Filed under: Features, Gaming, Handhelds

Confessions up front: we’re pretty hot for any device that sports some sort of console emulator, so when faced with GamePark Holding’s GP2X, which currently boasts of SNES, NES, Genesis, MAME and quite a few other gems, it’s a little difficult to rein in the enthusiasm. That said, the new F-200 could use just a little bit of slimming — you have to really mean it if you’re going to carry this thing around instead of your PSP or DS. Otherwise we found the unit to be quite comfortable to hold and use, responsive enough in the OS department, and completely packed to the gills with features. Video playback is sluggish, but games loaded and performed quite well. We weren’t able to test the F-200’s new touchscreen, which is the only upgrade of the device over the existing F-100, but apparently it will be implemented as a mouse controller for developers to do whatever they want with the Linux device. And trust us, they will.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Gecube’s Gemini 3 is the only solution on the market right now if you need a crossfire ATI card setup, but your motherboard only has one 16x PCI-e slot. The Gemini 3 is two Radeon HD 2600 XT GPUs on one card, featuring four DVI ports — yes, you can hook up four monitors to a single card. The performance isn’t exactly highest end, but the card certainly held its own in the testing that the Tweaktown guys put it through. It also happens to draw a relatively small amount of power, and keeps cool thanks to its massive dual slot heatsink and fan. Unfortunately, we’ve got no idea when or for how much you can get your hands on this little powerhouse.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Currently being shown at IFA 2007 is Sharp’s ultraslim LED TV, which measures just 1.26-inches thick. Technical specifications have not yet been announced. We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available. First picture in gallery.

The new one-inch thick TV are not experimental as we first imagined: they will release them in two to three years, with a flagship 131-inch version illuminated by some “secret technology we can’t talk about.” We’ve just seen them in Berlin and they really are skinny. Sharp’s Corporate Communications PR-Manager, Martin Beckmann told us all about it

[via Gizmodo]

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In SEGA’s NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, “players must find inventive ways to confront the “Nightmarens” from the neighboring dark world of Nightmare using amazing acrobatic skills, freedom of flight, and other special abilities to protect Nightopia.” Video after the break. First picture in gallery.

The follow-up to the classic Sega’s Saturn game, built for play with the innovative Wii Remote to allow gamers to experience a heightened sense of gliding, spiraling, and looping through a variety of mystical dream worlds packed with high-flying adventure. As a fantasy jester called NiGHTS, players will fly through Nightopia, a rich and vibrant world where dreams come to life

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Hitachi’s StarBoard combines your computer with a chalkboard in a seamless fashion. Controlled by an IR pen, the Starboard allows you to edit Excel spreadsheets, easily map diagrams or, as Jesus is doing here, draw Batman.

The StarBoard can integrate with any computer and projector, though Hitachi recommends their vertical projection model. Nicest bonus? You can record AV and play it back later. The StarBoard was just announced here at IFA and will run 4,600 euros. But damn does it look good—and super easy to use.

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The Brainzord window-climbing robot with pulsating brain does exactly what it says on the packet; climbs windows and has a brain that pulsates. If only all things in life, like your girlfriend’s mood, were blister packed with an accurate description on the exterior.

Other reasons why this glass walking bot is the best damn vertical scaler since the previous robotic window-climbing toy include; a vacuum system for high performance climbing and auto reverse for continuous climbing fun times. The device is powered by two AA batteries. The suction movement system is probably not going to be the most fun you are ever going to get out of sucking (go figure), but at $17.95, it may be the cheapest suckering fun, with a pulsating brain, you can pay for. You filthy pervert. [Product Page via Uber Review].

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Here’s the LG KU990 Viewty (will I ever get used to that name?) in the flesh at IFA. The camera may pack a 5 Megapixel camera punch but the phone itself leaves a lot to be desired, especially when compared to you know what. It’s got some nice ideas, like the lens rim functioning as both a manual focus and a click wheel, but after playing with it, we have to say it looks incredibly badly executed.

You saw what Mark said about the click wheel/lens rim: it just doesn’t feel right and it doesn’t work as you would expect a click-wheel to work.

LG’s PR told us that the phone was “almost perfect” and only a little bit of the design may change for the production. Not the click wheel, though. He said that the phone may be a little bit thinner. Another problem with the phone was the speed. Really slow and stuttering when you compare it to the smooth-as-a-hot-knife-through-butter iPhone user interface.

The touchscreen wasn’t impressive either. While demonstrating the Graffiti-like writing recognition, we asked specifically if you needed a stylus or not. The answer: yes. Yet, it seemed like they were trying to make it look like an iPhone alternative by demonstrating writing with their finger. As you can see by LG hostess Scarlet von Hardenberg (yep, that was her name) trying to use her nail as a stylus in the gallery, the experience is not as nice as using an iPhone. In fact, it looked quite painful.

The interface looked confusing when doing many operations, and it clearly wasn’t designed for touch-based operations with your fingers. Small interface elements, as you can see in the video, made it quite difficult to use.

Sadly, and even counting its 5-megapixel camera, the LG KU990 can’t compare in speed, user interface and overall experience with the JesusPhone. We don’t know about the price yet, though, but from here it doesn’t look it’s going to be a bargain.

In other words: we were hoping this phone to be a worthy competitor to the iPhone, and our impression has been a complete letdown.

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Here’s an extensive walk-through of LG’s new KU990 Viewty. You can tell that this prototype is far from perfect as even our practiced demonstrator has issues once in a while. In my minute of allowed hands-on, I found that the back wheel doesn’t spin, but snaps back into place after rotating about 30 degrees. It feels horrible. And the touch sensitivity is fairly crappy. Good on paper, bad in person.

Something funny: I asked if we could see the Viewty make a call and unintentionally stumped them.

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I’m not a fan of 3D TVs. Maybe in the future they will be perfect or we all will have holodecks at home, but for now it all seems like a gimmick. However, the Hitachi 7.7 x 4.6-inches we just saw at IFA demonstrates that 3D displays could be perfect for small applications like GPS or portable gaming, clearly separating different layers of information than any simulated shadow or transparency can do.

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The new one-inch thick TV are not experimental as we first imagined: they will release them in two to three years, with a flagship 131-inch version illuminated by some “secret technology we can’t talk about.” We’ve just seen them in Berlin and they really are skinny. Sharp’s Corporate Communications PR-Manager, Martin Beckmann told us all about it.

The TVs will be made at Sharp’s new plant in Osaka - which is the same one that makes their solar panels, because it shares the same manufacturing technology.

We asked Martin how they were lighting the panels, suggesting it was LED. Martin smiled and shook his head, saying that it was top secret and he wasn’t at liberty to talk about it. Who knows? Maybe he was bluffing or maybe he didn’t know, but it sure looked amazing.

They are, however, aiming to be size leader of LCD TVs - and, it seems, the kings of thin. Let Giz remind you that the screen is just 23 mm thick - that’s 0.9 inches - and 32 mm (1.26 inches) if you add in the back box and grille. And just check how big their tenth-generation LCD panel actually is - that’s little old me jumping up and down next to it, and I’m 5′11″.

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