spot and cracks around it. Shoot it a few more times and the window actually breaks into pieces according to the bullet damage instead of some predefined pattern. Impressive.

Jaggies, those annoying little square corners and odd borders between colors, have almost been eliminated, and human characters now have nearly complete feature depth instead of an outline with a shaded skin overlay. It certainly makes for more realistic characters, yet they still have a bit of rubber robotic action in them.

The PS3, which looks to me like one of those old, cassette-playing telephone answering machines, is packed with PC-style features, including the ability to run Linux. Yep, it’s a friggin’ dual-boot system. I likely won’t use it that much except to maybe find a hack to install Windows XP without any slowness issues. Now wouldn’t that piss off Bill gates?

It has 7 USB ports, which means you can stack on a keyboard, external storage device (I suggest flash thumb drives) or more wireless controllers. Each controller as an internal rechargeable battery must be charged using a short USB cable, so you’ll play face-to-screen for a little while.

The PS3 menu system is set up exactly like the PSP, with mini icons that open drop down menu items and make the same sound effects. You can also wirelessly sync the PSP to the PS3, but it requires that you upgrade to the latest PSP firmware. To get to image, video, and audio files on a removable card or device, plan to tunnel down a little to actually play them. Also, it’s a bit picky about proper encoding, so don’t expect every file to work on the first try.

The PS3’s wireless controller is nearly identical to the PS2 controller, except it lacks the drag caused by the lengthy wire and the bottom trigger buttons are easier to press, thanks to some removed plastic. Sony did toss in 6-axis motion sensitivity but it’s doesn’t even come close to the quality, precision and ease of the WiiMote.

There’s been a small fuss made over the PS3’s incompatibility with 200 PS1/PS2 games. After doing the math, that’s less than 2.5% of all the available games, it’s unlikely you’ll much care. The most annoying backwards compatibility issue I have is with the controllers and memory cards. To get the saved data from your PS2, you’ll need to buy a Memory Card Adapter and then save it to a virtual Memory Card on the hard drive. The Virtual card, however, works like a charm, cutting down save/load times to a quick blink. The controllers, however, are completely incompatible, so plan to either make your friends buy their own or drop a few more greenback Grants.

There is also the small issue of a very, very lengthy system update you will need to perform. To use the online features, such as online multiplayer (which works well for PS3 and PS2 games), plan to watch a load bar crawl along for quite a while. Although you can perform the update from a game, I suggest doing it through the online connection since that will be the most up-to-date version to avoid conflict errors.

Sony has attempted to cut back the load times not only with a faster processor, but also by allowing you to pre-load chunks of the game. Of course it does not eliminate load screens altogether but they are much shorter than on the PS2.

The PS3’s price does seem a bit out of whack but remember that it includes Blu-ray, a hard drive, a web browser, ability to boot Linux and a kick ass graphics card. The online gaming features are still playing a bit of catchup to Xbox Live but the system is otherwise solid.

When you think of miniature flying gadgets, the first thing that comes to mind might be a gizmo out of a James Bond movie. Well think again. The Picco Z is the world’s lightest and smallest remote control helicopter. Weighing a miniscule 10 grams and measuring just over seven inches long, the Picco Z fits in the palm of your hand. With the two-channel infrared controller and a little practice, you’ll have it flying around your home or office in no time. It is available for $39.00.

Read [HobbyTron]

At Nokia’s annual Capital Market Days in Amsterdam yesterday, the company unveiled four new mobile phone offerings - three of them mid-range, and one low-end.  The Nokia 6300 is a new slimphone that has your typical features and comes in at 13.1 mm thick.  The Nokia 6290 is their new smartphone that “combines the collective power of S60 3rd Edition and 3G in an easy-to-use.” The Nokia 6086 is a new GSM and UMA-enabled cameraphone with a large keypad and the works.  And finally, the lower-end 2626 has a built-in FM Radio so you can have music the old-fashioned way anytime.  The device will come in Fiery Red and Spatial Blue (AKA Red and Blue).

The Nokia 6300, 6290, 6086, and 2626 will run you $328, $426, $262, and $98 respectively (when converted from the Euro values listed in the release.

Read [Press Release]

Now that everyone and their grandma has gotten into the video downloads market, Wal-Mart wants a piece of the action.  They’re starting up the service Wednesday, through sales of the new “Superman Returns” DVD.  The company will offer customers the opportunity to download the movie to a portable device (iPod / Zune) for just $1.97, or $2.97 to download the movie to their computer.  And for $3.97, customers will be able to download the movie in both formats.  It looks like they’re handling it similar to Amazon with their Unbox Video Store, making you download their DRM’d-out player in order to download the movie.  No word yet on their future plans with the service, but they will likely expand to several more movies very soon.

Check out Wal-Mart Video Downloads Beta.

Read [LimaOhio] Via [Aviran’s Place]