Gadget Rewind 2005: Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)
It’s our 10th birthday, and to celebrate we’ll be revisiting some of the key devices of the last decade. So please be kind, rewind.
Engadget was lucky enough to get ahold of one before the end of 2004, but the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) was officially launched in the US in March 2005. This made picking a portable a difficult decision for impatient consumers who were wavering between the Nintendo DS and the PSP. The DS had already arrived by late 2004 and details about the Sony release were still a bit fuzzy. So, you decided to wait and snag the PSP, and according to the 2004 Engadget Awards, both editors and readers agree that you made the right decision. It offered several options including external storage, a 1.3-megapixel camera add-on and the ability to handle an array of image, audio and even video formats. The PSP also had a high-resolution 480 x 272 LCD and content looked great … at least as long as the battery held out. The PSP had a rechargeable 1800mAh battery, but all the bells and whistles led to rapid depletion if you used it as a truly portable device.
All those extras packed into the PSP ran the price up well past the competition. The Nintendo DS retailed at around $150, while Sony slapped a $250 price tag onto the PSP. You did have the whole PlayStation franchise behind it, though, with games like Twisted Metal, Wipeout, Metal Gear and plenty more. Although the PSP had a lot going for it, battery life and device size left room for improvement and that’s just what Sony did over the next few years. By 2007, the PSP had shed some weight and arrived as the Slim & Lite (PSP-2000) version. After numerous iterations, the PlayStation Vita arrived in 2012, still looking a bit like the original PSP — and still taxing the battery like the IRS — but rocking a stunning 960 x 544 OLED display.
Did you own a Sony PSP? Add it to your Engadget profile as a device you had (or still have) and join the discussion to reminisce or share photos of your device with other like-minded gadget fans.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: Gigafactory, eVolo Skyscraper Competition and super-powered bionic plants
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green.
First, the bad news: A new NASA-funded study predicts that industrialized society could completely collapse in the coming decades due to growing inequality and overconsumption of resources. Officials in Paris are taking emergency measures to curb emissions after air quality monitors found that air pollution had risen to hazardous levels in recent weeks. And large-scale famine could be closer than we think: A new report finds that climate change could affect food production much sooner than previously thought.
And if you’re eager to see what a post-apocalyptic world might look like, a Swedish developer has created a Google Street View hack that shows what city streets would look like if nature were to take over. But people around the world are taking steps to reverse course. The US Navy, for example, recently revealed plans to beam solar power from space to earth. And Goldman Sachs recently released a report that states solar energy could soon become cheaper than fossil fuels.
Part of the reason solar energy could soon achieve grid parity is because Elon Musk‘s lithium-ion “Gigafactory” is expected to reduce EV battery costs by more than 30 percent. But that’s not the only thing on Musk’s plate: This week, Musk responded to New Jersey’s ban on Tesla sales, arguing that car dealerships have a “fundamental conflict of interest” when it comes to promoting gas cars and electric cars. In other green transportation news, a team of students from Helsinki teamed up with UPM to create a car that replaces traditional plastic parts with biomaterials like wood. In an effort to cut down on the junk that parents must acquire, designers Yue Han and Zhao Chang Sheng designed a hybrid stroller that transforms into a tricycle. And the folks at Kolelinia Lab recently unveiled the Halfbike, a clever upright tricycle that combines the motion of running with biking.
3D printing has the potential to change the way we make all kinds of things — including buildings. DUS Architects has begun work on an entire house that will be made using 3D printing. The firm recently showed off several pieces of the home’s facade, giving the public some insight into the process. In other design news, the world’s second-tallest living wall was recently completed in Medellin, Colombia. The 300-foot vegetated wall features hundreds of native species that can withstand strong winds. In response to the Fukushima catastrophe, a former Facebook employee spent two years building a floating tsunami-proof capsule in his backyard. We also featured the futuristic winners of this year’s eVolo Skyscraper Competition — including a tower that creates its own building materials, a pollution-fighting skyscraper for LA, a vertical hyper-speed train hub and a twisting wood spire that can be built without a single nail. If the beginning of spring has you dreaming of spending time in the back yard, check out the Garden Igloo, a 2.2-meter-tall geodesic dome that can be used as a greenhouse, playground or even a Jacuzzi cover. But for the adrenaline junkies, this tiny tree house in Baños, Ecuador might be a better fit. The tree house features a swing that dangles over a steep cliff.
Plants are incredibly efficient at converting sunlight into energy, but a team of researchers at MIT is looking to improve on nature by creating super-powered bionic plants that can use photosynthesis to harness solar energy, detect airborne pollutants and more. In other green tech news, scientists at the University of Colorado designed a new toilet that zaps poop into biochar using nothing but the sun. Researchers at the University of Washington have built a two-dimensional light emitting diode that they claim is the world’s thinnest LED — it’s 10,000 times thinner than a human hair — that can be used as a source of light. Clothes washing is one of the most energy-intensive household processes, but a team of Chinese designers wants to change that. The team has developed the Waterwheel washing machine, which combines the mechanism of modern spinning washing machines with traditional washing techniques used in ancient China. In wearable tech news, Kolon Sport has created a new survival jacket that features a personal wind turbine that can be used to power up the jacket’s heating system. And scientists at Ming Chuan University have created a high-tech knee brace that stores kinetic energy and converts it into heat that can be used once you finish your workout.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity brings a French flair to stealth action on PC, PS4 and Xbox One
We hope you’re making good progress on Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, because there’s already a sequel on the way. Ubisoft has unveiled Assassin’s Creed: Unity, a follow-up that takes the stealthy game series to Paris during the French Revolution. Clearly, you can expect guillotines to play an important role. You’ll get a tiny hint of the experience in the teaser video below. However, it’s worth noting that the trailer only shows Unity coming to PCs, the PS4 and the Xbox One — there’s no mention of the Wii U or previous-generation systems. We’ve reached out to Ubisoft to check on platform support, but there’s a good chance that the developer is focusing all its attention on higher-end hardware this time around.
Via: Joystiq
Source: Ubisoft (YouTube)
Google’s lightweight image format makes YouTube pages load 10 percent faster
We all want the internet to be faster, right? Well, Google is hoping to make that happen one YouTube thumbnail at a time. Its leaner WebP image format has been used on the Play store for some time now, and Mountain View’s latest venue for the faster-loading files its video service. The outfit says that the switch has resulted in up to 10 percent speedier page-loads, and overall it’s shaved tens of terabytes off its internal data transfer rates every day. The Chromium Blog says that this should help lower bandwidth usage for users as it rolls out, and, what’s more, that there’s a test-version of WebP running in Chrome’s beta channel that’s faster yet. How much so? It drops image decode speeds by 25 percent. If that means faster access to super hero videos and pictures of lazy dogs, sign us up.
Source: The Chromium Blog
MLB at Bat for Windows Phone adds push notifications and pitch tracking
Opening day is here! …sort of. This year’s quest for a World Series ring kicks off Down Under today, with the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks squaring off at the Sydney Cricket Ground (yes, they’re still playing baseball). Of course, everyone else is still playing Spring Training games until the weekend of March 31st. But Major League Baseball is making sure all of its mobile app ducks are in a row ahead of time. In particular its Windows Phone MLB at Bat app is getting a long overdue update for the 2014 season. Now you can get live pitch-by-pitch tracking for games and set up push notifications for scores and news. Those features have been available on iOS and Android for quite sometime now, so this is less a major step forward and more about feature parity. But still, we’re sure those that fall in the middle of the baseball and windows phone fan venn diagram are extremely happy.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: Technet
Source: MLB at Bat
Alt-week 3.22.14: Inner-selfies, new fashion for astronauts and the glory of Venus
Alt-week takes a look at the best science and alternative tech stories from the last seven days.
We’re not saying medicine is jumping on the bandwagon, but a new camera could usher in the era of the “inner selfie.” What’s more, astronauts are getting the 70′s sci-fi fashion they deserve, and Venus shows off its glory. This is alt-week.
2014 might go down as the year of the selfie thanks, to a certain picture taken at a little shin-dig. But if you ask a team at Georgia Tech, it’s actually the year of the inner selfie. Why? Because it’s recently taken the wraps off its latest creation: a tiny camera that can shoot high resolution 3D pictures inside the human body. However, it’s not quite like the shooter on the front of Bradley’s Galaxy Note 3, in fact the team’s device doesn’t have a lens at all. Instead, it uses ultrasound and an array of sensors to relay data back to a video monitor, which then presents the information in visual form. It’s not the first camera to work this way, but it’s certainly the first small enough to be used safely in human arteries and blood vessels during surgery. The tiny camera has been designed to be extremely power efficient too, shutting down sensors when not needed so that it’s average power requirement is just 20 milliwatts. More importantly, this stops the camera getting too hot while in use, and harming (potentially fatally) its host. The device still needs to be trialled, and ultimately seek FDA approval, but already the team is working on a smaller version that could be mounted on a 400-micron diameter guide wire!
If you’re an Engadget reader, we’re going to go out on a limb and guess that when you were younger “astronaut” was fairly high on you list of acceptable future jobs. Heck, maybe it still is. If part of the attraction of the gig (apart from, you know, all that obviously cool space stuff) was donning the iconic chunky space suit, then you might want to get that application form off to NASA stat. Why? Because a forthcoming, and frankly less childhood dream-worthy skin-tight outfit could be the astronaut’s future fashion preference. The new suit isn’t about surviving space walks, or looks (of course), it’s about preventing some of the effects that Zero G can have on the human body in day to day living. Common issues include expansion of the spine (by up to three inches in come cases) and wasting muscles due to the lack of resistance. The “Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit” is tight and stretchy, and it’s designed to emulate the more familiar force of One G on the body. European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen will be the first to test out the new kit in 2015, with the UK’s Tim Peake potentially donning it during his forthcoming time on the ISS. And you thought we’d have to wait until the 25th century for fashion like this?
We’re all familiar with the wonder that is a rainbow. But, what about a ‘glory’? Well, that’s what you are seeing above, in images captured by the ESA’s Venus Express orbiter. Glories occur in a similar way to rainbows — light being refracted/reflected through water — but require special conditions: spherical clouds comprised of equally-sized droplets, with the sun shining through them head on. This particular glory occurred about 70 kilometers above the surface of Venus, and measured some 1,200 kilometers across (about 750 miles) as observed by the craft that photographed it. Quite a trek to find that — we assume extra large — pot of gold then.
Seen any other far-out articles that you’d like considered for Alt-week? Working on a project or research that’s too cool to keep to yourself? Drop us a line at alt [at] engadget [dot] com.
GDC’s alternative arcade: a gallery of crazy, homemade game controllers
The idea of the gamepad is so entrenched in our mind, it’s easy to forget that there are other ways to play video games. No, we’re not talking about the PC gamer’s keyboard and mouse, or even the traditional arcade stick — but custom, purpose built controllers made to augment a specific experience. At GDC 2014, we found an interactive gallery full of them. The event, Alt.Ctrl.GDC serves as a showcase for indie game experiences that aren’t fully accessible without specialized hardware, but to us, it was simply an alternative arcade of creativity.
The wooden control board for Analog Defender looks more like a missile control console than video game, but it had our attention right away. The complicated array of arcade buttons, protected toggles and switches control a complex Space Invaders clone, tasking players with managing power, weapon modes and special attacks by frantically mashing buttons and changing analog input plugs. The learning curve is steep, but the novelty of the controller makes it an easy climb — the experience is fresh, despite the game’s nostalgic familiarity.
Not every controller in the showcase was custom built from wood, switches and spare wire: Rakete, a collaborative moon lander game, cannibalized old guitar pedals to give four players their own rocket accelerators. The game forces four pilots — each controlling only one thruster — to work together to keep their craft aloft.
Some of the hardware we saw was familiar, too. Please Don’t, Spacedog uses a MIDI controller to explore the body-displacement effect of the Oculus rift — challenging players to use a complex controller without being able to physically see their hands. It’s also probably the world’s only canine-astronaut simulator.
Of course, you don’t need an Oculus Rift to create a virtual reality. The designers behind Roflpillar used a sleepingbag, some pulleys and a sensory isolation tent to create a two-player caterpillar simulator. Frankly, it’s pretty intuitive: wiggle to move. It’s also hilarious.
Ever thought you’d play a video game without a screen? Now you can — but you’ll need some help. Bonus Look is a game that splits the functions of a computer between two players, giving one player the screen and arrow keys and the other almost everything else. The “pilot” controls the player character’s actions, but can’t get more than a few steps without the help of the blind “wizard.” The screen-less second player also has access to a cryptic ASCII map, burned into a sheet of wood. It’s an absolutely bizarre twist on cooperative gameplay, but figuring it out is half the fun.
Speaking of games without screens, Choosatron was easily one of our favorite games in the exhibit. This “deluxe adventure matrix” is pretty simple under the surface: four buttons, a thermal printer and an Arduino board — but it was enough to turn choose-own-adventure fiction into a passable game. Plus, players get to keep their freshly printed epic for posterity, and we’re suckers for souvenirs.
Alternative controller types don’t always mean alternative games, either. Canabalt 100p offers the same endless running experience we all know and love — it just adds a few dozen extra runners. The game uses a standard MIDI keyboard as a control device, assigning each piano key to a specific avatar. Just how many characters you can play as depends on the size of the piano, so sadly, our demo fell short of the promised 100.
Alt.Ctrl.GDC’s exhibit of quirky controllers isn’t likely to rock the industry, but its perspective on gaming is refreshing. By discarding the standards we’ve grown accustomed to, it creates an opportunity explore the idea of what electronic gaming is. We often think about the visual aspect of the experience — but how we experience the game is just as important as how the game looks. Sometimes, the controller makes (or breaks) the game.
Filed under: Gaming
EFF lawyer questions Microsoft’s ability to search our email, claims it’s open to abuse
This week Microsoft revealed that, without a warrant, it accessed the Hotmail account of a French blogger in order to track down an employee leaking source code to some of its products, ultimately leading to that employee’s arrest. Microsoft’s actions created an uproar among users, causing it to spell out both its means, and its justification. Microsoft claims it needs to establish if “there is evidence sufficient for a court order” before conducting any searches, as allowed under its terms of service (the ones you read and agreed to). In response, Electronic Frontier Foundation fellow Andrew Crocker calls Redmond’s claim that it can’t obtain a warrant on itself a false premise with massive potential for abuse. Instead of “Warrants for Windows,” he argues that bringing in the FBI and obtaining a warrant is not only possible, but that it would be in line with Microsoft’s policy to require a warrant before revealing user info to others.
Though the process may be legal, a larger queasiness arises because, as worded, Microsoft’s TOS could submit a user’s inbox to those searches merely by violating its Code of Conduct. That could happen by (for example) emailing links that depict nudity, incite or express profanity, or facilitate the sale of firearms. Crocker himself states that, presumably, Microsoft isn’t using these standards as an excuse to dig through Outlook.com inboxes. His problem with its actions is more that by relying only on permission given by internal and external legal teams and its TOS, but not the actual court system, a potential for abuse exists.
As The Guardian details, other providers like Apple, Google and Yahoo (or likely AOL, which owns this blog) have similarly worded policies that could be used to access user data in order to protect their property. We asked Crocker about those, and he states that the EFF’s criticism stands in regards to similar policies, and that, while this particular case likely arose from an unusual set of circumstances, the fact we have no way of knowing if a company accessed our data is troubling (In the update on its policies, Microsoft said it would include data on the number of these types of searches in its bi-annual transparency report). In one case, TechCrunch founder Mike Arrington even claimed that while he cannot be sure, he’s “nearly certain” Google may have accessed his Gmail inbox to sniff out a leaker. Whatever the case, we suddenly have some weekend reading time set aside for the topic of end-to-end encryption with GNU Privacy Guard and “how to setup your own email server.”
Filed under: Internet, Microsoft
Source: EFF, The Guardian
City Monkey goes bananas on Android
Like most of us, you have probably yearned for an pixel-art styled multiplayer game that lets you shoot banana rockets and pineapple grenades at your friends. City Monkey provides that in a Worms-like atmosphere where you can go bananas on your friends.
The violently fun shooter game lets you blow up your friends and random online players through an online ranking system where players meet. The concept is simple, you cannot move, but you must use precision shots and use the force of the wind to knock your enemy out. There are only a few weapons in the game in an effort to keep the game’s simplistic style fun.
The goal of the game is to rank higher and unlock your weapons by climbing the ranks. As your reach different grades in the game your monkey will experience a color change. The more points you score and monkeys you defeat the further up the rankings you will climb.
Can you climb to the top of the leaderboards? You can find City Monkey Multiplayer Shooter on the Google Play store.
The post City Monkey goes bananas on Android appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Turkish PM plugs Twitter DNS loophole, Facebook and YouTube could be blocked next
When Twitter went dark for users in Turkey earlier this week, it didn’t take long for everyone to realize something was up. Prime Minister Erdoğan had reportedly threatened to pull the plug on the popular social network previously, before coming good on his word just hours later. The attempt to silence the platform, however, wasn’t exactly well executed. People in the country were still able to send messages via SMS, and access was still available via the web by relatively simple means: using a VPN or by changing your PC’s DNS settings. Today, it’s reported that Erdoğan’s attacks on the platform continue, with new reports suggesting that access to the DNS loophole being blocked.
The Turkish leader has also allegedly addressed the San Francisco firm directly, asking it to appoint a local representative, and to block specific content (that which it deems “prejudiced”) at his government’s request. Erdoğan has also said that other social networks such as Facebook and YouTube are at risk of being taken down too, in an effort to squash leaks and opinions he evidently thinks might harm his party in forthcoming local elections.
Source: Reuters
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